I guess I cannot sleep anymore, so I will write down what happened.
Because I travel a lot for work (paid) and don't really have time for leisure travels (by miles), I decided to book some award tickets for my parents, so that they can visit the West Coast and some friends in the US. I really appreciate what they have done for me so far, so thought it was time to give back :)Their final destination in the US was Chicago to visit a friend and see the city and my parents were traveling from Chicago to Munich with Lufthansa after that. I had to go to Munich for work around the same time, so I booked my ticket that has the ORD-MUC (LH435, from Chicago to Munich) as the second leg, so that I can join their flight on my way to Munich. Since they don't speak English, I thought this idea was the best given my work meetings at the time. All tickets were issued by United on business class and booked by me. My tickets were paid by my work; my parents were paid by my miles on separate reservations.
June 25, the departure date. Right before heading to the airport, my flight to ORD got cancelled and by the time I tried to arrange my ticket, my seat on LH435 was released/booked by someone else, and the flight was full. The second best option is to get to DC and take LH to Munich and arrive at the same time with my parents. So I flew to DC.
I was at the lounge in DC, my parents in Chicago. Check-in, security, everything went without any problem, so I talked to my mom and told her that I will be waiting at the gate in Munich because I would land 30 min earlier than them. I boarded the airplane and we were getting ready to depart. Then my mom called me; her voice was shaking and she was almost crying and said: "The police handcuffed your father and took him away". I asked her to give the cell to the police but they said no more conversation and obviously took him away. I went to the door and asked if I could get off the airplane. One cabin attendant was helpful and wanted to ask but the chief CA said that was not possible because the door was closed. I explained the situation and asked if I could still get off because we were still at the gate. They asked the captain, who said no. So I was stuck in this airplane for the next 9 hours. I called my mom again as the airplane was pushing back. I told her not to worry (couldn't find a better thing to say...) and call her friend in Chicago to stay with the friend and I would sort things out as soon as I land in Munich (but really I didn't know what to do...)
I couldn't make anymore calls because we were taking off, and the torture begins. How is my mom feeling right now when her husband of 34 years was arrested in front of her in a foreign country without any explanation? Well, this flight felt really long. As soon as landed I called my mom. That was 5AM in Chicago. Eventually her friend picked her up from the airport and told my mom to relax and have some sleep until morning, when they can do something about it. How nice of her! My mom asked me to call. But she doesn't know where or who... I googled Chicago Police Department and its ORD division. Got their number, called up the O'Hare Police Dept and explained the situation. Honestly, the officer didn't give me any information until the very end when she asked "By the way, what is your father's last name?" Then she told me that it was a mistake and my dad was released already. They arrested my dad because they thought my dad was under arrest warrant but the fingerprint did not match. I asked her where my dad was, she didn't know but she said my dad was booked on a flight in the evening. That is good...
I skyped my mom and told the situation. She was relieved. Honestly, I could see that on her face and hear from her voice. I told her to head to the airport. And I called up United and see what is going on with the reservation. United confirmed that both of them are on the same flight, LH435 on June 26th and "good to go". I confirmed this on LH website (it says both of them are on F class) and I called back my mom and told her that they would take the same flight just as yesterday and she should go to Lufthansa terminal at ORD to find my dad. After a while, she called back and I could hear my dad talking next to her. My dad had no cell phone or anything because when the cops arrested him they took his bag, the wedding ring, and watch and gave them to my mom.So he just waited for my mom at the police station because my dad have anything with him except his passport...
I talked to my dad, and the police realized they made a mistake when they took my dad's fingerprint. They released him after a while but waited until United opened its office to arrange his flight back.
Finally I was relieved, too. I told them to go to the airport a bit earlier today. BUT around the time my parents were checking in (that was around midnight in Munich), my mom called again and told me that we were waitlisted. Another drama. I checked LH website, yes obviously, the status is now waitlisted even though it was confirmed earlier. Someone changed it! I tried to reach out to Lufthansa and United on facebook. None was helpful. LH asked my parents to stay at the lounge and wait but 15 minutes before the departure, I asked my mom to go to the gate. Maybe they can do something about it. And as I was writing to LH, my mom called and told me that they were on flight. What a relief! But that was around 5AM in Munich time (I think...) I tried to get some sleep before their arrival but oddly I couldn't sleep after being awake for 30h or so? I am not sure, I haven't had any sleep from early morning June 25th in EST until early morning in 27th in Munich time, then until my parents arrived, that is around 2PM in Munich time on 27th...I always thought people just passed out after certain time of being awake but really oddly, I couldn't sleep even though I was so tired...
When I picked up my parents in Munich (yes, after skipping a day of work!) I was really relieved, and we were talking about what happened on the train... Then we got to the hotel and I slept like a baby!
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