I HATE ATA!

This is where my happy Hawaiian Vacation Pictures are suppose to be!

BACKGROUND

My parents own a time share in Hawaii on the island of Oahu. The resort is called Ko Olina. It is a little piece of heaven on Earth. Every year my parents get to go and they switch off inviting one of their three kids and their families each year. This year, to celebrate their upcoming 40th wedding anniversary the whole family was going to be there at the same time. Very fun and a rare occasion.

About 4 weeks ago my mom was telling me about Aloha Airlines going under and I was so grateful that it was not our airline. I remember thinking what a bummer it would be to explain to my kids after buying the sunscreen, goggles, swimsuits and towels that we would not make it there. Especially after purchasing our plane tickets in August!

2 weeks ago ATA went under. I guess it could have been worse if we were stuck in Hawaii trying to get home but I kinda liked that idea. Everyone in my family scrambled trying to find reasonable tickets. The best we could find was about 2 1/2 times what we paid initially and that didn't include our refunded money from ATA that we have yet to see. My brother (in Houston), sister and I decided that we should just plan on celebrating in Hawaii next year. My parents could not get a credit on their rooms over in Hawaii so they booked their tickets as cheap as they could find.

We tried to think of other last minute vacations to Disneyland (to expensive for the quantity of time), last minute cheap Mexican Cruise (no passports and we didn't book quick enough) and maybe Lake Havasu but things looked pretty bleak. We kept checking for last minute deals to Hawaii all to no avail. A couple of days before my parents were to leave they asked me to drive them to the airport. This would be the 2nd year in a row that I would drive and adios members of my family to Hawaii.

Then to add insult to injury, Barbie calls me last night around 9:00pm to tell me she found cheap tickets to Hawaii on Priceline. She asked me if I wanted to get some for my family. Troy said he was out because he needed more time to prep people at work, but he gave me the go ahead with the 3 kids. I deliberated for about a half an hour on whether I could handle Gavin (5), Colby (3) and Mazzy (6 months) on the airplane and then for a week over in Hawaii by myself and decided I was not up to the challenge. That is itself is a depressing realization. I am not a capable mother. LAME! I called Barbie up and told her I couldn't do it. She called me a little later to let me know that she booked the tickets and would be flying out at 9:00 in the morning. They were actually going to beat my parents there!

I am trying so hard to be happy for those who are going but I am pissed off at the whole ordeal. I've decided to focus my energy on how angry I am at ATA! The worst part is that there is no address to send a HATE letter to! They will never know, be offended or care! They don't exist! I don't care I HATE ATA!