travelocity trauma

We arrived back in Philly last night to a miserable drizzle. For the most part we were lucky with our vacation travel. There was very little delay on any of our flights, we just had one small snag. We booked our tickets with Travelocity back in August or September. They, for some unknown reason, changed our return flight from a one-stop layover in Chcago to a direct flight. I called to clarify that everything was ok with the ticket because the information they sent me was a little confusing but I was assured that everything was fine and we would have no difficulties.
Fast forward to about 9:00pm on Monday Jan 5. I am online trying to check in and pay for baggage so that we don't have to wait as long in line at the airport the next morning. The website won't allow me to check in so I call United -the airline we are supposed to be flying. They let me know that the tickets are actually for their partner, US Airways and that I need to get seat confirmations from the airline before I can check in online.
So I call US Air. It takes me 20 minutes to get to an actual person instead of the obnoxious electronic voice operated system. When I finally do get an actual human being they tell me that the ticket needs to be officially transferred from United to US Air. They give me a new confirmation number, and seat confirmations then send me back to United.
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At this point I am getting a little annoyed. I have been on the phone for somewhere between 30-40 minutes and I still have no idea what is going on!
When I finally get in touch with United, again, after taking some time to consult with their supervisor, they say that it is actually a website difficulty and transfer me to the United website technical support. Finally at technical support I get an intelligent and compassionate individual who can tell I am ready to lose it. He suggests that he calls US Airlines for me using 3 way calling so that I can have his help resolving the matter. Finally I get some sort of an answer. The woman at US Air informs me that because the ticket was changed, we can not check in online. Ok, that was all I needed to know. The guy from United keeps me on the phone for another 20 minutes trying to confirm that everything is ok. At which point he tells me he is going to call Travelocity to double check everything and then call me back. I am grateful for the help and more than ecstatic to be off the phone. He never calls back.
Tuesday morning we wake up bright and early to finish packing and load into the car to make the two hour drive to Las Vegas in order to have plenty of time to check in and make it through security at the mammoth sized Vegas airport. As we leave my parents house I get a call from Travelocity. Apparently there is a problem with our tickets. I spend about 20 minutes on the phone with a guy who's indian accent is so thick I can barely understand him. I tell him we are planning on the flight we are scheduled for and tht we have seat confirmation. he spouts something about needing to confirm with the airline - at which point, we drive into a dead zone and I lose the call. I don't get back in touch with him and am praying as we arrive at the airport that we are actually going to be able to fly home.
At the checkout counter the clerk is as confused be the whole mess as I am. She calls her supervisor and the check in process we had hoped to speed through takes about 30 minutes. Eventually she simply reissues the tickets, shakes her head over Travelocity stupidity, and sends us on our way. With yet one more little snag- she did not put us in seats together. Our new seat assignments are in four different rows. Anyone who knows James knows that this is not going to fly. He would scream the entire time if he had to sit next to strangers. So we race through security to the counter at our gate to see if we can change our seat assignments. The woman rather rudely interrupts me trying to explain the situation and says to sit and wait and she will see what she can do.
Luckily, it all worked out and John ended up sitting with the boys with me in a row behind.

This morning when I check my email, there is an email from Travelocity informing me there is a problem with our tickets. The email was sent at 11:00am on Tuesday the 6th. Less than an hour before our scheduled flight.

Needless to say we are happy to be home and will not be using Travelocity in the future. Ugh!