MINNEAPOLIS – I'm writing this blog on my laptop at the airport in Minneapolis, though I should be home right now. Instead, I'm scheduled to depart on a Frontier Airlines plane at about 8:55, which is delayed by 90 minutes -- and conting. My original flight on AirTran this afternoon was canceled due to weather – in Atlanta.

The whole scene is eerily reminiscent of my first attempt to take this trip last month, when Delta canceled my flight because of mechanical trouble, but didn't bother to tell me. At least they didn't raise a stink in giving me my money back.

This time, however, I at least made it to Minneapolis for my day of meetings with our partners at Fox Sports, though the ride out was obnoxiously cramped between a 400-pound man on my left and a loud woman speaking in Dutch on my right. I'm not sure if the seats are smaller than the used to be, but I've never felt so jam-packed on a plane. Over the years, I've had great experiences on AirTran, but today was not one of them.

Fortunately, AirTran offers wi-fi, so I found out that my return flight was canceled before I even landed. I used Orbitz to book the flight, since AirTran's Web site was down when I attempted to book. I haven't had great experiences with Orbitz over the years, and today would prove to be no exception.

The Orbitz e-mail said my flight was rescheduled for 6 a.m. on Tuesday morning, but since I came to Minneapolis for just a few hours, I didn't pack a bag with toiletries or a change of clothes. I didn't have a rental car or a hotel, and the idea of spending the night in Minnesota wasn't especially appealing.

So, when I landed, I found an AirTran ticket agent and explained my problem. I asked if I could be rebooked on the Frontier Airlines flight later in the evening. The agent said that AirTran doesn't rebook, and especially not with Frontier. "They hate us," he said rather flippantly.

I asked him if AirTran would pay for me to rent a car to drive home. He said no. I asked him if AirTran would pay for a hotel for me to stay overnight. Again, he said no.

Finally, I asked him if he could cancel my rescheduled flight so I could book a one-way ticket on Frontier. He said that I would have to discuss it with Orbitz. He wasn't impolite, but he was about the least helpful he could've been.

Next, I called Orbitz and sat on hold for 20 minutes until a customer service agent answered. Speaking in heavily accented and hard to hear English, she said she could cancel my flight and allow me to buy a ticket on Frontier. I asked if I could get a refund on the AirTran for the flight I would not be using, but she said I needed to talk to AirTran directly. When I explained that AirTran said I needed to talk to Orbitz, she put me on hold while she attempted to contact an AirTran representative.

Many more minutes passed when the agent returned to tell me she was still on hold. Now ready to start my meeting, I asked if she could call me back with an answer. She said no, and told me that I would find out in seven to 10 business days if AirTran granted me the refund.

Fine, I sighed, and bought a $130 one-way ticket and hung up.

Fortunately, the meetings were fruitful and productive, and I got a nice tour of downtown Minneapolis on the way back to the airport, where I sit now. Minneapolis is cooler than I remembered – Target Field looks gorgeous -- and I hope I have an opportunity to visit again.

But maybe it's not meant to be, since I'm two-for-two in weird, canceled flight debacles in this town. Perhaps it's karma getting back at me for all those times I've made fun of the Vikings.

Or maybe this is just a changing reality in the airline industry. Flights that are preemptively canceled even when snow has nothing to do with your route; unforgiving customer service staffs that send you on your way like they owe you nothing, and third-party travel agents who are apparently even less empowered than I am to get anything done.

At this point, I'm far from enraged. I'm almost Zen, in fact, and this blog is hardly a diatribe about how I will tear-up my AirTran frequent flier card. Yes, I'd like to get a refund for half of my trip, but if not, I'll just chalk it up to the cost of doing business face-to-face. Right now, I just want to be home.

Update: I made it home at about 11 p.m. Again, I understand that bad weather cancels flights. However, AirTran and Orbitz made no effort to help me get home or even to accomodate me overnight -- their buck-passing attitude of "good luck, figure it out yourself" is what bugged me. So this morning, I attempted to contact Orbitz to discuss the status of my refund request. Here is the transcript of my online chat with "Mark." Please enjoy this exercise in futility:

Thank you for contacting Orbitz, my name is Mark. How may I assist you today?

Mark: Hi Andrew.

Andrew Tarnoff: Hi, Mark.

Andrew Tarnoff: I was speaking to Orbitz customer service yesterday about my canceled AirTran flight from MSP to MKE and I'd like to get an update on my refund request, please.

Mark: I understand. Let me go ahead and check on the record here for you.

Mark: For security purposes can you provide me the billing or postal zip code on file please?

Andrew Tarnoff: 53207

Mark: Thank you for that information.

Mark: And is this about the canceled flight going to Minneapolis last 1/10/11?

Andrew Tarnoff: No, this is about the canceled flight yesterday from Minneapolis to Milwaukee.

Andrew Tarnoff: When AirTran was unable to rebook me on a different airline, they suggested I work through Orbitz. So I called Orbitz and bought a one-way flight from Minneapolis to Milwaukee on Frontier, and subsequently canceled the rescheduled AirTran flight.

Andrew Tarnoff: Orbitz was working to get a refund from AirTran, but after 20 minutes on hold, I had to get to my meeting.

Mark: Thank you for clarifying the information. As I checked on the record the airline is the one who will process the refund for the reservation.

Andrew Tarnoff: AirTran told me that I needed to work with Orbitz, since that's who I booked my flight with.

Mark: I understand. Since this is a partially used ticket, we have a dedicated department that handles partial refund reservations over the phone. I would suggest that you get in touch with our advance exchange department. Let me provide you the number.

Mark: And the toll free number is 1-888-656-4546 . Our customer service center is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Andrew Tarnoff: So you can't help me with this?

Mark: I do apologize, due to system restriction, I am unable to view a status of the refund for a partially used ticket since you already took the departure leg of the flight.

Andrew Tarnoff: Is the number you gave me for the dedicated department, or is that for the general customer service number, on which I sat on hold for 20 minutes, yesterday?

Mark: Once you call our phone service number they will transfer you to the correct department that can assist you regarding the reservation.

Mark: Would there be anything else that I may assist you with for today, Andrew?

Andrew Tarnoff: Mark, you didn't help me at all. You told me to call customer service, which is exactly what I'm doing now. I realize it's not your fault, but this has been an awful experience with Orbitz. I can't imagine ever using Orbitz again.

Andrew Tarnoff: At least give me a direct phone number so I don't have to navigate through a phone tree again.

Mark: I really do apologize for the inconvenience, however the number that I gave you is the number that we can provide. Our customer service are experiencing a large volume of call due to the canceled flight, due to the storms.

Andrew Tarnoff: Then I suppose I'd like you to make a note that you've lost me as a customer. I can't think of a reason to use Orbitz if you can't serve your customers as well as the airlines directly.

Mark: I'm sorry to hear that from you, however I understand your frustration.

Andrew Tarnoff: That's something. Unless you can actually help me here, I think I'm done.

Mark: I really do apologize, as much as I want to assist you on the reservation, however due to system restriction I am unable to view the status of the refund.

Andrew Tarnoff: OK. Goodbye.

Update, part two: Orbitz Customer Care saw my tweet on the subject and read my blog, and I just received a great call from a manager in Chicago. Kristi was honest and apologetic, and let me know that, in fact, my refund was actually processed yesterday. She admitted that "Mark" should've been privy to this information and said she will use this incident as a training piece. She also offered me a $50 voucher for my troubles, which was gracious but unnecessary (but who am I to turn it down?). Orbitz kept a customer today with this much-appreciated personalized customer service. The power of Twitter never ceases to amaze me!