On the way out to Colorado Springs for the Youth/Junior Elite Weightlifting Training Camp our flight got delayed on the ground in Philadelphia over four hours for mechanical reasons so we ended up missing our connecting flight in Chicago. We (me and 3 athletes going to camp) got to Chicago too late to catch another flight, so we would be in Chicago overnight.After waiting in-line for an hour the airline representatives said there were no more hotels available due to massive number of flight delays and convention in town. We patiently waited for them to print our new boarding passes for the following day. They even found us seats on a slightly earlier flight then they originally thought they had.Two people next to us were not very happy about the situation and were yelling and using profane language. They ended up sleeping at the airport. While we were waiting for the customer service agents to finalize our tickets I overheard the agent to the left of us mention hotel rooms. So after 30 second I leaned over and politely asked them if there was anything we could do to get a room. I reminded them I was accompanying three elite athletes, one of whom was under 18, going to to olympic training center for camp and could really use the rest in hotel room.We ended up getting a room at the airport hotel which was very nice and literally a 5 minute walk away. No shuttle or taxi required. Given the not-so-great circumstances we had the best case scenario. The morale of the story is BE NICE and keep your cool!
