Here is a little bit more on flight booking, and on getting
to through the airport all in one piece.
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| Our Plane Back from Dublin |
One aspect of flying that has started to become more
important to us, is direct vs. non-stop.
I always used to think, whatever if it’s cheaper to stop, then stop.
Duh! Now I’m moving to the camp that if they aren’t that much more, it’s worth
it to take a non-stop, especially at the beginning of your trip. With direct
flights there are less chances of your baggage being lost if you’re checking
anything, no chance of missing connections, and no chance of running through the
airport like a crazy person, really having to pee, but not being able to stop
for fear of missing your next flight. Am I the only one that has experienced
that? I’ve been on flights where the drink cart takes forever, or you hit
turbulence, and they won’t let you get up. Sometimes you circle in the air forever waiting to land, but you can't get up for fear that at any moment they will start their decent and you'll get some fat TSA fine for not being seated. Then you land, and your flight is
late, usually because of bad weather, turbulence, or the never ending circling. That forces you into a dead sprint
to get off the plane and across the airport and onto your next flight. You just make it to the gate, everyone else
is already on board and looking at you like you’re lazy for being late. They
want you to take your seat immediately, and then there is no bathroom insight until
you are up in the air, sometimes they don’t turn off the seat belt light until
the drink cart rolls out, then you have to wait again for that. I’ve just started being the rebel that just
gets up when the light is on if I really have to go, it’s not worth testing the
mental image I have of my bladder bursting like a water balloon.
All of this puts us in bad moods, and gets our vacation
started on the wrong foot. If we have
to, we’ll take a 1 stop on the way home. If we get
home cranky, oh well, we have Sunday to get over it before we go back to
work. I’d rather be cranky at work then
at Disney World. Lesson, if it’s less
than $100-150 for both of us to fly direct, we do it.
If you’re like me, and you sometimes book your flights WAY
in advance, it’s good to check on them once in a while, because they may change. I consider finding budget travel options kind
of like a game. When I get something really neat for cheap, or I score a great
deal, I’m thrilled. I feel a sense of pride, and yes, I enjoy going back and
checking prices now and then just to see how much it’s gone up so that I can
gloat a little. Self-indulgent? Yes! But
hey, it pays off sometimes.
I booked our tickets to Orlando on Alaska for about $430 per
person. I got us on a non-stop red eye
going down. We’re going to attempt to sleep on a plane…don’t worry, I have
a plan! Coming back it was about $200 more per person to book the non-stop
option, so I decided to opt for a layover since we have Sunday to recoup. I
went on Alaska’s Website to check the prices. In the past months when I checked we had saved
about $220 per person based on how much it had gone up. I found our departing flight, but I couldn’t
find our return. We still have several
months to go, there is no way it was sold out.
I logged into My Alaska Airlines account, and sure enough, they had
changed our flight. Instead of an hour
layover, we now had a 10 minute layover.
I was curious what the thought process on that one was. I called customer service and asked very
nicely if it was the same plane, and if we didn’t have to get off or something between flights. I know you always have to get off the plane between flights,
but I was going for sweet and unaware, sometimes that gets me better results.
There is a time to be firm and demanding, but only when all other options fail. There is no need to make their day worse for something that usually isn't specifically that persons fault, or that they don't have any control over. These are people, not punching bags that you are dealing with.
The agent was very nice, and she said that was an invalid connection, and apologized. She asked me to hold
for a minute. A few minutes later she
was back and apologized again, and asked if it was okay if she put us on the
non-stop instead. Two extra hours in
Florida, and I get home two hours earlier? Sure, I guess that will be ok...
**HAPPY DANCE!!!!** So we ended up with non-stop flights to Orlando both ways for $430
per person. We may have been able to get
on the non-stop had I not noticed it until check in, but we may not have if it
was booked by that point. We may have
gotten stuck at our layover airport, because that was the last flight to
Seattle that day. To date we are about two and a half months from our trip. This does not seem like that unusual of an amount of lead time for most people to book their flights. Booking right now vs. when we did would have added an extra $600 to our trip, and it's only going to keep going up. That's no small chunk of change. It pays to pay attention and plan ahead!!
Parking or Getting to the Airport:
Patrick and I have both had bad experiences with Airport
parking growing up. Patrick’s parents
parked their new Yukon at one, and when his family got back they found MacDonald’s
fries and Happy Meal Toys under the seats. The Mileage was also WAY above what
it should have been. It seemed someone went joy riding with their family. My family had a similar incident. We dropped of my Step-moms month old Versa on
our way to Wisconsin, and they had us park in the fire zone while she signed
the papers. They said they would move
it. When we got back a week later the car
was still in the fire lane, and they had lost her keys. They tried to fib to cover themselves by saying that they weren’t lost, they
were just in one of the off duty employees pockets, and they couldn’t reach
him. Why did he have our keys? Why was our car not parked, and the keys
labeled and hanging up? We were able to
get on the airport shuttle back to Marysville, and my step dad came and picked
us all up. It’s a good thing both sets of my parents get
along so well. We did have to pay for 4
tickets on the shuttle though, on top of our car parking charges. My Step Mom
had to have someone drive her back down to Seattle to get the car once they
finally located the keys. They didn’t
even apologize. My dad stopped payment on the credit card, they were livid.
Thus Patrick and I avoid airport parking at all costs. I
suppose maybe actual airport parking garages might be ok, but they are really overpriced. We are lucky enough to live within 15 minutes
of the airport, and we almost always have a family member or friend that can
drop us off or pick us up. We usually
pay them $10-15 per direction, or we take them when they need to go in return. That being said, if you do want to do airport parking, try
www.aboutairportparking.com/. They offer
great discounts on the top 10 or so airport parking companies. That is how I always book airport parking for
everyone in my office. The preferred airport
parking in our office is ExtraCar. I have
carpooled with people that use them, and I have to say they were good.
Cabs are another useable method, but again, if we’re desperate I’d
rather pay the bored teenager next door $15 to take us then pay $50 for a cab. I
realize that might not work if you live far away from the airport. A good option if you have a travel a ways to the airport is to check for airport
shuttles. Every major airport has them, and they run along the main highways.
If it’s just you they can be a great option if you aren’t comfortable with
leaving your car in a lot while you are gone.
They don’t seem to be a great deal for a whole family though, at that
point I say pick the families least favorite car, pile in, and park at the airport!
Organizing your Confirmations:
With today’s smart phones it’s easy to have all of your confirmations at your fingertips, but I’m the type that carries a day planner. Yes, I’m 26, and I hand write in a day planner. I’m not sure why, I just prefer it. I like to have a piece of paper to take to with me when I travel. Patrick and I are both weird that way, we don’t fully trust technology to get us through.
I keep a Word Document going from the time a trip is
just an idea. I put all of my thoughts and research on there
for my lodging, flights, restaurants I want to try, potential activities, car
rental, etc. I keep a budget list there too.
It’s what I work from, and it’s constantly changing. As the trip takes shape, it becomes an
itinerary. I have it broken down by day.
I include all flight, hotel, and car rental confirmations on it, as well as all
of my flight times and numbers so I only have one document to take, and
it’s all in one place. You should have seen the one for our Honeymoon, it filled a 1 inch 3 ring binder.
Our trips are always very thoroughly planned, but we do appreciate a certain degree of spontaneity on them. I make a large list at the bottom of the document of things to do, things to see, places to eat, etc. My list is based on information gathered from travel shows, personal references, documentaries, Trip Advisor, travel books, and travel blogs and forums. Amazon Prime Streaming has a good variety of free travel videos and even seasons of shows from The Travel Channel. The last time I checked Netflix didn't have much of anything like that. I hate getting to a destination and not knowing anything about the place. I like to know what is supposed to be worth seeing, otherwise I feel like I don’t get the most out of it. There are some things, like tours, that only operate at certain times, so I have those penciled into the itinerary. For the most part when we get someplace we have a list of options, and we can do whatever we want. Plans change depending on moods, weather, crowds, etc. so we like to keep our itinerary flexible.
Navigating the Airport and Starting Your Trip off Right:
Going to the airport with Patrick is an experience. I swear our entire lifestyle can be summed up in one word: Efficiency. The minute we get out of the car at the airport, it’s like the running of the bulls, or The Amazing Race. I do all of the pre-trip planning and packing, but the airport is Patrick’s domain. He holds the tickets, the passports, all important papers. I lost our Victoria Clipper Boarding Passes once, and instead of being 15th to board the boat, we had to wait to board 260th. Patrick was not a happy camper. Since Patrick is the keeper of the documents he almost always travels in Cargo shorts. He has more room for storing his various papers, and he’s never been one to be too overly concerned with fashion. We don’t check in online and print our boarding passes prior to getting to the airport. No, it’s not efficient, but I like printing our tickets that the kiosk. When the flimsy pieces of waxy paper pop out, the trip starts to feel real. It’s almost a ritual or right of passage for me on each trip. I also hate carrying my boarding pass around on a piece of printer paper, plus that is way less forgiving if you set it down on an inevitably wet bathroom counter top.
From the ticketing kiosk, it’s a speed walk / half sprint to
the TSA line. When we get up to the
security officers it’s all strictly yes/ no or one word answers. We also hold our breath, praying
that we don’t get another Trekkie TSA Agent that wants to talk Star Trek. Our last name is
Stewart, and when a Trekkie meets a Patrick Stewart, they just can’t help
themselves. We have discovered that there are a lot of TSA Agents who are Trekkies.
Once our boarding passes are stamped Patrick quickly scans all
security lines for the shortest possible option. Kids in that line, nope. Really old couple
that looks lost, nope. Ah, line of business men with their shoes in hand, go go go! As soon as we’re in
line the shoes, coats and belts come off. At the earliest possible moment we
grab bins. Backpacks are unzipped to
pull out the liquids baggies that are on top right inside the Backpacks. Backpacks are re-zipped so nothing comes out on the conveyer belt, back pack laptop
compartment is unzipped. We have a TSA approved laptop backpack, and the laptop can
stay in as long as the bag is opened out.
If you don’t have one, and you travel with a laptop, they are wonderful.
I recommend Swiss Gear ones. Next liquids
baggy go into the bins. Wallet, phone, papers into the bin, shoes, and
jackets also go into the bins. The giant gallon size zip lock bag with all of
our chargers and electronics comes out and goes into the bin (I started doing
that b/c I swear I never get my bag searched why I do). All baggage goes up on
onto the conveyer belt.
I prefer to put as much of my stuff as I can, like my wallet and phone, and boarding pass (if I'm traveling alone) into my bag before I put it through the scanner. It's less things to fish out of the bins and juggle on the other end.
For ladies, I have to point out, avoid bottoms with
rhinestones on the butt, or tops that have any kind of metallic thread woven
through them. I always forget, and I
always get the pat town and wand every time I wear them.
Once we are through to the other side, it’s a mad dash to
throw everything into our bags, then we scuttle to the side to put on our shoes
and jackets. Next we find our gate and speed
walk there as quickly as possible to get seats. Awesome, we are now at our gate
along with 3 other people an hour and a half before boarding. We both insist on
getting to the airport two hours early, even for a domestic flight, just in case
something goes wrong. Now what do we do?
We’re both too cheap to go eat in Airport restaurants to kill time, unless it's the end of a trip and we've been really good about our spending. We usually pack our own food anyways. Our exception to eating in airports is Starbucks. It seems like people around the Seattle area give out Starbucks cards for everything. The Dentist is running late? Here's a $5 Starbucks card. Thank you gift for watching their cat? Here's Starbucks card. Raffle at a company team building? Yay, you won a Starbucks card! Don't know what to get someone? Here's a Starbucks card. I'm not complaining, there always seems to be a use for them. Neither of us ever go to Starbucks, I think we're going to be kicked out of the state for confessing that. We always save our Starbucks cards for when we're at the airport. It's a nice little extra added vacation treat, and in the event that we didn't pack food, we get something to munch on.
On the rare occasion that we have an early flight and we don't have any Starbucks cards, Patrick will sometimes take a page from my Dad’s book. He will buy a 12oz
drip coffee with no room for cream. He’ll then proceed to drink
down the half an inch of black coffee, that he doesn’t really like, then he’ll head
to the sugar and creamer station and fill it back up that half an inch. Heaven
forbid either of them misses out on half an inch of $2 drip coffee!
If we’re on a flight with a layover, we almost always
volunteer to gate check our bags. It’s
one less thing to lug around the connecting airport. You do run a little more
of a risk that they will lose your bag, but we’ve never had a problem. We keep an extra change of clothes and a toothbrush in our backpacks just in case. If we are bringing back anything breakable,
or we have alcohol from duty free, we try really hard not to have to
though.
In Flight Entertainment:
I’m excited to take my first flight without having to power
down my Kindle. Too bad Patrick and I
are old school and use our DVD player on flights, but still, the principle
is there! We have Maxwell Headphones,
which I’m sure are meant for kids. They look like M&M’s. We love them.
They are cheap, the sound is great, and they are very comfortable. If we have to replace them when a cat chews
one apart, it’s not the end of the world. I have tiny elf-like ears, and it’s hard for me
to find ear buds that are comfortable. We usually also try to splurge on a new
DVD set of a show that we’ve been wanting to watch that isn’t on Netflix or
Amazon Prime Streaming. You can also pick up a set from your local library,
depending on their lending time, the length of your trip, and your ability to
remember to renew them online if need be.
New unwatched shows are the only things that get us through long
flights. If it’s a new series that you haven’t seen, that’s even better. We had
a ton of Target Gift Cards left from our wedding, so before our long flight to
Dublin for our Honeymoon I picked up Community Season 2. They only had season
2, but we went with it even though we hadn’t seen season 1. That got us through a lot of long flights on
that trip. We both suck at sleeping on planes, no matter what we try so it's even harder to get through long flights. I hate
reading on planes, I’m not sure why, maybe it’s because it’s hard for me to get
comfortable and there are too many distractions. I prefer reading while lying
in bed, contorted in a weird uncomfortable looking position, while snuggling two
adorably furry cats.
Check your TV screen in front of you if there is one, you
don’t always have to pay for all of the content. There are normally a few free shows or movies. If
there are those little DVD player things, renting one is going to be cheaper
than getting a DVD player, and a new DVD series if you don’t travel much. Bring a headphone splitter with you, and you
and your travel partner can share. You
can download videos onto your iPad as well if you prefer.
On Board:
Pack a pair of deliciously fuzzy socks to put on. Bright Cheerful colors make me extra happy and upbeat. My feet always freeze on planes. Make sure to
retrieve your shoes before landing if you take them off. More
than once I’ve had a ballet flat slide forward a few rows and I had to ask
someone to hand it to me. It’s a little embarrassing. I usually also invest in a new sweatshirt
before or during a trip. There are few things that are more comforting to me
than a cozy new fuzzy sweatshirt, and sometimes I am able to catch an hour of
sleep if I have one on.
Always pack a change of clothes in your carry on bag or backpack that will be on board with you. It is important in case they lose your checked or gate checked luggage. More importantly, you will need them if you accidentally dump a drink in your lap. On one of our trips to Wisconsin we had the whole family going. Dad, Step-Mom Kari, Brother Robbie, Patrick and I. We were up in the air when I managed to knock over my ginger ale and land it squarely in my lap. That ice was cold! I didn't feel like spending the remainder of the flight feeling like I wet myself. I fished my extra pair of shorts out of my backpack, and as soon as the isle was clear I got up to get in line. A minute later I turn around, Robbie was in line behind me with shorts in hand. He also dropped Ginger Ale in his lap. Two peas in a pod! Man, Dad was proud. His two kids in their mid-twenties were standing in line looking like they wet themselves. Great start to the family vacation!
If your nose and sinuses dry out on flights like mine do
(one of the many things that keeps me awake on planes) try flight nasal spray. I have not tried it yet, but it
looks helpful. I plan to try it on our
red eye to Orlando. Another interesting
tip that someone pointed out is to pack a washcloth in a baggy in your carry
on. Take it into the bathroom and run it
in hot water and ring it out. Boom, hot towel! Who needs 1st class?
Putting it over your face may make you look a little strange, but it might
help. Also, pack a small package of tissues. My nose starts running as soon as I'm on board, and I have to ask for lots of rough napkins when the drink cart goes by. I don't know how it's dry, and runny at the same time, but it is!
Stretch your legs, and walk around! I took some Nyquil on my flight back from Dublin when I was 20. I slept the whole way. Apparently 5 weeks of sleeping in a tent with no padding, with 2 other girls, and carrying around 45lb packs all day is enough to get me to sleep on a plane! I woke up in a pile of drool, luckily I was sleeping on my best friend. Unfortunately my legs were completely swollen. My boot cut pants were cutting off the circulation in my calves. It took a few days for the swelling to go down, and I had to sleep with my feet up. I learned my lesson, stretch and walk even if you don’t feel like it!
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| I Drooled On The One In The Middle. Opps, Love You Mikey! |
The number one thing I can say is, even if they are grouchy,
be nice to your flight attendants. Be
polite. Working in any customer service
based industry is not easy, especially not in an environment that a lot of
travelers find stressful. So be kind,
and be patient.
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