How Do You Prepare for Flying?
We all have our war stories of awful flights, and awful flight experiences, but what strikes me these days is how routine it is to have something lousy happen with a flight. Just last week, my mother and sister arrived in Seattle to attend my son's high school graduation. My mom's flight from New York, which was supposed to arrive at 10:30 p.m., showed up at 1:30 in the morning after having sat on the runway at JFK for three hours. (Guess who got to wait for her at the airport and drive her home, arriving here at 4 a.m.?) My sister's return flight to Burbank was canceled, and then she was diverted hours later to LAX, wherein she fought to have the airline pay her cabfare back to Burbank (and won). On that same day, all of United's flights were cancelled for several hours due to a computer glitch.
So as a kind of community venting, a CBSnews.com group-therapy session, let's hear some airline stories here. And at the same time, I'd love to hear some tips on how travelers are navigating this new age of air travel, and if there are things you are doing to both anticipate and alleviate the new challenges that flying presents. The best I can offer is get there early, because you never know when the lines are going to go out the door, be prepared for long, long delays, budget extra money in case you wind up needing to book a hotel room at the airport, don't expect to get anything done, bring a book, bring pictures of your family to remind you that life isn't always utterly chaotic and stressful, and don't ever buy toiletries in packages over four ounces, so you never have to be sorry.