Travel Tips

I recently made a horrifying trip through the Atlanta airport. My flight (to Chicago) was on time and I had an hour layover to make my connection. Unfortunately, the flight was delayed as another plane was in our gate when we arrived in Atlanta. One hour turned into a 25 layover as we sat on the tarmac.

When I finally arrived at my flight, the plane was in the gate but they wouldn't let me board. I wound up getting the last room in the last hotel that Delta had prearranged room reservations with. I got the little emergency kit from the airline and went to bed.

My alarm failed and I woke up 9 min. before the 6 a.m. shuttle was supposed to leave the next morning. I got to the shuttle on time, but the shuttle was 25 min. late. I arrived 30 min. before my departure time. The checkin personnel said that I could still make the flight as they hadn't begun boarding. This time I arrived 10 min. before departure, the plane was still at the gate, but they wouldn't let me board. I spent two more hours in Atlanta before catching the next (delayed) flight to Chicago. All told, had I driven to Chicago I would have arrived earlier than if I had flown from Virginia.

Lessons learned

1. Plan a minimum 2 hour layover if you're flying through Atlanta.

2. Be nice--I only got a room because I was really nice to the Delta attendants. It's not their fault your flight was messed up.

3. Hotel shuttles don't run on schedule. Plan to catch an earlier rather than later shuttle.

4. Flights can always be rescheduled by the airline, even if they initially say they can't do it. I was slated to return on a very early flight Sunday, but I was able to talk the airline into giving me a later return flight since I was delayed on the way there.

5. Carry the necessities (change of underwear, socks, toiletries, medicines) in carry on luggage. I used to do this but got lazy. I won't make that mistake again. Carry on sizes are very small in today's small commuter planes. You will likely have to check your carry on at the plane. Only a small backpack or thin briefcase will stow in the microscopic overhead bins.

6. Don't trust hotel alarm clocks. Get a wakeup call, take your own travel alarm or use the alarm clock on your cell phone or other electronic device.

7. Don't fly through Atlanta or O'Hare if you can help it. These two airports are really nightmarish.

8. If you have two or more people and are traveling under 800-1000 miles, it is cheaper and probably faster to drive. The time it takes to get through security and to check baggages makes flight time several hours longer. Flying just isn't as fast or fun as it used to be.