The only way to fly.

Traveling can be frustrating period, especially when you don’t do it very often. There are those days when you try to get to the airport on time, but you really don’t know how much time you really need. Well my flight leaves at 1:00 so I can probably get there at 12:00… That sounds about right, but what about all the little intangibles in between.

1. Traffic to the airport (10 min)
2. Parking and getting me and my luggage to the terminal (5-10 min)
3. Ticket lines if you are checking a bag (5-15 min)
4. The dreaded TSA line (10 -30 min)
5. The distance from the security station to your gate (3-5 min)
6. OH Crap.. My gate changed from C4 to C44. Cardio don’t fail me now. (act hurt and catch a cart)

On the high end is 80 minutes. On the low end 33 minutes.

Oh by the way, your flight actually starts to board 30 minutes PRIOR to the takeoff time on your ticket. A word to the wise, not ALL flights are late or delayed so don’t count on that.

Getting to the airport an hour before your flight is not always the greatest idea.

If you are traveling with someone else please take into consideration that two heads are not always better than one. Some people like to walk when it is time to run. (I made a rhyme)
Here are a few things that can make your travel simpler. Even if you don’t travel much do these things:

1. Before you book your ticket, sign up for the rewards program. Even if you travel once a year you can redeem even a few point for a gift card or a magazine subscription. You earned it.
2. Get the airline’s app. It will help you stay informed of any flight or gate changes.
3. Verify your trip. Not just your flight your entire trip. Airline, airport (you would be surprised, departure time, and gate changes
4. Get there early. What is the worst that can happen? You can witness some awesome AOs (Airport Observations)
5. Assign a leader.. (Now fight over this one) lol
6. Don’t get angry. If a flight is delayed, trust me it is NOT because the airline wanted to make it late. Do you see how hard they work when that happens? They don’t want to deal with angry people. I would rather miss all my flights for them to fix a “mechanical” rather than get on a broken plane.

Well I hope this helped a little.. Next I will be talking about how to Rent a Great Hotel.