Sometimes traveling can be a hassle....ok, with TSA becoming more interested in seeing me naked with the new scanners all in the interest of National Security, it is ALWAYS a painful process. From booking a flight, to going through security, to wondering if you are going to get to your connecting city on time for you next flight and finally, what are the chances that your luggage will actually make it to the same place you are at the end of a very long travel day. I always think about how I hate to travel while I am staring out the window of the plane, watching the guys in the earmuffs throw luggage around and hoping to get a visual of my bright lime green suitcase (which is now almost black) to be more confident that the business suit I MUST have makes it on the plane so I am not in my sweat pants for an important business meeting.
I always start out the day with high hopes and being ultra-friendly to everyone in my originating city....inevitably, I end up in a bad mood somewhere along the way and my patience and friendly smile doesn't end up with me on the other side. As of late, I haven't had any major issues, but just the process can quickly diminish all of the excitement and pleasure that was once involved with air travel. Probably because when it was still an enjoyable process, my parents were schlepping most of the luggage and my biggest responsibility was which coloring book or puzzles would I busy myself with between looking out the window to see if there was anything below I could recognize or track the exact proximity to our next stop.
The biggest issue with air travel is obviously the price of the ticket compared to what you know you will not be receiving for the exorbitant price you pay. Anytime I book a flight, I say a little prayer that they will upgrade me to first-class depending on the status of my frequent flyer membership in the hopes of preserving some shred of decent treatment to preserve some of the pleasure that should be involved with air travel. Since I am at least one connecting flight to my family back home in Kansas, I am always on the hunt for a flight that is reasonable either for myself or my parents on weekends that fit everyone's schedules. Typically, I fly American back home as there is now one flight per day from Dallas to Manhattan, (Kansas) that boasts one terminal and vending machines with an excellent selection of mostly expired snacks that take debit or credit cards, but only in the pre-security area. The drawback is always that there is only one flight per day serviced by a regional jet so these seats go very quickly and therefore, more expensive than one would think to end up at the center of the country without any notable attractions. The benefit to spending a little more to fly to such a low populated area is that I do not need to spend the addition $200 to rent a car and drive another 2 hours each way from the Kansas City airport. I much prefer forgoing the flexibility of flights and lower prices to fly into Kansas City in order to avoid the additional travel time to get to my favorite small town the the whole world....Junction City, Kansas.
Last year, I started looking for flights for a multitude of trips I was taking by using Kayak.com. I really like Kayak because even though it routes me to AA.com for my Kansas trips, I am able to find flights on Kayak that I can't even find on AA.com if doing a general search on my desired travel days. Kayak can search flights from all of the major online low-fare travel sites like Hotwire or Travelocity as well as the airlines to show you everything that is available specific to the times you like to travel and dates that may be flexible.
Here are some flights that I searched for fun locations around the world from Norfolk to get away to next week....if I were able to jet-set like I didn't have a job:
Paris, France
$1010 (Delta, 1 stop)
3:25 PM - Leave Norfolk International
7:55 AM - Arrive at Charles du Gaulle
Total: 10h30m
Sept 16
11:10 AM - Leave Charles du Gaulle
4:45 PM - Arrive Norfolk International
Total: 11h35m
Key West, FL
$356 (American, 1 stop)Sept 9
7:25 AM - Leave Norfolk International
1:19 PM - Arrive at Key West International
Total: 5h54m
Sept 16
7:00 PM - Leave Key West International
11:50 PM - Arrive at Norfolk International
Total: 4h50m
Las Vegas, NV
$438 (Delta, 1 stop)
5:55 PM - Leave Norfolk International
9:52 PM - Arrive in Las Vegas
Total: 6h57m
Sept 16
11:00 AM - "Leaving Las Vegas"
8:48 PM - Arrive at Norfolk International
Total: 6h48m
Prague, Czech Rep
$1281 (Delta, 1 stop)
Sept 9
10:10 AM - Leave Norfolk International
10:10 AM - Arrive at Prague International
Total: 17h50m
Sept 16
11:55 AM - Leave Prague International
6:15 PM - Arrive at Norfolk International
Total: 12h20m
Nadi, Fiji
$1642 (Continental, 3 stops)
Sept 9
9:52 AM - Leave Norfolk International
4:45 AM - Arrive in Nadi, Fiji (Sept 10)
Total: 26h53m
Sept 18
9:45 AM - Leave Nadi, Fiji
4:45 PM - Arrive at Norfolk International (Sept 19)
Total: 22h59m
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
$1074 (American, 1 stop)
Sept 9
7:10 PM - Leave Norfolk International
9:00 AM - Arrive in Rio (Sept 10)
Total: 12h50m
Sept 16
8:10 PM - Leave Rio
1:50 PM - Arrive at Norfolk International (Sept 17)
Total: 18h40m
Rome, Italy
$1053 (Continental, 2 stops)
12:38 PM - Leave Norfolk International
9:30 AM - Arrive at Rome Flumicino
Total: 14h52m
Sept 16
2:40 PM - Leave Rome Flumicino
10:03 PM - Arrive at Norfolk International
Total: 13h23m
Sydney, Australia
$1536 (Continental, 3 stops)
2:40 PM - Leave Norfolk International
6:50 AM - Arrive in Sydney (Sept 7)
Total: 26h10m
Sept 19
10:25 AM - Leave Sydney
8:58 PM - Arrive at Norfolk International (Sept 20)
Total: 24h33m
Please comment and let us all know of some fun travel plans you are currently making and, if you haven't already booked flights, you should visit Kayak. Another benefit is you can sign up for email alerts based on a location you want to visit and want to be notified of low fares if your dates are flexible.
Safe travels and happy vacationing!
A
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