So I am in the process of planning my next trip to the fabulous destination of North West Arkansas. For some reason, I am having difficulties coordinating dates with my client. I am trying to book the flight with a decent amount of lead time to get a decent price. At this point, I am looking at the end of March.
Any good tips for securing good deals on airfare?
Monday, February 22, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
A full week at home?
Shocking to say I am not traveling anywhere this week! Not even to NJ, which has become my home away from home these past few weeks.
But I find myself sleeping in my own bed all week, in the office 5 days. But of course as luck would have it, Dave is traveling this week! He is off to the fabulous Bahamas for a free vacation that his bff was lucky enough to win through his job and nice enough to ask Dave to come with him! color me jealous.
Its a short trip (Sun-Thurs) so Dave decides he is not going to check a bag. I applaud this effort. But when I handed him the FAA approved Quart sized bag for his liquids, he looked at me like I had lost my mind. He was pretty convinced he could bring a gallon sized bag. I could do nothing but shake my head. He is the person that I HATE getting stuck behind in line going through Security.
He was pretty convinced his plan to carry on was not going to work due to his liquid restrictions. Sympathetic girl friend I am, I pretty much laughed at him and told him that if I could do it, he had better be able to do it (umm hello he has no hair, its not like he has hair product to account for).
I must say I am proud of him for getting through this and quite frankly, if he checked his bag for a 4 day trip where bathing suits are pretty much attire, I would have never let him live it down.
But I find myself sleeping in my own bed all week, in the office 5 days. But of course as luck would have it, Dave is traveling this week! He is off to the fabulous Bahamas for a free vacation that his bff was lucky enough to win through his job and nice enough to ask Dave to come with him! color me jealous.
Its a short trip (Sun-Thurs) so Dave decides he is not going to check a bag. I applaud this effort. But when I handed him the FAA approved Quart sized bag for his liquids, he looked at me like I had lost my mind. He was pretty convinced he could bring a gallon sized bag. I could do nothing but shake my head. He is the person that I HATE getting stuck behind in line going through Security.
He was pretty convinced his plan to carry on was not going to work due to his liquid restrictions. Sympathetic girl friend I am, I pretty much laughed at him and told him that if I could do it, he had better be able to do it (umm hello he has no hair, its not like he has hair product to account for).
I must say I am proud of him for getting through this and quite frankly, if he checked his bag for a 4 day trip where bathing suits are pretty much attire, I would have never let him live it down.
Monday, February 1, 2010
January 25th- The longest travel day of my life!
Well my day started off as I left my house at 5:45 am heading to LGA for my Ark bound flight. Nothing out of the ordinary, I make the trip once a month. Only this time it was different. I was not on the direct American Airlines Flight because that was obscenely expensive. Even though I was traveling on someone else’s dime, I do try to be budget conscious. Well apparently the travel gods were not with me on this day, as I boarded my plane bound for Charlotte, NC where I was to connect onto Ark, the winds and rain was out of control. They went through the whole safety demonstration, which I paid attention too this time since I was on US Air flight headed to Charlotte (The same flight that became the Miracle on the Hudson and I am quite certain Sully was NOT flying my plane), turned off my bberry and cracked open some quality reading (or US Weekly) and settled in. As we headed out to the runway, I noticed a lot of planes lined up and no one seemed to be moving. Awesome.
A good indication that you will be in for a long wait on the tarmac is when they tell you that you can turn your cell phone back on. Cool. At least I can update my Facebook Status and Twitter so everyone can know how I am spending my time. Called my mom, who was sick and wasn’t very chatty. The BF was sleeping. That left some random emails to kill some time. Cut to 1.5 hours later, they finally told us we were next for take off. Of course at this point we had been on the runway in a horrendous rain and wind storm so I was scared for my life.
Take off was the most awful takeoff I have ever experienced. I was pretty sure my seat was not bolted to the floor. The kid sitting next to me was lucky I am a semi-decent flier and did not grab his hand with every bump we hit (there were a lot). The whole first hour of the flight was pretty much like an amusement park ride and I should warn you: I do not like amusement part rides.
We finally landed an hour later than expected in to a beautifully sunny Charlotte Airport. Clearly at this point my connecting flight to Ark was cruising comfortably at 36,000 feet and I was left at the ticket agent’s counter to find out my fate. I got a little preview when the man 2 people ahead of me said he was going to XNA and the agent said he was in for a long wait. Fabulous. I was thinking he was going to say 4pm. (it was currently 11:30am). Nope I was wrong, my flight didn’t depart until 7:50pm. 8 hours later!
On the plus side Charlotte is a pretty nice airport, they have free wi-fi (which goes a long way in my book), lovely white rocking chairs and a Jamba Juice! Could have been worse, I could have been stuck in LGA or XNA.
Sorry for the long post! But it was a long day!
A good indication that you will be in for a long wait on the tarmac is when they tell you that you can turn your cell phone back on. Cool. At least I can update my Facebook Status and Twitter so everyone can know how I am spending my time. Called my mom, who was sick and wasn’t very chatty. The BF was sleeping. That left some random emails to kill some time. Cut to 1.5 hours later, they finally told us we were next for take off. Of course at this point we had been on the runway in a horrendous rain and wind storm so I was scared for my life.
Take off was the most awful takeoff I have ever experienced. I was pretty sure my seat was not bolted to the floor. The kid sitting next to me was lucky I am a semi-decent flier and did not grab his hand with every bump we hit (there were a lot). The whole first hour of the flight was pretty much like an amusement park ride and I should warn you: I do not like amusement part rides.
We finally landed an hour later than expected in to a beautifully sunny Charlotte Airport. Clearly at this point my connecting flight to Ark was cruising comfortably at 36,000 feet and I was left at the ticket agent’s counter to find out my fate. I got a little preview when the man 2 people ahead of me said he was going to XNA and the agent said he was in for a long wait. Fabulous. I was thinking he was going to say 4pm. (it was currently 11:30am). Nope I was wrong, my flight didn’t depart until 7:50pm. 8 hours later!
On the plus side Charlotte is a pretty nice airport, they have free wi-fi (which goes a long way in my book), lovely white rocking chairs and a Jamba Juice! Could have been worse, I could have been stuck in LGA or XNA.
Sorry for the long post! But it was a long day!
January 4th- Starting the year off right!
It was decided that a great way to start the year would be with a team meeting to do some big thinking and get everyone amped up for 2010. And what better (read: inexpensive) place to have a meeting for 25 people? Vegas Baby!! So after a lovely 3 day weekend, I arrived at the office ready to take a limo van to JFK at the ungodly hour of 5:45 am. Obviously I was the last one to arrive. Arriving to JFK, it was a madhouse. Seriously wall to wall people and here we were with a group of 10 people. Not fun. On the plus side, we were flying Jet Blue out of T5 at JFK, which pretty much guarantees you a great experience!
Now we were only going for 3 days (Monday through Wednesday), so I find there is no need to check a pack. I come prepared with my Ziploc baggie of liquids (3oz or less obvi) and my rollerbooard bag that is the max size allowed. One person (who shall remained unnamed, even though he knows who he his! (Shout out!)) failed to bring a bag that met the carryon requirement and needed to check. Tsk Tsk. Checking baggage for a trip under a week is now something I deem unacceptable. I am actually amazed that I am able to travel so frequently without checking a bag. My how I am growing up!
Now we were only going for 3 days (Monday through Wednesday), so I find there is no need to check a pack. I come prepared with my Ziploc baggie of liquids (3oz or less obvi) and my rollerbooard bag that is the max size allowed. One person (who shall remained unnamed, even though he knows who he his! (Shout out!)) failed to bring a bag that met the carryon requirement and needed to check. Tsk Tsk. Checking baggage for a trip under a week is now something I deem unacceptable. I am actually amazed that I am able to travel so frequently without checking a bag. My how I am growing up!
Recap of January 2010
Since I am starting this blog because of the random travel stories I have, I figured I would provide a recap of some 2010 Highlights. These are just a few of the many but worth noting (in my mind!)
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
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