Travel Lessons Learned

I spent last week in Orlando on vacation with my family. I got to spend time with my niece and goddaughter Katie. She is 17-months old and while she tends to be cranky and has a habit of hitting people in the face, she is absolutely adorable.

I had a wonderful time while I was there visiting Disney World and the Universal Parks, but getting there wasn’t nearly as much fun. I booked my flights through Orbitz and chose the cheapest fair. That was my mistake and it ended up costing me more in the long run.

My flight to Orlando had a layover in Washington (which I didn’t mind so much). My mistake was that each leg was on a different carrier. I flew to DC on Delta. My flight to Orlando was on United. Unfortunately, because Dick Cheney flew into JFK, to meet the Pope and the Pope then left for Rome, the airport was shut down. My flight was delayed for 2 hours and I missed my connection, the last flight of the night to Orlando. Since my connection was on another airline that was my problem not theirs. I did get a coupon for a hotel discount. Woo Hoo. They told me it would take 3 hours to get my checked bag, so I had no clean clothes for the next day. I was able to take a shower and get a toothbrush from the hotel, but then I had to put the same dirty clothes on the next morning.

So lessons learned: 1. Never book connecting flights on different airlines. 2. Pack a change of underwear and socks in your carry on. 3. Never fly out of the same airport as the Pope.