Julie’s News from Maryland

I think I mentioned that in a couple of weeks I’m going to Virginia for a friend’s ordination. Another friend and I are traveling together and, being the thorough kinds of people that we are, we researched our travel options. It seemed that the two cheapest and easiest options would be either flying or renting a car using my zipcar membership. In fact, the cost was comparable.

The drive is about 6 or 7 hours. The total time for flying is almost the same: 1 1/2 hours travel time to the airport, at least 1 hour in the airport, 1 1/2 hours flying time, 1/2 our to get our luggage, 1/2 hour to get from the airport to our hotel, which totals 5 hours (provided that everything goes as planned). When we added it up, we decided that driving was probably the best option, since it gives us more flexibility and control over our schedule, plus we don’t have to schlep our luggage 4 blocks to the subway and then on 2 different trains to get to the airport.

After I flew to Virginia last week, I started to wonder if we had made the wrong choice by deciding to drive. My trip was so smooth and simple, we took off on time, we landed on time, my luggage came super fast and I was out of there super quick. I began to second guess our choice and I even started pricing flights to see if I could get us a last minute deal on a flight. But then, there was the flight home. I checked the flight status 10 minutes before leaving for the airport and the plane was on time. While I was eating dinner at the terminal, the flight status changed to 10 minutes late, then it went to 40 minutes late. By the time we boarded the plane we were more than an hour late. We taxied out to the runway and learned that we would be waiting there for at least an hour. The pilot had learned that there was a possibility that we’d be held up in the air and had decided that he’d rather wait on the ground than in the air, so there we sat. We finally took off, 2/12 hours after our scheduled time. And, then, about 1/2 hour into an hour flight, the captain noted that our landing had been held and we were turning in circles. We finally landed almost 3 hours late. It was miserable. I was so tired by the time we landed. And, at that very moment, I was so grateful that we are going to drive to Virginia next week.

I have flown 4 times in the last 4 months. On at least one leg of each of the trips my flight has been delayed by at least an hour. Half the time the times I’ve been on planes, there has been some sort of delay - usually blamed on various weather related events.  I’ve started to realize that I no longer have confidence that the airline will get me to and from where I am going without some sort of problem and delay.