Travel Diary

We arose early and Serena drove Tony and me to the airport. A nice sunrise was on the horizon, which seems to take place every morning out there (from my limited experience). At the airport, it almost seemed like we had never left it as everything was just as it was a few days prior. Since Tony’s ticket was acquired through my companion fare discount, it was on my phone, so I had to go through the regular TSA line (first time in a long time) but it wasn’t much longer. I mainly just had to remove my laptop and take off my shoes. The inhumanity!

For boarding, we both got to board early since I was MVP75K, but I had not received any upgrade to first class, and that was strange since there were four seats open during the first check in period, and my name was at the top of the list. Still, we were in premium and no one had taken the middle seat once the doors had closed. Therefore, it was still fairly roomy. However…

A flight attendant then came to our row and asked if I was James. I said yes, and she offered to move me into an open first class seat. I think I was supposed to be there all along, but the system just never updated and let me know. No matter. I said so long to Tony and moved up, which left him in a row to himself. I don’t think he minded that too much.

Up in the air, I took photos of the ground beneath us and soon was offered a drink. I selected a mimosa. It was early in the morning, but I wasn’t driving anywhere and it was a long flight. Breakfast was the egg quiche arrangement with potatoes and sausage, plus yogurt, fruit and croissant. Decent, not award-winning. I ate what I could.

Time passed and we were soon landing in cloudy Seattle. Once off the plane, I helped Tony find his next gate, although that was an ordeal. You see, we had to both take the connector train to D Gate, which I often get off at, although since I always leave the airport then, I take the stairs to the right. And well, that exits security (the stairs to the left stay inside it). I just didn’t consider that. But both Tony and I were then in the baggage area and that was NOT where he needed to be. Uh oh.

I quickly hurried him to the security lines, but they were long. His flight was booked to leave then, but did get delayed (hurrah for delays sometimes!) yet the line would likely still take too long. So I went to a worker at the end, and explained how Tony’s flight was late and he was going to miss his next one. The worker simply asked to see his boarding pass and then moved him to the front. Never hurts to ask. At that point, I departed.

But I was still very apprehensive about his flight. I hated to see him miss it since it would cost a lot of money and time to get another one, and it might have been due to my mistake. But he wasn’t responding to texts, so there was no way to know. I took an Uber home, but checked the flight status several times. It was delayed again, though not by much, and soon it had taken off. If he was on board, I did not know.

Back at home, I still hadn’t gotten word, so I napped for a few hours. He had then texted and said he’d made the flight and the next one and was on his way home. That was great news, although I was shocked he elected to take THREE flights to get home, but some folks love saving money. No harm in that if you’re okay with what it sometimes takes.

I was happy it worked out all right and went back to sleep.