Wednesday, April 2, 2014

So Much for the Day One Itinerary

March 29, 2014

This year we decided to fly rather than drive to Florida.  It was a little more expense but Kristi found a pretty good "fly with rental car" deal.  It was still more expensive, but when you think of the gas and the depreciation the extra miles would add, it made it close enough to bite the bullet and fly.

We have done this before, but maybe only once or twice.  After leaving Alex, we headed to Detroit to stay the night before heading to the Detroit Airport for a 10:53 flight.  We had a bad experience with Spirit Airlines before and swore we would never fly them again, but Kristi really wanted to fly and this was the best deal we had seen.  It seemed worth the risk.  If it weren't so aggravating, it would be comical, but the night before we flew, I had a thought that Spirit probably had a different weight limit for luggage than the rest of the industry.  We have traveled to many places and flown many times.  The baggage limit is always 50 pounds.  We have a luggage scale so we can make sure we have the correct weight.  Well, as we were getting ready to check our luggage, Kristi noticed a little sign the indicated that with Spirit your initial baggage fee was for bags up to 40 pounds.  My premonition foretold the reality that is Spirit Airlines.

We made a few adjustments, threw more in the carry-ons (which also cost) and headed for the gate.  The luggage thing was an inconvenience, but we managed.  Everything else looked as if it was going to go as planned.  It was not long before we were notified that the flight would be delayed about an hour.  We were picking up my mom from her cousin who was bringing her up to meet us.  I called and let her know we were going to be late.  They ended up bringing her all the way to the airport.

Our itinerary included picking up mom and stopping by Parkesdale Farms for strawberry shortcake on our way to the condo.  With an hour delay and them deciding to bring mom all the way to the airport, we could adjust but still meet the itinerary plan.  About an hour later, they started to board the plane.  We were actually in line, and they announced we were going to be delayed another hour.  Those who had already boarded came off.  There was bad weather and back-ups at the Tampa Airport.  This process happened again about an hour later.  This time everyone was on the plane before they announced the delay.  Our 10:53 am flight finally took off at 3:00 pm.  That put is in Tampa about 5:30.  No shortcake today!

Once we retrieved our luggage we headed for the rental car desk.  There was a long line and it was taking each person a long time at the desk.  Our long travel day got even longer as we waited about an hour and a half to get our rental car.  So, we finally arrived at our condo in Kissimmee about 9:30 pm.  We were tired and frustrated that our plans didn't work out, but grateful that we finally made it to the warmth of Florida.

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