BABY BOOMER MISSION CREEP: AIR TRAVEL

You Know How To Tell Time, So Does The Airport.

Do Not Stop And Smell The Coconuts. via David Gillaspie

Air travel asks one thing: Can you be on time?

Successful travel is that easy, and that complicated.

After an extended road trip in a rental car you don’t want to miss the plane home.

Who knows what happens if you miss that flight, but do you really want to extend an extended trip?

Probably not.

So do your best to avoid fees, charges, and the looks that say, “You’re late? Really?”

Some tactics to use when the clock won’t stop ticking.

1. You’ve got extra food in a cooler, a styrofoam cooler.

You’ve seen others travel with coolers and wondered why?

Good Boy Scouts remember their motto. Being prepared on long drives require a cooler. That’s where you keep the beer, sliced meet, and cheese.

You can’t be more prepared than that.

On the morning of your flight home you decide to leave the leftovers with friends in the area.

It’s a great idea to leave good food instead of throwing it away, but do it the night before.

Making the plane on time means avoiding this mission creep. What to do? Leave the cooler at the front desk. They’ll pass it on to other travelers.

Everything opened goes in the trash.

What about reusing, recycling, or re-purposing?

Dump the extras and be on time, no matter how much it hurts.

2. The rental car is almost out of gas and you don’t see a station anywhere.

Follow the signs to the rental return and look for a gas station on the way.

The low fuel alarm sounds? Ignore it.

Do you drive until you find a station and risk running out of gas, or return the car empty and get gouged by the agency’s price per gallon?

Take it to the agency and make your flight.

A $60 fill-up the night before after dropping the cooler off would have worked, but today you’re making the plane.

Besides, the agency gas isn’t the highest price you’ve ever seen.

3. If someone in your travel party has issues walking the airport concourses, reserve a wheelchair. 

Do this ahead of time, like when you make ticket reservations.

Show up at the right terminal on time, check in at the bank of computer screens, print your boarding passes, check your luggage, then wait for the wheelchair attendant.

One advantage of traveling with someone who needs a wheelchair for the long walks is moving to the front of the security line.

You’ve seen that move before and felt the way you do with every line jumper. Do they deserve to go first? Of course.

If you’re in the group with the wheelchair, don’t make eye contact with the people standing in line. That’s asking for trouble.

Any expression you think you’re giving is wrong every time. They see smug and self-satisfied like the wise guys who wave at traffic jam cars from the fast lane and say, “So long, suckers.”

The wheelchair also comes into play boarding the plane. Your group goes on first instead of struggling in the crowd on wobbly legs.

The next time you hear people complaining about lack of manners in modern society, they aren’t talking about you. That’s how it is when you’re on time.

When anything can make you late, cut loose the obstacles.

What have you dumped for the sake of timeliness?