Sign of the Times 2

So once again I find myself being forced to go on a business trip to Miami. Having learned my lesson last time (see Sign of the Times in Archives: Nov 2006), I decided to fly Southwest into Ft. Lauderdale.

Honestly the Super Bowl had absolutely nothing to do with the timing of my trip.

As I pulled up to curbside checkin, I again noticed the line for Southwest was double and more the line for the other carrier I flew to Miami last time, but I was not afraid. With my new perspective I saw why the Southwest curbside line moved so fast – Southwest had six people working the curbside checkin instead of two for the other carrier. Just to keep score, I paced myself against a person who arrived at the other checkin. By the time I was cleared there were three people ahead of him. This was a good sign.

Thanks to Southwest's aggressive fuel hedging strategies, I was able to check in a 57 pound suitcase with clothes for two weeks without public humiliation. This was a good sign.

Once again I was taking an evening flight across the country. The flight left on time. This was a good sign.

Unlike my previous trip, I was surprised to learn that I was going to be on the same plane all the way. That was new and different for a seasoned Southwest flyer who is used to at least two plane changes going from west coast to east coast. This was a VERY GOOD sign.

While reading the in flight magazine I learned that Southwest now flies to Hawaii. In view of the turmoil affecting the rest of the carriers flying to Hawaii I thought this was a very good sign for me, but is going to be a very bad sign for the carriers who have been abusing passengers going to Hawaii for years.

The last time I flew to Miami, I was not allowed to bring a submarine sandwich and coffee on board because it was dangerous. About the only thing I saw that was dangerous, was the fat gram and the sodium levels. But the FAA was sure that there was a possibility that I could have used the sandwich to beat the aircrew into submission and taken over the flight.

So this time I didn’t buy a sandwich and felt like an idiot as the rest of the seasoned Southwest fliers paraded onto the plane carrying sandwiches, pizzas, Chinese plate dinners and coffee. All I was going to have eat for the long haul would be a couple bags of airline peanuts. This was not a good sign, but I blame this one on stupidity of the same person that banned toe nail clippers as a threat to national security.

The flight left LAX on time and everything was smooth sailing until we got to Texas and we encountered turbulence. There always seems to be turbulence over Texas so it was no big thing as far as I was concerned. As usual, the beverage service was stopped before the got to me. But before I could get too upset, the pilots just took the plane up to 41,000 feet until they were over the turbulence and then the beverage service continued. This was a good sign.

Of course there is no movie on a Southwest flight, but the seat and the reading light worked. I had a good book, and glass of passable wine. This was a good sign.

I got to Ft. Lauderdale. It was dark. It was late. It was raining. It always seems to be raining whenever I go to Florida. I am still waiting for proof the motto "The Sunshine State" on the license plates is justified.

Unlike Miami, the car rental concession is connected to the terminal, so I was able to make my way dry and unaccosted to my rental car. No panhandlers, no verbal abuse, no flashing. This was a good sign.