Travel Jitters
May. 24th, 2004 02:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pameladeanUpdate: Before the dithering, rather than at the end of the entry as is traditional.
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minnehaha B sensibly asked me where I had heard such a silly story about checked baggage, so I went to the website where I'd seen it, planning to provide the URL, and found the assertion clean vanished. It was Orbitz, and they are redoing their site, which may or may not explain anything.
Despite now feeling very silly, I have to say that no matter what kind of nonsense I post here, I am always charmed and delighted by the little vignettes people provide when they answer my questions. I loved getting tiny glimpses of people's recent travel. And you are all very kind indeed.
The original entry follows in all its loopy glory.
I continue to despise the Bush Administration and all its works. And I do mean all, all, all.
In lesser but more immediate news:
In a burst of financial irresponsibility, I am going to visit Eric from June 5th through June 12th. We have a lot of clever plans to minimize spending money, and in fact I think that they will work. However, one can only get as cheap a plane ticket as is on offer -- and the $153 round-trip offer from United turned out to be some kind of glitch, utterly unreal. Anyway, I've bought an actual ticket, it's non-refundable, I'm committed, and I'm not sorry.
I'm just stressed. Actual frequent travellers, can you tell me, is it in fact the case that there is a law requiring that passengers be reunited with their baggage at the end of every flight, so that if one is changing flights on the same airline one must retrieve one's baggage and then recheck it for the next flight? And if this is so, are any concessions being made to the fact that it's almost always a huge trek to and from gates to baggage claim, and that some people (me, with my cheap ticket, say) have only a 45-minute layover to begin with, and the security people reserve the right to refuse to check your baggage if you appear before them less than half an hour before flight time?
Yeah, I could call the airline, but calling the airline has never worked very well for me. Their website doesn't say anything about it. I'll do that if I have to.
I have evolved a nice comfy method of packing that involves putting most of my stuff in checked luggage and forgetting about it until I reach my destination. My suitcase can be carried on, but I really, really don't want to do that. I hate airplanes, I hate flying, if I have to get on one of the damnable machines I want to just shove my bag of essentials under the seat as quickly as possible and settle in to be inconvenienced for three hours. I'm too short to see into the overhead bins and sometimes too short to heave a suitcase up into them. The great thing about my current packing arrangements is that I can do everything by myself -- the suitcase has wheels and a little handle and will trundle obediently over almost any surface. I don't want to lug it and the knapsack onto the bloody plane. I don't want to be asking strangers to put it into the overhead bin. (It will fit under some airline seats but not all.)
I have never found a set of tips on packing light that was of any use to me whatsoever. I need to be comfortable on the plane, not to wear my hiking boots and my heavy clothes that take up a lot of room. I need to take stuff with me, not spend extra money buying more of it when I arrive. I need to bring food, since there's no guarantee that I can eat what's on offer and I can't afford to buy it anyway. That is to say, I my bag of essentials is pretty hefty already; adding a suitcase just messes me up.
When I had this nice streamlined arrangement that worked for me, I could almost forget how much I hate, hate, hate flying. But now I'm remembering.
I'm pretty sure that a lot of this panic is caused by previous underlying and ongoing stress of other sorts. I really need to be able to just go on automatic for the trip. But it looks like they want to hand me a manual transmission with a dodgy clutch.
People should feel free to offer suggestions, but I may just ignore them. I'm not up to explaining why I need to take this or that and then arguing over whether I really do need to do so.
Pamela
minnehaha B sensibly asked me where I had heard such a silly story about checked baggage, so I went to the website where I'd seen it, planning to provide the URL, and found the assertion clean vanished. It was Orbitz, and they are redoing their site, which may or may not explain anything.Despite now feeling very silly, I have to say that no matter what kind of nonsense I post here, I am always charmed and delighted by the little vignettes people provide when they answer my questions. I loved getting tiny glimpses of people's recent travel. And you are all very kind indeed.
The original entry follows in all its loopy glory.
I continue to despise the Bush Administration and all its works. And I do mean all, all, all.
In lesser but more immediate news:
In a burst of financial irresponsibility, I am going to visit Eric from June 5th through June 12th. We have a lot of clever plans to minimize spending money, and in fact I think that they will work. However, one can only get as cheap a plane ticket as is on offer -- and the $153 round-trip offer from United turned out to be some kind of glitch, utterly unreal. Anyway, I've bought an actual ticket, it's non-refundable, I'm committed, and I'm not sorry.
I'm just stressed. Actual frequent travellers, can you tell me, is it in fact the case that there is a law requiring that passengers be reunited with their baggage at the end of every flight, so that if one is changing flights on the same airline one must retrieve one's baggage and then recheck it for the next flight? And if this is so, are any concessions being made to the fact that it's almost always a huge trek to and from gates to baggage claim, and that some people (me, with my cheap ticket, say) have only a 45-minute layover to begin with, and the security people reserve the right to refuse to check your baggage if you appear before them less than half an hour before flight time?
Yeah, I could call the airline, but calling the airline has never worked very well for me. Their website doesn't say anything about it. I'll do that if I have to.
I have evolved a nice comfy method of packing that involves putting most of my stuff in checked luggage and forgetting about it until I reach my destination. My suitcase can be carried on, but I really, really don't want to do that. I hate airplanes, I hate flying, if I have to get on one of the damnable machines I want to just shove my bag of essentials under the seat as quickly as possible and settle in to be inconvenienced for three hours. I'm too short to see into the overhead bins and sometimes too short to heave a suitcase up into them. The great thing about my current packing arrangements is that I can do everything by myself -- the suitcase has wheels and a little handle and will trundle obediently over almost any surface. I don't want to lug it and the knapsack onto the bloody plane. I don't want to be asking strangers to put it into the overhead bin. (It will fit under some airline seats but not all.)
I have never found a set of tips on packing light that was of any use to me whatsoever. I need to be comfortable on the plane, not to wear my hiking boots and my heavy clothes that take up a lot of room. I need to take stuff with me, not spend extra money buying more of it when I arrive. I need to bring food, since there's no guarantee that I can eat what's on offer and I can't afford to buy it anyway. That is to say, I my bag of essentials is pretty hefty already; adding a suitcase just messes me up.
When I had this nice streamlined arrangement that worked for me, I could almost forget how much I hate, hate, hate flying. But now I'm remembering.
I'm pretty sure that a lot of this panic is caused by previous underlying and ongoing stress of other sorts. I really need to be able to just go on automatic for the trip. But it looks like they want to hand me a manual transmission with a dodgy clutch.
People should feel free to offer suggestions, but I may just ignore them. I'm not up to explaining why I need to take this or that and then arguing over whether I really do need to do so.
Pamela
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no subject
Date: 2004-05-24 01:37 pm (UTC)No. The only time that EVER happens is when you return to the US from abroad. You have to claim your baggage and clear customs, and then give it back for your next flight.
But no, that does not happen normally. The airlines would not be able to do it even if the government wanted them to. Where did you hear such a rediculous rumor?
B
no subject
Date: 2004-05-24 02:03 pm (UTC)I feel very silly.
But I was going to believe you or K over any travel website any day, anyway.
Pamela
no subject
Date: 2004-05-24 02:24 pm (UTC)In any case, relax. Travelling is easy. Travelling by plane is easy. Don't worry about luggage restrictions; unless you're carrying heavy metal objects you're not going to hit the weight restriction. Pack whatever you want in your suitcases, pay the $3 for a cart, and check them. They'll magically appear at your destination.
Security is easy. Everything is fine. Don't worry about it.
B
no subject
Date: 2004-05-24 02:36 pm (UTC)If I can pack the way I've always packed, I don't have any problems other than the usual.
Orbitz may well have meant when clearing customs, but I'm pretty sure they messed up their text during website update. They were very flaky for a while there.
Not that I'm above misreading stuff, either. But I did check to make sure I was reading about domestic rather than international travel.
Pamela
no subject
Date: 2004-05-24 03:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-24 06:18 pm (UTC)Speaking of heavy metal objects, I didn't even hit the weight limit with the computer-monitor box that I'd packed various car parts (including a couple of wheels) in. I was quite proud of that one. But I was also being particularly careful that trip, and used a bathroom scale to check first.