By The Time I Get To Phoenix - Part 2

Friday arrived and I went to pick up Jonathan for our trip. We left so that we’d have plenty of time to get to Lambert Airport in St Louis. We made great time on the trip. We made such good time that we had time to stop at Krispy Kreme in Fairview Heights for some doughnuts! We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. We got to the D Lot (the cheapest one). One of the shuttle bus drivers flagged us down as we went in and pointed out a parking spot in the crowded lot. We shuttled to the Terminal we were to fly out on. We got through security just fine. I was reminded that each terminal at Lambert has its own security. In other words, you cannot freely move from terminal to terminal like you can at some airports. The big effect of this is it really limits your food choices. I also discovered that there is now an entire terminal devoted almost exclusively to Southwest. This is a big change from the old days at Lambert when it was primarily a TWA hub. An issue with the Southwest terminal there is while there are plenty of charging stations, they don’t have many that take just a pure USB connection – you have to have some sort of AC connector.

The time of our flight finally arrived. We lined up in our assigned position. We both got our desired aisle seats. The original plan was for the plane to take off from St Louis after 7:00pm, stop at Love Field in Dallas and then take back off for Phoenix. Once we landed at Dallas, we were informed that we would actually exit the plane and get on another plane for Phoenix. Jonathan made the statement “Boy, I hope our luggage doesn’t end up lost now”. I hoped he wasn’t prophetic. We got off the plane in Dallas. I was somewhat disappointed to see all the great eating establishments there at Love Field. There was a Whattaburger! If I had only known, I would have waited to eat. I knew better though not to eat any more with another flight ahead of me. Southwest did let the fifteen or so of us that had come from St Louis board first so we got good upfront aisle seats. This flight went well but our whole trip was about the change for the worse.

We got off the plane and headed to baggage check. After all the bags had come out, there was no sign of either one of ours. I headed to the Southwest Baggage office while Jonathan continued to scour baggage claim for our luggage. I was not impressed by the Baggage office. There was a young lady who was told “There is nothing we can do for you tonight”. She tried to impress on them that she had to have her luggage for work several hours later – it was after midnight at this point – and they seemed very unsympathetic. However, after she walked off, both of the employees seemed obsessed with getting luggage delivered to someone. I kept hearing “she’s from Anthem” over and over again. They totally ignored me. I finally saw Jonathan waving at me. It turned out our luggage had come in on an earlier STL to PHX flight and had been stashed in the area for unclaimed bags. It was very fortunate he even bothered to look in that area. I found out later that per the “Contract of Carriage” they are allowed to do this (send luggage on a different flight). I still don’t understand why though. I know that flight was totally full (I checked on changing to that earlier flight).

So, we now have our luggage and we now have to catch a shuttle to the “Rental Car Center”. It took about ten minutes to get there. We arrive at the Enterprise Counter to only find a sign telling us to head downstairs to the Enterprise car area to get our car. We get to the bottom of the stairs and find a huge line. There was one woman working that counter and it was moving super slow. She left and a young man arrived. He took care of one customer and then left for another woman to arrive. What I didn’t understand is why it wasn’t “all hands on deck” to try and process people as fast as they could. After 45 MINUTES, we finally got our (a nice Chevy Impala) rental car and headed for Glendale.

It was 1:15am by now. I hadn’t been up this late in I don’t know how long. Fortunately, we made it to our hotel with no issues. On the way to the hotel (Hampton Inn Glendale), our route took us right by University of Phoenix Stadium. That made me totally happy again to see that and anticipate the game later that day. We got to our hotel and after waiting a few minutes for the guy at the front desk to return and open the front door, we got checked in and crashed out.

Would things get better? You’ll find out in my next blog post.

Mouse Nation

I've spent the last few days in "Mouse Nation" (what I've always called Orlando). I generally go to a Microsoft Exchange gathering each year(ExchangeConnections) to learn all I can cram in my head about email.

I drove down to Nashville and went to worship at my 2nd church home (Lebanon Road church of Christ). Adam Faughn did his usual fine job with a lesson on the role of older ladies in the church. I went to the airport from there. Again, I used Southwest's curbside check in and got in and through security in less than 10 minutes. I got to again enjoy a leisurely lunch at O'Charleys. I was A34, so I got to grab a nice aisle seat and the trip went fine. I drove to the Hyatt Grand Cypress (right on the edge of Disneyworld) to register for the convention.

I checked into my hotel (Homewood Suites) and then headed for evening worship at Kissimmee church of Christ. This is where I attend when I am in the Orlando area. It's about a 20 minute drive from the Disney area and I heartily recommend it to anyone looking for a place to worship while in the Disney area.

I generally never stay in the host hotel in Orlando. One, its right on the border of the Mouse plantation so it's generally packed. Two, I really like staying in Homewood Suites and I can get a bigger room with free breakfast for less money. When I got there Monday morning, I was surprised to find many parking spots (this generally is never the case). I could tell upon going in that attendance was really down. I later found out it was about one third of what is normally is. There are always vendor displays each year. Normally, there are more than 30. This year, there were TWELVE. There were not nearly as many sessions as normal to pick from and several of the speakers whose sessions I always like to go to (Paul Robichaux, Devin Granger, Jim McBee and Steve Riley) were not there.

That said, I still picked up a lot of knowledge both from the session speakers and fellow attendees. The food they provided was really good. They normally do box lunches on the last day, but they did a cookout this year that was excellent. It was still a good conference but just not nearly up to snuff as previous years.

Random notes

• I went to Tony Roma's Monday night and couldn't resist the temptation of all you can eat ribs. It was great. I could barely waddle back to my hotel room afterwards though.
  
• I got to see the UK win over UNLV. It didn't start til 9:30 Eastern though so I was up til 11:30pm (way past my bedtime). I had to get up for a busy day at 6:30am, be there by 8:00 and stay til after 6. I was tired when I got back that night, but fortunately, Homewood Suites puts out a light dinner every night. I was able to get hot dogs and chips and that was fine for me that night.
  
• The weather was great. It was 90 when I got off the plane. It felt really good to be warm all week. Running outside in the warmer weather each morning makes it really easy to get loose. When I got off the plane in Nashville and was waiting for my shuttle to Economy parking, I was pretty cold (even though it was in the high fifties) since I'd gotten used to Orlando weather.
  
• I went to Kobe's Japanese Steak House before Bible Study Wednesday night. I found out that they are not kidding when they say that grill is hot! I was reaching for my container of sauces and touched the tip of my finger to the grill. Ye-o-ow. No lasting damage though..
  
• The crowds in Orlando in general were down as well. I guess all the talk of "the economy" has people scared.
  
• I managed to get A19 for my trip home so I got a good aisle seat again. The Southwest Terminal in Orlando is fabulous. Generally at an airport, people are scrounging for power outlets for their laptops. Not here. They had numerous counters with outlets and even USB connections to charge your laptops and phones (for free). They even had padded chairs with outlets next to them in great supply. And there was free wireless Internet (not the usual 4.95 to 9.95 you pay at other places). I still don't know why other airlines don't copy Southwest more. Right now, I'm sold on them. I am just about to the point of driving to Nashville for all my plane trips for the combination of attending at Lebanon Road and flying Southwest.

It was great to get home Thursday afternoon. I brought Zaxby's from Clarksville home for us (they have fabulous chicken strips). I wish someone would open one of these in Paducah.

Southwest is best...

I ended up having to switch a travel itinerary for the week of October 26th from Houston to LA (Culver City to be specific) because the Houston class was cancelled. Needless to say, getting a flight of Barkley that late was no good, so I went out of Nashville. The best itinerary to fit my needs was Southwest. I've only flown them one time ever and that was ten years ago so I didn't know what to expect.

I was very pleasantly surprised. First, I had to change to earlier flight on my return trip to get home in time for Josh's Senior Night at the football game (he was being recognized for cross country). I was delighted to find I only had to pay the difference in fare and not the additional 150.00 fee most airlines charge to change flights.

Second, you are able to check in and print boarding passes very easily. Most people probably realize this, but you are seated in the order you check in. You can do this 24 hours in advance. I waited a bit too long because I forgot (I was at a XC meet and was also distraught because of Kentucky's rout at the hand of Florida). I still got in the B group (A is the best, then B and C means you'll probably be sitting in a middle seat). On the day before coming home, I was able to checkin precisely 24 hours before departure and got in the coveted A group. I was able to do that from my Blackberry very easily.

I drove down early and went to the congregation where Adam Faughn preaches (Lebanon Road). He was gone but their youth minister did a very good job filling in. I went to the Young Adult Bible class by invitation (even though I don't really qualify any more). Once that was done, I was at the airport parking lot in 10 minutes.

Southwest's curbside luggage check was quick, easy and free! I just showed my boarding pass and ID and I was out in less than two minutes. No fooling with the ticket counter at all! Also, Southwest charges no baggage fee for the first or even the second bag.

I got through security in less than 10 minutes. I had plenty of time to eat a leisurely meal at the O'Charleys in the Nashville Airport.

When you prepare to board you actually line in a line next to columns with your number on them. I was B 43 so when they called for the B group, I got in line next to the 41-45 column. They take 1-30 first then 31-60. I still managed to snag an aisle seat. Some people don't like this type of first come first served seating. I do like it. I generally have to make my flight reservations weeks in advance or face the risk of getting a middle seat for a long flight. This way I don't have to do that.

On the plane, we got the usual sodas (several times). We also got snacks. Free snacks. Multiple times. On a 4 hour flight, this is really nice.

I came back on Halloween. Most of their gates was covered in Halloween decorations. Numerous employees were in costumes. It may seem corny, but it brought a smile to many of us while traveling.

I read where Southwest is always one of the most profitable airlines. I cannot understand why other airlines (who seem to constantly lose money) don't use them as a business model.