There’s a number of reasons why I love my day job (the one that keeps me fed until RF starts giving me a paycheck), but the #1 reason is probably the fact that I only work four days a week. Fridays are all mine and I’ve used that to my advantage by flying out of San Antonio International at ungodly early hours on Friday mornings. Its perfect — the lines are nonexistent and the fares are cheap. But since Crimson Trace was picking up the tab on this flight I was at the mercy of their travel agent who picked a Saturday 8 AM departure and at the same time reminded me of the reason why I cherish my Friday departures so much . . .
The lead picture there is the security line this morning. What normally takes less than three minutes took about 45 minutes today, which was merely a minor inconvenience for me rather than the absolute disaster it was for a shockingly high number of people in line.
Personally, I always assume Murphy’s Law is about to kick me square in the nuts. It’s the same mentality that makes me keep a toolkit and full medic kit in the trunk of my car and has saved my ass more than once. In this case it made me show up for the flight a full two and a half hours before it departed. Whenever I fly with my guns I always like to give myself an extra hour on top of the hour and a half I usually take just in case I need to jump through any unexpected hoops. But it seems like the people I was in line with didn’t share that approach to air travel.
The woman who was just in front of me showed up 45 minutes before the plane departed. If she’d been a first time traveler I could understand it, but this was one of those “jetsetting business executive” types who’s constantly in motion and should know better. Heck, even if she had the best case scenario of airport experiences she’d still just make it as they were starting to board the plane with no time to spare. In this case she completely missed her flight and was having a complete meltdown right there in line and screaming at everyone she could find.
The major inconvenience for me came at the check-in counter. It cost me a whopping $150 to check my luggage through to Portland, all of which was coming out of my own pocket (just like the $250 registration fee, along with ammo and other supplies for this gig). I’m probably going to ship most of it back home and save myself some cash (since I won’t need my mixing board or competition equipment ASAP when I land back in SA) but it was still a painful experience. The things we do to bring you guys the best gun coverage in the world….
Anyway, I’m now sitting at an airport bar, drinking some Shiner Ruby Redbird, charging my various devices and mooching off someone else’s wifi connection and browsing Reddit while typing up this article. If all goes well, I’ll be landing in Portland around 1 PM (after a quick stop in Phoenix) where I will be met by Chris Dumm and Joe Grine for what’s shaping up to be an awesome four day weekend. Keep an eye on the site, as we’ll have pictures and video of the whole thing for your entertainment.
I flew out of San Antonio early on a Thursday morning and it was the same situation, with the same people who failed to plan ahead.
But Shiner Ruby Redbird makes it all okay.
I’ve flown out of San Antonio three times in the past 4 months. 2 times there was no line at all I’m security. The last time was on Friday (and only time I was there before noon) and there was a line that snaked the entire length of the non-secure side of the terminal. Took over an hour to get through… thankfully I had 2 hours, but nearly everyone in line had seemingly minutes. No idea why it was so busy…very frustrating.
I dont know what you and Nick are smoking, that grapefruit shit beer is nasty. I’ll take their Blonde any day.
if you get an AMEX Platinum card, you get free access to a number of airport lounges . . . .
I now only fly if there’s no way I can avoid it — not only is getting to the plane a PITA — but hours spent in a near fetal position couch seat, particularly if one’s “lottery” draws a large-ish (or worse) person next to you, pressed up against them feeling their body heat coming through your clothing, is cruel and unusual punishment. So you sit there increasingly uncomfortable with each passing minute, ruminating on how the airline just whacked you with a bunch of usurious fees so the can make their Travelocity / Orbitz fare look deceivingly competitive.
No thanks, I don’t want to support that business model.
So I’ll fly for business only if I can’t get out of it, and I vacation only within driving distance.
I feel the same way. As soon as I can get my car to go 600 mph, I’ll never fly again.
I fly for work 3-4 times per year, maybe more next year. If there were any other way feasible, I would take it–to include burning personal leave to take my own car. I love driving my car as much as I hate flying commercial air.
Once you’ve enjoyed the convenience of military air travel (where “checking your weapons” means “muzzle down and clear the chamber, dude”), it’s hard to fly commercially.
I’ve been pretty lucky where I live–my business travel has almost all been by charter, and boy, what a way to travel! No lines, no security, no waiting. I’ve never flown on a business jet, but let me tell you that a King Air is heaven!
It’s always great to get back to Portland Oregon. I head out to Otto’s Sausage Kitchen for their pork sausage cooked in beer and then grilled, and a microbrew.
R/guns high five!
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