I don't see how anyone travels by air these days what with having to take your shoes off, be body scanned, take everything out of your luggage to have it examined -- then even when your baggage goes through, the TSA people go through it and completely mess it up then leave a note in your bag that they had to go through it for your safety.
I used to be able to stuff 75 pounds worth of American food and treats in my luggage but now the weight limit has been cut to 50 pounds AND you can only take one bag for free.
My husband meticulously weighed our suitcases and redistributed items to get everything just so.
We got to the New Orleans airport (after stopping off for a huge last Southern lunch of fried catfish and shrimp and a walk along the lake) and confidently put a bag on the scales.
"It weighs 51 pounds," the woman at the Delta check-in desk announced. "That'll be 175 dollars for going overweight or you need to take something out of there."
She hassled us over ONE POUND! This is modern-day air travel, I'm afraid. We took the suitcase down, took out a bag of 8 O'Clock Coffee (our favorite brand) and successfully got the luggage down to 50 pounds.
Then the airplane was two hours late and we barely made the London flight, but that's another story....
12 comments:
I am a frequent traveler, and the airport use to be such a fun part of the trip... not anymore. Now I just grin and bear it until I'm outside my arrival airport!
I've traveled for decades and it's becoming increasingly more difficult and trying. I LOVE being new countries and exploring the world - it's getting there that stinks! It's just another thing that's going to the dogs. Pity.
Thank you for your comments! I love it when new people comment. Well, 'cross the pond, you've been in before but I am so glad to see you again.
And thank you to Art for speaking up!
What happened to the bag of coffee? Next time, try Community Coffee, the favorite in Natchez. It might have changed your luck.
I hope you didn't have to leave the Eight O'Clock Coffee behind!
Community is the favorite NO coffee in DC also.
Air travel is enough of a pain that I don't consider airplanes for anything less than 500 miles. It only takes the smallest excuse for me to drive to visit my daughter at college instead of flying, and thats 2200 miles. It raises my carbon footprint to drive, but air travel is just too disappointing. (Yeah, I've been busted for the 1 pound over with two bags. I moved a book from one bag to the other and they were fine.)
Talk about carbon footprints, Jim -- our Delta flight from New Orleans to Minnesota was overloaded with fuel and couldn't take off so we just sat on the runway while they burned it off. To think how we try to make our little contributions like taking a bus rather than driving a car into town (I do this) but this one act by the Delta flight is so bad as to wipe out any of my contributions.
We had Community coffee and 8 o'clock coffee to bring back. Is Community considered better? I thought 8 o'clock was considered the best coffee ever. I'll drink either whenever I can and be totally grateful as it is unavailable in UK/Europe.
I vote with the Community-brand peeps! Over the years we've tried all sorts of fancy coffees---brought back fresh Kona beans from Hawaii, ordered Ethiopian Harrar, etc., but in the end, good ol' Community "Between Roast" (not too dark, not to mild) is what we always come back to.
As you've met and enjoyed the company of Andre and Ed Wills, you'll like this: Ed roasts his own specially-ordered beans, in a hot-air popcorn-popper! He dumps 'em in raw, turns the gadget on, and the smell is heavenly as they toast up. The spent hulls pop off (fun to watch) and it's the freshest coffee you'll ever taste. But I be too lazy to go through all that every morning...
Oh---but this post was supposed to be airline-Hell-themed, wasn't it? Well, I certainly have had my share of Horrible Airport Tales, being on the Terror Watch List and interrogated impolitely on both my recent trips to Italy, but y'know? It's still better than staying home!
It's all how you look at it. Flying these days is like childbirth---an inconvenient, painful necessity that produces a nice reward, eventually.
I just roll with the body-scans, wear easily-removable shoes, pack lightly, and order lots of cocktails!
If ya like it strong, try Illy Dark Roast [the can with the brown band]. But for average-joe, Chock Full o'Nuts is still a heavenly coffee.
Give me a nice strong cup of tea and a digestive biscuit any day :)
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