Yesterday morning, at the ridiculous hour of 5:30 AM, I arrived at the Buffalo airport, ready to check in at Northwest for my 6:49 AM flight to Tampa.
However, things quickly took a turn for the worse. When I attempted to check in at the electronic kiosk, the kiosk didn't recognize my confirmation number. So, I made my way up to the counter and gave them the confirmation number. No record. But then, they went digging based on my last name, and voila we found my reservation. Just one small problem: it was for Sunday the 28th, not Thursday the 25th. Evidently, I made a grevious date error when I booked my reservation on-line. My personal theory on that one was that I may have inadvertantly scrolled the date.
Of course, this being Memorial Day weekend, Northwest had absolutely no seats available - until Sunday. gack...
So, I grabbed my luggage and schlepped it down to the United counter. They did have a seat, but it would have cost $550 and wouldn't get me into Tampa until 5:00 PM and I needed to meet up with the incoming-from-Alaska-Ski Boy at Noon at the Tampa airport. But the United flight did make a good fall back position. So, I decided I could shop around a bit more. I dragged my luggage down to the Southwest counter. Lo and behold, they had room on a direct flight to Tampa that left at 6:45 AM for the bargin price of $225 - and I would arrive in Tampa at 10:45 AM. SOLD!!!
I bought my ticket, checked my luggage and scurried off to the security line. By this time, it was 6:00 AM and I about died when I got to the security line - there literally must have been 1000 people in line. I was so doomed. After 10 minutes I made my way up to the first check point - where your driver's license and boarding pass are verified. The TSA lady said, "It's your lucky day. You're being pulled for a full screening." Ugh...I figured that was the kicker. However, as it turns out, in Buffalo, getting selected for a security screening means that one gets to completely jump the line. My screening took a mere five minutes and then I was free!!!! The icing on the cake was that one of those airport carts offered me a lift to my gate. I made it to my gate at 6:20 AM - just in time for boarding. Major ta da!!!! 
Needless to say, I became an instant fan of Southwest Airlines. Although, they are quite the experience to fly. Sort of the friendly, we're-all-in-this-together cattle car approach to air travel. But, they're my heros!
4:59:25 PM 
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