There Will Be a Slight Delay

TRAVEL THERE: FLYING WITH SPIRIT

I’ll be honest with you.  Once we got over the whole 40#/$120 thing, flying with Spirit wasn’t all that bad.  It wasn’t all that great either.  It certainly wasn’t the worst flight I ever had.  The Lufthansa flight we took to Munich a couple of years ago still holds that honor.  I think there are still parts of my body which are vibrating.

So How Was the Flight?

My original in-flight plan had been to do my Bible Study homework.  In my personal bag was my workbook and a very small pocket Bible.  I knew I would miss my huge Study Bible, but I also knew it was way too big to tote around all day.

As soon as I was in my seat, I gave up that crazy studying idea.  Elbow and knee room were at a premium.  Juggling a study guide and Bible wasn’t going to do it for me.  I wouldn’t have exactly had the right attitude.  So I grabbed one of the novels I’d brought along and settled in for the first leg of the trip.

“There will be a slight delay due to a technical malfunction.”  Those aren’t the kinds of announcements you like to hear from your pilot, but I’m not a scaredy-cat flyer.  I believe I am going to live just exactly as long as God wants me to.  Flying won’t cut that short and not flying won’t make me last any longer.  I didn’t have any place else I needed to be, so I dug into my novel.

The the flight attendants took off with their chatter.  I had my seatbelt on and my personal items stowed.  I knew my seat cushion was a flotation device, my oxygen mask would fall from above and that bag didn’t need to be deflated for the oxygen to flow.  I also knew I should secure my oxygen mask, before helping others.

I didn’t need to be reminded to raise my seatback to the upright position, because this was Spirit Airlines and the seats don’t recline.  I wished the attendant would have kept some of the other chatter to herself.  She had some chirpy reason why we should greet our seat neighbor, but it was 6 o’clock in the morning and I didn’t feel chirpy.

Just so you know, no frills means no frills.  I didn’t expect to be offered coffee, tea or sodas.  I didn’t expect a snack.  Some water, even one of those tiny bottles of water, would have been great, but it was seriously no frills.

A Lean Layover

Remember, that technical malfunction.  Well, it put us into Ft. Lauderdale pretty late and our layover hadn’t been very long to begin with.  I had figured we would hit the bathrooms and have time for a quick bite.  Instead we were landing at just about the time we were supposed to be boarding the next flight.  Except for a small snack before we left home at 4 AM, neither of us had eaten or had a sip of anything.   We knew starvation wasn’t anything to worry about yet, but a soda would be nice.

Thankfully, the flight attendant asked anyone, who did not have a flight immediately boarding to sit still, while those of us with a look of desperation in our eyes disembarked.  By some sort of miracle most of the people stayed in their seat while we rushed out.  Bill and I zipped off the plane and ran to our gate, which to our relief was the very next one over.

As soon as we made it to our gate and realized we would make our plane, we both cast a longing eye at the Burger King across the aisle.  We listened to the announcements being made and figured out that while boarding was imminent, it had not yet begun.  We raced to the BK.  Bill got a breakfast sandwich – because it was still breakfast time.  All I wanted was a Diet Dr Pepper.  It would be the last one I’d see for awhile.

Group one was being called by the time Bill wolfed down his sandwich, but he made a wild dash to the restroom anyway.  He returned quickly, but they’d already called group three by then.  This was a hasty boarding.  We found a seat, strapped ourselves in and were soon on our way to Punta Cana.