Initially, I had planned not to fly home to San Francisco for the holidays. It may have been Tampa’s cold winter air that called me home last night, or the inexhaustible quiet solitude offers, or a telepathic call from my family and friends. Somehow, in every late December, being overly practical becomes impractical. I woke up in the middle of the night haunted by my solitude, and felt the need to fly home. I fret for my wallet considering it was already the 21st of December, and wondered how high airline tickets must have shot by this day. Taking the advice of my online buddy, I checked for ticket prices. I always check Priceline or Expedia to see which airline is cheapest, and then purchase my ticket from that airline directly. The price difference is usually minimal and cheaper if purchased directly from the airline, so given the opportunity, I much rather be dealing with the airline directly than a third party. Somehow, I almost always end up flying US Airways. It is usually cheapest.
Navigating through the site of US Airways was relatively easy. On the bottom left of the first page, it gives us the opportunity sort flights available according to fare. Prices were dirt cheap considering I was hoping to leave six hours after booking the flight. $355.90 roundtrip is what I paid online. I was hit with a $25 luggage fee at the airport…sneaky, sneaky.
As I write, I am sitting in seat F10, the emergency exit row. Sadly, I am sober on this flight because I did not see champagne of the drink menu. There MAY be a watering hole in Phoenix terminal, if so, Lunch.com MAY receive a review on that watering hole.
I don’t have a measuring tape to measure out the width of these seats, but I can tell you that I wear a size 28 pants, and this seat might be able to squeeze another one of my thighs. ;-) I have four feet of leg room and a non-reclining seat, (once again, I am sitting in the emergency exit row). The dude sitting left of me is a huge guy with a huge belly. I felt sorry for him earlier when he tried to bring down his tray table, and couldn’t because his tummy was in the way. The legroom for regular coach class seats are really, really minimal. The flight is smooth so far. There is no awkward smell. The temperature is just right on this flight whereas some airlines like to blast their air conditioner. This 6:00 am flight was fifteen minutes late from departure, but only expected to be five to ten minutes late on arrival. That is passable. The $7 breakfast sandwich was very salty passable too. Though on land, I would not have paid $3.50 for a sandwich like that, but who else will supply my demand for a sandwich a mile away from Earth?
I have flown with US Airway many times and will probably fly with them again, but only because I got away with being very last minute and cheap, and not because of any perk.
