One of the great joys of travel is when you cut it really close…and it works.
After my annoying delays in Lisbon earlier this week, I was happy to be back in my home turf. I flew up to San Francisco yesterday afternoon to spend the evening with my brother, then flew back this morning.
The trip could not have been smoother. Literally, it worked like a Swiss clock.
I left my office in Glendale at 3:45PM. My flight to San Francisco left Burbank at 4:20PM. Traffic was heavy, but I know which lanes to use on I-5. By 3:57PM I had parked at the airport, walked in, and found no security line.
After clearing security, boarding had just begun and I proceeded directly onto the aircraft.
The flight was smooth and we landed 30 minutes ahead of schedule in SFO. I proceeded directly to the Grand Hyatt SFO, where I watched the Democratic debate while waiting for my brother to arrive.
We had a nice chat and some dinner, then I got a good rest. I’m still jet lagged from my three weeks in Europe/Israel, so I was up very early this morning.
After a nice breakfast, I left the hotel at 7:10AM…to catch a 7:45AM flight back to Burbank. The train dropped me off in SFO’s Terminal 3 at 7:15AM, I proceeded through security (about 50-people deep in the PreCheck line) and by 7:25AM was on my way to my gate.
Boarding had begun ahead of schedule and closed at 7:30AM, but I wasn’t worried. I hopped down the bouncy moving walkway, bypassed the food court and walked down concourse F, where I was among the last to board.
The aircraft door closed behind me and we were off to Burbank…ahead of schedule and due to arrive again roughly 30 minutes early.
This trip could not have been smoother.
CONCLUSION
I think any road warrior can appreciate my sentiment. Any unforeseen delay may have doomed my trip, but when everything works out it sure feels great to cut it so close.
Do you like to cut it close when you travel?
I would never do that. My style is that I need enough time to be comfortable in case any problem happens. I would be very stressed and that would ruin my trip. I rather wait at the airport lounge where I can still do some work rather than be rushing though lines and sweating to get to the gate in time.
Agreed! Too many things can (and have) gone wrong and I’d never intentionally cut things that close. I’m glad that the stars aligned for Matthew (you bought a lottery ticket too, right??) And I agree that the whole purpose of lounge access is so that when you build buffer into your travel plans and things happen to go well for you, there’s a place where you can have a meal and have internet access and have a shower and …. many other things that help keep your sanity when juggling multiple priorities at once.
I love the timelines and it makes me giggle because I am like that and loved the article…
“Do you like to cut it close when you travel?”
To each his own, I guess, but I”m with Santastico. Your description stresses me out just reading and thinking about it. I’m just too Type A and structured to get any joy out of being the last person on board because I cut it that close.
Agreed!
the air-travel version of freeway tailgating
Did you pay cash for the flights and hotels or points and miles?
Cash.
You must be rich, or the flight and hotel are cheap.
Just flexible on time with the ability to work remotely.
Crazy. A small thing happens and end of story.
I would never even try such thing.
I’ve cut it close a few times and it is a bit of a buzz. My office is. 5 minute drive from the airport and I have had a similar experience, drove over, parked the car, walked straight through security and straight onto the plane. Thankfully have never missed a flight, but certainly had a few “jogs” to the gate!
It’s too close for my comfort and I will gladly give myself 1-2 hours before a flight or between a connection because I can. Maybe if I needed to catch something for a job or meeting, my tune might change, but for now I’m good with spending a few hours at the airport just so I don’t miss a flight out.
I can’t speak to the consistency of LA traffic, but I can’t leave my travel fortunes up to the NYC subway, NJ transit trains or NYC bridges and tunnels.
Written like someone traveling without children … 😉
Yes, my wife and son are still in Germany!
That sounds stressful to cut it so close. I try to reach the airport 1.5 hours before a flight if I’m checking bags (I have high elite status but fly ultra long haul most of the time). Recently, my Uber had a flat tire in the middle of a 8 lane freeway in freezing rain in the middle of rush hour the week before Christmas in downtown. Worse, I was flying on separate tickets to an international connection. Changing the tire took 30 minutes because of the weather. I was glad to have the extra time.
I liked your reference to the “bouncy moving walkway”. For some inexplicable reason, it is something I look forward to at SFO, like an old friend. There is a similar one at YUL between the satellite domestic concourse and the main terminal.
“Old friend” is an apt description!
Bravo. There’s pride in optimization.
Or as someone once said for the first time: “If you’ve never missed a flight, you’re spending too much time in airports.”
It’s such a rush when a tight timeline pays off indeed! My latest was on a quick weekend trip to London just a few weeks ago. I had just finished afternoon tea near Paddington, and was headed back to the Hilton Paddington to collect my bag. 1347L bag in hand, headed for Heathrow Express — 1355L train bound for LHR — 1417L I collected my boarding pass from the ticket counter (already checked in, SSSS forced an in person collection) — 1437L at the gate, secondary screening conducted — 1445L sipping on a glass of champagne — 1500L boarding door closed for the 1510L UAL flight back to ORD. Central London to aircraft seat in less than an hour, new record for me and such a satisfying end to a trip. I love maximizing time in the city, and the true time saving value of LHRX at play. Thanks for the fun reminder!
Two questions:
Since when is Paddington considered central London?
Since when did United forgo sparkling wine for real champagne?
I would consider Zone 1 to be Central.
May i suggest walking across a freeway, or jumping from a plane without a parachute?
When you survive the rush is just unbelievable. You feel as if you are god, i imagine.
So you spent the evening with your brother in a hotel room? Care to elaborate??? 😉
No, I wouldn’t do this. I’ve never not made a flight, and even when I’m ‘running late’, usually that means getting to a domestic flight 45 minutes before departure rather than 60.
Yikes. That’s something I can never do. I always reach the airport two hours before a flight. It adds to my travel time, but I would rather chill in the lounges or get some plane watching done
As long as you’re comfortable, go for it.
“This trip could not have been smoother.”
It would have went smoother if you were upgraded to F.
In a single-cabin aircraft?
Just seeing if you were already up. Go back to sleep!
Hah! I explicitly went back to your photos to check whether you were flying the CRJ-200 or A319 when I first read that post. I guess I was thinking the same thing!
I used to do this. Always stressed, running through airports. Then I missed a very important flight by 5 minutes, causing a 24 hour delay. I deliberately changed. I like the lack of stress. But the other thing is that ability to work remotely is so easy now, my time at the airport is about as productive as at the office (more so on the plane with wifi but no phone).
Given that it’s such a short flight and BUR is an easy airport to fly in/out of, You pretty much know how long it takes to get from your car to the gate and thus can time it properly. I respect the heck out of the departure leg – doing the same would be my goal as it minimizes the amount of time you waste in waiting.
Now, at SFO, I’d have allowed more time because of the big unknown involving the TSA lines. SFO can be horrible, even with pre-Check, and it doesn’t matter whether your flight is to Sacramento or Delhi, they can make you miss your flight. True, there will be another one to BUR soon enough, but still – it’s a big waste of time and money. Glad it worked out for you!
Time yes, money no, thanks to United’s flexible same-day change policy. I guess I should have added that had I missed my flights, I just would have caught the next one at no charge.
For me it really depends on the airport I am flying out of. My home airport (DRS) ist quite familiar to me by now. I usually leave my house 65 minutes before departure if I don’t have luggage. The drive is 25-30min depending on traffic, I have usually checked in online and security never took longer than 5min for me. I’m at the gate when boarding starts and have around 15min of room if anything goes wrong. When flying out of Berlin, I like to leave a lot more time because the bus can be delayed and there are often traffic jams in Berlin.
I like having my timing figured out for my home airport and in a way it sucks that I am moving this year and I’ll have to get used to the quirks of STR.