Today had to be the smoothest start of a vacation yet. Always anticipating little glitches, there were none today. Knowing that the situation at some of the major airports in the country are having issues was a major concern. Maybe not so much in San Francisco, but other major hubs, which can cause a domino effect with delays. Not so today. In fact maybe we did not have to get up at 3am to be ready for our driver at 5am. Better to be early to check in, than later.
Saturday or Sunday have to be the best days for traffic in the Bay Area. Our driver had us to the airport and Jet Blue in a little over an hour….record time. Locating the counter, we discovered there were only two people checking in, although one of them was re-arranging clothing to balance the weight. Been there, done that, until we discovered the nifty hand-held scale. We came within 2 ounces shy of 48 pounds each. Expecting to pay the baggage fee, the agent said put that card away…it is on us today. How about that? And we have only flown once with this airline in the past.
So the rest of the day went just as well, especially getting the pre-check TSA on our boarding passes. They do a very smart thing by handing us each a printed card outlining exactly what we needed to do at the xray. Light jackets and shoes could be kept on, but any electronic item larger than a cell phone, had to be pulled out of the hand bags. Small liquids also had to be shown in the ziplock. And that was it. Today there was literally no line, and a lot of agents happily doing their job. We don’t believe they are federally employed.
We had plenty of time to enjoy Peets coffees and a breakfast sandwich at Boudin’s. Can’t beat their fresh sourdough bread. By the way, Jet Blue has their terminals in the international end, so we got to see the new building. Not glitzy, it is a huge improvement from the old one.
As always these days, several requests went out for folks to check the rolled luggage, most of which looked over-sized to us. Many people did give them up. This is one aspect that we think the airline industry should re-think. If you happen to board towards the end of the line, you may have no overhead space to store your stuff. That’s not right. We have been lucky, but not so for everyone.
The flight was close to 5 hours, and considering the storm that has tracked east from the west coast, it was relatively smooth. A few bad spots with turbulence hit us, but it did not last long. Good thing we had TV screens in the seats with most everything free. Watching two new movies, and we were almost to Florida. Food could be purchased, but they did serve unlimited snacks such as pretzels, chips, and cookies. Non-alcoholic drinks were readily available as well. At one point, all were invited to help themselves at the serving stations. Unheard of. It did help that the seating was spacious with plenty of legroom. Yes, we will request flights with Jet Blue more often.
It’s been a long time since we have flown into Ft. Lauderdale, as we normally get the straight-through to Miami only. This was so much better, and closer to the hotel, Pier 66. Gathering our 2 pieces of luggage, we got a taxi in no time, and had a 15 minute ride there. This time, we are booked with a different agency, so we did not get the transfer complimentary. Truthfully, we did not miss waiting on a large group of people while they took their sweet time keeping with a group. By the time they might find their bus, we were already at the hotel and checked in.
Speaking of checking in, the nice receptionist gifted us with cocktails one evening and a complimentary breakfast buffet for each of us one morning. This has never happened before.
We will have three nights here before joining the Amsterdam on Monday. Tonight, we enjoyed a light dinner in the Lounge of the hotel, unpacked the essentials, and are anticipating a comfortable evening. It’s been a long day, but a great start.
Bill & Mary Ann
