I was supposed to fly home on Friday, but the weather was a mess. In Seattle it was dark and brooding, raining on and off in torrential downpours that filled the streets with nearly a half-foot of water in 10 minutes. In New York City, it was supposed to get even worse throughout the day.
I'm a terrible flier. Or, at least, I used to be. Having traveled quite a lot the past few years, flying is getting easier and easier each time. But still, there are a few things that add exponential amounts of stress to the experience. One of those things is hearing the words, "severe weather across the US, especially on the west and east coasts." Not exactly thrilling me and pushing me toward the gate.
Once my flight was delayed to the point of me getting in at 1AM, as well as dealing with the stress of knowing it was going to be a very bumpy ride, I decided it was better to just delay by a day: The weather report for Saturday was drizzle in Seattle (also known as "normal") and perfectly clear everywhere else.
After waiting on the phone for 30 minutes, I finally managed to change my flight. The JetBlue rep told me there was going to be a $45 fee, which I replied I would not be paying. She paused for no more than half a second before saying, "Okay, no problem," and changing the flight for free. I guess she had to try first. JetBlue is so on edge with their customers after the recent canceling/holding-people-on-a-plane-for-30-hours fiasco that I'm sure I could have told her I wanted a free flight and gotten away with it.
And, as expected, the flight yesterday was crystal clear. Take off was a little bumpy because of the huge gray clouds hovering over Seattle, but the rest was perfectly smooth. Another pleasant side-effect of flying Saturday afternoon was the airport was a ghost town. I made it from checking out my hotel to sitting at the gate in 31 minutes—probably the fastest airport trip in my entire life (keep in mind that Sea-Tac is an estimated 25 minutes' drive from my hotel and I had to return a rental car).
It's amazing how such a small change could make my travel experience so much better. While I'm still not the best flier, little things like this make it easier and easier to do. If given an opportunity to make things less stressful on myself, I'll always take it.