An 'airy' frame of mind... (not!)

[alexpgp]

I'm sitting here trying to figure out what the best way is of getting from Here to There, and keep butting up against this irrational - okay, maybe not so irrational -- fear of encountering a delay somewhere that completely eliminates any chance of recovery by, say, taking a later flight.

The itinerary I've flown the past two times is not available, according to Travelocity (which is why I have a call in to a travel agent). A second itinerary involves four landings until I get to Moscow, one of which has only a 90 minute layover (not to mention that the whole process takes 21 hours). The price is good, but in addition to the 90 minute layover at Heathrow, the itinerary only gives me a 2.5 hour layover after the Mesa flight from Durango, which based on my previous two outings, is cutting it a little too close, time-wise. (Recall that both times, the plane for my outbound flight from Durango arrived at the airport after the flight was scheduled to actually leave.)

I've given some thought to flying from Durango to New York, and then buying a separate ticket from New York to Moscow and back. This would have the added advantage of allowing me to visit my parents, at least on the way back from Kazakhstan, and is not all that much more expensive. The downside is either having to shell out bucks for a hotel in New York (which will not be reimbursed), or arrive at 5:30 am from Phoenix and sit around the airport waiting for a 4:15 pm flight. The other downside is that this only works if the departure date holds, which is not a done deal by any measure, so actually... this alternative goes bye-bye.

Flying from Albuquerque would be very convenient, except for the price and the little question of getting to and from Albuquerque... twice.

I think my travel agent should be back from lunch by now. I will give him a call and let him worry about it.

(I am also not tremendously happy about being in permanent curmudgeon mode, lately. I need to lighten up, or at least think pleasant thoughts.)

Cheers...

Comments

les horaires peu coopératifs

[tamaraland.livejournal.com]

I think the airlines have it in for people in general lately. I'm trying to get to Goa on 11 August, and leave on 5 September, and it turns out, you're not allowed to do that within the confines of our travel requirements (i.e. change-able, business class ticket on a list of security approved airlines). So, I get additional time at both ends by leaving on the 9th and flying Geneva-Frankfurt-Mumbai-Goa, arriving in the wee hours of the 10th. This seems fine, but the return is on the 6th, Goa-Mumbai-Halderbad-8 hours in Halderbad-Frankfurt-Geneva.

I am keeping a cheery face because this should be a nice mileage tally towards upgrades on flights I purchase myself.

Terrible thing when those airlines can't cooperate.