Encore: Travel Day

Good morning from the remote parking lot at Dallas-Fort Worth airport. I parked and I’m just waiting on my shuttle. It’s in the 40’s here but I made the decision to leave my coat in the car because I once I’m in the airport, I don’t need it again. I don’t want to lug it around for the next eight days.

Here comes my shuttle.

It was just a five minute wait.

It’s been pretty smooth. It was a five minute wait for the shuttle, a seven minute wait to leave, and a 12-minute ride to my terminal with a stop in another terminal. There was no wait at baggage check in. Security said six minutes. I was done in five.

I can go up to 50lbs with Spirit now but I struggle to get to their old limit of 40. I’m 36.5 today.  With the my Go Big booking I’m entitled to a checked bag, carry-on, and a personal item. I’m just doing the checked bag and a personal item.

That is the nearest security line. It gives you the estimated wait time, how long the walk is to the next check point, and the wait time there. If there was a crazy line I would consider walking to another checkpoint. In this case I’m staying.

I made it to my gate. 

My plane is here.

They have one front seat left. It’s the one next to me. They’re offering it for $72 which is a pretty good price. It would be nice if there are a bunch of cheapskates on this flight so it stays empty. It’s not a huge deal because there’s plenty of space between us anyway, but it would be nice. 

I’m by the window on the front row.

Someone did end up getting the seat next to me but she it doesn’t seem like she gets the extras. She asked about WiFi and was told she’d have to buy it separately. I received voucher codes in my confirmation email.

The $16 WiFi is what I got included. Remember the days of $1 WiFi going to Cancun during Covid?

The Captain said our flight is full. We’re pulling out.

The girl next to me did get the snacks and drinks just not the WiFi. So that’s a bit of a deal for the $72 upgrade.

I think I paid a little over $100 each way. With that you get a checked bag up to 50lbs ($50), a carry-on ($35), a personal item (included for everyone), streaming WiFi ($16), shortcut security and boarding ($8), and the seat. I used to pay $50-100 upgrade for just the seat depending on the flight. The food and drink I got on this flight is probably equivalent to their “Big Mix” deal which is $28.

They brought around a snack tray with about six different options. I went with almonds.

And a double bloody mary.

We also got a Biscoff.

My neighbor got champagne. Here is the inflight menu.

Download is good. Upload not so much. I’ve been streaming but couldn’t post to Instagram so I was wondering.

We are beginning our descent.

That bathroom situation is bad. They have one stall and no urinals in the men’s room. There was a line. I was able to use the one by the baggage claim but it wasn’t much better with two stalls and one urinal.

It’s a hike to the baggage claim area. Then you have to go downstairs. The escalator is broken. More airports should adopt the Dallas design. The baggage claim is right by your gate. And so is the exit.

Cafe Con Leche

The NCL transfer is right by baggage claim if you need it.

They said 13. The sign says 13. After all the bags are gone they tell us 12.

It was on 12.

I’m going to South Beach. Uber is cheaper than Lyft today. It was looking like $41 to the port if anyone is curious.

Since Lyft said pickup on level 2, I assumed all pickups were level 2 so I went up there. It turns out after you select it for Uber it gives you options that include both floors. I do have to walk from door 16 to 13 though.

What? I have to do this again.

Looks like I’ll save a buck if this one goes through.

We’re on our way. Here’s Icon of the Seas.

I made it. Next time we’ll cover my Airbnb which I didn’t realize was in a hotel.