Good morning from the DFW remote parking lot. It’s 3:06am local, 4:06am ship time. My flight is at 5:15am. I usually arrive at the parking facility two hours before these early flights and it works for me.

I paid $54.50 to park here for 9 days. I changed the plate on the reservation yesterday since my car is in the body shop this week.

I like to park away from everyone. That will do.

I just missed the shuttle.

It was literally less than a minute for the next one, but we sat there for about 5 minutes before leaving.

That’s my new suitcase. My old 25 inch Samsonite spinner had half of the handle break at the Barcelona airport last summer. Then the other half break two months later at the Vancouver airport. Air Canada suggested putting in a claim for it since I was flying with them both times. They sent me a refund check last fall.

I had been using my smaller suitcase since then. I finally got around to replacing the bigger one. Out of all of the brands I tested, Delsey had the best constructed handle. We’ll see how it holds up.

I keep zip ties in my carry-on. Once I make sure my suitcase is under the weight limit, I’ll zip tie that zipper on my suitcase. I also keep nail clippers in my carry-on which I’ll use to cut the tie on the other side.

The shuttle isn’t very crowded at this time in the morning.

I’m at terminal E at 3:35 local, 4:35 ship time. My flight leaves in 100 minutes.

My bag is well under the 40 pound weight limit Spirit enforces.

I did the self bag drop.

Usually I can find a short security line at this airport, even if I have to walk down to the next one. Right now they’re all 25-35 minutes. I’m getting in the one by my gate which says 26 minutes at 3:55am. My flight leaves in 85 minutes so hopefully we’re good.

I did not get as much sleep as I had planned. And I planned on the low end. It took me a couple hours to get to sleep and I woke up 30 minutes before the alarm and of course couldn’t go back to sleep. It may be a rough day but hopefully I’ll sleep good tonight.

The time estimate was correct. It took me 25 minutes to get through security. I was through at 4:20 local time, 5:20 ship time.

My plane is here but boarding has not started. I don’t think I’m going to have time to grab breakfast like I normally would do.

Pre-boarding.

Of course these people aren’t all zone 2. Some of them are 3 and 4. Fortunately they didn’t let the people in 3-4 on first.

It still makes it confusing when I’m in zone 2 and all of these 3-4 people are in front of me. They call 2 and the line doesn’t move. I have to ask everyone in front of me “are you in zone 2?” As I make my way forward.

I’m onboard at 4:38. I’m hooked on the big front seat upgrade. These are first class seats (without the service) at a fraction of the price. It’s usually a $25-75 upgrade per flight. I think I paid $100 last year on my flight back from New York after my transatlantic. In this case I paid $152 total for the roundtrip ticket. About $76 per flight but I think one was like $82 and the other was $70.

Having flown first class on Alaska and American, I know it costs hundreds if not a thousand dollars to upgrade to first class on most airlines. You don’t get the service but the most important thing to me is the seat and the location.

There’s plenty of space here. I don’t have to worry about rubbing elbows and fighting over the armrest.

This is our flight path.

I like the glasses matching the uniform On the flight attendant 

I do miss the $1/$3 Wi-Fi they had three years ago. I think I’ll pass.

I’m going to play an offline game of Monopoly instead.

My ship has arrived!

We are taking off at 5:29.

Here are a few flight sights.

I’m playing Monopoly in a spaceship.

We are descending into Fort Lauderdale.

I was off of the plane at 9am. 

Just down that escalator by the baggage claim is where the port transfers are located. I’m going to be taking Uber/Lyft.

They told us carousel 3 and so far that looks correct.

Of course our bags came out of carousel 4.

The brand new suitcase already doesn’t look new anymore.

This is my third rodeo so I know where to go for the ride share.

Uber is $11 less than Lyft today. That’s why you should check both apps.

 

She missed the turn and had to go all the way around the airport.

It’s just a mess trying to get cars in here. That silver one is her so I’m going out there to get in.

The Uber driver said this is the Icon terminal.

I am at the entrance at 10:14am. Next time we will cover embarkation.