Back Home Late, Leaving Again in 9 Hours
Thanksgiving '24 Travelog #16
Back Home - Mon, 2 Dec 2024, 12:15am
Hawk and I got home late this evening from our Thanksgiving trip to the east coast. We always knew it was going to be a late evening as our flight was scheduled to leave Baltimore at 7:10pm and land in Oakland at 10:10. Best case we'd be home a bit after 11, we knew.. For a few hours at the airport our flight showed on time, with the inbound aircraft flying on schedule. But then....
Then Southwest changed our aircraft. The one that was due to land 90 minutes ahead of boarding our flight was swapped over to another flight and we were assigned an aircraft that couldn't possibly get to us in time for our scheduled departure. We left 30 minutes late. We landed 30 minutes late, too. The upshot was that we got home-home, as in walked through our own front door, a few minutes before midnight.
Turning Around Tomorrow Morning
Coming home at midnight would be one thing if all I had to do was work from home in the morning. I'd be dragging but I'd manage it. Instead I have to get up early tomorrow morning to pack another suitcase and go back to the airport! I'll be headed off to a big trade show in Las Vegas for 3½ days.
Of course I planned ahead for this so I don't have to do laundry before going back out... but I do have to ready a bunch of specific things. Thus I'll be busy in the morning. And I planned for that with my flight time, too. I booked at 11am-ish flight instead of one leaving around 9am. That'll give me time to do the things I need to do... though I will be busy and there won't be time to spare.
About the Parking Gambit...
Recall when we embarked on this trip 9 days ago we had trouble getting an Uber or Lyft ride in time. We punted on waiting for a car and drove- which meant we had to park. And airport parking at OAK was more expensive than I expected. I thought it'd run us about $180 for the trip. It ran $236.
Part of the problem with Uber and Lyft, though, was that not only were there no drivers nearby, the fares were ridiculously high. We'd have had to pay around $100, maybe more, for a ride. We imagine that our ride tonight, when an after-hours surcharge would apply, would make it another $100 proposition. The prospect of spending $200 on rides softened the blow of spending $236 on parking. Well, I checked when we landed at the airport near 11pm. Lyft would've been about $80 coming home tonight. So driving our own car cost us about $56 more in parking than the rides would've cost. Is there a value in the convenience of having our own car instead of a potentially cramped and smelly back seat of someone else's car? Absolutely. But is it worth $56? Enh. Next time we fly OAK we'll plan ahead of time on driving and make a parking reservation, which lowers the daily rate.
Back Home - Mon, 2 Dec 2024, 12:15am
Hawk and I got home late this evening from our Thanksgiving trip to the east coast. We always knew it was going to be a late evening as our flight was scheduled to leave Baltimore at 7:10pm and land in Oakland at 10:10. Best case we'd be home a bit after 11, we knew.. For a few hours at the airport our flight showed on time, with the inbound aircraft flying on schedule. But then....
Then Southwest changed our aircraft. The one that was due to land 90 minutes ahead of boarding our flight was swapped over to another flight and we were assigned an aircraft that couldn't possibly get to us in time for our scheduled departure. We left 30 minutes late. We landed 30 minutes late, too. The upshot was that we got home-home, as in walked through our own front door, a few minutes before midnight.
Turning Around Tomorrow Morning
Coming home at midnight would be one thing if all I had to do was work from home in the morning. I'd be dragging but I'd manage it. Instead I have to get up early tomorrow morning to pack another suitcase and go back to the airport! I'll be headed off to a big trade show in Las Vegas for 3½ days.
Of course I planned ahead for this so I don't have to do laundry before going back out... but I do have to ready a bunch of specific things. Thus I'll be busy in the morning. And I planned for that with my flight time, too. I booked at 11am-ish flight instead of one leaving around 9am. That'll give me time to do the things I need to do... though I will be busy and there won't be time to spare.
About the Parking Gambit...
Recall when we embarked on this trip 9 days ago we had trouble getting an Uber or Lyft ride in time. We punted on waiting for a car and drove- which meant we had to park. And airport parking at OAK was more expensive than I expected. I thought it'd run us about $180 for the trip. It ran $236.
Part of the problem with Uber and Lyft, though, was that not only were there no drivers nearby, the fares were ridiculously high. We'd have had to pay around $100, maybe more, for a ride. We imagine that our ride tonight, when an after-hours surcharge would apply, would make it another $100 proposition. The prospect of spending $200 on rides softened the blow of spending $236 on parking. Well, I checked when we landed at the airport near 11pm. Lyft would've been about $80 coming home tonight. So driving our own car cost us about $56 more in parking than the rides would've cost. Is there a value in the convenience of having our own car instead of a potentially cramped and smelly back seat of someone else's car? Absolutely. But is it worth $56? Enh. Next time we fly OAK we'll plan ahead of time on driving and make a parking reservation, which lowers the daily rate.