I recently returned from a business trip to San Antonio. I was with two business associates, and after four days in San Antonio, we were ready to head back to Ohio with lots of energy and new ideas to share. We hadn’t checked in with the airline before we left the hotel – we had allowed plenty of time to check in at the airport before our flight (or so we thought).
What we didn’t realize was that in Dallas, where we were catching our connecting flight, a storm had come through the day before, causing major hail damage to dozens of planes. This was causing serious delays nationwide as the planes were taken out of service for inspection and repair.
To make a long story short, all of this resulted in us spending the night in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, having missed our connecting flight home and hoping for better luck the next day. We had all decided to travel light, and had put things in our checked luggage that we normally would have had in our carry-ons. None of us were rookies when it came to business travel, but we all made some rookie mistakes on this trip!
Here are the lessons learned that I will not forget on my next business trip:
1) I will always have my boarding pass printed out prior to arriving at the airport.
2) I will always check for delays at my departure city, arrival city, and connecting cities.
3) I will always pack my phone charger in my carry-on (and my car keys in case my checked luggage doesn’t make it back on the same plane as I do!)
4) I will always have the airline’s rebooking number programmed into my phone.
5) I will always have a jacket or sweater in my carry-on as well as a set of earplugs (because I now know how cold and how noisy an airport can get at night.)
6) I will always have a travel toothbrush and other necessary toiletries to get me through an overnight without my checked luggage.
7) I will always try to pack so I won’t have to check my luggage.
8) I will always try to keep my sense of humor – it’s the only way to fly!
