Yesterday I made the long journey home from Spain. I was up at 7:00 AM Madrid time (1:00 AM Cleveland time), and I was home by 9:00 PM Cleveland time (3:00 AM Madrid time). A long day!
The flight from Madrid to Washington Dulles Airport went well. Although we hit a fair amount of turbulence, we arrived only five minutes late. Immigration and customs at Dulles have been streamlined, and it only took about fifteen minutes to get through both. But just as I was beginning to think that Dulles was a model of efficiency, I hit the line to go back through security. I have never seen a line that long for security at any airport! My boarding pass allowed me to use "TSA Pre", the quicker and easier security checkpoint... but there was no "TSA Pre" line there.
The couple that sat next to me on the flight from Madrid had only an hour layover before catching their flight home to Denver. People were allowing them to cut ahead in line, but I still doubt that they made their connection. This is why I am always paranoid about scheduling a layover of at least two hours when I book flights.
I walked a long way to the gate for my flight to Cleveland. Although we boarded on time, we sat at the gate for a while after the scheduled departure time. Then when we were on the runway awaiting our turn to take off, the pilot announced that we would have to go back to the gate. (Apparently a warning light came on.) They were not sure if we would have to deplane or not, but the mechanic was able to resolve the problem in a fairly short amount of time. We did not have to get off the plane. We arrived in Cleveland over an hour late... not a big deal, but by that time I was very weary, and eager to get home.
All in all it was a very good trip. Although I would not rank the three new cities that I visited in Spain as my favorites, they were all very interesting, and I saw some impressive sights. Now I am at home until my next trip... back to Mexico City in November.
Welcome back. It sounds like you had a nice trip to Spain - a country that I definitely need to see more of.
ReplyDeleteAs for the delays with your connecting flight at IAD, this sounds like something that reeks of United. Am I right? :)
Thanks. It was a very nice trip.
DeleteYes, it was United Airlines. But I really can't complain. Knock on wood, but I have never missed a connection or had lost luggage with United. (Of course, I always schedule my flights so that I don't have tight connections.) The airline that I always avoid is Delta. I've had terrible luck with them.
¡Saludos!
Ha! I knew it! That being said, I've generally had positive flight experiences with United. THAT being said, they've definitely taken a turn for the worse over the last few years as regards service. Their CEO even resigned!
DeleteI have no complaints with United, but I wish that Continental had not merged. Cleveland was a Continental hub, but now with United we have fewer flights from here.
DeleteIt constantly amazes me that when there's a ridiculously long line at airport security that they don't call for people with less than x hours left before their flights to come to the head of the line. It makes no sense that someone whose flight is leaving in a half hour has to wait behind someone else whose flight doesn't leave for an hour or more.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that this doesn't seem to be standard operating procedure is one BIG obvious hole in the whole security efficiency.
Glad you made it home despite the problems. There's nothing more frustrating than getting to the runway and only then having to turn around for some mechanical gremlin.
Saludos,
Kim G
Boston, MA
Where the only thing worse than flying is staying at home.
That would definitely be a more logical way to do things... especially when there is such a long line. But I have to admit that I have never before experienced a line like that. Here in Cleveland passing through security is a breeze.
DeleteBy the way, this is one of the joys of traveling on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Aside from being the cheapest days to fly, (due to low traffic) they're also the best days to get through security. In DF's airport, which is nothing short of chaotic on a Sunday morning, you can breeze through on a Saturday or a Wednesday in about 20 minutes, curb-to-gate.
DeleteSaludos,
KG
I've found that Tuesdays are also usually a good day to travel. But that certainly didn't hold true last Tuesday when I returned from Spain.
Delete