An Advertisement Worth Watching

My family knows I am a big fan of Disney. That is why it has been so hard for me over the past couple of years. Instead of making family-friendly movies, they have been preaching their own agenda that doesn't match my values nor my demographic. Today I saw an advertisement for the Disney Cruise Line that helped me feel the Disney magic of yesteryear.

Many years ago when I had young kids in my family, I had to go to Orlando to speak at an Oracle convention. I burned frequent flyer miles to bring the whole family and found an on-property hotel the company would pay for that could accommodate my wife and kids. Basically the only thing I had to pay for was park tickets and food. As our room had a kitchen, we just shopped at the local supermarket and came away with a bargain vacation.

Before that work-sponsored trip, our family vacations had consisted of camping in the mountains near our home. Don't get me wrong, I still love camping but really had my eyes opened. Since then my family has joined me on trips all over the country but they always get compared to that first trip to Disney World. For some reason we all found it magical.

Like the ad I saw today, we created traditions that my kids enjoy to this day. Furthermore I am making similar memories with my own grandkids. My wife and I have decided that next summer we are taking all of our grandkids over the age of 5 to Disney World without their parents so we can relive the magic of that first trip again.

Yes you might say today's ad struck a chord with me. Disney did a great job returning to what made them great in the first place. Let's hope they can do it again. 

Missed Flight Connection

Monday evening my wife and I flew home from visiting my son in Ohio. We got to the airport with plenty of time to make our flight only to discover it to be delayed. Normally we try to get nonstop flights but a layover in Detroit turned out to be less expensive. It also worked better with my work schedule as I could attend early-morning meetings on Monday with India. Unfortunately our flight out of Columbus got delayed by an hour and we only had a 45-minute layover.

Before boarding the flight we had 2 options. The first was to take the flight and hope that our connecting flight to Salt Lake also had a similar delay. The second was to spend the night in Columbus and take the early-morning flight out non-stop to Salt Lake. I felt like the second option admitted defeat before we even tried to get home and opted to get on an hour-delayed flight.

We arrived in Detroit and could see our connecting flight had yet to leave. As we guessed, it also had a delay and for a moment, we thought we could make it. We didn't as it pulled away from the gate about 5 minutes before we got there. In all my years of flying, I have only ever missed 2 connections resulting in me having to spend an extra night on the road and Monday night turned out to be one of them. Considering I have flown over 2 million miles, that is not bad.

My wife and I walked to a Delta Airlines customer service center and immediately talked to someone who could help us out. He quickly found our travel record and saw that I had attached my mobile phone to it. He sent a text with a link that opened a webpage offering us a selection of hotels to choose from. The first one, I didn't recognize the name and skipped over it. The rest I recognized as familiar brands such as Sheraton, Marriott, and Hilton. I knew I would not get any frequent-stay points and so it doesn't help to choose one where you have status. I picked one close by and started walking out of the airport.

The hotel had a free shuttle bus from the airport and so we walked to the shuttle pickup location. I decided to call the hotel to make sure we didn't need to schedule it and was told the driver was on his way. Soon enough he showed up and we made our way to the hotel. Upon check-in, I only needed to provide the confirmation number given when selecting the hotel for the evening. Furthermore Delta provided $48 in dining credit that the hotel restaurant easily took.

I did all of this on my smartphone. Not once did I need to pull out my computer. I also didn't have any paper voucher that could easily be lost. It all just worked. My wife and I had an enjoyable stay in Detroit complete with a late-night snack.

The next morning we caught an 8am flight to Salt Lake and made it home without any more adventure. Sure my wife missed a doctor's appointment and I barely made it home in time for my first meeting of the day, but we got home. My wife rescheduled her appointment and I only had to move a few activities around. Would I give Delta high marks for taking care of us? Yes. Am I upset about the inconvenience of taking an extra day to get home? Again yes, but circumstances being what they were, we did okay.

I am making a mental note to pay a few extra bucks and take nonstop flights when available. I am also very pleased with how the airline handled the problem. I've had another airline not be nearly so accommodating for a problem they caused and have not flown them in over 10 years nor do I plan to fly them ever again. But that is a story for another time. 

Double Checking Travel Plans

One of the best things about the Internet and most companies having an presence there is the ability to check things without having to call someone. Admittedly that means it is harder to talk to a real person but for double checking travel plans, it is a huge benefit. I rarely need to talk to someone about flights, rental cars, or hotels. When I do, I have special phone numbers that get me to a real human quickly.

This month I have several quick trips I am taking. Normally when I make flight reservations I also book a rental car. I have status with National and usually use them. Recently my status increased because of all the renting I did last year. That means I can rent a full-sized car for the price of a compact. It also means I get to the airport and can choose any car from the "Executive" level and don't have to rely on what is available in the "Emerald Isle." Yesterday I logged onto National's website to see if I booked the reservation for one of my trips before or after my status upgrade.

Imagine my surprise when I didn't see my reservation at all. It must have slipped my mind when I booked my flights. Being on the site, I quickly made a reservation. It asked if I wanted to use a free day I have earned and I opted not to as I the weekly rental rate is cheaper than knocking a day off my rental period. It gave me an idea though.

At the end of the month I will be headed to Disneyland with my wife. When I fly into the Los Angeles area I usually take Uber as it is less expensive than renting a car. Unfortunately the politicians in the area seem to be against Uber and keep imposing a number of extra fees which get passed onto the customer. Since I found myself on the rental car website, I decided to get an estimate on the price for a 2-day rental with one of those days being free. It means I will have to pay for hotel parking in Anaheim but it is still significantly less than a one-way ride between Disneyland and the airport. Naturally I made a reservation.

I'm glad I am an anxious traveler and discovered my mistake before assuming I had a rental car reservation. Without doing so, I would have gotten to my destination, jumped in a car on the lot, and then discovered I didn't have a reservation at the most inopportune moment. Yes, I saved myself some embarrassment.