Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Sitting on an airplane while being stuck on the tarmac has to be worse than staying in a prison. They won’t feed you, they bring you limited quantities of water, and you’re not allowed to stand or to use the bathroom. I was en-route to Milwaukee once, from Seattle. Our route was through Minneapolis where, ironically, my car was parked. You see, I’d begun this journey a week before, planning to fly from Minneapolis to Seattle for a work assignment, then directly to another work assignment in Milwaukee. The weather in Milwaukee was bad, so they delayed us on the tarmac in Minneapolis. After two hours of sitting on the plane and looking out the window at the parking ramp where my car was, I began to wonder how much trouble I’d be in if I just opened the door myself and made a run for my car. Plenty, it turns out; opening the door of a passenger jet is a felony if there’s not a bonified emergency to give you a reason.
Still I wondered, “Could I drive to Milwaukee from here faster than I’ll get there via this stupid plane?” I thought hard about it. Consider the distance between Minneapolis and Chicago. I can reach the western suburbs of Chicago from my house in southern Minneapolis in less than 5 hours in my car. NWA will tell you that they can fly you there in 48 minutes, but can they really?
Let’s say your flight leaves at 3pm. If you follow the typical travel protocol, you’ll leave your house at 12:45pm to get to the airport at the recommended early time. If things go smoothly, they’ll board the plane at 2:30, push back from the gate at 3:00, taxi over to the de-icing platform, endure the procedure, taxi to the runway, and finally take off. After landing at 4:15, you’ll have to wait 45 minutes for your luggage, retrieve your bag, get your rental car, and leave the airport for your hotel. I’ve done this many times and no matter how “smoothly” things go, I never seem to get to my hotel before 5:30 or 6:00pm.
Well, I finally did it. I drove to Chicago for my last assignment and do you know what? It went surprisingly well! I enjoy driving, I enjoy eating in places that are off the beaten path. I like having my own car and I like not having to deal with the airport or with their schedule or with the TSA. To be honest, I didn’t arrive at my hotel until about 6:15, but it was a lot less stressful. I don’t think I’ll do it every time I have a need to go to Chicago, but after watching thousands of people spend the night in airports this last holiday season, I think I’d rather be in my car near a roadside hotel/motel.
So, consider your options. Have you sampled the BBQ between Houston and Dallas? Ever seen the coastline between L.A. and San Francisco? Have you tried the Chowder between New York and Boston? Think about it!
EXTRA: If you have questions for Ken regarding business travel, hotels, airplanes, etc, please call 1-877-49-EXPERT. Your questions will be recorded and Ken will answer the best ones in his Ask the Expert podcast show.
