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Saving Money with Southwest Airlines

I love saving money with Southwest Airlines. Over the past five years, I’ve been able to supplement my travel budget by using airline miles and credit card points to offset many of the costs involved in hopping around the world. In that time, I’ve booked award flights through Delta, United, American, and Air France among others, but no airline program has come close to having the impact of Southwest’s Rapid Rewards Program. 

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Choosing Baby’s First International Destination

What process do you use when choosing an international travel destination? Baby E is almost three months old, and she finally has a passport! I even ordered her the version with extra pages even though it will only be valid for five years. Wishful thinking, no doubt. At any rate, it’s time to start getting some stamps in that sucker!

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Surviving an Overnight Flight Delay with a Baby

We just survived an overnight flight delay with our infant! It was the last day of a very successful mini-vacation to Puerto Rico with our two-month-old baby. Everything was going to plan until the moment we reached the Southwest counter at San Juan’s airport. We handed over our travel documents and, after a quick check on her computer, the agent looked up and said “you are aware that, due to a flight delay, you will need to spend the night in Orlando.” No, we were not aware, and we were not happy. It was just after noon on Monday, April 1st and we were scheduled to be back home and unpacked in Nashville before dark that evening. I had a full day planned at the office on Tuesday.

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The Pros and Cons of Using a Positioning Flight

I’m fortunate to live within 15 minutes of Nashville International Airport (BNA). It is a mid-sized airport with excellent domestic connectivity. Unfortunately, the inclusion of “international” in the airport’s name is a bit of hyperbole. At the moment, we only have regular direct international connections to Cancun and London. For any other international destination we have to accept at least one domestic transfer. To make matters worse, those tickets tend to be priced substantially higher than flights from major international hubs. Midsize airports just don’t have enough competition to incite an airline fare war. Sites like The Flight Deal and Scott’s Cheap Flights often list amazing deals from hubs like Chicago, New York, or Los Angeles. Yet it is rare to see an international sale out of midsize airports like Nashville.

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