Hello all! Back again!

[scaredycat05]

Hey there! :wave:
Well, I am back again. Last year I flew for the first time in 20 years and did fine. After the plane got in the air. Before that I was a wreck asking all kinds of questions and basically freaking out.
Well, I thought that was all behind me. Until last Sunday when I broke down and made reservations to take my family to Hawaii for our 25th wedding anniversary (well, technically that was in May but with the kids playing baseball and softball-who gets to go anywhere?). As soon as I left the travel agents office, I started to get really scared again. I thought I was fine but I have been just the way I was last year before I left.
We leave next Sunday and have discovered the agent did not book us seats TOGETHER! What was she thinking??? Whose hand will I clench???:cry:
To top it off, my mom, who I moved to a nursing home near me in October, had a really bad couple of days. Now, not only am I nervous about the trip, I am scared my mom will have some kind of crisis.
Whew! Sorry for the unloading but I can't really get people to understand why I did all right last year but am going through the "This may be the last time I ever..." stuff again.
We are flying on Delta and I know nothing about them. AND we are flying on a turbo prop between islands! I could have sworn I said no turbo props! :sigh:
Well, thanks for letting me vent. It is really nice there is a whole board of people that understand.
Beth

[EyesSkyward]

1) Hawaii? :sick: <-- Me, sick with jealousy.

2) Can you call your travel agent back and get your seats reassigned so that the two of you are together? Barring that, call the airline directly. The travel agent I used to use always gave me window seats (which, at 6'3", I don't really fit in too well) and I was constantly getting the airline to move them. Usually it's no biggie.

3) What's there to know about Delta? They're like any other airline. I've flown them before several times with nothing memorable to report (good or bad). They've been around practially forever, so they have a "feel" more like the classic airlines like American or United, as opposed to newer ones like JetBlue or Southwest.

4) Turbo props aren't really that different from jets, from a technological standpoint. There's a big difference between a prop plane and a turbo prop plane. Remember that flying is pretty much the main way people get from island to island down there. They've got that sort of thing down pat!

You're gonna have a great trip! Drink a Mai Tai for me. :thumbsup:

- Jeff

[aerobat]

Hi, scaredycat,

One thing you can do is to call the Delta reservations agent right away, tell them you are a nervous flier and really need to sit with your family. Maybe they can fix it. And you can make the same appeal to the FAs when you board. Take along the TF introduction letter and give it to the gate agent, and try to get all the perks pertaining thereto--including preboarding, meeting the pilots, AND a seat swap.

In general, people who don't have FoF don't understand the fear (makes us so grateful for those who do! :hug: ), but what has happened is that the fear crept back and got ya because you waited too long to fly again. So, remember that after you get home, and try to arrange some practice flights with some deliberate counterphobic work (in sync with posting here); you can make it stick!

But the glass is half full. You were fine after you got airborne, and you will be this time as well. :nod:

Turboprops are cool. Those flights will be safe. Try to postpone worrying about those until you're in Hawaii. OK? Then you can let yourself fret a bit just before you board, and after you're airborne, once again you'll be fine. :thumbsup:

Can you talk with the nursing home medical staff and get some reassurance that your mom will be safe in their hands while you are on vacation? You know that you can be notified if anything is amiss, so set it up for "no news is good news".

And have a wonderful trip, you lucky dog. :tongue:

[scaredycat05]

Thanks Jeff and aerobat. I feel a bit better than I did. I know things this year that I didn't know last year. Like I won't go screaming up and down the aisles that we are all going to die :D . And I know I won't die of a blood clot or have ear pain or...well, you get the idea. :blush:
I have talked to the Delta people and they say the plane is full right now but when I check in, I may be able to rearrange things. Something about 30% of the plane not being booked for most flights. Don't know why I can't do it now though. Anyway, as long as I can sit with my sweetie daughter we will be all right. I can wave to my guys on the other side of the plane:wave: . I pity the person sitting on the aisle seat with us though. Those runs to the bathroom may get them down.
As for the nursing home, I have left them my cell phone number and I have asked the nurses, her physicians assistant and the activity people to look in on her everyday. Also, I have a friend that is going to come in and check on her. She wants us to go but it will be hard on her. And me.
Thanks again. I had forgotten how great this group is.
Beth

[StPeteMark]

...I have talked to the Delta people and they say the plane is full right now but when I check in, I may be able to rearrange things. Something about 30% of the plane not being booked for most flights. Don't know why I can't do it now though....BethBe sure you get to the airport EARLY, at least 1.5 hrs before take-off. So you're the first in line at the counter at the boarding gate...(not the ticketing counter since they usually can't do anything at this point...but you can try). I did this with American once...for some reason they changed our seats that had been booked for two months. In spite of a "full" plane, the counter guy at the boarding gate worked his magic on his keyboard and got us back together again.
.

[WillFlyToDisney]

Hi Beth! :wave:

Delta is my airline of choice - mainly because I have elite status with them so I get a few perks. They are a GREAT airline - my only complaint is that they serve Coke instead of Pepsi.

I agree with Mark - get to the airport EARLY. The ticket agents are able to assign you seats together. There are a certain number of seats held and not assigned until a couple of hours before boarding - usually a couple of rows near the back of the plane and sometimes the bulkhead (first row of coach) and the row behind it. I took my 2 daughters and 1 of their friends on a trip last year and booked tickets at the last minute. We all sat together in the last 2 rows of the plane.

Hawaii is a fab place from what I hear. Scott is there now!

Have a great trip.

Kelley