After getting my COVID booster shot and flu shot, I am trading in road travel for plane rides once again.
With a medical condition, any type of travel needs proper preparation. However, with flying there are added obstacles of traveling with medication and supplies, and overall exhaustion of traveling in general. I have talked previously about how I travel with Medication and Supplies in a previous post here ,so post will talk about how to pre-plan a trip so you can have less stressful travel day. Traveling is stressful enough, however by taking the time to research flights and your seats before booking your ticket, you can take out some of the hassle.
1. Researching if Nonstop Flights Are an Option
I tend to be loyal to one airline company, and you may too, but it never hurts to keep options open to make sure you are getting to your destination in the most convenient way, which typically includes a nonstop flight.
An advantage of a nonstop flight is not having to rush from plane to plane during a stop. The advantages of nonstop flights includes easing your issues of time management if there is a delay, loss or misplacement of luggage if you check a bag, and not dealing with any pre-board issues with your Med Bag. If you are unclear about Pre-Board check out this post here and for more information about Med Bags check out this post here.
Researching nonstop flights for multiple airlines is easier than you may think. First, I google the airport nearest to my destination. Luckily, most of the time there is only one airport option, but this is helpful if there are multiple airports within the destination area. I then go on Wikipedia (wikipedia.org) and type in the name of the airport I found.
Each airport on Wikipedia will have a section called "Airlines and Destinations".
Once you press that option, it will show you what airlines fly directly to what location.
I will then use this information to either search directly on the airline's website or follow the advice in item 2 below.
For example, if I was in Los Angeles, California and wanted to go to Scottsdale, Arizona, I would find that the most convenient airport to fly out of would be LAX and fly into Phoenix-Sky Harbor (PHX). I would then Wikipedia search LAX and see the different airlines that fly directly to Phoenix-Sky Harbor. I would see my options could include American Airlines, Delta, or Southwest and consider my booking options
2. Research Travel Times and Stopovers
You would use this advice in this section for the following reasons: if you want to research a specific time you want to leave your home airport, want to know airlines that arrive in your destination around a specific time, or want to know stopover options if you are unable to find a nonstop flight option.
For all those reasons, and some more, I like to use Kayak ( either through the website here or through the app here) to research the most convenient flight to my destination.
The advantage to this free site or app is the ability to look at multiple different airlines, and their time and stop options. If you found a nonstop option from the first section, you can filter so you only get those airline time options. This can narrow down what is best for your specific trip.
If I found that a nonstop flight is not an option, Kayak helps you find 1 stop (or if needed 2 stop) options. If you need to do a layover because a nonstop flight is not an option, Kayak will show you the time for each stop and where. This is helpful for two reasons.
One, because shorter stops are not usually preferable for someone with a medical condition. If there is any delay, you may not be able to Pre-Board, and worse you may miss your flight. The last thing you want to do is feel rushed and frazzled trying to reach your connecting flight, so knowing you have ample amount of time is always helpful.
The second reason this is helpful is by knowing the location you can determine if this is the right stopover location for you. Based on the season and the actual airport itself, it can determine what trip is best for you.
For example, if you are wanting to go from Los Angeles, California (LAX) to Miami, in February. Kayak shows you that the layover options are between Salt Lake City, Utah (SLC) or Atlanta, Georgia (ATL).
I will likely chose the flight with the stop in ATL, because of the weather in Salt Lake City during that time of the year could lead to delays.
Additionally, if for example I see a layover is in Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta, Georgia for 35 minutes or Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) in Dallas, Texas for an 1.5 hours, I will likely chose DFW as my layover location because the longer time will allow me flexibility while changing flights and make sure I get on during Pre-Board.
3. Research Seat Options
Once you have the flight chosen that is best for your trip, choosing the right seat for you is also extremely important to research. With the website SeatGuru (found here ) it gives information on the best seat for your journey.
Once you go onto the website, you put in the airline, date of travel and the number of your flight. Note, you will need to do this search for all legs of your trip.
You then find the flight you selected and click on it. Once you do, you will be redirected to the seat maps page. There is a seat map key of what is considered a good seat, what seats to be aware of, bad seats, and ones with mixed reviews.
What is great about this website is that it shows you these options based on what is currently available, so you do not get fooled into picking a seat that is not available when booking.
Another plus of looking on SeatGuru is if you click on the plane seat maps, and look at the layouts of the plane, you can see what each individual seat can offer you.
What I personally look for is if the seat comes equipped with its own power source and if it has floor storage. You may ask, why is it important to see if the seat comes with a power source or has floor storage? Power sources are nice not only to charge your phone, but if you have a device that needs to be plugged in for health reasons. Having floor storage is also key if you do decide to bring a Med Bag. That way it is easily accessible to you in case of emergency or during a long flight to easily reach your medicine or supplies.
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Once you do all these steps of thoroughly researching your flight and seats, you are ready to book your flight!
I always suggest booking directly through the airline's website. This way, you can easily pick your seat after all this research, and if there is an issue with the flight, you can speak directly with the airline's agents. Many airlines have made it easier to contact with an agent either through texting, Facebook Messenger or call-back phone calls. The other bonus is accumulating miles to use towards another trip!
This may seem like a lot of pre-planning, but trust me it is worth it in the end! All the hard work put in before booking will make your day of travel 10 times easier and start and end your vacation right.
If you try this way of pre-planning your trip, let me know! I will update you next week how my first flight in over a year and half went!
Until then
