It’s Sunday and on Thursday we’re taking Skybus back to Columbus from Seattle. Since we’re still in Philipsburg, Montana, it hasn’t quite sunk in that we have a bit of a trip to get to the airport. After a couple of days of debating whether we should cough up the extra $40 for the four of us (me, husband and two kids) to have priority boarding I pulled out the credit card and now we are all in Group 1. Perhaps, this $40 spent is a waste of money because, perhaps, my husband could get an aisle seat and my son could get the seat next to him without it. My husband is not a small guy, so he needs the space. My son, who is five, is a smaller guy so the two of them together make a seats together combo.
My daughter and I could sit any where, but because I booked us all together, I can’t split us up for this priority boarding deal. I suppose Skybus doesn’t want folks to get clever and have one person priority board and save seats for the rest of the gang. Rats!
Now that we’ve paid the $40, this allows us to head to the airport in Bellingham, Washington, return our rental car, and check in without worrying if we’ll have a hassle getting on the plane. If it were just my husband and me, it would be a different story. Friends of ours are taking the same flight we are but a day later. I told them to not worry about priority boarding and since they are going to be having only carry ons, there won’t be any problems there either.
So, for any of you who are booking a Skybus ticket or thinking about it–priority boarding does offer some peace of mind since the flights leave early and with airport security being enough of a hassle, at least you’ve smoothed out some of the journey. Also, if you’re not sure if you can check-in on line starting 24 hours before the trip, if you’ve paid for priority boarding, you won’t really have to worry much about ending up in Group 3–the last group to board. BUT, make sure you get to the airport early enough to check your bags and check-in. If you’re not checked in 30 minutes before your flight, you’ll lose your spot AND with the way bags are not making it to their destinations this summer, the more time your bag has to make it on your airplane, the better.
I’m looking forward to seeing this view from the plane. Marada took this shot of the plane, I would guess, when it was taking off from Bellingham and then posted it on Flickr.