(Original Post: November 2017) In the air most of the day today – Orange County to Vegas to Birmingham. Back in Tampa on Saturday, then right back out on Monday to Indianapolis. Only downside: Infrequent Travelers are now out in force. For those of you partaking in holiday air travel, here’s my unsolicited (and mostly unwanted, I’m sure) advice:

1. You should have already bought your ticket – if you haven’t, you’re gonna get slaughtered if you wait any longer – buy it now!

2. In the winter, fly as directly as you can from point A to point B – that way you don’t get stuck in Jacksonville, or Chicago, or some other version of Hell.

3. If you fly direct, check your luggage – the chances they’ll lose your bag on a direct flight are extremely low. If you’re taking multiple flights to save money, drag your bag but pack lightly, and check out tsa.gov BEFORE heading to the airport to get the skinny on the rules for liquids and sharp objects.

4. You and everyone else in the universe has black ballistic nylon luggage with red yarn on it – a name tag on the bag (before you get to the airport) with your cell number on it is very important. Too much stuff on the outside of your luggage is what gets it caught in the machinery (i.e., how it gets “lost”).

5. During heavy travel seasons, get to the airport 2 hours early. Yes, you may get thru to the gate in 15 minutes. Go get a coffee, sit down, and relax: you’re not one of those poor folks that show up at the airport at 12:45 for a 1 pm flight. If you see what they have to go through, you’re not going to like it.

6. Flights board 30 minutes before takeoff (depending on airline). Takeoff, not boarding, time is on your boarding pass. Get to your gate about 10 minutes before boarding time (i.e., 40 minutes before takeoff).

7. “Gate Lice” is the term gate agents use for the people that crowd the gate before their boarding group is called. No need to crowd up there on Group 1 if you’re Group 5. The plane won’t leave without you. If you’re anxious about your carry on bag, please consider #3.

8. Dude, where’s my bag? That sticky tag the agent put on your luggage if you checked it has great info on it – it has YOUR NAME printed on it, but even more importantly, if you’re at baggage claim, look at the first bag that drops out to see the flight number – it too is printed on the tag! That way if there are 500 people waiting at Claim 6 from 4 different flights, you can see if you should be crowding up there, or if you’re looking for your black bag with the red ribbon in the bags from Tulsa.

Good luck, and Happy Holidays! Be careful, and remember: we’re all in this together.