Florida for Turkey Day

Well, my long awaited trip to Florida arrived on November 26. I left for LaGuardia Airport at 12:30 PM and arrived about ten minutes later (waited for Credit Card Authorization). The cab cost me $20 (I got ripped off). Went into the Central Terminal Building at LGA and got my boarding pass and checked my bag. My flight was leaving out of gate B5, so I went through the security and over to the gate. The airport was relatively empty. This is the first effect of the economy on the airline industry that I have seen.

JetBlue Airways
Flight B6 395
Departs: New York-LGA at 2:55 PM Gate B5
Arrives: Orlando, FL at 5:48 PM (Actual: 5:15 PM) gate 105
Airbus A320
Seat: 12A

Boarded early and took my seat. Of course, I didn't bring headphones and I didn't have singles, so I couldn't enjoy JetBlue's IFE. I sat and looked out at the airfield, which was empty due to capacity cuts by the airlines. We pushed maybe a little ahead of schedule and waited in a line of maybe five planes. By the time we were informed from the flight deck, we were number two for departure off runway 31. A smooth take off brought us north of the city and then south over New Jersey.
I fell asleep from New Jersey to about Virginia Beach with the map on my screen. By the time I woke up, they were doing inflight beverages and snacks. I took a coke (they still give you the can on JetBlue, nice!) and had some Munchies. I went for a second round of snacks and then threw in the towel.
We began our descent and approached the Orlando area over Southern Volusia County (just south of Daytona Beach, which was out the window on the opposite side of the plane). I got myself a nice view of Cape Canaveral, mainly the Shuttle Landing Site and then we proceeded to land to the south in Orlando. We parked at gate 105 in MCO at roughly 5:15 PM. My parents were still in Daytona Beach when I called them from the plane, as the early arrival was unexpected. So I made my way out into the newest airside terminal at MCO (Airside 2) and walked over to the train. I got my bag and waited inside until my parents came.

In Florida, I got to visit my friend, who just had a baby girl the previous Friday. She was born weighing 8 lbs 7 oz. I also visited my high school during my short trip as well.

December 1, 2008
JetBlue Airways
Flight B6 396
Departs: Orlando, FL at 6:55 PM (Actual: 9:26 PM) Gate 110
Arrives: New York-LGA at 9:35 PM (Actual: 11:12 PM) Gate A5
Airbus A320
Seat: 12A

I arrived at Orlando International Airport knowing my flight was delayed to 8:25 PM. I walked in and checked in. My bag was 7 lbs overweight, so I moved things around. Stupidly, I moved a jar of peanut butter into my carry on, only to be confiscated at security. My bag was still 2 lbs overweight, but the agent let it go. I thank her for that, because as a college student, I sure as hell do not have $50 to spend on an overweight bag. After I got to gate 101, which was my original gate, I saw that all flights to the northeast were delayed. All JFK flights, EWR, HPN, and BOS flights were included with LGA. Since the JFK flight at my gate wasn't leaving anytime soon, they switched my gate to 110. LGA tower continued to push our departure time back until it was set for 9:26 PM. We boarded at 8:30 with hopes of being dispatched earlier. I had singles on me so I bought a pair of headphones and watched television on the plane. The captain announced that due to a 150 kt tail wind, our flight time would be a short 1 hour and 44 minutes. We departed after nine and had a bit of a rocky climb. Once at our cruising altitude, it leveled off. I ate a sub that I got at Publix (Grocery store in Florida) and had a coke and some Munchies again.
The pilot was right, we had a short flight. We made a very interesting approach to LGA that I have never seen before. We basically made our way over Brooklyn and Queens and then veered to the northeast over Long Island. We flew over either CT or Westchester and then turned around and landed on runway 22. I claimed my bag at the baggage claim after deplaning and met my friends outside. They picked me up and a two minute ride bought me back to school/home.

Jetblue nice TR but want to make a few coments. Re the $20 cab ride. Just some free advice, the M60 and Q33 busses stop right accross the street from your school/dorm, bout a 5 min ride to LGA, and each one runs every 8-10 mins, give it a try next time, cabs are expensive in NYC buddy, and the bus is only two dollars and you can still take bags on.

Wed before Thanksgiving was surprisingly calm and uncrazy at LGA you where lucky. Being only number 5 for takeoff on a weekday afternoon at LGA is rare, trust me. With the exception of AA Eagle there really have not been any capacity cuts at LGA, it is still busy as ever.

I enjoyed the Publix mention, was always my favorite grocery store when living in Florida.

And finally re your delay coming home. Pretty bad GDP Monday night but Sunday was much worse, all 3 NYC airports averaged 4 hour delays during the evening. If you check flightaware I'll bet your B6 flight was a lot later the night before on good olde Black Sunday.

Cheers

LGA777

I took the cab because I had a large suitcase and I felt uncomfortable taking the bus, but I am aware of the situation with that. Thanks though.

Publix is a great grocery store.

I actually checked jetblue.com and my flight the night before was only delayed an extra hour from mine. The gate agent was actually pretty nice and offered to board me at the beginning of the process, because 12A was last to board. I still boarded normally though.