Yes it is well documented, that I’m glutton for punishment. And this week is no exception. I worked in Portland and Medford Oregon. No that’s not why.

Today I get to fly home to the Bay Area from Medford and there’s exactly one airline with nonstop service and it’s United to San Francisco. Now I’ve had a love hate with them the last few years and will not specifically avoid flying them, but when I have a choice I won’t fly them.

Besides that because they have the monopoly on the service they charge a pretty penny too. Since I love Alaska Airlines I chose them as my option. I could also have flown Delta, and although a good airline, I had no desire to fly via Salt Lake.

The problem was simple, I needed to work till at least 4 and after that there were few options to the Bay Area. United to SFO, 1 stop service to San Jose (landing only 30 minutes prior to my Oakland flight) or two stop to Oakland on Alaska. Since I live closer to Oakland and I had flown out of it, due to better flight times and its proximity I had little choice but do the double connection.

My biggest concern when booking was getting delayed in Medford or Portland since any delay could keep me from getting home tonight. This was the last flight out of Medford and also out of Seattle to Oakland or any Bay Area airport for that matter.

 

I know I know United would be better, and faster. But it gets complicated when you fly in/out of two airports. I’d have to shuttle it or rent a car. I do both but on late flights I try and drive. It’s just faster.

But of course this double connection caused me trouble. First a 45 minutes delay out of Medford to Portland. Which made me miss my connection so Seattle.  I was proactive and called Alaska and quickly moved my PDX to Sea to the next flight which still give me plenty of time to make my last flight. But upon landing ironically my Medford Portland was the same plane. I motored to the gate and moved back to my original flight. Sure it was delayed but so was my replacement flight. Uugh. I hate choosing between two delayed flights. In any event the original flight only went out 30 ish minutes late. And gave me about 30 minutes to spare before my next flight.

This is just the dance you have to play sometimes when making connections, and why nonstop flights can be so much better. But when flying from small airports choices, times and options are limited and my double connection was the best option for me, even if it meant changing flights twice in Portland and having to dash to the gate in Seattle.