Stuff happens in life and it sure happened to me this holiday journey. Our itinerary took us from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale on Delta with a “buy one get one” (compliments of our Delta American Express card), where we stayed overnight with Elizabeth’s sister.

Travel Tip – When we arrived at airport with our boarding passes in hand (printed the night before at home) ready to drop our bags, we found a ginormous queue at the bag drop area. We went back outside to the “Curbside Checkin” and within three minutes we were checked in and bags dropped. Of course these folks work for tips, but it was the very best $5.00 spent all day.

Waking the next morning I felt a slight tickle in my throat. Oh no, I am not going to get sick during the Christmas holiday! I have not been sick all year! No, I have not been sick in many many years!

That evening Sue graciously delivered us to the Miami Airport for a 10:30 PM flight (No small feat with I-95 traffic). We arrived early and took advantage of our Priority Pass at the VIP Lounge in the South Terminal. When we first arrived it was quite crowded but soon a flight was announced and whoomph everyone was gone. For the next hour and a half we enjoyed the lounge with only two other couples. There was an excellent selection of soda, beer, wine, and mixed drinks as well as snacks and even a hot pasta dish.  

Our Virgin Atlantic flight was finally called away and we were off to London for the fourth time in as many years. Let me just say here, we are really blessed to be able to travel and we greatly appreciate that fact. We also like and greatly appreciate Virgin Airlines! We do splurge a little and pay the extra for seating in Premium Class. Now, that’s not Upper Class, which is way above our budget, but Premium is, for us, worth the price of admission.

What we like: dedicated check-in and bag drop, priority boarding, wide reclining chairs with footrests, welcoming drink, premium amenity kit in a wallet, containing all the essentials you’ll need for a great flight, food and drinks included, enhanced menu offering served on china with stainless steel cutlery, the snack bar with free snacks and drinks that you can help yourself to. As a Premium passenger you can enjoy the luxury of selecting your seat from 331 days before your flight, (Virgin claims it’s free of charge but we know it’s part of the fare).

Now, I have to admit that I don’t sleep on airplanes. This time I did! Dinner, two gin and tonics, and a huge dose of Nyquil equivalent that I picked up at the Dollar Tree Store knocked me out for hours. Maybe I will try that combination on future flights! Yep, if you haven’t guessed by now, I was deep into the punies!

I offer my deepest apologies to all the passengers around me, albeit a little late. Eyes watering, head about to burst, sneezing, coughing, raging sore throat, Oh, welcome back to the UK. Luckily they didn’t check my health status at Immigration and Customs (which is a breeze compared to entering the U.S.).

Now let’s find our driver and get to the Crowne Plaza so I can crash. By the way, crashing is definitely not recommended when completing a “long haul” flight. One is supposed to “fight through it” in order to get on the local schedule as soon as possible. In my case there was no “fight” left, only the white flag of surrender.