Leaving For Cardiff – Preflight Travel Tales
And we’re leaving for Cardiff … or at least trying our best. We start our adventure with preflight travel tales.
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Coordinate With Your Bank Before International Travel
This adventure to the UK begins with trying to authorize payment for our first lodging in Cardiff. This apartment facility has a bit of an unconventional check-in process (more to follow, I’m sure, when we get to that place). From prior international travel experience (including just over the U.S. border into Vancouver), I’ve learned to advise my credit union in advance when planning to be out of the country (or else access to monies may be denied). So, I checked this off my to-do list last week. All should be good, right?
We Had Credit Card Problems Preflight
Well, our first lodging in Cardiff has an arrangement that requires you to make contact 24 hours before arrival to get check-in instructions since the apartments don’t have a front desk. We made this call around 3:00 am Los Angeles time. That is when the apartment rep was also ready to authorize my credit card. I gave him the card number and heard him say, “Your card was denied.” What?
I then tried our Costco credit card as plan B, which is good to go (though there are no points from this transaction on my primary card). Sigh.
Calling my credit union to investigate the problem leads nowhere, as their business hours don’t commence for another 3.5 hours.
Communication With Your Bus Driver Improves Travel
At 4:30 am, we put our backpacks and one carry-on item each in the Minivan’s backseat (yup, minimalist packing this trip). We say bye-bye to the doggies and head off to the Van Nuys Flyaway. “What terminal?” asks the bus driver. We say we’re not sure. We have a flight on Delta, to which he says, “Could be terminal 2 or 3 at LAX”, and marks us in his log for a Terminal 2 drop-off. But he says to let him know if we should get off at a different stop. (Remember that piece of advice in a moment).
During the ride, I looked at the boarding pass printed from yesterday’s online early check-in. Terminal 3, it says. I think, “Indeed, others on the bus will get off at terminal 3, so we’ll hop off then”. When the bus approaches terminal 2, Julie says, “You should let the bus driver know we’ll need to stop at terminal 3.” I think, “Ah, no worries, we’ll get off one stop later, no problem.” Besides, we’re in the back of the bus. The bus driver would probably not start walking down the aisle during the ride.
During the bus ride, a text message pops up on Julie’s phone with updated info on our trip. She sees the departure is scheduled to be on time. I don’t get the message on my phone as I’ve already enabled airplane mode to save battery power. Neither of us sees that the text update denotes a change to terminal 2. Oh oh!
Sure enough, the bus pulls over at terminal 3. The door opens for a couple of folks getting off. We get up immediately, grab our bags, and head down the aisle. I guess only two people got off from the front of the bus because as we were maybe four feet from the front, the bus driver was already in the driver’s seat, the door closed, and the bus started to lurch forward.
We almost have an accident during our preflight bus ride
Did he look to see if anyone else was walking down the aisle to get out? No.
Does he look in his mirror to see if anyone is in the aisles? No.
Did Art listen to Julie and tell the bus driver we should get off here versus the prior stop? No.
As the bus lurches forward, Julie nearly tumbles face-first in the front of the bus. The bus driver alerted, stopped the bus, and said, “You told me you were getting off at Terminal 3. Why didn’t you tell me you were getting off here?”
Umm, sorry, Julie. You were right again.
Preflight Travel Tales – Trouble Finding Our Flight Information
Into terminal 3 we go. Looking around for monitors with departure information, there isn’t one to be found. We asked a Delta rep where to go and were directed to the security line. (Insert airport security routine here).
Now we’re ready to relax. A cup of coffee would be great. We need to find our gate – which isn’t listed on the ticket. Nor can we find a master monitor with departure information. Every gate only has individual flight information posted listing the target city. We walk by Las Vegas, Albuquerque, and Cabo. But we don’t see Minneapolis on any sign, our stopover city in the U.S. for our flight to Cardiff.
Finally, in the corner of this part of the terminal is that master monitor screen I’ve been looking for. I see two flights bound for Minneapolis, but the flight times and numbers don’t match our ticket. Oh crap, I think. Is there a chance I got the flight date wrong? I shuffle through my bag to find my boarding pass. Nope, all good. The flight is today at 8:45 am. So where is our plane?
Preflight Stress – Learning You’re at the Wrong Terminal
Our preflight travel tales continue at the Delta terminal. I stand behind someone at a Delta gate and impatiently wait for my turn to speak with their rep. “We’re supposed to fly through Minneapolis, but I don’t see our flight listed on the monitor. The rep starts to investigate on her mobile device. “Ah, your flight departs from terminal 2”, she says.
Great, that’s where we should have gotten off the bus initially. Now I’m concerned that we must walk out of this terminal, get ourselves to the right terminal, and go through the whole security jig again. But the Delta rep points us down the hall where we can grab a shuttle to the correct terminal. Interestingly, a shuttle is available just for this purpose. Hmm, does this happen often?
Inside the Delta shuttle, we roll across the tarmac bound for terminal 2. Heading inside, I spy a monitor and check to see if our flight is listed. Yup, and there it is. Our flight is scheduled for an 8:45 am departure to Minneapolis.
Coffee and breakfast preflight
Finally, we can enjoy a coffee, which we did from Starbucks, and a feta egg white sandwich, which hit the spot in place of our usual oatmeal. Interestingly, the menu board at Starbucks listed the various drink options, while the adjacent prices and calorie counts needed to be more readable in their narrow and dim gray font.
Preflight Travel Tales – Device Charging Woes
We now have over an hour to kill, which we commence doing with our drinks and eats. I also plug my phone into the electric plug between our seats in the terminal lobby. Gee, that’s great. I can juice up my phone while ticking off some emails, checking the Airstream forums on Facebook, and catching some news stories. Julie leans over after 10 minutes and says, “Your phone probably isn’t charging, you know – these plugs never work.” What? I look at my phone’s battery life, which shows I’ve drained my battery a bit since sitting down with it.
Looking at the benches in the terminal, I see they all have plugs between the seats. Underneath the benches, I also spy power cords that all lead to – nowhere.
Delta had signage by these plugs, which tells their customers they are investing in our experience. Yeah right. I spend a few minutes watching several other folks encounter the same epiphany that they are also draining their devices.
We are leaving for Cardiff. We haven’t even left L.A., but we have these preflight travel tales (before the flight) to share.
Identify Top-Ranked Lodging Before Travel
It helps to identify top-ranked lodging for places where you travel. We found a great location just outside the city center through VRBO.
Since this trip, we’ve found Stay22 to be an excellent source for finding lodging. Here are available properties in Cardiff, Wales:
Leaving For Cardiff – Podcast Episode
Click below to listen our podcast episode in Podbean:
Read About Our Travel Tales in and Near Cardiff
Sights and Attractions in the Charming Town of Barry Island – Exploring Cardiff Castle and Barry Island
St. Fagan National History Museum
The Best Tours in Cardiff
To get a great immersion in a new city, we find taking one or more tours helpful.
The Best Tours in Cardiff Wales
Lessons Learned From Our Preflight Travel Tales
- Do read last-minute text messages from your airline – in detail
- Follow instructions from your shuttle driver- specifically as directed
- Guys, listen to your ladies, don’t ask questions
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