Time, Travel and Weasels

     I love to travel, especially when it is winter, and especially when the destination is somewhere warmer, which is about anywhere this year. So I was delighted to find out Reed needed to go to Dallas for training in February. Once Reed's training schedule was confirmed, I went to Kayak, which is my default flight search sight.  I found a good deal for the week we needed through JustFly, but it required flying out on Delta and back on United. JustFly sent me to Delta to book the outgoing flight. Presumably, they would send me to United to book the return flight. But I never got to find out because, after having input traveler information twice--when I got to our zip code it perversely returned to the beginning of the search, so I input the traveler information again, got to the payment portion and realized Reed needed to pay for his ticket on his company card. I could not pay separately for two passengers. Reed and I would need to separate. After 39 years of marriage, this was not as traumatic as you might think. But when I went back into JustFly, I couldn't find that fare again. I wound up trying Expedia, whose $400 fare turned out, after I put in our information, to be $1775. But I spotted the elusive thing again on Hotwire, which promised there were just 3 tickets available for that price.
    I decided, since money was no object for Reed's ticket, and it certainly was for mine, that I would book my ticket first. That part went smoothly, but before I could make Reed's reservation, I had to back out of Hotwire and enter it again to find the $400 fare. Unsurprisingly, there were still three tickets left at that price. I carefully double checked Reed's info (after nearly listing him as female) and he gave me the correct credit card (after nearly using the one from his other employer). But the site refused to accept the card. So he called the director of maintenance to find out why the card would not work, only to discover he hadn't okayed the school with the chief pilot yet. No problem, I had 24 hour free cancellation. But, problem, it was Saturday and Reed's boss wouldn't talk to his boss until Monday. Reed couldn't call the chief pilot directly because his boss would regard that as an act of treason. Since that company's credit cards get hacked on a regular basis, that was probably why it was declined. I estimate that I spent 4 hours between researching fares and attempted bookings and only managed to get a ticket for the person who did not need to go.
     So I am going to Dallas in February. I am skipping school, even if it's paid for.  I hope Reed gets to come. I think travel sites are created by sadistic, unemployed travel agents, or possibly weasels--probably both.