I have been flying more years than I care to remember, have several frequent flyer memberships, and I guess you could say I know my way around airports. Two weeks ago I took a much needed vacation in Denver and the act of missing my return flight had me saying with gritted teeth that I will NEVER again fly Delta. On the other hand, I have also developed a love affair with Southwest Airlines.

It all started with confusion on my part (I am not afraid to admit my part in the fiasco), because my Delta flight was scheduled to leave Wednesday at 1am which translates as Tuesday night an hour after midnight. It was clear when I made the reservation but somehow in the thin air of Denver it registered in my brain as something totally different.

Wednesday afternoon as my friends looked over my e-ticket and I started packing; I noticed that they cautiously told me that my flight had already left early that morning. I refused to go into panic mode and simply accepted that I needed to contact Delta to be charged that dreaded penalty mentioned on my e-ticket. You can only imagine my surprise when the ticket agent told me over the phone the cost to book a return flight would be 98% of the cost of my original round trip ticket! Once I picked myself up off the floor I calmly stated “But I want to pay the penalty” to which she replied “that is the penalty!” I have flier miles with Delta and understand that airlines generally attempt to work with frequent customers but no such luck.. The agent was nice but firm that I had to buy the equal of a round trip flight to make a one-way trip home.

Before I was willing to fall prey to this kind of extortion, I wanted to give the other airlines a try. True it was my mistake but somehow I felt I was being taken advantage of. There was a way out of this and my friends worked to help me find it. United was helpful and could arrange a stand-by flight for $107, so they did their part in helping a frequent customer. But, the Calvary really came rushing in when I we contacted Southwest. If I waited a day I could fly from Denver to Jacksonville with a confirmed seat for only $107.60 which included taxes, and I am not in their flyer club.

The agent from Southwest confirmed that there would be two stops but I would not have to change planes and would not be on the ground longer than 30 minutes for each stop(which included Austin, Tampa, and then Jacksonville). Happy days were here again and to my surprise their flight staff was friendly yet efficient when compared to the overwhelmed staff of Delta and everything they said about the time on the ground was true.