A Race to the Finish Line on the Busiest Travel Day of the Year

Today I'm leaving on a three city trip. Orlando for work, San Antonio for my last Rock n Roll race of the year--HALL OF FAME here I come--and then St. Louis for work.

Today is the busiest travel day of the year. How did I prepare? Let me tell you how to work the system.

I'm not a fan of dealing with AM traffic to O'Hare from McCormick Convention Center area. It's over an hour by public transportation and depending on traffic, can be over two hours by car. Nope. Not a fan.

By the end of the year, I usually have about 200,000 or so miles saved up from travel and such, so I booked a room at the airport Hilton O'Hare for approximately 14,000 miles. That's super cheap. Breakfast would have been another 2000 miles but I passed on the offer as I was flying out early. If you haven't had their breakfast buffet, you should, it's fabulous, regularly $33.

I took an Uber to the airport as I didn't want to schlep my big bag on three different trains. I checked the weather report for the three cities I'm traveling to, and decided that since the forecast wasn't brutal and I was taking Uber, I didn't need my heavy coat, hat and gloves and opted for my lighter coat, saving me lots of stuff to carry. The Uber was $25, and the driver was amazing, so I tipped him $5. I just checked the price to travel the same route at 0600, it's about double.

I was supposed to fly out at 0600. Because I'm a United 1K Member, I can choose to move my flight to any available flight (same fare class) in the 24-hour, same day window for free. I had already been upgraded, but there was plenty of open space on the 0947, so I called the 1K line and they switched my flights, and also received an upgrade to First Class on the new flight.

I arrived at the Hilton starved so I dropped my bags and went to the sports bar to see some football highlights and get a burger. Sitting at the bar instead of a table has its advantages as I met a man who works for one of the Rock n Roll Marathon Series sponsors, and he ended up picking up my check after we talked about racing and such. Free dinner, yay!

Slept for a few hours, but as I know how busy ORD can be the Sunday after Thanksgiving, I decided to get out of bed at 0500 to allow plenty of time to weave my way through the expected lines. I looked out the window and the traffic in front of the Departures area was gridlocked. I figured the check-in would be crazy, so I showered quickly, got dressed and headed out.

I left the Hilton at 0534 and headed for Terminal 1. Again, deciding to stay at the airport was a great decision, as I didn't have to go outside in the 30 degree weather, and was thankful that I left my heavy coat and winter wear at home.

I arrived at the United Check-In counter at 0540. The 1K line was open with no line so I checked my bag, grabbed my boarding pass and headed for the TSA Pre line.

O'Hare does not have CLEAR yet, which means I spend more time in lines at ORD than any other airport in the country. I've been a member for years and zip right through the security lines at SFO, LAS, and MCO--three of my most frequented airports. I'm rarely in line for more than five minutes and consider the CLEAR + TSA Pre Check to be one of the best business investments I make.

I was stunned to see no one in line at TSA Pre. The stanchions were already in place to accommodate what was coming and I weaved my way through the empty space and security screening in about 45 seconds. On the busiest day of the year at one of the busiest airports in the country. Am I dreaming? Pinch me.

The time was 0545.

I joked with the TSA employee about how quickly everything was going, and he said, "Oh, it's coming. Look behind you."

And there it was, the wall of people streaming down the prepared stanchions with bags, purses, and rollers everywhere.

It looked like a human tsunami. I grabbed my bags and headed to the United Club, conveniently located next door to the checkpoint.

I walked into the United Club at 0547 and greeted the counter agent. I told her that I left my hotel room exactly 13 minutes ago and hadn't even been awake an hour. She mirrored the TSA agents comment of, "It's coming" and I told her about the human tsunami I just saw. The doors of the Club opened again, and in poured the people. Up the stairs I went and grabbed a counter seat, coffee and a bagel.

One of the amenities at the Club is a complementary printer, which I need to use to print out my script. I'm doing that now while I type this and will be able to focus my time relaxing and learning my client's product.

Rumor has it that the hot breakfast this morning will include bacon. And you all know how I feel about bacon.

With some preparation and knowledge of what the busiest travel day of the year can be like, I avoided all the hassle, frustration, and lines that most people will be facing today.

And the cost to me? $30 and 14,000 miles. Combined with my memberships to the United Club, TSA Pre, and CLEAR, I skated from hotel door to breakfast in 13 minutes.

Imagine what everyone else out there is dealing with and how much they are spending on transportation and breakfast, not to mention the wait times in all the lines. Nope. I've been doing this too long to not know how to work the systems.

As I always say...play the game or it will play you.

On a closing note....the printer was giving me a bit of a hard time this morning. After speaking with the CSR at the front desk we got it to work. While we were waiting I told her of my 13-minute journey and that I use United all the time to fly to work and races and that I write a blog about my travels. She actually didn't know how to use the printer and after joking with her a bit about it and teaching her the steps to print documents, I told her in passing that I had been trying to get a job with United for a few years now with no success. She said, "Oscar is coming in today. I'll tell him that you are looking..."

Excuse me while I go put my eyelashes on...You can't potentially meet the CEO of your chosen airline (who read your blog and sent you a thank you about the compliments I wrote of his employees) when you aren't without your signature lashes and lipstick.

Bacon can wait...

Life Is Good

Life is better when you are well prepared and make smart decisions.