Back home again.

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I got downstairs a bit before my 8 am pickup, which was a good thing, the driver was already there. One other couple from my tour was also on the bus, and then we stopped off at another hotel for a pick up. Quick check in at Alaska air kiosk and not too bad a line for the bag drop. A bit of a long line at TSA check, and apparently people up here haven't gotten the liquids memo, one of the agents had to keep reminding people that things weren't allowed. Wandered around the terminal a bit and ran into another couple from my tour (they had a slightly later flight). Flight down was good, absolutely gorgeous views of the mountains as we took off. Last 45 minutes of the flight was way bumpy. It never makes me feel good when the pilot makes the flight attendants sit down that early.

It's a train ride from the gates to the baggage claim at SeaTac, and by the time I got there, my bag was all ready for me. Found the Delta area and checked in for my evening flight home. It showed as overbooked, but the kiosks don't give good value for bumping, so I just checked in. Brought the bag to luggage drop off and the girl checked it through, then realized I was WAY early for my flight and said she hoped it would get to NYC since there were so many other flights going out before mine. Hey, if I'd realized Delta and Alaska were partners, I would have booked on just one airline and then the bag would have been checked through, so if they lost it then it would be okay?

Now, as some of you may not know, I had about 8 hours worth of layover at SeaTac. Intentionally. I wasn't sure if there would be problems flying down from Anchorage, so I booked an early flight down.

I had a nice afternoon/evening exploring the airport and charging my electronics. Met a young lady from Japan who was on standby for the NYC flight because her Tokyo to Seattle flight got delayed and she missed the morning flight to NYC. I didn't think much of her chances to get on the red-eye because it looked like every Delta flight out of Seattle was overbooked. First time in a while that I've seen that much overbooking.

Got a bit nervous when I saw the mechanics scrutinizing the nose of the plane. And then going off and getting a higher truck so they could get closer to it..... I was bracing myself for a cancel due to mechanical issues.

When they started boarding, they announced they were overbooked and looked for volunteers. I was the first one up there. Four hundred dollar credit for my next flight, hotel and meals? Easy sell. I wished I could just give my seat to the girl from Japan, but they don't allow that. Ultimately, they didn't take any of the volunteers off the flight, but luckily, the young lady did manage to get on the flight.

Bit of a bumpy take off, as I expected, since there were still storms in the area, but the flight cross country was fine, and landing very smooth. I was envious of the people who managed to conk out before we even took off and sleep all the way until landing.

Oh, and yes, my bag made it to JFK safely.

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