My recent vacation to Jamaica was perfect. As long as you ignore how I chose to get there and return home. I ignored my best instincts and booked a commercial airline instead of a private charter flight.

Never again.

Our journey began at 11:06 p.m. on a Wednesday evening. Our flight (on board an unnamed airline) was due to take off from Las Vegas at 1:15 in the morning. My girlfriend and I thought an overnight flight was a good idea. Maybe even genius! We’d spend all of our travel time sleeping and be fresh and energized when we arrived at our final destination. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out quite as planned.

Since it was an international flight, we made sure to arrive at McCarran International Airport two hours early. We left our car at the parking garage and lugged our baggage to the check-in line. The kiosks were broken so we got in a second line all over again for a ticket agent.

After paying an extra $20 per bag, we were off to security. You know the drill. Shoes off, pockets empty, laptops out of the bag, etc. My girlfriend walked through the body scanner without an issue. But I was asked to walk through twice and was given a dirty look by the agent each time. What’s going on here? That’s when the agent began scolding me.

“Did you empty your pockets?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Um, yes.”

My body was waved down with one of those wands and it beeped every time due to some metal material built into my jeans. Once they decided I wasn’t a terrorist (about ten minutes later) we were on our way.

We planned on grabbing a quick drink and perhaps something to eat before boarding our plane. Unfortunately, most places inside the terminal close before midnight. We finally found a restaurant at the end of the terminal. But of course, so did everyone else. Every table was packed. Every seat was filled. So much for that glass of wine before our flight.

Finally, our plane boarded and we squeezed into our seats. My girlfriend got the window and I was stuck between her and some dude with a constant cough, a sweating problem and a faint smell of garlic and onions.

Maybe he was one of the few people who got a seat back at that restaurant?

He seemed nice enough though. Almost too nice. He spent half the flight talking my ear off about his fantasy football league and sharing his thoughts on the presidential election. So much for sleeping on this flight.

We had a layover in Ft Lauderdale that was six hours long. It didn’t seem like such a big deal when we booked the tickets. But now… the delay was absolutely excruciating.    

We finally boarded our plane and arrived in Jamaica two hours later. Our vacation was perfect. Five days of blue skies, long beaches and gorgeous sunsets.

Surely the flight back home would be better.

Right?

Wrong.

We left the hotel and arrived on time at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay with two hours to kill. No big deal. We’d rather be a little early than running late. But then we found out that our flight was delayed. So our two hour wait expanded into a four hour wait… and then a five hour wait.

We finally boarded the plane and of course, I was seated behind a baby who couldn’t stop crying. Apparently the mother didn’t pack a pacifier. Meanwhile, there's some kid sitting behind me who's watching a movie on his cell phone with the speakers cranked up. Apparently the mother didn’t pack a set of headphones. I was surrounded by chaos and noise - in stereo - for the entire flight back to the mainland.

We arrived back in Ft. Lauderdale and due to the delay taking off in Jamaica, only had minutes to make our connecting flight back home to Vegas.

We claimed our luggage, raced through customs, re-checked our luggage, took another trip through the TSA security line and ran FULL speed for the departure gate.

That's when we saw the door closing. No chance to board the plane.

As my girlfriend stood in yet another line to see if a backup flight was available, I could only ask myself one thing.

Why didn't I just book a private flight on Cirrus Aviation in the first place?

I would have avoided...

Inconvenient departure times.

Paying extra for luggage.

Looking for an airport bar in the middle of the night.

Sitting in tight seats next to smelly passengers.

Delayed flights.

Missing connections.

A... big... giant... mess.

Don't make the same mistake I did. Call Cirrus Aviation today 702-472-9714.