STA's and turbulence

Time for some pilots wife humor and fun facts......

When i first became a pilots wife my husband flew cargo. This meant that we received none of the flying perks, such as STA's and discount tickets. I must admit back then i was envious thinking "now that's the life"....Well, it is and it isnt's!!!!

For any of you out there who have no idea of what it is truly like to fly on an STA (staff ticket) let me enlighten you! First of all, most airlines still require you to pay something for these tickets, so if you are thinking "yea, well it is free" you are mistaken in many cases. Second of all an STA is no more than a standby ticket, and for anyone who has ever flown standby you know that you have to be truly flexible! Lets say you have a vacation planned for a week and you are flying on one of these coveted STA's, well i hope that you don't really need to arrive at your destination at the planned time because there is no guarantee that you will get there that day or even to the airport you had planned! More times than not you are left waiting until the flight closes (that is an hour prior to departure) to find out of you will even get on the plane. Then you have to race through security to make your flight, yes this includes international flights where you have security and customs and let me tell you that rushing through customs and security with only an hour can be very stressful and just pray you aren't the one that gets the extra fun search done cause you may not make it at all!

Granted, many times it works out perfectly and you find yourself flying very cheap often upgraded to first class, but i have had so many times that were near misses and last minute airport changes that i would much prefer to pay full price for a ticket to avoid the hassle and to enjoy a confirmed seat. I actually pay full price for my tickets when i have to be somewhere because i am not leaving my precious vacations up to chance!

I used to be able to handle flying and actually enjoyed it very much, but lately the turbulence has been very unnerving for me. All i can figure is that i am pregnant and i get very easily spooked about anything happening to my baby and my husband. I know that it sounds ridiculous but our last journey to and from the USA was very turbulent and left me kissing the ground on arrival! Ryan just laughs at me, but it has become this new deep seeded fear that i cant shake...I am not looking forward to the flights again in December (that's right, we will be flying standby during the Christmas holiday...i am taking bets now on if we will be able to make it home or not)! LOL