I took my first flight yesterday since the WTC attack.
How very strange it was to be flying again. The flight was eerily empty and the airline employees sure seemed happy to see us.
As my plane ascended and rose above the pillowy layer of fog that stretched out as far as the eye could see, I suddenly felt both fragile and invincible.
All and all the experience went smoothly. If you are a frequent traveller under normal circumstances, the best thing you could do right now is FLY! I think it's highly unlikely now that something like 9.11 will have the chance to happen again anytime soon. The sooner we all get back to business, the better for our country's economy.
I would still recommend taking the earliest flight of the day so as to avoid delays.
More random tidbits of travel information gleaned from the travel experiences of myself and others over the weekend:
Carry on luggage cannot exceed 22 lbs (each bag)
There is such a thing as getting to the airport too early. If you get there sooner than 3 hours before your flight, they won't let you check in your bags. (3 hours should be plenty of time for you to get through security and catch your flight.)
Many of the flights are only serving coffee and juice, and have dropped their in-flight meals, except in first class, so if you're like me and can't make it 4 hours without a nibble, better bring a banana, eat before you go to the airport or just eat in the long lines after you check in. (You'll probably have time to kill before your flight after you check your luggage and get through security, but be warned: the lines for food in the airport are quite long, and there's even less cream cheese on that overpriced bagel -- but at least the prices don't seem to have gone up yet.)
Reliable sources have reported experiences of being held up an extra two hours or more during international flights (after boarding the plane) due to the Border Patrol's performing random checks. According to my source, 12 brown-skinned people were escorted off of the plane and about half of them returned. I'm trying to find out more about this. If anyone knows more details, please let me know.
