My parents and in-laws are snowbirds. Each year they winter in the warmer, sunnier state of Florida, at the same condominium complex (unusual I know). So when they both invited my family to come for a visit this year, the answer was an easy yes.

I’m sure you can guess who made the travel arrangements. Flight prices were higher than I wanted to pay. And so it was that we came to fly into one airport and out of another. Our departing airport was 70 miles away, but for a savings of $400, I felt it was worth it.

Our trip was great. Lots of fun in the sun, a good visit with the parents/grandparents and the chance to watch a fisherman catch a huge shark. Our time went fast, until it was time to leave…

Since the airport was far away, I hired a driver to take us there. The ride took two hours, but we certainly arrived in time to… wait. We waited in line at security, waited for our plane to depart and waited for storms to pass. Finally, we boarded and waited for takeoff. No such luck.

Instead we got off the plane and waited for a mechanic to fix our plane. Two hours later we were told to wait for a new plane to arrive. Eventually we made it to our connection point, but guess what? Our flight home didn’t wait on us.

So next we waited on a shuttle to take us to the beautiful Holiday Inn. Eight hours later, we woke up, drove to the airport and waited for the next flight to Indianapolis.

Twenty-seven hours is a long time to get home. I think I’ll wait awhile before flying again. And if I go next year, I will certainly consider paying $400 more for nonstop flights. They’d be worth their weight in gold.

Tracy Line is a travel writer and the owner of Noblesville Travel. Contact her at [email protected].