[Butch Cassidy Slept Here]

Nitetrain: Much to the amazement of some of the "airline" people on this board there was a time in my life when I was even LESS open to "conciliation" (compromise) than I am now. I found it necessary to mellow a bit for a very practical reason---I was using too much antacid.

Unless one owns their own plane, and has a vacation condo in Florida, a significant amount of conciliation has to be on the table. The alternative is to experience every single vacation trip, which involves air travel and/or hotels, as a mini-horror story. Is it right for someone to promise to get you somewhere at 1 pm; take your money, then tell you, two months later, you won’t arrive until 10 pm? Certainly not. But that is how airlines do business. When changes like this do take place there is, almost never, a choice that can restore things to their previous state. In reality what usually exists is a choice among several bad options. Obviously, the key to “survival” is to choose the option likely to produce the least “pain.”

Good luck, and hope you have a good time in the Tampa Bay area.