Connections... That word just sounds horrible for everybody. In contrast, I love that word. I wish I could connect through 5 different cities before I get to my final destination, but it just costs a lot. When you have a flight connection, you have the opportunity to see different people, experience different places all over the country, and see different landscapes, or even different clouds!. I've been in MIA, JFK, EWR, ORD, SLC, FLL, LAS, PHX, PHL, LGA, and every time I travel, looks like I get to know another airport.

My last travel was on May 4th. I was going home after my spring semester at Utah State University. I was looking for different flight options, but most of them were through places that I knew before, but there was an itinerary that called my attention: SLC-PHX-JFK-SDQ. Everybody told me that I was crazy because I needed to go to the south, and then go to the northeast, but I didn't care, PHX was a new place for me, and the last time I went to JFK I was 9 years old. I got my ticket, very cheap, and figured out that If I could get a first class seat on some flights it would be great because the lenght of the trip, and because I needed to fit around 70 lbs on my bag to get all my belongs with me. I called US Airways just to ask if they still had the Preferred member trial, and they had it, so I signed up and got instant frequent flyer status for three months, and I was able to keep it for the rest of the year if I flew 6 segments or 6,000 miles. I checked the US Airways seat map for the flights 453 and 18 every day until my upgrade window, and then, my flights were auto upgraded. I was very happy although I couldn't get a first class seat for free for my JFK-SDQ flight Delta 207, but I didn't care too much. I had a big surprise for someone, and I just wanted to go gome on that date.

May 4th came, and I was very excited. My friend Joe drove me to the airport, and I was able to check in early and get the seat 1A for the SLC-PHX flight, which was great because the seat 1A is the one with the most legroom on the boeing 737's. My flight was pleasant: I had a pre-departure drink, the flight attendants were very kind and spend part of the flight chatting with me, and the service was excellent. it was a quite flight. I departed SLC at 7.35 PM and arrived PHX at 8:12 PM. Then, I went to the next flight's gate. which was on the same terminal. I loved PHX.

My second flight, PHX-JFK, was a red-eye flight. It departed at 9.45 pm and arrived JFK at 6 AM. I couldn't sleep on the flight and spent the time watching The Office DVD. Once I arrived to JFK, I was impressed to see New York early in the morning, it was beautiful. My next flight was on a different terminal, so I had to go outside the terminal, and take a ride on the air train from terminal 7 to Terminal 2 & 3 (Delta Airline). It had two different check in, one for the Medallion members, and the other one for the general travelers. I was confused, and I got to the wrong one, but, since my flight was on Delta anyways, and I told them I was very confused and I was a Preferred Member on US Airways, I got my boarding pass without any kind of problems. I also was able to get an exit row seat, which was great.

My last flight, JFK-SDQ, was very pleasant too. It was full of Dominicans, everyone seemed to be happy to go to their country, including me. We had a very good breakfast, our flight time was less than it was supposed to be, and we arrived earlier than scheduled. It took about an hour for the bags to come out, and then, customs was faster than before. I met my Dad and sister outside the terminal, and they surprised me with a new car and a new house, but the big surprise was still pending: my mom didn't know that I was going home on that date. She was outside the city. When my sister went to pick her up at the bus terminal, I went out of the car and hugged her. She was so surprised that she was crying. I couldn't believe that my exciting trip to the DR could end that way. I promised that I was never going to surprise her again.