I had made a decision to attend the Seattle Gift Show to meet my Northwest Reps for the first time and to see what the show was all about. Excited about this decision, I was anxious to find a reasonably-priced package to arrive at my destination point. Sure, I’ve used other dot com travel services in the past with no problems. But I hadn’t used this one. Why did I choose to use an unknown at this point? Was I caught up in the excitement or was it just pure plain stupidity?

I should have internalized those words a little more - “flight times between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. guaranteed same day arrival.” Wow, I was getting such a deal, round trip airfare from San Diego to Seattle, a two-night stay at a reasonable, well-known hotel, plus a two-day car rental all for about $400.00. Boy, oh boy, what a deal! How bad could it be, I thought as I submitted my request knowing that flight time and all pertinent information was not to be given until I had committed to the purchase. With a click of the mouse, I had done it. I had really done it. No turning back now.

The moment I had read the flight information, I could have kicked myself all the way to the airport and then back again. Under normal circumstances, a flight from San Diego to Seattle should have taken about two hours. Not this flight, not this time. Nine hours of travel was my gift for choosing to save money and to get that DEAL!

I started my travels from San Diego at 4:55 p.m. We then flew to Denver. There we had a about a 2-hour layover. After this layover, we were ready to travel to Seattle. We arrived in Seattle at about 11:40 p.m. But it gets worse.

I did not realize at the time that I booked this trip, that the car I had rented was not going to be waiting for me at the airport. Cold and tired and with luggage in hand, I had to wait for a shuttle to take me to the car rental agency. After waiting in line there, I was finally given a little car.

I didn’t even know that cars were manufactured with a crank-up knob (you know what I am talking about, the kind of manual hand crank handle you use to use to raise and lower windows before they became automatic) underneath the seat to adjust the height of the seat. As I tried to figure out this contraption, in the rain, I might add, I tried to adjust the side mirror by moving this knob and as I was making the adjustment, the knob came off in my hand.

Okay. Not real familiar with Seattle. Now, the task of finding my way from the airport to the hotel was at hand. People, I get lost in San Diego. And here I am driving this little hunk without a navigation system. I finally arrived at the hotel. By the time I walked through the threshold of my room, it was 1:45 a.m.

Great, I thought. I have to be up in about 5 hours to attend a trade show. How was I going to be perky and fresh and ready to greet the day and meet my sales reps. My trip home was no picnic either. But this time it only took me 5 hours instead of 9 hours to arrive at my destination point.

So, I basically had Friday as a full travel day and I paid for a hotel room for two nights even though I didn’t arrive to the hotel until 1:45 in the morning not to mention that I was totally exhausted from my travels and not exactly at my best for my day at the Seattle Gift Show. If you decide to use a dot com travel service, make sure you read between the lines.

At the end of my travels, I decided that I would have gladly paid double the price I paid to have arrived early, enjoyed the sights a bit, and gotten a good night’s rest. Sure, I saved a few dollars. But was it really worth it? I think NOT! All I have to say is Buyer Beware!