Time to Travel Again, Just Don’t Get Kicked Off Plane! PLUS: Tulum, Bahamas, Airline Pilots and More

Time to Travel Again, Just Don’t Get Kicked Off Plane

July 4^th is seen as the height of summer travel season, and with much of the world getting back to some sense of travel normalcy – if that’s possible – holiday travel is breaking records. Spots in Mexico like Cancun and my favorite Tulum are trending among the jet set beautiful crowd. Of course, inflation has made flights majorly expensive, and overworked pilots are demanding more pay as hundreds of flights get cancelled or rescheduled. Some hotels are jacking up prices, too, but if you’re a big time baller, it’s just the cost of doing business.

With that in mind, where are you headed to this summer? I’ll briefly cover some hot spots from a Dallas perspective in terms of distance and flights out of the two major airports here. But before I do that, one thing you have to remember when getting on an expensive flight is that you gotta control your anger lol. One executive found out the hard way when she wound up on a flight in a seat next to what she said was a crying baby. The mother insisted in a nice way the child would not cry the entire flight, but the executive “Karen,” as she’s been described, was not havin’ it at all.

So the flight attendant offered her either another seat, or another flight, but the lady did not budge. She eventually sat in an empty seat, but was furious, demanding the flight attendant to tell her her name so she could file a complaint and make her lose her airline job. I’ll let the video clip show what happens next…

Lol so people, let cooler heads prevail so you can enjoy your summer travels. Speaking of cooler heads, airline pilots are frustrated with the cancellations just like the rest of us, according to Conde Nast Travel magazine. “We’re tired of standing in front of our guests and saying we’re sorry,” says Captain Casey A. Murray, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association. “It’s a struggle for us all—we’re all in it together…this year’s disruptions have been extreme. For example, before noon on Tuesday there were already more than 2,000 flight cancellations and 12,000 delays—including 505 cancellations and 1,221 delays in the U.S.—according to Flight Aware. And that’s on what is an average Tuesday.”

I also saw a clip of a frustrated traveler taking his anger out on a gate agent, who responded in kind, letting him know to take it up with the airline. Ok, on to more positive stuff. Looks like Cancun will have some competition from its neighbor to the south Tulum for future travelers. Development is underway for Tulum’s own international airport. That will save travelers the extra hour and a half drive from Cancun airport that is customary now. The new airport is scheduled to open in late 2023.

Oh boy, I can’t wait.

Meanwhile, I booked a flight for Tulum next weekend. I was last there in 2020, but the tighter restrictions due to the health crisis delayed my return. Cancun is about a 2 hour flight from Dallas, or roughly about the same as flying from Dallas to Miami. This July, Tulum has record travel based on hotel bookings and sold out flights I’ve seen, but it’s rain season for their jungles. I’ll keep you posted on how things are in an upcoming post. I plan to post some pics and videos to a couple of my related Instagram accounts.

On the other side of the Caribbean from Tulum is the Bahamas. I was last there a few years ago, staying at two of the best resort hotels: the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar and the nearby SLS Baha Mar. Both share the same massive casino, excellent adult friendly swimming pools, and breathtaking beach views. The SLS has a day party for the grown and sexy, and I loved it. I was high up enough in my swank hotel room that it wasn’t too loud, and was silent when the patio door was closed. I would go to the patio to hear if one of my songs was playing. The vibe from the DJ booth and the poolside bar was vibrant, fun and energetic.

But Grand Hyatt was not to be outdone. At night, the world famous Bond Nightclub takes over, and because I was a guest, I got preferential pricing plus no waiting in line. Bond is one of the best nightclubs I’ve been to, and I had a chance to hob knob with some international big dawgs from all over the world. And of course, the ladies were looking very nice. I hung out with a couple of women during my Bahamas stay, and had a chance to mix with the locals as I like to do when I travel.

My room there was also very, very nice and impeccable, on a high floor cuz that’s how a brotha rolls lol. Like the SLS, the Grand Hyatt has several very nice, upscale restaurants on the property. I tend to do the Japanese fusion restaurants because of the chic vibes, but Italian and seafood are not bad either.

SLS is currently promoting a summer family getaway for those of you with children. They do have a fun, very impressive water park, so be sure you wear your children out, so they can sleep all night long, to allow you grown folks to go downstairs and party the night away – just be sure to have babysitting if they’re too you, lol. Of course, if you hang out at the day party while the kids are in the supervised water park, then you might end up dozing off to sleep early anyway. I almost did that while I was at the Grand Hyatt, but fortunately I woke up at 1130pm, and Bond club goes on till at least 3am lol.

Flight times from Dallas to Nassau Bahamas is about 3 hours, about the same as Dallas to Los Angeles. I took American nonstop.

Ok that’s it from our Dallas Escapes series. Stay tuned for the next summer travel video. Until then, take care, my jet set travelers!

Links:

Karen Kicked Off Airplane After Refusing to Sit Next to Baby (dailydot.com)