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#520
by
Stephen M
on 18 May, 2009 19:22
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I was one of those unlucky fellows to have missed this launch by about 5 hours due to my planning for the May 12 launch date. The cost to change the flight was $1000, which was far beyond my budget. For those of you who have done this multiple times successfully, do you have any tips about how and when to buy airline tickets? Which airline is the most flexible about changing dates without charging exorbitant fees? I only have enough money/time for one more chance before the program ends, so I'd like to give it the best shot I can.
Thanks.
Book with Southwest - there are no change fees - all you'd have to pay is the difference in cost between flights .... which was very little in my case, even across the almost year's timeline between launch attempts. :-)
Another vote for Southwest. I changed my tickets multiple times for this launch and probably wouldn't have been able to justify the fees if I'd flown another carrier. Also, check in advance and see how many flights your airline is flying down to Orlando the day of your departure. If they only have one plane going down, weather or mechanical issues could leave you in a tight spot. Southwest typically has 8-10 flights from BWI (close to home for me) to Orlando in a given day, most of which are direct flights. So no connections to worry about, and a better chance of getting on another flight if your plane has issues.
EDIT: as for when to book, I bought tickets at the end of April once it seemed like most launch hurdles had been cleared. There's really not much harm to buying further in advance as long as your airline has a reasonable change/refund policy. I booked the hotel & rental car a bit earlier just because those can sell out and are easier to cancel.
Also, I originally was going to fly back on the 14th but when they launched on the 11th I bumped up my return ticket to the 12th to save a few days of hotel & rental car expense. Flexibility is key.
hope this helps,
-Stephen M
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#521
by
dmurphy
on 18 May, 2009 19:36
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I was one of those unlucky fellows to have missed this launch by about 5 hours due to my planning for the May 12 launch date. The cost to change the flight was $1000, which was far beyond my budget. For those of you who have done this multiple times successfully, do you have any tips about how and when to buy airline tickets? Which airline is the most flexible about changing dates without charging exorbitant fees? I only have enough money/time for one more chance before the program ends, so I'd like to give it the best shot I can.
Thanks.
Book with Southwest - there are no change fees - all you'd have to pay is the difference in cost between flights .... which was very little in my case, even across the almost year's timeline between launch attempts. :-)
Another vote for Southwest. I changed my tickets multiple times for this launch and probably wouldn't have been able to justify the fees if I'd flown another carrier. Also, check in advance and see how many flights your airline is flying down to Orlando the day of your departure. If they only have one plane going down, weather or mechanical issues could leave you in a tight spot. Southwest typically has 8-10 flights from BWI (close to home for me) to Orlando in a given day, most of which are direct flights. So no connections to worry about, and a better chance of getting on another flight if your plane has issues.
EDIT: as for when to book, I bought tickets at the end of April once it seemed like most launch hurdles had been cleared. There's really not much harm to buying further in advance as long as your airline has a reasonable change/refund policy. I booked the hotel & rental car a bit earlier just because those can sell out and are easier to cancel.
Also, I originally was going to fly back on the 14th but when they launched on the 11th I bumped up my return ticket to the 12th to save a few days of hotel & rental car expense. Flexibility is key.
hope this helps,
-Stephen M
Completely agreed! We flew out of Long Island (ISP), which had 8 or so flights per day to MCO. Picked the first flight of the day too, so in case we got bumped or what-have-you, we'd still be able to get down there in time.
I was thrilled with Southwest - must've changed this flight 6 or so times over the last year .... with no change penalty at all. In the end, I have $47 in credit with them since one of the changes in the middle cost more than the actual flight I ended up on ... but it was still about $200 round trip for me. Can't beat that with a stick!
I also booked a room at the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Titusville.... since that's a Marriott property, I could use Marriott points, and rebook without any issue.
I was really very, very happy with the accommodations - flight, hotel, car rental (Hertz - I'm a Gold member) ..... really made life easy!
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#522
by
SgtBulldog
on 18 May, 2009 19:47
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Thanks for all the recommendations everyone! I'm definitely going to go with Southwest for the next one. Maybe I'll see y'all for STS-128.
Edit: Is it too early to start looking at where the landing is going to be? Weather at Kennedy doesn't look great for the 22nd.
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#523
by
atlantisfan
on 19 May, 2009 00:15
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#524
by
Bubbinski
on 19 May, 2009 02:18
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Southwest is definitely the way to go....I've taken them for my 3 shuttle launch trips. If you need to cancel, you can reschedule the flight for another day and it won't cost you an arm and a leg....which I have had to do for other (non-FL) trips.
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#525
by
vipermaster
on 19 May, 2009 04:45
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Hi,
When the shuttle is in for landing. Is it possible to see anything from the nasa space center tours ?
Best regards,
Mike
ps:When is it arriving ? Thu or friday ?
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#526
by
atlantisfan
on 19 May, 2009 07:03
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Hi,
When the shuttle is in for landing. Is it possible to see anything from the nasa space center tours ?
Best regards,
Mike
ps:When is it arriving ? Thu or friday ?
Landing is scheduled for Friday at 11:41 EDT
Can't help with the viewing possibilities, sorry.
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#527
by
psloss
on 19 May, 2009 10:37
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Hi,
When the shuttle is in for landing. Is it possible to see anything from the nasa space center tours ?
Best regards,
Mike
ps:When is it arriving ? Thu or friday ?
Landing is scheduled for Friday at 11:41 EDT
Can't help with the viewing possibilities, sorry.
FYI, the "targeted" landing time may move up one orbit, or about 90 minutes earlier on Friday. But the landing site is contingent on the weather.
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#528
by
astrobrian
on 19 May, 2009 12:53
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Hi,
When the shuttle is in for landing. Is it possible to see anything from the nasa space center tours ?
Best regards,
Mike
ps:When is it arriving ? Thu or friday ?
If it manages to land at KSC, one of the places you might see it at is from the viewing stand on the crawler way, Judging by the time for landing you might need to get there for the first bus out.
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#529
by
DaveJes1979
on 19 May, 2009 19:58
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Does anyone have access to the reentry ground track for STS-125?
I should point out that this reentry is the first shuttle reentry since Columbia to overfly the continental U.S. It will also be our very last opportunity to view a shuttle reentry (only returns from ISS from here on out).
OK, shuttle enthusiasts, its your last chance to see a reentry if you haven't yet.
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#530
by
psloss
on 19 May, 2009 20:00
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Does anyone have access to the reentry ground track for STS-125?
I should point out that this reentry is the first shuttle reentry since Columbia to overfly the continental U.S. It will also be our very last opportunity to view a shuttle reentry (only returns from ISS from here on out).
The ground tracks usually come out a few days before the planned times, so they should be published in the next couple of days.
STS-120 entered over the continental U.S.
And if STS-125 lands at Edwards, this entry pretty much won't.
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#531
by
rdale
on 19 May, 2009 20:47
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Did anything ever launch from KSC during the downtime this past week?
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#532
by
Bubbinski
on 20 May, 2009 03:44
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When I was there from Thursday to Saturday morning, I didn't see anything launching, whatever the range operation was must have been further out or something.
As far as watching the shuttle landing at KSC goes, during the then and now tour on Wednesday, the tour guide asked the audience where the best place to view a shuttle landing was a couple of times. Each time he would answer "in front of your TV"....his point being was that there really wasn't a good spot to view a landing at KSC if you were just a spectator. Now I was fortunate enough to view a couple of landings at Edwards (STS-26 and 30) while I was still a teenager....they have (or had) stands to view the landing and the view was pretty good, at least of the touchdown, also lots of spectators were there, they were festive occasions (space Woodstocks, kind of). I don't know how the viewing situation is there now.
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#533
by
MKremer
on 20 May, 2009 03:55
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Did anything ever launch from KSC during the downtime this past week?
Don't think so.
(unless something secret launched everyone isn't supposed to know about
)
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#534
by
Jorge
on 20 May, 2009 04:00
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Does anyone have access to the reentry ground track for STS-125?
I should point out that this reentry is the first shuttle reentry since Columbia to overfly the continental U.S. It will also be our very last opportunity to view a shuttle reentry (only returns from ISS from here on out).
The ground tracks usually come out a few days before the planned times, so they should be published in the next couple of days.
STS-120 entered over the continental U.S.
So did STS-116. Pretty much right over Houston, in fact.
Wouldn't rule out future flights, either.
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#535
by
MKremer
on 20 May, 2009 04:08
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When I was there from Thursday to Saturday morning, I didn't see anything launching, whatever the range operation was must have been further out or something.
As far as watching the shuttle landing at KSC goes, during the then and now tour on Wednesday, the tour guide asked the audience where the best place to view a shuttle landing was a couple of times. Each time he would answer "in front of your TV"....his point being was that there really wasn't a good spot to view a landing at KSC if you were just a spectator. Now I was fortunate enough to view a couple of landings at Edwards (STS-26 and 30) while I was still a teenager....they have (or had) stands to view the landing and the view was pretty good, at least of the touchdown, also lots of spectators were there, they were festive occasions (space Woodstocks, kind of). I don't know how the viewing situation is there now.
Sort of too bad KSC didn't build some sort of elevated bleacher facility - say 1/4 mile or so from the runway, but with very good viewing. They could have even named it, something like "The John Young Viewing Stands", to help support the expenses for them in DC.
I think that could have added support for each mission, having the 'general public' (in addition to other possible VIPs publicly noted by PAO) engage their local politicians clambering for tickets to see landings as much as they do for tickets to watch launches from the best locations.
Hindsight is 20/20, however...
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#536
by
Bubbinski
on 20 May, 2009 04:42
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Agreed....more access to shuttle launches and landings (more bleachers, more tickets, travel packages, that kind of thing) would be a great thing for the public and the space program. And when the shuttle is retired, there should be greater access to Constellation launches (or whatever they end up doing). Of course, splashdowns would be much more difficult to view than shuttle landings, maybe special cruises could be arranged???
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#537
by
michellev
on 20 May, 2009 06:27
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so was anyone else really battling the haze and heat that day? whew next time i bring a big tent and charge $5 to stand under it haha
anyways, despite the haze managed to get a couple shots. We were in the crowd 6 miles away on the causeway. i used my Canon 350D w Canon 400mm f/5.6 Lens and 1.4x TC
1/2000th exposure
f/8.0
ISO 200
be kind
i was heat soaked and not very sharp that afternoon, despite setting as much as i could ahead of time LOL> used photoshop to clean it up best i could.
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#538
by
Bubbinski
on 20 May, 2009 06:39
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Those are very good shots Michelle. Yeah, I know what you mean about the heat and humidity, that Florida sun beats down on you. I'm glad I chugged some water bottles down before the launch - as they say "don't wait, hydrate!"
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#539
by
ngc3314
on 20 May, 2009 12:35
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Looks like I wasn't too far from some of you some of you on the causeway, based on the perspectives of launch pictures. (And a quick poll the night before launch at Spaceview Park turned up four people who read about the location here). Here are a couple of prelaunch shots (fighting the wind with my trusty Celestron Nexstar 5 - doesn't everybody travel with one?) and a launch shot (Canon DSLR, zoom at 300mm). I wandered from our bus a bit to be able to get Endeavour in the background if I zoomed out - the last attachment shows both at once.
)
i was heat soaked and not very sharp that afternoon, despite setting as much as i could ahead of time LOL> used photoshop to clean it up best i could.