Flying on the 4th of July weekend…what was I thinking! But actually, it went well, if not quickly. I had a slightly complicated itinerary with two separately booked itineraries, and three flights on three different airlines (I thought the second and third flights were on the same airline…wrong).

I checked into my first flight (which left Monday at 12:30pm)and managed to get my bag checked all the way through to Mallorca, Spain, from California. I booked my first flight, to San Francisco, separately from the rest, but had to get my boarding pass at SFO, from Condor airlines. I had allowed a long layover in SFO but…and found out when I arrived that Condor didn’t open check-in till 3.5 hours before the flight was to depart, though I sort of suspected as much. Somehow, an electronic boarding pass for my first flight, to Frankfurt appeared and I was able to go through security, but unable to get my FRA-PMI boarding pass. I had plenty of time so decided to go back to get it (that’s when I found out it had a different reservation code, and it wasn’t in my Condor reservation till the agent added it). I needed the boarding pass later it to get to the proper gates in Frankfurt.

Below: creeping fog over the hills keeping the Bay Area cool.

Our flight left about an hour late but managed to land 30 minutes early (that’s some serious padding by Condor). In Frankfurt, though there was a fair amount of walking, it took only minutes to get past passport control. The entrance to the B 1-19 gates was a bit hidden, but I found it on my second time past it. That’s where I needed the FRA-PMI boarding pass to enter that part of the airport. I went through security again (which was quick), and reached my gate in plenty of time despite having only 1:15 hours to change planes. The plane, a long single aisle with pretty much zero leg room had every single seat filled. It left about 45 minutes late and did not pick up any time…but I was able to board with my roller bag and backpack with racquets and was only a quick two-hour flight.

We landed in the bustling Palma de Mallorca airport which was packed at nearly 10 pm! All the stores were open people were moving everywhere. It appears that half of Europe is in Mallorca this week. It’s a very long walk to baggage claim, but my bag was waiting there by the time I reached it. 👍

I chose Wiber for car rentals this time. After waiting quite a while for the shuttle (and finding the waiting site was confusing), we were transferred off airport to a super busy rental car location and had to take tickets. Since I had booked full coverage (those Mallorcan streets are narrow and parking spots are miniscule), I got to skip most of the queue. My first car had its entire trunk filled with a full sized tire (the mini one was on the car), but I finally got a second one around 11pm. I drove the 30 minutes to Inca (stopping along the way at a petrol station to get some water and sandwich makings including a pretty fresh baguette!). Inca is in the middle of the island. It took 15 or so minutes to find a parking spot (had to roll my suitcase uphill to my airbnb…that was fun at midnight).

I had tennis the next day at 8:30…on Wednesday morning. I was so jet lagged later in the day (or sleep deprived) that I fell asleep for 20 minutes between sets of a shoulder exercise at 7pm). At least I looked awake after a 90 minute session (and it’s hot here).

Summary on travel to Mallorca;

• Get the record locator numbers of the airline operating each of your flights
• Try to get a flight that lands earlier in the day than 8:36pm (always a good idea if not always possible from the West Coast)
• Get your boarding passes if at all possible for all flights on your itinerary
• Take a photo of your bag tag and also don’t lose it! It was a crucial part of getting my bag to PMI and to getting my second boarding pass. Have the photo with your in digital form. (Pin it in Notes for example)
• Have photos of your current passport and your current and immediately past driver’s licenses (mine was less than a year old and I needed that to prove I’d been driving for more than a year)
• Expect to have to go through passport control and security after you reach Europe from the USA before your onward connections.
• Check your bag through to your final destination if at all possible.
• If renting a car make sure it’s a small one. And if you want to skip the rental car insurance, inspect the car carefully, including under the bumpers.