I got a good scare when I tried to print my boarding pass and the JetBlue website would not let me. “Oh no!” I started overreacting. Am I back on the No-Fly Watch List?

Earlier this year I was placed on the No-Fly Watch List. I’ve written about the experience on this blog at least nine other times, all tagged in the No Fly Watch List category. For the past few months though, I’ve been traveling with ease. No problems with security, no problems printing my boarding pass out in advance. I even heard directly from the Department of Homeland Security, letting me know that they could neither confirm nor deny that I was on the List. Even though this was not particularly helpful information, I appreciated the effort.

“No need to get to the airport early,” I say to Jenny with some regularity now. “I’ve got my boarding pass right here,” as I wave the coveted piece of paper, feeling confident in my frequent flier status.

Maybe a little too confident, because the last time I had to fly, I had trouble printing my boarding pass. I was sitting in the San Francisco office in back to back meetings when I realized I better print my boarding pass out in advance. But that day the website would not let me. The button where it usually says “Check-In for Your Flight,” now said, “Check in (avail. 24 hrs before flight)” and would not respond to my furious clicking.

The flight was later that same afternoon, certainly within the 24-hour time frame. “Why can’t I print my boarding pass?” I blurted in the middle of the meeting. I then looked at the actual flight coordinates and realized the problem. I thought I was flying home that evening, but in fact, I had actually booked the flight for the next evening. The problem? I had put the flight in my calendar on the wrong day, and organized everything including hotel accommodations and the next day’s meetings in Los Angeles thinking I was traveling home on a Wednesday when in fact I purchased a ticket for Thursday. This is not good.

I no longer have any administrative support due to economic cutbacks so I have to keep myself organized. I manage my own schedule. I book my own travel. I do my own filing. I reconcile all my receipts. And for the most part this has worked out okay, even if I do look a bit harried from time to time.

After a moment of panicking, realizing I had no lodging for the evening and two in-person meetings in downtown Los Angeles the next day, I regained composure. “Get a grip,” I said to myself, realizing I needed to change the flight. A change fee and one hundred and thirty dollars later, boarding pass in hand, I was headed home. The Department of Homeland Security had nothing to do with this particular travel snafu. I was on the No Fly list because I didn’t have a ticket. This month’s travel chaos was all of my own doing.

Lesson learned: seek administrative assistance.