Valid observations. Another, I think, would be to step back from "late" and label it what it is, which is "wasting my time". Then take a look at any flight experience and label almost all of the time spent not actually flying as "wasting my time", into which I lump driving to the metro airport (MCO in my case, 30 minutes to over an hour away, depending on traffic), walking at least half a mile from the car at the parking lot/parking garage, standing in line at the ticket counter, standing in line at security checkpoints, standing in line at the gate, and then after the flight lands, walking half a mile from the arrival gate to baggage claim, standing in line there, (etc...). So "late" or "wasting my time" is very prevalent throughout the experience of flying someplace. We just don't have the forthrightness to label it as such, or to consider all that wasted time, all that hassle, when we compare flying to Amtrak. By comparison, Amtrak WPK is 10-15 minutes from the house, and free parking at that station is 25-75 feet from the station entrance, and about 100 feet from the actual tracks. As I always pick up our tickets in advance, and monitor the trains by radio, I can leave the house 20 minutes before the train departs and still have a safety margin of a few minutes. If we have baggage to check, add another 15-30 minutes beforehand and another 5-20 minutes at arrival (different stations may have slightly different requirements, but nothing even remotely close to airport standards). By comparison, I have to leave the house two and a half to three hours, MINIMUM, before scheduled flight departure, if taking an airline flight. Longer if it's an international flight. That is MY TIME, that is wasted by the system, and the fact that I know it's going to be required doesn't mean that it is any less a waste of my time. Realistically, when we say that a given flight is a one-hour flight, it really ought to be considered a five-hour flight if I have to leave for the airport three hours before departure and then waste an hour at the destination airport after touching down on the runway. Or call it what it really is, a one hour flight with four hours of delay (and a lot of unquantified hassle). Amtrak starts looking better and better.