Flight to Tampa: Went smoothly in general although American changed our gate more than once, including the final time when we were already sitting at the gate and the automatic notification to my cell phone let me know before the gate attendants or the flight crew had been told, so we raced off across O'Hare to another concourse altogether.

Hotel in Tampa Saturday night: Springhill Suites. Our suite had enough room for four adults and a small child without too much cramping, although I'm glad we all didn't have much hanging stuff as the closet was small. Service of desk staff and shuttle staff was excellent and the breakfast buffet was good.

Embarkation: Went extremely smoothly as I had VIP check-in due to the suite cabin. After the paperwork was done in a corner of the main room, we were personally walked over to the VIP seating area to wait for boarding. Read more