Well, most of us dodged a bullet last week, despite doom-and-gloom predictions; Thanksgiving travel seemed to go off without a hitch, as travel writer Chris Elliott pointed out in a post called, “Oh, never mind!” But most of us (including yours truly) weren’t crying wolf. We were pointing out what COULD have happened. And I think, on some level, we may have helped prevent an apocalyptic scenario.

We had a lot of concerns about the increase in customers, the packed planes, and the long lines at the nation’s airports; if the weather had turned ugly, we know we could have seen all kinds of delays.

And we started talking about this, loud and long, our way of trying to help you, the FareCompare faithful. No, it wasn’t just us; there were others saying the sky COULD fall, and eventually a lot of folks started jumping on the “this-could-be-a-rough-Thanksgiving” bandwagon.

And I think it had some effect on the powers-that-be: they started paying attention and suddenly, airspace got opened up, more airline employees were dispatched to work the holidays, and the TSA started telling folks things to do to make the lines move. And the weather behaved (very important).

Am I patting myself on the back? No, not really. But when I start analyzing some of the incredible amounts of data that pours into FareCompare everyday, and I start seeing a problem developing, I will speak out. Did the government and airlines respond to ME? No, but I think they responded to the flying public’s weariness regarding delays and cancellations. What’s important to me is, there was a response, and I think that response was helpful in making this year’s Thanksgiving travel experience a good one.

And that’s always my goal: a good travel experience, whether it’s holiday time, or anytime.