First, you must check the dates you highlighted for the trip. Then, you must type your billing address and phone number. After clicking Next, you'll reach the menu where you are asked to make sure you've typed your credit card correctly. After filling out the itinerary you've dreamed up for your next trip, you can go ahead and make yourself a drink with an umbrella in it, because you've got someplace to go. Too bad the airlines don't always think that way.

Flight cancellations, flight numbers that don't exist, outdated software and overbookings are just some of the reasons airlines do not always succeed in getting you to your destination.

Once, I was at Miami International Airport for a 7:20 a.m. flight back to Boston. After boarding early, I decided that since I pulled an all-nighter watching National Treasure at 2 a.m. I would make up my beauty rest on the plane before it took off to avoid the annoying ear-popping sensation.

Tucking myself in with the complimentary blanket, I shut the window screen and dozed off for an hour and a half. When I awoke, I noticed that all around passenger's eyes were fixed on their in-seat monitors and that they still remained observant of perfect plane etiquette.

I assumed we were in flight until I slid the window screen back open-the plane hadn't budged, and the baggage couriers were still outside my window. For the next three hours the captain and crew kept us on the plane, turning the power on and off and blaming the tortuous delay on "un-updated software."

With the heightened tension after Sept. 11, airlines aren't allowed to fly if there is any possibility of for error. The passengers and I were told to get off the plane and wait for another aircraft to fly us to Boston.

Then, we were told that we had to bring our blankets because the other aircraft would have minimal supplies. We waited along with the passengers booked for the next flight. Many were going to miss their connecting flights, or even worse, special events and occasions that couldn't be repeated unless the airplane could somehow travel back in time. Within minutes, the neon sign that read "7:20 a.m. Boston" soon read "Cancelled."

I had to stand in line to receive the airline's form of an apology: a hotel voucher and permission to attempt to make standby for another flight, all while balancing the weight of my carry-on luggage with the stupid blanket on top.

A friend of mine retold a similar story of an abortive flight to Boston from Moscow. She arrived at the airport at 4 a.m. and could not find her flight on the database. It turns out that her flight number was misprinted on her ticket, and so she unknowingly booked a non-existent flight several months in advance.

My brother also made the na've assumption that having tickets delivered to his home meant he would surely have a seat on the airplane. However, no matter how firmly he clutched the tickets or recounted the date and time at which he had ordered them, the airline had a one-word answer: overbooked.

Because the airline had overbooked up to 20 extra passengers that day, it reimbursed my brother with a pair of round-trip tickets to a destination of his choice. It's ironic that the airline allowed him to fly anywhere he'd like on any day but the one day for which he had booked his ticket.

Surely the hotel vouchers and the round-trip tickets, which were handed out like free beauty samples, had to have cost the airlines a pretty penny, so why does it seem like there's a cancellation spree? JetBlue has had hundreds of cancellations in recent years, and Delta, notorious for its delays and cancellations, went bankrupt, so cancellations definitely aren't affordable for the airlines.

In fact, in order to make a profit, complimentary peanuts and pretzels have been replaced, on many airlines, with overpriced Lunchables-type snacks.

The comforts on airlines post-Sept. 11 are just as stark as they were when commercial flights first took off, only I bet that then they flew more frequently.

Still, not all airlines are canceling, and I should note that it isn't solely the airline's fault. Mother Nature also shares the blame by showing off with her tremendous snowfalls in Chicago and vicious rainfalls in the Northeast.

After all, I'd rather arrive late to my destination than travel in a style reminiscent of Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. And I do admire the tenacity of airlines implementing increased caution and stronger security.Still, I wish that instead of constantly being disappointed and displeased, I could trust the airlines to provide a reliable form of transportation. Then I would feel carefree after I had clicked OK to finalize the travel itinerary and shortly after takeoff, enjoy a bag of complimentary peanuts.