Severe hit to the wallet

I just bought airline tickets to Hawaii for Thanksgiving. It was a fairly painful experience, as they cost roughly the same amount as my tickets to China (for half the distance and no free drinks since the flight isn't international!). All to be expected when traveling anywhere good for the holidays, I suppose. I was looking for the cheapest tickets available, so the flights are also with slightly sketchy airlines I found on Orbitz. I don't understand the airline industry at all, because odds are that my flight will be cancelled or delayed regardless of the fact that I spent a ton of money. And it won't matter. They might apologize, but probably not. Orbitz does make it a little bit better because they will call your cell phone in advance if the airline reports a cancellation or delay. I've already been on three flights that were cancelled this year. All different airlines. Only Orbitz called.

I may have extra bad luck when it comes to cancellations and delays. I am never on a flight that takes off and lands on time. Never. Dave won't fly with me because of it... or so I suspect. My coworkers also try to avoid it. Maybe it's a karmic thing? Hard to imagine having racked up worse karma than the airlines, though. I've never spit on anyone or kicked a pigeon.