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Monthly Archives for December 2013.

Thoughts on LAN Premium Business Class MEX-LIM-EZE-SCL-IPC-SCL-MEX

by Harlan Leave A Comment

It was crazier than it looks
It was crazier than it looks

Did you read that crazy-ass routing up there? Yeah, I flew that. It’s not the craziest route anyone’s ever done, but I can tell ya this: I WAS TIRED. The flight times were pretty brutal, and the connections were hella tight. The SCL-MEX segment, por empleje, left at midnight and arrived at 6am. I don’t remember LIM-EZE at all. Why? Zzzzz.

However, I can say with confidence that I am familiar with the two iterations of LAN’s Premium Business class product. There’s an old one and a new one, and I’ve flown them both several times by now, esp after my trip to Easter Island in May on LAN. When I saw a cheap fare to Santiago that connected in Easter Island, all in biz, and under $1000, I had to jump. This trip easily net me 50,000 miles, which I value at around $1000 anyway, put the over the Platinum threshold for the year, and gave me a nice amount of upgrade “stickers” on AA. Worth it? Hell yes. AND I got to experience the beautiful city of Santiago. Much Espanol was heard, but very little was spoken.

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Trip Report: American Airlines Main Cabin Extra / Business Class LGA-ORD / ORD-MEX

by Harlan 1 Comment

Blue Jasmine
No
Now You See Me
Rear Window
(^^^ List of movies I watched on LAN) 
My trip reports lately have been less about tech specs and specific details and more about overall brand and culture, which is what I have been interested in lately. Especially with American, and especially with this merger a definite go.
I had a Saturday morning flight that took off at 6am. Whoops – I am so not a morning person.
I went out to an early dinner, had a pear-tini, and forced myself to pass out around 10pm (after slap dashing the packing). I woke up at 3:30am, fresh as a daisy, completely out of it. I was so tired I forgot to pack my hotel information. At another point, I wondered if I remembered to pack my toiletries in a little baggie (I did). There was no way I was going to brave the lovely bowels of the MTA to LGA at 4am, so I paid $50 for a car. It stung, but whatever.
The Pre-Check line at LGA was closed. “It doesn’t open until 5am,” the security guy told me. Which meant I was at LGA before 5am. I was just amazed I got it together enough to even anywhere before 5am.
The Admirals Club in Terminal D opened after I cleared security, and I downed a cup of coffee and a super sugary strudel. A few minutes later, it was boarding time. Read More

Ending the Year as a Plat on American

by Harlan Leave A Comment

Welp, here we are in December. Happens like this every year, doesn’t it? I’m about 55K points/43K miles in on American this year after going into in hard into the airline only in June. If I wouldn’t have been so into Delta for the first half of the year, I’d be firmly Exec Plat on AA. But whatever, live and learn, right?
I definitely want to quality for Exec Plat in 2014. Not messing with Delta any more, not interested in United. Travel is Free pretty much outlined my reasons for wanting this, even though there’s been some flak recently about pursuing any type of status at all – on any airline.
On this day in mid-December, I am currently flying to San Diego from JFK, then fly back later this week. After that, I have two more flights this year: JFK-LAX and LAX-NAN. Cumulatively, this is about 12K miles and will net me, as a Plat, 25K redeemable miles.
I currently have 108K miles to redeem and really have my eye on that Zone 7 Explorer Award redemption in 2014 before the merger sets in. My mind is aflutter thinking of all the places I could go. Only regret is that I probably won’t get to South Africa on Oneworld, (not) thanks to BA’s stupid freaking fuel surcharges and the fact that I have no desire to connect in London anyhow.
It’s been a good six months on American. I’ve had numerous exhanges with the team on Twitter, a few upgrades even as a Plat, and much relaxation time in the Admirals Clubs. I do worry about the upcoming merger, the “New American,” and the general direction of the airline as a whole. But I do think they have the most honest loyalty program out there. United hugely disappointed me with their devaluation because of the bifurcation of partner airlines. They raised redemptions on their own metal pretty modestly, but took a page right out of Delta’s understanding of an “alliance” when they split the chart in two. Oneworld, the smallest alliance, also seems to be the most tightly knit. There’s no guesswork as to how partner flights with transfer back to American: it’s all 100%. Can’t get easier than that. (Poor Korean/Delta/Skyteam – what a shitty situation.)
My planned travels so far for 2014 include the gayest trip to Vegas EVAR in February, and Munich for Oktoberfest, in, well Oktober. Aside from that, I’d like to squeeze in the Explorer Award, a trip to Dublin (BOS-DUB) with Avios, a weekend in NOLA, and some Pacific NW exploration (I’m thinking VYR-SEA-PDX-maybe NorCal).
I have a rule about mileage running: it has to be to a place I genuinely want to go. In this regard, it’s not a true mileage run so much as a cheap ticket for a quick trip, but I like this rule. It’s enriching and expands my travel horizons (and earns me miles).
RTW-Trip-2013
Pretty soon, for Christmas and New Year’s, I’ll be flying my first RTW trip with a crazy JFK-LAX-NAN-AKL-SYD-MEL-AUH-CAI-IST-CDG-EWR itinerary, although I’m hoping to tighten up the segments after AUH back to NYC. Maybe AUH-FRA-JFK if Lufty releases the space? We’ll see. But I can’t wait to experience the different metals (Fiji Airways, AIr New Zealand, Qantas, Etihad, Egyptian, Turkish, United BusinessFirst), lounges, airports, and destinations. As always, will report back.
Wish I was already Exec Plat, but it’s been a pretty good year. Cheers to ending the year as a Plat, and happy and safe travels to all that will be out and about this holiday season.