Trip Reports

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

December 22, 2013 by Harlan 1 Comment

Blue Jasmine

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

Review: T4 Delta SkyClub at JFK

November 8, 2013 by Harlan Leave A Comment

I had pretty high expectations of the new brand new SkyClub at the recently opened T4 extension at JFK, if only because of its newness and the fact that Delta is trying hard to expand its presence in NYC.

For starters, the T4 extension is LONG. I was leaving out of gate B20. The SkyClub is located near gate 33ish. It sounds close, but involves numerous moving walkways, just FYI. It’s located in the center of the B concourse, which has over 50 gates. Get your walking shoes on!

But whatever, I don’t mind walking, and I was looking forward to seeing what ol’ Delta had up their sleeve. The exterior of the club is a blue glass sliding door, and a rep was stationed downstairs instructing people to… go up the stairs.

First impression was that the space was light-filled and lovely. The design and layout is fantastic, and floor-to-ceiling windows afford great views on the tarmac and planes in nearly every direction.

After processing that little thought, I head to the bathroom. There was a line inside the bathroom for both the urinals and stalls. There were 2 stalls and 3 urinals – yes, that’s the extent of the men’s bathroom. The place is big enough to hold over 1,000 people and they skimped out on the bathrooms. Whatever, I didn’t have to pee that bad so I went to the bar to get a drink. Trying to get to the bar area was a project. The place was PACKED. While seating was ample, nearly every one was taken. The bar had a line. All the seats near outlets were taken, and the only open seats had tablets encouraging me to order a $15 chicken salad. “We’ll bring it to you,” the screen saver said in flashing letters.

Among all the people, I saw the usual Delta stuff: the packaged cheese, the olives, and Bischoff wafer cookies, Dasani water, etc., etc. In that regard, this SkyClub was like every other SkyClub. There was nothing to signal that this was somehow a flagship location or expanded operation other than its size.

I found an open seat near a busy walkway with no outlets or table and balanced my beer on my knee. In the end, I practically chugged it just to be able to rid myself of the glass and get out of there.

But the SkyDeck! That was a big selling point of this new SkyClub. It was fine. Nothing to write home about. A nice, small little area right outside. When I went today, I was alone out there, but imagine it could get packed during nice weather.

After seeing that, I waited in line to pee, then left. On my way out, I chided myself for not going to the Wingtips Lounge instead since I was in T4 again after only a couple of weeks. Drat.

By the by, if you are the kind of person who would go to the Wingtips Lounge over the new Delta SkyClub, you get me and this blog is totally for you.

Oh! one more thing. While chugging the beer, I opened my Feedly and saw that Skymiles devalued AGAIN today. After a less-than-stellar visit to the new Skyclub, I was thankful Delta is no longer getting my MQDs. Please, for the love of god American, never change. Or, when you change, keep the program mostly intact. You’re the only good one left.

This lounge gets about a 3 on a 10 point scale. Nice try, Deltoid, but no dice.

Trip Report: Economy on Virgin Atlantic JFK-LHR

November 2, 2013 by Harlan 2 Comments

The award redemption

On October 17, 2013, I headed over to London to see the new Tori Amos musical, The Light Princess, which I highly, highly recommend. I wanted to see the October 18th show because there was a Q&A with Tori, who wrote the lyrics, and Samuel Adamson, who wrote the book, before the show. Also, Tori watched the show with the audience after the Q&A. It was a special treat, and I wanted to make sure to be there on that day. Translation: my dates weren’t flexible, so that did limit my flight options.

I considered biting the bullet and buying a ticket on British Airways. It would earn me American EQMs toward my coveted Executive Platinum status and lots of RDMs. Ticket prices weren’t bad: about $800 R/T. Between the price of the tickets and hotel, and after buying a ticket to Santiago for late November, my finances were dry. Plus, I was done with Delta, and wanted to get rid of some SkyPesos.

Following their recent announcement of a partnership with Virgin Atlantic, I decided to take a look at award inventory. To my surprise, not only was there a flight every day in October, but I had the choice of multiple flights a day. I could even allow myself to get a little picky with flight times. Amazing. I settled on leaving late Thursday night and arriving early Friday morning. That would give me time to check into the Hilton London Bridge Tower early as a HHonors Gold member, take a nap, and get ready for the show at 8pm. Perfect.

Trip Report: AA First Class AUS-JFK

September 1, 2013 by Harlan Leave A Comment

Near the end of the trip to Alaska, we drove down to Seward for the day after checking out of the Sheraton, then headed to ANC. The airport is super nice, on the small side, but surprisingly stylish. The first trip was from ANC-DFW, and the second was DFW-AUS, both in AA Main Cabin ExtrAA.

For the leg home, AUS-JFK, I used six 500-mile upgrades to get me and Jay into first class. The upgrade cleared while I was on the DFW-AUS segment, and I got my new seat assignment: 6F. Yay!

We went to Admirals Club across from the gate to wait for boarding.

Rum ‘n’ coke at the Admirals Club in AUS

After a huge rum ‘n’ coke, I boarded with quite a nice little buzz and found seat 6F. Jay was next to me 6E.

Thanks, American!

Nice amount of legroom

The picture doesn’t do it justice, but the seat was nice with wide seats and ample legroom. It was the older first class on the 737 – hardly any recline, but a very roomy seat. I was exhausted after three flights and still managed to sleep. The plane had the old paint job and old logos. It seemed worn, but looked 1000% better than the old coach behind me.

The flight to JFK was a touch over three hours, and soon after ascending, the flight attendants brought around their famous hot nuts. I had mine with a Heineken.

HOT NUTS!

The flight attendants on this flight were amazing. Very professional and a perfect level of attentiveness. I was so struck, I tweeted @AmericanAir afterward to let them know.

I’m sort of in my honeymoon phase with American right now, so I think everything they do is just perfect. And, truly, the way they’ve chosen to restructure has been really wonderful. A part of me doesn’t want them to merge with US Airways. Banish the thought.

Shortly after the hot nuts, lunch was served. I had the option of BBQ chicken or beef salad. I chose the chicken. It was served with sides of broccoli and mac ‘n’ cheese, a cheese roll, small side salad, and a glass of white wine. It was actually pretty tasty, considering. I wouldn’t order it in a restaurant, but it got the job done.

First Class cabin

The first class cabin was full, and we sat in the last row. After lunch, I passed out until we landed at JFK. The flight landed on time, we taxied to the gate, then rushed home to pick up Fenwick. He was so happy to be with his pack again.

All-in-all, this was definitely worth using my “stickers” for. The reason I connected DFW-AUS was because I knew I’d have a better shot at an upgrade on the AUS-JFK route as opposed to the DFW-LGA route. That probably would’ve had a newer, better plane, but EXPs frequent that route and my chances to upgrade would’ve been pretty dismal. I’m happy I chose this routing. I got 1,000 miles for the 190-mile connecting flight (190 @ 500 min = 100% bonus) AND got upgraded on the flight home.

I love how on each flight I learn a little more about American’s company culture. And no, I really don’t miss the in-flight entertainment. I’d rather read and work on blog posts as I don’t have a TV at home anyway.

My next trip with American is in November to Santiago. It’s got a damn crazy itinerary of LGA-ORD-MEX-LIM-EZE-SCL-IPC-SCL-MEX-DFW-LGA – all in a week. But it’ll make me Platinum again next year, earn me around 40K RDMs, 30K EQPs, and it’s all in first/business. Goal for 2014: make EXP.

Trip Report: AA Main Cabin Extra LGA-DFW-ANC

August 31, 2013 by Harlan Leave A Comment

I originally found this trip on The Flight Deal for $352 a person from NYC all the way to ANC. I’d just gotten the Citi AAdvantage Select American Express and it came with a $150 statement credit after buying my first American flight. I got two tickets, which came to $704, then was reduced to $554, or about 3 cents per mile – not only would I get to see Alaska for the first time, but that price was positively mileage run-worthy. Not to mention that I’d accrue nearly 20K AAdvantage miles in the process since I get a 100% mileage bonus for being Platinum, which I value at around $400. Schweeet!

I held out hope that some twist of fate would land me an upgrade. But the day before, I checked out the first class cabin, and all the seats were already taken. Well.

Getting to La Guardia was easy enough via taxi, and once there, I breezed through security thanks to Pre-Check. GOD I love Pre-Check! There was no one in the line and it took literally 20 seconds. Right beyond security was the Admirals Club, and a few gates down was D6, our departure gate. We headed up to the Admirals Club using my American Express Platinum Card, had a few drinks and snacks, and I played a little Scrabble (my newest addiction). I didn’t take pictures. It was nearly empty and seating was easy to find. We got an entire huge room all to ourselves with a view of American planes on the tarmac. With that view, a rum & coke, and a game of Scrabble in front of me, I was in heaven.

When boarding rolled around, we went to the gate and I boarded with the other Platinums. It was one of the new planes in the livery, a 737-800 with the controversial new paint job. The first class cabin had 16 seats, but they really were all taken. I guess LGA-DFW (both American hubs) is a popular route. I had seat 8A, at the front – a Main Cabin ExtrAA seat. They advertise it as having more legroom and being more comfortable somehow, but I really didn’t see what the big deal was. I liked being closer to the door… I thought it came with a free premium beverage or something. Nope. They charged me for my white wine and I got one of their “hand made” sandwiches, which was actually pretty good, if a bit messy. They need to work on their packaging/presentation for that. And throw in a free drink to assuage the shame after walking through first class.

Anyway, we sat down and waited to take off. And waited. And then the A/C had to be fixed. Uh oh. TripIt Pro (which I got for free with my Barclay Arrivalcard) sent me an alert that we wouldn’t arrive to Dallas until 3:35. My flight to ANC was at 3:25. Fuck. I immediately researched alternate routes from DFW-LAX-ANC and DFW-PDX-ANC. There was hope, but I’d be getting in several hours late. So…

I tweeted to @AmericanAir.

Tweets from @AmericanAir

I told them in advance that I was worried about missing my connection. Before I left LGA, while still on the plane, they wrote me back and said they’d monitor my flight and have me rebooked on the next flights heading to ANC by the time I landed. At that point I was already blown away. Anxious to leave, but soothed knowing I had options. And that’s what really felt the best. Knowing that it would be taken care of.

Goosenecks over Texas

But then, the maintenance guys were able to quickly fix the problem and we pushed off. Even still, the connection would be tight at just 23 minutes. I feared I’d have to run all the way through Terminal C from gate 36 to 2.

Landing at DFW

The flight was nice enough. Pretty quick, smooth. Thoughts about “Main Cabin Extra” are above. We got to the gate and I leapt out like a gazelle ready to run. Someone called my name as soon as I walked off the jetway. It was a lady from American, standing in front of a cart. WHAT?! She hugged me, and told me to hop in and DROVE US TO THE GATE. I was blown away by this level of service. She said she recognized me from my Twitter picture and had been contacted about the tight connection. If we missed it, she had backup flights ready to go. Amazing, amazing, amazing.

We pulled up to C2 just as boarding began. Even with no upgrades, I was stunned at the level of service and professionalism American showed me today. Me, a lowly Platinum!

So now I’m on flight 279 to ANC on an old Boeing 757. Man, you can really tell this plane has seen better days. It’s got the old first class cabin, but I’ve got a great seat with tons of legroom – seat 10F – again, in Main Cabin Extra. And we’re flying over the Rockies right now. It’s gorgeous. And my birthday is in just a few days. Maybe I can convince American to upgrade me on the flight home. 🙂 I must say, I do like the new planes a lot better than the older ones.

Ample legroom in Main Cabin ExtrAA

But wow. I am just so very impressed with American right now. Would Delta have done this? That’s what I keep asking myself. But it doesn’t matter now. I’m resolved to keep flying American. I want to be a Million Miler and everything. And EXP next year. This trip to ANC puts me about 10K closer. Now if I could only repeat it nine more times.

Big kudos and thanks to American. They transformed a potentially stressful trip into a great customer service experience. As I heard EXPs being thanked, I wanted to be one of them. Soon enough. Wish I’d gotten in on that promo they had up for a few hours. With my upcoming trip to Santiago and Mexico City, I would’ve been a shoe-in. But that was a fluke. Small moves, small moves.

Trip Report: LAN Flight 841 SCL-IPC Premium Business Class

June 5, 2013 by Harlan 3 Comments

Also see:

As soon as I landed in Santiago, I only had 15 minutes to connect to the Easter Island flight. Shit! Luckily, all planes were being held because of intense fog on the ground at SCL. I ran through immigration and customs like a madman, and thank god SCL is a small airport. I got my passport stamped, paid the stupid reciprocity fee of $160 and sped along to the gate, where my friend Chris was waiting to board (he landed in Santiago the previous evening).

After the lovely flight down from Miami, I settled in to seat 3A still catching my breath. The lady in seat 3C had just experienced the same mad dash, and we got to talking about our plans on Easter Island. She ended up being awesome! We spent most of the trip hanging out. So funny how stuff like that happens.

Anyway, this flight was nearly identical to the previous one: same hard product, very similar menu and service, although a smaller amenity kit with just socks, eye mask, and shoe/laundry bag.

The flight was a hair over five hours, and I spent most of it watching “Life of Pi” which is about 2 and a half hours. So that, getting into airspace, and landing, was pretty much the whole flight. The movie was so good. Dear god. I cried like a little bitch at the end when the tiger walked into the jungle… My seatmate was asleep by this point. Good thing she didn’t see me dabbing the tears out of my eyes.

Middle. Of. Nowhere.

Right after the movie, we started descending and I got my first glimpse of Easter Island. I got a feeling of such complete happiness and gratitude that it shook me to my core. Easter Island is a place I’ve always wanted to visit and it was this flight that made that dream a reality.

Stepping out of the plane was surreal. My first impression was that it was much hillier and lusher than I’d expected. I thought it would be more… barren.

My ride to Easter Island

Freshly arrived at IPC after 20 hours of travel

Since this was sort of a “test” of American’s international partners, I’d say the LAN business class hard product really impressed me. The food was so-so, but not a deal breaker at all. I’m really looking forward to having more reference points as this was my first international biz class experience (!). I will say already, though, that I LOVED the lie-flat seats and can see why the other bloggers bitch about the angled seats so much.

Next up, gratuitous pics of a (surprisingly) tropical island!

Trip Report: LAN Flight 7701 MIA-SCL Premium Business Class

June 4, 2013 by Harlan 1 Comment

First of all, let me begin this post by saying how much I loathe the Miami airport. Walking from the D concourse over to J just about killed me. Anywho, after lounging around in the unremarkable America Club “J” for an hour or so, boarding time rolled around. I was excited to experience and brand new premium product, a new airline, and after that, a country I’d never visited before. Safe to say I was beyond excited for this flight.

Boarding was lovely. I strolled right in and sat down in seat 3A. Shortly after, I had a glass of wine and waited to pushed back from the jetway.

So much leg room!

Wine and nuts (I drank the water)

After takeoff, amenity kits were distributed. I didn’t take a picture of it, knowing I’d get three more by the time I returned home. I will include pics in a future post, but must say it was a nice one. Face cream, hand lotion, lip balm, comb, toothbrush and toothpaste, pen, socks, ear plugs and eye mask were all included. It was from Ferragamo, an Italian brand, and was based around “memories from Tuscany” or something similar to that. Odd for a South American, an specifically Chilean airline, but whatever. I thought they’d have something more regional, but certainly not complaining!

Dinner menus were handed out next.

Nom!

I got the salad, soup, steak, and fruit. The steak was only so-so. A bit tough and overcooked. All the other stuff was nice, if a touch run-of-the-mill. There were some nice touches and I appreciated the presentation.

First course

After dinner, I pretty much passed out till we got to Santiago. The lie-flat seat really does lie all the way back. I watched “Oz: The Great and Powerful” and then slept for a few hours. I awoke to the flight attendant tapping my leg. Then she brought out breakfast, which I’d ordered before the movie. It was too dark to take pics, but it was my first experience with Juan Valdez instant coffee. Unbeknownst to me, it would not be my last. Chile LOVES instant coffee. The breakfast was that kind of pre-packaged airplane food, but certainly not terrible. Soon after, the plane landed.

We de-planed at Santiago late after being delayed in Miami and also due to some serious fog at SCL. Then I ran like a bitch to catch my flight to Easter Island. And that’s when the fun really began.

Trip Report: AA Flight 1769 JFK-MIA First Class

May 18, 2013 by Harlan 1 Comment

Writing right now from the lovely America Club “J” (quotes not mine), near gate 5 in the J concourse of MIA. It’s basically a large open room with a lot of screaming babies AKA HELL. When I came in, I noticed there were two directions to go from the checkin desk. To the right was the catchall lounge. And to the left, the First Class and Business Class lounge (two separate rooms). I’m in the First Class lounge and it feels anything but. The food offerings are alright: finger sandwiches, soups, and cookies, and the drinks are behind the bar. They ain’t got power outlets for shit, though there is a lovely view of the skyline through the large windows. At least the wifi is fast. I suppose this is only marginally better than sitting at the gate, but not by much.

America Club “J”

N-E-WAYZ

The flight down to this pit called Miami was wonderful. Very relaxing. As a “business” customer, it definitely did all the things that I wanted in a flight. For one, we landed over 40 minutes early, which was pretty sweet. The service was immediate and attentive, but never overbearing.

The flight started with pre-departure OJ and water. I downed an OJ and settled into my seat. I in 3J and was one of the last to board. We were supposed to board at 2:25pm. I left the Admirals Club at 2:27pm (which was next to the gate) and walked out to find they were already making last boarding calls. WTF? Has American somehow sped up their boarding process?

Anywho, I pre-ordered the Thai chicken wrap, which was brought to me right after the hot nuts were distributed. I was addressed by name, which was nice. The wrap itself was fine. The pita was a bit mushy, but overall OK.

Thai chicken wrap

Afterward, we were given dessert cookies and I had a glass of chardonnay. By that time, I typed on my computer for a few minutes and we were already descending. Incredible! Now, if Miami had been my final destination and I was flying American for business, I’d rate this flight 5 stars. Quick, easy, quiet, and early. Wonderful. However, I’m connecting in Miami and am thinking of switching over from Delta to American. Even still, this flight gave me everything I wanted. The food could’ve been a bit better, but the service was top-notch.

The seat laid back really far and was very comfortable. I had a lot of room to stretch out my long legs!

Seat 3J (sorry it’s blurry)

All stretched out

This is not the “new” First Class product, but it was perfectly serviceable, especially for a flight only a bit over two hours.

…

I’m liking American. It could grow on me to feel as comfortable as Delta does now.

For reference, here are a few images of the Admirals Club at JFK:

Right now, I’m letting my thoughts evolve about American, life, and the state of travel in general (god that sounds dramatic). My next two flights are on LAN, not American, but I figure it’s good to see what their partners are like. Looking forward to that lie-flat seat in Premium Business in a few hours. I’m sleepy!

Btw, here’s my view for the next hour or so:

Happy travels!

Trip Report: Aeromexico Economy LAX-GDL

March 8, 2013 by Harlan 1 Comment

First, I need to start this post with a cringe. I cannot STAND LAX. Oh my god. So when I landed at Terminal 7 on United’s flight from DEN, I set about immediately transferring to Terminal 2, where the international departures happen. To do that, I have to completely leave the terminal (bad), go through security again (bad), but didn’t have to recheck my bag thanks to United’s interline baggage policy (very good).

As I wandered through the fog outside LAX toward Terminal 2, I was reminded of why I can’t stand LAX, or LA in general. The airport is poorly designed, it’s literally falling apart, and each new process feels like pulling teeth, which kinda ties into the bad design.

When I arrived at Terminal 2, it was pretty easy to find the Aeromexico desk. I could hear it before it saw it. A cacophony of screaming Spanish. The occupy the old Northwest space. I know so because I could still see where they crossed out Northwest a few years ago and put up Aeromexico.

I waited in a long line to get my boarding pass, and credited the flight to Delta. Since it was a Q-class economy fare, I’ll get full mileage credit. The agent was friendly and efficient, but my god the people. It was a completely full flight.

The gate on the boarding pass read 24A. When I got to the gates, I checked the monitors like always and saw they’d changed it to 28. Fine. When I got there, people were lined up waiting to speak to the gate agents. Gross. Some of them were crying. Like, convulsing crying. Did I miss something? Was the gate change that dramatic? I heard a lot of people bitching about it while waiting in line.

The boarding process was almost comical. There were FAs literally showing people to their seat and stowing away baggage for the customers. First time I’d ever seen that happen. Even still, people were lost and confused. Watching the boarding process in an aircraft always makes me lose faith in humanity.

Aeromexico felt grimy, like they’d never cleaned the planes. The FAs were thorough, modern, and cultured, but the other passengers were like animals. I had three Mexican men in contact with me as they slept, snored, and randomly jerked. I was also the aisle bitch and was bumped CONSTANTLY. Jesus. I am not a big person. It takes effort to hit me. Also, every time someone came down the aisle, they clutched my headrest for dear life, which of course made my whole seat go back. This happened over and over and over. I won’t even mention the quantity of crying babies because you all know how much that thrills me.

The ride to GDL seemed like forever. It finally touched down at 6am. They did that Euro thing where they plop the plane down and make people take a bus to the terminal.

Bus to terminal at GDL

Customs was a breeze. My company hired a broker specifically to get me through customs. All I did was present my declaration and touch a button. Within minutes, I was at the Delta counter receiving my boarding passes to ATL and EWR. After the hellish experience with Aeromexico, and um, I guess I’m now classifying it as hellish, I was thrilled to see those dark blue and brick red kiosks.

Final take on Aeromexico: right up there (down there?) with Alitalia. Wouldn’t be my first choice for travel, in any cabin. Why do all of Delta’s SkyTeam partners SUCK?

Trip Report: Delta Economy GDL-ATL-LGA

March 8, 2013 by Harlan 2 Comments

View of mountains in Guadalajara from GDL

I’m on a roll on this GDL-ATL flight, and can see Texas below me. This flight was exactly what I’ve come to expect from Delta: solid, reliable, easy.

Just sat down on Delta’s GDL-ATL flight

Only bone: they had me in Zone 3 boarding. Really, Delta? I’ve got the card and everything. But other than that, this flight has brought back warm and fuzzy memories after being on United and Aeromexico the past couple of days.

Also, this flight really solidifies Delta Vs. American for me. I like them both equally. Dust, please settle.

Lots of people on here have cute Southern accents and it reminds me of home. Flying out of GDL was gorgeous. Guadalajara looks cute from above, and the mountains and canyons beyond the city were stunning. I wish I could’ve spent more time there.

Over Mexico

Oh! I should give thanks to Amex because I’m using some of my $200 airline credit this year to buy myself a margarita.

I have an evil plan for when I get to ATL. I want to get bumped, get a voucher and put on a flight that instead arrives at JFK. I hate flying into EWR. HATE it. I checked on the Fly Delta app, and my chances are 70/30 at this point that I’ll get bumped. So fingers are crossed.

Will report more from ATL SkyClub, which will be my first time there! Let’s keep this buzz goin’, Deltoid.

Another stamp on the ol’ passport

So I’m safe at sound now and wanted to update on the final flight, ATL-LGA. It was supposed to be to EWR, but I despise that airport and asked the agent the agent at the SkyClub if I could fly into LGA instead. Since the flight to EWR was delayed anyway, the agent was able to put me on the next flight to LGA. Score. Cheaper taxi ride!

Since the flight was in a different terminal, I headed over there to imbibe a drink instead. The SkyClub in Terminal A was HUGE, but man was it packed. I tried to go to the bathroom, and there was a line. The little bathroom only had two stalls, yet the SkyClub is built to accomodate about 200. Stupid. I left and went to the bathroom in the airport, which was actually emptier and had no line, then went to the SkyClub in Terminal T.

A vast improvement. Ample seating and much less crowded. I promptly grabbed a rum and coke and chilled for a sec.

When I fly for over 24 hours then have a drink

It was really nice. I left soon after to go board. The boarding process was easy enough, and I got all settled into seat 29F. After everyone was on, the pilot announced that we’d have to deplane to change aircraft. The whole point of changing my flight was to get to New York sooner, not later. Anyway, after we boarded again, we sat on the tarmac for a while before we departed. Then, a couple of hours later, I was finally home after a long and crazy run out to GDL. The flight was quick, lots of turbulence, and I nodded off a lot. I felt so gross and tired when we finally landed, and hopped right into a taxi.

Back in the snow

I did notice that when I got put onto the LGA flight that the agent knocked off the GDL-ATL segment, so I anticipate having to call about the missing miles and MQMs in a few days. The weather has sucked lately, Mercury is in retrograde, and pretty much all of my flights were delayed. But, I’m back in the NYC and looking forward to my next trip, wherever it may be.

Trip Report: United Economy EWR-DEN-LAX

March 8, 2013 by Harlan 1 Comment

March 6

March 6th started off with a call from Charlie, my boss at the courier company. When I can, I work as an air courier, which has helped me explore many different airlines, airports, aircraft, classes of service, and all sorts of other travel-related minutia.

Charlie’s a lady. She called me at 7:30 – I was off work that day and still asleep. “Can you go to Guadalajara today about 2pm?” she asked. “I’d love to.”

The client was supposed to get back to us my 10am about the 2pm departure, but they didn’t get back to us until 12:30. The next flight to GDL was at 5:10pm on United with a LGA-IAH-GDL itinerary.

Enter Winter Storm Saturn. United decided to cancel the aircraft coming in from IAH that was supposed to take us back, so Charlie had to work her magic to get me to GDL, and ASAP.

She found a EWR-IAH-GDL itinerary out of Newark at 5:30. So, cargo in hand, I drove west in my Hertz rental car toward New Jersey. Due to traffic, the air train, and the freaking Holland Tunnel, I didn’t get to the airport checkin desk until 5:06. I tried every trick in the book. And I do mean every trick.

“Can I upgrade to first?”
“Can I check it at the gate?”
“Is there anything I can do to get on that flight?”

No, no, no said United’s version of a Red Coat. “You are late. The flight is closed.”

I pushed my cart into a corner and called Charlie. I don’t know how the hell she did it, but I am writing this on United flight 270 bound for Denver.

So far, the service has been fine. I was highly unimpressed with the unwillingness of United’s phone and desk agents to do anything about the canceled LGA-IAH trip. The offered to put me on the next flight out, but it would’ve caused me to miss the last flight out of IAH to GDL. I would’ve had to stay overnight. The EWR idea was a good one, but it was half-baked. Getting from LGA to EWR is a project. Driving through Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Holland Tunnel (deserves its own mention), and down to Newark was brutal, mostly because of the traffic and the wind kicked up by the storm.

The baggage concierge lady was the nicest of the bunch. Security at EWR was surprisingly easy. As soon as I was out, I was literally 50 feet from my gate.

So now I’m on the first flight. Service is what you’d expect from an economy flight – and it’s a very full one too. Very quiet. No babies, thank gods. The seats are narrow and the legroom is wanting, but what can one expect? Charlie usually gets me into biz class, but everything was sold out today, probably due to the domino effect from the storm’s delays.

The connection in DEN is tight, and it’ll be my first time there. I hope my shipment gets checked through alright. The last leg is on Aeromexico and they interline checked the shipment… I know Delta was stopped doing this, but apparently United still does it.

I wonder if I’ll have to change terminals at LAX. Probably, right?

I’m looking forward to seeing what Aeromexico is like. The feeling I got from United today was ill-prepared and very unhelpful. I’m sorry to say, but that’s the overall impression I get from their unempowered employees.

Still, I’m basically on a mileage run to GDL, and will get a nice batch of MileagePlus miles (from the United flights), and a few SkyMiles (from the Aeromexico leg).

Eff it, I’m buying a Heineken. It’s been a long day of driving through Long Island, delays, setbacks, and finally, flights.

Above Denver

March 7

I’m writing this GDL-ATL. Wanted to update about DEN-LAX flight.

EMPTY. I got a whole row to myself. Still had a bit of that slimy United feeling that I generally dislike. There was also a screaming baby who was so loud I didn’t know babies could even be that loud. Also lots of trashy LA people, of course. Despite the loud babies (yes, plural), I managed to get to the REM cycle. I found myself wanting another round of the cycle. But alas, the time to touch down at LAX came much too soon.

Luckily, the gate to LAX when I got out at DEN was just two down. I grabbed a bottle of water and a sandwich, and before I knew it was boarding again.

First thing I did when I got to LAX: cringed. That West Coast vibe just doesn’t do this New Yorker good.

Dying

Next up: LAX-GDL on Aeromexico.

Trip Report: Madrid 2013

March 3, 2013 by Harlan 1 Comment

I went to Madrid February 1-4, 2013.

Booking Madrid

The ticket was only $281 R/T in economy thanks to an awesome deal described in this post from The Points Guy. I was actually in the middle of putting together The Points Game guide, so this was a real opportunity to put some of the things I’d learned from the blogs into practice.

The currency conversion came to $281

I bought the ticket for a number of reasons:

As a Silver Medallion on Delta, I was entitled to a 25% RDM bonus
The itinerary was JFK-FCO-MAD-FCO-JFK – over 10K MQMs and nearly 13K RDMs
The end result was 2 cents/mile – a screaming deal

Multiply this times two – I credited the flights to Delta’s SkyMiles program

I paid for the ticket with a no-foreign-transaction-fee credit card (my Amex Platinum Card) since I had a credit with them after bitching for a solid week in September.

And I’d always wanted to visit Spain. You can’t beat a $281 R/T ticket that comes with ~13K RDMs. It would also be my first chance to utilize my Global Entry (coming back to JFK) that I got through the Amex Platinum Card.