Sep 012017
 



I’m still not certain how I ended up with this routing, but once it all came together the circle around the world sounded really fun. Only problem was to make it work, somehow I had to get to Sao Paulo, Brazil, which would require a visa. After my previous nightmare getting a Brazilian visa nearly ten years ago I wasn’t looking forward to it, but this turned out to be easier than I expected.

Once this was planned, I couldn’t resist a couple more stops in South America, and when I found award space from Santiago to Buenos Aires then Buenos Aires to Sao Paulo it all seemed to fall into place. There was even award space from DC to Santiago with United so it all seemed to work out.

But then a few weeks before the trip, I started to have buyer’s remorse about all the miles I had spent on the trip, and began to think of ways to possibly cut things back a little. After a little checking, I found lots of space on Delta to Santiago, so decided that I would give standby a chance. Now, lots of people have realized over the last couple of years that even when you find space for an award ticket, the toughest part can be the domestic segment to your gateway. Unfortunately, I learned with standby it can be the same thing.

In the few days leading up to the flight, just about every flight from DC to Atlanta went from having lots of open seats to being nearly full. I probably would have gotten on one, but it looked very, very risky. After some checking, I knew I could get to LaGuardia, and since Delta flies to 30+ destinations from there I figured I could get from there to somewhere and eventually to Atlanta. Yes, the LaGuardia to Atlanta flights were also extremely full.

So, I found myself at the airport, and with lots of open space, no problem getting on the flight to LaGuardia.

Delta Shuttle Flight 6140, Operated by Republic Airlines
Washington DC, National (DCA) to New York, LaGuardia (LGA)
Depart 11:00, Arrive 12:13, Flight Time: 1:13
Embraer ERJ-170, Registration N823MD, Manufactured 2005, Seat 7A
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 68,281
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,445,258

DCA is one of the few airports I actually prefer a window seat, especially on the A side of the plane. On a clear day, I love this view right after takeoff:

…and on approach to LaGuardia, you’re treated to this. Makes being “penned-in” to a window seat very worth it. Fortunately, in this case, the aisle was even empty!

After landing and a short wait for the shuttle bus, it was off to the main terminal at LaGuardia to enjoy the Centurion Lounge for a bit…and plan how I would get to Atlanta.

Glass of Veuve Cliquot, a nice seasonal salad and some tomato soup made for a tasty lunch.

At this point things were still a little iffy, and I started playing around with options to get to Atlanta. Originally I was thinking of flying via Richmond, but that started filling up. Some more playing around, and I found an option I didn’t even know existed: Savannah, Georgia. The flights were wide open, so I booked it and then headed over to the Delta terminal to sit out the rest of the wait in the SkyClub.

I got there just in time, because they were rolling out the hot dog cart. Who knew they served hot dogs in the SkyClub. Fun, and different. Lunch part two, with a glass of wine.

Delta Flight 3366, Operated by Endeavor Air
New York, LaGuardia (LGA) to Savannah, Georgia (SAV)
Depart 15:10, Arrive 17:47, Flight Time: 2:37
Canadair CRJ-900, Registration N924XJ, Manufactured 2008, Seat 8D
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 69,004
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,445,981

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who figured out this route. I was joined by another 20+ standbys also trying to get to Atlanta who figured out that this was likely the safest routing. Still not a full flight, and got both seats to myself…and a Comfort+ seat to boot. Can’t complain about that at all…and much better than getting the last middle seat on a nonstop to Atlanta from DCA!

Wine, Biscoff, and Almonds for the ride down to Savannah. Delightful service for a long regional flight.

20 minutes out from landing I looked at the radar, and found this. The blue cross was our location…this was going to be very bumpy on the ride in…

Wasn’t too bad as far as turbulence, but after deplaning looked out to the tarmac and saw this view. Yup, the skies are angry!

I admit – part of the reason I chose this route was to see a new airport I’d never been to before and to add to my routes flown. I may have to do these strange connections more often just to get a little variety on my flight map!

Although the connection was supposed to be only 30 minutes making it tight, thanks to weather things were a bit delayed and I ended up having almost 90 minutes between flights. Just enough time to get Starbucks and wake up a bit. Another fun fact: people may have heard of the “Big Mac Index” where the Economist did a relative cost of living exercise for different cities around the world using the price of a Big Mac. I’ve been doing the same at Starbucks for a couple of years, using the price of a grande drip coffee (tax included). If anyone would like to contribute to this project, feel free to send me datapoints!

Delta Flight 1475
Savannah, Georgia (SAV) to Atlanta, Georgia, ATL (ATL)
Depart 18:15, Arrive 19:25, Flight Time: 1:10
Boeing 717, Registration N972AT, Manufactured 2002, Seat 11E
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 69,219
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,446,196

Not much to say about this flight – the crew spent the whole thing seated due to turbulence, which fortunately ended up not being as bad as expected. Nice short hop, and soon we were in Atlanta.

Checked one more time online, and things still looked very good, so I headed to the SkyClub to enjoy my time before boarding. Couple glasses of wine and some cheese, and when I saw I had been assigned a seat headed down to the gate to enjoy the spoils of my victory: saving 55,000 United miles and still getting to ride in the pointy end of the plane in DeltaOne.

Delta Flight 147
Atlanta, Georgia, ATL (ATL) to Santiago, Chile (SCL)
Depart 22:25, Arrive 08:00 next day, Flight Time: 9:35
Boeing 767-300, Registration N183DN, Manufactured 1993, Seat 7D
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 73,914
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,450,891

Welcome aboard bubbles…in a glass. A real glass. Are you listening United and American?

Nice simple, but useful Tumi amenity kit.

Warm nuts came around after takeoff, which was nice…except for the tinfoil ramekin. Found out later from some in the know that there’s been a catering shortage in Atlanta recently which should hopefully be resolved soon.

Soup, salad, and appetizer were all served together on a tray. Normally I wouldn’t be too fond of this, but given it was a 10:30 pm departure, efficiency was appreciated.

The corn and green chili bisque with cilantro lime sauce didn’t look very appetizing, but was absolutely delicious.

Sad salad with ramekin of veg. I suspect maybe this was supposed to be poured over the salad before serving?

Went with the grilled beef tenderloin expecting it to be overcooked, which it was. It was still tasty tho, and the polenta and grilled artichoke were nice as a different side from the potatoes and mushy veg I’m used to.

For a US airline cheese plate this was really good, not to mention it was served with fig compote. Everyone knows how I like my fig compote! Plus, I can’t quite put my finger on it but the simplicity of the sundae was also really good. Big fan of this desert combo compared to what I’m used to on United and American.

Slept nearly seven hours after all the food and wine, and missed the breakfast service as usual on longhaul redeyes, waking up with just enough time to brush my teeth and put some contacts in before landing. On the walk to immigration, we were greeted with this sign:

I love how they blacked out other countries no longer subject to the reciprocity fee, and made it very clear only Australians are the bad guys in Chile these days. Immigration was nice and simple, and with that it was time to find my way to the hotel and start enjoying the trip!

Aug 142016
 

The best part about The Wing lounge was that I could watch the boarding gate while sipping champagne, and as soon as they announced boarding I could just stroll downstairs and to the front of the line. Nice view of our plane:

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There were a few agents milling around, and as soon as I told one “first class” she escorted me straight to the front of the line and the jetway.

Cathay Pacific flight 846
Hong Kong (HKG) to New York, John F Kennedy (JFK)
Depart 18:45, Arrive 22:40, Flight Time: 15:55
Boeing 777-300ER, Registration B-KPL, Manufactured 2009, Seat 2A
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 136,159
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,325,296

I was looking forward to an amazing flight this time, having gotten some tips from frequent Cathay fliers. My previous experience was Hong Kong to London, and while I thought it was a great flight, I didn’t think it was amazing. After 195 countries, I still have things to learn…and the reason I felt the service wasn’t “amazing” before is because part of their amazing service is not disturbing you if you don’t want to. However, use the call button, and they are more than happy to help. Today’s crew provided a warm welcome, and showed me to my seat:

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Welcome about glass of Krug was poured:

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Tuna amuse bouche while boarding was taking place and Krug was being enjoyed:

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Krug with a view:

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Today’s menu:

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Shortly after takeoff the sun was already setting, and more Krug was offered with mixed nuts. This is a small area for improvement, as almonds and cashews aren’t really an inspired choice. I think Lufthansa’s macadamia nuts may win in this category:

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Table was set, Tom Cruise was pouty, and caviar was served:

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Caviar close-up, complete with the mother of pearl spoon. It’s a toss-up who does the best caviar service, but Cathay is definitely one of the best!

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The cauliflower cream soup was pretty bland, and just had a few bites:

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Breaking all my rules had the salad with prawns, and ate them. I figure if anyone can serve non lethal shellfish on a plane it’s Cathay. It was good, but as with the soup rather bland.

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The pork chop was enormous, and the veg flavourful and quite tasty:

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Cheese course was solid, but I have to give the nod to Lufthansa here…if only for the variety of crackers and a few more cheese options:

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At this point, absolutely stuffed, I declined desert and had the bed made up. I didn’t want to sleep for too long so that I could hopefully fall asleep again shortly after landing at 1030p in New York. Still slept 6-7 hours, and woke up with about five hours left in flight. Now, about that dessert I skipped…time for tea and dessert with another movie:

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About two hours prior to landing seemed like a good time for breakfast. Nice fruit plate, croissants and muffins, and some fresh squeezed orange juice to start things off:

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I had heard rumours this was possible, and the flight attendant seemed a bit confused when I asked for it…but hello scrambled eggs topped with caviar, bacon, sausages, and mushrooms:

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…of course, caviar and scrambled eggs wouldn’t be complete without a glass of krug!

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Overall, an amazing Cathay experience – I couldn’t have asked for much more! Super friendly crew, very comfortable seat, and when I mentioned the cabin was slightly warm they were happy to turn it down a bit. I would have to say with this experience Cathay is right up there with Lufthansa, Singapore, and ANA as my favourite airlines in the world to fly in first!

No drama at all with immigration thanks to Global Entry, and hailing an Uber at JFK was also really easy. Short ride to the hotel for the night.

Change of plans meant I had to head straight to DC from New York instead of going on to Toronto as originally planned. This meant an overnight in New York, or taking a 1am regional train. It was an easy choice, and I stayed at the Sheraton Hong Kong….I mean Sheraton LaGuardia East…in beautiful downtown Flushing…named for being a bit of a toilet…

Uber to LaGuardia in the morning where I had breakfast in the AmEx Centurion Lounge first. Glass of Veuve Cliquot and some eggs benedict while doing some plane watching:

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I haven’t seen a plane this yellow since Hughes Air West in the 1980s!

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Proof I was back in ‘Murica….is it wrong I was hoping it would spontaneously combust?

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Caught the shuttle bus over to the old Marine Terminal for my next flight.

Delta flight 2713, Operated by Shuttle America
New York, LaGuardia (LGA) to Washington DC, National (DCA)
Depart 12:00, Arrive 13:22, Flight Time: 1:22
Embraer E-170, Registration N872RW, Manufactured 2006, Seat 5A
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 136,373
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,325,510

Can’t say too much for being in coach, but hey, 40-50 minutes max flight time in economy comfort with a free firefly and orange juice and snack can’t be beat! Only downside was no Biscoff catered today:

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On approach to DCA…welcome home!

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Overall a fantastic trip, and couldn’t have asked for a better set of flights to end my penultimate country tour with. Now there’s only one more to go with Iceland coming up just over two weeks away!

Jun 102016
 

I should be up front before talking about this trip. With so many easier ways to get to Mali, why in the world was I detouring via LaGuardia, Chicago, London, Accra, and Abidjan? Well, it all started with a fare Ian found last year from Accra-Chicago roundtrip in business class for barely $800. I was happy to use it one way and throw away the second half, but hey, I might still have countries in West Africa left by Memorial Day, so let’s book the return to Accra then and see if it’s useful.

We found great one-way fares from Accra to Bamako via Abidjan with Air Cote d’Ivoire, so that settled it. I had initially booked nonstop from DCA to Chicago with American as well but a change in times meant I could either have a barely one hour connection in Chicago, or over five hours. I figured if I was going to play the waiting around in airports game, I would book the connection for some extra miles. I gave myself three hours to connect in LaGuardia which should be plenty…even if things went pear shaped.

The night before, I did a same-day change on American’s website so I could get an hour of sleep. I would leave on the 1pm shuttle instead of the noon, take a slightly later LaGuardia to Chicago, and still have well over two hours for each connection. Seemed great.

Got to DCA which was shockingly empty, and had the most delightful TSA agent I’ve ever had. She was joking with kids and putting stickers on her, so I jokingly asked her why I didn’t get one. She was more than happy to please, and I enjoyed my Chateau le Hector in the Admirals Club and pondered a career change….

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Then, It hit the fan. First a 30 minute delay on the shuttle. Then an hour, then 60 minutes. All the nonstops to O’Hare were completely sold out by this point, leaving me little alternative. Once the plane finally left LaGuardia they were estimating 1:11 to make the connection at LaGuardia which should be fine if nothing further went wrong. Which, of course it did. By the time we boarded and the door was closed, the connection was down to 42 minutes. Still doable, but, with the shuttle flights arriving in a different terminal from other American flights it would be extremely close.

American flight 2143
Washington, National (DCA) to New York, LaGuardia (LGA)
Depart 13:00, Arrive 14:24, Flight Time: 1:24
Embraer ERJ-190, Registration N952UW, Manufactured 2007, Seat 1D
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 86,496
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,276,021

Flight was a completely uneventful 40 minutes or so, and we pulled into the gate just a bit further behind schedule with 35 minutes to make my connection. I thought I was going to have to reclear security with the terminal change, but American is now operating a shuttle between the two terminals. Unfortunately, the shuttle was “experiencing radiator problems” and took nearly 20 minutes to show up. By the time I got to the gate, the door had closed five minutes early…and although the plane was still sitting at the gate I was offloaded. The ever so friendly agent told me to “go to customer service and they’ll rebook you.” Ugh. Instead, I called the Exec Platinum line, and got a super helpful agent who was able to put me on the next flight about two hours later.

Of course, this meant I was going to miss my BA flight to London. I had heard about the OneWorld protection even if you are on different tickets, and the super wonderful agent in the Admirals Club was more than happy to help. Given my Chicago-London-Accra ticket was BA flights but on Iberia ticket stock, she took a bit of time to figure it out, but fortunately the inbound London-Chicago a few months prior had been on American so they still held control of the ticket. Eventually, she had no trouble confirming me on the American nonstop to London at 22:20, however, despite there being eight seats open in first she couldn’t process an upgrade to first with a systemwide because it was under gate control. Oh well, with eight seats it should be a piece of cake…right?

New flight left right on time, leaving me nearly an hour and 40 minutes to connect at O’Hare…maybe…

American flight 359
New York, LaGuardia (LGA) to Chicago, O’Hare (ORD)
Depart 18:55, Arrive 20:43, Flight Time: 2:48
Boeing 737-800, Registration N948NN, Manufactured 2014, Seat 6B
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 87,229
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,276,754

Mixed nuts and drinks were served right after takeoff…I really like how AA’s mixed nuts have a few pecans and pistachios thrown in:

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I went for the chicken main (forget what the other option was – some sort of pasta I think) which was pretty good. I went for the pretzel roll instead of the bland “risotto” for my carbs, and with the chocolate chip cookie I was preparing for my overnight carb coma well:

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Then, we landed. See, it’s 20:45…tons of time to make my 22:20 flight…in theory…

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See those storms? Apparently we were the last flight in before O’Hare went on a total ground stop. Yet, we couldn’t get a gate, because there was another aircraft at our gate and nothing was moving due to the weather. Nearly an 30 minutes later at 9:15 we were still sitting on the ramp. The pilot was fantastic, updating us every five minutes on what was going on with our gate. However, his announcements got progressively more and more bizarre as he got frustrated. Eventually, around 21:40 he told us “in my 25+ years with this airline I’ve never seen such a shameful performance by this airport. The ground control is fighting with the tower now, and as a result nothing is moving.”

Finally, around 10:10pm after nearly 90 minutes on the ground (and tweets to American asking when the passenger bill of rights kicked in) we finally arrived at a gate. Flight attendants and the pilot were great the whole time, and it showed – despite such a long delay there were no angry passengers, and everyone was calm. It’s amazing what communication can do.

I had 10 minutes to make my flight which still showed on time, and I sprinted across the terminal. On the way, I popped into the Admirals Club and asked if they could call the gate. They did so, and found out boarding had just gotten underway. Yay, I would make the flight but BOO, my now 80 minute connection at Heathrow was going to be messy.

Got to the gate, and asked the agent at the counter if she could process the upgrade to first please. “Oh I’m sorry, first is completely full.” I asked here how suddenly in the last 15 minutes eight people had been added to the upgrade list and cleared. “That’s confidential – please take your assigned seat.” I smelled shenanigans and demanded politely to speak to a supervisor. I had to wait a couple of minutes to get a supervisor, and explained the whole situation. She apologized at how the agent had handled it, and with a few keystrokes punched out a new first boarding pass for me. She then went the extra mile and escorted me onto the plane…so she could boot the nonrev already sitting in that seat back to economy. Awkward!

American flight 98
Chicago, O’Hare (ORD) to London, Heathrow (LHR)
Depart 22:20, Arrive 12:05, Flight Time: 7:45
Boeing 777-200, Registration N775NN, Manufactured 1999, Seat 4J
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 91,182
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,280,707

Boarding took forever, and eventually my connection in London was showing only 20 minutes to make it. I was praying for tailwinds. Then, it got to 10 minutes, and I rang my call button to tell the FA I was getting off and asking to be rebooked since I would misconnect and would rather be stuck overnight in Chicago than London. “Oh, you can’t…we’re closing the door now. Plus, I’m sure you’re wrong about your connection time. ‘They’ never would have given you an 80 minute connection to start with.”

Then, she went back to the galley, right behind my seat, and her colleague asked her “what that was all about.” “Oh, he’s full of shit. He thinks he knows more about flight times than we do.”

I was floored.

The only upside to this whole thing…service was polite, friendly, and warm for the duration of the flight. Thank God I somehow managed to not let it linger and get threatened with arrest by a flight attendant who was clearly having a bad day. Somewhere during the whole boarding, at least I got a pre-departure champagne in a non-plastic glass. Are you listening United???

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Psst, American, the 1980s called…they want their inflight entertainment system back:

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Shortly after takeoff more mixed nuts, and a very generous pour of red wine:

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Salmon starter, which was still covered in little ice chips. Apparently it hadn’t been completely thawed out….PASS.

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It’s hard to make a memorable salad in flight, but this one was really good! Creamy dressing, spinach, blue cheese, and strawberries. I have to say, both this salad and the one I had in transcon first from Miami to LA were really good. Score one for AA in the salad department!

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I couldn’t resist trying the turkey, since I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen that on a plane before. It was a breaded cutlet with an extremely sweet sour cherry sauce on it. It was edible, but a bit too weird for my tastes. Plus, notice the empty wine glass…

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Apparently, they had “forgotten” to load the cheese course, so I had a sundae with butterscotch. It was a nice change from the chocolate, caramel, and strawberry gloop choices you get on United:

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The menus:

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The agents were kind enough to let me sleep until barely 10 minutes before touchdown, so I got a solid 5+ hours and was ready for the sprint to the gate. According to the app we had made up more time en route, and I now had 35 minutes to make my connection.

The first sign of trouble was when I got off the plane and there were several agents there asking about connections. I told them Ghana, and the lady said “ohhhhhhhh…..YOU need to talk to him” and handed me over to her colleague. Apparently I had “already missed my flight” (how? I still have 35 minutes) and that had rebooked me to Ghana…on Kenya Airways via Nairobi…in economy arriving nearly 16 hours late. Um, no.

Sensing this agent had no power at all, I thanked him and headed for the transfer desk. The agents at the transfer desk were equally unhelpful, but finally agreed to ask BA if they would please put me back on the flight since the flight hadn’t even started boarding yet! Nope, completely full now according to BA, so no way to get on it. I kept pressing the issue, and no dice, BA insisted there was no way to put me back on the flight regardless if it hadn’t even started boarding. AA had offloaded me and reticketed me proactively, so they had to solve it. I would have had no trouble at all making the flight…and was texting Ian the whole time who was in the gate area. Why couldn’t AA let me take the risk of the 15 minute connection, and rebook me IF I miss it. Now, I was screwed.

The agents at the transfer desk refused to offer me anything beyond the Kenya Airlines option, even when I explained I had a connection the next day to Bamako, and finally, for the second time in 12 hours, I had to speak to a supervisor. “Why don’t you clear security and go to the Admirals Club? You’ll find a supervisor there.”

I did as suggested, security took maybe five minutes, and I explained the situation to the lady at the front desk of the Admirals Club. She was super understanding, and suggested I take a seat and she would get someone from Premium Services to come find me. The gentleman arrived about 10 minutes later, and I walked him through the whole chain of tickets and events. He asked what he could do to get a satisfactory outcome. He sat with me patiently as I got out ExpertFlyer and looked for options.

The only way to get to Mali on time now would be to fly straight there. There was no way to get to Accra in time to make my connection. I found just two seats left on Air France the next day direct from Paris to Bamako. I told him the only options would be to (1) send me straight to Bamako the next day on Air France or (2) return me home and I’ll try this trip again at another stage.

He assured me he would be happy to send me back to the US – either JFK or ORD and on to DCA…my choice…in first class either same day or the next day. That would be no problem at all. He said there was a chance he could get one of those last two seats on Air France, so why don’t I enjoy something to eat and drink while he worked on it. I finally got my cheese!

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Miracle of miracles, he came back about 30 minutes later…Air France was confirmed and ticketed! He offered a hotel and meal vouchers at Heathrow, but instead I opted to get a Heathrow Express ticket and go into the city and see friends. Not much to tell about here – it was early evening by the time I got downtown. Had a nice dinner with a friend and then met others for drinks…and ended up staying out much later than I should.

So, let’s pick this up where it gets interesting again. The flights.

Air France flight 1581
London, Heathrow (LHR) to Paris, Charles de Gaulle (CDG)
Depart 12:10, Arrive 14:30, Flight Time: 1:20
Airbus A320, Registration F-GKXS, Manufactured 2009, Seat 5D
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 91,398
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,280,923

The irony of this flight is it was across the hall from the gate where I had flown London to Abu Dhabi in Etihad Apartments exactly two weeks prior. I never transit T4 at Heathrow, and here I was at two gates right next to each other in two weeks. Funny how it happens!

This flight was a hot mess. There was clearly a large family who had been in London on a shopping trip as a man, what looked to be his teen son – complete with Gucci embroidered velvet jacket – and 11 women boarded. The 11 women, two adults and nine teens/children were all sitting in business (which was completely full) and the two men were in economy. That’s when I felt a tapping on my shoulder. It was the adult who it turns out was in the bulkhead seat right behind me in coach…”will you take my seat please?” and handed me a 100 euro note. Uhhh…it’s a 40 minute flight, the seats are exactly the same…so, um, sure?

I moved one row back, and the flight attendant came up and asked me what was going on. I explained to him, and he laughed, and said “I’ll bring you your meal and drinks anyways.” Easiest 100 euros I’ve made! I had been on this same route with BA two weeks prior, and I have to say the two products were neck and neck. BA’s meal was maybe slightly better, but who needs a meal on a 40 minute flight. Both were very generous with the champagne.

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Despite ATC holds around Paris, I still had enough time to enjoy the lounge a bit before boarding my connecting flight to Mali:

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What could be more french than wine and cheese with some Evian in the lounge?

Air France flight 386
Paris, Charles de Gaulle (CDG) to Bamako, Mali (BKO)
Depart 16:30, Arrive 20:20, Flight Time: 5:50
Airbus A340-300, Registration F-GLZK, Manufactured 1997, Seat 6E
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 93,982
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,283,507

I was excited to be flying Air France again. My first experience had been five months prior and I really had enjoyed it, so I looked forward to seeing if those two flights were the rule or the exception. PDB champagne. Real champagne. None of that US airline sparkling grape nonsense:

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The menu looked super:

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Amuse bouche…smoked salmon and cream with some crackers. Maybe the crackers weren’t, en francais, “super classy” but it was nice to have a change from mixed nuts:

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Mmmmm fois gras and smoked cod on panna cotta:

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The cod with smoked salmon and parmesan crumble with chili pepper was out of this world. Maybe my favourite airline entree of all time…and I feel like I said the same thing a few months prior on Air France. Apparently, nobody can do gourmet cooking like Air France in business class. Plus, look at those cheeses!

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…and not just one, but four mini desserts! YUM!

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Overall, Air France hit another home run with me. So much so that I’m actively trying to find a way to try their first class product now. Their seats may be a bit behind the times, but the food and service on all three medium haul flights was outstanding!

Unfortunately, my first longhaul American experience was a shambles both on the ground and in flight. If not for the amazing staff at the Heathrow Admirals club I would have been left with an extremely bitter taste in my mouth. Now, to start fighting American for the 600 Euros in delay compensation I’m due and for credit on the missed Heathrow-Accra flight.

Next up…Mali!

May 202015
 

After landing I grabbed a quick coffee from Starbucks and caught the Finnair bus downtown to the main Helsinki train station. It was quite a bit colder in Helsinki than Doha or Frankfurt (duh) and even with shorts and a hoodie it was a pretty brisk walk in the 10C temps to my hotel. At least it was sunny!

I was staying at the Hotel Kämp, where I’ve stayed on all my previous visits to Helsinki. They’re one of my favourite Starwood properties, and usually deliver the perfect balance of polite, formal service along with being non-stuffy. Unfortunately, today I had to wait over 10 minutes to check in, because a large group of Chinese tourists were arguing and all trying to guarantee rooms on the same floor. Ugh!

The wait was well worth it, however, because I ended up with a pretty sweet suite upgrade:

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It was just a large studio suite, but had a great view out onto the Espalande, which would have been nice had it stayed sunny more than 15 minutes, lol.

Spent the next couple of days with friends, touring around the city a bit and just hanging out. Plus, lots of sauna time…obligatory in Finland! Spent an afternoon at Suomenlinna, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was build in the mid 1700s as a protection from Russian invasion (pretty much a common theme whenever discussing the Finnish military). Unfortunately, the fort fell to the Russians in 1808, and Finland was occupied the next year.

Currently, the island has many year around inhabitants, as well as being crawling with tourists and daytrippers. Obligatory shot sitting on one of the cannons on the island:

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After a coffee, headed back into Helsinki for a quick snack at the Karl Fazer Cafe. Yum! Finns consume more coffee per capita than any other country, which probably explains why I feel so at home here:

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Time in Helsinki was much too short, and soon it was back to the airport for departure. The bus was on time and quick, and soon I was through immigration and security and into the Finnair lounge, which is divided into two parts. There’s a business class lounge, and there there’s a Premium Lounge for OneWorld Emerald and Sapphire members.

I got to use the premium lounge, which had a rather tasty spread:

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You have to love a lounge with pickled herring and salmon!

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…and of course champers!

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Delicious white chocolate mousse to finish it off:

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After a tasty lunch, it was time for the best part of the lounge…the sauna! The Finnair lounge is (probably) the only lounge in the world with an authentic sauna in it, and what better way to spend time before your flight than getting naked and sweaty with your fellow passengers. Of course, Finnair “encourages” the use of towels in the sauna, but that’s something no self-respecting Finn would ever do.

Just, um, make sure that the lock on your locker works before you lock your clothes in it and find after the sauna you can’t get them out. That might make for an awkward few minutes having to hunt down a staff member to unlock it…

Aaaaaannnyways, moving on to the gate, it was time to board!

Finnair flight 5
Helsinki, Finland (HEL) to New York, Kennedy (JFK)
Depart 14:10, Arrive 15:50 Flight Time 8:40
Airbus A330-300, Registration OH-LTS, Manufactured 2009, Seat 2A

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Finnair uses the same seats that Brussels Airlines uses, meaning there are good seats, great seats, and not great seats. On the left side, the rows alternate with two not great seats (window has to climb over aisle to get out) with a row of great seat…one seat with two huge tables on either side. In the middle, all rows have two seats, but all have aisle access, so they’re ok. Then, on the far right, it’s all solo seats, which are also pretty good. So, avoid at all costs rows 1, 3, and 5 on the left side. They’re far inferior. I had 2A, so was all set!

Funky Finnish design pillow, amenity kit, and bubbles:

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Today’s menu:

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Champers, with strange snack mix of asparagus and soy sauce marinated fish…it was actually really tasty. This is also a good time to mention how much I love Finnair’s glassware!

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Salmon and potato salad with Finnish rye bread. Taste, but tiny portions:

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The lamb and red wine sauce with barley risotto, again, delicious!

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Cheese and ice cream for dessert. Unfortunately, the ice cream was super mushy. Boo!

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I may have had a second go at the cheese…

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Oh hai Iceland aka country #196…see you in just over a year finally!

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Dozed a bit and watched lots of tv on the flight, and soon it was time for a pre-landing snack. Smoked salmon and egg salad, with capers. Very light, but still tasty. The fruit, however, was even below United’s usual low standards. Everything else was super fresh and tasty (albeit small portions) but the fruit was just sad. I suppose the portions also explain why people aren’t America-sized!

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Dessert, a Finnish cinnamon bun. Not nearly as sweet as their American counterpart, and not slathered in cream cheese frosting, but you can actually taste the cinnamon…shocking!

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Landed at JFK about five minutes early, and after the gate agent came on the plane, she paged me asking me to identify myself at the door. Ut oh, this isn’t good. I was praying it meant they’d put me on the American nonstop from JFK to DCA which left one hour after hour arrival (thus making it technically an illegal connection) but no, she was there to be my escort! I’d booked a 3:10 JFK-LaGuardia transit, which I guess they thought was really tight, and so being in business class I got my own escort to immigration, through immigration, and to my onward transit. Absolutely stunning service by Finnair on arrival!

With Global Entry immigration was a breeze, and then it was off to find transit. I’d planned to take a taxi at around $40-50, but my escort convinced me to take the bus. For about $13 I wasn’t going to argue…but then found it it would be a 30 minute wait. I decided to do it anyways and save $30 or more, but was seriously having trouble figuring out when the bus left. It didn’t help that the ticket salesman spoke less English than anyone I’d encountered on this entire trip. Ugh! Anyways, the bus finally came, they crammed us in, and we were off to face the nightmare known as the Van Wyck Expressway at rush hour. Fortunately, it wasn’t too bad, and we made it to LaGuardia about 90 minutes before my 7pm flight. Security was a breeze with PreCheck, and just as I cleared it…I got a phone call.

My 7p shuttle to DCA was delayed until 7:40p now. Since it was about 5:40 at this point, I rushed over to the gate for the 6pm shuttle, which coincidentally was delayed until 6:45. “No, it’s full, you can’t standby” was the extremely rude reply I received. Then, I noticed the 5pm shuttle was still hanging around too…maybe I can get on that? “Go to the customer service counter. We’re closed here.” Ugh. Service.

With several other grouchy passengers I reluctantly headed to the customer service counter. We waited nearly 45 minutes, and then got the update. The 5pm wasn’t actually full at all, and if I didn’t mind sitting in economy I could get on it…when and if it left. It was around 6:30 at this point, so I asked about the 6pm. “It’s due to leave DC any moment, and yeah, plenty of seats on it…should leave here around 730p.” I figured I’d wait the extra 45 and be comfortable, and moved to the 6pm.

I waited it out in the AAdmirals Club. Not sure if I was technically allowed entry since I was connecting from Finnair business, but the agents just smiled and let me in. Two glasses of wine? To quote the bartender: “you look like you could use a double.” Hah!

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So, at the end of the day:

The 5pm shuttle left around 6:45, and I could have taken it on coach and gotten home 15 min earlier than expected.

The 6pm shuttle (with me) left at 8:00 and I was about one hour behind schedule.

The 7pm shuttle which I was initially booked on…ended up leaving around 9:30. I guess I made a pretty good call!

American Airlines flight 2145 (operated by US Airways)
New York, LaGuardia (LGA) to Washington, National (DCA)
Depart 18:00, Arrive 19:23 Flight Time 1:23 (2 hour delay)
Embraer ERJ-190, Registration N956UW, Manufactured 2008, Seat 2A

Plane go up, plane go down. Enough time for a “big boy glass” of wine, some biscotti, and about 30 minutes of Wifi enroute:

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On approach to DCA:

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…and with that, the trip was over. Felt like a long whirlwind trip to only check off one country, but with the extra time in Doha and Helsinki it was well worth it! It’ll likely be a few months before my next trip report, but you never know…

Apr 282015
 

So, I posted a couple months back about Eritrea. How I waited eight weeks and still didn’t have a visa, and then the day after I got home from the trip…the visa on arrival was approved. Initially, I thought I only had 30 days to use it, but then when I got the scanned copy I saw it was valid for three months…which was nice, because I really didn’t have the energy to turn right back around and head back to Africa.

Played around with routings for a bit, and then US Airways was merged into the American program, meaning I had plenty of miles to make things work. To top it off, I had to learn about OneWorld, and how to book OneWorld awards which was a new one for me. One cool thing is that business class with US Airways to North Africa/Middle East was only 100,000 miles return. What a bargain!

One small catch: US Airways doesn’t recognize that Eritrea exists. At all. They wouldn’t let you book a ticket to Asmara. So, I did the next best thing and looked for Doha. Why Doha? Because another learning experience I had is that BA awards are based on distance, and I could get roundtrip from Doha to Asmara with BA Avios for 30,000 miles in business…and those miles could easily be transfered from American Express Membership Rewards…which happened instantly.

So, getting to Doha would be easy…nonstop from DC/Dulles to Doha on Qatar Airways was available on the way I wanted, so that was all sorted and easy. But getting home, there was just nothing. I searched everything across the atlantic in a three day span…and still nothing. Then…I thought…what about Finnair, aren’t they in OneWorld? They are…and I found Helsinki to JFK on the last day that would work. Now, getting from Doha to Helsinki was the challenge…wait, isn’t Qatar flying the new A350 from Doha to Frankfurt? I’m sure it’s not available…wait…it is!

I absolutely love Helsinki, so sure, it’s longer than Doha-DC, but in exchange I get not only the A350 but also a couple of days in Helsinki in Spring. Not complaining at all!

So, I mailed the tour company back. “We do not know…It has been almost three months, they might be suspicious of such an old visa on arrival. We cannot guarantee your entrance.” Well, I have the printout, and that should get me on the plane, so let’s hope this all works out as it’s under a week away now. I’ll do my best to update in more or less real time (except Eritrea, since from what I understand internet is miserable there) but if not…be patient. I’m having shoulder surgery the day after I get back which is going to make one-handed typing for the next month very, very slow going!

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Mar 262013
 

Fortunately our train out of Aguas Calientes was in the afternoon, so we had a chance to sleep in and take it easy in Aguas Calientes before we had to be at the train station for the ride back. We grabbed a casual lunch near the train station as I mentioned in another post, and then it was back to Cuzco first by train, then by shuttle bus, and finally a taxi to our hotel. We’d decided to stay at the Hotel Monasterio again, and they had our driver waiting at the train/shuttle station and our stored bags already in our new room. Absolutely perfect.

One last dinner in Cuzco, and it was up early for our series of flights back home. One last breakfast at the hotel, and they arranged a taxi for us to the airport. Once again, everything at this hotel was flawless, and geared towards people visiting Cuzco and/or Machu Picchu. A very early breakfast before our taxi, taxi to the airport arranged and on time…it was excellent.

The Cuzco airport is relatively small, and the business class/Star Alliance Gold line had a 15-20 minute line before we could check in. However, when we did, we were surprised to hear the agent say “I am adding your name to the list, you can ask about an upgrade at the gate.” I didn’t question her, but why was this? Are Star Alliance Gold members (and companions!) automatically upgraded space available at the gate on TACA?!

Immigration and security were maybe a 10 minute affair, and soon we were in the very congested departures area for our flight.

TACA Peru flight 830
Cuzco, Peru (CUZ) to Lima, Peru (LIM)
Depart 8:05, Arrive 9:30, Flight Time 1:25
Airbus A320, Registration N498TA, Manufactured 2008, Seat 2K

About two minutes before boarding, the gate agent called our names, and wrote new seat numbers on our boarding passes…upgrade confirmed!  I still don’t know why, since coach was only about 75% full, and we were two of four in business, but I’m not complaining at all!

It was a pretty routine flight, with a small meal offered.  Seats were typical US-style up-front seats, so nothing special, but it was nice having all sorts of extra room!  A shot of the meal:

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Mar 052013
 

Last fall when I was working in Senegal there were posts on Flyertalk about a great fare on COPA in Business Class from JFK to Lima, Peru for around $800. I mentioned it to a few friends, not really expecting anyone to bite, and I was prepared to book and do the trip alone when a friend of mine got really excited about joining me. We booked, and soon added a US Airways Shuttle ticket to New York, and we were all set!

The plan was to spend a few days each in Lima, Cuzco, and finally Machu Picchu before heading home.  Time flew by, and soon it was time to leave.  The trip started in DC from the airport I still refuse to call Ronald Reagan National Airport – it shall always be just National Airport to me.  US Airways was asking well over $300 for these flights when we booked, but the same flights purchased at united.com were under $150.  The only complication was that because we had the United codeshare flight numbers US Airways wouldn’t offer complimentary upgrades with my platinum status.  However, at 24 hours before the flight when we checked in, it let me choose seats in first.  Who knows if this is supposed to be how it works, but it did….

Check-in was simple with maybe a five minute wait, we dropped of a couple bags with the TSA, and headed to the US Airways Club to get some water before boarding.  It was pretty empty mid-morning, and soon it was time to board.

US Airways Shuttle flight 2164
Washington DC, National (DCA) to New York, Laguardia (LGA)
Depart 9:00, Arrive 10:17, Flight Time 1:17
Airbus A319, Registration N732US, Manufactured 2000, Seats 2D and 2F

The flight was pretty uneventful.  Economy looked to be about 75% full, and every seat in first was taken.  Pre-departure drinks were offered, and in-flight there was one round of drinks along with the typical US Airways snack basket full of munchies.  Nothing special, but completely solid for a 45 minute flight.  Of course, there was time for a morning wake-up…after all, this was the start of a big adventure!

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