February 06, 2007
Onward and Upward
Just arrived in the MSP F/G WorldClub a few minutes ago. Northwest is graciously providing me with breakfast in the form of bagels, danishes, some sort of a blueberry "pound cake" (It doesn't actually weigh a pound, but it is very dense), and a glass of OJ.
This club needs a remodeling...and a shower for arriving Int'l pax. I'm told renovations are coming, but this club is probably 2nd or 3rd on the list behind HNL and/or LAX.
My upgrade chances look "not so good" according to the WorldClub agent. It'll be my first time in a while riding in NW coach. I would have appreciated the upgrade to F for the free breakfast/lunch (meaning I wouldn't have to buy a sandwich at MSP for the TransPac flight), but we can't win them all. There are 2 seats open, but I suppose there are other Plats on the list ahead of me. I'm the lowest of the Plats when traveling on an award ticket. I'll check again at the gate.
So, I've got about 1.5 hours until boarding, so I think I'll just chill out here. Surprisingly, this club is not (yet) as busy as I would have expected it. I missed a meet with another FlyerTalker by about 20 minutes, but I wasn't going to get up earlier than I already did just to meet him. We've met before and if the stars aligned, it would have been a nice encounter, but not a big deal that we didn't meet.
Snowy and cold here this morning. The 40-50 degree temps. forecast for Southern South Korea will seem like a vacation, I suppose.
Posted by Derek at 08:15 AM | Comments (2710)
January 19, 2007
I Heart NY
Well, I'm now sitting in the rather expansive Continental President's Club (The "C3" location). Got in about an hour ago and, per the advice of a friend, I headed straight for the club as opposed to meandering there. See, my goal was to take a shower since I had just been on a redeye, but he told me that the shower tends to queue up fairly quickly. So, I got there ASAP, signed in on the list, and 10 mins. later I had my own shower suite.
Now, I'm relaxed and refreshed and ready to take the short 3 hour flight into San Juan, seated in first class, no less. And, I got an on-board upgrade on the redeye coming in last night. Moved up from 5F (bulkhead, window) to 3B. Continental serves a nice fruit/cheese/meat tray on their redeyes, so that was a nice surprise. It's handy to not have to buy food when en route. ;)
So, that's the news from here. A light patch of flurries has descended over the airport and the plows are on the taxiways in their blinking glory. Don't know if this will have any effect on the flight, but I don't really care...
Click for the radar imagery of the snow flurries
Posted by Derek at 06:12 AM | Comments (39)
May 19, 2006
Waiting is the Hardest Part
I'm in Honolulu right now awaiting my flight in a few hours back to the mainland. I'm on a mileage run (definition) right now, so it's all good. :) Unfortunately, when you build in crazy routings, it usually means crazy wait times. 2 hours in Portland, 2 hours in MSP, and another hour in DTW before I make it to Toronto. Then, I get up the next morning and do it in reverse, except it's DTW then LAX and back to HNL. But I'm getting crazy bonus miles on this trip. Every 1 mile I fly, I'm earning 3.25 miles. This is very important because I'm trying to make sure I've got enough miles to finance a couple of trips to China, Korea, and anywhere else my heart takes me this year. For now, though, I remain here. . . waiting.
Posted by Derek at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)
May 15, 2006
Musings from a Foreign Consulate
I'm waiting for the visa to be processed, so I found a Starbuck's to do the "Starbuck thing" at for a little while. It's really kind of a rotten day down here (Chicago), so I don't much feel like walking over to the Navy Pier or wandering the high-end shops on Michigan. I've done that before, so I'll just try and relax a bit and maybe even get something productive done while I wait. I need to re-appear around 2pm to pick up my passport and newly acquired visa. After then it's back on the train for 50 mins to O'Hare and I'm going to attempt to standby for an earlier flight back to MSP. I'm booked on the 5:41, but I think there's a 4:47 or something like that. Plat status should help my cause. :-)
The visa office is an interesting place. After my early morning misadventures, I did make it to the consulate about 20 mins. behind schedule. I waited in line for roughly 40 minutes and chatted a bit with a woman who was getting a visa for her newborn. They're traveling Friday to Beijing and on to a city further north to visit family for the summer. I told her I was visiting Beijing and Changsha and she wanted to make sure I knew it was HOT in Changsha and also that the food was very spicy. I told her I knew of this and further explained my reason for visiting and she got a kick out of the psuedo-exchange to visit Hu Song.
...which reminds me, she emailed me this morning and said she would be happy to host me for a few days in Changsha, and she would even try to take a few days off from school to show me around. She seemed excited, and I'm getting excited, so it should be a good, albeit necessarily short visit. She also did not fail to mention the heat. I guess I should really take that seriously. :-)
Well, I suppose that's enough rambling. It's funny, though, that a coffee shop doesn't really smell like coffee anymore. What with all the mocha lattes, frappuccinos, fruit fusions, and chai, I guess there's little room in the air for good, old-fashioned freshly brewed java.
Posted by Derek at 11:44 AM | Comments (2535)
March 19, 2006
Smelling the Roses
Since we last chatted, I took the train up to Butterworth, the ferry over to Penang, putzed around Penang, and did the reverse all over again. Now, I'm sitting in SFO waiting for a connecting flight, sort of, almost, kind of, nearly home. Without going into too much detail about the past few days, some words of advice: don't expect to sleep much, even if the train has overnight bunks. Augment hostel stays with hotel stays. You need to recouperate when you travel. Finally, I've got to stop trying to see so much on each trip. Seeing Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Penang in 6 days was probably too much. I either need more time or less destinations. I will likely be adjusting future travel plans a bit. Stop and smell the roses, hm?
Posted by Derek at 12:14 PM | Comments (0)
March 15, 2006
Walking Through a Muddy Estuary (Updated: Now with photo goodness!)
I had a couple of "bank errors in my favor" today, so I'm sitting OK on cash. I would have made a point to mention it, but the broken English and the lines breathing down my back made me think that I should probably let it rest.
Kuala Lumpur. Often referred to as simply "KL", its name means "Muddy Estuary" and it was established only about 150 years ago as a mining village. Today, I spent my time wandering thru KL. I really like this city. Once you get past the immediate heat and exhaustion factor it is a pretty lively city. I found out today that 11MAR-19MAR is the Malaysian school holiday. I was wondering why there are so damn many kids running around me all the time. :-) First off, I went back to KL Sentral to buy my train tickets up to Butterworth and the return. Had breakfast/lunch at something called "Kenny Roger's Chicken" (ease up, the locals were eating there). What a mashing of cultures. . . Americanized food, sitting next to one table with a Frenchman and a Chinese man discussing business and at another table a group of 20-something Chinese businesswomen ordering their lunch in perfect English and discussing business in Chinese. KL is really a meeting point of cultures.
I went to see the Petonas Towers after this. What an awesome sight! I didn't expect to be awed very much, but it is pretty breathtaking to look up at a set of twin towers. . . perhaps the only one of this kind and stature left? I think all the other super-scrapers in the world have only a single tower. Sadly, I couldn't go up to the SkyBridge to get a view. I got there about 11am and they were sold out of the free passes. I guess they only hand out 1200 passes a day and when they're gone, they're gone. I'll have to catch it the next time I'm through KL. I then proceeded to walk towards the KL Tower, the 4th tallest freestanding radio/microwave tower in the world. I wanted to go up in the air today and I wasn't going to let a silly ticket quota stop me. Unfortunately, an odd location did. I walked to the base of the tower and nearly around 3/4 of the hill (it's built on top of a hill) and could not find a way up. Kinda bummed me out a bit. So, I found the nearest MRT stop and took the train to one of the two MRT stops for Chinatown.
I walked through that area for a while. It wasn't spectacular, but it was a good Chinatown from what I've seen. The main hawker area is called Petaling Street Market. It's covered, so it's friendly to the tourist in the afternoon heat. After this, I visited a large 5 storey Superstore in Chinatown called "UO Superstore" or something to that effect. Ground floor was a supermarket with fresh produce, meat, fish, boxed goods, dairy, etc. 2nd, 3rd, 4th floors were clothings, housewares, electronics, and that sort of fare. 5th floor was a very small food court, but the prices were cheap. One serving of Tandoori
I'll head out in about an hour and a half to catch the train up to Butterworth. 2nd class sleeper upper birth is all they had available, so we'll see how that treats me. It should be fine. . . I just don't want to sleep through the stop at Butterworth. That could cause some serious problems.
Here is some photo goodness of the Petronas Towers:
Posted by Derek at 03:37 AM | Comments (1)
March 13, 2006
Past, Present, and Future
Two days ago: Although reportedly being overbooked by at least 5 people from San Francisco to Tokyo, the flight went out perfectly full with no open seats and no volunteers needed. Northwest has really got their revenue management down to a science. Uneventful flight, except for mild turbulence. Coming in to land at Narita (Tokyo), the winds were very strong and it was a very rough decent. The pilot used about 1/4 of the runway length to try and steady the plane for touchdown. A kid in the aisle across from me expelled his dinner.
Yesterday: Arrived into Singapore just after midnight. Mark had come in a few minutes earlier from Hong Kong, so he met me at the gate. We caught up a bit while waiting in line for a taxi. Caught one a few minutes later and we were off. My hotel was much closer to the airport than Mark's apartment, so I was let of first. Checked into my room and crashed. Woke about 9am and got some Internet access to check mail, call home, do some trip planning, etc. Spent the rest of the day wandering the Bugis Junction area and down by the river. Saw the Raffles Hotel, the Riverwalk, Chinatown, Clarke's Quay, etc. Started to feel the effects of jetlag and heat by dinnertime, so I called it a day. Hung out around the hotel area for the evening and then slept a good 9 hours or so.
Today: I must have slept through the Call to Prayer yesterday morning, but I heard it loud and clear this morning. The hotel is across the street from a large and famous mosque (Sultan's Mosque) and at a few minutes before 6am, the speakers started blaring. I didn't get much sleep for the remainder of the morning. Got a pretty decent buffet breakfast from the hotel for $10 SGD and I'm about ready to go search out the train station. Planned itinerary over the next few days:
Today: Train to Kuala Lumpur, arrive about 7pm. Overnight in Kuala Lumpur.
Tomorrow: See the Petronas Towers, KLCC, KL Chinatown, etc. 8:45pm overnight train to Butterworth.
Thursday: Arrive in Butterworth around 5:30am. Take the ferry across to Penang. Dump my bags and explore Penang.
Friday: Perhaps take a ferry to Langkawi and check out the beaches and otherwise veg. Ferry back to Penang, ferry back to Butterworth for overnight train back to KL.
Saturday: Arrive in KL at 6:30am and transfer to train bound for Singapore. Arrive in S'pore around 3pm. Check into hotel. Have one last evening of light sightseeing/exploring and then to bed early for a 3am wake-up.
Sunday: 6am departure for Tokyo->SFO->MSP.
Posted by Derek at 08:03 PM | Comments (0)
March 11, 2006
Zap
Ever been struck by lightning? I think I was last night . . . at least in a sense. We were flying through about 8,000 feet by my estimate on final approach to San Francisco Int'l Airport. I had my face figuratively glued to the window watching the little droplets of rain whiz by at 200 knots when I was jolted by a very-short, very-intense blast of light all around me. The light was gone by the time I could regain focus and it was replaced with a very loud, very low rumbling.
And then it was over. More rain, and then a hard landing followed by an even harder application of the brakes.
Step back an hour or two. I'm sitting up in First Class (yes, it's good to be a Platinum) and I'm listening to a home-spun podcast for learning Chinese. I wanted to scribble some things down while I was listening, just to help me along. Here's my weak attempt at learning a language from the back of a cocktail napkin. ;)
Posted by Derek at 12:27 PM | Comments (0)
February 28, 2006
The Fruits of My Labor
January 12, 2006
2:39pm (international waters)
I can see how one could really get used to this. The fully reclining electric sleeper seats, a 4-course meal served with great care, staring up at a soft-white ceiling flooded with ambient aquamarine light while you take an afternoon nap . . .
In this business class cabin with about 50 seats, 6 are occupied. I'm quite certain that the other passengers here paid in excess of $2000 for this flight, yet I'm seated in the same cabin having spent a mere $33.84 in taxes and 30,000 WorldPerks miles. It’s great knowing the ins-and-outs of something and being able to exploit it (within the rules, of course).
After a rather restless night in Osaka, I'm on my way to Kuala Lumpur for another "transit stop" -- this time for about 15 hours. The schedule of Malaysia Airlines does not allow for a same day connection in Kuala Lumpur for the Osaka-to-Bangkok legs, so I have to overnight in KL, much in the same fashion that I did last night in Osaka. We should get into KL around 5pm, so giving another 30 minutes to clear customs/immigration and 30 minutes more to take the express train into downtown KL; I should be arriving at my hotel for the evening around 6pm. This should afford me at least a few hours to wander around the city and see what it's like. I think I'll be up by 6am to make my 10am flight, so I won't be able to stay out too long if I want a good night's sleep. Last night's poor sleep wasn't so much the hotel or the surroundings as it was my own jetlag. I seized about 4 hours and then I couldn't sleep any more.
I'm going to get back to enjoying Malaysia's business class now.
. . . mmmm, only 30k WorldPerks miles . . . sweet . . .
Posted by Derek at 06:00 PM | Comments (0)
From Narita With Love
January 11, 2006
6:55pm (GMT+9)
Narita has turned into a gauntlet. I remember a sleepy little international connection point. Well, maybe not that sleepy, but at least the ease of connections was always something to look forward to when connecting between flights. I suppose that since I was connecting to a domestic flight from an international flight it was a bit more complicated. But, after a decent-sized trek from the disembarking gate to passport control, a long 15 minute wait in line, passing through customs (the fastest customs inspection I’ve ever experienced in a foreign country), I was waiting for my bus to transfer between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, the domestic terminal. Seems they only have one physical bus that runs this route, as I just missed one bus when I arrived at the bus stop and that same driver was the one who drove the next bus.
After a short ride to the domestic terminal, I was greeted by a security line that--I kid you not-- was at least a block long. I soon realized that people were waiting to have their checked bags scanned before hitting the ticket counters to check-in. Since I was traveling with only a carry-on (which is the only way to go, by the way), I politely budged through this line and again waited in line, this time to get my boarding pass. Rationale? My stuff would have to be screened again, anyway, before entering the concourse, just like any U.S. airport. Plus, my plane was scheduled to depart in about 40 minutes. After a few more minutes of walking, I was back in another security checkpoint line. Narita is very efficient, and very quick, but there are simply too many lines to pass through. I arrived at the gate just as boarding began, without a minute to spare. I shudder to think what would have happened had I checked any luggage.
. . . More later
Posted by Derek at 05:54 PM | Comments (423)
Thanksgiving in Hawai'i, Then London, Then Hawai'i Again
Traveler's Note: This post is a en-route travelogue started on my long journey from MSP-ORD-DTW-SFO-HNL-PDX-DTW-LGW-DTW-SEA-HNL-MSP-ORD-MSP. It was taken over Thanksgiving weekend in 2005 and just now has it been posted.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
4:47 am CST
So I overslept…by 2 minutes. My alarm clock was set for 4:45am, but it didn’t go off. Or I didn’t hear it. It is strange how my body’s natural clock seems to kick into high gear when I have to be on a plane at 7am, but I have enormous difficulty getting up for class or work. In any case, I did wake, and I was able to stumble into the bathroom without jamming an elbow into a doorframe or stubbing my toe on a floorboard.
5:22am CST
Rubber to asphalt, we’re off and rolling, I’m behind the wheel and still waking up. This is slightly dangerous, I know, but at this early hour, on Thanksgiving morning, there’s not a car in sight; straddling the double yellow lines, while not intentional, seems to be the safest choice. Without any cars on the road, Mr. Sandman is still tugging at my eyelids and I need to do all I can to resist giving in.
6:05am CST
We’ve parked the car at the EZ Air Park facility and have been graciously shuttled to the main Lindbergh terminal at MSP along with a troupe of other weary-eyed travelers. It seems like we’re all the smart ones: we avoided traveling yesterday on what is universally agreed upon as the busiest travel day of the year. Yes, at just a few minutes past 6am, we are the smart ones. *yawn*
6:22am CST
Slipped through the TSA rigmarole and are headed down the E concourse. My Dad and I part ways: he bound for gate E8 and his United flight to ORD, me bound for gate E11 and my American flight to ORD. It seems like, in the grand scheme of things, we should have been on the same aircraft to begin our respective journeys. Same departure city, same arrival city, same time of day, same flight, no? However, he was utilizing my brother’s work benefits on United, and I was redeeming an award ticket on American. This is the nature of air travel in the United States: massive over saturation of some markets, while other markets have little, if any, commercial air service. Instead, we will fly in tandem at 29,000 feet, for approximately 47 minutes, each landing within minutes of each other at one of the busiest airports in the world. Our captain states that, due to 140 MPH winds aloft, we were throttling back our engines to idle and were still slated to arrive ahead of schedule. You have to love those tailwinds.
8:11am CST
I’ve landed, taxied, and deplaned at gate H11 in terminal 3 at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. I must now trek through the busiest airport in the world and find terminal 2, concourse F where the Northwest WorldClub is located. This is the agreed upon meeting spot for my Dad and I, as I am planning to grant him access for the morning so that he may wait for his departure in comfort and with the ability to be productive (the ORD WorldClub has complimentary wireless Internet access). It is also at this point that the major obstacle of my sojourn confronts me. I need to check-in for my 6-leg outbound itinerary to London. I am aware of the potential problems and the lack of success with the type of ticket I have purchased, and I am not looking forward to this encounter. I choose to try to check-in at the WorldClub; the agents there are usually friendlier than the “landside” agents are and have less pressure from other customers. Long story short, I was allowed to check-in, but only after some quizzical looks and a few questions. The agent hadn’t seen such an itinerary before, but she handled it with the appropriate amount of professionalism considering that she knew this ticket was costing her employer revenue. After a quick muffin in the WorldClub, I hustle down to the gate and begin my real journey.
11:08am CST
Arriving into Detroit, I’m starting to feel the effects of sleep deprivation. This is not a foreign feeling to me, but it’s disconcerting nonetheless. [I went to a concert the previous night and did not get home until shortly before 2am, at which point I had to finish packing some things I couldn’t find earlier that evening. This left me with about 2 hours of sleep that night.] There isn’t much time between my flights, but I do manage to squeeze in a quick stop at the central WorldClub in Detroit. I’ve only previously seen the North/South WorldClubs, so I wanted to check out this central one, see if it’s worth the hype. I didn’t find it too special, but it is worth noting that the club sports two shower rooms, something to keep in mind after a long transoceanic flight … like the one I have coming up in about 34 hours. ;) After a quick run through of this WorldClub, it’s time to head down to the gate for my 12:17 departure to SFO.
2:21pm PST
Touchdown in the Golden State. I’ve forgotten how much I liked Northern California, even with the ever-present fog and lingering clouds at times. Sailing across the San Francisco Bay on final approach for landing, I get a glimpse of all the interesting sights that the Bay Area has to offer. I make a mental note reminding myself that I need to revisit the area soon. After a smooth touchdown and about four minutes of taxiing, our bird pulls up to the jetway and we deplane. I wander the terminal for a few minutes. I didn’t have much time before my next flight and didn’t feel like checking out the Continental President’s Club (a travel lounge which WorldClub members have reciprocal access). Finally, the plane is ready for boarding. I notice that I have been moved from my pre-selected exit row seat to row 21 D. It is still an aisle seat, but it’s not the seat I had chosen before check-in. It isn’t really worth complaining about, though. The extra legroom is nice, but not critical. Besides, it would be one more set of eyes peering at my itinerary, and one more chance for someone to get “authoritative” and modify my routings. I notice that this has also happened on my return flight later that evening.
7:25pm HST
We came into Oahu hot. The pilot used the thrust reversers liberally on landing and I was woken by this mechanical chaos in paradise. I got off the plane and was greeted with an unexpectedly warm blast of island air. My leather jacket had to come off, and now. I initiate a hurried search for the Continental President’s Club. My search took me to an outdoor Japanese garden. I planned to locate this on my return trip, but I’m glad I found it now. It looks like a very nice place to relax under the afternoon sun, and I plan to do just that in about 3 days. But the club was not down here. The airport signage was incorrect, so I consult my pocket guide, locate the club, and flop down in an oversized, overstuffed lounge chair. This President’s Club is very nice. Posh, even. They had fresh pineapple juice on tap, hand-cut pineapple chunks, and assorted fresh fruit trays to sample. The club was also equipped with free wireless. I changed out my contact lenses for my glasses, because at this point they needed to either be cleaned or taken out. I opted for the latter, mainly for the comfort factor of my upcoming flight(s). I relaxed in here for about an hour or so, and then headed next door to the WorldClub (which opens at 9pm). The WorldClub is noticeably more barren and a little more worn than the President’s Club is, but the women at the front desk are refreshingly helpful and much more courteous than the woman next door who previously checked me in at the President’s Club. I asked them about dining options at this late hour and they gave me some good suggestions and assisted me with anything I might need while I passed the time. I went to Stingray Bob’s in the terminal and ordered a glass of pineapple juice and a pork sandwich. The sandwich was adequate, but at this point, I just needed something to eat so that I could keep on a somewhat regular eating schedule. This is probably the most important thing when doing an extended itinerary. Often times you just forget about nourishment because of sleepiness or apathy. This can catch up with you, especially in the winter months and when you’re breathing re-circulated air for multiple hours and the threat of airborne pathogens is very high. After my quick dinner, I went back to the WorldClub and dozed off-and-on for about an hour before I stumbled out to board my flight back to the mainland.
11:55pm HST
It’s time to leave Honolulu, unfortunately. I take comfort in knowing that just last week I booked a mistake airfare to Honolulu, so I’ll be back for an extended stay in the end of May. I board, stow my backpack above, slip the pillow behind my head, and fall asleep. I wake off and on for a few moments during the flight, but I suspect I slept 95% of the time, which is a very good thing. I struggle getting “good” sleep on aircraft, but this time was good sleep, and I think it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Friday, November 25, 2005
6:56am PST
I’m wide-awake, it’s morning. Well, not completely, but enough to realize that we’ve landed at Portland. I again stumble off the plane, which seems to be an increasingly common theme over the last few flights. I’m really looking forward to getting back to Detroit this afternoon in order to take a shower and relax for about 6 hours, then get on a plane and, hopefully, sleep for about 7. I do make it to the Portland WorldClub at this point, though. I am impressed with this WorldClub as I enter from the elevator. It is a new décor from many of the other WorldClubs in the system, utilizing nice wood paneling, ambient lighting, and soft-colors. Nothing like the relatively drab blue and grey interiors of most of the older generation clubs that I have visited. This club also features a nice floor-to-ceiling window that overlooks the “D” concourse area, which is a great vantage point for people watching. I’m able to wash up a bit here and get some juice and a bagel. I give my brother a call to let him know that I’ve successfully embarked on this mileage running madness and just to chat for a few minutes. It’s then time to head back downstairs and board my flight to Detroit.
8:35am PST
The captain of this flight to Detroit is a quirky one. After I am situated in first class, he comes on over the PA with a train whistle, blown twice, and calls “All aboard!” for our flight. Everyone in the first class cabin shares a chuckle, and it’s a nice way to start this leg of my journey. You know, after a while, the flights all start to merge in memory. It’s nice if there are pleasant memories to differentiate them from each other. As I’m updating these last few legs of the trip, I will comment that row 2 on the 757-200 is perhaps the best row in all of Northwest’s fleet. Legroom for miles with a cutout for floor storage, or feet extension, or both – whatever you prefer. With no one in front of you, you get all the personal space you need, and the bulkhead to press your feet against, if you like. It’s really a nice benefit. Being as stingy as I can be at times, I probably would never pay for it. However, if this is something Northwest wants to reward me with for my loyalty, I’ll take it every time. Heck, I can upgrade a companion every time I fly, provided there’s space available. So, come fly with me! I guess this is the point in the narrative where there’s an intermission, or a chapter ending, or something. Since I’m writing this live for a change, I don’t have an ending. So … I’ll assume that nothing interesting will happen in-flight from here-on-out, and that we will land safely in Detroit. See you in Michigan.
Traveler's Note: I never did finish this travelogue. I guess fatigue and lack of battery power made it difficult to keep up. Finishing the story at this late date would not be fair, so instead, I'll wrap up the entry with some general musings I was able to record near the end of this exhaustive journey.
Thought: Coming back on the last leg from Honolulu to Minneapolis, I discovered what I thought to be the Mileage Runner's Dilemma. Simply put, "Enough time to land but not enough time to stay." Not so profound, but it does encapsulate the feeling succinctly. On this particular flight, the overpowering smell of suntan lotion and aloe vera entices the senses, questioning the very fabric of a Mileage Runner's soul.
Thought: You can easily tell when you're coming from a leisure destination. People generally have less of a "clue" how things on an airplane work, and this makes sense as these are the people who probably only travel once a year, if even that much. Example: The flight attendant explains that the reading light button is located in the armrest of your seat. Immediately a chorus of flight attendant "call buttons" echoes throughout the main cabin. It's good comic relief after a disappointing attempt at a bump.
Thought: People are strange. Some folks will pay $350 on-the-spot at the gate for an upgrade to first class from Honolulu to Minneapolis. I wonder why they do this? It's an overnight flight, so it's not like they'll experience much of the "luxury" that is Northwest first class. And this also begs the question (warning: mileage run speak) about whether they get the 50% EQM bonus for their upgrade, and what fare bucket does this "upsell" fall into? Does Northwest simply make pure profit and not change the fare class that the passenger has paid for? And also, what's the deal with meals on this flight? I understand Northwest's policy on main cabin meal service on domestic flights, but this particular domestic flight is as long as the flight from Minneapolis to London, and definitely longer than the flight from Boston to Amsterdam. Those flights have both a meal (usually lunch or dinner) and a warm snack before arrival served in the main cabin. Oh, OK, so you only want to serve meals on international flights in the main cabin? Fine. But if Honolulu to Minneapolis is strictly domestic, then why are there no complimentary first class upgrades for elites on this route? Because Honolulu is "different", I guess.
Thought: The Honolulu WorldClub ladies are the nicest. They will go out of their way to do anything they can to help you out. Is it just their personalities, or are they consciously compensating for Northwest’s lacking lounge product, at least when compared with Continential’s right next door?
Final Thought: It’s satisfying to find a hobby/goal that’s truly fulfilling, but saddening to deal with the cost (money & time) to realize these goals and endeavors.
Posted by Derek at 05:20 PM | Comments (1)