This is a hotel that understands the hotel business. It really is hard to find enough good words to say about this hotel. A bunch of readers told me I would enjoy this hotel during my 15,000 mile mileage run and that it was a good choice for an LAX airport hotel; thank you, readers, you were spot on and right.

As an SPG Gold I have been very impressed. I often get upgrades from a stock room to a high floor or even a club level room. Not always but enough that I really VALUE my status with SPG. They get it!

At chcek-in I went to the Gold / Platinum line with 2 reps waiting. They were both looking at their computers and did not see me, but once they did they motioned me over and profusely apologized for keeping me waiting. Not needed but impressive nonetheless!

My upgraded room was not huge but fine and nice and my bed was soft and comfy and I had a great view of the airport!

Bathroom was fine too. Not huge but enough that I did not feel claustrophobic (I hate that).

Then on to the club room for a snack before bed as I was already sleepy after so much time in coach and was ready for bed even before “dinner”.

The club room was nice size and the snacks were of good quality and variety. If I had to find anything at all to nit pick at all, it would be that drinks, other than the soft ones, were per drink. Many other Sheratons had top shelf for a fee and std ones for free. For 7000 SPG this was a great value to me during my run. I NEEDED a good night off and a good night’s rest; the Sheraton Gateway LAX did just that for me. Lastly, again an important feature of an airport hotel, the shuttle was quick, timely and got me to and from the airport in no time. I would stay at this hotel again in a heartbeat and thank them for a great stay! – René

PS – I have a $25 AMEX Gift Card ReTweet going on HERE!

▲Delta▲ SkyMiles® Credit Card
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from American Express®
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As you can see from the map above, from my first flight on Wednesday afternoon till my landing Saturday afternoon, I racked up almost 15,000 miles and did earn 15, 138 MQM’s and 30,276 RDM’s for flying and another 1905 RDM’s (2x$635 purchase price since I used my Delta Reserve AMEX and 635 SPG for my CrossoverRewards) paying for the tickets. Total haul on RDM’s was thus 32,181 – not bad at all and I will break down the cost more later on!

I drove to reposition to MKE Milwaukee airport. Google maps told me it would take about 3 hours from SBN South Bend airport (I am 30 min from there) and they were about right. I got stuck in some Chicago traffic and the trip took 3 ½ hours to get there and a little over 3 to get home. I took as few toll roads as possible outbound and then splurged and took the fastest way home.

MKE is nice. The $6/day lot is big and the shuttles run all the time. One pulled up and I literally tossed in my bags before I locked my van. Perfect. No TSA Pre Check at MKE, but the line was short and went fast so I could get to the Skyclub.

It is still a work in progress as the “luxury bar” is not yet done, but the space is nice and some of the chairs are comfortable and others really NOT!

7 of my first 8 segments were upgraded 5 days out. Once on board I moved my seat to let a couple sit together and plopped down next to the guy above. He says:

“Are you René? I read your blog and am on a mileage run I found on DeltaPoints”!

You have got to be kidding me!?! Leg one, in business, I get to ride with and meet George. He was finishing his run and was also upgraded on the leg back to LAX! Then, another long time reader and twitter follower Elijah is on his way into ATL so we meet briefly in the Skyclub (readers are really everywhere)! It was so good to fly with you George and fun to at long last meet you Elijah and I hope next time we have more time to chat.

The next two days really were mostly a blur and as I have talked about before that when you do a mileage run this long with just a few hours between each leg, the time begins to compress as you hop from east coast time to west coast time. I was totally stressed out about the up to 12 inches of snow that was forecast in MSP, but day one showed none and day two had just some flakes in the air. Both of the over nights were upgraded so I slept well and even ran into another reader getting off the redeye!

The one leg of the first 8 that did not get upgraded was a ATL-LAX 767-300 and I always pick row 26B if I can. It has less padding but I am all about leg room and this seat/row has it!

As you can see just how much room (much more than EC) and you will have both the tray table in front of you AND the one in your seat arm. Me “likeee”! I have already touched on the LAX Skyclub and my brief nap there before my day 2 night flight, but there were other musings along the way I wanted to share.

Most of us, me included, are just SICK of all the “enhancements” to the Delta program this year. One thing that Delta never ever seems to enforce is the Size Check (old size wise) box. I BEG you Delta to do this. If this were enforced and rather than allowing FREE gate check, Delta could make another few billion dollars this year and we would not run out of overhead space like we do now. This is the rare time I WANT a rule enforced, not winked at. How about you?

Now on to my last 4 flights. Only ONE of them, the last one home had cleared preflight. I expected the MKE-ATL to clear at the gate and maybe the ATL-LAX but as you can see, I ended up #1 on the upgrade list for BOTH of these flights with ZERO seats open in first class. I would rather, like the other day’s flight, to be a few slots down than to end in the #1 spot with no seats. Makes me CRAZY and is #TheReason2BeDiamond as I tweeted about. If I had been DM I would have made it on 11 of the 12 legs and maybe all 12 preflight. I look forward to reporting how things go on my next run late in May with a fellow blogger “Will Run For Miles” who is joining me on the next great adventure.

I used my phone for boarding most of the time, but checked in on my computer, printed the pass to a PDF, to get my free HOOU coupons, that I then sent to my phone, and each FA had NO problem putting in the code number into her/his hand unit to get me a free Woodford & Coke (thank you Delta). I also like that TSA Pre Check is showing up on the digital boarding pass as you can see.

So after two legs in coach and missing upgrades by just one I was ready for bed at the Sheraton Gateway LAX. I will review the hotel soon, but one fun thing I did was get my phone out to time how long it would take for a shuttle to get to me after my last 45 min wait for the Four Points LAX one. Before I had a chance to get the stop watch app on my phone going it pulled up. I just giggled and enjoyed the view of the planes taking off into the sunset for a while before bed. Amazing!

For my LAX-JFK (I got this routing BTW thanks to a schedule change after the MSP one got me home 2 hrs later than planned) I was #1 on the list. I dropped all the way down to #3 as a Platinum Medallion on a 6:AM flight on a Saturday. But as you can see with 11 seats open I scored the only battlefield upgrade of the trip and it was NICE.

The seat is much like the OLD 767-300 International birds. The service was also what I would call “international light” as there were mimosas to start and then a nice breakfast service. They have also found a great use for the remaining old horrid “Round Red” BE amenity kits, that is, use them on this route.

The only real irritation with the flight was the IFE or in-flight entertainment system. It has some very strange bugs going on.

As you can see, the titles and the links did not match up. On the next screen you just got whatever move it picked. So, you had to click on the preview and then hope that was the movie that started after that. Ah well. I know, #firstworldproblems!

We landed 15 minutes early in JFK and I went to the Skyclub. Chatted with a few people about points and such and then off to the gate, but my flight was delayed. I found it very funny that in NYC a  pigeon  stared down at me at my gate!

I can see why Delta is touting the new T4 so much and I hope it comes without the birds! And then guess what, my Pinnacle Jet was delayed by 2 hours. So back to the Skyclub and a $20 food voucher was printed for my dinner on the flight home!

Since this was my last flight as a Platinum, it is fitting that I had the ENTIRE first class cabin to myself. Seriously, I was the ONLY medallion on the flight and had my pick; I have never had that happen to me before.

So after a drive home that ended my 14,733 mile trip (if you count 400 miles driving round trip, I did break 15,000)! Now the math.

• My REAL cost for the trip was $635 for air so 4.2 CPM

• My haul of 32,181 is worth at least $322 so net 2.1 CPM (my math)

• I paid $24 parking, $15 tolls, and $68 in gas so $107 all-in.

So if you are keeping track, this year so far after my IST and SBN-LAX mileage runs I have spent a total of $1,293 of my own money to get 32,252 MQM’s (4 CPM) and well over 65,000 Skymiles. I also, as I crossed my Platinum Medallion threshold, could have picked 20,000 Skymiles but will use that to gift Silver Medallion to a reader for the SWAG Saturday gift in July. When I cross Diamond I get to pick 2 more Choice Benefits and will gift my wife GOLD and will pick 25,000 miles as my other gift to myself. Bottom line, even giving up 20,000 Skymiles, 90,000 total worth $900 brings my out of pocket cost down to just $393. I am just ONE BUMP away from break even for the YEAR! How sweet is that.

I was shocked that I did not get one bump in all 12 legs. I got very close a few times and at least one went with ZERO open seats and others with 1 or 2. Also today, as you read this, my AMEX Reserve card statement will close. At some point the 15,000 MQM’s from spending $30,000 this year will become available for me to choose whom I want to give them to (yeah me) and I will go from 112,000 MQM’s for the year to 127,000 and then after about 24hrs my Skymiles account should update to Diamond Medallion. The rest of my runs this year will be to build my totals for 2014 as I plan to rollover about 75,000 this year! – René

▲Delta▲ SkyMiles® Credit Card
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from American Express®
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Last week I started my long set of mileage runs to get me to Diamond Medallion. Most runs, that is two days or less, I like the redeye back. Now don’t misunderstand me here, I am not into pain and I am not saying even a first class seat is better than a hotel, but for a short run I do not see the need for a hotel night when I can sleep just fine on a Delta jet.

This trip I could not get the deal price unless I overnighted so I decided on the SPG Four Points by Sheraton LAX for 3000 SPG points it seemed like good deal. Plus, thanks to CrossoverRewards, Delta will be paying me some SPG points back and my SPG GOLD status would also result in some points back as an elite bonus.

As an SPG GOLD I was extended an upgrade from a standard king room to a mini-suite. It was a nice size room, with a sofa area and ample closet space. It was clean and had free bottled water and decent free wifi. All these are good perks I expect at a hotel. The bathroom was not as up-sized as the rest of the suite and I barely had room to turn around.

I was not in the hotel very long on this turn and there were some issues with my stay. The hotel had a bit of “damp” smell in the corridors. Also the room seemed a bit dated and tired.

The worst part of the stay was the bed (see photo). I hit the room and just wanted to crash as I had a 5:45AM flight the next day and was staying on east coast time. When I crawled in bed, the bottom sheet was pulled up to too high and my feet were on the mattress pad. YUCK! Do I call and ask for them to remake it or do I remake the bed myself? It was a king bed so I slept sideways in the bed. Not very comfortable and if a hotel is to get one thing right it should be the bed – right?

The other major issue was the hotel shuttle. Upon arriving I exited the airport, went the middle island, and walked down to the area for hotel shuttles. After about 30 min of waiting the hotel shuttle ZOOMED by on the outside lane at what seemed like 70 MPH! I called the hotel and was told that one must have been full and another would soon be there. Less than 10 minutes later another one did show up, but waiting almost ¾ of an hour for a hotel shuttle when the hotel is so close to the airport is not good! The Sheraton Gateway did have 2 come by before the first from Four Points zipped by.

Will I stay here again? Nope. There were enough negatives that I think it is time to move on. Next time I will give the Sheraton Gateway LAX a shot and see how that goes. – René
 

▲Delta▲ SkyMiles® Credit Card
RESERVE/PLATINUM/GOLD
from American Express®
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Time to fly home from Sweden. You can take a look at my outbound trip as well as my stay HERE and HERE. I was booked in KLM business class on a regional jet. The outbound 737 has 3 coach style seats with a middle one blocked off. This jet just has the same 2+2 as in coach.

However, as with my outbound, business was just about empty so we each got our own row to enjoy space. The flight was fine, lunch was a sandwich with way too much bread, a little pastrami and no cheese (it is a strange European thing that you get one or the other, but not both).

Coming in to Amsterdam we did have a nice view from altitude to see the landscape of canals and windmills, both old and new, as we descended to land.

Now it was time to get to try the 777 full flat seats in the herringbone design. I picked the middle two seats row one as this way you get a nice large space in front of you to put your pillows and blankets when you do not want them.

The pod area is a bit small to me. You really feel a bit cramped. The tray table is large and nice but I tended to hit my legs on it a bit trying to find a good sitting position with the seat.

Also, when it came time to talk to Lisa, I had to lean back and sideways to have any kind of conversation.

If you are traveling alone, the outer rows are definitely the way to go. Any maybe, even when as a couple, across from each other is just as well. I have to say, as far as awake travel, I tend to like the A330′s much more. Sitting, they are very nice and the video screen is nice size.

The trip from Sweden is long. Coming in to South Bend, from Gothenburg, it takes 3 legs. We can either start very early from Sweden and land late at home, or, start at a respectable time out of Sweden and either overnight in Europe or in the States. This time we booked at the Westin DTW as I had never stayed there and wanted to try it out. The above photo is the view of the Skyclub from our room.

We booked the room under the old SPG point rate of 7000 points. Thanks to CrossoverRewards, and SPG GOLD status, I was able to pick both 250 bonus SPG points and free wifi.

The performance was OK as you can see from the speed test. I was given a code that I could use on other devices.

I asked about an upgrade as a GOLD SPG member and was given a very nice suite on the 6th floor.

The king suite had a nice bed, Westin quality linens and was very quiet despite the location in the middle of the airport.

The bathroom was huge. Nice double sinks and separate shower and lavatory area. Not only that, it had a huge Jacuzzi tub.

We got a great night’s rest, but did not take part of the rather pricey wine and water. We did try breakfast at the hotel and the courtyard and restaurant area was comfortable and the food was good (as well as the service). I would stay here again, but am a bit disappointed at the new 10,000 point per night new rate when you can stay at the Four Points by Sheraton or the Sheraton DTW for just 2000-4000 SPG points per night with a free short shuttle ride from the airport (I have stayed at both and they are nice).

That finishes my spring trip to Sweden. My summer trip will include 2 days in Amsterdam and then off to my family’s island summer home. This winter has been long and I am longing for Swedish summer nights where the sun just about does not go down all night long! – René
 

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from American Express®
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A few days back I had the review of my flights to Sweden. So now on to a report from my visit. For me to write a report about these trips home are a little strange. When I go to say Grand Cayman, everything is an adventure and I “see” stuff I can not wait to blog about. But when to comes to Gothenburg, I am going “home” and nothing feels like “oh I should blog about this”. It is just home. Since mom is 84, it is just time to do things like help out around the condo, fix things, run around town and get stuff and enjoy time together. While out and about enjoying a day I did shoot a few photos you may enjoy!

For example, there was a street musician down at Järntorget (steel square) and he allowed me to shoot him (and you get to hear my Swedish in the clip).

Near Järntorget is Haga, a very old and historic area with shops and such. The weather during my visit was cool but sunny almost each day.

The above is an old home near the university. There are few “high rise” buildings as most are 5-7 stories tall. When I was younger and lived for a while in Gothenburg, I went to high school at Sigrid Rudebecks and it was fun to cruise by the old place.

I love that you can either walk or ride trams or a bus just about anyplace in town being a small “big” city.

In the background you can see a white domed building that is where I was walking to. It is called Saluhallen. (btw if you want more info and to request tourist info the Goteborg.com site is a good place to start)

Inside there are bunch of custom shops from meats, to cheese to breads to tea to, oh you name it!

It has recently been renovated and if you want quality this is the place to go for good specialty items in town.

Also Lisa & I took time to have a cup of tea at a French bakery around the corner from there with blog reader David who lives in Gothenburg. Great to see you again, David and safe travels the rest of this year (your trips sound like a blast)!

Also near this square is Systembolaget, the state run liquor stores, where you have to go if you want to buy any beer over 3.5% or say a bottle of wine.

After a nice walk & lunch, picking up some goodies for dinner as you can see above, we enjoyed a nice glass of wine with family. I truly love being able to spend time “at home” and points have changed the way I do so. It is a big plus that I can stay free when visiting so I can save my hotel points for other trips. Next up later this week is the return trip home and my review of the Delta 777 full-flat seats. – René
 

▲Delta▲ SkyMiles® Credit Card
RESERVE/PLATINUM/GOLD
from American Express®
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Time for Lisa & I to make our spring trip to Sweden. As most regular readers of the blog know, one of the main reasons I collect ANY points is to fly to see my mom 5000 miles from where I live. With points, I can now do that as much as I want in business class or better!

Our route went from South Bend, Indiana up to Minneapolis, Minnesota and then on to Amsterdam and finally to Gothenburg, Sweden.

In MSP we made a bee line to the Skyclub and the very back corner for the leather reclining lounge chairs in the quiet area. Perfect way to check the blog before 8 hours of flight time.

I would have loved to have been in the full flat seats Delta has across to Europe like on the 777 I will have on the return (I know it should have been the other way) and this was the only route I could find 100k low level award seats. My summer trip will be the 777 both ways so I am at least set there. The A330′s are being upgraded, but slowly as they are the “newest” of the old seats.

As you can see, even in full recline, they do not go flat. They are good for sleeping on your back in a semi-seated position but you kinda need the seat belt to keep yourself in place when on your side. I did not take any food photos, but we had the steak, it was good, and the service was good too.

One funny thing was that 50% of the business cabin was empty just before boarding. However, the plane flew out 100% full due to a large contingent of NON-Rev’s, that is, non revenue flyers or current or ex-company employees that fly free and upfront most of the time as Delta would rather give these seats away than have a medallion get them for free.

Upon arrival we, as usual, stayed on the International side of security to go to the massage area near the main Crown Lounge (much larger than the domestic side lounge btw).

Unlike the Skyclubs there is a nice selection of food in the KLM Crown rooms from hot soup to stuff to make sandwiches and this time hot pasta salad and teriyaki chicken wings as well. That, and a large Mimosa to finish off the meal!

On the topic of drinks, the Delta Skyclubs are all moving to bartender service in all the Skyclubs to upsell the top shelf drinks to make more money. I get that, but this self serve area will also get the job done just fine (it was a bit too early for me for that stuff)!

One thing ALL the KLM Crown rooms need is new chairs. They are not all that comfortable and as you can see by the photo above, falling apart at the seems quite literally!

One of the best parts of my visit to the lounge was the photo above. Humm… What is more beautiful, a Delta wide body jet or a KLM 747. Yeah the 747 wins no matter what paint is on it I agree!

Last stop was a 737 hop up to Gothenburg. As you can see by the photo in flight, first class was just about empty. Other than one other guy, Lisa & I were it in first. KLM does NOT upgrade any of their medallion or Delta for that matter unless there is an oversell in coach. Having gotten used to the Delta free domestic upgrades it makes me upset each time even when in first!

The KLM domestic business class is not really a different seat just a blocked off center seat with a plastic thing belted into the seat. Good idea in principle, but horrible in practice as the sloped seat makes anything put in it slide off the back. Need a rework on this one KLM. Plus, part of the cabin only had the little flap “your personal space” in the seat.

One good thing I can comment about was both the KLM service and food. The lunch/dinner salad was actually very good. It had goat cheese with nuts and a shrimp salad to start and a tiny but nice desert. Over all, again for a 1 hour and 7 min flight, just nice.

Lastly I finished off with a cognac and as you can see, 1C, has just about unlimited leg room to stretch out down the hallway (it was a real pain during boarding so board last if you can)!

So this sums up the outbound part of our trip. As you read this we are just about ready to begin our return trip home. I have a bunch of photos of Gothenburg to share as well as the return trip adventures! – René

PS – Be sure to check back at 1:PM for SWAG Saturday!

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I at last have a chance to post a review about the new TUMI business class kit. First this “stuff” inside, then the bag, as we all will re-purpose the bag for use for many many trips to hold mice and cords and other useful things when we fly right!

Included inside is:

• TUMI black eye shades
• MALIN+GOETZ 5ml Lip moisturizer
• MALIN+GOETZ 5ml Hand & Body moisturizer
• Delta Plastic (Metal-look) Pen
• Ear plugs
• Facial Tissue & Hand Wipe
• Shoe Polish & Shoe Horn
• Toothbrush, Crest Complete Toothpaste 24g & Dental Floss
• Unbreakable Comb
• Grippe Socks

The eye shades are a little softer than the old ones and have much less of the nasty cheap plastic from China smell that the old ones had. I am not a huge fan of eye shades but if you like to use them, you will like these “more” than the old. Nice upgrade.

The lip moisturizer is awful to me who likes a good old chap stick. The new stuff is clear and very oily with a petroleum taste. I think some may like this but most will hate it and miss the old chap stick-like tube. I am in the latter group, but let’s say nice upgrade for some.

The hand lotion works ok. The perks are that there is very little smell after applying although the smell is not so great when you first put it on, and the feel is NOT too oily. The down side is there is very little there to use. Over all I would say nice!

The Delta pen. Not bad. The quality of the pen itself is much better than the old plastic blue ones. The writing part itself works smoothly but tends to gunk up with ink fast like most very cheap pens. I would have to say nice upgrade, but could still be a bit better inside.

The ear plugs are nice and soft. No cheap hard kind and are shaped. These work and are just nice. Don’t change a thing with these Delta. Great!

The tissues are of average quality and with a cold would not be nice on your nose in the 100′s. For a tiny pack for a woman’s purse, nice. The hand wipe is fine and not overly “wet”. I discovered that it makes an excellent screen cleaner for tablets, phones and especially the screen on your IFE. Follow with a dry tissue from the pack and your screen is crystal clear and dry with no streaks. Awesome!

I like, both in the old kit, and in the new one, the shoe polish kit addition. It is clear gloss and “enough” for a set of shoes. The new one seems a bit more robust than the old as the old one seems to have the pad detach often from the plastic. Not good. These seem better. The shoe horn is sturdy and works nice. Over all I would say very good on these.

The toothbrush and accompaniments are fine. Nothing special and the bristles are a bit hard for those who like a soft tooth brush but this kit gets your teeth clean before landing. It is fine and works. There is enough paste that you could keep the kit for a short trip and use it if need be so that is a perk.

The comb feels like a std unbreakable comb. It works and is fine. Nothing really to say other than it does the job and nice to have to fix your “bed head” after an overnight flight.

Lastly the socks. My O’my Delta has been through the gambit of these things. Some years they are so thin you can put your hand through them. These are fine. I like the bigger “grippy” bumps on the bottom. Some I think will like the old style better that covered a larger surface but had less height on them. I say nice upgrade.

So there you are and you now have a Delta Points viewpoint on the kit. All the stuff inside really is nice to have and use either in flight or after the flight. Now to the bag itself as most of us will keep that far longer than the guts inside.

You can see when you compare this to older Delta and NWA kits, the size falls somewhere between the BIG old blue “flap” bags and last year’s stock ones. I do miss the handle that the old NWA ones had as it makes it simple to grab out of your bag.

I also like the zipper upgrade over the smooth style old one. It is a silly, simple little thing, but makes it simpler to grip and zip. Just nice. Also, even though just slightly bigger, it makes a difference as I can comfortably put stuff I had totally crammed inside the older style one so nice upgrade there. I also like black. I tend to abuse these things and black or blue hides dirt so much better than the tan or gray. And anything is better than the horrid round red ones of old!

Over all a nice kit and upgrade. Do you want one to try? How about this, comment below on the blog where you are planning to travel this summer and where you would use this kit and I will use Random.org to give a brand new, unopened one away Friday around 3-4PM EST! – René

Also, I have a ReTweet Contest
going   → HERE ←  today as well!

.A

EDIT: Want 1 more chance at a KIT? PM&M has one HERE!

.

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from American Express®
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My friend Nina, who you may remember from a post about her home being wiped out by Sandy, is still not yet in her home. I wanted to give her a weekend away so booked a room for her at the Hotel Indigo Rahway-Newark in NJ. Here is her report about the stay.

There are MANY hotels along a strip on the way to the Indigo, however the Indigo is a step above and apart from all the others being directly across from the charming NJ train station.

Wonderful clean wooden floors. Not yucky carpets what joy! Entry into room is spacious and well planned soothing colors & I love this sink!!!!!

Amenities are very limited with no robes to be had, but still nice. Fab double showers.

The hotel doesn’t have a parking lot however, there is a public lot close by which costs $12.50 per 24 hours and seemed safe enough.

The closet to the side of the bed is closed by a curtain not a door, interesting. The bed was great & the room also had a comfy chair, nice work space area and free internet.

The hotel is also close to a small sweet “main street” with a choice of restaurants. I ate at a Cuban restaurant and it was yummy! It feels good to be away anywhere as I have lately said “travel” is my sanity at this time and probably always. Thank you for treating me to a weekend away in a pretty room, sleeping in a comfortable bed and an opportunity for “adventure” across three bridges!

Thanks for the report Nina; I really appreciate it. Looks like a nice location worth a visit and happy to share some points for you to get away for some fun! I also asked her to give us some updates on how things are going at home. Brian Williams on the news this week had this little piece on the boardwalk progress followed by an update from Nina:

My condo is STILL uninhabitable Now without floors main level. As you can see I have lost EVERYTHING I don’t own a pot, a stick of furniture, a bed, all appliances which I personally will have to re-purchase. All window coverings, towels, just imagine having NOTHING. It is difficult to imagine and it rears its ugly head daily though I try to minimize what I have ahead of me

Some people say look at it as an adventure to find a silver lining. I list ALL sentimental items, photos of my parents, my parents’ furniture, photos and baby books from my children’s infancy and up. Numerous inconceivable sentimental losses. The other “stuff” can be replaced: clothing, dishes, appliances, but I shiver in my boots and now respect the enormity of the elements and their power over our tiny lives. We are all so fragile and vulnerable despite feelings of security. I now feel it is a false sense and try to eat a bite of something sweet before my meals as a reminder of our frailties, so getting away is my salvation and sanity.

There used to be a boardwalk, and part of it ended up crashed through and into my condo. My daughter took this picture of inside my condo before it was deconstructed. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share this catastrophic event with you. My heart goes out to others who have suffered this kind of loss. Life returns rapidly to status quo for most, but along with others in my shoes it is going on 5+ months and counting of displacement. Still, I try to find joys and am thankful for the kindness of people who understand how such dramatic upheaval can impact one’s life.

I am thankful for good friends and my children. I am thankful for having my health and my job and the kindness of people I encounter along this path. – Nina

*****************************

Thank you so much Nina for the update. I think of you often and smile each time I see you comment in your own bubbly way on the blog. Keep smiling, keep flying and I look forward to seeing you again this year at the Chicago Seminars! – René

▲Delta▲ SkyMiles® Credit Card
RESERVE/PLATINUM/GOLD
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As we left off from part one, I was forlorn and dejected, with my tail between my legs, sulking away from the KLM Crown Lounge after being summarily dismissed by the desk agent (ok it was not that bad)! I did get an answer back to my tweet complaint to KLM and, apparently, a connection from Istanbul is NOT an international city so it did not count for Skyteam access (who knew)! As to middle seat and getting lied to about my drink request, I was offered 7500 Flying Blue points. OK…. I now really wish I had my LOUNGE CLUB™ card to get access to the SERVISAIR LOUNGE in AMS from my INK card!

I went to the central “hub” and exited security and walked for the most part straight until I found the “tube” connecting the airport to the Sheraton AMS. There were a number of cheaper options but I really wanted to try this location and have the chance to see the new “crossover rewards” at work with Delta. I booked cash and points and the final bill was under $100.

I had been upgraded to a king room with an airport view. Very nice! I also requested, as an SPG gold, access to the club floor/lounge. Rather than STRIKE TWO in one day, they were kind enough to grant me a one time exception (my ego restored thanks to SPG)!

The SPG lounge was open till 11 but I was bushed and ready to call it a day. As a GOLD SPG, I had to pick either 250 SPG points or unlimited Internet (30 min was free either way). I picked the internet. I did not take any room pictures but it was a standard king room.

I did however have a very nice personal welcome card in the room. A very nice touch. The room had a nice size bathroom and it did have a great view of the airport from the 5th floor.

In the morning I did avail myself of the lounge for breakfast. There were hot and cold options. I had eggs, sausage and a croissant.

OJ was fresh squeezed and a nice pleasant surprise. Another nice bit was that they had motorized shoe polishers outside the elevators on each floor. A little touch but nice.

Since I already had my boarding pass from the day before, I went right to passport control and back into the airport. No security scanning as that is done at the gate. This time I was allowed access to the lounge and had some more OJ and a treat.

My return was on an A330-300 and I had one of the best two “coach” seats on the plane. Row 10 B&H. I had power, Economy Comfort extra recline and unlimited leg room (the flight was full but not over again). We made great time and landed at NOON CST 40 min early. Thanks to GOES (global entry) I raced through customs in no time and dashed into the Skyclub.

As a Platinum Medallion, I can SDC (same day change) to another flight if space is open. There was a 1 PM from MSP to MDW and a new boarding pass was produced and I was #1 on the upgrade list. I only have a few minuets before boarding so off to the gate. I checked on the upgrade and was put in 4A. Perfect. I was flying again just about 1 hr after landing from my international flight!

The last bit of info that may help you. There is a great parking lot, midwayparksaver, on the south side of the airport across from the mass transit stop. For two days or more you can get a nice discount. The lot is just a 5 minute walk to check-in. I like this much more that a shuttle bus, but if you have a lot of luggage it may be worth dropping it off first before you park.

The only point issue I had was that my points were missing from the IST-AMS leg as the Turkish rep had put in my Flying Blue Ivory number. Clearly I did not want that and requested he fix it. He typed on his computer and said “It’s OK”. It was not ok. But, two emails to Delta and I got credit for the segment.

So how did this trip break down. Here are the numbers.

• I earned 12,156 MQM’s

• I paid $396 for the ticket after a $150 ETV from a bump so my cost was just 3.26 CPM

• My other incidentals, gas, parking plus the hotel

$46 for gas
$26 to park
$98 for the hotel
$8 for food

• So, all in real cost $574 or 4.72 CPM+misc

• Since we are now talking value, as a Platinum medallion I earned 24,312 Skymiles. Worth at least 1 cent each (I value them at 2-4 cents each) it brings my net cost down to $330 or 2.7 CMP-value (just about break even at 2 cents each).

Some other thoughts. Most of the domestic trans-con mileage runs I pick up 5k each turn. I get a bunch of upgrades as a PM vs. very few on International runs and only have to deal with Delta. When things pop up domestic, it is simpler to “tinker” with flights. It was a fun run and a nice way to work toward my DM goal by July 1st this year! Have you ever done a mileage run? Does it seem like fun to you? Let me know! – René

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Gosh it was good to get back on a plane (my wife reminds me it has only been two weeks)! No, seriously, those of us with the “flying bug” long to be up in the air. It really is fun. The view, the experience – and as a blogger – the information you learn is truly priceless.

Rather than a trip to Istanbul, I should call this a visit to as many Skyteam clubs/lounges as possible in 2 days as that is where I spent all my time (when not up in the air). I got a bunch of feedback as to visiting this place and that place and I do appreciate the ideas and look forward to many of these locations. But for the most part, when I am “on a fun run”, I am there to fly. Fly fly fly. Just like a jet, if I am on the ground, I am wasting time; this is time I could be earning MQM’s.

This outbound broke down this way. I flew out of MDW-MSP-CDG-IST-AMS. All of this in one 24hr period; quite literally I did not stop flying for 1 full day I as left Chicago at noon and did not stop flying until 7 PM the next day Amsterdam time that equates to noon in Chicago. Technically I started my return the same day as my outbound did “end” in IST but, for some reason I will not try to understand, I got the IST-AMS boarding pass when I checked in at MDW. This meant I did not have to “enter” Istanbul at all but could stay gate side and go right to the Millennium lounge. Then, thanks to a seat change, I had all my return boarding passes in had for my return home the next day. Sweet and perfect and most efficient.

I began the trip with a drive from SBN to MDW. While SBN is less that 45 min away for me, MDW is only about a 2 hr ride. I also have AZO & FWA about 1.25 hrs away and GRR also a 2 hr ride. ORD, takes about 2.5 hrs so I try to avoid it if I can. The downside of MDW over ORD is that there is no Skyclub in MDW. Also, TSA Pre is only now-n-then in MDW. I did get shuffled, with a big group, over to the TSA Pre area, but other than avoiding the nude-iscope, all else was standard operating procedure.

As you saw from the video clip of the drive in, the weather was not great. Snow, sleet and just nasty. So, it was de-icing before flight. The nice part was it was right at the gate and reasonably quick.

5 days before the trip I got my favorite e-mail that “your upgrade has been approved” so my first hop up to MSP was in 1st. A great way to start a trip to set the mood.

I love 1A on a CRJ700/900 as there is no one to lean back into you. The day before departure I am in 1D. The aircraft was switched to a Embrear but 1A opened up there as well (at least I did not get downgraded since there were now 3 less 1st class seats)!

There was no food on this flight so I grabbed a sub and did enjoy a nice beer (thank you Delta for adding Blue Moon)! The FA was less than top notch. I asked for a bag of chips (have done this before and they always grab one for me real quick) but this one was the “just wait” kind and would not bring it till after drinks round 2 when the basket came out. Fine, I can wait. Then, she spent the rest of the flight reading her book. OK?!?

So I arrive at MSP and it is a nice airport. There are more xpress spas than golf balls at a driving rage. But, that was not my focus. It was off to the club to see if there was a chance that my flight was oversold to CDG (plus I wanted time in the club).

The club, in the back, has a “quiet area” that has big nice recliner seats (you have to pull them back from the wall a bit). If you want some comfort and rest, this is the place to sneak off to.

The MSP lounge is nice size and is full service. but has a nice layout and even when full does not seem as packed as I am sure it is.

I checked with the agents in the club as one of the perks of an oversold INT flight is this: as a medallion, you have a chance at an “Op-Up”. That is, and operation upgrade from coach to 1st due to coach being oversold. Anther perk of an oversold flight and a bump is the offers can become very nice size. But, neither of these happened and coach flew with 3 seats open and 1st class 50% empty.

I had the best seat, IMO, on an A330-200 with unlimited leg room with no seat in front of me. Of all the priorities for me, leg room is “A-Number-One”!

I did have “dinner”; it was just OK and the service in EC (Economy Comfort) was what have come to expect on a Delta coach flight. The AVOD, also what seems to be the “new norm”, had to be restarted 3x times so watching a movie with dinner was a waste of time!

I gave up and tried to sleep as much as I could on the flight (be aware for the extra leg room, you will get a few bumps as people walk by). We arrived on time for the most part in CDG and I was off to my next gate.

I am not a huge fan of CDG. But to be fair, it had been a few years since I was there last (as AMS is just so much better). The new people movers security side work and flow is much better, but the core layout is as bad as ever. The lounge I found was fine and the offerings were good. The desk agent in the lounge then said the words I was so hoping to hear – my flight was 100% full – and they were taking volunteers! Sweet.

This could mean a nice size voucher in EUROS’s that I could spend on Delta. Plus, I could reroute direct to AMS, and still get flight credit for the two legs I did not fly, due to the bump. Worst case, even missing credit, the trip would end up free (since I only paid $396 after spending a $150 ETV to buy the ticket in the first place). But, it did not happen. So off to IST on an Air France A319 – window seat at least (as is standard no free medallion upgrades in Europe even if seats are wide open in 1st).

Flying in over Istanbul was amazing. What a densely packed city with more mosques and spires sticking up than CVS & Walgreens at home! The airport is smaller than I expected and definitely has a “cold war” feel to it over most others I have been in.

I had just about 2 hrs before my next flight off to AMS. I had been told by a reader that the Millennium lounge, clearly posted as a Delta lounge, would not allow access without a KLM pass. That pass would have to be procured at the KLM desk on the other side of securely. I had neither time nor effort to do this.

So, I pushed on and walked in with my boarding pass and my Platinum Delta Skymiles card (one of the reasons to travel with it). I got “looks”. Oh’ Great. They had to call down to KLM. Great. They asked if they could photo copy my pass and my card. I said sure – heck they could photo copy all my BP’s if they wanted! It took about 2 min but access granted, as they should have, and I had about 1 hr to call home on Skype and have a snack and a drink.

For a small lounge, it was nice. There was free wifi with good speed. There were drinks and food. Even some small sandwiches and the like. Fresh fruit and more. Overall a very nice club (once you got in that is).

Then, as mentioned before, off to the gate to fix my seats as both the seats picked on Delta.com for this flight, AND the seat picked on KLM.com, did NOT hold and I was stuck way back in coach middle seat (not the way to end day one of 24hrs of non-stop flying)! I got middle seat EXIT. Better but still not good when business seats were OPEN and coach was very full. I did try to access the flight on the Fly Delta app from the lounge and it seemed to think the KLM flight was one for Delta from Little Rock AR!

The last leg was a fun chance to compare AF to KLM. They are both unique airlines and very different. I sat next to a Flying Blue Platinum, also in coach exit. After the “hot snack” I asked the FA serving coach for brandy or a cognac and I was emphatically told that this short hop (3+ hrs) did NOT have that on board. Then, about 15 min later, the head purser comes by, and said to me and my seat mate, I see you are both Platinum’s. We say yes, and she asks if there is anything else she can do for us. I ask, could I have a brandy or a cognac. I am told, of course, at once, and  comes to me in a real glass as well. Hummm….

This brings me to the how strange KLM can be. They stick to rules now and then and other times will say just about anything to you. When I later landed and went to go into the KLM Crown lounge, for a drink before going to my hotel for the night, I was denied access. This, as a Delta Platinum, who had started my return itinerary to the USA, with valid connection international boarding pass, inside 24hrs before my trip, was told to go pound sand! I was sleepy and did not fight it – it just was not worth it. I have tweeted to @KLM and am working with them. I have to say, a year ago, a tweet to KLM was like tossing a bottle into the ocean. Now, KLM seems to be aware of Twitter and I will be sure to post how this ends up.

I set off on the short walk to the SPG Sheraton AMS airport. Thus ends 24hrs of travel. Thursday, I will cover my hotel stay and the return trip home! – René

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