Although I grew up in Ft Lauderdale for some reason I liked the Charlotte Hornets.  Maybe it was because Muggsy Bogues was such a star or maybe it was because I just really liked Hugo.  I remember spending all of my first grade year preparing for hurricanes, especially Hugo, then he completely missed us at hit the Carolinas so you can say Hugo holds a special place in my childhood memories.  When my brothers were choosing Chicago Bulls gear I also chose the Hornets.

It’s rather ironic that I didn’t actually move to Charlotte until after the Bobcats had been established.  Even with the Bobcats here for over a decade you’ll see much more Hornets gear (Charlotte, not New Orleans) worn out and about the town.  I think that is sad that we aren’t supporting our actual home team, but something about the bobcats has just failed to ignite fire in the city the way the Hornets did.  I’d also prefer if they kept the same color scheme, but Hugo may be due for an updated look.

I, for one, am excited to hear that Michael Jordan’s team has applied to resume the name.  I think the $3million quoted to rebrand will pay for itself by people actually going to games.  I have been uptown during Bobcat games and never had a problem finding a parking spot so it makes me wonder how full the Time Warner Cable Arena actually is.  If people like me put our money where our mouth is and actually attend games then the rebranding is totally worth it.  Merchandise sales alone will be good.

(link to Charlotte Observer Article)

I haven’t been in a Sky Club in a couple weeks so I haven’t been able to witness the change that was supposed to take effect May 15, but the story is that Sky Clubs will now have Gordon’s liquor for free, but will charge for other liquor.

Now, I used to belong to the Sky Club for the free drinks when I first joined (part of the reason why I changed from the Red Carpet Club to the Crown Room Club years ago), but now I don’t drink too much anymore.  I think I’m Delta’s target Sky Club member.  This change doesn’t affect me much, but to others this is a huge change and I’m sure many will be reevaulating their membership.  Will I change?  It depends on the state of things in February of next year when my membership is up.  I will definitely check out the US Airways club and if they have made improvements to the program I might join it since it’s at my local airport.

Points, Miles & Martinis also points out that instead of complimentary Heiniken and Blue Moon (and I’m assuming Sweet Water at the ATL clubs) only Budweiser and Miller will continue to be free.

Since my time in Charlotte is limited, I mainly get out for Sunday brunch.  Here are the top 6 places you will find me:

Flying Biscuit Cafe

1. Heist Brewery (NoDa)- Their beer is only so-so and I can’t stand mimosas ($10 for bottomless, but legally $9.95 + $0.01/refill)  so I mainly stick to water here, but I come here for the food.  The buffet is $15.00 and well worth it with brie and bread, flatbreads, some kind of benedict, eggs, bacon (really chewy), sausage, some donuts, waffles, omelets, and oysters…yes! oysters.  The wait here from around 11:30 am to 1:00 pm is usually over 30 minutes, but if you come after 1:30 pm it has usually cleared out.  You will find me here at least once a month.
2. Terrace Cafe (SouthPark/Ballantyne)- This place is great for good old southern cooking with a modern flair.  They have 2 locations: Piedmont Row by SouthPark Mall and down in Ballantyne Village.  I mainly go for the healthy turkey omelet, but I hear the red velvet waffles are the best.  I’d highly recommend Open Table to make a reservation and if you miss Brunch they are closed for dinner on Sundays
3. Toast (Dilworth/Davidson/Ballantyne)- I’ve only been to the Dilworth location, but they have a few and are looking to franchise more.  It’s usually not to hard to get seated here with at most a 15 minute wait.  There is something about their turkey I don’t like so although I got their turkey omelet the first time I went, I got other options the other times I’ve been.  Their cornbread is pretty good and they use the “anyone is your server” concept like in many other countries.  They also usually have a toast guy hanging outside on Park Rd.  They appear to have full bar, but I can’t think of a time when my friends actually ordered any alcohol.
4. Dragon Court (N. Tryon not far from NoDa)- No, you are reading correctly…some times I want something besides eggs and waffles for brunch so I come here for dim sum.  Some times it seems that the carts with the crappy stuff just keep circulating, but if you ask for something specific eventually that cart will make it over to you.  I love their mocchi balls with bean paste.
5. Flying Biscuit Cafe (SouthPark/Ballantyne)- boy, there seems to be a theme with me…have a location in SouthPark and Ballantyne!  I’ve been to both of these locations many times and although the service and quality fluctuate more than I’d like, I still keep going back for their Southern Scramble and of course the Flying Biscuits!
6. Whole Foods Market (SouthPark)- If I can’t convince any of my friends to do brunch I just head over here and get some of the hot bar by the pound ($8.49 although sometimes cheaper).  There are always scrambled eggs, empanadas, tofu scramble, biscuits and gravy, bacon, usually some non-pork breakfast meat such as turkey bacon or chicken sausage, grits, oatmeal, and a full salad bar.  It’s often quite busy.  If the lines for the hot bar checkout are long, look at the 10-items or fewer lines and they might be shorter.

So just remember, even if the place opens before noon, alcohol can’t be served until then so many brunch places that cater to that crowd tend to be busiest anticipating that noon hour.  Go before if you’d prefer to miss that, but then you’ll miss the alcohol specials as well.

Charlotte Flight Attendants protest TSA’s change in policy about knives.

But flight attendants don’t want that to happen. They protested a proposal to change the TSA policy at Charlotte Douglas Airport on Thursday. They’re also pushing the “No Knives Act of 2013″ to permanently ban knives in the passenger cabin. Glenda Tally with the Association of Flight Attendants says, “All knives are weapons.”

I just got home today so this must have been earlier since I didn’t see anything at the airport.

Unfortunately, some frequent travelers think everyone should just magically know who they are (Don’t You Know Who I Am).  Usually I am not one of those, but when I was checking in at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort for BAcon I had this experience:

Bell Man: Are you checking-in?  You can park your car over there
Me: Isn’t this the valet stand, I was hoping to valet
Bell Man: Yes, this is the valet stand, let me help you with your bags.
—
I go to the front desk and check in, then leave the main building to head to my building
—
Bell Man: I hope you enjoy your wedding
Me: (confused) I’m not here for a wedding.  I’m here for a travel blogger conference.  You might want to be on your best behavior this weekend since the hotel will be swarming with travel bloggers and we will all review this hotel online.
Bell Man: I’m sorry, did I say something wrong
Me: I’m sorry, that came out wrong I guess.  I was just trying to give you a heads up.

…Everyone on the entire staff seemed to know my name and refered to me as Ms. Alexander the entire weekend.  Maybe they just do that anyway, but I felt awkward, especially when actual professionals were there for the conference.

Every week on Wednesday afternoons I will post an update of my previous travel week so you can see how glamorous business travel can be. Certain details will be omitted to protect the innocent and to make sure that I don’t jeopardize my job as a business traveler, but I want for you all to see what my week is like.

Monday:
Flew to PHL by way of DCA since that was ~$500 less than the direct. I will never do that again! I had a 30 minute connection and had to take a bus from one concourse to another and then a bus to my airplane.
Drove down to Maryland and stayed at the Hampton Inn in Hagerstown, MD

Tuesday:
Had 2 meetings in Maryland and drove to Morgontown, WV and stayed at the Hampton Inn there. This Hampton Inn has a great location near the university so there were many places to go to eat. I chose Volcano sushi based on a recommendation from the front desk.

Wednesday:
Had a meeting in Morgantown, then drove to Clarksburg, WV and had a meeting there and then drove to Huntington, WV and stayed at the Hampton Inn there. The front desk recommended Fat Patty’s for dinner, but Outback Steakhouse was pretty close so I ate there instead.

Thursday:
Two meetings in Huntington and then flew out of HTS on a direct flight back to Charlotte. Home at 6 pm.

So I earned 3 segments on US Airways, 1500 PQM, and 3 stays/nights at Hilton which leaves me at:
Delta: 45 MQS/36,693 MQM = at least Silver for 2014
US Airways: 29 PQS/24,245 PQM – 1 flght from at least Silver for 2014
Hilton: 19 stays/28 nights
Marriott: 38 nights

I had a night to kill before it was time to work and I had an extra category 1-4 certificate from a Marriott promotion last year so I decided to try out the Courtyard Denver.  I had a king-sized room on the second floor.

I liked the hotel, but actually ended up going out to Boulder to visit a friend so I didn’t explore the area much although I have been on 16th before.  I did have some people partying in the room next to me.  It was still an OK time to be a little loud and it’s not their fault I wanted to go to bed at East coast time so I gave them the benefit of the doubt.  They cleared out long before it would have been time to call the front desk, but I just wanted you to know that sound does travel from room to room.

I ate breakfast in the restaurant connected on the main floor and it was pretty good and service was excellent.  I had the spinach omelet and it was quite tasty.

I never had to wait long for valet which is good since it was $28.

Scott McCartney from the Wall Street Journal recently evaluated airlines for reward redemption.  Among US carriers Southwest and JetBlue topped the charts with Delta and US Airways rounding out the bottom tied for last amount airlines evaluated.

At a recent travel blogging conference many of us were talking about what kind of a traveler we are.  Since I have to travel where I need to go each week for work and want to do it as comfortably as possible I’m not a mileage runner kind of flyer and I’m not a churner to get free vacations all on credit card points.  My primary goal is to travel as comfortably as possible and hopefully get first class upgrades often.  This is part of why I changed from crediting to United to US Airways since I fly on US.  This means I’m actually getting upgrades, but I’m not sure how everything will play out booking my next vacation.  I booked my vacation this fall using my remaining United miles since they had low-tier availability and Delta didn’t.  I just keep letting Delta miles build up because I can never use them, but I love flying Delta.

So let me rehash an old meme and point out that McKayla is not impressed with Delta and US.

By Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY

Goal: to be the preeminent business travel blogger for the Charlotte market as evidenced by page views and quotes in news outlets.

Step one towards this goal: Why do I live in Charlotte.

Unlike most workers and even many business travelers I have the luxury of living near any hub I want.
I could live in a glamourous city like NYC or LA
I could live near a mega hub airport like ATL or ORD
I could even live somewhere with super dirt cheap direct flights like MCO

I chose Charlotte and I think that is an important thing to understand.  I moved there for the airport and I stay because of friends and because the airport still suits my needs.

What keeps me in Charlotte?  A variety of suitable flights with plenty of mainline and larger regional jets on major carriers (US Airways and Delta), fast security, and convenient parking.

What would I like to see?

• Lower fares for sure.  Charlotte may not always be the cheapest.
• More direct flights to the west coast.  When I head over there US Airways is usually the the cheapest, but most west coast destinations require a hop in PHX.  It’s crazy how many people on my flights between CLT and PHX are double hopping XXX-PHX-CLT-YYY instead of XXX-hub-YYY like I can usually do on Delta.  It will be interesting to see how that plays out with the AA merger and adding DFW and ORD to the list of hubs in the middle.
• Fix the moving walkway from A concourse back to the terminal so it works more than 1 week before it breaks again!
• I wish there was still a parking lot to walk to the concourse, but I also see the big picture that things will be much better very soon.

What is CLT doing well?  Unlike the impression I get at the NYC airports, there is no doubt CLT is a very light and airy airport.  I think it is kept very clean (hence my post years ago about the bathroom attendants), the new signage put in before the DNC is very clear, bright, and inviting.  There are a variety of places to eat from sushi to gelato Chilis and even Bad Daddy’s to bring some local Charlotte flavor.

Going forward I will do my best to be more timely with posts about this great city’s airport.

Today on CNN.com Katia Hetter writes about passengers who disregard flight attendant instructions and leave devices on during flight.

While more than 90% agree those flight attendant directions to turn off devices are clear, 59% say they always turn their devices completely off and 21% say they switch their devices to “airplane mode.” Some 5% say they sometimes completely shut down their devices.

As you can see from the image I carry many devices: laptop, iPad, Coby Kyros android tablet, portable 4G hotspot, and a WIFI router and I also have a GPS and my phone used to take the picture.  On any given flight I have at least one device on when forbidden.  I do, however, make sure I put my devices away.  Don’t be that person flaunting your devices when the flight attendant comes by.  He or she had no input on the rule but is required by the FAA to enforce it or incur fines.  Don’t argue with the FA that the device doesn’t interfere with navigation equipment.  Just put it away!

If you leave your cell phone on (and not in airplane mode) make sure it is silent.  Nothing is more of a dead give-away that your device is on than “Thrift Shop” blaring from your seat.  And at altitude put your device in airplane mode or you will drain the battery searching for signal.  If you want to use Gogo pretty much every phone I’ve had allows you to put the phone in airplane mode and then turn on WIFI.