Like some of you know, I trekked all the way from Mumbai to Colorado Springs (via AUH,JFK/LGA, DEN) to meet the Boarding Area set of bloggers and some other awesome bloggers for a weekend conference (sort of thing!) mixed with a tequila night and other fun stuff made possible by Randy Petersen and the House of Miles crew.

While I’ll discuss that on the blog later, on the way out, I thought I’d build in a couple of days in the schedule to pop into New York and soak in the city (always a good idea!), apart from meeting friends I haven’t met in a while. I had a schedule mess, and I eventually arrived in NYC a full 12 hours later than originally planned. And since I was tired, I did not eat anything on the 3 flights I had (COS-DFW-LAX-JFK) or in-between (those times were spent getting tickets reissued with the airline!).

So once I finally managed to settle into my hotel at NYC, I had to eat! And since I am not the room service kind of guy, I had to step out to eat. Shake Shack was right next door, but this was not going to be enough. So, I decided to walk it a bit to arrive at one of my favourite carts in New York at 46th St and 6th Ave, called the Biryani Cart. This was a random discovery in one of my trips a couple of years ago, and I have been always very happy customer to go back to these guys. The high turnover stuff here is the Kati Rolls and the Biryani, and I haven’t bothered to try the other new stuff that comes and goes. However, the guy makes a mean greasy Biryani, not too spicy (maybe in line with the local palate) and worth the 6$! Along the way, he won a couple of Wendy awards too! I grabbed a takeaway and brought it back to the hotel to eat in my room, so don’t be surprised with the luxury setting around!

The evening worked out no different. Initial plans were to step into a Greek restaurant mid-town, but after a few rounds of drinks with friends, we were not so game to make the trip uptown. As well, as it turned out the restaurant was temporarily closed.

So we walked over to another one of my old favourites in the face of a windy NYC evening, this one is called the Halal Guys and located at 53rd St & 6th Ave, right around the corner from the Hilton. I first went here when a friend told me they used to drive all the way from D.C. just for a midnight meal over here (and then go back!). The guy makes a spicy hot platter, with oodles of white sauce which I think is yoghurt-based to go along. Almost always crowded, night or day, go for the platter (rice and gyro, with lamb and chicken), which gives you a taste of all he has, unless you have a specific preference for lamb or chicken and don’t want to have the other.

And by the side of the cart, you’d find an array of sauces, mostly the white yoghurt-based sauce I mentioned before, but also some barbeque sauce and in one corner, the hot-sauce. Do not try to have lots of it unless you’ve tried it before, because it is some real hot and wicked stuff! Most people won’t even look at it because it’s stowed in a separate rack. The portion sizes are massive, but I managed to wolf down a full helping by myself.

That was another $6 well-spent! Have you been to any of these places or do you recommend any street side food I should try when back in New York whenever?

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Err, I know the sense of entitlement this post evokes, but stay with me, and hear my story of le-sigh and disappointment. The title of this post the exact words I heard from the TSA this evening at JFK.

I am flying the American Airlines First Class in their 3-class Flagship Service First Class today, in fact this post is being written somewhere up in the air right now. This made me eligible to use the brand new Flagship Check-In service introduced by American Airlines earlier this month at Terminal 8, New York JFK. After a red carpet experience with American’s staff at JFK, the agent at the check-in counter hands me back my Indian passport and my boarding pass, and tells me that I’ll be able to use the TSA-Pre security queue specially organised for the Flagship Check-in passengers.

Now, I’ve read it in the past on American Airlines’ website, where they describe the Flagship Check-in experience:

An expedited security line, offering you premium access through security checkpoints

Now, this is something I assume standard fare for the elite and premium cabin travellers, and I expected this to be American’s “Priority Access” service & no more. However, American has a designated queue at the JFK airport for its Flagship check-in eligible passengers, and apparently all of them get TSA-Pre. Except me and a few of course!

When the agent told me I was going to get TSA Pre, I assumed that there was a special arrangement where all premium cabin passengers were going to get this service. In my 1.5 years of flying around in the USA as an alien, after the TSA Pre was announced, I did never get the 3-beeps and I assumed I knew it was because I was an alien for all purposes and hence…

Anyhow, I turn up and the TSA asks me for a USA identification, which I definitely don’t have except for my Starbucks card and my AA EXP card, so in spite of the 3 beeps, he politely tells me, “AJ, no Pre for you!”. But he was right.  Worst bit, there is no other Priority Security queue, so I wasted about 30 minutes to get to the scanners and go over, which left me with exactly about 15-20 minutes to pop into the lounge and get something to eat. And that, after a long day in NYC when I sparingly ate due to various reasons!

Hey TSA, I’d be happy to volunteer in the beta for a program which lets aliens come through the TSA checkpoints with some ease!

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I’m just trying to wriggle my way out of a bad bout of cold and flu which kept me out of action since 2-3 days. I figured a complete, medicinal recovery would be better than trying to drag my feet and keep up with work and other stuff, so I missed out some things. Here is a recap for you:

• Travel Agents across India seem to be off work on Tuesday 7th May 2013. So, if you depend on them, organise your business a day before or after.
• I am still refusing to believe this fully, but I am scared for flying Air India if this is true. Apparently on a Bangkok – Delhi flight, both the pilots went to nap, and put two cabin crew in charge of the cockpit. One of them switched off the autopilot.
• Yours truly got quoted in the Hindustan Times about the latest on Unbundling airfares in India. You can read my post on how I think the whole thing will play out here.

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