After one of the most exhausting mileage runs I’ve taken to date, I’m back home and ready to hibernate. I’ve gotten a grand total of six hours of sleep in the past 60 hours. Best of all, I get to do it all again on Saturday.
Remind me again, why do I do this? 
Priority Club has released their new batch of PointBreaks hotels, only they haven’t updated the PointBreaks website. That means the only way to find hotels that work is to search manually, at least if you’re not patient enough to wait until they list the available properties. Many of the hotels available through PointBreaks are listed towards the end of this FlyerTalk thread.
For those not familiar with PointBreaks, it’s when Priority Club makes certain hotels available for 5,000 points, from Holiday Inn Express properties to InterContinental hotels.
No matter how much you fly, there are always some days that make you step back and say “wow.” Well, for me that was yesterday. As I posted about, I took a bump (voluntarily) on my IAD to JFK flight because it was weight restricted. There were two other people that were involuntarily denied boarding. One of them was initially denied boarding, and he proceeded to cuss out the gate agent, explaining that the gate agent was the only person he could let his anger out on, and that the gate agent shouldn’t take it personally.
The other passenger that got involuntarily denied boarding had an even worse situation. He was confirmed on the flight and didn’t initially have a seat assignment, but the agent cleared him onto the flight. They closed the door once he was aboard, and ten minutes later the plane returned to the gate because they needed to offload a passenger. The guy came off, and I was surprised that he seemed to take the situation in stride.
Fast forward an hour to the next IAD to JFK flight. All three of us that got denied boarding on the last flight were seated next to each other in the exit row. We started talking, and as it turned out the guy that got denied boarding after being given a seat was a GLOBAL SERVICES MEMBER! That’s right, United involuntarily denied boarding to a Global Services passenger. I was amazed, but he was a really nice guy and fun to talk to. The other guy that was involuntarily denied boarding was a Premier. The gate agent just did a crappy job handling the situation, since he didn’t once ask for volunteers over the PA (he did once yell that he needed volunteers, but that’s it).
We pushed back on-time, only to taxi to the “penalty box” (where bad planes go), where the engines were shut down. I had a tight connection, so I knew I would misconnect at JFK. This was a Mesa flight, so I always have low standards, but the flight attendant was actually pretty good. The captain announced that our ground hold would be about 30 minutes, and several passengers started yelling.
After 30 minutes the captain announced it would be another 45 minutes. After waiting for around an hour the flight attendant started walking through the cabin asking if passengers wanted to return to the gate. I’d say about 25% said yes, while the other 75% didn’t respond (which I assume means no), given they had international connections out of JFK. The flight attendant was trying to form consensus, which just strikes me as stupid since everyone is trying to go to different places.
Anyway, after a while the flight attendant came around yet again asking if we wanted to return to the gate if it would take more than 30 minutes more to leave (beyond the current ground hold of over an hour). At this point the plane was about 50/50, and the flight attendant was visibly stressed, because she wanted consensus and (obviously) wasn’t getting it. The issue is that if we returned to the gate, there would be yet another ground hold and we would have lost our slot for those continuing on.
Seated two rows behind me, by the way, was a guy that was yapping on his cell phone the whole time about suing the TSA. He was an older gentleman. He told the flight attendant that the pilots needed to talk to operations and get us a straight answer as to how much longer it would be (which isn’t always that easy) so we could decide what to do.
After a few more minutes the captain made an announcement saying we got a takeoff slot and will be leaving in the next five minutes. Applause erupted throughout the cabin.
There was some private talk between the pilots and the flight attendant, and the captain eventually came on the PA and said we gave up our takeoff slot because it seemed like people wanted to get off, so we would return to the gate.
At this point people were furious and started yelling, anything from “What the f___?” to “You’re a stupid b____.” The older gentleman seated a couple of rows behind me got especially angry and chewed out the flight attendant, saying something like “first you wanna build fu__ing consensus, then you change your mind. You’re stupid. You know, what you’re doing is illegal.” He goes on and on. Actually, sir, what you’re doing (assaulting a flight attendant) is illegal.
We start taxiing back to the gate, and this passenger got up, retrieved his bags, and started walking towards the front of the plane as we’re still on an active taxiway.
We get back to the gate, where we were met by several police officers that promptly took this guy off the plane. The captain walked onto the tarmac to talk to the cops, and we weren’t allowed to deplane in the meantime. The whole situation was utter chaos, especially since half of the passengers didn’t speak a word of English.
Getting rebooked was just as much of an adventure, given that everything was sold out….
Remind me please, why do I like flying? Typically I find mileage runs to be relaxing, since they allow me to get “disconnected,” but yesterday was about as stressful of a flying day as I’ve ever had.
As our pilots were getting aboard the 777 for our IAD-LAX flight, a girl (I should call her a lady, as she was older, but I just can’t do it) walks up to them and says “Wow, are you our pilots?” The first officer gives her a strange long and says “Eh, yeah.” She says “Oh, that makes me so happy. You guys look like you know what you’re doing.”
Up until yesterday I never drank milk by itself. I’d happily add it to my Coco Puffs cereal to create sweet chocolaty goodness, or have a glass of milk with the cookies served aboard flights. Actually, it always cracks me up to see otherwise angry looking businessman dipping their cookies in milk on airplanes.
After my evening flight from IAD to LAX yesterday where we were served cookies and milk, I got on my LAX to SFO flight (it’s worth noting that I had a ZERO (0) minute connection, but with United I can book a zero minute connection and be confident I’ll make it) and guess what I was craving. Yep, milk! Now I usually couldn’t care less if others think I’m a nut (most people already seem to think so, after all), but in this case basically everyone else in first class was wearing a suit and eating dinner. Either way, I rather sheepishly ordered a glass of milk (which doesn’t seem to go well with the “gourmet” snack mix), and the flight attendant gave me a look as if I was both five years old and from another planet.
Darn it, don’t judge me! And as I just found out the hard way, United Express doesn’t carry dairy products. I guess that’s what happens when you stock your galley for 11 months at a time. Now I understand why their flights are always weight restricted! It’s the galley, not the passengers.
As I’m about to hop on yet another United mainline flight, I fear the same judgment will be passed on me. I’ll try to resist the temptation, but I might just order something weirder, like milk mixed with cranberry juice, just to see the flight attendant’s reaction.
By the way, my swine flu paranoia meter is at six since my travels started yesterday morning. That’s how many people I’ve seen with those fancy things that cover your face. I was kind of expecting more. I’m sure I’ll see more over the next couple of weeks. In the meantime I’m swine flu free and taking at least 6,000% the daily recommended amount of Vitamin C.
Nothing beats innovation, and it’s sad that sometimes it takes a recession to cause companies to get creative. Marriott is essentially allowing all nights beyond what’s required for status qualification to “rollover” to next year. Furthermore, they’re running a double night credits promotion.
Every night you stay above the 50 nights needed to maintain your current Gold level in 2009 is yours to keep and count toward your 2010 Elite status.
It’s the only rollover night enhancement we know of – anywhere.
Plus, we’ll give you a head start with double nights. Stay at any
participating Marriott® hotel between May 11 and June 26, 2009, and earn double nights, starting with your first stay. Plus, we’ve already preregistered you for this great promotion.So get twice the nights with this double deal. And since every night this year counts, it’s easier to maintain your Gold status – and achieve the next Elite level in 2010.
Well done, Marriott! I doubt we’ll see the airlines do this, as they’d be seeing some passengers with status for a decade.
Off to a good start on my flying marathon! Just scored a free ticket (was offered $200 in travel credits, but I find a free ticket to be more valuable) thanks to a weight restricted flight. Two other people were involuntarily denied boarding (IDB’ed), and one of them was livid, as he was connecting to Istanbul on a tight connection. I get to keep my same onward connections, although I’m shooting for another bump on the next flight.
Am I the one and only person that’s consistently always amused and entertained by the announcements over the PA from some flight attendants on my flights? Let me show you what I mean with some examples:
“We have a full jetway full of people”
“Expedite our boarding process to board more speedily”
“This will be a completely full flight; every seat will be taken.”
“Kindly please step out of the aisle….”
“It is now safe to use electronic devices at this time.”
I should also point out how awesome the gate agents are in Tampa. As the overhead bins were maybe half full the purser made an announcement advising passengers to bring bags forward to have them gate checked. A gate agent overheard that, came aboard, and assisted passengers with stowing bags throughout the boarding process. Not surprisingly, no bags had to be gate checked.
Oh, and lastly, there were two people assigned to the same seat, so the flight attendant told one girl to take a middle seat in the exit row. She was slow to respond, so the flight attendant got a bit rude. When the flight attendant came over to do the same briefing (which she did during the safety video, by the way), she asked everyone for a verbal confirmation that they’d be willing to assist in an emergency. The girl that was moved to the exit row didn’t respond (intentionally, it seemed), and the flight attendant said “I can stop the plane to reseat you if I have to.” She asked again if she’d be willing to help out, and the girl responded “I’m fine.” The flight attendant got a bit angry at that point and said “that’s not an answer, I need a verbal yes.” The girl reluctantly agreed. Reminds me of the time I almost got kicked out of the exit row of a regional jet from Washington to Richmond with 20+ other FlyerTalkers aboard. That’s the other side of the coin, I guess, when you’re a bit too responsive.
So I’m sitting here in the E concourse at TPA, which only has one or two Air Canada flights a day to YYZ (depending on the time of year), ranging anywhere from an E170 to an A320. There aren’t any other international flights. That’s an absolute maximum of 280 passengers a day, probably closer to 180 passengers on average (accounting for the time of year they have E170 service). So my question is simple enough — how the heck can a duty free shop even break even from one or two flights a day, especially when we’re not talking about 300 passenger planes? Are they counting on nonstop Ted service to Frankfurt, or what’s the deal? The rent costs must be high, and I can’t imagine that many people going to YYZ take advantage of these duty free “bargains.”
One of life’s many mysteries….
The beauty of double elite qualifying miles “season.” With what I have booked at the moment I should have nearly 300,000 elite qualifying miles by the end of the month (counting double EQM’s, which won’t post until later). I’m sure I’ll have some fun stories over the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned.
OK, so on a Ted flight last week I observed one of the flight attendants remove the twisty thing (the word for it escapes me right now) at the top of a 12 oz. Coke can of each can he collected and place them in his pocket. He also seemed to insist on doing all the trash pick-ups, since he really seemed to want the tops. Anyone know why he’d want them? Is it to subsidize his income by recycling them? Is he like my 2nd grade teacher that collected them so she could visually show us how much a million was?
Enlighten me, please!
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