As I mentioned a couple of days ago I’m in Barcelona at the moment, and flew here “the long way.” My journey from Tampa to Barcelona routed me via Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York. As usual, the flight between Las Vegas and Los Angeles was an interesting one, though taught me two important lessons:
a) Don’t judge a book by it’s cover
b) Don’t make a bet with someone that looks clueless
Let me explain. I boarded my flight from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, and as usual the crowd was an absolute disaster. As I Tweeted about, the lady sitting next to me was easily over 50, though wearing fishnet stockings and “stripper boots.” Sadly she was one of the more “normal” people in the cabin. The last two rows of first class were taken up by an Australia family. One of the six kids was wearing a tiara and sash that read” BIRTHDAY PRINCESS” (I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve seen enough episodes of “Toddlers and Tiaras” to know those two terms).
As boarding finished up the lady seated next to me said “do you smell fertilizer?” I quickly responded with “sorry, it’s probably me, I’ve been flying for 24 hours.” Not amused, she pushed the call button and called over the flight attendant. “I smell fertilizer, I think someone boarded with it, could you look into this?” He also quickly responded with “all I smell is an MD-80.” I was laughing my rear off, though my seatmate obviously wasn’t.
Then we started talking about travel, and she started telling me about some great hotels. I still figured she was pretty clueless for whatever reason, and eventually she stated a fact about a hotel, so I said “oh wow, I had no clue about that.” She sensed my doubt, so responded with “you wanna make a bet?” and I said “what do you have in mind?” She said “let’s bet 100,000 miles.” I asked her miles in which program, and she said “it’s your choice.” We settled on American Express points. As soon as we passed through 10,000 feet I turned on my laptop ready to collect my 100,000 Membership Rewards points, only to find out that she was in fact right.
So yes, friends, I lost 100,000 points on a travel related bet. I think that’s the end of the road for me. I’ve lost my edge.
But the bigger surprise was that she was actually one of the most interesting people I’ve sat next to. She was the CEO of one of the most unique companies I’ve heard of, and she flies just about as much as I do (though actually pays for first and business class with cash).
So as much as it annoys me when people assume I don’t belong in first or business class because of my age or how I dress (what beef do people have with pajamas again?), subconsciously I find I still do the same thing to others. Time to force myself to stop doing that, and time for me to make the painful points transfer to her account…
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February 7th, 2012 at 10:53 am
Anita said,
Can you tell us what the fact was and regarding what hotel? I’d love to know what stumped you!
Anita
February 7th, 2012 at 11:05 am
Tenmoc said,
Wow Dude. You sat next to Madonna on the plane?
February 7th, 2012 at 11:09 am
Katie said,
Was she blond and works in construction? I think I have seen a story about her on TV. Based on the vague description you gave, I bet it is her. I don’t recall her name though.
February 7th, 2012 at 11:11 am
mwg25 said,
I bet my 8th grade social studies teacher 50 points of my final semester aggregate, over the derivation of coconut milk. I’m surprised that he took the bet, but it was very satisfying to end up with a 130% average or something like that.
February 7th, 2012 at 11:13 am
Zach said,
lol @Tenmoc
February 7th, 2012 at 11:19 am
Antonio said,
You guys are like Romney’s $10k bet. Most of us are like “WTF, 100k miles, that’s a crazy high amount!!!”
Something tells me though that she’ll appreciate your honoring the bet, and you’ll get some business out of it. At the very least, losing the miles will ensure the lesson learned sticks.
February 7th, 2012 at 11:20 am
Antonio said,
Also, if she’s that good at reading people, this is why she’s a CEO.
February 7th, 2012 at 11:21 am
purplnurpl said,
So what was her company? She already gave you some blog fodder, give her some publicity!
February 7th, 2012 at 11:32 am
JRL said,
A few years back, I bet Cactus-King Doug Parker an Envoy upgrade that CLT-HNL would last <6 months. He bet me he could ground the flight I tried to use the upgrade on if he lost the bet.
Lesson learned: CEO's always win bets.
-JRL
February 7th, 2012 at 11:32 am
HikerT said,
ROTF, pictures or it didn’t happen!
February 7th, 2012 at 11:34 am
Despina said,
Hi Ben, Very happy to hear that you are honoring the bet, but you are stand up guy so not surprised at all. Hope you enjoy Barcelona. What’s going on with Brownell? If you are accepting new clients please let me know.
February 7th, 2012 at 11:41 am
mike choi said,
You basically lost 100k MR points going from LAS-LAX, the same as going to europe in J, but there no YQ. Haha
What was the fact you lost on?
February 7th, 2012 at 11:41 am
Antonio said,
Also, you can take solace in the fact that the flight only cost you a net 99,000 miles.
February 7th, 2012 at 11:43 am
JetAway said,
Rule of Thumb: People who talk about how much money they have or dress as if they have money probably don’t.
February 7th, 2012 at 11:53 am
Vitaly said,
This is all so weird. Especially the 100k bet.
February 7th, 2012 at 11:53 am
Matthew said,
What Anita said. The story is incomplete!
February 7th, 2012 at 11:57 am
Michael T said,
Yes, we have to know what the bet was on!
February 7th, 2012 at 12:08 pm
dbeach said,
Like others, I’m curious about the details of the bet. But I’m also wondering why you decided to preface your trip to Barcelona by flying back and forth across the country.
February 7th, 2012 at 12:19 pm
Albert said,
If you lost this bet, how’s your poker game?
February 7th, 2012 at 12:54 pm
Alan said,
I think more shocking to me is that you watched “Toddlers and Tiaras”…I saw clips from the Soup and was horrified by the parents.
February 7th, 2012 at 1:04 pm
Apu said,
My hero let me down today
… j/k!
So will we have a heroine joining this blog as a guest contributor? Am sure she will have equally interesting stuff to share about… or a different perspective since she pays cash for all the nice stuff you experience in your premium travels!
February 7th, 2012 at 1:20 pm
Gary said,
The World of Travel is so unlimited…
We are, as always, naive…
February 7th, 2012 at 1:21 pm
Rocky said,
I love PJs when flying! I ALWAYS fly in my scrub bottoms (I’ma nurse) and a tshirt! way more comfy then jeans or anything else! Off to the Philippines tonight in KE biz class in m scrubs!
February 7th, 2012 at 1:56 pm
ml said,
Was it Lynn Tilton?
February 7th, 2012 at 2:18 pm
worldtraveller2 said,
http://www.azcentral.com/business/news/articles/2011/01/24/20110124mesa-lynn-tilton-md-helicopters-aviation0122.html
could it be?
details please!
February 7th, 2012 at 3:09 pm
Dan said,
Hm. She might have looked clueless, but when she responded “pick a program” for the 100k bet, I might have backed down. Why?
1. She has a 100k miles. Although that doesn’t sound like much to us, it is to the uninitiated.
2. She has 100k miles in multiple programs. Figure at least three, because if it was only 2, she would have listed them as choices.
February 7th, 2012 at 3:36 pm
Katie said,
@worldtraveller2
That is who I think it was as well. I couldn’t remember her name though.
@Dan – well put!
February 7th, 2012 at 4:30 pm
Randall said,
Whether it was Lynn Tilton or not, this story about her is too good to pass-up. She’s a total nut job…
http://dealbreaker.com/2011/04/lynn-tilton-accused-of-physically-verbally-assaulting-employees-barely-restraining-her-breasts/
February 7th, 2012 at 4:43 pm
hobo13 said,
I first read about Lynn Tilton a few years ago in Forbes, I think.
Given that Ben once wore a ‘Glen’s Gotta Go’ T-shirt, maybe he has a thing for Tilton’s….
February 7th, 2012 at 5:14 pm
Jay said,
I am REALLY interested to know the specifics of the bet… please divulge!!
February 7th, 2012 at 7:33 pm
Steve said,
You may not believe it now but this is one of the best lessons you will ever get. Nobody can believe they aren’t the best at what they do or that anybody knows more in their chosen field until they get bit and bit hard.
Knowing you are good, great even, but not the greatest, or perfect is the key to being the best. You know you are good, but always careful to realize the possibility the possibility you are wrong. This is the difference that separates a young Bill Gates or Steven Jobs from the older one. Its absolutely critical to lifelong success.
Savor this lesson. It will serve you well.
And thank your lucky stars you got it cheap. Not too cheap because then it loses its meaning. But cheap enough you can say, phew I dodged that bullet.
Just image if she had offered you 200,000 or even 500,000 miles, you were a bit greedy and decided to take the bet knowing you were right.
That really would have smarted.
February 7th, 2012 at 9:31 pm
LIH Prem said,
hey, don’t leave us hanging, Ben.
February 7th, 2012 at 10:40 pm
steve64 said,
Ya never know who you’ll meet on a flight.
I once had a seatmate strike up a conversation about airline operations, the age of the NW DC-9 we were on, etc. After I had a few responses to his comments, he stated “you know a lot about this stuff, where do you work ?”
When I told him, he said “oh, you must be steve64″ (I had already given my 1st name).
My jaw dropped as I’m just a nobody (well … other than at the time being the Lead Programmer on the Sabre/AA Flight Planning System .. but that was a Lead over a grand total of 4 folks). He was a contract Project Manager for my previous VP and stayed in touch with the VP even tho he never made the transfer to Flight Ops himself.
February 8th, 2012 at 12:49 am
Calvin said,
Cmon Ben… you gotta share the details…
February 8th, 2012 at 10:47 am
Bikeguy said,
Ben, you were hustled! I’d like the details of what you were wrong on too.
February 9th, 2012 at 7:46 pm
Joelfreak said,
Next, Ben will be flying in fishnets in F trying to bet people to end up even!
February 9th, 2012 at 10:00 pm
Despina said,
At this juncture is it safe to assume that Ben’s not going to give us the full story? If yes, Ben would you please let us know as I keep checking back to hear more. Thanks.
February 10th, 2012 at 2:35 am
Travel and Credit said,
Oh wow!!! That wasn’t what I was expecting to read at all. We would like to know though, what the hotel fact was that you bet 100k points on. I mean surely it must have been good!
February 10th, 2012 at 10:56 am
lucky said,
@ Despina — Fine, fine, fine, I give in.
Yes, I’m rather embarrassed. The bet was over the Hotel Arts in Barcelona. She thought it was a Ritz Carlton property, and I didn’t think so. That was the basis of the bet, and I lost… and even more than the miles, I lost my pride.
February 10th, 2012 at 7:19 pm
jmd001 said,
Still want to know if the person was Lynn Tilton!
February 11th, 2012 at 3:03 am
Mark said,
Drumroll….
So, still no name?
February 12th, 2012 at 10:38 am
Despina said,
@Lucky, didn’t mean to badger you into revealing anything, but I was checking back constantly and just wanted to know if you had moved on and so should I
February 12th, 2012 at 11:38 am
lucky said,
@ Despina — Whoops, sorry. Shared some details in post 39, though what else would interest you? It wasn’t Lynn Tilton, and I don’t think she’s high profile enough for me to mention her name here.
February 15th, 2012 at 2:34 pm
Updates From the World of Miles and Points 2/15 | Indulge the Wanderlust said,
[...] If you want a chuckle, head over to One Mile at a Time and read about how Lucky lost 100,000 miles in a bad bet. Details HERE. [...]
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