The following is a guest post from Michelle from ThirtySixThousand.com.

I’ve been flying for as long as I can remember. I made 4 trips to Hawaii before I was a year old and that trend has continued ever since.  My family owns a small business over in the islands, but California is my home. My unconventional “commute” to work involves taking a transpacific flight at least every few months.  My dad is also commercial pilot (both helicopter and airplane) and much of my early childhood was spent in the back of whatever aircraft he was flying at the time. To be honest, when I was younger I was never that interested in aviation as a career. I just loved to travel and I loved to go flying but had little interest in becoming a pilot myself. It wasn’t until years later that things changed.

Fast forward to a few years out of business school and there I was sitting and people-watching (as I often do) during a long layover at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport. I was on my way to Hawaii to go to work. It seemed that most of the people that day were business travelers, and none of them seemed very happy to be there. I then noticed a group of pilots in uniform.  They were smiling as they casually strolled through the terminal. They were getting paid to be at the airport, paid to fly, and best of all when they got to their destination they were off work and free to play.  It seemed like a better deal.

As a frequent flier I’d always been curious about little things when I flew, like what all the different runway markings meant, or what was going on while listening to ATC on Channel 9. It was that curiosity that led me to sign up for aviation ground school at my local community college, which as it turned out would be the first step towards me becoming a pilot myself.  I did well in the class and decided to take the FAA written exam, just for fun, which I easily passed with a score of 95. It wasn’t until after that when I decided to go for an intro-flight at a nearby airport and got to take the controls of an aircraft for the first time. I was hooked.

I did most of my flight training at LHM (Lincoln Regional Airport) near Sacramento in a Cessna 172 (I also flew in a 150, but I’d rather forget about that). My first cross country solo was to Chico and Stockton. I also got to fly to Sacramento International (SMF), which, after having flown there so many times commercially, was absolutely exhilarating when I got to show up there in my own plane. I remember the first time I was cleared to land on 16L, the tower had a Southwest 737 hold short for me. After landing, I turned off on the taxiway and looked over to see all the people through the windows of the relatively massive plane, and a few were even looking back at me. I felt pretty cool. Another highlight of my training was taking a lesson when I was over on Maui. We flew along the world famous sea cliffs on the north shore of Molokai, landed at Kalaupapa, and then on approach back into runway 2 at Kahului (OGG), I got to follow a C-130, which has got to be one of my all-time favorite planes. It was awesome.

Getting my private pilot’s license was one of the most challenging but at the same time one of the most fun and rewarding things I’ve ever done.  There is a lot of studying involved and compared to business school, flying isn’t really something you can b.s. your way through. It is both mentally and physically demanding. Throughout the process there is a huge emphasis put on safety; you train for every possible scenario (engine loss, fire, etc.), and because of that, it is no surprise that flying is actually one of the safest activities out there.  There’s a joke that goes something like “the most dangerous part of flying is driving to the airport”, but it’s not really a joke, it’s kind of true. I’m also sure some of you have heard the statistic that more people are killed annually by donkeys than by plane crashes; I have no idea how they even measure that, but given a choice, I’d choose airplane over donkey any day!

People are always curious and ask about any times when I was scared during my training. To be honest I’ve been way more scared as a passenger on a commercial flight than I ever was flying on my own. Believe it or not my closest call was with an animal, not aircraft. I did have a controller give me an instruction once that took me a little close to another plane in the pattern, but that didn’t startle me half as much as the time a coyote darted out in front of my plane on the taxiway at SCK. I was there on my solo, and I have to admit, maybe that was something we didn’t train for! I reported it to the tower, and they said they’d have it “taken care of”, whatever that means. In case you were wondering where your last airline meal came from…I’m just kidding. Anyway stuff like that is extremely rare, and if nothing else after going through the training I even feel more safe even as a passenger. I have a better understanding of the system and how much hard work and experience it takes to become a pilot.

The FAA minimum required number of hours for the private license is 40. All said and done, I had about 80 hours when I went for my check-ride. Time and costs vary by location, flight school, and how long it takes you to complete your training, but expect to spend AT LEAST $5,000 or $6,000 and a few months for a private license.  I flew a few times a week over a 9 month period, and all said and done my flight training cost about $10,000. There are accelerated programs out there that claim to get you your license in a month and under $5,000. The curriculum however doesn’t change;  there is a lot to learn in a short time, so it’s really up to you if you want to spread it out (which can also help distribute the cost) or try to “drink out of a firehouse” as I’ve heard it described, taking in as much as you can to get it over with. Either way, there are 3 parts to getting your license:  the written exam, an oral exam, and the practical flight (aka check ride).

Once you get your pilot license, it’s good for life. In order to stay “current”, you need a valid medical certificate and to complete flight review with an instructor every 24 months or go for a more advanced rating or certificate, but the license itself never expires.  My last flight as a pilot, sad to say, was all the way back in 2009 when I passed my private pilot check ride. Since then I completed instrument ground school (the next step) and passed the written exam for that. About a year ago I got the chance to fly in the right seat with one of my dad’s friend’s in a Citation CJ1 which is about as close to flying an airliner as I can imagine. Normally this would be off limits to someone without an instrument rating as any flights above 18,000 feet are IFR (Instrument Flight Rules), but my dad’s friend is in an ATP (airline transport pilot) and the aircraft was certified for single pilot operation. Technically, I was just along for the ride (and it was an awesome ride), but I did get to handle a few of the announcements and play around with the FMS (Flight Management System). I also just recently got another job- I’m now a mom to an incredible little boy and young jet setter (at 8 months he’s already been to Hawaii twice). I’m still flying about once a month, but as a passenger mostly on United Airlines, where I hope to soon become a Million Miler. No matter what, I just love to fly. I still haven’t given up on my dream of one day becoming a professional pilot, but at the moment things are on hold. Getting a commercial license takes at least 250 hours of flight time, and costs about $50,000, neither of which I have at the moment, but I would consider that any day in lieu of going back to business grad school!

For anyone out there interested in getting a private pilot’s license or just interested in learning more, I’d highly recommend going to aviation ground school or taking an intro flight. A lot of community colleges offer ground school for cheap (I want to say mine was only a couple hundred dollars including all course materials and the FAA written exam),  and if you actually want to get your hands on the controls of a plane, an intro flight typically runs about $75-$100 for one hour . Check around your local airport for more information and to find a flight school. If you’re the curious type like me and like to read, I recommend picking up a copy of the Jeppesen Private Pilot textbook. They can sometimes be found on ebay for as little as $20 for past editions, and it will tell you probably everything you’ve ever wanted to know about flying. If you don’t like to read, the book has lots of great pictures and excellent diagrams and you still should get it!  The Airplane Flying Handbook published by the FAA is another good one. There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t think about flying, and I look forward to getting back into it as soon as I can. Until then, I’ll always be grateful for the wonderful experience I had and if nothing else every time I step foot on a commercial airliner these days, I always get a smile out of remembering something cool I learned back in aviation ground school.

 Pilot License

 Check ride

Glass Panel on the Citation CJ1

Baby’s first flight

View of Molokai’s North Shore (Hawaii) while I was flying a C172

For a recent flight from Winnipeg to Calgary, I checked in online using my iPhone, and got my first offer of a complimentary upgrade.

It was a bit strangely worded: <My name>, would all passengers like a complimentary upgrade for the flight?

It didn’t entirely make sense – how would I know about the other passengers?  I took a screenshot, but deleted it accidentally and found out I can’t recover it from my iPhone (it is not like Windows with a Recycle bin).

However, the magic word was there: complimentary. I know that means it’s free, but being paranoid I read through all the fine print trying to find a catch. I didn’t want to pay anything to upgrade on that route, because it’s a short flight and the food is never anything to speak of. Eventually I hit ‘Yes’.

Then I had to answer to another question: 

Why would anyone say no to a completely free upgrade? Apparently some people would, because the option was there and at the airport lounge I was confirmed that some people say no.

They told me the economy class had been sold out so I imagined the airline’s software analyzing the passenger list and offering free upgrades to the most deserving people. When I talked to someone from the concierge, though, he explained that he had manually added passengers to the upgrade option list.  I was so disappointed, so after all there was no software, manual
intervention that was it. However I thanked him.

Once on the plane, I realized I was in the first seat, which I don’t like at all because I cannot store things under the seat in front of you  The meal I was served consisted of pasta with salmon – not a big fan of that combination – and cold tomatoes I could barely bring myself to eat. This is why I wouldn’t have paid for an upgrade. I wasn’t even asked what type of meal I wanted, maybe because I was listed as having a free upgrade (so a free loader so to speak) ?

Actually I didn’t notice it, but it is nice of them they apologized. It would have been nicer a few Aeroplan miles for people who would have written back and said the salutation mistake caused inconvenience for them or at least a draw for them with 3 prizes.

I would have not written back as first of all I hadn’t noticed the salutation mistake and even if I had it would have not caused me any inconvenience.

I flew the other day Air Canada to Vancouver. IFE didn’t work so they offered us a free drink. I didn’t want to drink alcohol so I thought I would go for a Perrier. But my neighbor (a girl) ordered a Sangria,  I was surprised – since then do they have Sangria ? – so I ordered one too.

I wonder what they mean by authentic. It is produced in Canada. In the end I did not open the Sangria, I took it home. Still I didn’t feel like drinking alcohol, I realized I just ordered one for the novelty.

I came across an article from “The Globe and Mail”  and I thought I would pass it along.

An excerpt:

What brought all this to mind was a story about the newest plane from Boeing – the Dreamliner.

Some say it may be the best plane ever produced. The program to develop it cost an estimated $32-billion. For that much money, I was hoping Boeing had developed the plane we all want to see – the one that never crashes. Alas, the best the company can do is assure us it will be extremely safe and comfortable.

…………..

Yes, planes are built better today. And they’re unquestionably safer. But if there’s a problem and the plane goes down, the result is merciless. It’s a terrible way to go.

So for $32-billion, I was looking for something more. Like maybe the first parachute-equipped jetliner. I’ve been thinking about this for years and here’s how it works: The plane gets in trouble at 30,000 feet. It’s going down. Everyone aboard is sure to die. Except, at 10,000 feet, a gigantic parachute is activated and the plane floats to safety.

I have seen it countless of times:

After they wash and wipe their hands, (some) people don’t want to touch anything and it comes down to this.
What I do, and I suppose most people do the same, is open the flap with the tissue and then let it drop through the opening, but the tissue isn’t heavy enough to fall right away, so the flap catches it. Sometimes I do manage to fully put the tissue into the garbage bin, but it requires some effort.

Once, I saw something that seemed like the best solution: leave the door open – not very nice looking, but at least there’s no need to do all kinds of fancy moves to be able to put a piece of paper into a garbage bin.

However, it seemed it was an accident that the door was left open as it did not close properly so, in the end, they had to tape it shut and it was back to square one.

We can put a man on the moon but we can’t do anything about this!?!
To design and build an airplane is much more complicated, so this issue should be easy to solve. Have a pedal that opens the garbage bin or something else, I am sure there must be simple and effective solutions.

This is the label of a Lipton tea bag in Europe. It contains 22 different languages. No wonder Europe has so many problems.

Boarding on the Lufthansa plane to Frankfurt, I picked up the German edition of the Financial Times. I would have preferred the English version, but they did not have it. I can’t say I know German, but I can get by. Putin will run for president and the current president, Medvedev, is to be prime minister if Putin wins. I’ve always found it strange how, in 2008, he became prime minister after he could no longer be president after 2 consecutive mandates (8 years). He could have had a library named after him and, very likely, an aircraft carrier as well, but no, he had to stay in politics. It would be as if Ronald Reagan had decided to stay on as Secretary of State under his successor George Bush. And Putin can now stay on under a presidential mandate that has been extended from 4 to 6 years. They must have figured out that 4 years was not enough to crush any hope for a real democracy.

Another front page headliner was about the resignation of the UBS CEO as a result of a rogue trading scandal. A similar thing happened 2 years ago to Societe Generale. One would like to think that the banks will learn a lesson and these sorts of losses will never happen again, or, at least, not in the near future.

Of course, Greece couldn’t be missing from the front page of a financial newspaper, nothing new there. Greece’s default will start for sure a new economic crisis.
Western civilization began in Greece, will its end begin there as well?

As food, a sandwich (Italian-style chicken) was offered and I learnt something new and, very likely, useless, unless I ever take part in a quiz show and this happens to be one of the questions.

I sat in the 2nd row back from the business class and I noticed someone in front of me used the washroom designated for business class. I was tempted to do the same, but I decided against it: just because someone else does something and gets away with it, doesn’t mean I should do the same. I had to do the right thing; I was in coach so I should use the appropriate washrooms. And this is what I did.

Later during the flight, however, I needed to use the washroom again: the person that sat in the window seat was asleep (no one sat in the middle), and the flight attendant needed some help to collect his cans and glasses so I handed them to her. After that, I felt the urge to wash my hands – yes, I know, I am hopeless. But this time the flight attendant’s cart was blocking my way. I had no choice but to use the business class washroom (by the way, only one person was in business class).

And, big surprise, the soap dispenser was empty. It was Lufthansa the flag carrier of Germany, I could not believe it.
Now it seems not even Germany can save the Euro/Europe.

The Icebreaker t-shirt was quite pricey (around $80) but what I had read made me buy it.

"I wore it for 40 days and 40 nights"

 A “40 days and 40 nights” vow: I wasn’t going to wear it for that long, but for a very long flight it would come in handy.

Also, the label said to type in the unique code to see the Merino sheep that grew the wool (actually the label said “meet”, but I suppose they meant “see”).

However, it isn’t true about being able to wear the shirt for so many days in a row. “Stink” would probably be too strong a word after wearing it for a 13-hour flight with a 3-hour layover, but it isn’t the wonder shirt I’d expected. I’m sure it’s true that the guy wore it for 40 days, but being in a salty and watery environment it was different in his case.

Also, I was highly disappointed after entering the t-shirt’s code. I thought I would see a photo of the actual sheep, but it was a list of farms instead, presumably from one of which my t-shirt’s sheep came.

I am still thinking of filing a complaint about the misleading label. The site clearly states, “Trace your Icebreaker’s origin”. The label should have said the same thing, too, not, “Meet the Merino sheep that grew this”. I was looking forward to it, only to feel that I was badly let down.

The Icebreaker t-shirt

Now, I rarely fill out a survey if nothing is given in exchange. For example, the last Air Canada survey offered 15 eUpgrade Credits at random to five participants so I completed it. Of course, I did not win, but I could have, and I trust someone has.

Time is one of the most precious commodities in the world, and they also say ‘time is money,’ so no more explanations needed.

I still remember the best ‘reward’ I have ever received. The survey was from a bank and the envelope included $2; real, hard cash, upfront, and of course, I gladly filled out the bank’s survey.

I had been staying at a Marriott for the past 3 months (some 4 or 5 days per week) and they were bombarding me with e-mails about ‘sharing my feedback about my experience.’ So I decided to complete the survey just to stop the e-mails. The survey was quite lengthy and, at the end, I received only a:

However, I knew there would not be any material rewards, and apart from stopping the e-mails about the surveys I wanted to write something in the input box they usually provide at the end for suggestions. My suggestion was to have in the room several recycling bins, or at least one (if the logistics would be too much), for things that can be recycled. Currently, there is only a garbage bin and everything goes in there.

Is anyone reading these suggestions? Will they do it, or at least provide an answer as to why it is not possible?