Posted by Seth on July 7, 2011 under Mileage Run, Trip Reports | 
I’m sitting on a United Airlines 767-300 somewhere over the Pacific Ocean right now, wondering just which screws are loose in my head today. Yeah, I’ve always been a little crazy, particularly when it comes to travel, but today might be the nuttiest yet. And so, as we pass the half-way point to Hawaii (I hope I win the contest!) I’m wondering to myself just what was I thinking. I chose to downgrade myself for no good reason.
My flight itinerary is reasonably simple, if not a bit circuitous. I’m booked from New York City‘s LaGuardia to Denver to Honolulu to Tokyo‘s Haneda airports on the outbound half of a weekend mileage run to Japan. By virtue of my elite status I received upgrades on the first two segments and I happily selected my seats in row 1 as I often do. There was a bit of a delay getting out of LGA but we did eventually and I even had time to grab some food in Denver during the connection. Sure, I was upgraded but I like choosing my own meal when I have the chance so I grabbed a burrito for the flight and made my way over to the gate.
Boarding was pretty simple and I was all set to curl myself into my assigned seat, 1J, and enjoy the flight.
The guy sitting in 1H asked if I’d mind trading seats with his wife in 2A. Window for window and while I’d be losing the bulkhead row that I generally prefer I’d get to be on the port side of the plane which, when flying into Honolulu generally means better views on the landing (similar to San Diego). All in all a relatively fair trade and it doesn’t cost me all that much to make two other people quite happy. I gladly accept. That’s when things get strange.
The man in 2B, acknowledging that it is a long shot, asks if he can "make it worth my while" to trade with his wife who is seated in row 17. That’s in the Economy Plus section of the plane, not the first class cabin. I’m pretty sure I shocked him and his wife when I said yes. More so when I refused to take the cash he tried to offer me in trade. I know I was a little surprised at myself.
And so I ended up with this view for the 6.5 hour long flight.
Needless to say, the Purser was quite confused when they started to take meal orders up front as there was no Mr. Miller to be found. She eventually tracked me down in 17J and she too was surprised that I made the trade of my own volition and without remorse. She admonished me just a tiny bit but was accepting of my explanation that I did it of my free will.
Here’s the craziest part of the whole thing: I’m not really sure I got that bad of a deal. The 767-300 domestic configuration on United is called the "ghetto bird" for a reason; the first class cabin really isn’t all that significant an upgrade over Economy Plus. I had the meal that I wanted. I had the drinks that I wanted (I have more than enough drink chits anyways and there may have been a comp or two as part of the trade). I have enough leg room that I can cross my legs when I feel like it. Yes, my seat is a bit narrower, but it isn’t sufficiently so that I really notice. So why help another couple on their way to Hawaii start the trip off a bit special?
Yeah, I know that I’m nuts. A part of me is wondering while writing this why I don’t really care. After all, I was sweating the upgrade before it actually came through. In the end, however, I legitimately do not mind having made the swap.
Definitely a few screws loose.
ps- Just bought my seat mate a beer with my drink chits. Gotta use ‘em some how, right?
Posted by Seth on June 16, 2011 under News |
Continental has historically been opposed to selling discounted upgrades for cash on their BusinessFirst premium cabin flights. They’ve also mostly been opposed to processing upgrades on the day of departure so as to protect their yields. But there has been one exception to this trend: Honolulu.
The Honolulu market is the only one where Continental offers a set rate for upgrades on the day of departure, and the prices have always been pretty good. The system, known as a REVUP allows passengers to buy into the forward cabin on the day of departure (inside 24 hours for elites; inside 2 hours for non-elites) if there is inventory available in the Z fare bucket.
With loads higher than ever finding a flight with seats can be difficult, but it is definitely possible. Check out my Inventory Search Tool if you want to check the Z inventory for a particular flight. Assuming there are seats available in Z a quick call to the reservations desk and paying the fee should have you in the forward cabin. If the agent doesn’t know what you’re talking about ask them to "look up GG REVUP in SHARES" and go from there.
As of a couple weeks ago the rates changed, with some increases and some decreases and generally a more complicated system. In addition to the route traveled day of departure now comes into play.
The above prices are for passengers with elite status; non-elites pay $50 more per person.
This is still a great benefit and one that hopefully survives the merger (assuming that the flights do not convert to all free upgrades like they are on United Airlines right now). With the most recent change to the award charts that went into effect this week these fees are generally lower than the cash component of the miles+cash option. But it is also a riskier approach as the forward cabin does sell out in advance quite often.
Aloha!
Posted by Seth on April 15, 2011 under Mileage Run, Trip Reports |
As a travel destination it is hard to rate Guam to incredibly high, especially coming in from the mainland US or Hawaii. Sure, it is warm and generally sunny, but so is most of the Caribbean or the beaches of Mexico and they’re a LOT easier to get to than Guam is. If you happen to be in Japan or Korea already I can somewhat see the appeal – only 4-5 hours away by air and a much different environment that caters to you as a tourist – but really a hard sell coming all the way from New York City. Still, I managed to find a few things to do while there and it wasn’t like the beaches were particularly bad as visiting goes.
The main drag of Tumon Bay Beach is where all the resorts are based and where most tourists end up. The area is just a couple miles from the airport and pretty much serves as the focus of the tourist industry on the island. And with good reason. Other than one section of particularly nice beach that I saw on one of the Navy bases, the beach at Tumon Bay is one of the nicer stretches of land available in Guam for enjoying the Pacific Ocean and it has most of the restaurants and shops, too.
The wide, shallow bay plays more like a lake than an ocean, with virtually no surf to speak of but that’s great for the folks staying at the resorts who are looking to snorkel, windsurf or sail in the area. And the white sand beach is wide enough that there is generally enough room, though it is not particularly deep which can make it a bit crowded at times.
One of the nicer features of the beach is that it is readily accessible both to the guests of the high-priced resorts that sit right on it and to the general public, thanks to Governor Joseph A Flores Park, a public access facility, at one end. With free public parking and access everyone can enjoy the sun and sand.
A bit further south along Marine Corps Drive the tourist population dwindles and the locals dominate the scene. The coast is lined with parks, providing parking and access to the waterfront, though generally much less in the way of actual beachfront. There is a grassy area adjacent to most of the parking lots but no sand to relax on. For some folks that’s probably an ideal sort of beach, but not me.
In addition to the large, calm stretches of coastline there are also some areas where the surf break line is close enough to shore for folks to take advantage of it. Just off of Paseo De Susana Park there were a number of surfers and body boarders doing just that.
The park also has a replica of the Statue of Liberty on display. I happen to like ours in NYC a bit better, but this one is certainly more convenient to visit if you’re in Guam.
Finally, there is a small park adjacent to the regional government building that provides some pretty cool views of the region. The plot of land that now houses the government was used as a fort in the days of Spanish rule and as an anti-aircraft emplacement during World War II; evidence of both eras remains in the park area.
Construction in the region was historically performed by elevating the buildings, both to protect against rising tides or floods as well as to keep critters out. The towers that the buildings were set on are known as lattes and they are rather significant to the history of the island. Traditionally they were built of two pieces, the long, tapered column and then a chunk of coral set atop that. The government recently built a look-out tower that mimics the design and style of a latte. It is actually a pretty neat tower and it provides great views of the coast line.
There is also a marker signifying the base reference point on Guam for all GPS location points on the island. Vaguely interesting for the geek in me.
Between these beaches, the view from Two Lovers’ Point and the diving available on the island I managed to fill my 49 hours on the island well enough. I’m quite certain that I don’t really need to go back as I got my fill and there are more interesting destinations still on my list.
Related Posts:
Posted by Seth on April 13, 2011 under frequent flyer, Mileage Run, points, Trip Reports |
There’s really nothing quick about this trip. The Pan Am Clipper could make it from New York City to Seattle faster than I will. But the itinerary sure is an entertaining one.
It all started when there was a mistake loaded in the routing rules for Continental flights between the two cities. Most fares are limited to non-stop flights only or just a couple connections in a specific sequence. This particular fare, however, had pretty much no rules. If you could dream it – and if you could get a booking engine to process it – then you could connect pretty much anywhere in the Americas en route between the two cities. It was, in Mileage Run terms, a gold mine, particularly given that multi-stop routings are harder and harder to find.
Connections in Bogota, Panama City, Panama and Florida worked. So did connections in Hawaii. And that is how I find myself passing over the Golden Gate Bridge, headed westbound to Honolulu, on my way to Seattle. Some folks managed to be even more creative than I was, with multiple trips between the mainland and Hawaii on the same ticket. Me? I’m settling for a six-segment routing that covers Hawaii, Texas, Florida, Ohio and Illinois.
The look on the ticket agent’s face when I asked her to print my boarding passes was fantastic. As she traced my itinerary segment-by-segment and counted off the connecting cities, each more the wrong direction than the next, the confusion changed to shock and then disbelief. The part where she called me crazy was pretty entertaining, too. And the fact that she’s not wrong doesn’t hurt the situation.
All told, I’m flying somewhere around 12,000 miles instead of the normal ~2,400 miles to get there. Definitely not normal, but for the price it is hard to beat. Most the segments got upgraded and I’ve got power at my seat so I’m getting some work done and relaxing. A friendly group of flight attendants, one of whom recently celebrated her 40th anniversary with the company and who is still hustling up and down the aisles, certainly helps the time pass quickly as well.
Six hours down, thirty to go, and the trip is great so far. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow after a few more hours inside the aluminum tube.
Tags: Chicago, Continental, Florida, frequent flyer, Hawaii, houston, Mileage Run, New York City, Panama, points, Seattle, Trip Report, upgrade
Posted by Seth on March 26, 2011 under Dining, Flying, Mileage Run, Review, Trip Reports |
Traveling from New York City to Guam in a single day is a challenge, to say the least. The good news is that Continental offers a pretty reasonable schedule that can get you all the way there (and on to a few other out-lying areas if you’re so motivated) in a single day. The bad news is that it is nearly 24 hours of travel, and that’s assuming the best-case scenario for the connections.
For me the itinerary is pretty simple. Start off at the ungodly hour of 4am with an alarm clock buzzer that causes shock and awe, but not in the good way. From there, it is a fight to grab a cab from the Club Kids who are just wrapping up their night out on the town (I lost a couple rounds but eventually won) and then the quick ride to LaGuardia. The Presidents Club lounge is not yet open so any dreams of a Bloody Mary or a granola bar are dashed, but at least the line at security was minimal.
The flight from LaGuardia to Houston was uneventful, mostly because I was asleep the better part of it. Arrival into Houston was right on time and a 45 minute connection to the Honolulu flight was easy to make, though not so much in terms of time to visit a Presidents Club there, either. I was “late” to boarding which put me a bit in the middle of the zoo that is loading up ~200 passengers for a flight to the islands, and for some reason the gate agents were insistent that there was no priority boarding for elites this morning. My face showing a dumbfound incomprehension of why that should be was met with a reasonable agent (not the one I first encountered) and eventually I boarded the flight.
Oh, there was also the part where they told me that I had to change seats to help keep a couple together (something I generally do without objection, though I prefer to be asked not told). But then they weren’t really sure where i was supposed to actually sit or where all the other parties were supposed to be. Given the list of seats in play I managed to figure it out, but not before the folks on the plane had already done so. Needless to say, when I got to my seat and tried to start shuffling all the other players who had already moved themselves they were very confused.
Continental’s service up front from Houston and Newark to Honolulu may be considered a modified version of the BusinessFirst offering but the seats are still pretty good for a daytime flight and the food is still one of the better options available headed to the 50th state. Lunch is a five-course marathon, starting with a salmon appetizer and ending with an ice cream sundae. The truly shameful part is that that coach cabin has only food for purchase available on the 8.5 hour journey. Had my upgrade not come through I would’ve been in big trouble trying to find a decent meal or two for the second segment during the short connection.
As I wrapped up my ice cream sundae (caramel & chocolate, plus whipped cream, if you’re curious) along with my traditional beverage side-car I happened to look up at the moving map screen. Nearly two hours into the flight and we’re still in Texas; just short of El Paso, it turns out. I know Texas is big, but damn. I was not expecting to still be here.
Overall, a relatively uneventful trip so far, which is really the best one can hope for most days. With any luck the rest of the 23-ish hour journey will be similarly smooth.
Posted by Seth on January 30, 2011 under Dining, Flying, News |
Continental Airlines made a bit of news in October when they finally discontinued their offering of complimentary "meals at meal times" on most domestic flights. The original announcement, made in March 2010, included the caveat that flights over 6 hours would still receive complimentary food. Once they realized that the transcon flights from Newark were included in that caveat it was adjusted to 6.5 hours, meaning all flights in the lower 48 were Food4Sale only.
But at least the longest domestic flights – Honolulu to Houston and Newark and Anchorage to Houston – were still offering complimentary meals. Not any more.
Effective March 1, 2011 (based on published timetable data) the Honolulu flights will switch to the Food4Sale options in coach. This brings Continental in line with merger partner United Airlines which has offered BoB for their Hawaii flights for a couple years now. It isn’t much of a surprise but it is certainly disappointing as a customer to see one more decent in-flight product degraded.
The silver lining on this change is that customers will arguably have more choices and better food in flight. Assuming that there is actually enough catered for everyone to eat, of course. If you’ve got a seat assignment in the back of the plane there is a very real chance that dinner could be a can of Pringles.
Next up will likely be the reallocation of aircraft to have domestic-configured planes operating the Hawaii routes, replacing the current BusinessFirst configured flights. It will be quite interesting to see if the combined carrier continues to try to extract a premium for the HNL service in the pointy end of the plane if they also cut one of the main attractions of that service, the big recliner seat.
The Houston-Anchorage flights still show complimentary food when the seasonal non-stop returns this summer but I’m betting that’s just an oversight or a system update that hasn’t been loaded yet.
Related Posts:
Posted by Seth on May 21, 2010 under News |
Cashing in those hard earned (or just accrued through credit card sign-up bonuses) miles for upgrades used to be a great deal. One could purchase a relatively inexpensive ticket and still fly up front without too much extra spend. Then the airlines caught on and realized that they were leaking revenue so they tightened up the rules. Flying on a cheap fare upgrading with miles became either impossible (Delta, US Airways) or required a co-pay (Continental, United Airlines, American Airlines, etc.). The co-pay basically covered the difference – and sometimes even more – to get the fare up to a higher level of total revenue for the airline, plus you were still paying the miles. Certainly the cash outlay was less than most paid business class seats but the cost wasn’t nearly as good.
United Airlines has announced that as of yesterday their elite frequent flyer customers will no longer have to pay those fees on a specific subset of routes. The routes exempted include those within the Lower 48, Canada and Alaska. Flights to Hawaii as well as most international routes will still require a co-pay for the upgrades. The co-pay fees were only introduced in January as part of a shift to permit upgrades from all fare classes. It didn’t last long for the elites.
This policy is strikingly similar to that of Continental, United’s new best buddy and hopeful merger partner. The two carriers have been aligning their frequent flyer programs and benefits for the past several months and adding this into that process isn’t all that surprising. Some of the other program alignments are noted in the links below.
This is a small give-back for a small set of customers, but it is certainly nice to se the airlines do something good for customers every now and then.
Related Posts
Posted by Seth on April 27, 2010 under Trip Reports |
For years now every time I’ve read anything or talked to anyone about what to do during a layover at Los Angeles International Airport the answer has been simple and singular: Plane spotting from the In-n-Out. I’ve done that a few times now and been quite happy with it. But I also discovered this weekend that there is another option for folks on a layover, one that is more educational, less fattening and every bit as cool to an aerophile like me: Flight Path LAX.
Flight Path is a museum and learning center is a non-profit organization formed 15 years ago as part of an effort by the operators of the airport to honor the 75th anniversary of its founding. In the intervening years the facility has blossomed into a phenomenal collection of models, photographs and memorabilia, all of which celebrates the history of flight in Southern California. The museum is situated in the Imperial Terminal, on the grounds of LAX. The terminal has served a number of purposes over the years, from operating as the MGM Grand terminal for shuttles to the casino in Las Vegas to the charter operations facility for private flights at the airport. And they’ve got the photos on the walls to prove it.
The museum has one of the largest collections of aviation uniforms out there. They have almost all of the mumus that the United Airlines flight attendants wore on the Hawaii runs in the 60s and 70s. They have several of the paper dress uniforms that the TWA attendants wore on their premium runs to London, Paris, Rome and New York City. Our guide was Eleanor, a former Flight Attendant for United and a woman incredibly knowledgeable about the industry and its history had a number of stories to share with us about those paper uniforms, including how they were hemmed to fit each attendant (scissors) and how the businessmen “flirting” with them would accidentally brush their cigarettes up against the attendants, risking the uniforms going up in smoke (and coming off). They’ve got hot pants from Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) and several generations of Pan Am uniforms, among others.
 |
 |
| The paper dress uniforms from TWA, 1968. On the left is the Rome outfit; Paris on the right. |
Pacific Southwest Airlines’ uniform from the 70s. |
The museum also has a pretty impressive collection of in-flight service sets, ticket stubs, napkins, models and just about anything else that has an airline logo on it from the past 100+ years of flight. The breadth of the collection is rather astounding.
As part of our tour we were also treated to a bus ride around the airfield. I’m pretty sure this isn’t part of the regular visits, but if you can arrange it I highly recommend doing so. We all loaded up onto a bus and cruised around the airport, mixed in among the baggage trailers, maintenance trucks and crew vans. It was wonderful to be up close with the planes and see the operations from that perspective; it is much different than from inside the terminal.
Finally, the museum has a DC-3 parked out on the tarmac outside. The aircraft was built in 1941 and served in commercial service and as a private airplane before it was retired and eventually moved to the airport. We were quite lucky during our tour and were actually permitted to go inside. It sounds like this is somewhat common – more so than the bus tour – but it was still a special treat. The interior is still in its private plane configuration and it looks quite lavish for the era it was flying in.
No, they don’t have a Double Double available. And you cannot hop on the Parking Spot shuttle to get there (though the Embassy Suites El Segundo is right across the street, maybe a 5-10 minute walk). But the museum is open five days per week, Tuesday – Saturday, from 10 am to 3 pm and admission is free. It is absolutely worth visiting for a peek back at the history of aviation in Southern California and around the globe. You can even watch the video that includes the airport’s theme song. It is a classic (made it to #54 on the pop charts in the USA)!
Related Posts
Posted by Seth on March 16, 2010 under frequent flyer, points |
You never know when frequent flyer miles are going to take center stage in a conversation. I’m sure that it is more often than it should when I’m around, though I have been better lately about trying not to always talk about travel. Still, when I sat down at the dentist a few months back and started chatting with my new hygienist the conversation turned to travel. She mentioned her recent engagement and honeymoon planning and my brain went into overdrive. I couldn’t resist.
We started talking about all the options available, which programs made sense (she was already pretty tied to Continental’s OnePass program and Hilton’s HHonors program) and which destinations offered the best bang for the spend. I don’t actually remember the cleaning that day so much or even if it happened (though I have the bill to suggest that it did). We talked about sign-up bonuses for credit cards and bank accounts. We talked about buying points through the US Mint dollar coin program. So much fun for me because she actually wanted to hear it all as opposed to my of my victims.
Six or so months later and I’m back in the office for another cleaning. The first thing out of her mouth was a huge thanks for all the help I provided. We spent the next ten minutes or so going through the itinerary (Hawaii and Fiji) and discussing how they got to use all the points that they earned from the last round of promotions (upgrades all the way through the trip). We chatted about hotels on Waikiki beach (Hyatt being MUCH better than the Hilton Hawaiian Village), a few of my favorite off-the-beach restaurants and things to do other than sitting on the fake beach there.
Finally, when scheduling my next appointment the receptionist mentioned that it will be just after the hygienist returns from the honeymoon, meaning I’ll get the follow-up report, too. It is always fun to have the conversation when the other person in them actually is interested in the information being shared, and hearing about the successful bookings makes it even better. I’m looking forward to hearing about the trip in a few months.
Related Posts
Posted by Seth on February 9, 2010 under Mileage Run, Trip Reports |
Indeed, I owe the islands of Hawaii an apology. For years now I’ve been telling anyone willing to listen (and quite a few who couldn’t care less) just how much I disliked Hawaii. That hasn’t stopped me from visiting 5 times in the past three years – when it comes to miles on the cheap I’m easy – but I never really enjoyed the trips.
Until this past weekend.
The reason? I got the hell out of Waikiki. I even made it off Oahu and out to another island (the Big Island). And that made all the difference in the world. It was incredibly refreshing to discover normal people hanging out and enjoying the island life rather than catering to package tourists in high-rise hotel towers on a fake beach. I got to hang out with locals who actually enjoyed living there and leading relatively normal lives, not just running tourist trap tours and pretending that they actually serve decent food.
At the encouragement of my friend Vince, a longtime resident of the Big Island, I paid him a visit. Immediately after arriving in Honolulu I found myself making the long trek over to the commuter/interisland terminal for the short flight to Hilo. Sure, Vince lives near Kona on the other side of the island, but I figured why not get an extra airport in my collection and see some more of the island by driving across.
I booked a bed at the Hilo Bay Hostel, knowing that I’d be in late, out early and not have too much need of a full service establishment. It was clean (enough) and the others staying there were quite friendly. It also is right in the middle of town which meant easy access to a few bars at night and to decent breakfast in the morning at Bear’s Coffee. The breakfast was fine but the conversations there were absolutely phenomenal. I happened to sit amongst a few folks at the counter who were recounting their days running the local pot growing operations and private security shops, regaling each other with tales of who was doing what and reminiscing about how they “had to get out when the cocaine came in.” I also was up early enough to catch a sunrise over the shoals that sit just off the edge of downtown. Not too shabby.
After breakfast I hopped in the rental car (pretty cheap via these guys) and set out along the Saddle Road across the middle of the island to meet up with Vince. The drive to Kona has gotten significantly better in recent months due to the repaving of that road. There is only one section now that is in terrible disrepair. I don’t really know how bad it used to be but I made the drive much more quickly than I expected to (about 2 hours versus the 3 I was led to believe it would take) and it was fresh asphalt for the vast majority of the trip. No complaints at all.
Our destination that morning was Hapuna Beach State Park, a bit north of town and adjacent to the Hapuna Beach Prince hotel. The beach was crowded but not so much so that we couldn’t find space to lay out some towels and catch some sun (too much, in my case). Plus the waves were pretty good there and Vince provided boogie boards. It had been about 17 years since I last rode on one but, much like riding a bicycle it all came rushing back to me, including the sensation of being slammed into the sandy bottom by a wave as I wiped out during one ride. No lingering effects but definitely a bit woozy for a few seconds there.
 |
| Relaxing between sets a Hapuna Beach State Park |
We also did a bit of cultural tourism, paying a visit to the Pu’ukohola Heiau National Historic Site. The site was the long standing seat of power for the Hawaiian islands. It was 200 years ago when King Kamehameha finally completed his unification of the islands as a single kingdom, the completion of a 19 year effort that started with the construction of a war temple at the Pu’ukohola Heiau site. Among other things I learned during the visit, apparently the opposing leader sacrificed at the temple knew that the meeting was a setup that would involve his death but he went anyways, knowing that it was his fate to be the death that would provide the power to unify the peoples of Hawaii. That’s pretty impressive.
The temple itself is not open for tourists (it is still used by native Hawaiians performing religious rituals) but the site is and there is a well labeled trail, some videos explaining the history at the ranger station and another local beach at the base of the cliffs. The other beach – Spencer State Park – is even more of a locals hangout than Hapuna Beach. They permit camping and there is a small, well protected beach that was quite pleasant. Again we came across many families out enjoying the Saturday afternoon. There were more grills running than I could count and my mouth was watering at the sight of all the different foods being prepared. Alas, no time to try to crash one of the many parties; we had a plane to catch.
 |
| The beach at Spencer State Park on the Big Island |
Yes, we had a plane to catch. That’s because during the afternoon I had convinced Vince to make the hop over to Oahu with me that evening to meet up with a half dozen other guys for dinner. The fact that he had no running water at home that night probably helped in the convincing, though I still like to think that I really was that motivating. Anyways, off to the airport and on to the plane.
It was a whirlwind 18 hours on the Big Island but infinitely better than any of my previous trips to Oahu. Next time one of the $250 fares to Hawaii comes up I know what I’ll be doing when I arrive in Honolulu: leaving!
