Posted by Seth on April 11, 2010 under Trip Reports | 
A 4am wake-up call is rarely a good thing. Perhaps the only thing worse is when that call doesn’t come in and you’re expecting it. Fortunately I had set my alarm, too, so I didn’t miss my train, but it was annoying. On to the light rail from downtown Minneapolis to the airport at 4:07am and then through security in just a few minutes. Total time from my hotel room to the gate was about 50 minutes. Not bad at all, except that the Red Carpet Club wasn’t open yet.
The agent at the club did question my sanity when I mentioned in conversation that I didn’t find it all that strange to go hang out at the airport if not flying that day. Apparently she does. Such is life. The new RCC in Minneapolis is pretty nice. Small, but nice. Plenty of power outlets and both the RCC T*Mobile and the airport Boingo wireless work great there. And then, at 6am, it was time to start flying.
Minneapolis to Chicago. Chicago to New Orleans. New Orleans to Denver. Denver to Spokane. Certainly not the most direct route, but one of the more lucrative routes when it comes to accruing frequent flyer points, and that’s what this trip is all about. Explaining it to the flight attendants always is good for some strange looks but once they hear the value proposition – I’ll pay $500 in airfare now for enough points to get two flights to Europe or South America in the pointy end of the plane – they start to come around. Or they’re just being polite.
The flights were mostly uneventful. I slept through one of them, take-off to touch-down, and the other three saw nothing particularly interesting happen. I still find the United Airlines first class seats strangely uncomfortable. If I’m sitting upright like I have decent posture they just don’t feel right. Great if you want to slouch our slide your butt forward, but not so great to just sit in, at least to me. Friendly enough flight attendants and the food on one of the two meal flights was passable (not the eggs for breakfast). And then I was in Spokane.
Spokane is pretty much exactly as I remember it. I was last in town almost seven years ago for a wedding and there are only bits that I really remember but just as soon as we pulled off the highway and onto Division Street the memories came flooding back. There was the Perkins where we had the after-after-party from the wedding and the bar just across the way where the after-party was. And there was Frankie Doodle’s, home of the Texas-sized cinnamon roll. Just as large as I remember it and almost as delicious. It was worth waking up 5 minutes earlier than we otherwise would have to camp out in their parking lot and grab one for the flight, even if it did mean a second consecutive 4am alarm and fighting the line to get in when they opened their doors at 5am (yes, there really was a line to get in).
Just another day in air world…
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Posted by Seth on April 10, 2010 under Trip Reports |
In addition to a phenomenal grilled cheese sandwich at the little kiosk at the T of the Midwest terminal in Milwaukee, there are some great views of the runways. During my 3ish hour layover I mostly just sat there watching the planes come and go. In addition to a whole bunch of Embraer ERJs and E-Jets there were a few 737s to be seen. There were also a C-130 and a KC-135 tanker from the Air Force and Air National Guard base that the airport shares a runway with. A bit of glare from the sun on the windows, but overall a great plane spotting opportunity from inside the terminal.
After getting my fill of plane spotting it was over to the gate to wait for the minor delay (only an hour) and then to hop on my flight over to Minneapolis. The flight was thoroughly uneventful and I had an empty seat next to me, so plenty of room. And they had enough cookies to serve a full plane so the flight attendant was pimping out the extras to anyone willing to listen. I may have had more than one.
A short flight over to Minneapolis and then some top-notch views of the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Into downtown on the light rail and met up with a friend for dinner at The Local. I even managed to score an elite upgrade at the Westin on an ineligible rate.
Good times all around, and a solid start to the week-long adventure.
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Posted by Seth on April 9, 2010 under Trip Reports |
File this week’s mileage run under “it seemed like a good idea at the time.” And it mostly still does, though the more I look at my itinerary and the timing on some of the flights the more I’m questioning my sanity. A total of more than 17,000 miles flown and the calculator says a hair under 100,000 bmi Diamond Club points earned. Not bad for a few days in the air and less than $500 in total airfare. Oh, and almost all of it is in first class. But, like any good story, there’s more to it than that.
The trip starts this morning with a positioning flight from Newark to Minneapolis, via Milwaukee. I think I’m earning a few points for my Delta SkyMiles account on these flights but I’m not positive. I’m also not too worried about it. The flights are short and the ticket was cheap. Plus, it is my first time flying on Midwest – way too late to get the classic experience, but better late than never – and a couple new lines for my map.
Tomorrow the real meat of the trip starts. A trip from Minneapolis to Spokane, Washington, routed via Chicago, New Orleans and Denver. The return on Sunday routes via Denver and Houston before finishing up in Chicago. I’m stopping in Chicago on Sunday night – and giving up a few miles – because bright and early on Monday morning I’m headed back to Spokane, this time on US Airways and via Phoenix.
Monday afternoon I actually stop flying for 26 hours and take advantage of the positioning to visit Idaho and play a round of golf at the Coeur d’Alene Resort. The course is supposed to be beautiful. Hopefully it still is when I’m done with it on Tuesday morning. I’m driving that afternoon and I’ve got an 8:40am tee time so I’ll probably be sober for the round, too. It has been a while since I’ve played golf and even longer since I did it without a few beers. Should be interesting.
Tuesday afternoon the crazy flying starts right back up, with Spokane – Chicago via Phoenix. Wednesday morning, about 6 hours after I get to Chicago, I turn around and do the Chicago-Phoenix-Spokane-Phoenix-Chicago run all over again. A 17 hour day of flying that should pretty much push me over to the top in terms of insanity. That wraps up the bmi earning for the week and is 98,738 Diamond Club points, give or take a few.
Finally, Thursday morning I fly Midway – LaGuardia on Delta. That one segment should earn me about 20,000 points thanks to the fly together bonus scheme Delta is running right now.
That was supposed to be the end of my travel week. Then I got a call from a potential client about a sales call in Maine on Friday. So Thursday night, after swapping out my suitcase at home, I get JFK – Portland, ME. I think I’m coming home on Saturday by train. That adds up to 17,466 miles flown according to the Great Circle Mapper.
All in all, a pretty ridiculous schedule but also a lot of potential for fun. And it could have been worse. At one point I had a trip to Germany for the day penciled in on Thursday night/Friday rather than Maine.
Up, up and away…..
Tags: bmi, Chicago, Delta, Denver, frequent flyer, Mileage Run, Minneapolis, New York City, points, United, US Air
Posted by Seth on December 13, 2008 under Uncategorized |
I’m a huge proponent of being a “regular” at a restaurant or bar. Finding a place that you’re comfortable spending time and happy to eat and drink at is a great thing. Plus, once you’ve established yourself as such, there are palpable benefits. Getting a table without a wait at 8pm on a Friday night or a couple rounds of drinks on the house are great things that come with such regular business.
There was a period of time where I was a regular at the bar of the Morton’s on Connecticut Avenue in Washington, DC. I had a great run at the Embassy Suites in Minneapolis, too. These days, however, my “regular” status is confined to a couple of local establishments. First up is the bar across the street from my old office. I was there for happy hour on Thursday night and it was as if I was still there semi-monthly, even if I have dropped to a more quarterly schedule. The bartender and waitress still know me and we continue to get pretty good service from them, which is surprising considering the place. This week’s visit coincided with an all-hands meeting from my former company, so I got to see a lot of old friends and also introduced a couple new folks to the bar. It was rather entertaining at the end of the night to hear Paul (one of the new folks at the bar) express just how impressed he was that I could make beer show up quickly while he couldn’t ever even find the waitress to place an order. Apparently that’s what my frequent drinker membership rates there.
My other regular place is an Italian restaurant in my neighborhood. I’m a huge fan of Le Zie. The food is very good and very consistent. The staff pretty much all know me since I’ve been eating there for 7+ years now. And, best of all, every now and then I still manage to be surprised by something they’re serving there. Last night we had dinner there. The foie gras appetizer special is still delicious and I had a new pasta special that was also quite good. But the real surprise of the evening was the banana soufflé. I went so far as to reserve one with the bartender half way through dinner, just in case. And it was completely worth it. I also love that I can simply suggest to Paula (the bartender) that I am going to need a glass of rum to go with the dessert and she knows exactly what to pour to make that pairing work just right. Last night it was Zaya rum, a Guatemalan option that was off the charts delicious, and worked perfectly with the banana flavor of dessert. Sure, the “specials” aren’t all that special there all that often, but when one comes along that is, the surprisingly high quality makes it all that much better.
Posted by Seth on October 1, 2008 under Uncategorized |
Southwest has announced plans to start service to Minneapolis – St. Paul International Airport (MSP) in March ‘09. The only route that has been announced so far is to Chicago Midway, but this is clearly an attack on Northwest and a pretty big bet on Delta scaling back MSP service in the coming months after the Delta/Northwest merger closes.
Considering the success Southwest has had in Denver going after United and Frontier, I am going to bet on them succeeding rather well on this bet. The biggest risk they face is Northwest/Delta getting into a pricing war and trying to undercut the fares and beat them out of the market. Prior to the merger Northwest would have never let it happen without a serious fight. But with Delta taking over this will just be a good excuse to show “lower demand for flights” and make “appropriate adjustments in the service frequencies” in Minneapolis.
This will be great for passengers there as long as Southwest ramps up service commensurate with demand, which I think they will do. They certainly have the fleet and route network available to do so.
The flights were mostly uneventful. I slept through one of them, take-off to touch-down, and the other three saw nothing particularly interesting happen. I still find the United Airlines first class seats strangely uncomfortable. If I’m sitting upright like I have decent posture they just don’t feel right. Great if you want to slouch our slide your butt forward, but not so great to just sit in, at least to me. Friendly enough flight attendants and the food on one of the two meal flights was passable (not the eggs for breakfast). And then I was in Spokane. 
Spokane is pretty much exactly as I remember it. I was last in town almost seven years ago for a wedding and there are only bits that I really remember but just as soon as we pulled off the highway and onto Division Street the memories came flooding back. There was the Perkins where we had the after-after-party from the wedding and the bar just across the way where the after-party was. And there was Frankie Doodle’s, home of the Texas-sized cinnamon roll. Just as large as I remember it and almost as delicious. It was worth waking up 5 minutes earlier than we otherwise would have to camp out in their parking lot and grab one for the flight, even if it did mean a second consecutive 4am alarm and fighting the line to get in when they opened their doors at 5am (yes, there really was a line to get in).
