Bodrum and the Beach

Bodrum, Turkey is a site of exquisite Mediterranean beauty and loaded with significant history. Few Americans have ever heard of the place yet it is a popular enough destination for Europeans, only 4.5 hours flight from London. Europeans seem more willing to explore and enjoy out of the way destinations, even ones in the United States whereas Americans seem interested only in marquee destinations.

Want proof? When Americans think of a European vacation the vast majority automatically rattle off the usual big-splash suspects of London, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam and Munich, the big city tours. When Greece and Spain come in to the conversation those destinations remain limited to Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, Barcelona, the Madrid region and possibly Ibiza/Mallorca. That's it. Their entire "foreign" experience summed up in to one or two destinations and whatever is within a day's drive or an hour's flight or sail from there. Oh how there is so much more!

For the sake of it just Google "British Holiday Companies" and see the endless list that pops up. Well established names like Thomson, Thomas Cook, Monarch and Direct Holidays. Pick any of their websites and just browse the destinations each one offers, many in competition with at least two or three other outfits and some including their own in-house air transportation. Thomson Holidays, for example, is affiliated with Thomsonfly, billed as the third largest airline in the United Kingdom.

A charter airline owned by a vacation company the third largest in the country? And where do they fly? Between the two sister companies there are listed seven destinations in Egypt alone, six in South Africa and 22 of the Greek Islands. Thomas Cook lists the entire country of Brazil as a destination but specifies 12 unique options in Bulgaria. Bulgaria? Not to be chintzy, Thomas Cook offers over 30 destinations in the United States, from Aspen to Cincinnati and Charleston to Portland.

The Europeans live in the big cities we want to visit so it makes sense they want to go someplace else, especially when we come to town! Spain IS Florida to most Brits, so long as it has an airport, some kind of accommodation to choose from and predictably bright and sunny weather with beaches and surf to enjoy they're all over it, from Sitges to Malaga, Alicante and back. Americans go to Egypt for the pyramids; the Europeans have already been so they hideaway by the sea at Sharm El-Sheikh, again soaking up the sun before heading north to home and the gloom of winter.

But back to Bodrum. Right by the Mediterranean, Bodrum offers a 13,000 seat amphitheater, a huge crusader era Castle of the Knights of St. John and the remnants of the Great Mausoleum, one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. All that plus sun and sand, too? Hell, few American vacation companies would even offer something this exotic and out of the way. American Express' website couldn't even spell B-o-d-r-u-m! The question is, how to get there on the cheap from this side of the Atlantic?

The airport code is "BJV" and airfare alone through Travelocity from Chicago for travel on July 1st and back on the 15th started at $2,111 round trip on Turkish Airlines with one 2.5 hour stopover in Istanbul. Expensive but far easier to get to than previously thought. To assuage any third-world visions of what this region of Turkey must be like, the airport is only 20 miles north of town, it opened a new international terminal in 2000, boasts a 9,500 ft. concrete runway and is served by some 40 different airlines!

By comparison, using the same days of travel, a roundtrip ticket from Chicago to London started at $878 on American Airlines. Searching Monarch Holidays from the UK, a seven-night Bodrum package including air leaving on July 3rd and returning to London on the 11th produced five pages of options ranging from $365 at the budget Delta Hotel to $1,750 per person at the top end Kempinski Barbaros Bay pictured above. That includes flights on Monarch Air, the house airline in operation since 1960 and offering Boeing and Airbus equipment to over 100 destinations worldwide, plus the hotel. Uh, and did you also notice the four extra days in London, too? Those hotel nights are not included but at the low end hotel choice the savings is still an amazing $868 over the Turkish Airlines fare alone.

Gotta go.

One More Time, American Airlines

What is wrong with American Airlines? The service is on par with the other legacy carriers, the schedules are convenient and the prices also largely in line with other offerings. The problem is they don't seem capable of making any money, having lost over $450 million last year while every other airline in the sandbox brought home at least a little somethin' somethin'. What gives?

When asked this question the CEO Gerard Arpey said that he was waiting on favorable contracts in both labor and fuel to end at other companies such as Southwest. Uh, yea. And how does that fix the problems at home? American never filed bankruptcy in the decade since the attacks of September 11, clearly a point of pride for all at this proud corporation but now equally clearly a bad mistake according to conventional wisdom. Labor costs at American remain higher than most other airlines despite the rumblings from the rank and file that they've given all they can give in concessions and other give backs.

The shocking revelation here is the simple fact that American Airlines is actually sitting still, waiting. This airline, arguably more than any other in the country, made its bones and broke more than a few thru innovation and daring, bold action, often dragging the rest of the industry along, however reluctantly. The DC-3 owes a lot to American, as does much of the information technology in use today to say nothing of frequent flyer programs the world over. American never, ever, sat still, so to here that they are "waiting" for other airlines' cost to rise up and meet their own is nothing short of appalling. The last time around, it seems, American had introduced B-Scale to save itself rather than wait to see what the other guys were doing.

Route development at American appears to have been largely stagnant ever since the Miami operation was purchased from Eastern Airlines. There have been a lot of hub closures such as San Juan, San Jose, Raleigh/Durham and Nashville but the only recent triumph is a huge, billion dollar terminal at JFK which remains largely under-utilized. So far the only thing coming out of New York is anti-trust with British Airways and Iberia along with mileage sharing with Jet Blue. Little in the way of new, showcase routes (Helsinki, anyone?) have emerged that also happen to make money.

What, truly, has happened that can be called ahead of its time or at least ground-breaking? Sleeper seats? Yawn. Wi-Fi? Whatever. Is it possible that there is nothing left for any airline to innovate and roll-out to the rest of the industry? Emirates has showers on board while Virgin Atlantic has introduced double beds but few others are stampeding to sign up for similar features. The 747 was the revolutionary airplane in 1969 which virtually every major carrier felt they had to have to keep up. The A380 is really just another, larger, widebody. The "new" 787/A350 types are made of plastic. Fine, but they still won't fly any faster or offer more in the way of onboard comfort for any cabin that isn't already out there. What is the next big thing on the horizon and will it be American Airlines that brings it?

American must find a way to deal with its operating costs and then come out swinging with something, anything, that nobody saw coming but absolutely everyone has to have but take years to catch up to. They need another DC-3. They need another SABRE. They need another AAdvantage. One more time.

Gotta go.

Windows Beware

Take in a show at a live theater and the establishment knows the viewing angle of every seat in the house. They are very careful to point out those seats with a partial or obstructed view so the customers know what they're in for at the point of purchase. Book a "window" seat on an airplane and that is not always what the passenger is going to enjoy, is it?

I booked Qantas to New Zealand a couple years ago and requested the exit row window at the third passenger door over the wing, thinking I had a steal of a seat on my hands. They did not charge an extra fee for the leg room even though the view was 110 feet of metal, I had the sidewall to cuddle up against for the 12-hour flight down south. Nice? Not. The evacuation slide housing jutted in to the space where my legs were supposed to go and all I had was sidewall. The "window" was squarely in the row behind me, forcing my neck to pivot like some drunken owl to see outside if the people in the row behind me decided to leave the shade up in the first place. Lesson learned.

I never like to sit behind the wing of an airplane so when I choose a window seat there's usually an unobstructed view that comes with it. Not so the poor fools who either take what's left or don't know any better, especially when flying on the MD-80 or something similar. On American Airlines there are two rows of seats between the aft galley and the lavatory on the left hand side. Those two rows have windows, the first right next to the engine intake and the second square in the middle of the engine housing itself. How peaceful.

Even in the front, however, things are not guaranteed, as shown by those rows near the entry doors. Some widebodies such as the 767 and 747 run air ducts within the skin of the plane through the sidewalls which forces some rows again to stare at blank panels for the duration of a flight. Heaven help you if you're claustrophobic. To look at the plane from the outside it is easy to see where these window breaks are located. Thanks to the fact that nearly every airline has their own row numbering system, however, it is hard to tell or remember if Row 15 is the one to avoid or Row 21.

You would think that the premium cabins would pay close attention to such details to ensure their best customers always have a window if that is their seat of choice. Think again. The latest cabin designs for some business and first class configurations have angled the seats to what appears to be nearly 45 degrees from vertical. Not facing the window, though, no, but away from the sidewalls with the feet pointed in to the aisle. Really?

Sitting up front is definitely all about the space while the design was probably intended to meet emergency evacuation standards but still. What's the point of the window if my back is to the wall and I have to do the drunken owl neck thing again just to take a look outside? When I wake up from a snooze I like to see if the Milky Way is out there or maybe an island or range of mountains, perhaps.

Then again, I can always ask for a middle or an aisle seat and avoid the problem altogether.

Gotta go.

Qantas to Dallas

Hooray! Qantas is finally coming to Dallas after a long-awaited and much anticipated announcement to begin service in May of 2011. We all knew the only thing holding them up was an uptick in the economy that would sustain the first non-traditional (anything other than Los Angeles or San Francisco) nonstop service to the land down under. Though in fact the service comes by way of discontinuing their service to San Francisco which freed up the aircraft assets needed to fly the route it is surely welcome news in these here parts.

San Francisco never made much sense simply because it is a United Airlines stronghold, a founding member of the Star Alliance. Qantas has been in bed with American Airlines through oneworld and guess where American’s strongest base is located. No brainer that over 800 silver birds a day launch from Dallas bringing tons of connecting traffic with them. Just like at Los Angeles, the southbound departure to Brisbane which then continues to Sydney doesn’t depart until late at night leaving all day long for traffic to build at Dallas to fill the airplane. Even without much in the way of connecting business the Dallas/Ft Worth area is fourth largest in the country in terms of population at nearly seven million, was recently cited for having more corporate headquarters in the area than New York City and thus has no shortage of the affluent and well-heeled.

Am I invested in this new service in any way? Nope, but I am a fan of Qantas, having flown them on more than one occasion. I also live in the area and have close friends in New Zealand. This service just made it a heck of a lot easier to stay in touch without having to deal with Los Angeles but also continuing to earn AAdvantage frequent flyer miles. There’s not really a lot to complain about regarding this service, scheduled to launch with my favorite airplane, the 747-400 offering coach, premium economy and business class.

Actually there is just one little thing that I’m concerned/curious about and that is the plan to launch nonstop to Brisbane. Sydney is simply too far for the 747, the A380 is too large for the market (not to mention grounded due to engine troubles) and the 787 probably a year away from entering this particular market. Brisbane is all of 276 miles closer and thus within the extreme limit of the range of the plane they’re planning to use. Wow, a whole 276 miles. I remember when United attempted nonstop service from Los Angeles to Melbourne but the equipment they used more often than not had to call in to Honolulu for extra fuel thanks to headwinds, payload or both.

That was a different model 747 that didn’t have the same range as the one Qantas will use but the extreme limits present the same problems with seasonal headwinds and such like. The routing of the flight will take it through Texas west-southwest across Mexico and across Baja California for about four hours before breaking out over the Pacific for the final 13 hours to Brisbane. That routing leaves precious few North American alternates to choose from on this side of the flight if refueling is an unavoidable part of the plan. What’s left after that?

Hawaii would be too far to the north so that leaves Tahiti or Fiji as having air strips and facilities well positioned and capable of handling a middle of the night fuel stop or worse. With that said I am in no way concerned about the safe operation of the service. I only wonder if I may be lucky enough to experience an unscheduled “technical” stop as part of my vacation adventure. There is a solution, though.

Instead of trying to make Brisbane they could fly the route nonstop to New Zealand where my friends are. Auckland is 800 miles closer and comfortably within range of the 747. They could drop me off and then keep going to Sydney from there. But maybe they and Air New Zealand (offering a competing nonstop to Houston to hook up with Continental Airlines) have already thought of that!

Gotta go!

The Agent and the Airline

Probably the oldest fight in the travel industry is the love/hate relationship between vendor and supplier, or the airlines and the travel agencies in particular. How much commission is the service of a travel agent worth is at the core of one of the longest running disputes in business. It has flared up again in a big way between American Airlines and three travel management companies, Orbitz, Expedia and Sabre. Why?

I honestly don't care about the reasons or particulars. The gist is whether or not American is trying to either save money or create an unfair advantage through its Direct Connect reservations link which cuts out the online agencies and therefore cuts them out of their commissions. Well, here's my dirty little secret:

I NEVER BOOK THROUGH THE ONLINE AGENCIES ANYWAY!!!

The agencies deserve compensation for their services this is true but guess what? If the fare is the same on the airline's website as it is on the agency website, I'll buy it directly from the airline. This double take is exactly what is also at the core of the argument. The agencies state this extra step of going directly to the airline website is laborious and not inclusive of the fares offered on the other airlines. Both arguments are true again: it is an extra step and no domestic airline is going to display a competitor's products and prices. Hidden behind this, however, is also the fact that going directly to the airline skips or "by-passes" the agencies who therefore do not collect commissions on tickets booked directly with the carrier.

None of these arguments are the reason I go directly to the airlines. Let's say I'm shopping for fares between home in Dallas and friends in Chicago, a route American serves like no other. I'll take a look at one of the online agencies to see the spread of air fares across all carriers between the two cities. United and American are the only nonstops but Delta and Air Tran might offer a better price if I fly through Atlanta or Memphis. I live near DFW and my friends are near O'Hare so that cuts Southwest out right from the start - they don't serve either airport. Whichever airline offers the best deal after factoring in schedule, convenience and price, I'll go directly to their website and see if the same fare is available directly with them.

The agencies don't want this extra step which takes me all of a few extra minutes to perform. Commissions or no, what it is more important to me is the service level I will get at the airport, plain and simple. Again, why? If the airline is paid directly and then there is an unforeseen travel disruption that changes my itinerary I will receive immediate service from the airline. Too often I have seen instances of travelers with tickets in hand being refused service by the carriers after a disruption of some kind because they didn't write the ticket therefore they don't have the money so they don't have to serve you.

Imagine standing at the airport, boarding pass in hand and being told there is no seat and nothing they can do! The customer is forced to contact their travel agent for alternate arrangements sometimes during the worst of circumstances - the very day of travel! God help you if your travel agent is closed. Even better, try standing in line at Customer Service only to be told to contact your travel agency. Most have hotlines and most are open 24/7 but still.... THEY don't want you to book direct but YOU shouldn't have to go back to them to solve a problem when you're already at the airport face to face with the airline!

Airlines will say this does not happen often and this is true, it does not. The vast majority of agency issued tickets go through with no problems at all even if problems arise in the middle of travel. It DOES happen, however, and typically after there has been a schedule change that forces a rebooking or some other operational change that is "unfortunate or unavoidable" but still leaves the ticket holder high and dry, sometimes far away from home. Since the airline has not receive payment from the agency they are not obligated to provide alternatives. The snottier of the airport staff are quick to point this out as well, saying something like "if you had bought directly with us we'd be able to help you."

Lesson learned and point taken. It's never happened to me and I've always bought directly from the airlines for exactly that reason. They DO have my money and they'd BETTER take care of me.

Gotta go.

Is the Coach Seat Greener on the Other Airline?

I'm just home from another long week in California, clothes still infused with the smell of stale coffee from the cabin and kerosene from the airport. As usual American Airlines was the chariot of choice to get there and back but this time something was just not quite right. The flight was on time and the personal service at the counter, check-in and on board were all at least according to the usual standards expected from this proud company. Where the cupboard was bare and the furnishings themselves equally threadbare was the physical product, the seat.

This particular 767-300, Ship #383/MSN 26995, has been with the company for a good number of years and has undergone countless refits as seat trends have come and gone in the premium cabins. Now running around with International Business Class and standard economy only - International First Class is no longer available on anything other than the 777 fleet - it is standard economy that appears to have been the original set of seats from the day this aircraft first entered commercial service in July of 1993.

The seats still featured the spin-dial controls for both channel and volume control which was all I needed to see regarding anything in the way of the in flight entertainment options. My seat was a window in one of the exit rows from which I was able to view a main screen mounted on the center bulkhead and smaller versions of the same on the two bulkheads at the side. That was it. No personal monitors to be seen or found anywhere. And with centralized entertainment, when the Flight Attendants pushed "Play" that was the age old signal for everyone to sit down and tune in or miss out. At least the Air Map was displayed between featured shows and films.

This is the most prevalent in flight entertainment American apparently has to offer and I have to say I cannot imagine ten hours to Europe or South America with such ancient "IFE" on board. All airlines are hurting, few as badly as American who lost half a billion dollars in the first three months of this year. Somehow, though, competitors and alliance partners alike seem to have a few coins left over to improve things in the back of the bus, including video-on-demand. The seat is and will perhaps always be what it is but seat controls right out of the 1970 film "Airport?"

My family and I are planning a vacation to Europe next year. My choices out of Dallas if I want to stay on the oneworld alliance are American Airlines or British Airways. Right now "BA" does not allow you to earn miles on their overseas flights but I hear that is coming. If miles did not matter I would probably go with Lufthansa hands down out of Dallas to Frankfurt but being a mild mileage junkie I would much rather fly British Airways coach product for ten hours after only 2.5 hours of American's.

Is the grass onboard BA greener? With American running third in my choice behind Lufthansa and BA could it be any worse? Only one way to find out.

Gotta go.

Time Warp to Thailand

In a previous life I had traveled the world extensively but had skipped around the fabled land of Siam for some reason as if repelled by two positive magnetic currents. I had first heard of this country through my two sisters who in our childhood years had scored roles in an amateur production of "The King and I," my younger sister playing one of the children while the older sister playing one of the junior wives. From Broadway through film adaptations and a little delving in to actual history on my own I discovered the charms of Thailand as well as the food. Time to see it up close and personal after all these years.

The journey begins as such journeys always do at the airport, in this case Washington/Dulles. The line of flight would take me first to Dallas/Ft. Worth on American Airlines, then Tokyo/Narita and from there on United Airlines for the final leg to Bangkok. Some people like to add in all the time ahead of and in between the actual flying to paint a picture of how long it really took to get from A to B? This is one of those occasions! I woke up at 3:30AM to make the drive from Baltimore to Dulles Airport in time for a 7AM flight to Dallas that would give me about an hour at the massive facility to find my nonstop, the all important international flight to Japan.


A slight mix-up at Dulles almost caused me to miss that flight but I made it and connected with no problems to the gleaming Boeing 777 waiting quietly at Gate D33 to carry me to Tokyo. The flight was on time, the service impeccable and the seat just the ticket for a trip that, even after 12 hours in the air, was really only just beginning.

We landed at 12:30PM local time but the United service was not scheduled to leave until 6PM that evening. Three hours before leaving Washington, three hours to Dallas, an hour in Texas plus twelve hours to Japan equals nineteen hours since I last kissed my pillow at home with almost a six hour layover before my last and final flight of the day. Gott in Himmel bitte mir helfen!

Boarding is finally called and I'm seated next to a chipper guy just in from Denver who makes the trip once a month. That announcement clams up my grousing pretty quickly as we settle in for the, wait for it, five and a half hour flight to Thailand. I kept telling myself that it will all be over soon; I needed this vacation. At some point I will have a chance to kick back and relax as planned.

On in to the East Asian night we flew, with every mile taking me literally back in time towards ancient Siam. The 747 flew straight and true, threading the needle of the Formosa Strait between Taiwan and Mainland China, riding the edge of the mainland before skirting Hainan, hanging down like some uvula in the throat of the Southeast China Sea. We made landfall just north of Da Nang at Hue, Vietnam, images of the Evening News with Walter Cronkite playing in my time-warped mind while the country itself slept peacefully below. We continued on over south central Laos and across the northern border of Cambodia before finally entering eastern Thailand where the engines droned our imminent arrival as they throttled back for the descent.

It is midnight and we're pulling on to a remote parking stand at the new Bangkok International Airport some 30 miles to the east of town. The plane is tired, the crew is tired, everyone else is tired and I'm almost in tears from being tired. Without doubt the longest single travel experience in one direction that I have ever endured with everything operating exactly to plan, 30 hours from door to....almost door. Never was anyone so happy to see the plane door open for the last time, sweltering as it still was in the Southeast Asian humidity, as I just then. It wasn't over yet, though; I still had to get to my hotel.

I paid the equivalent of $30 for the journey in to town which was not altogether unreasonable but I would discover later was three times what I could have paid with a little haggling. At midnight after the marathon I've just endured, though, that delirious vulnerability is exactly what the taxis and limo drivers are counting on but I didn't care. They could have driven me to Singapore for all I'd have known. I was an exhausted novice who just wanted to get to a bed so I could get this desperately needed vacation started.

Welcome to Thai.....Zzzzzzz!

Gotta go.

How The Eagle Flies

Three-thirty in the morning is a ridiculous hour for a wake-up call but there it was. What made it worse for me was that this was Eastern Standard Time. I had to be up for a 6AM flight out of Ohio back home to Texas, which made it two-thirty in the morning there with something like five hours of traveling to endure including the connection in Chicago. Pillow or plane? I was on the company dime so I had to go with the plane.

I wasn't completely convinced that I needed to be up that early, either. I'd packed most of everything the night before and the drive to the airport wasn't more than 20 minutes at most. Hertz even warned me that no one would be on duty before five o'clock which was right at the edge of that hour before departure when most airlines start to wonder if you're serious about making the flight. And this was "only" a commuter flight I was trying to play by the rules for!

There was a massive line for Air Tran at the crack of dawn at Port Columbus International (someone must fly to Canada) Airport serving the Ohio capital with maybe 10 or 15 people in line for the first American Eagle flight to Chicago. I breezed through check-in and equally as quick through security which for me is the sole reason for being as early to the airport as possible. I don't mind cooling my heels with an over-priced muffin and a mindless magazine if it means not having to stand at the back of dozens of uninitiated travelers fumbling with their shoes and corralling the kids. As it happened I did get caught behind a young Japanese man who didn't understand the increasingly hostile TSA agents entreating him to move down towards the scanners and not completely strip naked at the front end of the long metal tables.

But I digress. The Gate-Agent-with-a-German-Accent noticed I and another passenger were on the tall side and came from behind her podium, no less, to ask if we would prefer exit row seating on the 50-seat RJ. Wow! The other guy jumped at the offer for he and his wife but I was fine with my window seat and enjoyed the first surprise in being the only "elite" customer eligible for early boarding when the announcement was made. The fun didn't stop there, either, as the flight attendant greeted me by name and took my drink order before we had left the gate, again the only one on board to receive such service.

This AAdvantage Platinum thing I could get used to! Being the only elite member at any level probably made the difference but I appreciated it just the same. The lone flight attendant had 49 other charges to serve in less than an hour, after all. When my drink arrived, just a Coke, y'all, it was accompanied by a large bag of smoked almonds free of charge, an item that sold for at least $3.00 to anyone else on the flight if they were so inclined.

The flight was on time. Where I wasn't expecting anything at that hour of the morning and for a short hop to Chicago it made the entire flight that much better. American Airlines is not the biggest player at Columbus but the ground and in-flight crew that morning was certainly a cut above the rest.

Gotta go.

Exit Row Excess

It can be really difficult for a grown man of any age or size to contain the child-like glee of finally going on vacation and being at the airport, just itching to get on the plane and get going. This was my frenetic state as I presented myself, the very first of what would be over 400 people flying to Auckland, New Zealand that night on Qantas from Los Angeles. I had purposely scheduled a whopping six-hours in Los Angeles between my connecting flights; I wanted a cushion for any delays but also to be as early as possible to see about getting a better seat.

I'd pre-reserved my preferred seat, a window, at the time of the reservation but it wasn't forward of the wing where I like to sit. I was hoping for better luck the day of departure at the airport but was told again that those seats were not only completely full but reserved for the "premium" economy customers. My current assignment was somewhere along the middle of the wing which didn't offer the best of views even if most of the flight was in the middle of the night. I politely asked what other options there might be for the flight.

They had barely opened for check-in when I arrived so there wasn't a line behind me; that gave the counter agent all the time in the world to indulge me with the all-important selection of a seat for the 12.5 hour flight. This American Airlines agent was professional, courteous and even shared in the infectious humor of the man-child fidgeting excitedly before him. He found the seat that, I thought, would do the trick: an exit row window. Yes!!

Exit rows are usually held until departure time by the airlines and I felt I had found Solomon's gold as he ran my boarding pass. I laughed at the absurdity of Qantas actually charging $130 for the "privilege" of the aisle or even the middle seat in the exit row, feeling they had missed the boat in giving this particular window seat away scot free. Why? There was reduced legroom at the window, the agent explained, because the over-wing door was right in front of it. The compartment attached to it that holds the evacuation slide bulged in enough, they felt, to impede any real comfort and thus "value" in sitting there. Having sat in such seating on other airlines I felt that the legroom was perfectly fine. I forgot that on those occasions I was in Business Class.

When boarding finally begins I race, as much as a crowded aisle will allow, to my coveted seat and promptly saw exactly what the agent was trying to explain from the cues on his computer screen. The slide pouch was about as far from my knees as any other seat in coach would have been. Worse, I didn't even have my own window. This close to the door I had a solid panel next to me with only a hint of the outside world from the window positioned one row behind me. Shhh-ucks!

The saving grace was that my right leg, at least, could stretch its full length in to the space between my seat and the crew jump seat facing towards me from the forward edge of the door. And the married couple seated next to me didn't seem to mind if my leg got a little too friendly with one of theirs during the flight. Or at least they didn't mind enough to say so.
I wonder if they paid the up charge.

Gotta go!

De-Ice in De-Winter

Christmas Eve and my flight ended up being an hour an a half late but hey, it wasn’t among the number of cancellations suffered at DFW because of snow. Yes, snow. Not the blizzard conditions of the East Coast or Upper Midwest mind you but the Texas kind of snow that means you can see it, it’s real but it’s really just enough to surprise some, annoy everyone else and disrupt air travel on the 2nd busiest holiday of the year.

My American Airlines flight wasn’t completely full and actually boarded on time; it was the “car wash” that held us up, something I was mentally prepared for. The “car wash” is the de-icing station, one of several set up at the far corners of the airport, to clean off any ice and snow from the airplane so it can take-off safely. “De-icing” is something of a misnomer in the technical sense of the procedure as it is really a two-part process involving both de-icing and anti-icing. De-icing first…

One thing that is obvious about snow is that it is heavy but it is not always obvious to most observers who see it piled up on to airplanes that the extra weight is not part of their take-off preparations. Every bit of snow has to come off the airplane so the pilots can see and the plane will weigh exactly as much as the planners expect it to for safe flight. Equally critical is to eliminate snow and ice build-up on the wings and “control surfaces,” the flaps and other moving parts of the wing and tail that affect movement. Not only the surfaces but also down in between the hinges and creases where frozen “precipitation” has been known to jam the controls in dangerous and deadly ways.

Extremely hot water is mixed with chemicals similar to industrial strength windshield fluid used in cars to “wash” the fuselage, wings, control surfaces and around the windows of the airplane. Workers are careful always to never spray directly in to air intake valves as the odor and smoke can cause discomfort to those inside the plane. Once the plane is considered “clean,” the second part of the treatment begins, the anti-icing.

More hot water is mixed with an even thicker solution of chemicals which some have likened to the consistency of a good Italian salad dressing. Either green or orange in color, this is applied typically only to the wings and tail control surfaces of the plane to prevent any snow or ice re-accumulation. It is also intended to remain on the plane just long enough to get to the runway and in to the air. As the plane builds up speed the solution is designed to simply peel off and leave a completely clean wing surface exposed to the air for normal flight.

In winter conditions airports and airlines know how long they have between the car wash and the runway before their application window of opportunity times out. In other words, if they send the flight to be de-iced too early, the chemicals only prevent snow and ice for so long; exceed that time window and the flight will have to go back for another wash. For this reason flights leave the gate only with a reasonable assurance of getting through the car wash and straight to the runway in as little time as possible.

Each wash, depending on the size of the plane can take from 15 to 30 minutes to complete. My flight was third in line for the procedure and then third in line again for the only runway being used for take-offs that evening from DFW, “31-Left” the northwest crosswind, a strip used 99% of the time for southbound inbound landings only. Once lined up the pilot set the brakes, opened up to full throttle and in only 22 seconds our MD-80 lifted off over the Southlake suburbs before tracking northeast and back home to Baltimore for Christmas.

We thought of the cancelled flights to Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and smaller cities in Texas and considered ourselves both lucky and thankful to be an hour and a half late but still home in time for the holidays.

Gotta go.

Rarefied AAir

Earlier I had written about making "Gold" status with American Airlines' "AAdvantage" frequent flyer program. I wasn't planning on joining a program at all since I didn't expect to travel much for either work or pleasure, then the miles started piling up from business trips to both coasts. I felt I'd "arrived" when I made "Gold" and actually pondered what I would do first with a free domestic ticket and then, oh wonder of wonders, maybe even a roundtrip ticket to Europe!

The miles are still piling up and this year, through actual flying and an "Elite Qualifying" plan American offered during the summer to boost business I made AAdvantage "Platinum," exceeding 50,000 miles of flying and will enjoy the perks and privileges for all of this year.
For someone who has only ever bought the cheap seats, grudgingly gotten used to paying for checked luggage and traveled both under the radar and out of harm's way from wrathful customer service agents, I'm looking forward to how any or all of these experiences might change. Being "Gold" used to mean something, about the same as having a college degree used to signal a rare and wondrous achievement. I don't have an MBA but I do have "Platinum" status so now the question is whether or not one is as equally everyday and run-of-the-mill as the other.

In a phone call to AAdvantage Customer Service I was quickly greeted and thanked for my business but equally swiftly alerted that each level of status must be earned with every calendar year. If I don't hit 50,000 miles this year I will lose "Platinum" but only drop back to "Gold." That's ok with me. I will still enjoy priority check-in at the airport, priority boarding at the gate and free baggage checking. I won't get to board with the "Platinum" folks but right behind them. Other than that the biggest loss will be in bonus mileage. "Gold" members enjoy a 25% bonus for every mile flown while "Platinum" members earn 100% or double miles for every flight.

All this means that I need to enjoy it while I can and bank as many "redeemable" miles in to my account as possible at the double credit level. I can fly 25,000 miles, get another 25,000 bonus miles, add that combined 50,000 to the 53,000 already in my account and...you get the idea. If I lose "Platinum" for 2011, I'll still have over 100,000 miles in my account just itching to, as my mother likes to say, be put somewhere!

The "Executive Platinums" (100,000 miles each year) are all laughing at me, I know. I don't have that doctorate in frequent flying and don't expect to; the question for me and my run-of-the-mill Platinum status is where to put these precious miles and how many of them? TWO round-trip tickets to Europe in Coach, one round-trip to Asia or the South Pacific via one of the oneworld carriers, maybe?

Further scouring of the various options pulled the crown jewel in my mind. I've always wanted to go to South Africa, and for 100,000 miles I can fly round trip from London to Capetown in FIRST CLASS on British Airways!

Now if only they will put the A380 on the route at the right time.

Gotta go!

The UpgrAAde

My original job description did not necessarily include a lot of traveling. Like anyone looking for work I indicated flexibility in saying I would accept whatever level of travel the position came with. In a tough economy the travel budgets were thin and being a rookie meant staying close to home and under watchful eyes. As the job evolved I ended up today managing a western United States territory.

Living near DFW Airport in suburban Dallas/Ft. Worth and having previously worked for American Airlines they were the natural choice for my preferred airline. It helped also that my employer enjoys a corporate discount program with them. That means that I am in compliance with policy and get to earn miles for nearly all of my travel. Sweet.

As can happen sometimes emergency projects pop up and somebody has to step up and help bring in the win. I ended up traveling from one side of the country to the other as a true road warrior over a span of nearly four weeks. One leg of the trip found me in Tampa, Florida from where I would fly home, swap out a fresh suitcase and keep going to the next stop on the itinerary. At the Tampa airport that Sunday evening I was checking in at the automated kiosk as normal when a different screen popped up, breaking the anticipated rhythm of the transaction.

For only $90, my own money of course, I could upgrade to First Class for the two hour flight home. Bag fee waived, dinner included, it seemed like a pretty good deal until the fine print starting hitting me in the face. I was booked for the 6:30PM departure but had arrived in time for the 4:00PM flight. I had already bought my upgrade and proceeded to the gate where I decided to see if I could get the earlier flight.

Yes, they said, I could stand by for the earlier flight but it would only be for the first available seat. It did not guarantee First Class. In fact, the way it was explained to me First Class was not an option at all. I would forfeit the $90 all together. There would be no refund for a service not only unused but declined!

What a one-way deal! They take the money, make it specific to a particular flight and won't honor the option of at least a stand-by for a different departure? I'd have to buy another upgrade option for the earlier flight but guess what? It wasn't on offer for that one, only the flight I was originally booked for. I'd already spent the money so I waited for my original flight and flew home.

I did a little sleuthing and discovered the UpgrAAde is only offered on flights that are basically hurting for business. Either the overall load factor is down meaning any extra dollar will do or they have unclaimed seats in First Class and, again, will take what they can get but ONLY on the flight THEY choose.

Please. Ninety bucks is ninety bucks; who do they know that will buy an UpGrAAde for each flight to cover the spread and end up using only one? It should at least be good for that segment on that day. Then came the final insult - no bonus miles. That settled it.

Never again. I appreciate the extra room of First Class but for only a two hour flight and the restrictions it is essentially not worth it. And our corporate policy recently changed to book the cheapest flight in the market; previously we were restricted only to the cheapest nonstop.

Gotta go!

What to do with 40 Thousand?

Frequent flyer miles, y'all, not dollars. I passed the mileage needed for a domestic US ticket long ago. Boring. What I'm trying to decide is where in the world to go with my qualifying miles at the 40k level?

I have never been to Italy. Let's just let that one lie there, writhing in agony for a little while.

Siiiiiiigh. Gaaaaasp. Wheeeeeze.

Ok, now let me explain why. I'm a history buff and no country in Europe compares to the mother lode of history that Italy holds. All of those "once in a lifetime" tours barely scratch the surface as seen through the dirty windows of some tour bus on a "highlights" trip through traffic more than anything else. I also no longer work for the airline industry which would have allowed multiple visits for a relatively small investment in money at least as far as air fare is concerned. So why is Italy suddenly coming in to focus now?

Over the past year and a half I've managed to rack up 40,000 miles through work and personal travel on American Airlines and the AAdvantage frequent flyer program. I live in Dallas, my family is back east in the Washington/Baltimore area and recently my employer has sent me hither and yon from California to Florida and back. Add in my vacation to Australia and I've earned my way in to an "off-season" economy class ticket to any city served by American in Europe. Of the nine countries they serve, Italy is the clear front runner.

I grew up in Germany and have been to Belgium, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Switzerland and Spain. Russia is high on the list but not until they come to their senses regarding that astronomical visa entry fee. That leaves Italy. The question is and has always been, however, how to see as much of everything this phenomenal country has to offer?

For me, some of the points of interest include but are not limited to:

Sicily - Everything from the Greek settlement at Syracuse to the Allied landing beaches at Gela. Greeks, Romans, Carthaginians, Venetians and Phoenicians, among others colonized and fought over this heart of the Mediterranean. All left their mark and a uniquely blended culture behind.

Monte Cassino - The abbey at the heart of the Axis "Winter Line" holding the allies south of Rome and truly one of the most international battle scenes of the war, including a Syrian brown bear named Wojtek who was trained to carry live ammo. The area is ringed with cemeteries and memorials to fallen soldiers from Poland, Germany, France, Italy and the Commonwealth Countries from England to New Zealand by way of Indian Ghurkas. The Americans are farther west at Anzio.

One of the hardest fought campaigns of the retaking of Europe and who knows about it or goes there? And the added shame is that it's an easy day trip from Rome, less than 80 miles away.

Rome, Naples, Capri, Pompeii, Pisa, Florence, Venice, Milan, The Vatican and the other "no-brainer" major attractions. I mean, logistically it simply means flying in to the southernmost point of interest and working north or vice versa. It's having the time to do all of that which presents the daunting challenge.

Any one of these possibilities can take a bare minimum of a week to fully explore and discover. There's not much IN Florence that needs a week but most will say that it deserves a week simply BEING in Florence and absorbing the atmosphere. Divide the country in to genre tours - art & architecture, history & archaeology, politics & religion or food & wine and the time requirement still adds up to weeks and months at a time. I don't want to regret leaving a single stone, scone or bone unturned.

Then there's the expense. I haven't set foot in Europe since 2002, my last trip being to Amsterdam. The economics of not being able to afford going were largely due to being under-employed for several years after September 11th. Today the economics have everything to do with merely wanting to stretch a historically weakened dollar. Italy has never been particularly cheap to visit and the exchange rate between the dollar and the euro have only made things worse across the continent. I've been exploring the Pacific Rim instead, where the dollar still goes a pretty good distance.

Italy is certainly a nation worth repeat visits but I also have to balance that natural desire with an equally compelling wish to see as much of the rest of the world as possible.

Have you noticed yet that I didn't even mention Sardinia? All I know is next year in the "off-season" I may for the first time set foot in the boot of Italy. At least the ticket is already "paid" for.

Gotta go!

Dollars to Dallas

I just joined Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards program. Big deal, you say. Big deal indeed, says I. My home is barely five minutes from the south entrance to DFW Airport, home base to American Airlines, a company I once proudly worked for and therefore have a natural bias towards. Now that I am a "civilian" it remains logical to choose American simply because I live close to nearly 800 flights a day to all points on the compass.

Back in the day there was nothing but competitive scorn for the likes of Southwest. They stayed pretty much true to their name through the late 80s, flying mainly in the southwest part of the country. We never felt they were a "whole" airline: they didn't have First Class, offer pre-reserved seating, meals or fly anywhere outside of the continental US, the "D48" we called it. Things change.

I had to book a business trip to Los Angeles only three days before departure for what was initially a mid-week trip. Now again, back in the day, any airline flying would simply take you out back and have their way with you for the kind of fares you paid. Strangely, American's available choices seemed to indicate some lecherous gang just waiting for me as if nothing had changed. Their price: $800 round trip, out Sunday morning and back Wednesday evening.

For a last minute trip in the face of ever tightening travel budgets I knew my employer would scotch the whole trip before paying that kind of money. "Try Southwest" my manager said, which I admit to being loathe to do. Love Field is half an hour from the house and my AAdvantage account was crying out for another fix of air miles. I looked up Southwest and after a bit of digging uncovered the incredible. Their price: $281 for the same itinerary.

I'm heading to Los Angeles, glad to be able to manage my business effectively but perplexed that American would dare to charge such fares in this environment. With something like 15 flights a day and the economy still tanked could they possibly have filled every flight on a non-holiday Sunday?

Nope. A little sleuthing revealed one flight in particular had over 100 available seats and right when I wanted to fly. Did the corporate travel pricing engine miss this pauper of a flight absolutely begging for business? Also nope. The lowest option on American's own website was $703 while Southwest raised their fare from the $124 each way that I paid to a whopping $132. The cheapest thing on Travelocity was Frontier through Denver for $341.

Either the analyst at American who watches California is asleep at the wheel or gutsy beyond reason. Don't know, don't care. They might actually get those fares from someone but not me. I've argued with friends at American 'til I'm blue in the face that no one similar to me who lives literally under DFW airport will voluntarily drive all the way to Love Field so long as the price was right. I was right.

Gotta go!

A Bad Way to Learn Geography

It was 7:30am and the alarm clock radio went off, nothing new. Like many I lay in bed waiting for a decent song to come on and help me kick start another day at the office working at United Airlines “World Headquarters” in suburban Chicago.

September 11, 2001 wasn’t supposed to be anything special beyond a typical Tuesday. I used to always say Tuesdays were the one day of the week that I could do without. There was nothing special about Tuesdays. Monday started the week, Wednesday was Hump Day, Thursday started the anticipation for the weekend and the eagle flew on Friday. Tuesdays were just…there.

By 8AM I was telling myself the first crash in to the World Trade Center in New York was either an unfortunate heart attack on approach to Newark or some student pilot with particularly bad luck. By 8:03AM I knew two heart attacks on the same day in the same place was not likely. Racing to work, the scene at the office was all the five stages of the Kubler-Ross grief model in full force and then some: anger, denial, depression, bargaining, acceptance, confusion, crying and crowded conference rooms, every TV and monitor tuned to any news source worth watching. And this was the Cargo Division.

My mother reminded me of having called her and asking if she had turned on the television yet. She hadn't but quickly spread the word around the family to tune in. Just in time to see the 2nd plane fly in to the South Tower.

"What the hell is going on here?!" I have shouted to myself, fear and anger rising in equal measure as news of the Pentagon attack began filtering in. I viscerally felt that either they had missed the Capitol building or the White House or that one of them was next in line. Shanksville, Pennsylvania got that one instead, after the passengers fought the hijackers on the fourth and final flight that day.

Stories of sheer chaos and panic in the streets began to fly. The tallest office towers in the smallest cities from Wausau to Wichita were evacuated. Cell signals and rental cars were virtually non-existent. Across the land the sight and sound of arriving and departing aircraft was replaced with the kind of stillness only the early settlers themselves may have once heard.

Flights inbound from Europe and Asia were stopped short in Canada or turned back. Those of us in the business old enough to remember Gander, Newfoundland as a regular stop along the way mentally knew where some of the planes were but even the hard-nosed veterans were stumped with some of the places stranded flights were calling in from.

“What? A 747? You're where? Where the heck is Yellowknife?!”
“Do we even fly there?”
“Does ANYBODY fly there?”
"How did he get in there?"
“How are we going to get the damned thing out?”

Think of a 5lb. bag of rice exploding all over the counter and you have to account for and recover each multi-million dollar grain in that bag. Airline operations centers around the world launched “disaster recovery plans” as they wrestled with how to reset the system from a “not-in-a-million-years” catastrophe featuring thousands of planes grounded at the first available foreign or domestic runway long enough to handle them.

None of it seemed to matter when the first tower fell.

I remember being in New York not two years earlier taking a visiting friend from New Zealand on a tour of the city. We had stopped directly under the South Tower where I explained the first attack in 1993.

“Try to imagine something that big coming down.” The impact on my New Zealand friend was, to say the least, profound. Then the other tower fell.

At the time United Airlines was the premier US carrier, highly ranked and respected around the world for its service, savvy and strength. In less than an hour this major corporation was reduced to a catatonic, nonsense-gibbering, pupil-dilated shell of itself from which it and so many individual lives still have yet to fully recover.

“Where are you?” is the typical opener to any conversation between airline employees and their loved ones. Through work or simply “just because,” someone is on a plane, out of town or out of the country. Those of us that could went home early to find out.

Who could work? Moreover, what was the point? Every project, plan, profit and price was suddenly, instantly way off target. No one said anything if anyone, and most of us did, were to leave by early afternoon. In the airline game especially there was literally nothing to do except go home and light up the phones.

Following the attack articles would appear about high-flying, six-figure executives accepting $9/hour jobs at the butcher’s counter of the local grocer to try and keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. Other stories emerged of people rediscovering the true meaning of life away from the rat race by opening their own small businesses, serving humanitarian causes and remembering the reason why they started families in the first place by deciding at least one parent should stay home with their suddenly much older but still young enough children.

I was a young manager finally on the up, high profile projects, far flung appointments, international contacts and a sense of place and purpose. For seven years after the furlough I drifted, trying my hand at substitute teacher, a disastrous turn at retail, even all the way back to airport baggage handler in Baltimore where I’d moved to be around family and sift through the ashes.

I never use the phrase “My life was over” regarding September 11th because I am still here to reflect upon it and mourn those souls who did live their last that horrible morning. All the same I am only now just starting to feel that I am nearly back to the life I had eight years ago. I will always carry a torch for that day, that life and those lives, however, so long as I live.

May they all rest in peace.

Gotta go.

Musings From A Muddled Mind - DFW to San Diego

As I was jotting notes for my first detailed “Trip Report” I noticed that I was keeping a running tally on updates and events exactly as they unfolded. Therefore, mixed in with general rambling thoughts at the same moment, here is the story of American Airlines Flight 1505 on Friday, August 14, 2009.

The pic includes my first sighting of a "blended wing" 767. The MD80 on the left is going to Mexico City while on the right is Puerto Vallarta. Mine is behind the jetbridge, broken as you please.

1345 – Car wreck less than a mile from the office on the way to the airport. Uh oh.
1415 – Check in fast and friendly. Had my bag tag ready before I even got to the counter.
1420 – Security equally fast and efficient but what’s up with the new air puff machines? It felt like air loogies being hocked all over my body.
1530 – Departure? Mechanical. Gate D29, and MD-80. At D28 was AA#1211 to Cancun, a 757. Whaddya bet they leave first?
1605 – The 4:30PM “departure” is now a 4:30PM “decision!” They’ll let us know. AA#50, a 777, is four gates down and will undoubtedly leave before us as well. Included with the “decision” was the disclosure that they were searching for an alternate aircraft.

Oh well: I don’t have to be in the office until Monday.

1613 – Cancun is oversold and they need one, no, two volunteers to come off the plane. Each volunteer gets $800, hotel and meals in Dallas. If they have to resort to “involuntary” passengers, how do they decide who stays behind?

1644 – Jet bridge pulls back on AA#50, right on schedule. Don't I wish!
1648 – Cancun’s problems seem solved; their bridge is pulling back, too. My flight is now 5:30PM.

Four year old “Evan, not Adam” climbed over the back of the chair next to me to introduce himself before his older sister dragged him away.

1710 – 1st disclosure of the actual problem. It’s an oil leak in Engine #2. Still working on it.
1714 – Young Mr. “Evan, not Adam” is playing peacefully in the floor at the feet of his family. He’s aggressively “coloring” a Sesame Street book, doing his best to burn off steam. His older sister is leaning against the window and working on her Girl-Pink laptop.
1717 – The coloring book diversion has run its course. “Evan, not Adam” is climbing on the window braces about three feet off the ground, alternating between them and his mother for monkey bars.
1727 – I’m back from my third trip to the restroom, trying to be able to stay seated for the 3-hour flight. I have lost at least two productive hours at the office I could have used.
1800 – The newest departure time is right now. Nada.
1806 – Time for comfort food – Mickey D’s fries!
1820 – NOW they hand out meal vouchers!

1910 – We have a new plane down at D22 but, predictably, no one in sight to meet and park the thing.
1935 – Pre-boarding for San Diego! “Evan, not Adam” is riding his mother’s laptop roller-bag, about as done for the day as he can be.
1955 – Everybody on, all ready to go.
2003 – Push back.

Somewhere between Texas and Arizona:
The flight attendants were poised, polite and charming. Open bar, too.
“Steve” is the soldier on the aisle who loves his girl, his son, golf and all things Korean. “Mike” is in the middle seat and enjoys the surprise of talking to someone else (me) who knows New Zealand very well. His lady fair is an Islander by way of Auckland. We trade these and, of course, “Drunk Buddy” stories to pass the time, including an instant classic about “Steve” having lost all memory of the night before and waking up on a curb in Japan!

“Let them figure out whether or not you were already in the country,” Mike and I clap gleefully.

I need to get business cards to hand out to people about my website, I muse. This was a golden opportunity.

2043 – Touchdown!
2101 – First bag on the carousel.
2104 – Mine pops up from the netherworld below. All is finally right in San Diego.

Gotta go!