Being male, pale and stale (A.K.A. a 40-something white guy) I consider England to be the mother country. There are very few place in the world where I look just like everyone else and hence fit right in. Well, I guess that I could just as easily consider Germany or Switzerland in the same way except for the fact that I can't talk to anyone there. No, I've never learned a second language. I rack this up to my inherently lazy American attitude which precludes me from getting past the first disc of my Rossetta Stone investment. (Learning Spanish has made it to my new year's resolution list for the past three years running. Maybe 2015 will be the year)
It seems that I end up in London 2 - 3 times a year. I can't complain though, it's one of my favorite places. This time, however, a couple of things are different:
1) I'm not flying American or British airways (more on that in a moment)
2) Ebola
You can't turn on CNN without a reference to Ebola so I thought I'd include it here. That, plus I know it will start my mother on a week long fact-finding mission to see how many Ebola patients are coming from the UK, how many people from West Africa are going to the UK, ways to contract Ebola and generally mapping out how I'm going to die a horrible death. (Love you mom)
So, first on the change of airlines. Earlier this year I took my family to San Diego for Labor day to be with my extended family and celebrate my mom's 70th birthday. We briefly thought about driving as it should be no more than an 8 hour drive. But given that we only had three days and the traffic on a holiday weekend would be terrible we decided to fly (A.K.A. I purchased airline tickets without consulting Stephanie). I am executive platinum on American Airlines so that would have been my go-to option but they had no direct routes to San Diego from San Francisco so I took the least expensive non-stop I could find. It was on Virgin America and it was FABULOUS! You get onto what looks like a night club and start to get really excited.
Even my 8 year old got excited. Everyone had their own tv screen with tons of channels. It was a great experience.
That got me thinking. What if I flew Virgin to London and Sydney and other long-haul places I go? How cool would that be? Ever see James Bond in first class in Quantum of Solace?
Yeah, that bar is in the first class area of the plane! I don't drink alcohol but I still want to fly on a cool plane like that as I'm sure the business class would rock too! And, with the traveling I do, if I do all of my travel on Virgin, I'll get tons of frequent flyer miles to take my family on super cool planes to super cool places!
So, fast forward to this trip to London. I start shopping for flights. I find the typical coach prices of $1200 - $1500. I find premium economy on Virgin Atlantic for $4500 but business class (the only one where you can lay flat to sleep) costs $6000 - $8000! What!?! Do I get to keep the plane when we get there? Seriously overpriced.
So I put my hunting hat on and start shopping. As I'm surfing site after site looking for deals, I came across a miracle. I found business class on Virgin Atlantic for $2900! I pee'd myself a bit and entered my credit card as fast as I could. Okay, I need to confess that it was business class on the flight out and premium economy on the way back. Whatever. I was going to fly the super fun, swank classy business class like James Bond. Swipe went my credit card. I was committed. I went to pick my seat and that's when my heart sunk.
I took my booking reference to the Virgin Atlantic booking site and it said that the booking code wasn't recognized. Huh? I cut and paste it so I know it was correct. I looked at the fine print. Yes, it was a booking under the name of Virgin Atlantic but serviced by Delta! What! Yes, the Delta airlines I've always knows. I don't have anything against Delta. In fact, my recent experiences with them have been quite good. BUT THEY AREN'T WHAT I WAS TRYING TO BOOK!
Anywho, on to day 1
DAY ONE
To get that super sexy fare of $2900 I had to take a 6:30 flight out of San Jose airport. That meant that I had to get up at 4:45 in the morning. When you have to get up early, you don't just get up early. You get up early and often. What I mean by that is my body won't let me get into a deep sleep due to fear of oversleeping (for the record, with the exception of every single morning class my freshmen year of college, I've never overslept for anything) so I wake up and look at the clock over and over again doing the math in my head of how much time I have left to sleep. I pop out of bed at 4:35, get dressed and fly out the door. I get to San Jose airport at 5:30 in the morning. Who in the world would be at the airport at 5:30 in the morning?
Answer: EVERYONE! How many TSA agents were working? 3ish How many of them spoke English as a primary language? None!
Okay, it wasn't THAT bad. I've had far worse.
I get on the flight and since I'm in first I have a lot of time to just sit there while the plane fills with the other travelers. It's around this time that I panic and start to worry that I don't have enough apps to occupy my time (I'm quite ADD when it comes to apps. I can't focus on one for more than a few minutes before I want to delete it from my tablet). So I make the requisite rush to the Google Play store to get new apps:
Me looking for apps is like me in the public library trying to find a book to read. I don't know which books are good? Just like I don't know which apps are good. So I hit up my apps posse (Harrison and Olivia) to see what they recommend. For kids who text non stop you'd think they could respond to just one of mine! But no, they left me hanging so I was left to grab whatever I could before the plane took off. As luck would have it, two of the three I got require an internet connection to work. Just great.
It was all okay once breakfast was served.
Well done Delta. It's no Virgin Atlantic (like I know, I've never been on them) but very well done indeed.
I arrive at the Minneapolis airport to face my 5 hour layover. Yes, in addition to getting a 6:30 flight, I have to connect here and spend 5 hours in the airport. I'm starting to feel like Tom Hanks in Terminal.
But I must say that this is a nice airport. They have Snoopy (it's the home of Charles Shultz)
And lots of shops that make you feel all wintery and festive. Christmas must live here or something.
So here I sit with one more hour to go till I board the plane. I've spent the past four hours in the Delta lounge so I think I'm going to walk around the airport mall a bit and see what I can find. More to come.
It seems that I end up in London 2 - 3 times a year. I can't complain though, it's one of my favorite places. This time, however, a couple of things are different:
1) I'm not flying American or British airways (more on that in a moment)
2) Ebola
You can't turn on CNN without a reference to Ebola so I thought I'd include it here. That, plus I know it will start my mother on a week long fact-finding mission to see how many Ebola patients are coming from the UK, how many people from West Africa are going to the UK, ways to contract Ebola and generally mapping out how I'm going to die a horrible death. (Love you mom)
So, first on the change of airlines. Earlier this year I took my family to San Diego for Labor day to be with my extended family and celebrate my mom's 70th birthday. We briefly thought about driving as it should be no more than an 8 hour drive. But given that we only had three days and the traffic on a holiday weekend would be terrible we decided to fly (A.K.A. I purchased airline tickets without consulting Stephanie). I am executive platinum on American Airlines so that would have been my go-to option but they had no direct routes to San Diego from San Francisco so I took the least expensive non-stop I could find. It was on Virgin America and it was FABULOUS! You get onto what looks like a night club and start to get really excited.
Even my 8 year old got excited. Everyone had their own tv screen with tons of channels. It was a great experience.
That got me thinking. What if I flew Virgin to London and Sydney and other long-haul places I go? How cool would that be? Ever see James Bond in first class in Quantum of Solace?
Yeah, that bar is in the first class area of the plane! I don't drink alcohol but I still want to fly on a cool plane like that as I'm sure the business class would rock too! And, with the traveling I do, if I do all of my travel on Virgin, I'll get tons of frequent flyer miles to take my family on super cool planes to super cool places!
So, fast forward to this trip to London. I start shopping for flights. I find the typical coach prices of $1200 - $1500. I find premium economy on Virgin Atlantic for $4500 but business class (the only one where you can lay flat to sleep) costs $6000 - $8000! What!?! Do I get to keep the plane when we get there? Seriously overpriced.
So I put my hunting hat on and start shopping. As I'm surfing site after site looking for deals, I came across a miracle. I found business class on Virgin Atlantic for $2900! I pee'd myself a bit and entered my credit card as fast as I could. Okay, I need to confess that it was business class on the flight out and premium economy on the way back. Whatever. I was going to fly the super fun, swank classy business class like James Bond. Swipe went my credit card. I was committed. I went to pick my seat and that's when my heart sunk.
I took my booking reference to the Virgin Atlantic booking site and it said that the booking code wasn't recognized. Huh? I cut and paste it so I know it was correct. I looked at the fine print. Yes, it was a booking under the name of Virgin Atlantic but serviced by Delta! What! Yes, the Delta airlines I've always knows. I don't have anything against Delta. In fact, my recent experiences with them have been quite good. BUT THEY AREN'T WHAT I WAS TRYING TO BOOK!
Anywho, on to day 1
DAY ONE
To get that super sexy fare of $2900 I had to take a 6:30 flight out of San Jose airport. That meant that I had to get up at 4:45 in the morning. When you have to get up early, you don't just get up early. You get up early and often. What I mean by that is my body won't let me get into a deep sleep due to fear of oversleeping (for the record, with the exception of every single morning class my freshmen year of college, I've never overslept for anything) so I wake up and look at the clock over and over again doing the math in my head of how much time I have left to sleep. I pop out of bed at 4:35, get dressed and fly out the door. I get to San Jose airport at 5:30 in the morning. Who in the world would be at the airport at 5:30 in the morning?
Answer: EVERYONE! How many TSA agents were working? 3ish How many of them spoke English as a primary language? None!
Okay, it wasn't THAT bad. I've had far worse.
I get on the flight and since I'm in first I have a lot of time to just sit there while the plane fills with the other travelers. It's around this time that I panic and start to worry that I don't have enough apps to occupy my time (I'm quite ADD when it comes to apps. I can't focus on one for more than a few minutes before I want to delete it from my tablet). So I make the requisite rush to the Google Play store to get new apps:
Me looking for apps is like me in the public library trying to find a book to read. I don't know which books are good? Just like I don't know which apps are good. So I hit up my apps posse (Harrison and Olivia) to see what they recommend. For kids who text non stop you'd think they could respond to just one of mine! But no, they left me hanging so I was left to grab whatever I could before the plane took off. As luck would have it, two of the three I got require an internet connection to work. Just great.
It was all okay once breakfast was served.
Well done Delta. It's no Virgin Atlantic (like I know, I've never been on them) but very well done indeed.
I arrive at the Minneapolis airport to face my 5 hour layover. Yes, in addition to getting a 6:30 flight, I have to connect here and spend 5 hours in the airport. I'm starting to feel like Tom Hanks in Terminal.
But I must say that this is a nice airport. They have Snoopy (it's the home of Charles Shultz)
And lots of shops that make you feel all wintery and festive. Christmas must live here or something.
So here I sit with one more hour to go till I board the plane. I've spent the past four hours in the Delta lounge so I think I'm going to walk around the airport mall a bit and see what I can find. More to come.
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