One World, Three Days, Part III- The Road Home....

LHR T-3 Lounge.  Showered, fed & ready to board my flight home.

As I've said in my previous posts, the majority of my fellow mileage runners were only on the ground in Jo'Burg for a brisk 18 hours before flying back home.  After returning from the Lion Park, we said our goodbyes, and I turned in for the night at the Hilton.  And by 'night,' I mean a 2 hour nap before dinner, followed by a few more hours of sleep and waking up at 4 am to watch rugby, the local news...and more rugby.  I almost sorta know some of the rules at this point.  But, do not ask me about them...

This 10 hour time change side-effect would be all well and good on a mileage run usually.  Honestly, it's just one more part of the insanity that can make it an adventure.  Case in point my trip to Hong Kong this year- I've considered skipping the hotel night entirely since it'll be the middle of my 'day' and just seeing the sights at night, then heading back to sleep it off on the 16 hour flight home.  No muss, no fuss, no jetlag.

However, in the case of Jo'Burg, I'd combined a few business meetings with the trip, and so needed to be on my game at 10 am to meet some industry folks, and then on to a second meeting in the afternoon.  Won't lie, that was a little rough.  If I'm tempted to do this again, I'll probably limit it to one meeting... or none.   Still, the meetings went well, and the second colleague kindly took me back to JNB to catch my outbound flight.  Or so I thought.

As previously posted, I didn't realize until I got to the check-in line that my passport was still safely locked up in my room at the Hilton back in Sandton.  Low point of the trip.  Suffice to say I got really familiar with the Gautrain.

To end the suspense, yes, I did get back to the airport in time, passport in hand.  I have to give another nod to the service at the Hilton Sandton here.  They had it ready and waiting for me at the front desk to get me on my way in plenty of time.

As also previously discussed, upon arrival I learned of an equipment change from one BA 747 to another, which removed several rows of economy, one of them the unlimited legroom exit row I was seated in.  But as very occasionally happens in the twisted world of mileage running, my annoyance...surprise...anger, or whatever it was at that point, was eventually assuaged by a surprise status-based upgrade to a 'World Traveler Plus" seat instead.  While not to be equated with a true upgrade to business class or better, 'WT+' on this plane is somewhat like AA's 737 domestic F service, less as much personal attention, but with an added little footrest.  Soft product gets a little better as well- there's a menu, and your food comes in real glasses and on plates, rather than the 'microwave meal' trays served in back.   At that point in the weekend, that was all I needed to forgive BA, and to get a little sleep on the trip back across the continent to LHR. 

WT+ Seat

Little amenity kit

See, AA??  They still do make these.  Get yourselves together & stock them again.

In retrospect, while getting the hotel for the night seemed like a way to soften the journey, I'm not so sure.  The prospect of getting right back on another flight after only one day on the ground sounds painful, but so is encountering the 10 hour time change for just one day.  One of the good things about an ultra long haul run, like this, or an around the world itinerary, is that your body never really has to conceptualize what you're doing.  For the most part, you're just on planes and in lounges, and you can doze off whenever your brain decides it's 'night.'  Not to say it's not fun to get out and see the destination you just took 2 days flying to get to, but in my humble opinion, one day and a few adventures may be enough- sleep it off on the flight home.

Speaking of sleeping it off, fast forward to the second segment of my return trip- my first chance to experience the new business class on AA's 777-300ER that they keep advertizing.  My review- I give it about an 8 out of 10.  It definitely puts any of AA's other hard product to shame.  And considering that the previous configuration on the 777-200 was 2-3-2 angle lie flat where the middle seat of the '3' section is basically trapped unless they're the type to wake up their neighbor and get them to sit back up, or are prepared to do a flying leap over them to get to the restroom (guilty)... the shaming is immense. 

777-200 business class.  These are due for retrofit in the next year or two, 

thankfully.

In comparison- here's a panoramic of the 77W J cabin.  Yeah, no more needs to be said.

The '77W' business class cabin is 52 seats deep, with a 1-2-1 all aisle access configuration.  The seats are truly lie-flat, and come with an adjustable large-ish screen TV, with a decent range of entertainment, and Bose headphones.  As a side-note, this summer I managed to get both myself and Mrs. CruisingAltitude seats on this plane from DFW-LHR on our way to Rome, and it got rave reviews from her as well. 

PLENTY of space to stretch out and sleep!

Good sized screen, but low resolution.

Bose, slippers & menu

My only complaints about the service is that the seats could use personal air vents, because I always end up way too hot since the air doesn't circulate well, and that they need to suck it up and put at least one more FA on these routes.  52 is way to many passengers to really give personal service to with their current staffing.  Soft product was fine.  After all my flights, I enjoyed my meal, but then really just wanted to sleep, which I did.  I think I passed out for a solid 7-8 hours, which was most of the flight time from LHR to DFW. 

Seat and entertainment controls.  That's a light, not an air vent.

1st course

Second course- fillet.

Pre-landing snack.  Okay, pizza on the 'Flagship' service....Really, AA??

Upon arrival in DFW, I had a bit of time, so I stopped in at the AmEx Centurion Lounge for a last meal before boarding the final flight back to LAX.  I'm sure I've said it before, but this lounge is definitely worth a visit if you get the chance.  It features a decent buffet, open bar with great options including designer craft cocktails, and a 10-deep complimentary wine list (not just free well drinks and 2 wine choices like the Admiral's Club), and free massages, facials, and manicures (if you can get a slot that works for your layover).  The only downside, and what keeps me retaining my AC membership, is that the agents there obviously don't work for the airline, so they're no help with seat issues, re-booking, or the like.

Lunch...dinner, maybe depending on what timezone you choose.  Way better than in-flight.

So.  That's really that, then.  The final flight was a quick & easy one back to LAX.  Having had a decent amount of sleep on the way back, I drove home thinking '22.6k miles done, and I feel like I could turn around and do it again!'  Which, though probably a delirious result of all that time in low-oxygen environments, was a good attitude as I had booked myself for a second run 3 weeks later that took me to Shanghai, Tokyo, and back in a weekend.  Oh, and it started in Chicago, so I had to get there first.

I suppose that normal people are right to consider 'extreme' mileage running like this to be insane.  But to that I say- Have you ever flown to Africa just to feed a giraffe, and pet a lion cub? 

Yeah, didn't think so.... :)

~CruisingAltitude

One more giraffe...for good luck.

Sunrise to Sunset....

Coast to coast, sunrise to sunset. 

(yes, I’ll get back to finishing up the final part of my JNB run shortly, but more current things are on my mind this week.)

Like most things on this page, this story begins with an upgrade.  Not just any upgrade, but a hard-won JFK-LAX business class seat that was ‘oversold by one,’ whatever that means, an hour prior to departure.  No clue how it worked out, but short story is my EXP status and connecting passenger clout somehow did the impossible (after much dismissive head shaking by the AC agents at YYZ and JFK, as well as my first ask to the gate agents). 

When I got called to re-check, it went something like this:

"I'm [CruisingAltitude], you called me up?"

"Yes, your upgrade went through, is a window okay?"

"As I'm guessing it's the one and only available, it's my new favorite seat." 

[Gate agent laughs and hands over my new boarding pass]

So here, I am, seat 10F on the 321 service to LAX, pre-departure beverage (“PDB”) and all.  This week has been a typical work travel week, with flights to Toronto via JFK both ways.  Yes, as many people have asked, American does fly to YYZ nonstop from LAX.  But…. Since when have nonstop flights been a mileage runner’s priority?? Plus, it was a late-scheduled flight, making non-stops costly.  And double plus- any AA traveler will tell you, the best (even despite my nit-picking below) domestic product hands-down is AA’s ‘flagship’ service on the 321-Transcon.  It features lie-flat seats in both F and J, and if you miss the upgrade (likely, due to high business and VIP travel on this route) there’s decent MCE availability with in-seat entertainment in all Y seats as well. 

I certainly feel welcome... 

As a side-note however, I won’t drop my allegiance to Boeing products.  There’s something about the flight profile of the Airbus planes that has less finesse.  The pitch changes on climb out are abrupt, and the fuselage seems to flex and rattle a little more than the Boeing jets.  Maybe it’s just us, but both myself and Mrs. CruisingAltitude noticed some differences this year since we spent a decent amount of time on various Airbus products this summer in Europe.  Could be that AirBerlin just needs to better secure their glassware in the forward galley…. It was like a china shop in an earthquake up there.  

Additionally, I’ve heard a thing or two about the newly delivered Airbus jets not holding up to service well in the AA fleet- broken seats, tray tables, and the like.  To add to that, my handset for my IFE never worked on this flight, didn’t connect on my outbound, and the entire system froze up in my last hour, refusing to play anything at all.  Maybe it was as mixed on its feelings about “Veep” as I am.

Yeah, so about that new high tech IFE...

Also, in my opinion, AA could do significantly more to improve the ‘soft product’ on these flights to match the impressive seating- the food ranges from ok to ‘I’ll just grab something in the terminal,’ and the drinks are fine.  Nothing worth writing home about, no matter how much AA *cough US* wants to show us their new dishes and flatware.  If it’s going to be called ‘Flagship Service,’ they should go the whole distance.  I mean, I'm not expecting a Michelin star here, it is at the end of the day airplane food, but there's some other airlines out there that do a pretty impressive job of it, even in economy. 

New plates, basic fare.

Aaaannnyhow…. Back to the trip at hand.  This week included flights to Toronto’s Pearson Int’l via JFK, a rental from National at T-3, two nights at the Westin Prince at York Mills, and one night at the Four-Points Toronto Airport.  Oh yeah, and I did some work in downtown Toronto, but you don’t want to hear about that.

This was my first trip to Toronto, and at the outset I was excited to see a new city.  However, due to some unbelievably big convention or such in town, every hotel- Starwood, Hilton, and Club Carlson cold only offer me a $500/night basic room at the Radisson…try taking that back to accounting.  Long story short, I ended up booking out of town at the Westin Prince.  It seemed like a decent option- helps me get to my 25 Starwood check-in goal for the year, and looked to only be a 20 min drive from where I needed to be. 

WRONG….so wrong.

I’ve learned my lesson.  In LA I say you have a choice between being 30 minutes early, or 10 minutes late.  I now know that in Toronto, you have a choice between being an hour early…. And being royally friggin’ screwed.  Traffic there is bad.  So, so bad.  For anyone reading this who knows LA, it’s the equivalent of taking the traffic from the 405 and re-routing it to Hawthorne Ave.  I’m not kidding.  The pouring rain didn’t help either.  In short, me, my Sonata (it was a late pick-up and I wasn't about to navigate a Yukon around a city) from National, that I never had the chance to test for power, and the GPS that refused to let me take any expressways and I got super well acquainted.  At least the mileage was low and the XM was active.

3 Hours a day of this.  I got beat to downtown by a guy on a bicycle wearing a poncho.

Really, the GPS had a sense of humor.  When I returned the thing at YYZ and they asked how it ‘worked out for me’ it was all I could to not to say ‘just great, I had a lovely hour long tour of the ‘hood on the way here just now.’ 

On one of my quick calls home on my international minutes, Mrs. CruisingAltitude stopped me mid-rant with, “you do realize we’ve been talking for 10 minutes, and all I’ve heard about Toronto is traffic?”  Sums it up.

The Westin Prince, aside from the location, was fine.  I wouldn’t go out of my way to stay there again, but I’ve had worse.  No upgrade as a SPG Gold, got stuck on the 4^th floor, not much of a view.  The room was decently modern, as were the common areas.  No big complaints.  Had a pretty nice meal at the sushi restaurant next door- always a good choice when traveling alone on business. 

The last night I stayed out at the Four Points YYZ.  Of course nothing fancy, but I slept well.  Their shuttle runs every 30 minutes to the terminals, and the service and price point were right on.  I’d stay there again when I need an airport hotel. 

All in all, it was a productive trip, made much more comfortable by clearing 4/4 of my upgrades – both directions on the 321-T to and from JFK, and my Eagle flights onward to YYZ.  Sidenote- I really don’t mind the little cabin on the E75, props to AE for continuing to order jets with a first class.  Gives me faith with all the other benefits being eroded slowly but surely by the merger.  Plus, both directions it was half empty and I had my own 1st class row. 

One thing they can't take away, thankfully, are the views.  Tonight's been a treat start to finish, from a beautiful dusk light on take off from JFK, to the red and blues of that 'chasing daylight' flightpath on the way back West.  Cameras never do it justice, but I always have to try.   

Goodbye NYC

Chasing Daylight

Well, that’s all for the night.  Flight 181 just made the turn to sequence for decent into LAX, and they’re about to serve my sparkling water and lemon (nice touch, by the way).  As always, it’s been a journey. 

Until the next one, in a few days’ time,

Fly Safe,

~CruisingAAltitude