Scandi Running Part 1- So This Is How It All Begins

Da Plane...

Get the background: The Scandi Run- Preview

I'm a big proponent of 'firsts.'  I love first tries, first place, first class.  That makes this weekend fit right in.  It's the first of at least three mileage runs that follow more or less the same pattern.  It's good then, that right after firsts with me, comes familiarity.  I'm aiming to have this thing down to a science by October. A kind of science that, sure, will be thrown way out of whack by weather, crew delays, and loose bolts, but there's a science to all that as well when you think about it.

It's a first for the Scandi run, and also a first inasmuch as it's going to be cold.  The potential level of cold really didn't hit home until today when I saw a picture of the ice burgs currently floating past Nyhavn canal.  Until this point, I'd been way to confident in my ability to suck it up for a couple days.  I've lived in Boston before, I survived, it's in the 30's, come on...

After that, I threw in an extra (couple of) coats, stopped at REI to buy better, more waterproof, and less 'I don't remember what snow looks like' gloves (REI in Los Angeles is the most pathetic place to buy winter gloves, FIY.), and pretty well gave up on my romantic and responsible goal of running a 5k through Norreboro the morning after I arrived.

Granted, the 30 degree weather may be considered by the Danes to be a 'heat wave' this time of year, but I'm a cold pansy at this point, and I'm pretty much going to have to come to terms with it.

I love to be invited...

I'm currently sitting at the bar (as one does) at the Qantas First Lounge in LAX awaiting my flight to London.  It's delightful as per always, and not yet overcrowded as I'm several hours before the late night flights to Sydney, Melbourne, and such.  So far, all's well.  As I've realized it's a published EXP benefit, I tried out the LAX Flagship Check in for the first time, and it was all kinds of line cutting fun.



This season, the Qantas lounge is doing lovely things with radicchio...Is a sentence I never thought I'd type...

Compared to CLEAR, it's basically a nicer version with a dedicated ticketing counter, and a concierge who rolls your luggage for you to the front of the pre-check screening.  It definitely saved me a few minutes, but it was more about the experience. With elite benefits being axed left and right, it's still a nice gesture.

With my several hours before boarding, I have to actively hold back and pace myself as I work through the menu.  I'd prefer not to admit that I also had a stop at the Flagship Lounge in T4 on the way here for a bowl of pho, but I will admit it, because mileage run, and that stuff was tasty.  Pro-tip- if you like it spicy, there's siracha on the bar by the bloody mary fixings. 

T-2 hours, and my incoming flight is about to land, the weather in the vicinity of London and Copenhagen airport looks passable, and so far I've only forgotten my power cube (remote power bank), so things are looking good to go.  Plus, I've got a lovely bartender serving me something called the 'Garden Party' which has mint leaves in it.  Granted, I've already expended my first flyer acquaintance, possibly by unnervingly confusing him by trying to explain what, exactly, I was actually seeking to accomplish by flying to Denmark 3 times for now reason, but that's not really a huge concern.  And really, he's here to 'talk about bonds,' so what does he know.  Besides, it happens more often, or possibly exactly as often, as you might think.

BA 747 "Queen of the Skies," in repose in the background.

Come on, let's go....

~CruisingAltitude

The Scandi Run: Preview

Photo from my accommodations.  Adorable, yes?

I never mileage run to Europe.  Not kidding.  I have been to Asia, South America, Africa, you name it.... but never Europe.  There's a few reasons for this historically, most having to do with it simply not being far away enough to make sense, and Oneworld not having the most hub cities there. 

This is not to say I don't jump at the chance to go, it just tends to be a destination I get to by using my miles, not on account of earning them, and I try to stay awhile.

But, as they say, we live in interesting times.  As I tried to lay out some time ago, when AA switched the system up and effectively ruined mileage running for long distances on low fares, it was a choice of giving up or getting creative.  Guess which one I (and my friends I've met along the way) went with??

(I'm now going to go on about how this actually works, rather than random facts about airports, and hijinks I stumbled into in random cities.  If you're not interested in this, I suggest jumping down about 3 paragraphs where I'll get back to my thoughts on 36 hours freezing to death in Denmark in March)

The new strategy to still earn plenty of miles is to stalk the deals for cheap fares in premium cabins of other Oneworld airlines.  This usually means business class on Qatar, or premium economy on British Airways, and occasionally Cathay Pacific.  The further bit of intrigue, is that these deals almost never originate in the US.  So to take advantage, one has to first get to the city of departure.  What this further means (if you're still reading this at all) is that it's in your best interest to buy more than one of the deals when you find them at a time so you only have to get one 'positioning flight' per year, or per deal.

Let's put the plan into context, shall we?  This year, there have been some premium economy deals on BA out of most all of the Scandinavian countries to the US, and specifically, to LAX which is clearly convenient for me in particular.  To further sweeten the deal, there have on occasion been some crazy cheap economy deals on AA from LAX to various European cities, including....Scandinavia.  You see where I'm going with this?

The deal has been good from Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, and on occasion Helsinki, which all adds up to it getting coined (yes, by me) the 'Scandi run' since the destinations are interchangeable, more or less, for the same prices and miles earned.

100% Denmark- bikes, bricks & spires.  Nothing's overly tall in Copenhagen, so it's nicknamed the city of spires as they're the defining feature of the skyline, if you can even really call it that.

What it all adds up to for me this year, is flying out to Copenhagen on AA in March, and then 'returning' on that ticket in October, and flying back and forth on BA premium economy tickets on scattered weekends in between all year.  3 weekends, to be exact, though I'm thinking of adding one more at the end, and then flying back on an award ticket.  We'll see.

So.... this all results in my getting to say I GET TO GO TO DENMARK 3 TIMES.  Sure, each time is only for about 2 nights, and I have to brave 12+ hours of slightly more comfortable economy to get there, but after 16+ hours in coach to Hong Kong a few weeks ago, I'm feeling pretty bulletproof.  I'm honestly more worried about how in the heck to pack light on a mileage run for actual winter conditions.  I'm quickly realizing that all my other runs were to hot, and many times insanely hot, climates. 



A particularly famous spire- Christianborg

My outbound flight is on AA (the first half of the 'positioning flight') and so I'm playing the upgrade game to Heathrow.  After a stopover for some food and a shower at the excellent lounges there, I'll make the quick hop to CPH and take the metro into town. 

Copenhagen is extremely easy to get around on public transportation, just about anywhere you want to go.  I had initially thought of staying by the airport in the AC Sky Bella hotel in Orestad, which is a newer, planned area of Copenhagen by the Kastrup airport, but after realizing it is really only a 15 minute train into town, and I could save 50% by booking an Airbnb in the center of the city, my choice was easy.

Christianshavn

I'm now staying in Christenshavn, which is a truly adorable part of the city on a series of canals, in a flat with my hosts Magnus and Mikkel.  Awesome.  It's central to many attractions, full of cafes and bars, and you can walk/bike just about anywhere in a few minutes. 

This, however, also brings up the fact that on arrival I'll likely have to answer the age-old question of why I'm in Denmark in the first place, and further, why I'm only there for about 36 hours before turning around and going right back where I came from.  It may surprise you, but many people find this just a tiny bit strange.  Hotels don't ask, but I get the feeling that my host(s) just might.

I've thought from time to time about coming up with a reusable story to explain myself, other than having to dig into the whole logic (or illogic) of mileage running.  But what to say?  Most business travelers don't come into town just for a Sunday, of all things.  They also don't stay up late/get up early to stay on their home timezone, and they definitely don't wander in looking very much like they've just spent 15 hours in economy and somehow still are enjoying their lives.

In any event, it's a work in progress.  I'll let you know.

I expect there may be snow on all of this when I get there.

For more details of things to do in Copenhagen, we're currently writing up our adventures from the Summer over at Baby Flyer Blog.  On these shorter, colder, trips, I'll probably try to get to some favorite places like Honen & Aegget and Den Vandrette in Nyhavn for tradition's sake, but other than that I'm looking forward to playing my one real day in town by ear.  I have no delusions of elaborate castle tours, or getting a table at Noma.  That's not what mileage runs are all about.  Get there, see a thing or two, chat with some locals, and get safely back home again.

My flight out on Monday is plenty early (7am!) which with the time change is about.... 11 at night back home?  You can't think too hard about these things, just get to the plane.  The return flight from London this time around is on BA's, and the world's, largest passenger jet, the a380.  They're smooth and modern, and I was able to preselect a good seat without paying extra on account of the Oneworld Emerald status I'm flying so far to keep up.  I do have the potential option to try for an upgrade by using some Amex points, but I think this time around I'll let it go and see.  It's only 12 hours, anyway.  Easy.

So, that's the Scandi run in a nutshell.  I hope it goes as I think it will in my head, seeing as how I'm doing it at least three times this year.  Wish me luck.

~CruisingAltitude

It's the end of the world as we know it....

British Airways tails at Heathrow from my last mileage run-your connection to Europe just got longer.

Well, this post could be about so very many things.  So very, very many things.

In the major headlines last week, a slim majority of UK voters decided to take their country out of the EU.  There are lots of feelings about this going around.  So very, very many feelings.  I have some, but that's not the point of this post, or this blog really.  What I will say though, is it's a sad week for the future of travel if you're considering transiting LHR on the way to other European cities.  Heathrow already isn't the smoothest connection, now add an exit from the EU passport control, possible additional tariffs, and no good can come of it.  On the other hand.... the pound and the euro are on the way down, so it's possibly a good time to snatch up some decent ex-UK tickets, if you're in the market.  So, you know, priorities.

So, there's that.  There are also quite a few other world events that could be in line with this post's title, but they're not what I'm supposed to be talking about here.

However, what is on topic for this blog, is American's decision to end the last great mileage program as we know it.  In fact, American was the first airline to 'invent' the frequent flyer program, advertising it with the simple "fly a mile, get a mile" slogan that has lasted decades, and became the model for the other carriers that followed.  Yet, under new management due to the US Air merger, starting August 1, this system will no longer be followed.  Instead of distance flown, all that will matter is how much you paid for your ticket.  This is extremely bad news for the large majority of flyers, your correspondent included. 

There is no point to this pic, I've just been typing far too many 'words' without a picture, so here's a nice view of takeoff from DUS.  Much better than the words.

The new system that has been set up, is targeted on two groups of travelers.  The first are the people who don't really belong to any mileage programs.  They don't use them, only travel a few times a year, and generally just book the lowest fare, no matter what airline it is, or how bad the product or service.  These people couldn't care less, and just want everything stripped down so that when they click purchase on Orbitz, they think they have a good deal (never mind that they'll probably end up getting nickel and dimed out of quite a bit of extra money along the way in fees for bags, food, picking seats, and the like.)  This new program allows AA to bottom-out the benefits they offer, scrape a few dollars per fare out of the overhead costs, and try and compete for these people with the likes of Frontier and Spirit.  Trying to be like the most hated airlines in the country.  Makes sense.  

The other, drastically smaller, group of flyers the new system is aimed at are the "1%" or less of flyers who habitually buy full fare business and first class tickets.  Everyone else in-between, they don't seem to care about retaining as loyal customers.  This is all allegedly well and good, I would suppose, for the bottom line according to current management.  However, if I'm being honest, if I had the corporate backing to be buying international business and first fares regularly there's no way I'd be picking any of the legacy US carriers at all.  I'd be going with the top service, and the flight and connection times that suited me best.  None of these criteria would lead me to a US based airline.  The product, and especially the service, is just simply better on most international carriers.  Even in economy the service on Japan Airlines, Qantas, or Malaysia puts any US airline to shame, jetbridge to jetbridge.

Nevertheless, AA has decided to forgo staying as the one international US airline with a true mileage program, rather than a spend based program, in favor of just doing what the others did.  I suppose if there's no competition doing any better, why bother.  My eventual reaction to this will be a post for another time, or not, if I know what's good for me.

So..... anyway.....to the point, and on a much better, if a bit nostalgic, note....

Given this particular 'end of the world as we know it,' with the blessing of Mrs. CruisingAltitude, I hurried up and booked one "last" true mileage run before the Aug 1 deadline.  As luck would have it, there was one weekend left where Hong Kong was still within mileage run territory.  As I've said over and over again, I love Hong Kong as a mileage destination.  It is an intersection of cultures, new and old architecture, and beautiful natural sights, all wrapped up in an accessible and visitor friendly urban landscape.  It really is one of the finest cities in the world.  Plus, and almost as importantly, it is very, very far away. 

Morning views from my last HKG run: Beautiful Hong Kong island in the foreground, Kowloon in the distance.

My itinerary this time takes me on the overnight flight to Dallas from LAX, letting me start off the journey at the Qantas 1st lounge, followed by time for a nap, shower, and breakfast in the DFW Centurion, before getting on the ultra-long haul flight to HKG.  At 17 hours, and over 8,000 miles one way, it's still the longest flight on AA metal you can fly.  My return, just under two days later, connects through Tokyo's Heneda airport on Cathay Pacific, before heading on home to LAX on one of AA's new 787s.  The HND-LAX is a relatively new route, and it will be my first stop at that airport, as I usually connect through Narita.  Unfortunately, the 5 hour stop will be just shy of enough time to really justify going into the city, but I've never complained about time spent in the JAL 1st lounge!

From the northeastern vector into TYO- beautiful sea and sky!

So, all in all, I'm trying to make the best of the 'last' real mileage run.  This trip will earn me over 33,000 miles.  If I take it after August 1 this year, it would barely have earned 8,000.  End of the world as we know it, indeed. 

With that in mind, I have some plans for my time on the ground.  I'll see how many of them I get to in the end, but for now I'm hoping to hit up any (or all of the following):

-At least one night of the 'Symphony of Lights' laser show.
-Enjoying the views from Kowloon from the waterfront, and possibly from the 118th floor of the Ritz at the 'tallest bar' in the world, Ozone. 
-Running the 5k loop path at the top of "The Peak."
-Finding the old "Checkerboard Hill" in Kowloon (See my ramblings about this HERE)
-Dim sum
-Possibly some time at the rooftop pool/spa of the Kowloon Sheraton Towers Hotel.
-Finding the perfect cocktail (after I find the way in) at Foxglove, and/or Quinary...and/or....and/or...
-Of course, some quality time before my outbound flight at the many fantastic lounges at HKG.

Yes, this is what I mean by 'quality time' at the HKG lounges.

In other words, I don't plan to waste this opportunity to send real 'mileage running' off with a memorable weekend.  Sure, there will still be mileage trips to gain status, but it's the end of an era for sure. 

I suppose the best light to cast this in, is to be thankful for the experiences that the AAdvantage program in it's last incarnation has allowed me, both on mileage runs and redemption trips-  I've seen every continent (save Antarctica), with stops in over 20 cities I otherwise wouldn't have been to, pet lions in Africa, been harassed by monkeys in Malaysia, and yes, had my share of memorable (if a bit strange) foreign airport and plane experiences.  What's more, I've made quite a few good friends who are just crazy enough to feel the same way about the occasional one-day trip to Tokyo (or Brazil...Doha....). 

So, what else is there to say about the end of this particular little world?  Where do we go from here? Another airline? (*cough* Alaska Air *cough*)  Something else entirely?  I'm really not sure yet.  For now, I'm just looking forward to the next adventure. 

~CruisingAltitude

A last backward glance at the 'old AA' - sunset over DFW and an endangered MD80 'Mad Dog' to go with.

Um, where's Qatar exactly, anyway.....??

Seriously people, I learned in telling friends and family about this mileage run I'd planned, that no one really knows where Qatar is.  The Qataris should pay me (or upgrade me, I'd take the upgrade) to fly there on a mileage run, and write about their city, like I'm doing anyway.  I mean it.  It could influence like...dozens of people....maybe.  For those still wondering, here you go:


So, what I really should have said, is "I'm going kinda near where Dubai is.  You know, the one with the tallest building in the world, and the indoor ski slope in the desert, and all the oil money." 

Every mileage run I set out to have a few new experiences of the frequent-flyer type.  New cities, airlines, airports, and the like, as well as sometimes revisiting old favorites.  It keeps things interesting, and there's a never-ending list of 'firsts' you can have when you're hopping around the world at 500mph.  Last weekend I accomplished all of the above, and have some 36,000 miles to go with it.  

This run was my first time to the Middle East, and it was overall a pretty good introduction.  The run was a mix of American and Qatar (finally learned how to say it correctly, if the voiceover on the safety video is correct), made up of 4 segments- LAX-LHR-DOH and return.  On top of it all, I added standard Arabic to the list of languages I've learned to say 'thank you' in, a tradition I have before going to a new country.  I figure if I'm only in town for a day or less, that's probably one of the more useful things I can sort out.

So, thank you, gracias, grazie, merci, danke, tak, xie-xie, arigato, obrigado, terima kasih, and of course shukraan for reading.

The trip started off extremely well, with a few hours at the Qantas 1st lounge at LAX, thanks to the new TBIT connector that lets OneWorld elites traveling abroad access the MUCH better lounges at TBIT before their flights.  I've reviewed this lounge last year [here] on our way to Peru on LAN.  Short story- it was great then, and it's still great now, especially earlier in the day before Qantas and BA start filling the terminal up.

Next....the obligatory upgrade list drama.  For background, I've only missed clearing two systemwide upgrades in my mileage running history.  One was the nonstop LAX-LHR a few years ago, the other was the dreaded 18 hour DFW-HKG outbound.

On this trip, it looked like history was set to repeat itself, and I was agonizing over rolling the dice and not trying to stop over in Dallas to take the connecting flight, that tends to be much easier to upgrade on.  Even a few days out, it was showing sold out in business class.  There were many calls to the EXP desk comprising of begging and scheming, and continuous obsessive checking and re-checking of the seat count on ExpertFlyer.  There was also plenty of rationalizing- it's what you sign up for when you buy a dirt-cheap economy ticket and hope for the upgrade.

So, when the time came, I boarded and took my MCE seat.  I was okay with it, I really was (the free-flowing champagne in the lounge helped with this), I was getting settled in, meeting the nice guy sandwiched into the middle seat next to me, when one of my (awesome, fearless, and ever-capable) mileage running buddies starts yelling my name from seat 18G, and waiving his phone to show the coveted check-mark now next to my name on the upgrade list!

Best. Battlefield. Upgrade. Ever.

I don't think I ever even got my actual boarding pass, since the FA who had it just pointed from the other aisle of the plane and yelled "4J" at me as I scrambled to figure out what was going on. Long story short, 16J -> 4J.  All the winning...and the PDBs.

On arrival, we had a long layover in London before our onwards flight to Doha.  All I'll say about this is the following:  1) I have a massive love-hate relationship with Heathrow- I love many of the lounges, and the array of possible connections, but I kinda hate just about everything else.  Connections between the terminals, if even possible given their policies, are simply rage-inducing.  Because WHO DESIGNS AN AIRPORT WITH THE RUNWAYS TO THE INSIDE OF THE TERMINALS?  WHO DOES THAT?!?!?

For clarity on the above- when you fly with Qatar, despite being in the Oneworld alliance, you get banished to Terminal 4, which will hereinafter be known as the 'Reject Terminal of Despair.'  It's the Skyteam gates, which should tell you just about all you need to know.  The Reject Terminal of Despair is located pretty much in a different timezone from the others, making connections lengthy.  An additional rage-inducing fact is that, Oneworld membership not withstanding, Qatar has taken it upon themselves to banish Oneworld elites from their actual good lounges, in clear violation of the policy that the other airlines all follow.  I have lots of feelings about this.  It will come up again later in this entry.  I apologize in advance. 

Since they have to provide some lounge access, Qatar gives you an 'invite' to the Skyteam lounge.  It is both ridiculous, and disappointing.  I didn't even really take pictures of the Skyteam lounge, I just wasn't feeling it.  If I wanted to fly Skyteam, I'd move to Atlanta or something.  Interestingly....this will not be the most depressing lounge story of this trip report...just wait for it...

On the flip side, there is one shining ray of hope in this situation, which is that for some inexplicable reason, Malaysia Air is also stuck in the Reject Terminal of Despair.  Say what you want about their recent bad luck, but this is an airline that maintains top level customer service, and plays nicely by the Oneworld rules.  They operate a lovely set of lounges (business and first sides) in LHR T4, and our stop by there was definitely the highlight of the layover.  One unfortunate caveat though, is that they only open 3hrs prior to their departure times, so they're closed for several hours in the middle of the day.



So. Much. Better. 

Up next, we hopped on our "short" 7 hour flight down to Doha.  It was my first Qatar flight, and it was...fine, I suppose.  It was a fairly packed flight on an older A330, but nothing particularly bad for economy.  I slept most of the way, and woke up in time to take some shots of the long approach over the desert.

We landed on time into Doha, immigration was easy enough (you do have to pay a $25 visa on arrival), and we were out and into an Uber car in less than 45 minutes.  One odd thing about Uber here, is that every single car we got in was a Honda Accord.  Every single one.

We were staying at the Marriott Marquis, which is well placed right downtown.  However, 'Downtown Doha' isn't big at all.  All the hotels are situated within reasonable walking distance (though no one really walked).  The city makes a pretty decent impression- it's clean, modern, safe, and the architecture is very impressive.  More than anything, though, it's a business city, and there's very little else.  This, combined with being in an Islamic culture that hampers nightlife, makes it an easy stopover, but not a place you would need days on end to sight see around.

When asking what to do in the city, there were really two (maybe three) things that anyone told us about: the Museum of Islamic Art (worth the trip, very beautiful), and the Souq Waqif (so many spices, so many birds).

To make it all even more efficient, these two attractions are across the street from each other, connected by a tunnel under the main road that passes along the coastline at 'The Pearl,' which is a giant clam shell sculpture with, you guessed it, a pearl in it (I suppose if you wanted to stretch things, you could call this a 4th attraction).

Also, we were repeatedly told we should "Really go to Dubai."  "Did we have time to go to Dubai?"  "Had we been to Dubai?"  For some reason the answer, "No, because Emirates isn't in the Oneworld Alliance." wasn't satisfying to anyone.  

 

 The one other thing the concierge told us to do was to walk along the Corniche, (the '3rd thing') which is a long greenbelt park that stretches along the water from the museum, to downtown.  We did some of this by default going to the Museum, because it's right there, and you can't help it.  It does offer some great photo opps back across the water to the skyline, and would have been a great walk, if it hadn't been all of 106 degrees that day.  This area also gives you some views of what's left of Doha's heritage as a fishing port- a marina filled with wooden boats, most of which now seem to be in the tourist trade taking people out for harbor tours.

The Marriott was very comfortable and modern, and the service was impeccable, both at check in and in the lounge.  We had breakfast on arrival, and later went back for happy hour, which offered plenty of food and a few hours of hosted bar.  The pool and spa areas were also a great addition to the trip, especially after over 18 flight hours to get there.

After a nap, and a visit to the Museum, I decided to take the rest of the stopover to head out into the city, and see what the nightlife (if any) was like.  Our return flight wasn't until 3:30 am (!!), and my internal clock was insisting it was about 2 in the afternoon.  It's one of my rules of mileage running- obey your original timezone, or suffer the consequences.

One thing to know about Doha, as well as similar parts of the world, is that when you're looking for a drink, you have to head to one of the foreign-owned hotels.  I was prepared for this, so I took a walk to the Sheraton, which is located on the water, about a 20 minute walk from the Marriott.  (Did I mention nobody really walks in the city??  Yeah, well, except me apparently.)

What I was not prepared for, and still am not sure what all I'd do about it if I go back, is that in order to get into the hotel bars if you're not a current guest, they want to see your passport.  Your actual passport.  I do not take my passport out when bar hopping (I use the term lightly) in foreign cities at night, I just don't.  However, I had my regular ID on me, and after much admonishing about 'next time,' they did let me in.  I'll just leave this bit of info there, what you do with it the next time you find yourself in Doha and in need of a Carlsberg on draft (or whatever) is your choice.

Though, I will say that one of the more memorable experiences of this trip was definitely witnessing an all male (of course) Qatari cover band do a rousing rendition of "Royals" in a faux-Irish pub on the ground floor of the Doha Sheraton....so.....yeah. 

I eventually wandered back to the Marriott in time for one last drink at "Glo," which is the cocktail bar in the lobby, before heading up to pack up and set out back to the airport.  We didn't arrive too early, because we knew in advance the absolute hypocrisy we were about to encounter when we tried to get any amount of service on account of our Oneworld status with Qatar.

(I warned above there would be more about this....so here it is)

Qatar is well aware that as a member of the Oneworld alliance, they're obligated to provide first and business class lounge services to Oneworld Emerald and Saphire members, respectively.  This is something they most definitely do NOT want to do, reserving any and all actual privileges only to customers in premium classes.  Sorry, but that's not how it works.  The other airlines, yes, even the good ones, like Cathay and JAL, deal with the occasional economy traveling Oneworld heathen, because membership benefits them and their own elites when traveling abroad.  They, likewise, do not allow 1st class check in to Oneworld Emerald, which they are supposed to do.

It's all more of a you know what to Oneworld as their actual premium lounges in DOH are by all accounts some of the best in the world, on any airline.  They're also huge, and for the most part empty.   

To circumvent these rules, they just half-heartedly (not even that much really...more like quarter-heartedly) made an additional fake "priority" check in desk for Oneworld elites, and an even more fake set of "first and business class lounges" for the sole purpose of giving Oneworld elites a place to go, without having to actually provide them with the level of service that's required.  It's bad, like really bad....like....I really really wish it was even half as nice as a standard domestic Admiral's Club.  I swear to the deity of your choice, the food was 3 kinds of soggy sandwiches, there was one bottle of white wine, and I'm pretty sure at least some of the walls were temporary.  These lounges shall hereinafter be known as the 'Twin Lounges of Infinite Sadness."

Let me just give you a few alternate options to do with your time instead of waiting in the Twin Lounges of Infinite Sadness:

-Walk the entire Corniche in aforementioned 106 degree heat.
-Go back and see if that cover band takes requests.  No Free bird.
-Just have your Accord-driving Uber guy make random right turns around the city for awhile.
-Put on some mall-walking shoes, and see how many steps it is across the departures terminal it is.
-Take a variety of selfies with the stuffed bear sculpture in the middle of the terminal.  Change clothes mid-way if you have time. (Or for that matter, a change of clothes)

In other words, do literally anything else.  **Rant officially over**

 Now that I'm off that soapbox, the flight back up to LHR was actually quite pleasant, given that it was in economy.  It was their a380, and we got seats on the upper deck, which has a small economy section behind the much larger first and business class sections (as well as the bar area).  It was quiet, and not entirely full, so I ended up with a a window row of two seats to myself (the upper deck is a 2-4-2 config).  Plus, the plane is so massive, it handles any turbulence well, and I was able to sleep most of the 6 hour flight.  Here, I actually had some Emerald service, if only in the form of extra greetings from the FAs and Purser, and being asked what breakfast I'd like ahead of the rest of the cabin.  It was reminiscent of flying on CX- doesn't cost them anything, but makes you feel better.

What was unique about this route was that it was a true 'sunrise' flight- hitting altitude just in time for the first light to show up on the horizon.  It was the counterpart to those US transcons heading west at the end of the day, where you're chasing daylight.

 

We landed in LHR a full hour early, and transferred terminals, this time out of the Reject Terminal of Despair, headed for T3.  T3 houses the Flagship Lounge for AA, but also quite a nice BA Galleries 1st lounge, which is impressive in offerings given that it's more or less a satellite lounge counterpart to their actual lounges at T5.  Champagne from the gold bar for everyone!  Yes, it was 9 am, what's your point?

Then as it always does, it was time to roll on out, board the last flight and head back home.  I cleared the upgrade at 24 hours out, and as it always is on the  777-300, had a relaxing flight home to eat, catch up on sleep, and think over the events of the last 48 hours or so.

It was another memorable trip, and despite some lounge envy, was a great experience.  I'd definitely take the opportunity to go to Doha again.  It's a beautiful, safe, very modern city that definitely feels like nowhere I've been before.  The Qatari heritage is apparent everywhere, even among the high rises, malls, and manicured strips of parkland.  Plus, I can't say no to 18,000 qualifying miles, can I??

 I'd like to end this trip report with sharing Qatar Airways promo video.  You see, after watching it multiple times (it plays before each and every TV show or movie you select on their IFE, as well as before the safety video) I realized what it depicts is what well crafted mileage season feels like:  adventure, freedom, and luxury extras, all mixed in with a feeling that flying 8,000 miles in a day, going across the Pacific just for dinner, or connecting in a series of foreign airports without stopping, is somehow comfortingly predictable and easy.  Also, and possibly more importantly, that the urge to hop from New York, to Paris, to Doha, and then Shanghai is perfectly normal, and not, as some of my friends have implied, an un-diagnosed mental disorder....

[Click for Video] 

Where do I want to go??  Well, dinner with a view at the Intercontinental HK sounds pretty good.  Who's in?

Until the next departure, fly safe.

~CruisingAAltitude

Oneworld, Three Days Part I: The One Where I Crossed an Ocean For a Drink With a Lampshade...

777-300ER, parked at T3 in LHR

 

It occurs to me, as I book the first flight of the 2014 mileage season, that I have some considerable (daunting, even) catching up to do around here.  As I’ve written, 2013 closed with some epic mileage runs and lasting memories.  Despite some close calls with bad weather and serious jetlag, all went well.  However, I’ve neglected my trip reports, badly.  So, while I (probably futilely) sit and wait for AA to match the UA and DL fare deal to Hong Kong for this fall again, I’ll do my best to remedy that. Bear with me though, as 38,000 miles across 4 continents is going to take more than one chapter.  Some information may overlap with other entries already posted, but I’ll do my best.  

In the interest of keeping things relevant, I'll note that this run is likely to be available this year again for somewhere around the 5cpm range.  Recently, it was available on BA metal out of LAX, and I'd expect the AA metal version to come up in the fall.  Also interesting, for those willing to go a few more CPM in the name of comfort, is a WT+ fare in the low $2000 all in on BA planes that is upgradable on Avios to Club World.  I've seen these fares for scattered dates throughout the fall and winter.  This trip in their lie-flat a380 cabin would be a wonderfully comfortable 22k mileage run!

So, here we go....

They say when writing to ‘begin at the beginning, go on until you get to the end, and then stop.’  Let’s call the beginning of this story my arrival at LAX to start the journey, as all the plotting, agonizing, and rationalizing has already been posted here before.  See? and See?  

Though this flight was transatlantic, it was operated by American on the new 777-300ER and so departed from LAX Terminal 4, rather than the newly renovated Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT, if you’re the acronym-loving type).  

As an EXP/ Oneworld Emerald, even flying economy I had access to the American Airlines Flagship Lounge, which is co-located with the Admiral’s Club.  This trip was my first time in the FL side of the T4 AC.  It’s significantly smaller than the main side, but also has much better offerings: Open (self serve) bar with decent choices in both beer/wine and the harder stuff (yes 3 white tequilas, as previously highlighted), buffet sufficient enough to make a light meal- chicken, salad, rice, pasta, small desserts, etc., and bottled drinks and water (great to grab and take with you for the flight).  The lounge does have access to showers, but they’re shared with the AC, and in my opinion, the view is somewhat lacking in comparison to the AC side.  In particular, this evening I crossed back over to get some great shots of the sunset to the West.  

The food.

The Drinks

Now, a note about the plane.  It’s my favorite plane of all the planes.  The 777-300ER is American’s new long-haul aircraft, and is geared well toward the current trends in bookings.  It comes with 4 classes of service- First, Business, Main Cabin Extra, and Economy.  Now, I’ll qualify my love letter here with the admission that if I wasn’t EXP or PLT with American, this might not be my favorite plane of all the planes.  The main cabin seats are tight- 10 across in a 3-4-3 configuration, which, even on this widebody jet is cramped.  Honestly, if I didn't have status to get a Main Cabin Extra seat, I'd probably fly a codeshare on a different carrier.  Main Cabin Extra is 9 across in a 3-3-3 configuration with some extra legroom, making it a decent choice.  It also has a whopping 52 business class seats with all-aisle access and fully flat beds, making it the best business class product in the fleet, and just 8 First class open suites up front.

 

10 Across in 'Sardine Class'

For the 12 hour outbound LAX-LHR, I had seat 18F, which is a MCE aisle seat.  I’m not all that tall, so I found the legroom to be sufficient.  Though, they could take a lesson from the Qantas a380 product and put in a footrest.  The seat width also would have been fine, but the person who boarded late and took the middle seat next to me took up a bit more space, and I found myself on multiple occasions during the flight a little more up close and personal with her...and her coat,  blanket...hair….than I would have liked.  On the positive side, each seat has personal screens with a decent amount of IFE, enough to get through dinner and put you to sleep.  As for seat-tips, go for row 16, which has even more legroom due to being an exit/bulkhead row.  The only downside here is the lack of under-seat storage.  

Speaking of dinner, mine was a standard chicken-something meal.  Not terrible, but not memorable either.  A note on MCE service- they do serve you first in that cabin (in my case, just in time to get knocked around by some decent chop while trying to not spill my airplane wine), but there was no printed menu or upgraded choices like is offered in BA WT+ or QF premium economy.  You’re just basically getting a bigger seat, closer to the pointy end of the plane.      

Now, let me back up for a moment here and give a nod to the amazing group I ended up traveling with for this weekend.  Since this trip was such a monster deal, and simply netted so friggin' many miles, quite a few mileage runners signed up, so we decided to meet up along the way.  We started all over the US- 4 of us from LAX, and others from JFK, DFW, IAH, etc.  Due to the number of AA and BA flights that run on this routing, we weren’t all on the same exact flights, but kept meeting up with more and more of us at various points until we were all in one place finally in JNB.  It made the trip even better to be traveling with this group.  I don’t think I’ve ever had the opportunity to meet such a diverse, interesting and capable group of people on such a unique basis.  If you get the chance, don’t pass it up.   

The flight passed as well as any 12 hour flight does, no big complaints.  We taxiied to Heathrow’s Terminal 3, where American’s gates are located.  It then takes a hike, a bus, a train, and another hike to make the transfer and get to the (much anticipated) T5 Galleries First lounge.  It might have been the low travel season, a well-timed bus arrival, and definitely having access to the fast track lanes for customs/security as a OW Emerald, but it actually only took about 30 minutes point to point. 

The lounge itself is well worth planning a layover for.  There are actually 3 premium lounges in T5- Business class “Terraces” (Paid J cabin ticket holders, OW Sapphire), First Class “Galleries” (F cabin tickets, OW Emerald) and the Concorde Room (First class international...various high rollers…the Queen, probably...).  All have access to shower facilities, food, and drink.  

Once you complete the trek from T3 and find the lounges in the first place, watch out for the lounge dragons on the way in.  They do strictly enforce the entrance and one guest only policies.  I’ve gotten away with several guests at some ACs state-side, “this is my Mother...Sister...Brother in Law...BFF...etc.” Don’t even try it here, they scan your boarding pass and note who’s with you. Once you get by them, though, you’re next greeted by a couple of horses with lampshades on their heads.  They’ve apparently been hanging around the 5 or so self-serve bars a little too long, but I just flew across the Atlantic for no reason, so I’m not about to judge.

My new friend.  I will call him AArnold.

This lounge is one of those reasons your clothes always shrink a size by the end of a trip.  There’s food everywhere, including a complimentary made to order menu, and an entire section of the dessert bar dedicated just to scones.  

Yes, you heard me- just scones. 

As if that wasn’t enough, a walk through, on your way to, say, check out the open-air terrace that overlooks a row of a380s, you’ll also find a couple gold-rimmed champagne bars full of Taittinger on ice. 

Make that 2 sizes of clothes-shrinkage.  

Okay, okay, clothes shrinkage, and if you’re doing really well, inspiration to take a selfie with one of those lampshade horses on the way out.

Self-Serve Bar(s) Note- The ginger ale is addictive.

My brave new traveling friends and I took over some prime real estate in this frequent flyer promised land, and spent some time getting to know each other a little better.  Oh, one thing this lounge could use more of is power outlets.  But, never fear, mileage runners come prepared.  Yes, we did also have a contingency plan for evacuating the room quietly if having a power strip, plugged into another power strip, plugged into a converter, with about 6 devices on it were to blow out the lounge fuses.  Spoiler alert- no electrical circuits were harmed in the making of this mileage run.  

Voltage abuse

All too soon though, we were showered, (well) fed, (over) indulged, and ready to board the next 11 hour flight from LHR-JNB.  At this point, I have a vague (there was also 18yr scotch at the bar) memory of the group of us realizing we missed the start of pre-boarding (the horror), somewhat inelegantly charging through a duty-free shop as a shortcut to the gate, and plunging through the several hundred passengers waiting, to reach the priority lane and ensure our all-important overhead space rights.  Maybe not my smoothest airport moment, but I’ve done worse.  A lot worse. But, that’s a story for another post…





Up next: The trials of a second redeye 11 hour flight in economy, navigating Jo’burg, and lions...lots and lots of lions.

~CruisingAltitude

No, I will not make a 'long face' joke...I won't....