And To All a Good Flight....

 

 

The end of the year is always a time for me to collect my thoughts, to reflect back on how far I've come and maybe where I'd like to go next.  The more I travel, even for very short trips, the more I've come to appreciate what these trips and destinations have taught me, and have tried to put them into words.  To close out 2016, I'm giving a shot to putting these mid-flight notes together with some of my favorite travel photos from the year.  So, at the risk of sounding like a fortune cookie, here we go....



Chicago O'Hare

 'If there is a universal language, it's travel.'



Panama City from the skies.

'The wonders of the world are not a thing of the past.' 

 

Cape Cod National Seashore

 'Sometimes solitude is necessary, and is not at all the same as loneliness.' 



View from The Wing, Hong Kong

 'Being able to find familiarity in the foreign is a gift.'

The Red Suite, HND 1st Class

 'Passion for an interest, no matter how unique, is never something that should be apologized for.'

 

Morning Trail, The Peak, HKG

 'The constant feeling that the thing you're searching for might be just ahead is nothing to be worried about.  In fact, it may be the way to keep moving forward.' 



TBIT Pavilion, LAX

 'You can learn something from everyone you meet.  Yes, everyone.'

Hong Kong Harbor

 'In transit, it's best to think of time as an illusion.  Bedtime, doubly so.' 



"The Bean," Chicago

 'There are so many places to go in this world....



Seattle, WA

 ....But don't forget to enjoy the beauty of coming home again.'

 

Best wishes to all, and to all a good flight,

 

~CruisingAltitude 

View From Above: The Windy City

 

"Hi Airplane!!" Baby Flyer gets ready to take off!

Last weekend we headed to Chicago as a family for a two night stay.  We like to go there just about once a year, if we can find the time.  This year it was a no-brainer, thanks to $64 round trip tickets.  I'll be posting the full trip report over on Baby Flyer Blog. 

Chicago is always a photogenic city, from the iconic skyline, to the long lasting fall colors, and impressive public works projects.  We always make a point to spend as much time outside enjoying the city as the weather will allow.  This year, the weather was perfect- sunny, clear skies that made the city sights really stand out.




Frank Gehry designed Pritzker Pavillion



Late Fall colors in Millennium Park

 

The skyline from Maggie Daley Park

 

"The Bean" sculpture in Millennium Park

 

What's more, this trip the city greeted us with impressive views even before we made our final approach with these stellar 'views from above.'  Check out the shadows of the skyline on the lake! 

 

Hello, ORD!

 Once again, Chicago doesn't disappoint.  We had a great time playing with Baby Flyer at Maggie Daley Park, staying in style at the Palmer House Hilton, and eating at our favorite find, The Green Zebra. 

Until next year, (or the next flight deal) Chicago!

~CruisingAltitude

This post is part of Budget Traveler's Sandbox's #TravelPhotoThursday, #WeekendTravelInspiration, and #FlyAwayFriday at Time Travel Blonde. Check out these linkups!

 

The Violet Hour....

"This is the violet hour ... when the affectations glow and valor is reborn, when the shadows deepen along the edge of the forest and we believe that, if we watch carefully, at any moment we may see the unicorn."  (Photo is actually first early light south of Tokyo on approach to NRT #nofilter)

Yesterday was a big day.  Well, a big about 90 minutes.  What happened?  Glad you asked....

AA.com put up a flash sale for domestic tickets from several major hub cities, selling insanely discounted tickets for various dates through the fall.  I mean insanely discounted, "unicorns" if you will, like these:

LAX-ORD and return- $65
LAX-DFW and return- $71

That's round trip. All taxes included. Yes, for serious, I can even prove it:

Yes, I know this ticket goes to Chicago for 2.5 hours.  What's your point?

This is not the first time this has happened.  Last year I picked up a couple of $81 dollar fares to Chicago and used them to visit our favorite restaurant (The Green Zebra), and on a later trip meet up with a friend from law school for coffee & later a new traveler friend for drinks.  All in a day's trip.  As an aside, the name of this post, as well as being pertinent to the actual point of this entry, is also the name of a cocktail bar I really meant to go to with said travel buddy...but there was a line...and ain't nobody got time for that on a 'same day turn.'

I'm just going to pause at this point to address what any of the maybe... 5...on a good day, maybe, people who might read this and are familiar with the recent changes to the AA earning system's brains are exploding with at the moment.  Yes, I am painfully well aware of the changes going down on Aug 1 that will make these tickets virtually worthless in terms of redeemable miles (there were actual tears).  However, depending on my year, I very may well be in need of some cheap EQMs, and you can't do better than this.  Even with my anger at AA, I've resolved myself to "one more year" of going for EXP status, since I've come this far already.

So, that being addressed, to the point.  Fare deals like this one only come around once in awhile, and once it gets out to the flyer community the mad dash to pick up the one or two seats per flight that are being discounted per day, I can only compare the ensuing chaos of booking to my childhood memories of the annual county fair's "barnyard scramble." 

What's the barnyard scramble?  Glad you asked...

This was an event that entailed a flock of chickens, rabbits, and the like, being herded into the main event arena, to eventually be pursued by an equally disorganized heard of the young attendees of the fair.  The kids got to keep what they could catch while chasing, screaming, and shoving other kids out of the way.  It was insane (but fun, when you're 7), PETA-angering chaos.  As a disclaimer, I grew up in a pretty rural part of the country, and most of these kids' parents had a nice little farm that said captured animal would be going home to.

So, to the point yet again.  At the end of the about 60 minutes where I was still able to find these fares, I amassed about 8 or 9 bookings put on AA.com's 24hr 'hold.'  I barely knew what all I'd grabbed, forgoing the time to select seats in favor of putting google flights to good use. In the end I emerged with 4 Saturday same day turns, and two 2 night weekend trips that I managed to get two tickets on, so Mrs. CruisingAltitude & the new BabyFlyer can join in.  One of these even has an outbound on the 787 Dreamliner, making it even harder to pass up!

The result of the scramble...

Which brings us to what I've come to think of as The Violet Hour.  This is the sometimes stressful time at about 9 or 10pm the night that hold expires, where you suddenly remember you have to fish or cut bait on all those tickets you have sitting there.  This happens to me a lot, usually on things a whole lot more of a commitment than $64.60.  If I had a dollar for every time I'd gotten into bed, and immediately said, "oh &^#@*&, I still have those tickets on hold" I'd have like...a lot of dollars by now.  I find at this point a glass of wine helps...or a cocktail... depending on the ticket price and itinerary to help make the call.  You contemplate, plan, bargain, and think if you REALLY want to go to Chicago in November, Kuala Lumpur in the rainy season, or Hong Kong any time for 18 hours (the answer's yes, always yes to HKG). 

There is no bad time to go to Hong Kong.

This Violet Hour, I conquered the challenge.  I scrambled for those unicorns, and managed to go through with several Chicago turns, as well as picking up a longer visit to DFW so Mrs. CruisingAltitude can visit her sister for a few days.  It's even better when the deals actually take you someplace you need to be.  It should help me finish out my EXP for the year, and besides, who doesn't want to spend their Saturdays in airports and on planes!?! 

Come on, let's go!

~CruisingAltitude
 

The ONE Time Silver Is Top Tier...

"Silver Elite"

This has been a long time coming, but as I just put over 200 miles on this shiny,  new, Audi A4 Quattro, I decided to make time.  The review at hand- "The car rental that doesn't suck." (their words, but mine as well)  This truly eloquent company is Silvercar, and yes, the internet has already sung its praises, but here's my take:

Renting from Silvercar has a certain 'Bond. James Bond.' appeal to it, as much as any reasonably priced car service can.  It's the 'Uber Black' of rentals, if you will.  No, you probably don't 'need' the horsepower or the bling to get to your airport hotel or to see the in-laws, but it sure doesn't hurt.  Plus, it feels good to roll up to 'that meeting,' or to take a client out to dinner with a little panache.

Glamour shot...

Quattro

So far, I've rented at two of their locations- SFO and ORD.  Adding to the international 'man of mystery' feel, the pick up instructions at each location are different.  Awhile ago, when I rented at SFO, it was a covert-feeling multi-step process involving a non-Silvercar marked van, a location inside an offsite general use airport parking garage, and a guy with an iphone guarding two A4s parked in a corner.  The website generally just directs you to 'text us when you've landed, and we'll give you the details' ie., 'your mission, should you choose to accept it.'  But, when the benefit of finding the place is taking one of these for a weekend in Sonoma, I'll happily accept the challenge.

Never seen a National Ex aisle look like this!

 Thankfully, the staff are uniformly polite, young, and enthusiastic.  Little surprise, given that it's the 'tech startup' of rental cars.  Today I was dropped off personally at ORD in my actual rental car, eliminating any extra stops, or transferring of luggage.  I approve.

The Pros-
 -Guaranteed silver (get it??) current year Audi A4.  Every single time.  No picked over lots, or third-in-a-goddamn-row Malibus that always pull to the right. (I'm looking at you, Hertz 'gold')
-No base models here, they're all quattro all wheel drive.
-Slick rental app.
-Cars come (mostly) fully loaded, including some nice extras like nav, wifi, working bluetooth & sirius radio.
-Car charger to USB adapter included. 
-Concierge-feeling customer service.
-Feeling elite without paying (too bad) of a price.

VERY THOUGHTFUL

The Cons:
-Severely limited locations, so it can't be your 'go-to' everywhere.
-On average, cars seem to have a decent amount of miles on them, at least in comparison to some of the very low mileage I can usually find on a well stocked National aisle.
-As they're new, and not a main line car rental, getting to their lot is a different experience at each location, and you need to be aware of the instructions before you go to pick up.
-No real elite program, or accrual of free days.
-If you need a bigger car, you'll have to go elsewhere. 

In short, I happily pick Silvercar where possible, and where they're price-compeditive.  Surprisingly, even with the premium fleet, they can meet this criteria pretty often.  The only hesitation I have is missing out on status and free day credits with National....but it passes about the time I hit 60mph!

Happy driving,

~CruisingAAltitude