Yes, This Is Real Life Part 6: Birds in Doha

 

 

Preview: Yes, This Is Real Life

Part 1: Location, Location, Location

Part 2: Brits In Beantown

Part 3: Shades On, Wheels Up

Part 4: Welcome to Ghostport 

Part 5: When You Layover During Ramadan

 

In each of these adventures, there comes a point when I wax poetic about the experience of travel.  So, buckle up, because here it comes....in a minute, once I deal with some logistical preliminaries.  

As discussed in the last post, we spent the first nighttime layover in Doha at the Grand Hyatt.  It's a beautifully sited property at the entrance to The Pearl.  The Pearl, for those who 1, haven't been to Doha, and 2, care, is a man-made land form (I guess is what you'd call it) that spirals out into the gulf.  It is still under construction, if the huge cranes are anything to go by, but is home to a ring of high rise commercial and residential buildings, followed by even more outlying 'islands' that, as far as I can surmise, look to be exclusive residences.  It's best viewed from the air, but the 'gateway' is fairly impressive from the ground.

 Thanks to hotel status, we landed a suite with a great view for the night.  

 Now, let me just back up and say that I had my reservations about trying to check into a hotel in Doha with a person of the opposite sex who I'm not married to.  It might be silly, but the blaring notice that a marriage certificate is required for Qataris gave me pause.  I'm on a mileage run, and ain't nobody got time to spend with the morality police between flights.   

As it worked out, there were no questions, and hardly any side-eye.  I was pleasantly surprised after my last major foray into this town, wherein I learned that at night most people don't walk the streets, especially single western female types.  I didn't feel unsafe really, just out of place.  

After we over indulged at Iftar, and spent a few minutes relaxing at the man-made 'beach' out front, we retired to the room, and realized it was about noon at home and there probably wasn't any sense in trying to adjust to the local time.   So, what're a couple of mileage runners to do?

Step 1- Open the bottle of wine the manager left for us to thank us for our brand loyalty. 

Step 2- Drink it & converse all night about the thrill of flying around the world. 

And on this point I need to expand (you were warned) because there's something existentially beautiful about mileage running.  When you're planning the average, or even above average trip, there is generally an accepted purpose that you try to fulfill- Wine tasting in Napa, or skiing the alps.  You start there, and build the necessary plans around it.  You have a goal, you meet it, you are victorious.  

However, a mileage run is a trip in reverse.  The plans come first.  And I don't mean the plans to go on a snorkel cruise, and then a romantic sunset dinner.  I mean the airline tickets, the layovers, and the one nights hotels- what is usually the most pedantic part of the plans.  The outcome of this is that you aren't beholden to preconceptions, or to anything at all.  If you go and come back, mission accomplished.  Everything else is gravy. 

Which means that, when you and your friend just spend the entire night's layover watching rugby, talking about nothing, drinking wine covertly, and then watching the sun come up over Doha, it's perfect.  There's no sense that you were supposed to do a single thing differently. 

So when at 4am, you start to hear bird calls as you stand looking out from the darkened balcony of your hotel, and your friend says he didn't think there were birds in Doha.....you just laugh and have another drink.  Because sunrise will come all too soon over this expensively camouflaged desert. 

Because yes, there are birds in Doha, as there are the world over.  And yes, they wake up at 4 am, as they do the world over.  And it's beautiful to realize this, when for once your only purpose in life is to know that there are still a few universal truths....and then to you yourself to fly on to your next stop along the way. 

 

And that, is what's up next...

 

Part 6- A Stop in Sri Lanka: Dealing with Dragons or, Ceylon With a Side of Naptime
 

Yes, This Is Real Life Part 1: Location, Location, Location

 

Sunrise over IAH

I should call this 'position, position,' but it lacks a certain ring. 

Today's the day, we're headed out.  But before we can jump right into the thick of it with our Qatar itinerary, we have to get to Boston.  I'm starting in Houston, and my friend who's going with me as far as CMB is making his way from DCA.  I started my day early this morning with a 5:30 am Uber to the airport from the downtown hotel I've been staying at for the past few days.  I got there in plenty of time and had breakfast at the Centurion lounge in terminal D.  The usual.

I do have a tiny story to tell though.  Remember when I said I took one of my Seattle layovers to sign up for CLEAR?  Well, I did it in part because I knew I'd be spending some quality time with the IAH airport this summer, and they have their kiosks at each terminal except the international terminal D, of course.  So I decided for the novelty of trying it out, and also because D doesn't even have PreCheck, and I've gotten burned by long lines there before, I'd go to A, check in with American, then take the train over to D.

With all that in mind, I was a little annoyed that when I went up to the CLEAR kiosks, the attendant there told me that those particular ones 'weren't open yet,' and that it was a long walk to the ones that were open.  Okay, but this isn't a large terminal, so how far could they be?  And if those weren't operational, why was CLEAR paying all that money to have someone standing there telling people so?  So I still haven't been able to use my membership yet, and I'm glad the trial didn't cost much. 

CLT Views

So, that story over with, I'm currently sitting in the Admiral's Club lounge at CLT before my next flight.  It's not a bad lounge, although it hasn't been renovated to the new AA 'look' just yet.  CLT is a legacy US Air hub, and so this was historically one of their spaces.  It still retains some of the old character- the dark wood and frosted glass.  Even though they don't offer a Flagship Lounge here, I don't mind it.  It has some great views of airport ops and the taxiways, and the proximity of the nearby gates is fun- you're up close and personal with the planes.

CLT Tails

 Lounges are strange places at times.  It takes all kinds, and you never know what you'll encounter.  Currently I'm about 20 feet away from a guy who I (seriously hope) is a doctor who has decided that appropriate behavior is to use his noise cancelling headphones to take a phone call in which he is explaining medical procedures and histories in detail.  Dude, seriously?  I also just heard the phrase "you're not supposed to know I have this information" followed by laughter.  Wow.

Anyway...

 

At this point it should have been just a quick little 2hr flight up to Boston.  Easy peasy lemon squeasy, right?  Famous last words.  I boarded my flight to find this little guy 'sharing' my legroom.  Now, I'll pause for a moment to give lip service to an issue that has the flyer online community constantly griping.  The uproar (if you can call it that) is over so called 'emotional service animals' who fly for free as service animals, though it is apparently easy to self-proclaim your resident furbaby a 'service animal.'  Now, I'm a fan of pets generally, and I fully understand legitimate service animals who serve an important purpose. 

 

I also understand feeling strongly enough about your pet to book them a legitimate pet ticket on a flight, and follow the 'fits in a bag under the seat' rule.  This was the case with my little friend on the flight, and he was well traveled and well behaved.  The complaints are over pets who fit neither of these categories. and as such, give a bad name to the rest of them. 

 

Okay, statement over.  On to the real story, which is the fact that no sooner did I board my flight and sit down next to Fido, that I realized things were going south with this plane.  And I was flying north (haha, get it??).  After being served a PDB (Yus!), I noticed maintenance was spending an unnerving amount of time in the cockpit.  Never good.

 

It was shortly (well 30 mins later) that we learned that it was the radios that were the problem, and about 30 more minutes later that that plane wasn't going anyplace.  Luckily, I'd already been on the phone with the Exec Plat desk at AA (a good perk of status) and had myself  'protected' on the next flight up to Boston.  This is a strategy that not many people know about, but can save an itinerary.  Getting protected means that if your flight cancels, you already have a seat on an alternate one, before the hoards offload and take them up.

 

The story should have ended there, with me on the next flight.  However, while I was waiting at my new gate to board my new flight, I heard an announcement that they'd found another 737 for my original flight, and would be boarding soon.  Really?  I mean really????  That seemed unlikely, even in the best of cases.   

 

Nevertheless, I had to check it out.  Mostly because if my original flight went, then my upgrade would stand.  I hustled down the terminal, calling AA back all the while, trying to sort it out.  Long story short, they did find a plane, and it wasn't broken, but it was unclear exactly when it would be ready to go.  In the end, I actually kept my original flight and seat, though pushed back on a different aircraft about 2 hours late. 

 

Luckily, I try to book in long layovers on mileage runs for exactly this purpose.  This delay ate up my valuable time to check out the new Boston lounge with my mileage buddy, but it didn't make me miss my flight, which in the end is what counts. 

 

And the lounge?  That's a story for another post...

 

Fly well,

 

~CruisingAltitude

 

Up Next, Part 2- Brits In Beantown