Two Reasons to ALWAYS Check the Safety Card

Unfortunately, I can't remember what airline this was on (it was before I tracked it in detail), but these were on a flight of mine awhile back. Ever since, I always read the safety cards just in case something like this shows up. 

 When leaving the aircraft, leave all personal belongings except for top hats.

In an emergency, if you have the flexibility of a ballerina, please brace as shown. 

The Mileage Game: Why I picked United Mileage Plus

This is a follow up to my earlier post about how to pick a mileage program, just to show how it happened in my case. I am an active member in two programs:

• United Mileage Plus (for Star Alliance)
• Alaska Airlines (for basically everyone else)

And here’s I picked them:

• Hub cities: Seattle (SEA) is Alaska Air’s Hub city, which means they are going to very attractive for the number of flights and pricewise, so major points to them. United is present at SEA, but so does Delta and Southwest, so on that end it’s a draw.
• Alliances and Who I fly with: A lot of my international flights are on Lufthansa (LH), Continental (CO), SAS (SK) or United(UA), so Star Alliance was a pretty obvious choice. Alaska (AS), Delta (DL), Northwest (NW), British Airways (BA), and American Air (AA) are all sometimes airlines for me, but BA and AA are in oneWorld while DL and NW are in SkyTeam while AS is in its own world.
• Earning potentials: Alaska brings in all of my random players under one roof: I earn miles on my AS account when I fly AA, BA, AS, or DL. That was a win because otherwise wouldn’t be able to pool my miles and I don’t fly any of them enough to really accumulate enough miles just on their own. With the Star Alliance side, UA makes sure that I get 100% of my flown miles more of the time than the programs with LH, CO, or SK.
• Bonuses and Redemption: Chase is hooked up with UA and Bank of America is AS’s bank. I have an aversion to Bank of America and their offer wasn’t as attractive as the 25,000 from Chase. LH didn’t have anything and while CO’s was similar to UA’s, UA still had more options to earn bonus miles through partners. In terms of redemption, I really didn’t know but it turns out that AS and UA are both pretty good about mileage inventory.

Final Verdict: UA due to partner airlines, destinations, bonus miles through partners, and redemption opportunities and AS for all of the other airlines that I usually fly just to get them in under one roof (since then they’ve also added Kenmore Air and Icelandic Air as partner airlines, so this was a big win for that role!).

The Mileage Game: How to pick a mileage program, step by step

Picking the right frequent flyer program is the first step towards bending the mileage game in your favor, and the choice goes beyond simply which airline you fly the most. Here is a step by step guide to picking your mileage program(s):

1. Find out which airlines are based in your city: If you live in a hub city for a certain carrier, that often determines what airline alliance you’ll end up in because there are more inexpensive flights on the carrier based there. If you’re not a hub city, find out which airlines are fighting for your city and consider joining one of those.
2. Research the alliances: Airlines form cooperative alliances which mileage can be earned and redeemed on partner airlines. This means that even if you’re flying Lufthansa, you can still earn mileage in your United or Continental mileage account. The three major alliances are Star Alliance, SkyTeam, and oneworld. For those of you in an Alaska Air hub city, Alaska has their own unique constellation of airlines which includes carriers from both SkyTeam and oneWorld, but with the draw back that if you achieve elite status there are fewer perks and there are some limitations on how you can redeem your miles. On the other hand, these one off airlines can open up unique opportunities. For example, Alaska Air partners with Kenmore Air, which operates float planes from Lake Union in Seattle. For 10,000 miles you can get a round trip to any of their uniquely northwest and often remote destinations, plus amazing views of the northwest thanks to their low altitude flights.
3. Take a look at your history and figure out who you usually fly with. Although this doesn’t bind you that airline, but again it gives you yet more insight on what alliance you should invest in.
4. Once you have an idea about what alliance would suit you best, it’s time to start reading through the frequent flyer sections of each airline. You want to pay special attention to what fare classes earn miles on what airlines (for example, for my United account if I fly SAS on some common discount economy tickets I earn 25% of the flown miles! Because of this, I usually fly Continental or, better yet, Lufthansa, where I earn 100% of my flown miles (and an elite bonus on top of that), even if there is an extra stop involved).
5. While you’re there, you’ll also want to double check the redemption section and learn about how many miles you need to get your free ticket. Some programs are simply better than others, but the average right now is about 25,000 miles for a domestic ticket and 50,000 - 55,000miles to Europe.
6. Don’t forget the bonus miles! If you are willing to sign up for a credit card, or jump through other hoops, you can land a healthy chunk of miles pretty quick. There are fees attached to these credit cards, so they're not free, but if you plan on closing the card or converting it down to a lower fee or no fee (if available) card, you can come out ahead. Other times, there are free miles for things like signing in online, or flying certain routes with that carrier. 
7. Lastly, (and perhaps most importantly) some carriers have better odds of redeeming miles than others, so be sure to do your research! If you have a million miles it doesn’t matter one bit if you can’t find a seat to spend them on! A fairly recent survey (at time of publishing) can be found here.

At this point, it’s time to decide: You will have to weight these factors yourself, but the best program will give you the most options to the most places with the most opportunities to earn 100% mileage and the greatest chance of redeeming for a seat. It’s also a good idea to sign up for a secondary account with another airline that covers the other alliance(s), so that you always have some place to put your miles just in case the fares are so much less that it doesn’t make sense to fly within your primary carrier.

The Mileage Game: Tips for Beginners

If you like the idea of free travel, then getting into the mileage game might be for you. There are, of course, lots of loop holes and restrictions that the airlines have put in place to make it difficult for you to actually redeem your miles, but if you’re willing to put some thought into it you can bend the game to your side. Some advice if you’re just starting your mileage addiction plan:

• Consolidate! If you have a mileage plan for every airline you fly, then you’ll never earn enough miles to fly for free. Instead, read up on which airlines are in what alliance and then pick one airline frequent flyer program to give every time you fly within that alliance. Your miles will pool and you’ll be flying for free much faster.
• Don’t let your mileage expire! This is one of the most common annoyances for the infrequent traveller: If you haven’t had any activity on your account (redemption of miles or accrual of miles) within a certain period of time (two years for United), all of your miles will vanish. It doesn’t matter if you have 5,000 miles or 500,000 miles: If you don’t keep an eye on it, you can lose everything. The good news is that any activity at all, even a single mile, will reset that countdown for all of your miles and most airlines have a “mileage mall” where you can buy stuff through a plethora of different websites (even gift cards on some!) and earn miles regardless of payment type just for starting your shopping session in their “mall”.
• Don’t let miles rule over your travel or purchases. All frequent flyer programs are designed to get you to spend more money than you might otherwise. If you see a higher fare or an offer that will give you miles for buying something from a third party, always make sure that the miles you gain is worth it. For redeemable miles, a conservative estimate of the value of your miles is around $0.01 per mile. That means that if you wouldn’t sign up for something or make that extra purchase for $5, then you also shouldn’t do it for 500 miles (although this doesn’t apply for things that you would genuinely buy otherwise: In that case, you can think of your miles as a 1% discount).

ARN-SEA Flight Report: Update 1: Escape from Europe!

As mentioned in my previous post, getting out of Europe over the last few days has been extremely difficult. There have been major problems with snow and ice in Heathrow (LHR) and Frankfurt (FRA), which has stranded thousands of passengers and made getting to flights, even if they are running but at a different airport basically impossible. In my case, it was a true escape from Europe situation and I am very lucky to not be stuck back in Stockholm! Here's my flight report, plus what happened to make the report possible.

I was originally supposed to be flying in to FRA, but my flight was canceled the night before. After a "quick" call on skype to Continental (CO) and the Lufthansa(LH), I was rebooked on a flight at 6a with LH. I was not looking forward to the 3:30a bus that I would need to catch to get to Arlanda (ARN), but at least I had a seat. The next day after a night bus and train to the airport, I was checked in (no baggage) and sitting down in the lounge when my flight's status went to the dreaded "Inställd" status. The flight was canceled.

There was one shot left to get to FRA, which was a SAS (SK) flight at 9am but nothing was certain at this point. If that flight flew and if I was on it, I would be able to make the connecting flight, since flights were still leaving from FRA, but nothing was landing due to ice on the runway. An even "quicker" (50 minutes on hold) call to CO later, I wasn't really any better than I started. They weren't able to get me on any flights until Friday and didn't even see that I was booked on a LH flight that morning! They canceled the segment that was on my ticket to FRA so I could check in if I got to FRA, but that was it.

I manage to get put on the SK flight to FRA, but that too soon went from "On Time" to "Nytt besked 0900", which means "New information at 0900". When that shows up, it's never good. That flight wasn't leaving anytime soon (and didn't leave until 3pm that day!).

At this point, I'm looking for options. There was a CO flight to Newark (EWR), but I couldn't get standby on that. There was a flight later in the day to Istanbul (IST), which then put me in Chicago (ORD) the next day. And finally, there was a SK flight to ORD that left in 45 minutes. The very nice agent in the lounge put me on standby for that, but had to help other people to get on the same flight so couldn't get me a spot to SEA right then. I would have to get to ORD and then figure out how to get to SEA in the end.

A dash to the gate and through border control, and now it was a waiting game. Would I get on? Continued in the next post...

What’s it like in a lounge? Continental President’s Club, London Heathrow*

Ever wonder what it’s like in an airport lounge, the land behind those non-descript doors with the receptionist? Well, let me show you one from my travels:
Continental President’s Club, London Heathrow:

This is very early morning in the lounge, which is why no one is here. On the left is the snack bar, which hasn’t been stocked quite yet. Every lounge is slightly different, but this one had some warm pastries and even some eggs to eat.

This time in the distance on the right you’ll see the newspaper rack while the glowing blue near the center column is actually a video game console for the kids.



Here is a shot towards the self-serve bar.



And here is the self-serve refreshments: On the left, orange juice, pineapple juice, and cranberry (I think). Below in the coolers is an assortment of colas, mixers, beer and mineral water.



This lounge also featured a green wall with plant life. I nice touch and something that helps the air quality


Please note: I took these before I thought about starting this blog, so in the future there will be more and better photos when I get to the lounges again!

Eating right, in flight: Getting edible food on your flights

Everyone gets hungry but more and more airlines are taking out food service altogether or replacing it with expensive snack boxes that still leave you hungry. Even meals that are left on long distance flights instill a certain level of dread when they are being trotted out, usually with a choice between overly dry chicken or some soggy beef or pork. At best, they’re passable; at worst they leave you feeling nauseous either by sight, smell, or disagreements with your stomach. After some trial and error, I’ve come up with a few tips that make meals on planes better:

1. If there is no free food, then make food with what’s free. A cup of instant noodles (available in a mind boggling array at Uwajimaya’s in Seattle) can be made on board with hot water from the galley. It’s instant, hot, and actually feels like you've had a proper meal after you’re done. 
2. If you dislike the food roulette, then order something predictable ahead of time. The dietary needs meals are options which people often overlook, but they are free to you and limit the types of ingredients that can be included and generally limit the preparation style. Hindu meals, for example, are my current favorite: So far every meal has been a vegetarian curry (chickpeas, spinach) with saffron rice, the usual salad, bread, and some fresh fruit. Breakfast was a vegetarian box with fruit, cheese, and crackers. On my next few flights, I will be exploring more styles, but I could survive with hindu meals on all flights from here on out just fine. The best thing of all is that the food is actually good!

Hindu Meal on Continental

Vegetarian Hindu Meal on Continental

Kosher Meal on Continental

Another example of a Kosher meal on Continental can be found in my flight report here.

Track your flight history!

Note: While flightmemory is still pretty nifty, I've grown much fonder of another service: openflights.org You can read more about some of their features here or, just click on my flight stats badge to the right!

You might have noticed my running tally of miles on the right side of the page and wondered how I keep the distances and fun information updated. The fact is I cheat. I use flightmemory.com to log and store all of my flight information and they do the number crunching for me! It’s actually a really good service for frequent flyers and produces some great breakdowns, as well as a per year summary and flight maps showing you where you’ve been. You can enter everything from your experience on that flight to the registration of the aircraft you flew on and keep it all in one neat place. Best of all, the basic flight tracking service is free.



My fights as of 10/06/2010

What’s it like in a lounge? Air China’s Lounge, Shanghai*

Another installment of my lounge expose, this time in Shanghai China!




The Shanghai Airport is very, very large and the lounge is completely on the opposite end of the terminal. To fix this, they drive you there and then to your gate on golf carts!


The lounge itself is one story up and looks like this. The leather seats are pretty comfy and there’s a couple of TVs for your entertainment. To the right, there’s also a couple of computers set up to check your email and all of the normal news and magazines.


Here we have part of the snack bar: Coffee, espresso, tea, instant noodles, individual packaged cookies, soft drinks, milk, light beer, and chips in this picture.


Mores drinks, some humbow, and fruit.


The last for this one. Here we have come cookies, bread (I think), cereal, and even some wine over there. It was 8 in the morning, so I didn’t check what their selection was.




Please note: I took these before I thought about starting this blog, so in the future there will be more and better photos when I get to the lounges again!

Seat Tactics: More than Two people flying together

United 777: No middle seats!

If you’re in a group that’s greater than two, it’s a good idea to think geometrically: Arranging your seats in a square keeps you just as close to your friends, if not closer, than sitting in a row and can avoid people getting stuck in the middle seat. In 2/4/2 configurations, a block of 2x2 on either side of the plane can be better than having people stuck in the center section and on 3/3 configurations, 2 rows of the A/C trick gives you plenty of seats to bargain with and even the chance that you’ll luck out and those middle seats will be vacant.

Even if you can’t sit together as a single group, odds are you weren’t going to have a running conversation for the entire flight. Pick seats which are most comfortable for you, even if they are apart: You’ll have plenty of time to talk when you get to your destination

Flight Report: Back to Stockholm via EWR and LHR*

After a great weekend in Seattle, I flew back to Stockholm via New York and London with about three hour layovers in each city. Overall, these were fairly uneventful flights, but to contrast with the hindu meal I had on the way over on this flight I decided to give kosher meals a try.


Flight 1: SEA-EWR

A cloudy, rainy day in Seattle meant no good photos on take off...

...but at least New York was more interesting.

Flight 2: EWR-LHR

United after the merger will look like this. This was my first time seeing the new paint job.

Newark at Night

 As mentioned, I tried the kosher meal on this flight was pretty happy with the choice. I am a big fan of hummus and the chicken was a step up from the usual in flight meal. It still wasn't quite as good as the best hindu meal I had, but it was FAR better than the soggy tofu sandwich I had on the flight in!

All kosher meals are sealed when you get them and marked that they have been prepared under the supervision of a rabbi. Flying out of New York, this is probably about as good as it gets for this type of meal.

Continental Economy Class Kosher Meal

Continental Economy Class Kosher Meal

  
Flight 3: LHR-ARN

A MD-81. I haven't flown on one of these since they still boarded by the rear stairway was common!

Lots of British Airways on the ground!

Near Stockholm Arlanda

Seat Tactics: Two people flying together.

United 737: Would you pick row 13?

If you have two people flying together, there is a great trick you can try to get more space for you and your companion is called the A/C Trick. This works best on planes with 3/3 configurations (one row is two sets of three seats). Many people decide to book seats right next to each other, so one person ends up in the middle seat, but this is all wrong: If you are picking seats on a flight that isn’t full, you might be able to employ the preferences of your fellow passengers to score an extra seat with this trick. All you have to do is select the window (Seat A) and aisle seat (Seat C, hence the name) of a row, leaving the center seat empty. If you’re lucky, that seat will stay empty and you’ll get three seats for the price of two.

The basic assumption is that no one wants the middle seat. Before departure, people are unlikely to volunteer to sit between two unknown people and on the plane they are very likely to give up their middle seat for either a window or an aisle seat. If the trick doesn’t work then explain that you two were assigned seats apart and offer to trade their middle for your window or aisle, which is usually happily accepted. Then you’re in at least as good of a position as if you had just booked the seats next to each other to start with.

On larger planes like the 747, 777, and 767, where the configuration is 2/5/2, 3/4/3 or 2/3/2, you can also try this trick with the center section, but the risk is greater that two people traveling together will pick the center two seats and then you miss out on the almost ideal set of two seats by the window. If it does work, however, you’ll be able to stretch out and sleep lying down across the center section. Nice, no?

United 747: A/C trick in middle

United 777: Row 20 is risky, but might work. Row 25 is a safer bet.

Flight Report: 20 hours, 3 Flights, and 7,000 miles in the air to Seattle! (Flight 3)*

 Flight 3: IAH-SEA


The final leg of my journey, and back into regular economy class. I was seated in Continental's "Premium" Economy section, but as far as I could tell it was absolutely the same as regular economy. With some luck, when everything is said and done with the merger between Continental and United, these planes will end up with United's Economy Plus, which actually has more leg room and is real premium economy.

This felt like a very long last leg, and I was exceedingly happy to be on the ground in Seattle at the end of this.

From the Air:

Houston McMansions

Houston Partially Completed Residential Development

Houston Suburban Malls

Houston Suburban Residential

Somewhere getting close to Seattle

Flight Report: 20 hours, 3 Flights, and 7,000 miles in the air to Seattle! (Flight 2)

Flight 2: EWR-IAH

New York in the Background

On this flight, I had a bit of luck: I was upgraded to first class, and had a window seat in front of the wing. It was nice to have even more room, but I knew that this would be the last of the comfortable legs for the trip: On my next flight it would be back to basic economy. The seats themselves were comparable to a cloth lazy-boy, and perfectly fine for the flight. My row mate on this flight was less than talkative, but the flight attendants were much more so.

The meal was a nice, middle road brunch-ish meal. Fruit, cheese and meat platter, a mysteriously empty bowl/cup which was never filled, a little dessert, and a gin and tonic to go with it all.

Take Off:

What's it like in a Lounge?: International CIP Lounge in Istanbul

During my brief morning at the Istanbul airport, I managed to run into the Turkish Airlines International CIP lounge for a (very) quick bite. Of all the lounges, I've been in so far this one takes the cake and I wish that I had been able to spend a little more time there. However, the plane waits for no one, so I only had time for a croissant, coffee, and a few pictures.

Update: Turkish Airlines shut down the loung and has since completely remodelled. The new lounge looks over the top!