For years and years we traveled for free, but I am getting older and my heart can't take the drama. And besides, I can afford a real ticket. To many times in my life I stood with my nose pressed to the window watching the airplane push back and leave me stranded in some place far from home.
So, I decided I had more money than time left and now by a real ticket and let the stress go. And not just any ticket. (What, you thought I was going to leave some to you?) Several years ago we discovered "Premium Economy" seating. Foreign airlines have had this for some years now and it has caught on with the U.S. airlines. It is a section between "cattle" and "elite". The seats are larger, the service (in theory) is better, and the food, is still airline food, but different. I do know that for a large guy as myself it is a lot more comfortable for me and those who have to set next to me..
This year we are going to try a U.S. airlines newly installed "Premium Economy". Our favorite airline is Lufthansa,(our least favorite by very very far is Air France), but they wanted lots of money for a seat and American Airlines still gives me a discount on a "real ticket". So, with a cheaper and discounted ticket we chose American. We have our fingers crossed.
So, I decided I had more money than time left and now by a real ticket and let the stress go. And not just any ticket. (What, you thought I was going to leave some to you?) Several years ago we discovered "Premium Economy" seating. Foreign airlines have had this for some years now and it has caught on with the U.S. airlines. It is a section between "cattle" and "elite". The seats are larger, the service (in theory) is better, and the food, is still airline food, but different. I do know that for a large guy as myself it is a lot more comfortable for me and those who have to set next to me..
This year we are going to try a U.S. airlines newly installed "Premium Economy". Our favorite airline is Lufthansa,(our least favorite by very very far is Air France), but they wanted lots of money for a seat and American Airlines still gives me a discount on a "real ticket". So, with a cheaper and discounted ticket we chose American. We have our fingers crossed.
Jane dumps on the curb
The Transit.
I have always said "it's the journey not the destination" ...unless the journey requires flying. Then I hate the journey. I hate airports, and I hate riding on airplanes. To ease the pain of air travel, as I have mentioned, I have upgraded from the back of the bus to the middle of the bus. This has made the experience of flying much better in the past, but the experience has all been on foreign carrier's. U.S. carriers have decided to cash in on this experience so we decided to give them a shot. Since I get a 20% discount on tickets at American (not the whole ticket, just the "ticket" part and that is another whole story) we chose them for our first experience and it was disappointing. I won't bore you with the details but I will just show you the boarding charts. I pay more for the "feel special" feeling you get when you get to board first, thus giving you somewhere to store your bags. AA made me feel special alright, in boarding Group 6 out of eight on the first leg. They grade you by the flight you are on not the overall ticket that you bought. I had tried to upgrade the domestic parts of the flight to first class but they said I could not unless I upgraded the whole ticket at a cost of over $4,000. Odd system but what should I expect from the company that stole the retirement from us old people so they could live in the life of luxury I am sure their incompetence level brought them to expect. We did move up to group 4 on the second leg.
American boarding chart:
Delta airlines boarding chart where we would have been in the Premium Boarding Zone, thus getting the "special feeling" on all legs. They also never stole their employees retirement money. Guess who my next flight is already booked on?
The cheerful part of the flight. There was a medical emergency in flight and they called for a doctor, nurse,or emt. Fortunately, seated across the isle from me was a doctor and he promptly cured the patient. A short time later Dr. Lee was paged for a second emergency and he quickly solved another medical emergency. The good part of this, because of him we did not have to divert to some unknown place like Iceland or the Azores. Of course with every positive comes a negative if it has to do with a airline. That negative part was all those widebody flight attendants stopping by his seat all night long, bending over to whisper how thankful they were for him , all the while sticking the widest part of their body in my face destroying any chance of sleep for me.
Claiming luggage and custom formalities went quickly and we hoped in taxi and where quickly whisked away to our hotel in downtown Barcelona. A short nap and we were ready to roam the town.
Our good friends from St. Pete, Walt and Helen, who are on this adventure with us and arrived a few days ago and staying at another hotel, where standing in the lobby of our hotel watching the elevator to see if it was going to get stuck again with people on it, when the doors opened with us onboard. This was not a planned meeting but fate had brought us together once again.
On to the scooter ride!!!!
American boarding chart:
Delta airlines boarding chart where we would have been in the Premium Boarding Zone, thus getting the "special feeling" on all legs. They also never stole their employees retirement money. Guess who my next flight is already booked on?
Claiming luggage and custom formalities went quickly and we hoped in taxi and where quickly whisked away to our hotel in downtown Barcelona. A short nap and we were ready to roam the town.
Our good friends from St. Pete, Walt and Helen, who are on this adventure with us and arrived a few days ago and staying at another hotel, where standing in the lobby of our hotel watching the elevator to see if it was going to get stuck again with people on it, when the doors opened with us onboard. This was not a planned meeting but fate had brought us together once again.
On to the scooter ride!!!!
