Apr 262013
 

No sooner had I gotten back from Johannesburg than I found out that the new job I took starting the day I returned had a trip planned for me.  I expected it would maybe be one new country, but as planning has evolved it’s now planned for nearly three weeks and four new countries!  Score!  The downside is not getting to really play tourist too much, but you can’t complain about getting to go to four relatively out of the way countries  without it costing any vacation time or out of pocket expense!  Things are pretty much lined up now, and the the route looks like:

map

 

Plan is to visit four new countries:  Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.  Assuming the visas show up in time, all systems should be go for this trip!  Lots of long segments on Lufthansa…perhaps in First if upgrades clear, along with a couple long segments on dreaded Turkish 737s from Sarajevo to Istanbul to Bishkek.  Also, two new airlines:  Uzbekistan Airlines and Air Astana, one on an A320 and the other on an ERJ-190.  This assumes, again, that everything happens as planned…

Not sure how many sights I’ll get a chance to see, but I’ll definitely make an attempt to review the flights, check out the local restaurants, and use my evenings wisely to at least try and see some sights around town!  Plus, I should have a full weekend day in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, so that should be a chance to see a fair bit!

More to come soon!

Apr 232013
 

I’m going to be a bit briefer on this entry than the trip down, mostly because many of the flights were relatively similar…just in reverse.  That said, there were quite a few differences so I’ll go into a bit more detail about them.

Check-in at Johannesburg was a piece of cake despite the fully loaded A380, and we had our boarding passes within 10 minutes of getting off the Gautrain.  Past the ticketing counters, on the way to security, we saw this interesting gem:

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I’m going to guess that enough people flying out of JNB have weapons to check that not only do they need a special place for it, but they need a giant sign to let you know where to do it.  I guess this makes you feel a little safer?  Maybe?

No wait for security, but the wait for immigration was close to 20 minutes.  With A380s of Lufthansa and Air France departing, as well as a couple long-haul South African and BA flights it was no big surprise, and can’t really complain about it too much.  We did a bit of duty free shopping, and maybe a couple things worth mentioning:  if you want Africa-themed souvenirs, you can find just about anything you want at JNB.  There are several shops selling just about every sort of mask, statue, necklace, and trinket you could imagine.  If you want to buy South African wine…not so much.  There’s one shop, with a small selection, and they do NOT package or ship.  Sort of disappointing, but saved me a good deal of money I guess.

Shopping done, it was time to spend a bit of time in the South African business lounge.  Plentiful drinks served by bartenders, a bit of pre-packaged food that was so unappetizing I didn’t touch any of it, and internet that was about as fast as Oscar Pistorius…no wait, too soon.  It was slow.  Almost unusable slow.  So slow I used data roaming on my iPhone slow.  Oh, and if you want to plug in your device….you best forget it.  I think the whole lounge had about 10-15 outlets all of which were in use.  Womp womp.

Boarding for the A380 was total chaos due to it being a completely full flight.

Lufthansa flight 573
Johannesburg, South Africa (JNB) to Frankfurt, Germany (FRA)
Depart 19:05, Arrive 5:45 next day, Flight Time 10:40
Airbus A380, Registration D-AIMC, Manufactured 2010, Seat 27K

This flight was nearly identical to the way down there.  I’m not going to post too much, because honestly…not much is different.  Pre-departure juice, water, or champagne (one glass, and one glass only), quick and efficient meal service from a very friendly crew, and I managed to sleep a solid 8 hours on the way to Frankfurt.  I can’t ask for too much more.  The menu:IMG_5968

I had the chicken thai coconut stew, and it was pretty tasty, but a pretty small portion.  I did get a second helping of cheese after the desert course (hey, I’m a growing boy) and with a few glasses of wine got an incredibly solid sleep as mentioned above.

When we deplaned in Frankfurt, there were German immigration officers just outside the jetbridge checking passports.  I’m not certain how this works, but I guess they want to catch people who ditched their passports in flight (hoping for asylum?) coming off the plane before they mix in with other flights so they can at least tell where they came from?   Anyone know more about why they do this?  I flashed mine, and we were off.  Quick re-do of security, and we were in the A/Schengen-gates senator lounge where a nice shower awaited:

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Showered and happy, grabbed a lite breakfast including lots of coffee, and some of the brightest and most festive easter eggs I’d ever seen.  But come on Lufthansa, you’re a couple days late…easter was a couple days ago!

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Apr 182013
 

A couple months ago, people were posting about a fare from DC to Johannesburg, mentioning that while it was a great fare in business class, it wasn’t really cheap enough to be considered a “milage run.”  Well, I like to be comfortable, and with business fares earning 1.5 times the elite miles it was a no brainer for me.  I tend to think if I can buy a business fare for less than 10 cents per elite mile I’m doing well, and with the limited time off I have it made this a no-brainer.  The kicker was that my friend Dewon was already headed back to South Africa to renew a visa, and I could fly the outbound with him.  A few days after booking, my friend Phil wanted to join me for the crazy milage run from DC, and we had the makings of an adventure!

Of course, since this was largely for the miles I devised the most insane routing I could to maximize the miles, and it went off without a hitch!  All told, it would be around 33,000 elite miles earned, at the cost of only one day of leave…can’t complain too much!  Soon, the day of the trip was here and it was time to go.  I’m going to break this into three parts….  (1) the trip to South Africa aka this post, (2) our 1.5 days in South Africa, and (3) the trip back from South Africa.  Warning, this part of the post will be extremely picture heavy!

Got to National Airport, check-in was fairly efficient, TSA was a non-event due to TSA Pre-Check, and soon we were in the United Club.  I love the historic club at National Airport, not to mention the awesome bartender who makes the most amazing spicy bloody mary…perfect start to a big adventure!

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United (operated by Shuttle America) flight 3523
Washington DC, National (DCA) to Chicago O’Hare (ORD)
Depart 10:35, Arrive 11:44, Flight Time 2:09
Embraer E-170, Registration N638RW, Manufactured 2004, Seat 2F

Not too much to say about this flight…it was a pretty generic express flight.  One more drink, some “gourmet snack mix,” some crossword puzzles, and soon we were in Chicago.

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Whenever I have time, it’s become an O’Hare ritual for me to swing by Chilis for some Tex Mex Eggrolls and a Platinum Presidente Margarita…couldn’t resist this time either.  We had plenty of time, and the other option was to sit in a crowded United Club, so the choice was obvious!

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Jan 212013
 

Slept nearly 10 hrs, and woke up feeling even more like death than the night before.  Ugh!

Went to the Sheraton Executive lounge for the breakfast, where there was fresh-squeezed orange juice.  Fantastic.  I think I had 3 or 4 glasses, along with several espressos, and began to feel marginally functional.  Rather than deal with a cab, I decided to take the hotel shuttle to the airport for 10 TND, and be at least marginally more comfortable.

Check-in for Lufthansa at Tunis took an eternity – or at least it felt like that.  Waited in line for at least 15 minutes, and even then they could only check me in for the first segment to Frankfurt…and seats?  It was one of those old 1980s sticker maps where they peeled a sticker off a sheet with your seat assignment.  Once all the stickers were gone, there were no more seats.  Anyone have a clue why Tunis operates SO old school?   It’s as if they’re not connected to any global systems at all!

Through immigration and security, and into the TunisAir lounge which is used by Lufthansa.  First time in ages I’ve seen a lounge where smoking is permitted…ug.  Not what I needed with a horrid cold and congestion already.  Combine that with three or four sick people in the lounge who made me look like I was a rolemodel of health, and it wasn’t the recipe for the best time.  I was ready to get out of there!  The lounge did have a buffet and drinks (I did have one glass of wine…it kills germs, I swear) but I didn’t explore it much so can’t really comment on the quality.

Lufthansa Flight 1323
Tunis, Tunisia (TUN) to Frankfurt, Germany (FRA)
Depart 13:40, Arrive 16:25, Flight Time 2:45
Airbus A319, Registration D-AIQF, Manufactured 1991, Seat 2F

I honestly don’t remember this flight too much.  We boarded just 5 minutes before departure, and ended up leaving nearly 20 minutes late…getting into Frankfurt 20 minutes late.  This brought my connection down to barely an hour….totally doable, but definitely not optimal in Frankfurt.  There was a full meal offered with two meal choices, but I skipped it so can’t comment on it.  Seemed to be the pretty typical Lufthansa meal, nothing overly special.  I spent most of the flight dozing in and out and watching some tv on the iPad…just trying to get through it.

The one big disappointment upon landing in Frankfurt – although we were at a remote bus gate, there was no car transfer waiting for me.  I had to take a bus to the terminal, and use the regular security lines with everyone else.  I’m not complaining, but part of the reason I’d booked a first award was that being sick I wanted the absolute minimum time standing around and waiting, and wanted to be as comfortable as possible.  Waiting in a cold bus, and long hot security lines…not my idea of fun.  Service failure:  Lufthansa.

Got to the lounge in Frankfurt with about five minutes to use it, but that was enough time to get a few glasses of water and freshen up again before heading to the next flight.  The lounge agents were very apologetic, but nothing they could do about the missed transfer request at this point.

Lufthansa Flight 118
Frankfurt, Germany (FRA) to Munich, Germany (MUC)
Depart 18:00, Arrive 19:05, Flight Time 1:05
Airbus A320, Registration D-AIQK, Manufactured 1991, Seat 7F

For some reason, Lufthansa had blocked off nine rows for business on this flight, despite there only being 8 people total in business class.  Economy was pretty full, so no clue what they were thinking.  There was a small snack on this flight, but again, I skipped it and had only water so can’t really comment on it.  We arrived in Munich nearly 20 minutes early, and at an actual gate, so I had plenty of time to unwind in the lounge – over two hours!

The lounge was actually relatively full when I arrived just after 7pm, but it did thin out quite a bit by 9pm.  The lounge attendants couldn’t have been more wonderful.  I was blowing my nose a lot, and she actually brought me two small packs of kleenexes to take with me on the flight – that’s service!  Had several glasses of water, and couldn’t resist a couple glasses of champagne, otherwise just tried to relax and take it easy as much as possible.  Caught up on some stuff online, and before I knew it it was time to head to the gate and board.

Lufthansa Flight 730
Munich, Germany (MUC) to Hong Kong (HKG)
Depart 21:55, Arrive 16:05 Next Day, Flight Time 11:10
Airbus A340-600, Registration D-AIHU, Manufactured 2008, Seat 2K

This flight was absolutely wonderful.  That’s the only word I have for it.  First was only booked to 5 of 8 seats, including a mother and approx 8yo son in the first row…but he was perfectly behaved.  The minute I was seated, the pre-departure treats arrived!  Mmmm macadamia nuts and champagne.

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Jan 102013
 

When planning this trip, Malta was a pretty obvious starting point.  It was close to Libya, I hadn’t been, and it seemed most logical to combine it with Libya and Tunisia since flight schedules were good.  Plus, it would keep my award as a US to Europe award, instead of the extra miles required for a north Africa award.  Initially, I’d booked my award from home in DC, routing DCA-YYZ-FRA-MLA and I was excited to try Air Canada business class transatlantic for the first time.  Later on, MSP-ORD-YYZ opened up, and I was able to change the award to depart directly from Minneapolis after visiting family.  One thing I didn’t think of at the time…the departure from MSP was at 8am.  Ug.

Weather was also not looking good on the 24th.  There was a major storm headed towards the east coast, and it was unclear if it would be snow, ice, or some slushy nasty combo of the two.  I played around for two days, and eventually settled on a MSP-PHL-FRA-MLA routing on US Airways.  FRA-MLA had been sold out for over a month, so I was shocked how willing agents were to retain the segment and just change the start.  Plus, this left MSP at 11:00 which would allow a bit of a lay-in and time for breakfast before heading out.  Also, I’d never flown US transatlantic, so it would be a chance for a new experience…albeit with VERY low expectations.  I knew US had refreshed the seats on their A330s, but I figured service would still be more miss than hit.

Check-in was a piece of cake at MSP, and I had time to grab some unhealthy kibble at the Red Carpet Club in the MSP E Terminal before boarding.

US Airways flight 1834
Minneapolis/St Paul (MSP) to Philadelphia (PHL)
Depart 11:00, Arrive 14:31, Flight Time 2:31
Embraer ERJ-190, Registration N947UW, Manufactured 2007, Seat 1D

One thing I found unusual is that US Airways operations their ERJ 190s with mainline crew.  I’d taken the ERJ 175s several times which were operated by Republic, but with just a few more setas the 190s were mainline.  Flight itself was remarkably unremarkable.  Snack basket, drinks, and about 45 minutes of circling around PHL waiting to land due to storm-related congestion.  In the end, no real big deal…except for the fact I’d had a friend call United when I was in the air, and see about changing my routing to PHL-DTW-FRA in order to fly Lufthansa first…and it seems the United agent had booked it!

One problem…while I was in the air PHL-DTW canceled, leaving US to try and rebook me PHL-CLT-FRA instead.  What a mess!  Fortunately PHL-FRA wasn’t heavily booked, and it was easy to get it back.  Spent about 30 minutes in the lounge at PHL, where I got one coupon for a “premium drink” for flying business.  Premium drink?  Wines that they sell for $7 a glass are premium?  I shudder at what the free wines must be!  The bartender WAS nice enough to say “if you want another glass, just go ask for another coupon, they’re meaningless and you can get as many as you want.”  LOL.

US Airways flight 700
Philadelphia (PHL) to Frankfurt (FRA)
Depart 16:30, Arrive 06:15 + 1 Flight Time 7:45
Airbus A330-300, Registration N274AY, Manufactured 2000, Seat 6H

My first impression after boarding was just how IKEA the cabin looked.  Light woods, bright, and overall very pleasant feeling.  Initial impressions were pretty good!

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A glass of champagne wass offered (they insisted it was Champagne, despite being some California bubbly thing), which was followed by a second.  So far so good – you can see just how gross it was outside, and the reason for the delays in PHL:

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Jun 072012
 

Common route right?  Lots of people just happen to fly From Seychelles to Bulgaria  😉   There was a route with two stops, but I chose to add a third one in so I could maximize my time on nicer airlines.  However, even before I got started, there was some rather serious drama.  Flight didn’t leave Seychelles until mid-Afternoon, so after waking up, I went for a 5 mile or so run on the beach.  Absolutely amazing running right along the water lapping on the beach, some serious waves crashing…it was definitely paradise!  Got back to the room famished, pounded over a liter of water, and gave in to the diet coke in the minibar.  It was listed as 500ml for $7 which was a ripoff, but I was willing to pay it.  However, the can was only 300ml.  I figured I’d take my changes.  Make note…

After a shower, I packed my bags, and when leaning over to put the scuba gear away, heard a loud POP in my back, and collapsed to the floor.  Fortunately, I was near the bed so I could break my fall, but still scary.  Sitting there dazed for maybe 15 seconds, I finally used the bed to lift myself up to sitting and assess the damage.  Didn’t feel awful, just really stiff and swollen, and I wasn’t going to miss my flight, so popped some serious anti-inflammatories and called the buggy to take me to check out.

Was honest about the mini-bar, and the agent called the manager on duty.  He offered to reduce the Diet Coke to $6.50.  Let me get this straight…it’s 40% smaller than promised, and you offer me approximately 8% off.  I asked the agent to please call him back and thank him for his extreme generosity, and to please let him know he has an unhappy platinum member whose stay will always be remembered for this act at check-out.  I only honestly wanted a fair price (even $5 would have worked) but the sarcasm was duly noted, and the item was removed completely.  Above and beyond, tho a bit disappointed I had to go through such extremes.

Taxi came for the airport, and the driver requested 600 Rupees.  I was in a negotiating mood at this point, and had put all but 500 rupees to the hotel bill….so I offered 500.  He took it immediately when I said it was all I had, which I was mildly proud of, considering I’d paid 600 for the airport.

Check-in at the airport 30 min later was pretty painless, and immigration was pleasantly air conditioned, and soon I was in the lounge.  No decent food to speak of, but a few Seychellois rums and diet coke eased a bit of back pain, and the slow internet was adequate for some browsing and e-mail checking.  Soon, it was time to board!

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 878
Mahé, Seychelles (SEZ) to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (ADD)
Departure 16:25, Arrival 19:40 Next Day, Flight Time: 4:15
Boeing 737-700, Registration ET-ALK, Manufactured 2003
Seat 4A

The most notable thing about this flight is that business only had 3 people in it, and economy might have been 33% full.  The route had just started a week before, so maybe it will take time to come up to speed.  There was a rather cranky family that boarded at the last second, and basically demanded to the station manager to be upgraded, and he gave in.  I’d seen them in the lounge, so assume they were some sort of local VIPs, Ethopian frequent flyers, etc.  To their credit, although they were a bit demanding, the small child was perfectly behaved, and having an extra 3 people in the 20 seats was no big deal at all.

The other strange fact was just how early we were going to be!  I guess everyone got boarded early, so why not!

Upon boarding, one of the stranger amenity kits I’ve ever seen was waiting for us!

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Oct 232011
 

So, this is probably not the most commonly flown route in the world – Philippines to Zambia? It was odd enough there were several stops along the way where agents had to look up three digit airport codes to figure out where it was, lol.

Checked in in Manila at oh-dark-thirty minus an hour, and no trouble. Once again, the airport improvement tax is not included in the ticket, but you can pay in any combination of currencies you want at the ticket window. Got rid of my leftover pesos, spent a few US dollars, and we were through to the Cathay Pacific Lounge. Perhaps the most depressing lounge on the planet. But, it was quiet, and we didn’t have to wait in a gate full of hundreds of people (ok, so we did have to sit with a dozen or more self-important types, but…) but there was Diet Coke, and all was right with the world.

Boarding was right on time, and the crew was pleasant. Not too much more you can ask for on a two hour regional flight!

Manila, Philippines to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific flight 904
Depart 6:20, Arrive 8:20, Flight Time: 2 hours
Airbus A330-300, Registration B-HLH, Manufactured 1995
Seats 15H, 15K

Not much to say on this flight. Breakfast was served with two hot options, the eggs were almost edible, and before we knew it we were landing in Hong Kong. I forgot to say this flight had perhaps the best character we’ve ever seen He was walking with a “pimp cane” with a giant fake diamond on the top of it, and complaining loudly to everyone in site that he was not sitting next to his wife. Two people in a row declined to switch with them, and he only got more obnoxious, waving his cane in the air. It was something out of Las Vegas meets Bollywood meets a Trailer Park…eventually they got to sit together, and he was quiet the rest of the flight.

Immigration in Hong Kong was a bit of a nightmare, and we ended up waiting well over 30 minutes to get through. We hadn’t planned on clearing it, but there were no Lufthansa agents anywhere on the transfers side and we wanted to request the upgrade as soon as possible, so we went to the check-in desk. Quick stop for Starbucks, up to the check-in desks…and SCORE! They upgraded us on the spot. Life was good!

Back through immigration, and first stop was the Singapore lounge. It was adequate (despite there being no washroom in the lounge) but nothing great, so we headed to the Thai lounge, which had a dedicated first class side. Much better, drinks were provided by a waiter, and it was a much better (and lighter) place to wait. The Singapore lounge is in the basement of the terminal, while the Thai lounge is on the top level with a glass roof. Much better! Soon it was time to board…and pray.

See, Matt doesn’t have the best luck with Lufthansa First Class. On two different occasions, he’s had a disaster:

First, flying Dubai to Munich the aircraft went tits up with some sort of mechanical malfunction, and a 3+ hour delay…which would have meant missing connections back to the States. Now, this wasn’t all bad, since due to a bit of quick thinking we begged to be rebooked on Emirates…and did. On the A380. In first. Nonstop to London. Arriving over 30 minutes earlier! That said, Lufthansa was jinxed.

Next, flying London City to Frankfurt to connect to Frankfurt-Baku the incoming flight struck a swan. Well, they said it was a swan, but it was probably just some other sort of large fowl. Regardless, flight canceled, no way to get to Frankfurt in time, and a resulting downgrade to “business’ on Turkish via Istanbul and a nearly 18 hour delay. Fantastic. Something was SURE to go wrong again…right?

Hong Kong to Frankfurt, Germany
Lufthansa flight 739
Depart 12:45, Arrive 18:55, Flight Time: 12:10
Boeing 747-400, Registration D-ABVF, Manufactured 1990
Seats 83A, 83K

Well, everything went fine up until departure and after a couple of glasses of champagne we were airborne. Of course, this meant that we were sure to divert to Kraplakistan or something on the way. Hopefully to a country I hadn’t ticked off the list yet! 😉

Soon after we took off, the crew sprang into service, and soon it was time to set the table and deliver the amuse bouche.

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Aug 072011
 

So the time had arrived, time for my second eastbound transatlantic with United in first in just under a month. However, since we’d crossed the month marker the menu should theoretically have changed, and should be an interesting flight. Normally, I’m not a huge fan of the “early” flights out of Dulles – they make it far too hard to sleep normally, and they mean skipping out of the office slightly early. Oh well, nothing a little red wine can’t fix! Continue reading »

Jun 122011
 

So let’s see, where were we. Oh yes, due to customer service issues and dangerous cargo I was stranded at Frankfurt and transferred from my SAS flight to a Lufthansa flight meaning a delay of four hours. There’s only so much time a person can spend in the Senator lounge, plus I’d headed outside immigration and security to actually get booked by someone who cared, so I did what any bleary-eyed redeye survivor would do: camped out at Starbucks. One quad venti lowfat iced latte later, I was feeling nearly human. After about an hour of playing around on the iPhone (thank you AT&T unlimited international data) and fending off a group of cougars from Nebraska who were after my Splenda stash (understandable since they’d been in Europe for two weeks) I headed back through security to the Senator lounge, where I found…

…no würst!!! I mean, come on, that and the beer (ok, and the potato salad) is the only thing that makes the Senator lounges better than Red Carpet Clubs. So faced with that, I decided to take advantage of the only other thing that makes the Lufthansa Lounges nice after a redeye: the showers. Despite being overheated and humid (I’ll never understand the German fear of being chilly) the showers are always welcome, plus they offer one of the few places in Germany where someone whose German is as poor as mine can actually practice since the shower attendants rarely speak more than 2 or 3 phrases of English. Continue reading »

Jun 092011
 

One of my favourite things about the “New United” is the ability to book one-way awards. Beyond the obvious benefit of being able to book one-way segments, it’s also nice for round-trips. I’d rather book two one-ways than an open jaw…it’s just so much easier to maintain.

Originally, I had booked my outbound as IAD-MUC in Lufthansa First connecting MUC-HAM-OSL on an A321 and CRJ in business. However, when space opened up I did what many milage nerds would consider unthinkable: I chose United First over Lufthansa First. For three reasons: One, the 10pm departure instead of 7pm departure made for a full day at the office as well as more shrimp time in the United First lounge. Two, the single connection in Europe instead of the double connection would get me in about the same time. Most importantly to me was reason three: the aircraft temperature. I don’t know why, but Lufthansa and Swiss have this annoying habit on eastbound transatlantic flights of cranking the heat up to the point where I spend the whole flight sweaty and unable to sleep. This was a no-brainer.  The final route was to be:

After stopping off at the Sheraton Herndon for a Mattress Run (can’t beat their $60 rates with the summer resort promo) I made it to IAD just over two hours before the flight. The Dulles Diamond security was closed, but regular security had no queue at all, so I was right through and in the IFL within 15 minutes of arriving at IAD. Even a blind squirrel gets a nut once and a while! This left plenty of time for the IFL shrimp cocktails and a bottle of Veuve before heading to the flight. This feat is less impressive now that they have the 375ml bottles instead. Continue reading »