Tag: Travel

Spokane to Seattle; The Long Way

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A lot of people think I’m nuts. Maybe I am. Or maybe I’m crazy like a fox. My weekend was spent flying between Spokane, Washington and Seattle, Washington. Doesn’t sound crazy right? What’s crazy is that what should have been an hour flight on a lawnmower with wings was really a bunch of flights taking me from Spokane to Denver to San Francisco and finally to Seattle. Yeah, I guess I am crazy. That is, until I tell you it cost me $44 before taxes. See, crazy like a fox. The route looked something like below.

All told, I flew around 7,000 miles and rounded out my mileage balance on Continental Airlines. Why? A good friend and I stumbled across the fare a while back and decided it was too good of a deal to pass up. At first I bought a few of them, but ended up only keeping one, figuring I didn’t really have the time or energy to do a bunch of these back to back. The only hiccup in the whole trip was on our positioning flight to Spokane from San Francisco. The plane had a maintenance issue and was delayed, getting us into Spokane a little later than we had originally planned.

Continental ERJ Landing at IAH

What did I do on the flights? Watched some television shows I had stored on my iPhone, caught up on a bunch of reading, wrote a little, and talked to other passengers. Flying is relaxing to me, so I actually got a little bit of rest as well. It was a fun trip that transited a lot of airports and got me the miles I wanted at a price point that is very, very reasonable. I guess I am better at “mileage running” than the guy in this video.

The Future of Air Travel Thanks to the TSA

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There is no soft spot in my heart for the TSA, in fact, I have posted a lot about my disdain for their methods. After reading Jeffrey Goldberg’s latest piece on The Atlantic, I can’t say I’m holding out hope that things are going to get better any time soon.

Here’s a small excerpt from the article, though the whole thing deserves a read.

The pat-down at BWI was fairly vigorous, by the usual tame standards of the TSA, but it was nothing like the one I received the next day at T.F. Green in Providence. Apparently, I was the very first passenger to ask to opt-out of back-scatter imaging. Several TSA officers heard me choose the pat-down, and they reacted in a way meant to make the ordinary passenger feel very badly about his decision. One officer said to a colleague who was obviously going to be assigned to me, “Get new gloves, man, you’re going to need them where you’re going.”

The take-away from this single paragraph and really the whole article, is that the new pat-downs have little to do with security and a lot to do with intimidating people into using the backscatter machines. When a traveler opts-out of going through the x-ray machines, they will be subjected to a verbal demoralization as well as a pat-down that can be best described as borderline fondling.

Does any of this really increase security? After last week’s events in which explosive materials were found in ink cartridges being shipped to the United States, I would say it is all show and little substance. From what has been reported, the bomb plot was foiled thanks to information from a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner. That’s right, it wasn’t some TSA agent taking away your bottle of water while you got the frisking of a lifetime, it was information. Imagine that.

It may feel like there is not much we can do but I plan on making the TSA agents as uncomfortable as they make me in these situations. Maybe if their own employees complain enough, we’ll see some changes in these new pat-down procedures. Me, I’ll be opting-out of the backscatter every time I am at an airport that uses one. When they ask me why I opted out (had this happen the last couple of times) I am thinking about replying with an overtly sexual remark. Is that wrong? Probably. What’s worse is being groped so much that you finally submit to the backscatter machine.

In all seriousness, the TSA has the upper hand. You and I have destinations to get to and they are the gatekeepers. I have no problem taking out my laptop or taking off my shoes, but this is bordering on the ridiculous. Wait, it is ridiculous. I am sure we could do a much better job of making air travel safe by actually asking questions when people go through security and analyzing facial expressions, demeanor, etc. rather than taking naked pictures of everyone or worse, shaming them in front of others.

Let’s start sending notes to the men and women who work for us in government and ask that a serious look be taken at the procedures used at airports and oversight of the TSA. If someone in either House wants to make this their pet project, I’ll back them 100%.

For those of you who fly out of IAH, you can technically clear security at any checkpoint so long as your airline does not require you to go through a certain one (some international flights do). A number of the checkpoints do not have the backscatter machines, feel free to use those.

An Idiot Abroad

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There is a new documentary coming out on Sky1 in the United Kingdom called “An Idiot Abroad”. Ricky Gervais has taken a non-traveler and sent him to explore the Seven Wonders of the World. Hilarity ensues.

In some of my travels I have encountered people like the subject of this show. They’re not really idiots, they just do not have the desire to travel or leave their comfort zone of their home country. I’m sure some of it has to do with self-preservation and not putting oneself in harm’s way. Going abroad is intimidating for a lot of people, so I don’t hold it against this guy. The show does look hilarious though.

[A warning – there is nudity and foul language in the previews below]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUTH1coLIWE
An Idiot Abroad – Preview Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TChZa-GfAtA
An Idiot Abroad – Preview Part 2

Frequent Flyer

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I occasionally get asked why I fly so much or why I go to Europe for the weekend. Well, a few months back a documentary was made about my slight obsessive compulsive behavior when it comes to flying. It is a hobby, just like any other, except it goes around the world at 600 mile per hour. Flight has always been an interest of mine, but it was not until college and then traveling for work that I became interested in doing it for fun. There is just something about knowing that the furthest points of the Earth are only a flight away that fascinates me.

On the scale of how much I fly, I am a lightweight compared to some of the people in the movie (and know a few of them). Just like the video says, there is a whole community devoted to mileage running and travel. Watch and enjoy, maybe you’ll learn a little about my obsessive compulsive desire to travel.

Ecuador – The Foot Race

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Every once in a while, Continental Airlines will publish a fare that is just too good to pass up. A few weeks ago, they announced a weekend special to Quito, Ecuador, a city which usually carries a price tag of around $1,000 to fly to, was going for $299. Knowing that Jessica was not going to be able to take off work for the trip, I called a friend and we agreed to split a hotel room in the business center of Quito.

Quito - Early Morning

The city of Quito sits at 9,350 feet and is flanked by the active volcano, Pichincha. For travelers not used to the high altitudes, this makes walking around somewhat of a chore, in fact, for the first few hours in the city, my body was adjusting.

We arrived fairly late but clearing immigration was simple and the hotel had arranged a driver to pick us up.

La Basílica

The next morning we were on our feet bright and early and walking the city. Because it was a Sunday morning in a predominantly Catholic country, the streets were mostly deserted, giving us the run of the town. We ended up visiting all of the churches and most of the sights in Centro Histórico, the historic district of the city, which helped Quito become the first UNESCO World Heritage site.

Having more time than we thought, we arranged a driver to take us to the Pululahua volcano, thought to be one of the only active calderas with inhabitants. The view was breathtaking, even in the dry season with dust flying. The area is sustained completely on subsistence farming and now eco-tourism to the hot springs that are near the village. We also toured the equator, which even though has a real touristy feel, is extremely interesting.

035-IMG_3926

We ended the day by attempting to take a ride on TeleferiQo, the aerial tramway that takes riders to around 13,400 feet on the side of Pichincha. Luck was not on our side however because we arrived at the ride area to find that it was closed for the day. That lead us to dinner where we enjoyed a good amount of Ecuadorian food and broken English conversation with our waitress.

Ecuador is a beautiful country and I highly recommend that everyone take a trip down there while they still can. The president, Rafael Correa is thought to be the Chavez of Ecuador, and this shows when coming back to the States, I was grilled for a good 30 minutes by the immigration officials on the reason for my visit.

Speaking Spanish is a plus, because as we found, not a lot of the locals speak English and those that do have a very limited understanding. Since both I and my friend have a little bit of a history with Spanish classes, we managed, but it would have been really difficult without the classes I took in high school.

So go. Find a cheap fare and enjoy the country of Ecuador. The weather is gorgeous all year round, with the wet season being what we would consider winter and spring.

This Week’s Links | April 17, 2009

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  • The dark side of Dubai – A fantastic look at the “true” Dubai and what most outsiders do not witness. From sewage problems to what amounts to slave labor, Johann Hari writes a compelling article on the Disneyland of the Desert.
  • Mileage Deals Spur Runs for Elite Status – I admit it, I am taking advantage of these deals. I am flying to Frankfurt, Germany the first week of May to earn 21,000 miles on Continental Airlines. There are a lot of benefits for me to have the status, so for $300, it is worth it.
  • Spokane to detonate squirrels tearing up parks – It sounds like a scene from Caddyshack.
  • Plane-side TSA searches aren’t worth the trouble – More proof that the Masterpiece Theater known as the TSA and airport security is a joke. They cannot test the liquids quickly, so they have limited the amount that you can bring on board, but now, without any evidence of a greater threat, they are searching passengers again before getting on the plane. The TSA says it cannot test liquids of vendors inside of the airport, making the plane-side searches necessary. Huh? So, they’re suggesting that terrorists have infiltrated my airport’s Starbucks and Au Bon Pain and are plotting to kill us? Maybe with calories.

Let me know what you think, leave a comment!

Mistake Fares – Where Do You Stand?

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008-IMG_3230, originally uploaded by Stephan Segraves.

On Wednesday, February 18, 2009, Continental Airlines published a mistake fare from Seattle to Tokyo-Narita for a price of $590 after taxes. The fare was a “B” fare, a type that earns 150% elite miles. By taking red-eye flights, the ticket could be routed through Houston, giving it the earning power of 25,551 elite miles (essentially locking in Continental’s lowest tiered status for a flier). For Continental, this was a rare event, a severely under priced ticket on a business heavy route is not something that they do very often, but for other airlines, this type of thing is common. So mistake fares beg the question, is it ok to buy these tickets knowing that they are mistakes?

I’ll be honest, I bought one of the Continental flights to Tokyo. The thought of passing up the miles was just too hard to bear, but late last night, I made the decision to cancel the ticket and use the money to buy a camera. The length of the trip was the main reason I cancelled because the trip would essentially be me on a plane for close to 48 hours. Also, if I am going to Tokyo, I would like to spend more than a day there exploring all of the sights and I just could not pull that off with the fare.

Where do I stand on mistake fares? It is a little bit of a tricky question, because on one hand, the airline made the mistake and I simply caught it. If I walked into a store and was sold an item for $10 and left but the manager ran after me to tell me that the item was actually $100, I would probably not be too happy and would want to keep the item for the price I paid. On the other hand, if I knew the item was actually $100 but let the clerk charge me the wrong amount, I think there is a moral dilemma. Which is why I am torn, we see these fares as mistakes but the average traveller sees a great price on a trip.

There have been a few cases recently where airlines have refused to honor tickets where they had made a mistake, the one that has plastered the internet is the case of Swiss Airlines publishing a $0 Business Class fare and refusing to honor it. Eventually, Swiss honored some of the tickets, but I have to wonder if they were a little jipped here. The guy that is mentioned in the article knew that the price of $0 was not right, but went ahead and bought the ticket. Yes, Swiss should be on top of their game when publishing fares, but should we not expect our fellow man to have some sort of moral fortitude?

I am not completely convinced either way, but I would like to hear what you think! Leave a comment letting me know where you stand.