Travel Lull

I am grateful to be in a travel lull for my career during the holidays.  Partly because my expenses frequently get cross examined by the company accountant and holiday travel is usually quite expensive.  Mostly because the airports, roads, restaurants, beaches, and tourist attractions are filled with quick tempered folks.  I try to avoid shopping malls all year round.

I am generally perturbed by people that are cranky with service personnel while traveling.  I get doubly surprised by people at this time of year that rarely travel and take out their frustrations with the people helping them.  Something to think about is that if you travel rarely you are probably ignorant of the reasons behind the thing that is frustrating you.  Even when airlines do amazingly stupid things that cause problems with my travel, I make a real effort to not take my frustrations out on the nice person HELPING me.  Please, also consider that the travel industry is a 365 day a year profession.  Just because you are in the airport on your vacation does not mean everyone there is also getting time off for the holidays.  It is just as likely that these people are going to work on Christmas or New Years or both.

We could all learn a little from one of our Christmas songs:
You better watch out
You better not pout
You better not cry
I'm telling you why
The service personnel are only human and they can "accidentally" send your luggage on a better trip than you can afford!

Benefits of travel

I remember as a child I would travel with my family across country in our Oldsmobile.  At the very edge of my memory, I remember my parents took our family to Texas as a combination work trip and vacation.  I traveled on my own as an adult and met many great people.  They were not all strong and lasting friendships but there are a handful I remember fondly to this day.

After college I felt empowered to travel.  My first job out of college was in Alaska working in the commercial fishing industry.  I felt the confidence to leave my home and work in the "Last Frontier".  This led to a career in Seattle where I met my wife with whom I have three beautiful children.

In college my favorite trips took me to Tucson, AZ.  My brother earned his PhD in pharmacology and toxicology from the University of Arizona.  I got to hang out with him and his friends.  We all hiked the mountains and desert in the area.  We had cook outs and went to a few clubs.  My brother and his friends welcomed me into their group. 

One particular guy stands out in my memory.  We wore the same sweater one day and as guys go, when you wear the same outfit you can be life-long buddies.  He was funny and an all-around great guy.  I was not and am not close with him anymore, although my brother is still.  Our distance over the years did not ease my pain when I heard his daughter was a victim of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School.  I did not see him since college nor did I ever meet his daughter but by even knowing him briefly I know she is amazing.  I am normally very stoic but I found myself breaking down into tears a couple times for his loss.  This latest tragedy hit a little closer to home, first because of my 6 and 7 year old children, and second by knowing that great guy.

Traveling provided me with many great experiences and opportunities.  I became braver, met great people, started a wonderful family, and now had my heart broken a little deeper last weekend.  I know I can do nothing to assuage the pain and fear of that great guy I met decades ago but he is in my thoughts.  I sincerely wish I could ease his and the other parents pain, even a little. 

Brushes with fame

You hear stories of people running into famous people while traveling.  In the past my wife and I saw Naomi Campbell in Heathrow Airport and we still get a little mileage out of that story.  She walked right past us in over-sized sunglasses looking perturbed.

This latest trip for business I actually saw 2 famous people.  At least, I think I saw famous people.  The first was Air Supply singer Russell Hitchcock, maybe.  He was in the airport bar with a couple young guys that looked liked musicians and a blonde woman who could have been anyone.  The other famous person was a local business owner that appears on his own television commercials.  He is a goofy looking guy that is all legs with a short barrel chested body who sells metal buildings. These are hardly the most exciting celebrity sitings you will hear about from your friends. 

I don't know the proper etiquette when you cross paths with a celebrity in an airport.  I would assume screaming is frowned upon.  However, I think it is a good idea to remember that celebrities are people with varying emotional states.  I hear often enough about the "ugly celebrity" that directs unpleasant language at fans.  I also hear frequently these same people will spend time signing autographs and posing for pictures at events.  I try to use a little empathy when assessing the situation.  When I am in an airport after working all week on the road I occasionally am cranky because I don't sleep well in hotels and I do a lot of walking in my dress shoes between meetings and my feet get tired.  Why would a celebrity that has a stringent schedule be any less cranky? 

I am very sympathetic to people's desire to meet celebrities.  I would suggest finding a way to meet them when they schedule time to "press the flesh".  I got to meet Teller of Penn and Teller at a book signing in Seattle for "When I'm Dead All This Will Be Yours!": Joe Teller – A Portrait by His Kid. I bought the book, got it signed, and we chatted for about an hour (yes, Teller can actually talk).  It was a great experience, not just because I met a famous guy.  I met a really cool famous guy.

Pitfalls of carry on luggage

Before I get into my real topic let's talk about a dumb, diamond commercial. The ad shows a man asking a woman to marry him in an airplane. I can't impress upon all of you enough, an airplane is not a romantic place. Unless a commercial airplane has significant meaning to your relationship you should never, ever, ever, never ask someone to marry you on an airplane.

I feel better knowing one of you may actually listen to me.

Anyway, I want to mention a few issues with carrying luggage. When you check your bags there are a few problems people generally worry about: lost bags, long waits at baggage claim, and TSA agents sniffing your delicates (am I the only one that worries about that?). 

If you carry-on all your luggage this means you will have 2 bags, usually. If you are able to find space on the airplane for both, consider yourself lucky. Another hassle to consider is that on any layover, you need to schlep your second carry-on between flights. If you are forced to gate-check you have a special level of hell to deal with while deplaning, jet bridge luggage pick-up. As everyone is deplaning, the gate checked bags get dropped in the jet bridge. The passengers whose bags are getting delivered here must wait in the narrow space for their carry-on where they form 2 lines up the sides of the jet bridge. Thus leaving a narrow aisle for the other passengers to depart.  Once the bags are placed on the jet bridge the waiting passengers then need to walk against the flow of deplaning people like salmon swimming upstream for their spawning (minus the bears waiting to eat you). I recently experienced this and was convinced waiting at the luggage carousel is a picnic.

I definitely understand carrying everything when you are being charged $25 for the first piece of checked baggage.  The choice comes down to which hassle you are most willing to deal with on your trip.

Holiday travel advice

As we approach Thanksgiving (in the US) and Christmas (even if you celebrate different holidays I assume you understand the chronological point to which I refer) I want to offer some air-travel advice.  I again assert that I am in no way the foremost expert on travel but there are a few things you should know when traveling during the holidays.  Generally airlines allow you to take one personal item (purse, brief case, etc) and one carry-on (small roll along luggage).  You also must follow the TSA rules, too.

Here are some courtesy rules to remember:

1. The airports are going to be crowded!  Give yourself extra time when arriving for your flights
1. Expect long lines
2. Don't take your frustrations out on the nice people trying to help you, namely the gate attendants; if you need them you want them on your side
2. When going through security know the rules and be ready when you get to the conveyor belt
1. Remove everything from your pockets, take off your belt, and put them all into one of your carry-on items while in the security line. Do this before getting to the guy that will check your ticket and ID
2. Have your liquids and gels in a plastic bag near the top of your stuff or in a separate pocket so when you hit the conveyor belt you can quickly pull it out and put it into the bin
3. You don't need a plastic bin for everything, your bags, purses, and shoes can go directly on the belt
4. Once through the check-point gather your stuff off the belts and take it to the seats provided immediately inside the terminal to get everything back in order, don't do this at the conveyor belts
5. Take a quick inventory of your stuff.  You don't want to leave anything you need at security
3. Boarding is a slow process and is done in waves, be patient you will get on board
1.  There is no need to crowd the gate 
2. Check your boarding pass for your loading zone, or whatever your airline calls your group for boarding
3. Little helpful tip for Delta passengers, "Zone 1" is not the same as "First Class"
4. Generally you are allowed one carry-on and one personal item
1. Full flights do not have enough room for everyone to have a roller bag as a carry-on, you can check your roller bag for free at the terminal gate.  You will be able to pick it up either on the jet bridge as you leave the plane or it will come out with the checked luggage at your destination.  Be sure to ask which it is.
2. If you have 2 items it is poor etiquette to put both in the over head bins.  One should go under the seat in front of your feet.  If you only have one, feel free to use the overhead so you have a little extra leg room (temper your expectations, there isn't a lot of leg room to start with
5. Deplaning is also a slow frustrating process
1. Etiquette allows those in the front to get out first, it is very annoying when people budge in front of the rows ahead without permission
2. If you are close for a connection ask people if you can please get ahead

 This is a lot longer than I wanted but there are a lot of little things that will make your travel experiences more enjoyable.  You may also accidentally make another person's travel experience better. 

Between trips

With Thanksgiving approaching I have a rare 2 week reprieve from travel.  I get to sit back and get everything around the house done I can't always get to normally.  But I am sure you don't care about me organizing the garage and basement for the winter.

I am getting travel plans finalized for the end of the year.  Two milestones I reached on my last trip will make upcoming travel a little better for me.  I received Gold Status in both my Marriott hotel and Delta airline programs.  Earning this status sounds trivial but I appreciate the advantages.  With my airline status I get, in order of importance:

• Occasional free upgrades to First Class (Read: free drinks!)
• I get better seating choices in economy class
• I board earlier, which means I get to put my bag in the overhead compartment before they fill up completely
• I can fly stand-by or get confirmed on earlier flights the same day for free (this can cost $50 or more)
• I get a mileage bonus so I earn free flights faster
• I use special lines for check in and sometimes for security
• My checked luggage comes out earlier

My hotel status offers me:

• Bonus points to earn free stuff faster
• Free room upgrades (not as exciting as the airline upgrades)
• There are others but they are kind of blase

I know there are those that will say that the status won't earn me more time with my family.  You are correct.  Although, I will enjoy the travel I have to do a little more now.  I won't get my time back with my family but the fact is I travel for my job.  Making that aspect better has a positive impact on my attitude when I return home and I can enjoy more quality time with my loved ones.

Delayed luggage

You would think that not having luggage would make me cranky but I wasn't in the least.  I knew it was going to be late before I took off.  There was an announcement that my booked flight was delayed by about 5 hours.  There was a rush to the counters to rebook flights and I was in the end of the line.  (I thought I could get my friend the Delta App to help me, apparently we aren't as good of friends as I thought we were.)  When I got to the gate attendant she sent me directly to the next departing flight, I got right on the plane, then the door closed, and we took-off.  There was no time for my bags to get on the plane.  On my layover in Detroit I talked with the nice people at the Help Center and had them start the process of getting my luggage, which was left behind.

I was without my luggage for an entire day.  I was able to go to a local store and buy slacks and a dress shirt for work.  And guess what?!  Delta said they would pay for my new outfit.  Now I just need to figure out how to get reimbursed for my $51 new duds.  I was traveling again (I do that a lot) and stopped in at the luggage office and the nice attendant (OK, she wasn't really that nice, kind of surly) submitted my reimbursement claim and promised I will get my check in 10 days. 

She was very specific about the 10 days for the check to arrive.  Is that odd to you?  That seemed odd to me.

The high road, I took it!

With Atlantic storm Sandy beating up New York and New Jersey flight delays and cancellations this week were rather common.  So, I was ecstatic that my flight was only going to be about 15 minutes delayed.  Like the Rolling Stones sang, Time was on my side.  Then we got the news that there was a mechanical problem and a new part was being flown in to fix our airplane.  That should only take about 5 hours!  I was a little distracted and was at the end of the line for rebooking my ticket.  I was reading and in the time it took me to mark my place and stow my book the rest of the passengers made a rush to the counter. 

I walked to another counter where the agents were set up to help.  I was still near the end of the line but it was much shorter than the other lines.  Near the front of the line was a short little man with a scrunched-up face.  I didn't like the cut of that man and it turns out I was right in my shallow assessment of him.  Many gate attendants helped us and were doing a pretty good job getting people booked on new flights.  But, they still had other duties of their job to accomplish.  The woman helping our line was asked to go do something she was supposed to be doing before the flight cancellation.  She made a quick announcement that she needed to run down stairs for a few minutes.  Little scrunched-up face blew up at her.  Luckily for us another agent did the task she was going to leave for and she was able to stay and continue working with our line.  Then he brags to his gang of scrunched-up faced biddies that he made her stay. 

I would like to say I defended the agent and derided the man for his childish and ignorant behavior but I remained quiet.  I figure, it looks worse for a 6'4" man to berate a small, scrunched-faced geriatric man than it is for that gnome to abuse a woman trying to do her job.

Alls well that ends well

As a frequent traveler I don't want to waste any time.  The most important perks from the companies I use when traveling are the time savers.  Sometimes customer service fails and things start to look bad.  I expect the worst and feel like I'll be singing "I Love the Way You Lie" by Eminem, feat. Rhianna.

When I recently arrived in Atlanta, Avis (www.Avis.com) was supposed to have a car waiting for me.  As a Preferred member my name should be on the rental board with the stall number for my waiting car.  This is when things started looking bad because my name wasn't on the board.  Delay #1.  I speak with a service rep and they direct me to a stall where my car is supposed to be waiting.  I get to the car stall on the other end of the parking garage and it is empty.  Delay #2.  I return to the service counter.  I get another stall number with the promise of a car which is located in a further corner of the parking garage in a different direction.  Again, the stall is empty. Delay #3.  I was starting to get a little cranky because of the mounting delays.  My attitude when I returned, yet again, to the service counter was surly.  This time a service rep went to retrieve my car.  As I stood there waiting for my Dodge Avenger, or similar, the service rep pulled up in a brand new Ford Mustang.

My eyes lit up a little and I dreamed a little of cruising the roads of Atlanta in style.  Avis made up for wasting my time.  I don't expect perfection from companies but I expect them to hold up their end of the bargain they used to lure me in as a customer, namely, quick service.  When they don't deliver I want them to make amends.  Otherwise I go to another provider, hence the reason I don't talk about Enterprise Car Rentals.

Planes are not private

I would like to extend my condolences to the gentleman sitting next to me on my last flight.  He was apparently having trouble sleeping because his sleeping pills were not working for him.  He also went through a hectic morning that day because his hotel did not get his wake-up call right.  For him and all people that deal with problems when traveling I dedicate some Sinatra to you, Willow Weep for Me.

I will refrain from a diatribe on sucking it up when things don't work perfectly when traveling.  Suffice to say, with about 2 million air travelers daily (source FAA) there are going to be some people that have less than perfect experiences.  If there is only a 1% problem rate, 20,000 of us travelers will have an issue each day.  Lastly, only idiots rely on wake-up calls from hotels, use the alarm function on your smart phone or the alarm clock in the hotel room.

Whining about your problems on the phone to your loved ones is something we all do from time to time.  Please limit whining to a minimum on the airplane.  On the same note, please don't talk with your neighbor about how well you did on your job interview.  I am pretty sure you didn't seal the deal based on your comments that you never experience conflict in the work place because of your team-work attitude.

Same ticket, different service

You may think that a ticket or reservation is the same no matter where you buy them.  Not necessarily so.  You don't get the same customer service when you buy through a discount travel service.  If everything goes well with your travel schedule you'll be laughing!  (I learned that colloquialism on a recent trip to Vancouver, BC and I love it.  BTW, it means "you will be happy about your decision.")  It's when issues arise that you see the real difference.

You may recall I use an app to help me on my Delta flights.  On my most recent trip to NY I bought my tickets through Expedia.com and thought I got my seats and everything settled.  Turns out, I requested seats but wasn't assigned them for my first flight.  This didn't allow me to get my boarding passes on my iPhone.  As a frequent flier with Delta I assume I get a slightly higher level of service than a recreational flier, which means I get to select my seats when I purchase my ticket.  When I buy through Delta Airlines that is absolutely true but Expedia does not recognize me as a frequently flier, so they treat me like I'm in the song "Message in a Bottle" by the Police.  Now, this did not ruin my trip.  In fact, the total inconvenience amounted to getting a paper ticket when I checked my bag at the counter and then getting my seat assignment at the terminal gate.  Total time wasted in this situation was approximately 90 seconds.

Do as I say, Not as I do

I would like to think I am beyond mistakes when booking flights since I do it frequently enough.  The truth is, I make far too many mistakes and when dealing with airlines it can be expensive.  Much more expensive than the new Mumford and Sons album I want.  I recently booked a trip on Expedia.com while in Canada and made a slight error on the return trip date.  I wanted to return on October 11.  The USofA is unique in that we write our dates Month/Day/Year.  Other countries change the order up.  So, while in Canada and being forced to use the Canadian Expedia site I mistakenly booked the return flight for November 10.

Always verify that you have the correct dates and locations when booking a flight yourself.  You should do this when using a travel agent, too.  They are far from mistake proof.  Boy are they!  I have a doozy of a blog topic about my travel agent using my personal credit card to pay for my boss' business trip.  Back on the topic for today, I got very impatient when booking this trip for several reasons:

1. Delta Airlines has a very poor user interface (UI) for booking flights on line when you want to book multiple city trips and are searching for a compromise between schedule and price
2. Expedia has a better UI for searching for the best value packages but making changes to try different options is challenging
3. I tried using multiple windows to compare prices between different scheduling options and both Delta and Expedia get cranky with you when you try this

After approximately 45 minutes of searching for the best schedule and price I thought I nailed it.  I had a reasonable schedule at a reasonable price.  I booked it as fast as I could, I thought if I waited a minute or two I would run over the arbitrary time period to book the flights before the website changed prices on me.  The ultimate reason I made the mistake was, I am used to making my flight arrangements in about 10 minutes and this took much longer and I got impatient.  My impatience cost an additional $317.60 for a one-way ticket on the correct date.  This is no fun to pay but the cost of changing the original flight was over $600!  Please take my advice and double check your dates, airports, times, destinations, and everything else. 

Don't scare me like that!

On my trip home I am the most concerned about being on time.  I am very easy going until you threaten to keep me from my wife and kids. Or if you start playing George Michael music.  Before I left Toronto I believed everything was on time and going to run smoothly.  I believed this because the Delta Airline mobile app told me so.  There is no reason to think technology would lie to me.  When I got to Cincinnati for my layover I found a place to get a chicken sandwich close to my gate.  On a side note, airport food is not worth writing about in great detail.

I had plenty of time to make the next leg of my trip when I checked the Delta mobile app.  I frequently check my tickets and flight status. I am one part paranoid and one part practical because: 1. I lose things and 2. Flight statuses change.  On this occasion it was the latter, it stated my flight home was delayed.  When my Delta app suggested I book another flight I thought it was my glorious savior.  The idea of dealing with a mistake prone person versus my Delta mobile app, a wonder of technology that loves me, was silly.  When the Delta app suggested I book the same flight I was perplexed.  When I asked my buddy, Delta app, a bunch of questions it stared at me without uttering a word of assistance.  My new best friend was acting like it hardly knew me. Now I had to walk to my gate and talk to a mistake prone person from Delta.  After asking the question, "Is everything on time?"  This person answered me with "Yeah, we'll be boarding in about 20 minutes".  There was no delay and I got home to my family waiting for me at the airport.

I was not happy with my technology buddy.  The Delta app is normally accurate and helpful.  With the Delta app you can: check-in, schedule and pay for any checked baggage, change seats, and get your boarding pass.  There are many more features on this app but I don't use them frequently.  I never learned why the Delta app lied to me about my flight delay.  We aren't on speaking terms yet.

Goat tastes musky

Not the most appetizing title for a blog post about eating out.  I absolutely stuffed myself last night due to pure stupidity.  I met some colleagues for dinner a little later than I usually eat.  Before meeting I stopped to grab a slice of pizza since I was super hungry.  I was also getting some heartburn and thought some food in my stomach would help.  I happened to stop where the slices were big and on sale “two for one”.  So, since I am frugal I didn’t want to waste a good deal I ate two slices of pizza, which amounted to a full half pizza.  When I met my colleagues 30 minutes later we went out for dinner directly.  The only saving grace was the 20 minute walk to the little hole in the wall Jamaican restaurant called Ritz Caribbean Foods on Yonge Street.  I was embarrassed to admit I just ate pizza so I went ahead and ordered a regular meal without mentioning my pizza “appetizer”.   

I ordered Goat Roti with a side of Channa (chickpeas).  Roti is a type of wrap with your meat and potatoes wrapped together.  Goat has a very distinctive flavor that is akin to mutton.  As I mentioned in the title, it is a musky flavor and would be very tough to handle had it not been prepared in a spicy stew.  I was not in love with the meat’s flavor but enjoyed the dish because of the variety of flavors.  Luck was on my side because the portions are large.  I was able to eat my channa and half the Roti and it didn't seem weird to announce I was full.   

When in a strange city, getting a good recommendation can leave you with wonderful memories of the local cuisine.  An unbiased acquaintance will generally provide a much better restaurant reference than a hotel staffer that is directed to point you towards places that pay for recommendations.  My culinary guide in Toronto provided many options across a broad spectrum of ethnicities.  I recommend listening for a person’s first option as it is generally the best option in their mind.  I followed this advice last night and ate a very good meal.  Despite my efforts to sabotage myself with half of a pizza. 

Get my car and let me go!

For the last two days I learned that Ontario Canada is bigger than it looks on the map.  I was under the impression that Guelph, ON was approximately 20 minutes from the Toronto airport.  For those that are Rush fans you will recognize Toronto’s airport code: YYZ!  I also thought London, ON was another 30 minutes from Guelph.   I was wrong, Guelph is 70km from YYZ and London is another 130km farther down the road.  So, my rental car is important to me on this trip.  

Rental car companies can really make your business trip run smoothly.  I used to rent from Enterprise and earned elite status in their loyalty program.  I earned this status between April and August this year and subsequently dumped them like my brother got dumped by his last girlfriend.  Not exactly like my brother got dumped, I didn’t send Enterprise an email and ignore their phone calls.  I stopped renting from them because they kept my business trips from running smoothly.  I now use Avis for rental cars and am much happier.  I can go directly to the parking lot for my car, run my quick scan for vehicle damage or other problems, and drive off when I get myself comfortable in the cockpit.  I do not need to go to a rental counter and wait in line for the rental staff to repeat everything I already did online when I reserved my car.  The most annoying thing Enterprise employees did was shake your hand.  Some marketing executive (read “over-paid schmuck”) came up with the idea that the Enterprise people should show respect and shake hands with every customer.  They come out from behind the counter or reach across the counter to make you shake hands.  From my point of view, it’s creepy!  And it wastes my time; I want to get out of the airport not touch people that I don’t know where they’ve been.

Amateur Day

Travel on Sunday means you risk running into “less frequent” travelers.  Let’s call them amateurs.  Some entertaining amateur scenes included the extended family of seven trying to distribute the appropriate tickets to each other in the security line and the lady that didn’t realize that you need to pull your liquids out of your carry-on luggage for screening.   

I understand many people only travel occasionally and don’t know the TSA rules by heart.  To help, the TSA folks stand in the screening area yelling the rules at passengers like they’re the town crier with critical news.  The yelling gets annoying since the announcements take two minutes and the lines are 20 plus minutes in length.  The agents are on a continuous loop like the Purple Rain cassette I got from my sister for Christmas in 1984.  I listened to that thing constantly after hearing the song “Darling Nikki”.  My point is you should know what you need to do by the time you hear the rules ten times.  When you get to the conveyor belt, pull your computer out of your bag, get your liquids and gels out for inspection, and take off your shoes.  Please wear socks, your feet freak me out a little bit because your toes are not right.

A working man's travel blog

First, I am sure you can read better written, more informative blogs.  But why be so heady?  I travel for my work and I run into my share of good people, bad service, interesting situations, and delicious bacon recipes.  (In my mind "delicious bacon" is redundant.)

Hopefully I will provide a little insight to less seasoned travelers, learn a little from those more experienced, find some some better than average bacon, and review different companies to help you navigate the challenges of traveling in these paranoid and budget challenged times.