Tagging Miles

LAX is leading the charge against Uber and Lyft

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Traffic is always bad at airports. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, I tweeted about a #travelhack of meeting your ride at the departures level rather than the arrivals level. Well, now we find out that LAX is leading the charge against Uber and Lyft, and it is not for your benefit!

LAX is Leading the charge against Uber and Lyft – Why?

Skift’s Brian Summers writes that:

Los Angeles International Airport soon will bar rideshare and taxi drivers from picking up passengers outside its terminals, forcing travelers to ride shuttle buses to a nearby parking lot where they will be matched with a car.

– Skift – LAX Leads Airport Stand Against Uber and Lyft Congestion

Summers notes that:

Rideshare cars account for roughly 27 percent of all commercial traffic at the airport

Rideshare accounts for more and more traffic at US Airports

With rideshare options increasing in availability, its not surprising that Rideshare is accounting for increasing traffic at US Airports. With LAX rideshare accounting for 27%, Summers notes that other airports are moving rideshare pick-ups further and and further away from the terminals. While I agree – rideshare is adding to more traffic, the fact is – more and more people want to have a simple, easy to find ride to their ultimate destination. Earlier this year, I flew down to Atlanta for an event; it took me a half hour to find where the rideshare lot was, which detracted from my general experience of flying into Atlanta. Would I do it again? Not unless the event was a “can’t miss.”

Convenience is king, regardless of the provider!

What I think airports are missing, is that people travel to a particular city, not an airport. Further, people travel to a particular city for a reason. Yes, there is a subset of us that travel to see the airport, or for mileage running purposes. But the majority of people fly to destinations specifically for some event or reason at the destination.

Using that logic, it is reasonable for passengers to expect a seamless experience. More and more travelers see the value of rideshare over renting a vehicle. I know personally, if I am doing a very focused trip, I’d rather just Uber or Lyft to where I need to go and back, rather than dealing with a rental car, having to refill the tank, and ride a bus back and forth to the terminal.

With LAX’s movement to push rideshare out further from the airport, requiring a bus ride, it devalues the overall passenger experience. If I’m flying into LAX, I want to be in a vehicle and on my way as close to the point I hit landside as possible. If I have to get on a bus for a rideshare, I’m not going to rideshare, if its even remotely close to the cost of a rental. If a taxi is an option without a shuttle bus, I’m probably taking that taxi.

And before you flame me for being negative on this central location for rideshare, lets take a moment and consider central rental car facilities. The Las Vegas airport is one of the inner circles of hell (according to Dante’s Inferno) – just to get to the rental facility, you walk a half mile (mas o menos), wait in a 10+ minute line to hop onto a bus, for a 5-10 minute ride. By that point, its an easy walk–if you’re an elite–for your rental car. At the end of the day though, you’ve just committed 30+ minutes of your life to have a rental car, and lets not forget the additional 20-30 minutes to get back.

Wrapping Up

My final thoughts on the fact that LAX is leading the charge against Uber and Lyft, is that LAX is reminding us once again, that they do not value Origin and Departing(O&D) traffic. With so many other options in Southern California, this move tells me I should be looking for others airports, if I actually want to leave the airport. Is increased volume a problem? Definitely. But pushing Rideshare users to have to ride a shuttle is a non-starter and, quite honestly is combative to rideshare services. Regardless of how you feel about rideshare services, this move is negative, not just to rideshare providers, but more importantly to passengers. The real question I am thinking is: is this because volume is so far up, or because they’re trying to protect another service provider?

What are your thoughts? Will this change make you reconsider flying into/out of LAX from an origin/destination/layover perspective? Does this change your opinion at all?

How to visit the Marina Bay Sands’ SkyDeck

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One of the most notable sights in Singapore, is of the Marina Bay Sands. A structure of 3 towers, connected at the top by what looks like a boat.

View of the Marina Bay Sands from Singapore’s Merlion.

Up there, on the 57th floor, is an infinity pool, restaurants and a viewing area.  The view is truly spectacular, whether you’re looking back toward the city:

View of Singapore

View of Singapore from the 57th Floor.

Or out to the Singapore Strait:

View of the Singapore Harbor (and Gardens by the Bay).

So, how can you get up to the 57th floor and take in these great views?

Book a Room at the Marina Bay Sands

In fact, the only way you can get access to the incredible infinity pool, is if you book a room. The challenge here though is that prices are rather steep, compared to either points bookings (like at the wonderful Grand Hyatt Singapore), American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts (FHR) options, or even just paying at some of the other area hotels.

Room Rates

One thing to note, is that security is so tight going to the infinity pool, that everyone needs to have a room key. So don’t think that your group of 4 friends can get into the pool at the same time, with only 2 of you booking a single room. You actually go through a turnstyle!

Singapore Marina Bay Sands

Marina Bay Sands Infinity Pool

Pay to visit the SkyPark

I’m not generally a fan of paying when I don’t have to, but I’m including this option for those folks that do such things.

Grab Lunch at one of the SkyDeck Restaurants

There are 3 restaurants up on the SkyDeck; Spago, Ce La Vi. Lavo. You can book a reservation (which I would recommend, just to be safe), and enjoy a nice meal on the 57th floor.

We chose Spago:

My family and I had the opportunity to have lunch at Wolfgang Puck’s Spago restaurant. The food was reasonable, with the expected higher price of being in an exclusive location. One thing that almost tripped us up, was that open toed shoes are not permitted in the main restaurant, so we ate in the bar area. Overall though, it was perfectly comfortable, with great views!

Singapore, Marina Bay Sands

Spago’s Bar Area on the 57th Floor

The lunch menu had some nice twists on standard fare like burgers and club sandwiches:

Singapore Marina Bay Sands

Lunch at Spago’s on the 57th Floor of the Marina Bay Sands.

They also had a nice cocktail menu, here’s what my brother had:

Singapore Marina Bay Sands

Lunch at Spago’s on the 57th Floor of the Marina Bay Sands.

Wrapping up – Visiting the Marina Bay Sands SkyDeck

For many, going up to the 57th floor SkyDeck is a bucket list item when visiting Singapore. If you fall in that boat, then definitely consider some of the options above. Just note, the cheapest options may not yield the greatest value, and the most expensive options—while providing exclusive access—may not be worth the additional spend.

Have you been to the Marina Bay Sands’ SkyDeck or SkyPark? Which path did you take to get there?

Southwest Goes to Hawaii – But don’t get too excited East Coasters!

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Yes, I’m tagging on to the biggest Southwest news of the day, perhaps even the week. Southwest goes to Hawaii and flights are now bookable! But, don’t get too excited unless you’re pretty close to Oakland or San Jose; Southwest’s first two departure points to Hawaii. 

Southwest Goes to Hawaii

Southwest celebrating a successful test flight to Hawaii — Credit: Southwest Airlines

Southwest Goes to Hawaii

Southwest will fly initially from two airports, Oakland, and San Jose. Bay Area – you win! 

First, here are the start dates – Oakland:

Southwest Goes to Hawaii

Southwest’s Start Dates form Oakland.

and San Jose:

Southwest Goes to Hawaii

Southwest Start Dates from San Jose.

Don’t get too excited East Coasters!

With the flights to Hawaii starting on 17 March, you’re probably thinking that’s a good time to start — well, unfortunately its only one flight, and for the first few days, its sold out. By the end of March, Southwest goes to 2 flights returning, however, that’s where we start to see things that may not work out so well for East Coasters.

Southwest goes to Hawaii

Southwest Goes to Hawaii — Schedule at the end of March to / from Honolulu.

Now lets look at Oakland to Honolulu in May:

Southwest goes to Hawaii

Southwest goes to Hawaii – Oakland to Honolulu in May.

Perhaps you’re starting to see the troubling trend?

Before I spell it out, let me offer a simple flight query from an East Coast Hub — Baltimore-Washington International Airport: 

Southwest goes to Hawaii

Southwest goes to Hawaii; but doesn’t come back to Baltimore.

The Problem

Now, you’re probably thinking to yourself – wait, we already saw that flights are actually being flown out on 22 May and back on 29 May, because we just saw it with the Oakland-Honolulu search; but now Southwest is showing significantly fewer options if we want to fly from Baltimore to Honolulu.

Why might that be? For starters, going West, you can only make the one flight, because the other two leave in the 8am hour, and there’s no Southwest flight that would make it in, in time.

For the way home, we’re troubled by the fact that Southwest doesn’t fly redeyes, so they come up with no options back, since its a day flight out of Honolulu. So far as I can find, Southwest does not permit stopovers — and an overnight connection could be construed as a stopover.

So what this means is, you need to book 2 separate itineraries to get home from Hawaii, assuming you fly Southwest.

What are your thoughts? Does this turn you off of the hype around new around Southwest’s new flights to Hawaii?

The 10 Longest Flights – late 2018 Edition

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Perhaps this is more #avgeek than anything, but I’m always curious about interesting flights and “lines” (one of the basis of the Dots, Lines, and Destinations podcast). Perhaps the most common group of interesting “lines” is the 10 longest flights. Over the past few years, these have changed a bunch! I wrote about Emirates taking over the longest flight in 2015 flying from Dubai to Panama City, Panama. Even though that still hasn’t taken fruition, despite the occasional revisit. The fact remains, airlines see the longest flight as a badge of honor.

Singapore Airlines SQ 22 / 21 tops the list for the 10 longest flights

I had written some years ago that Airbus’ A350-900ULR made the previous world’s longest flight once again possible; previously it was operated by an A340-500, and now Singapore has returned to take the throne of the longest flight! That flight started (or restarted) on 11 October, and none-other-than JT Genter of The Points Guy was on it! 

The folks at GCMap even showed both SQ22’s route, and SQ21’s route. 

10 Longest Flights, SQ21, SQ22, GCMap

Number 2: Qatar’s Doha to Auckland, New Zealand

Qatar Airways launched their attempt at the longest commercial flight in 2017, in the brief period where Singapore didn’t operate their flight from Singapore to Newark, NJ. Travel Update has a great flight report. I’ve flown the same style seat as is on the 777-200LR, though my experience was on a 777-300ER. That flight is just over 500 miles shorter than Singapore’s flight, at 9,032 nautical miles:

10 longest flights, Qatar, QR, DOH-AKL

Number 3: Qantas’ Perth to London

Our friend JT Genter also flew the now 3rd longest flight, Qantas’ Perth to London flight, operated by a Boeing 787-9. 

10 longest flights, QF, Qantas, PER-LHR

Of note, this Qantas 787-9 has similar business class seats to those found on their Airbus A330, which I found to be very comfortable.

Number 4: Emirates Dubai to Auckland, New Zealand

Just in case you’re starting to get the feeling like New Zealand is kind’ve far… It actually pretty much is, at least from “middle earth.” Emirates operates the 4th largest flight, which also marks the first time an A380-800 enters the 10 longest flights list. I’ve written a bunch about flying in Emirates A380 First Class, and finally experienced Business Class on the A380. 

10 longest flights

Number 5: United Airlines Los Angeles to Singapore

Somehow, United beat Singapore at relaunching the LAX to Singapore flight. Note that Singapore had previously announced that they would be relaunching the LAX-SIN flight. If I were you, I’d wait for the Singapore Airlines operated flight, before flying this route, United’s 2-2-2 configuration is a bit, 2000’s.

10 longest flights - LAX-SIN

Number 6: United Airlines Houston to Sydney

I have to be honest, this wasn’t even a flight that was on my radar! I’m not sure I’d want to fly on United’s 787-9 with their 2-2-2 configuration business class, but it is certainly an option if you’re looking to go to Sydney, and I’d imagine not a lot of folks are thinking of this particular route.

10 longest flights

Number 7: Qantas Dallas-Fort Worth to Sydney

This is one I’m particularly excited about! I have only flown on the Qantas A380 on the old Kangaroo route from Singapore to London. My wife and I will actually be flying on this particular route later this year, as we do what will be our third or fourth annual visit to Australia. We’re also starting to get into super close distances, as you’ll notice in the below graphic:

10 longest flights

Number 8: Singapore Airlines and United Airlines San Francisco to Singapore

This route has an interesting history. United somehow beat Singapore in starting their San Francisco to Singapore route. That said, if I had the choice, I’d probably be leaning toward the Singapore bird, because the United bird is, shall we say, a decade behind on the business class passenger experience. Just look at the seat map!

United 787-9 Seatmap via SeatGuru

United 787-9 Seatmap via SeatGuru

That said, the flight is rather similar to the one from Los Angeles, though a bit shorter:

Number 9: Delta Airlines Atlanta to Johannesburg 

This is probably #1 on my list from a cool factor. You’ll notice that nearly every super-long haul is going to Asia or Oceania. Oceania makes sense, its super far. But, don’t forget, South Africa is pretty far too! Delta’s Atlanta to Johannesburg is definitely one that I’d love to fly some day (ok, who am I kidding, I’d love to fly a bunch of these long hauls).

10 longest flights

Number 10: Etihad Abu Dhabi to Los Angeles

Pretty much anywhere from the Middle East to Los Angeles is pretty far, and all in the same group. Abu Dhabi just happens to be the furthest. Ironically, I’d offer that Doha, Qatar to Los Angeles is actually longer, given the QatarBlockade requires them to fly a non-standard routing. But here’s Etihad’s gcmap:

Bonus: Middle East to Los Angeles

All of the “Big” Middle East Airlines fly to Los Angeles. Even Saudia, makes that super long haul. As I mentioned above, I’d imagine the actual flight time is longest for Doha, considering the current issues that Qatar is facing. I know some have flown these super long haul flights, but I’m not sure that I’d say any of these are on my list.

10 longest flights

Conclusion

If you’re an #Avgeek, then its a pretty good guess that some or many or even all of these super long haul flights are on your list. I find it very interesting that a most are operated by 2 engine aircraft – a feat that 10 or 20 years ago would have been unfathomable. 

So which of these super long hauls are on your aspirational list to fly?

October is Airport Restaurant Month!

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So you’ve no doubt enjoyed a local restaurant during Restaurant Week in your local city. But have you heard that October is Airport Restaurant Month? Even better, you have more than 50 airports to choose from for Airport Restaurant Month.

Airport Restaurant Month

First started in 2014, HMSHost, the operator of all airport airside Starbucks, and many, many, restaurants at more than 50 North American airports, and 120 airports worldwide. Note that Airport Restaurant Month is only in North America at the moment.

HMSHost Airport Restaurant Month

 

Airport Restaurant Month – What’s on the menu?

The folks at HMSHost North America, based in Bethesda, Maryland invited a handful of DC area bloggers over to task the amazing new menu for October’s Airport Restaurant Month, and let me just say, it was phenomenal. As an aside, HMSHost just did a beautiful remodeling of their facility. 

We started in the bar area, which features the staples required at all of HMSHost’s full service restaurants, as well as highlighted spirits.

Airport Restaurant Month

There, Carson Gray, HMSHost’s Director for Adult Beverage and Concept Development, shared with us a Temptation, a pretty interesting beverage that included Templeton Rye, Malbec, and a handful of other fresh ingredients.

Airport Restaurant Month

Carson Gray making the Temptation.

The beverage was great, with just enough of each of the flavors, but not a single overpowering flavor.

Airport Restaurant Month

HMSHost’s Temptation – available during the month of October, at many of HMSHost’s full service restaurants across the US.

From the bar, we moved into the kitchen area, and tasted a selection of the October Airport Restaurants Month menu, served up by HMSHost’s Director of Culinary Standards, Chef Matthew Corbett.

Airport Restaurant Month

HMSHost’s Demo Kitchen

The menu was had a little something for everyone, but also had some real stars as well.

Airport Restaurant Month

Airport Restaurant Month MenuWe started out with a Roseda Black Angus Farm (local Maryland) short rib grilled cheese which was wonderful.

Airport Restaurants Month

Roseda Black Angus Farm Monkton, MD) Short Rib Grilled Cheese.

Following that, Chef Matthew tossed some crispy smashed potatoes.

Airport Restaurants Month

Chef Matthew Corbett with crispy smashed potatoes.

Here’s the final dish, tossed with kale:

Airport Restaurants Month

Crispy Smashed Potatoes Tossed with Baby Kale.

All of the side dishes were served family style, we also had roasted mushrooms and asparagus:

Airport Restaurants Month

Roasted Mushrooms and Asparagus.

and a truly wonderful butternut squash puree:

Airport Restaurant Month

Butternut Squash Puree.

As for the entrees, we started with a fantastic Roasted Chicken Breast, the skin was fantastically crispy.

Airport Restaurants Month

Roasted Chicken Breast.

For me, the best, was the next one, which was the Better than Bacon Burger (made in sliders for us since there was so much food). It had fontina cheese and a fantastic bacon tomato compote. It had a really great sweetness to it. 

Airport Restaurant Month

Better than Bacon Burger with Fontina Cheese, and Bacon Tomato Compote.

One thing that Chef Matthew Corbett was really proud of, was the vegetarian flatbread, which was very flavorful, and featured basil pesto, goat cheese, tomato compote, and sunflower seeds.

Airport Restaurant Month

Vegetarian Flatbread with basil pesto, goat cheese, tomato compote, and sunflower seeds.

Additional entrees included a Seared Salmon topped with Basil Pesto and Grilled Pesto Shrimp Wraps, which both looked great.

The overall spread was really fantastic:

Airport Restaurant Month

The fantastic Airport Restaurant Month menu!

We finished off the great tasting menu with seasonal fruit kabobs with a touch of honey.

Airport Restaurant Month

Seasonal Fruit Kabobs

Where can you savor this great Airport Restaurant Month food?

HMSHost has set up a website for Airport Restaurant Month, which lays out the various airports and restaurants participating. Overall, this is a very well coordinated approach to improving the passenger experience, but providing an elevated and flavorful menu. And don’t worry, as we were speaking with Chef Matthew, they are well aware that folks at airports are trying to make flights. I was interested to learn that they aim for roughly 26 minutes from sit down to check, meaning you’ve received your menu, ordered, received your food and check, all in under 30 minutes. 

So which airport restaurant will you make it to this month? 

Thoughts from flying around the world in 8 days in Business Class

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This past summer, I flew around the world with 3 friends, it was a true #avgeek bachelor party. We hit 5 continents, and racked up 40,000 miles flown. You can see some of my tweets over the trip with the hashtag #JoeyRTW. I thought I’d share some of my thoughts from flying around the world in 8 days in Business Class

As a recap of the trip, here was the itinerary, for the most part, we flew west, with only a little backtracking to get home after our second visit to Santiago in 8 days.

Now, you might be starting to ask yourself – why in the world would we all subject ourselves to 40,000 miles in business? Well, Unfortunately it’s a new reality, and business was the right price. Interestingly enough, First Class wasn’t even offered on half of our flights.

High Level Thoughts from flying around the world in 8 days in business class

Before I get into the specific products, I thought I’d summarize some of my thoughts ahead of time.

  • Hard products (aka the seat) vary rather significantly. All of the products we flew were technically “layflat” however they were not all necessarily 180 degrees (aka parallel to the deck). Seats on this trip ranged from 1-2-1 reverse herringbone, 2-2-2 configurations, 1-2-1 staggered configuration, SQ’s “flip your own seat to sleep” seat, and whatever it is you call British Airways’ 2-4-2 high density Club World seat.  
  • Soft products (aka the service) also varied rather significantly. Some of this can be chalked up to the focus of the particular airline – some, such as Singapore are very focused on service, while others surprised us with how poor their service was.

I don’t want to leave you with the idea that all we did was fly for a week. We certainly maximized our time on the ground, at one point, almost too much. But, that is perhaps a topic for another time.

American Airlines has a pretty decent seat

We flew American Airlines down to Santiago, it was the new B/E Aerospace Super Diamond on a 777-200. It wasn’t amazing, but I got a pretty solid nights sleep, which may have been helped by a few hours in the AMEX Centurion Lounge.

Qantas 747-400 – The same lackluster seat as the A380

Perhaps the coolest “line” we flew, was from Santiago, Chile to Sydney, Australia. Its not often that you fly the southern great circle route. 

The seat however was anything but exciting. Qantas flies a 2-2-2 Skybed II, which is anything but exciting. 

While the mattress pad made a difference, the seat is largely similar to Qatar’s outdated 777-300ER seat (pre-Q Suites)

The service was ok, but I’d offer that really the only seat you want is on the upper deck, the lower deck looked downright cattle class:

Seriously – what business class does a middle seat now a days? preposterous! 

The service was decent, but we did notice that the wine offerings were different in the upper deck as compared to the main deck.

One other point of reference – while more modern aircraft have areas to congregate with other passengers, the Qantas 747-400 does not. We still made the best of it on the stairs to the upper deck.

British Airways 777-200 Business Class Sydney to Singapore

Perhaps the 14 hour Qantas flight prepared us for our quick hop up to Singapore on British Airways. 

It still boggles my mind that any airline would fly an 8 abreast business class product. This, in a world where 10 abreast economy seating is borderline unsafe for long hauls due to DVT concerns.

Overall, the service was fair but nothing particularly exciting.

Singapore Airlines 777-300ER Business Class Singapore to Seoul

I had entered this flight with fairly low expectations given how Qantas and BA had fared. Believe it or not, I was pleasantly surprised. It was probably due to the fact that I was definitely ready to sleep and it was a red-eye, leaving just shy of midnight. I got a 4-5 hour nap, facilitated by hopping up to flip the seat into bed mode as soon as we got to 10,000 feet. The bed was firm–not my favorite–but I went into this flight expecting that. 

Emirates A380-800 Business Class Seoul to Dubai

At this point, we were approaching the best seat of our flight–but not quite yet! We had a slightly older Emirates A380 business class seat, but this was another redeye, leaving at 11:55pm (yes, you read that right, 2 redeyes in a row with a long layover in Incheon). This was the first time for most of us flying in Emirates Business Class–note, previously I had flown Emirates First Class, more than a few times.

Following another good sleep, we decided to splurge on our layover in Dubai and revisit the Emirates First Class Terminal/Lounge, which you can pay a fee to enter, even if you aren’t flying First. Ironically, to this day, I’ve never seen the Business Class lounge in Dubai. I had heard from others though that it was much, much busier.

Emirates A380-800 Business Class Dubai to Madrid

This flight was our pinnacle flight – it was the best flight of the trip! We had a slightly newer cabin, a slightly different seat, a fairly cool crew, and since it was a day flight, there was plenty of time to enjoy the onboard bar.

As I had mentioned earlier, there were minor differences with the seat, I thought this one was just a touch more comfortable

and while we didn’t have the new and improved Emirates A380 Bar, we still had a fantastic time!

LAN 787-9 Business Class Madrid to Santiago

I was particularly looking forward to this flight, despite it being another redeye. Unfortunately this flight didn’t go quite as planned. It was significantly delayed, so we ended up leaving just shy of EU 261 compensation. Onboard, the seat was again a 2-2-2 configuration, but at least this seat was better than the BA, and even better than the Qantas seats.

In layflat position there was no mattress pad, there was a decent blanket, and since we left so late, I pretty much reclined and conked out for 8-9 hours.

Upon waking up, we had a light breakfast. I did order a non-standard breakfast beverage–a Disaronno Amaretto and Orange Juice–and the first time I thought they had forgotten, as it took 20 minutes to come. I ordered a second, and really thought they had forgotten me, because it came within minutes of our early “lock down the cabin” announcement. Apparently, LAN has flight attendants prepare the cabin and seat themselves before crossing over the Andes Mountains. Its logical, we were bumpy coming in, so that’s not a complaint. I think it made more sense, fewer spilled drinks, less risk of injury; bottom line, that was prudent.

American Airlines Santiago to Miami (then home)

I’m not sure why, but I was exhausted for this flight. I reclined, and was asleep before I knew it. I woke up in time for breakfast, and that was about that. I was surprised, because, I didn’t even get an amenity kit this flight. I found the crew not to be amazing. One thing stood out as odd to me – every single time I looked up (and I was noticing this a fair amount when I was awake), the forward lav was occupied. It seemed to me, that the forward lav was occupied the entire flight. The seat was the same as the flight down – perfectly comfortable, perhaps my favorite American Airlines business class seat, over the reverse herringbone seat on the 777-300ER.

Wrapping Up: Thoughts from flying around the world in 8 days in Business Class

This trip was epic! I was nervous flying around the world in 8 days, it seemed so quick, but it was truly epic.  This post doesn’t cover our time on the ground – which wasn’t much but was truly enjoyed. Flying around the world in essentially 8 days (Santiago to Santiago). Flying around the world in 8 days was always a bucket list goal of mine. I still want to figure out a way to do a similar trip visiting every continent, or at least 6 of the 7 continents. We flew such a motley selection of airlines on this trip that it really provided a very good variety. Many knock American Airlines as not a great airline, yet, the hard product was easily the second best of the trip behind Emirates. The service wasn’t amazing, but it was better than LAN. British Airways reminded us how bad dense business class can be, with 8 abreast seating, though, we made the best of it, chatting with each other, rather than staring into a stranger’s eyes (since the seats alternate between forward and backward facing seats). Qantas provided an interesting experience, but more importantly, a more interesting “line”, flying the southern great circle route, a first for all of us. Finally, Singapore left me feeling like the soft product was phenomenal.

Perhaps the most surprising thing of all? I wasn’t even a bit exhausted from the trip when I landed, 9.5 days after I started. So much so that I dragged my wife out sourcing for our reselling business, after she picked me up from the airport.

Priority Pass is changing the game for airport lounges

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Gary Leff asks the question, is Priority Pass killing airport lounges? Its a reasonable post that highlights over lounge overcrowding, varying levels of quality and amenities. However, what Gary really highlights is that Priority Pass is changing the game for airport lounges
 
A week ago, I had the chance to visit Portland. It’s a great city that I’ll write about later, but flying out of Portland’s Airport was a pleasure, primarily because of the Priority Pass Benefit courtesy of my Chase Sapphire Reserve (but you can get the Priority Pass Select from other cards too!).
 
This is not just a unique aspect of Portland. I had a similar experience in Sydney this past January, and others have too! 

Priority Pass is Changing the Game For Airport Lounges

The article that Gary references in his post is right in one area – some Priority Pass lounges aren’t great.
 
The article sites overfilled lounges, finger foods, and less than stellar quality beverages. In truth, that first observation is accurate even for American Express Centurion Lounges. 
 
The fact is, there were never gourmet meals, lets just dispel that one right now. The best you can get are First Class lounges like the Lufthansa First Class Terminal, or the Qantas First Class Lounge, but you won’t get into any of those lounges with Priority Pass. In fact, you won’t get find yourself getting a dish like the phenomenal wiener schnitzel below at a Priority Pass lounge. 
 
Priority Pass is changing the game for airport lounges, Lufthansa First Class Terminal

wiener schnitzel at the Lufthansa First Class Terminal

 
But, you might get it at an airport restaurant! I would argue that Priority Pass has come to realize the changing times. This is where I would argue that Priority Pass is changing the game for airport lounges.
 
Take for example, Capers at Portland International Airport; here is a subset of my and my wife’s experience a few short weeks ago. 
 
Priority Pass is Changing the Game for Airport Lounges

Capers at Portland International Airport, a Priority Pass Restaurant.

 
We received $56 worth of credit, we had a nice breakfast, and even took a few items to go, and you know, had a few glasses of bubbly!
 
Priority Pass is changing the game for airport lounges

The Priority Pass benefit at Capers includes alcohol in addition to food and soft drinks.

And with all that here’s our bill:

Priority Pass is changing the game for airport lounges

Our bill at Capers — and look at all you can get with that $56 benefit!

Despite airport prices, we still couldn’t spend the entire Priority Pass benefit! 
 
Having experienced this though, the biggest feeling I am left with, is the fact that I couldn’t have had that caliber experience in a lounge. Effectively Priority Pass has acknowledged that many non-airline affiliate lounges just can’t compete with the quality that airport restaurants can provide. 

The Real Question

Many have hypothesized how much Priority pass pays lounges for members to enter. That isn’t terribly clear. What we do know, is that Priority Pass members get between $26-30 benefit per person at restaurants. Logically, most folks that are drawn to an airport restaurant because of a benefit, would likely spend more there, so one would surmise that Priority Pass isn’t paying that full benefit amount. But lets just assume that for a moment. It seems to me that folks get greater benefit for the restaurants, where you can get higher quality food, rather than lounges, unless of course you are there for a rather long layover and/or drinking expensive beverages.

Wrapping Up

I love the fact that Priority Pass is innovating here. It’s not clear whether this is a higher cost, or a cost savings for them, but they really are providing a greater value. I’d offer that having benefits at restaurants does fall short of my view of the value of lounges. But you still get a ton of value from eating at a restaurant with real food, rather than the limited options of a lounge.

Have you leveraged your Priority Pass membership at an Airport Restaurant? What do you think? 

 

Disney is more than just rides!

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A couple of weekends ago, my wife and I flew down to Orlando to take my parents to Epcot for the day. What we found, was something I had an inkling of from past trips, that is: Disney is more than just rides!

We ended up getting hotel rooms at the Dolphin hotel, which is on property, but is a SPG property – it ended up being an excellent choice, aside from the resort fee, which is a disturbing trend that does not seem to be slowing. One benefit however, is that if you do end up paying for parking at the hotel you can get standard parking at one of the parks. This is a huge benefit if you have a multi-day pass, because you can check out of your hotel and still enjoy a park for the day, and assuming you move your car, you can leave right from that park.

The reason we had chosen the Dolphin, other than the SPG sync up–which netted us a few free drinks and rooms ready when we arrived first thing in the morning–was because it is part of the group of hotels between Hollywood Studios–yet I’ll always know it as MGM Studios–and Epcot. It’s less than a 12 minute walk, if you are so bold. And if you aren’t, there’s a boat–and who doesn’t love a boat ride? We even got lucky on our evening ride back to the park to see a rocket launch out of Cape Canaveral.

The infrastructure that Disney has put in place, and continues to put in place makes a huge difference for staying on property. That might sound like a no brainer, but, it really changes the day.

A day at Disney Epcot

We had chosen Epcot for a number of reasons; mostly because we were there to celebrate my mom’s birthday and she wanted to go to Epcot. It was an excellent choice, given that the Flower and Garden festival is currently running (I think through early May). My friend Ed wrote a post last week that got me really looking forward to this visit–and it had nothing to do with the rides! You see, in addition to amazing flower arrangements and designs, they have a variety of special authentic cuisine on offer.

Don’t get me wrong, there were definitely some cool flowers, plants, and characters!

Figment perhaps had the best location with Spaceship Earth as a backdrop.

In fact, even Captain Hook and Peter Pan made appearances!

But the food, wine, and beer options were wonderful. There were great options, like fried cauliflower and kabobs in Morocco:

Beef tenderloin tips in Canada: 

Each “booth” had a different menu, like this at the United Kingdom’s Cider House:

Or a wonderful taste of Marrakesh (the Fried Cauliflower was a great choice!)

You can find the full menu of all the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival here.

The Rides:

Full disclosure – this is the first time that my wife and I had been to Epcot since grad school. Back then we had an annual, Florida resident pass – we’d literally drive down I-4 for a ride or two and dinner, or sometimes just to ride Mission Space (or Aerosmith, or a brief Star Tour….). 

We rode 3 awesome rides. Not only that, but all 3 rides were different than we remembered them from over a decade ago. My mother’s #1 ride was Frozen – so much so that she made a beeline for it. I have to say – having remembered the old maelstrom, I thought the ride was rather well done in adaptation to the movie.

Our second ride was the Test Track. It was completely on a whim, considering we had remembered the old version with the heat test and the Belgium blocks (not the greatest for a bad back). I’m glad to report that it has been updated, with more speed, some curves, and thankfully, no Belgium blocks!

Like many, we sought air conditioning in the heat of the afternoon… Our final ride came at night. After dinner, my father, wife and I ventured back to the park and made our way to Soarin’. That was also new for us, and rather special. We’ve been awfully blessed with so many travel opportunities. Here we are on this ride, Soarin’ by the Eiffel Tower, through Sydney Harbour, Taj Mahal, and so many other places, more often than not I was thinking “wow, this looks great from above” then “but I remember this from the ground” or from this vantage point or another. If anything, Soarin’, which was really well done, reminded me of how truly blessed my family and I are, in that many of the places we “flew” over, we had seen with our own eyes as well!

Wrapping up: Disney is more than just rides!

While the rides were quite enjoyable, the real value for us on our one day visit to Epcot was spending time with family, and enjoying the flower and garden festival. The Flower and Garden festival brought so many interesting foods, beers, wines, and flowers into the art of the possible for a significantly larger population. The care and quality that Disney takes in everything they do, is very clear and present in the Flower and Garden festival. The food, wine, and beer are definitely worth a visit and give a view into the cultures from which they came. Bottom line: Disney is more than just rides!

Have you been to Disney’s Epcot Flower and Garden Festival?  

Onboard Qatar Airways QSuites

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Boarding the Qatar Airways QSuites 777-300ER, you’re immediately met with classy touches that show this aircraft is special.

Making that right turn, to my seat, 1A, it was clear this was QSuites, and the excitement was rather apparent. The general atmosphere of the cabin was not the glitzi-ness of Emriates A380 F. It was more subdued, dark, fairly gentle tones. Lots of maroon aligning with Qatar’s livery. The layout reminded me a lot of Etihad’s 787-9. Some seats facing backwards, some forwards, the aisles meandered, giving some seats just a tad more space than others.

The seat itself is rather impressive.

Qatar Airways QSuites

It was perhaps the most functional airline seat I’ve ever had. There was plenty of storage, plenty of space to work or place things.

I thought the NFC was interesting, allowing, I assume, for easier transactions. There were 2 USBs, an HDMI port, a 110 Volt power port, and plenty of seat controls.

 

I particularly appreciated the area above the controls and plugs – a nice, convenient area to store phones or tablets.

The flight attendants were just as excited about QSuites as we were, despite having trained and flown on them for at least a few weeks.

I had the obligatory pre-departure champagne, and perused the menus, all the while still trying to control my giddiness.

 

The drink menu was fairly exhaustive:

 

While the dining menu on this sub 5 hour flight wasn’t as exhaustive.

I started out with warm nuts and a glass of Royal Tokajis’s 2013 Puttonyos. I enjoy the sweet wines more than any other type, so I figured it’d be nice to try the Hungarian dessert wine. It was worth it. 

 

Classic Arabic Mezze

 

Tomato and Basil Soup

 

Chicken and sweet pepper kebab

Chicken and sweet pepper kebab

 

Slow cooked lamb leg with herb lamb jus

Slow cooked lamb leg with herb lamb jus

 

Mediterranean vegetable cannelloni

Mediterranean vegetable cannelloni

 

Red velvet cake with nougat

Red velvet cake with nougat

While it was only a 5 hour flight, I figured I should test out the bed. I found it to be roomy in all the right places for a side sleeper, something that I’d say the Reverse Herringbone seat fails to deliver.

Wrapping Up – Qatar QSuites

After having flown the Qatar QSuites, I have to say that unequivocally, this is the best business class in the sky right now. It rises above the other best business class seats. But, more than that, some of the softer touches. All the touches on the seat, the blanket, they were all spot on and quality, right down to the plastic safety card highlighting the QSuites–think the kind’ve plastic thats good plastic (not laminated) playing cards are made from. And the pride of the crew. It’s hard to put a value crew that takes pride in their product.

What enhanced security will you go through flying from Qatar?

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Last week I had the chance to fly back to the US via Doha, Qatar on Qatar Airways. I found it interesting to find out what enhanced security there was flying from Qatar. You see, airlines from a number of countries in the Middle East experienced a laptop ban mid-2017. While I originally thought it was a win for the US big three airlines–American, United, and Delta–(US3), that controversy seems to have faded from the national discussion. 

We had connected in Doha following our surprising QSuite flight. with a bit of a layover that I’ll cover in a separate post. Ultimately however we were flying from Doha, Qatar to Philadelphia on a Qatar Airways A350. Our experience traversing security was one that is ingrained in my memory, at least for another few weeks.

Entering Hamad International Airport from our long layover was welcoming as usual:

flying from Qatar

Further immigration and security was simple. We found ourselves in the lounge in no time–so much so that we skipped photos, since its been well covered.

But, when it was time to travel, we made our way to the gate and found a rather complicated process to ultimately board our flight. That process started with standing in a line to have our electronics swabbed and bagged in duty free bags.

flying from Qatar

Once our electronics were in the duty free bags, we went through another 2 individuals who had to inspect our boarding passes and passports.

flying from Qatar

Resulting electronics bag

Then it was security, which was typical–remove your belts, electronics and liquids. Following that we had no fewer than 5 additional Qatar Airways staff members who inspected our boarding passes and passports. That isn’t even including the flight attendant at the door that verified our boarding passes and pointed us to our seats.

Wrapping Up – Flying from Qatar

I have to say, our experience flying through Doha was less than stellar. Hamad International Airport is a phenomenal airport. But the enhanced security for flights to the United States was excessive and, while I try to avoid passing judgement, I fail to see the value added. The security, so far as I could tell, was just as exhaustive as US Preclearance out of Abu Dhabi, but without the benefit of exiting the aircraft Stateside without having to go through immigration. 

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