Kinglobjaw's Blog

Archive for the ‘My Travels’ Category

Is Delta:

a) D+?  b) Disgusting? c) Delayed? d) Dumpy? e) ALL OF THE ABOVE?

How about F- All of the above and more?

This past weekend I was practically forced to fly Delta Airlines. It’s a city that only offers Delta service. I won’t complain, I was able to book the ticket just 8 hours prior to the actual flight. Throughout my travel “career”, I have never bought a ticket this close to departure, so the experience was interesting, a little chaotic, but I was very enthusiastic. At the end of the day, flying is flying and techinally, I should tell myself that I am excited regardless of the airline, right? Wrong! I will keep reminding you readers, the airline is key to flying experince. Flying is more with a certain airline!

Friday morning started out with the usual. Go to the airport, print boarding passes at the kiosk and clear security. The Grand Forks airport is tiny, so it’s foolish to arrive more then 15 minutes prior to boarding if you are flying without bags. Interestingly enough, Delta offers Breezeway boarding, which is the equivalent of a United red boarding carpet for elite members. Not that many elites on the 5:10AM Pinnacle CRJ-200. A few minutes later, mechanical! Off the plane, rebook myself on Delta.com website since the Delta reservation number is temporarily disconnected. Next attempt at flying: a DC-9 to Minneapolis. Flight full, very full. Sold out full. Last row on the DC-9. I’ve never been on a DC-9, but I know Northwest has 3 versions- this was the 2 flight attedant version of the DC-9. Missed my connection to O’Hare. Minneapolis airport? Nice, very nice. Except- not a single  Delta Red Coat all the way from C to G. For those who ask what is Delta Red Coat? It’s one of Delta’s iniatives at better customer service. It’s a portable gate agent. He or she can rebook you, print boarding passes and vouchers. Still, as nice as it sounds, it’s absolutely irritating to walk throughout the aiport and not be able to find a single one.

 The only thing in red was a Delta Amex credit card hawker who told me Delta does not offer special services counters. I think to myself- “and people actually complain about US Airways in Philly”?! What I do like about Delta is their computer rebook system. You scan your boarding pass at this kiosk type device and it lists the flights you have been rebooked on. Of course, I managed to learn about one of these machines, because the gate agent would not assist me until he saw me play around with the machine for a “decent’ amount of time. Made it to Chicago about 5 hours late.

Return was interesting. Chicago to Minny was an A319. I got exit row and ”flew into” FlyerTalker td_in_training. He was one of the nicest FlyerTalkers I’ve met so far. Delta actually did good on this flight. Aside from it being over an hour late, coach cabin was provided a full beverage service and even tiny bags of peanuts. I do miss peanuts on US Airways flights. I had enought time to make the connection back to Grand Forks, ND, although G to C is a bit of a schlepp, but the people movers are a nice touch. The Grand Forks flight didn’t even beging boarding, so I was thrilled about the prospect of not missing class the next morning. Had myself an exit row on this CRJ-200. Only about 60% full. Quick taxi to de-icing pad and then something unexpected,  yet something probably expected from Delta. While rolling down the runway, at about 40-50 knots, the plane comes halting to a complete stop and exists the runway utilizing the closest taxiway. Apparently, a warning light lit up in the cockpit indicated a problem with the apu/engine generator. Taxi back to gate, but not let off the plane, the mechanics end up fixing the problem. A few more minutes of paperwork and we’re on our way. The flight attendant, Athena was excellent. While in the air, she provided a full service on this rather short flight and even comped alcoholic beverages. I just had water. No ice, no lime.

Overall, I found Delta very poor, and I’m excited to say I’m only stuck with them for a few more months. I’m in the process of matching my US status to Delta, which should make me Delta Gold Medallion, so we’ll see if my experiences improve for the few remaining months. Flight attendants are much, much better at US Airways. I cannot wait to fly with US Airways again next month. Only have to deal with Delta on Grand Forks to Denver via Minneapolis!

Three positives about the trip: 1) FlyerTalker 2) F/A Athena on Minny to Grand Forks 3) Delta’s rebooking machines are pretty cool

Proudly flying with US,

-Kinglobjaw

I think flying on Halloween is exciting. Why? US Airways lets all of their employees dress up for Halloween- and it’s nice to see the employees get creative, relax a bit and have some fun all the while having to deal with the crazy world of the airport and airplane.

I’ve seen a lot of employees on Halloween, and my two favorite costumes have got to be Miss US Airways (Phoenix Club), and Gypsy (Las Vegas gate agent), both shown below:

Miss US Airways- she told me her platform was on-time departures!

Gypsy- look! She even has her crystal ball. Oh' tell me crystal ball, will I clear my upgrade?

So while Halloween is mostly treats, my treat turned out to be a bittersweet one. Upon talking with “Gypsy” (since I never asked her name), I found out she and many other agents were being let go in February, due do another round of US Airways cutback in Vegas. Chicago-Vegas being dropped was now the least important reason I was upset! I really feel for these people, and while I know that is happening system-wide, reading about it, IS different than witnessing it (or listening about it) in person. So there I was flying my last leg of the mileage run, and I was quiet, just unhappy about what was going on. I’m going to be flying through Las Vegas one final time in December. I’m going to do my best to take this photo, attach an Above & Beyond certificate and try to locate the agent and give her a final souvenir. I doubt anyone took her photo that day- yet here she is, smiling,  sporting a killer costume helping out US, and us very needy passengers. Thanks for all your help! All the best to you!

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

Well sort of. Pod-cast is the proper term. If you’re into this frequent flyer madness- then you’ve probably already heard of UPGRD. They record a new episode every week discussing airline travel, frequent flyer/stay programs and airline news among other things.

This past Thursday I spent an enjoyable evening discussing US Airways and Dividend Miles along with Mike, Fozz, Hunter and Ben.

Aside from US Airways, we also spoke about Delta’s over-fly incident, personal choices on which airline to fly out of Boston Logan, and a nasty incident that involved me, a flight attendant, Iceland and a London to Charlotte US Airways flight.

Tempting, isn’t it? Listen here. Or external player, if you prefer.

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

Double connections are getting harder to work with in terms of price, when it comes to US Airways domestic! This is not a complaint, nor a legit one, even if I tried, but it seems that when I force a double connect, US really bumps up the price. I mean really! I can’t do Chicago to San Diego via Vegas and Phoenix. I can’t do Seattle to Miami via Phoenix and Philadelphia. I can’t even do Boston to Ft. Myers via DC and Charlotte! It does change when I put in San Juan or international destinations- I can suddenly do up to 4 per direction keeping the same price!

Another exception is a flying from a “West” city to an “East” city. For example, a flight from Portland, Oregon (an America West only city) to Miami, FL (a US Airways only city). I have to route via both Phoenix and an eastern hub.

With the decent fares from Chicago to Ft. Myers, I’m looking at doing a leg from Ft. Myers out west-  maybe Denver or Salt Lake City? Definitely a ski destination so I can get 2,500 bonus miles and 5% off the fare to further maximise.

I’m planning to visit another friend in San Diego in November or December. I wonder how I can work a simple Chicago to San Diego trip to my advantage, or should I say to my DM account’s advantage. Hehe…

One final tidbit. I just realized the 757 I’m flying from Philly to Phoenix later this month actually an Envoy configuration! Must clear the upgrade on this one!

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

Race to Preferred status faster than ever
Get ready for the fastest, easiest way ever to get (or keep) Preferred status. All you have to do is fly between October 1 and December 25, 2009 on any US Airways or US Airways Express flight, and you can earn Preferred status for 2010 when you fly just 7,500 miles by the end of the year. Think of it as an end-of-the-year shortcut.

Already earned Preferred status for 2010? You can stretch to the next level.

We’ll determine and award your Preferred status on January 10, 2010. You don’t need to register (we’ll keep track of your flights). We told you it was easy!

It goes on to offer a link with more details. A rush of excitement came- Chairman’s Preferred after 30,000 miles flown. You cannot be serious, I thought. Can you take a guess how well I slept after that email? I didn’t! From 3AM to 7AM I covered the entire continent for decent routings to the maximize miles for the lowest price.

I’m currently booked on part one  of Kinglobjaw’s crazy run for Chairman’s Preferred. Does Chicago to Tampa, via Vegas, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Phoenix again, Philadelphia and back for $335 sound like fun to you?

An interesting way of getting to Tampa

Here’s some other key information about this unique promotion:

• Targeted, meaning you had to receive an invite from US Airways. You can’t just register for it or join Dividend Miles to be eligible.
• Fly between October 1, 2009 and December 25, 2009 on US Airways, US Airways Shuttle and US Airways Express only
• Class of service bonus or other bonus mile offers don’t count towards this promotion
• If you can’t cover 30,000 miles, fly 22,500 for Platinum, 15,000 for Gold or 7,500 for Silver
• New Preferred status level awarded in the second week of January 2010

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

We stayed at the Presidential Suite (room 1923 in building 9) for 9 nights from July 12, 2009 to July 21, 2009 and while the property itself was beautiful and staff friendly I found service to be mediocre at best, sometimes even poor. As this is a very new property, it is my hope and belief that service levels will improve with proper guidance from various managers who each have multiples years of experience on their “backs”. I very seldom talk about the hotels I’ve stayed at, but will categorize this review for an easier read.

Arrival:  Since we rented a car from Avis, we drove on our own. Getting to the hotel from the airport was rather easy as there was proper signage up until the Grand Mauritian. By coincidence we pulled into the Grand Mauritian and thought, wow how ugly the lobby of this hotel is. Then somebody then told us, the InterContinental is next door. Ahh, a sigh of relief! Upon arrival, Guest Relations’ Jameel was paged to meet us and offered us a welcome beverage. Off the bat, I thought Jameel was excellent. He handled everything quickly, gave us his personal contact information and lead us to our room.

Room:  From the moment we walked in, we were awestruck. Aside from the Conrad Maldives, this was probably one of the nicer hotel rooms I’ve stayed in. The room was huge and just as I thought Jameel had finished showing us our room, yet another door was mentioned leading to a side terrace and a second balcony. After Jameel left, I had to re-tour the room a couple of times until I could snap back into quick thinking.  Unfortunately, we did encounter some problems with the mechanics of the room.  One of the biggest problems was with the warm water. For the first three days water ranged from cool to lukewarm. Finally, when we decided to call a plumber, the water finally became hot, but every morning you would have to run it for about 5-10 minutes before it was hot enough. Normally, lukewarm water would be refreshing in a tropical destination, however as it was winter in Mauritius, we had to have our hot water! When it comes to the shower itself, the floor was not inclined so after every shower a puddle of water would form throughout the bathroom, which in my opinion is waste of water and towels. More importantly, be careful not to slip! Other quirks in our room included the lack of wall mounted hooks throughout the bathroom. I found it very annoying having to hang things on the door knob or lean it against a shelf. I also missed having an alarm clock/radio in our room; however the GM stated they are expecting alarm clock/radio/ipod dock sets “any day now”. Keep in mind the official grand opening will occur in September 2009.

Food/ Service at Restaurants: We mostly dined at the main restaurant (The Palms) which features a daily buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast was included in our rate, but normally costs 15EUR per person. Lunch we skipped as we preferred smaller snacks which we bought in a local supermarket. Both lunch and dinner cost 35EUR per person.  I found breakfast generally tasty, although I was upset at the poor selection of fresh fruits. I also opted to skip meat selections as they were outright odd in taste. On the other hand, I was able to have a delicious muesli with my yoghurt every morning. The various granolas and cereals had tasty spices that had quite the kick! What I also didn’t like about breakfast is how staff would pour tea and coffee from large thermoses instead of offering a hot tea kettle. It felt like I was dining in a cafeteria or canteen.  Dinner at the main (buffet) restaurant was a different theme every evening. Monday- Chinese, Tuesday-Indian, Wednesday-Seafood, Thursday- African, Friday- Middle Eastern/Mediterranean,  Saturday- Authentic Mauritian, Sunday- International Food Mix. I’d have to say my favorite was African and Indian.  Aside from the main restaurant, we were also invited for dinner to the seafood restaurant, Segala, by the Resort Manager.  As I’m not a fan of seafood, I opted for a Caprese Salad and a Filet Mignon. I thought Segala was top notch, including the service,  though I found  the plastic wine “cups” tacky. Two other premium restaurants are on premises- an Asian Fusion restaurant and an Indian restaurant. Keep in mind, the three non-buffet restaurants are closed on the days when the same type cuisine is served in the buffet restaurant.

When it comes to service at the property, I thought it was the low point of the stay. Throughout our stay we experienced many mistakes,  forgetful  & slow waiters and waitresses and a general lack of consistency.  Although the staff was generally polite and friendly, it felt as if some individuals didn’t really care- felt like they weren’t working in the hospitality industry. I didn’t like that hot buffet items were piping hot on a certain day and cool the next.  One evening we received check out  information and good bye letter just 2 nights into our 9 night stay. It’s these types of small things that really make you go “hmmm” in a five star InterContinental Resort!

Property/ Facilities: Grounds are stunning, but let that grass grow! The small “island” with only three beach huts offers a quiet retreat. The beach is wide and huts are spread out far away from each other so you really feel like you’re relaxing. The sand itself is a little rocky, and you have to watch out for more rocks in the lagoon. The lagoon is manmade keeping you away from the waves and the water is very calm so there’s no problem with swimming in the Ocean. There are two pools- a main pool and a separate, smaller heated pool.  Tons of activities are offered and they are complimentary for all guests which is a nice touch given all the nickel and diming going on at hotels. Definitely try Bocce Ball! It’s also worth noting that every Saturday evening, local dancers and musicians perform traditional Mauritian music and choreography.

Spa: Spa is run by Angsana and is a Thai spa. My Mom went there for a manicure and was really happy with the treatment. That’s about all I can say about the Spa. The gym is very modern but it’s a shame it closes at 8 PM.

Worth checking out: Casela Park (definitely do the quad safari while you are there). Ile Aux Cerfs- the nicest beach on the island of Mauritius. Also check out Triolet City Hindu Temple and be sure to take off your shoes when you walk in. Grand Baie is nice for some souvenir shopping and night life. There are two supermarkets, Jumbo and Super U (no food mart in hotel so buy your snacks/goods in one of the two). The souvenir shop with a very good selection- Le Dodo near the College of Dentistry in Baclava (5 minutes driving from the hotel). I’d also recommend renting a car. AVIS is the only car rental company at the hotel.

All in all, I’d give this hotel  4 out of 5 stars as service is the only real complaint I have about this property. That said, the managers are opening for comments and willing to make improvements, so I think time will bring positive changes. The grounds however are stunning and the beach/ocean/lagoon are as perfect as can be. You can really relax here. Would I go back? I would! Mauritius is beautiful and has a lot to offer.

Take a moment to check out the pictures of our room and of the hotel that are attached below.

1 of 2 roof decks in our presidential suite. This one has a jacuzzi.

Second roof deck with a sun bed.

Very comfy king-sized bed.

As you can see the room is a bright one.

Living room on the first floor.

Huge balcony...

... that comes with a great view.

Main building from beach.

Main pool and beach view from lobby.

Kinglobjaw's retreat. Only three beach huts on this patch of (is)land. Big time relaxation!

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

Upon checking my blog and emails, I’ve gotten some comments and emails while I’ve been away. Some nice, some spam and some nasty! I’ll sift through all of it once I get back.

I’m currently in Mauritius, having arrived from Cape Town a few nights ago. Today was a very busy day- visit to Casela park and riding through a “Safari” on a Quad! My hands are still a bit startled from all the bumpy terrain, but it has been a fantastic experience. Check out this pic, I was way up high on that thing!

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

I’m enjoying the last 30 minutes of my transit throught Europe in the Zurich Swiss First/ HON lounge and have to say that the last two days have been busy, but very exciting! From riding the U4 to downtown Frankfurt, to a visit to the Lufthansa First Class lounge to a limousine ride around the tarmac to a mechanical problem gone good. All this and more should be posted around August 1, 2009 on my blog, so stay tuned. I’ve been taking a LOT of photos here and there, and everywhere!

At the same time, I’ll add a cliff hanger. I can, without a pause, mention a couple of ways US Airways Envoy Class is superior to certain experiences of Lufthansa First Class. I’m not saying Lufthansa is poor, it most certainly isn’t, but return to the blog on or after August 1, 2009 and you’ll hear more.

That said, I’m off to Cape Town (via Jo’ Burg) on Swiss and South African Airways.

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

Lufthansa flight LH451 will be boarding in under two hours. From Frankfurt, I will continue onto South Africa. I’m excited to add a new continent to the “been there” list.

Wanted to wish you all safe travels and a fun summer filled with new experiences, lots of upgrades/ premium awards and great flights!

I’m excited, but laid back and I’ve been enjoying a Pineapple Mojito at the pool. The mint adds quite a kick! I’m waving one final goodbye:

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

So I’m sitting in the Star Alliance Lounge in at the Los Angeles International Airport and thinking about my favorite Phoenix trip past-time. I have to tell you, one of the reasons I decided to go to Phoenix before the Africa trip was to check-out the recently renovated JW Marriott Camelback Inn. The Camelback Inn renovation introduced Arizona to a fantastic Steakhouse whose locations usually dominate the East Coast. The steakhouse, you ask? BLT.

By no means, will this be a professionally written restaurant review, but I’m hoping that my very positive experience could possibly serve as a reccomendation for a pleasant steakhouse dining experience. I’ll be blunt, you have most likely never been to such a unique steakhouse.

Basically, the dining experience is not only about enjoying a delicious piece of meat, but it’s all about customizing and trying new things. Along with your cut of meat, you have the option of selecting many  steak sauces and enjoying every single piece of meat with a different sauce. I have to say, it was very fancy and I enjoyed comparing the many options. I didn’t order the steak, barbeque or mustard sauces since I’ familiar with those, but I tried chimichura (brazillian w/ olive oil), peppercorn, bouilabaisse. red wine sauce and blue cheese. The red wine sauce was my favorite! Alongside the 12 oz. piece of well done filet mignon, it was a match made in heaven.

Side dishes are shared, which reminded me of an Asian restaurant. I really enjoyed that option since I could try many more sides and regulate the amount of each that I ate. Since my excersize and healthy eating “regime” I bestowed upon myself, I opted for veggie sides: glazed carrots, grilled asparagus, creamy spinach. I also tried mashed potatoes and and potatoes au gratin with gruyere, which my parents ordered. All great sides. One interesting bit- they also serve a side dish of cactus fries. And that’s no nickname! Those are actual fries made from a cactus. I’m assuming this is only a specialty served in Scottsdale.

Unfortunately, no room for dessert after this meal, but I’m sure one can look forward to something creative and unique.

Visit BLT Restaurants online.

Here’s me dining with my folks at BLT. Notice how full our table is!

I normally don’t write restaurant reviews, but I still hope this helps.

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark