Tralfaz

Category: travel

  • The Travel Log – carry on baggage

    The Travel Log – carry on baggage

    My work keeps me on the road a lot. I am a frequent flier, in and out of airports all over the country and the world. In the new world order, with domestic carriers trying to extract the most fees from fliers, charging for checked bags, has encouraged everyone to carry on their luggage.

    This wouldn’t be a problem if people had reasonable sized bags, but alas they push the envelope and try to use luggage that is way too big.

    Of course, there are gauges to size the bags, and filter out the bags that are too large. Alas, they are virtually always ignored.

    Until this trip. On my flight out of SFO, an oversold airplane, the gate agents became the bag nazi’s. Every bag they let in, had to fit in the gauge. Yay!

    Of course, suddenly everybody in line gets the squirms.

    For far too long, people bring too many bags, and bags that are oversize. Pushing the limits of luggage storage in the cabin, all to save $25. It used to be that carry on bags were the pro travelers, with truly small bags, who could do 3 nights and 4 days out of a tiny bag, now people are trying to haul body bags down the aisle.

    I wish the gate agents would be this militant all the time.

    And your personal bag isn’t a second full sized bag (and trying to sneak a backpack too is criminal)

    For the record, I virtually always check my bag. Even as an early boarding elite passenger, I prefer to not drag my luggage across the airport.

  • Airport blues – 27th edition

    I travel a lot for my job, so I try to NOT fly when I don’t need to for personal things.  However, sometimes it is essential. Alas, as it is often around holidays or other “busy” times, I often get to see some insanity. Today is one of those days.

    First, with the merger between US Airways and American Airlines, my Star Alliance gold lever no longer gets me perks on US Airways.  Suckage. It is nice to not be relegated to the last boarding group, and to have my bag checked for free. I would have carried on, but I know that as being in boarding group 5, I am screwed, and will end up checking it. Additionally, I no longer get to pick an aisle or window seat without an extra charge. Fuck that, it is an hour and thirty minute flight, I will take a damn middle seat.

    All that is expected and grudgingly tolerated as part of the air travel theater. But invariably there is some insanity in the checkin process.  To wit:

    In front of me at the bag drop was a “loosely knit” family. 6 people with 3 last names traveling with about 15 bags, and two cat carriers. All kinds of dickering was going on to allocate the baggage fees to minimize cost (saving maybe $15).  I sat there for over 20 minutes before the agent just checked my prepaid bag.  As I was walking away, I was still listening to this “family” try to arrange the baggage allocation to minimize the cost.  Sheesh.

    However, there is a bright light, being TSA PreCheck makes the security process awesome. No mm wave back scatter, no removing computer/shoes/belt.  Security like it used to be. Bliss

  • Travel Log

    I have had a very light travel schedule the last two years. Probably the least I have traveled in 15 years (before I started in product management). But that lull has ended.

    Some thoughts from the road:

    • TSA PreCheck – Over a year ago, I went through the rigmarole to get my Global Entry card/status. One of the fringe benefits is being added to the “Trusted Traveler” list. Thus I pretty much always get the TSA PreCheck on my boarding pass. WIN. I get to use the special lane, I don’t have to remove jacket or shoes. My laptop can stay in my bag. I get to go through the magnetometer. It is like going back to 1999 and traveling.
    • Carry on Baggage – I understand why airlines have gone to charging for bags and everything else that used to come gratis. But the $25 per bag to check means that the boarding of the plane is a melee. People arguing about the overhead space. People mauling other people’s bags to force in their body bags. And the inevitable gate checking of a dozen people’s bags. Furthermore, all airlines have guidelines on the size of carry-ons. Fully 3/4 of all rollers I see are way over the size allocation. Airlines, please start enforcing the size constraints of the carry ons.
    • Overbooking – I was at the airport early, flying a spoke flight (from a non-hub to a hub). All three flights were oversold. If a Tuesday mid afternoon (not the busy slot) is completely oversold, you might want to run bigger planes, or more flights. This is not new, but it has reinforced my belief that I will never ever be tempted to take the cash for a later flight.
    • Cab Queues – I often don’t rent cars. If I have the time, or am arriving at a reasonable hour, I will use public transit, or one of the shuttle services. But when I land late, or if I am unfamiliar, I will use a cab to get at least to my hotel. Why the hell can’t we figure out how to operate consistent cab queues? In Japan, it is methodical, machine-like, and uber efficient. In the US, it is all over the map. Peoria IL? After 8:00PM it can take an hour and a call to get a cab (grrrrr). Boston at midnight? A surprisingly long queue (I once waited 90 minutes in a line that was 400 yards long).
    • Elite Status – being elite used to be awesome. Board first, get upgrades etc. In the mid ought’s, I would get a lot of upgrades. First class in domestic flights was about 50% (I was putting on about 160K miles a year on UAL at the time), and probably 30% into business class international. Then I hit a million miles on UAL about 4 years ago. Supposedly I was automatically added to the upgrade list every flight. A “perk” they said. In 4 years, I have NOT ONCE been upgraded. A perk isn’t a perk if there are at least 24 additional people on that list, and the odds are nil that you will get it. Yes, I still get to board early, and I get double miles. Big deal.
    • Rewards Programs – I have three different frequent flier programs, I have at least 5 different hotel chain reward programs. I have “advantage” with 3 different car rental companies. Enough with this crap. There isn’t enough benefits across them to be worth the hassle. I get the “loyalty” program, but I also am annoyed when I travel with someone who absolutely must stay at a Marriott property. FFS, is a free night’s stay sometime in the future really worth being an asshole to travel with?

    And this doesn’t get into the annoyance of the mergers of the major domestic carriers, the reduction of competition, and the corresponding degradation of (what little is left of) service. The American people have spoken, and the lowest fare is the winner, with all the extras being charged for. I just wish we could go back to the late 1990s.

    Airport food has never been great. But all the vendors are moving to the grab and go model. $10 for a bland turkey sandwich. Yet, you will get worse food for more money on the plane (if you happen to be on a flight long enough to have food for sale). You are a captive audience, and you have no power in the relationship.

    Sorry for the rant. I feel better now.

  • Travel Notes – Going Home Edition

    It has been a long two weeks in Europe. A good set of meetings, and less hectic that trips to the continent commonly are (6 countries in 4 days, all by car is standard fare).

    I got to spend almost a whole week in England, for the most part based in London. The last three days were in a itty bitty hotel room near Paddington Station. Convenient, but cramped (the bed took up the whole width of the room, there wasn’t a proper desk to work on). Fortunately I barely had time to sleep in this room.

    There is nothing like getting a text at 3:00 AM telling you that your flight back is canceled. That gets the adrenaline flowing right quick! Fortunately, I am NOT stuck for another day.

    Pro-Tip: Having status, and being a million mile flier means that even in these times of crappy customer service, and fees out the wazoo, United did rebook me automatically

    This trip was chaotic, and changed several times while I was en route. From changing meetings and agendas, to different cities, and expectations, it wasn’t boring, but it did make it tight.

    I originally packed with the intention to do some laundry on Monday. Unfortunately, I had two more hotel changes before that so I was a bit cramped for clean clothes. Finally, on Wednesday, I was able to get some clean clothes to finish the week, and to have clean jeans for the flight home. Whoopee!

    I am a bit disappointed in the number of hotels that charge for internet. My cheapest room here was about $170 a night (up to $250) and two of the hotels gouged me for another $14 – $25 for internet (or had internet that was so slow as to be useless, thus guiding me to pay for the faster service.

    I don’t know how people can afford to live in London. Not just the cost of a flat, but even a tube fare is like 4 quid (about half price if you have an oyster card). That is stupid expensive. Cabs? Fuggedaboutit. I will say the system is efficient, and mostly clean, even during rush hour. Meals are expensive. I tried my best to get to out of the way places, but it was not uncommon for a simple meal to be $40 or more without alcohol. Sigh.

    Well, I am at LHR, waiting for my gate to be announced, and then to head home. Instead of arriving at 7:30 PM, I will get in at midnight, so I will be home late. But I will be home. Yay!

  • Travel Notes – Luggage

    I am rapidly approaching the need for new baggage. I am pretty hard on my luggage, so it’s not surprising that it wears out. However, all the zippers are failing, and it is looking like it has been dragged through a war zone.

    I have had Tumi bags, and they wore well, but the hardware failed spectacularly one trip. It literally disintegrated before my eyes.

    I replaced it with "Travel Pro". Endorsed by flight attendants and airline employees, it seemed like a safe bet. Snort. Of course their bags last a long time because they NEVER have to check their bags. Both my carry on sized roller, and my big roller looked like hell almost immediately. The first trip with my big bag, the big zipper pulls were lost. And it has gone downhill from there. My current trip is probably the last with this bag.

    Not sure where to go next. But, I am certain whatever brand of luggage I buy, it will have a finite lifespan before the rigors of travel shred it mercilessly. I am tempted to go hard shell, but much of that looks and feels cheap as well.

  • Travel Notes

    As someone who travels extensively for work, I have a few habits that are “odd”.

    1. I never watch TV in my hotel. I can’t remember the last time I turned on a TV in the hotel room. Probably early 2002 or so. I don’t watch much live TV at home, so it is pretty easy to just leave the telly off. Additionally, since I am not a huge sports fan (except for MotoGP and WSBK), I don’t find that I miss it.
    2. I don’t watch movies in airplanes. Even with the advent of personal video/entertainment systems, I just read or sleep. Old habits are hard to kick, and I got out of the habit of watching the in-flight entertainment a long time ago.
    3. I try to not rent cars. Unless I need to go significant distance in a location, even in the US, I usually just cab it. Internationally? No brainer. Cab, train, subway is the way to go.
    4. I never read the newspapers that they hang on the door. I swear that USA Today pretty much exists to be tossed at hotel room doors. But even overseas I just leave the paper on the ground. What I want to read, I get from the web (I subscribe to The Economist and the NY Times, so I am not starved for content).
    5. If breakfast costs money in the hotel, I will go out. I find it astounding how much hotels charge for breakfast. $25 – $30 is not uncommon. Unless they are serving shaved truffles, and beluga caviar omelettes, there is no way I can eat that much worth of food. Just about anywhere in the world I have stayed will have a small coffee shop/bakery within walking distance. They get my custom. Of course, in the US at least, most business hotels include a small breakfast service. That is still catching on worldwide.
    6. Kitsh and gifts – long ago I stopped buying stuff on the road. I know my wife likes the trinkets, but really, how many “Hello Kitty” keychains does one need? I do still buy chocolate to bring back though. Yummy
    7. I rarely try to upgrade to business or first class. I just don’t care that much about the uplift. I have many peers who get visibly agitated when they can’t get an upgrade. I would rather keep the miles and use it to take the wife on a real vacation (and then I prefer to use the miles to upgrade to business class). Of course, upgrades are rarer than ever with airlines doing their best to overbook their seats.
    8. I hate airlines. All airlines. Yes, some are better than others (Singapore or Thai), but all of them are working towards treating their patrons as steerage. For small vacations, I far prefer to drive than to book rewards tickets. Besides the hassle of trying to get a seat with your rewards (and since all airlines are running near capacity, that becomes ever more difficult), I find that I just prefer driving.

    A lot of people hear that I travel a lot for work and instantly assume that it is all glamorous. It isn’t. Hotels aren’t ever as comfortable as your own bed. You can eat some great food, but equally often you are grabbing packaged sandwiches at gas stations. High cuisine indeed.

    I do drink too much on the road though. Spending long hours in hotel bars, or local watering holes that I have found over the years can erase some of the pain of traveling.

  • Travel Log – Europe

    This is going to be a tough expense report. We are supposed to use our corporate cards for everything. And some places that works well. In the US for example, it is getting rare to find a vendor that doesn’t take plastic. No problemo.

    However, get outside the US, and it becomes more sketchy. In Europe (where I have been for the last 9 days) most places take cards, but they prefer the cards with chip’s and an associated PIN. But us in ‘Murika don’t get those cards. Often these vendors can’t or won’t fall back to mag stripe. Grrrr. So you have to use cash.

    Then in England, for the last three days, and several cab rides, not one of which took plastic. Gulp. Add to that the fact that in London, cabs are expensive, (hell, even riding the trains/subway is expensive), and the pounds sterling have been flying out of my wallet.

    Oh, and while I have in general found that internet is free in business hotels, that is NOT the case here in Europe. Every one of the hotels I have stayed in has required payment for internet (or, their “free” internet was SO bad that it was truly a travesty). Sigh. I have had better luck in public here.

    I know that our expense policy is tight, and I know that they will likely badger me (and my boss) with all the cash expenses. Not looking forward to that.

    I am here in Oxford, a bit to the north of the city and the campus, waiting for our seminar tomorrow.  I will be working on my slides, and preparing for the session.

  • So much to see – London

    If you have been following the saga, I have been in Europe for a week so far, and had a weekend to spend in London.  I have been to the UK many times, but usually I just fly in and then grab a {car|train|cab} to some city away from London (usually Cambridge or Oxford). This time I arrived at noon on Saturday, and will be here until Monday afternoon when I grab a train to Oxford.

    I am staying south of central London near the Thames. Great location. I did a major amount of walking today, and saw a lot of sights.

    St. James Park – Really cool place. About 10 minutes from my Hotel. Beautiful grounds, lots of waterfowl, and government buildings all around. Very scenic and fun.

    Buckingham Palace – Got to watch the changing of the guard. Very picturesque, and fun.

    War Memorials – Lots of these sprinkled around. Sobering, somber, and interesting.

    Hyde Park – Bigger park. There was a foot race, so lots of runners out. Cool statues, a nice waterway, and the Italian Gardens are cool.

    Prince Albert Hall. Really cool building. Great architecture. Which lead to …

    Royal College of Music – literally it was about 200 yards behind it.

    Lots of people in expensive cars – Saw a Maybach, a couple of Bentleys, at least three Ferrari’s (including an F40), and a McLaren. Clearly people here have a LOT of money. Certainly can’t get them out of 1st gear in the traffic, even on a Sunday.

    Natural History Museum – I went inside. Really cool exhibits, well laid out, and exhausting. The British Natural History museum is a good visit.

    Long walk back along the Thames. I probably should have grabbed a bus or the tube, but it was a gorgeous day, and I enjoyed the walk.  Altogether, I probably logged 12 – 13 miles today, and I am exhausted. Not sure what I will do for dinner yet, but I will find something.

    I did look at the cost of some flats here. I thought San Jose and the peninsula was expensive. Ha ha ha. Here you have to make investment banker money to buy a flat or an apartment. A nice one was 5,750,000 pounds sterling (about $9.4M at today’s exchange rate). All for about 2500 sqft. But you would get to live in Central London…

  • Travel Hell – Can’t Sleep edition

    There are a variety of reasons that I have trouble sleeping when I am on the road.

    Jetlag.

    Weird schedules

    Food that doesn’t agree with me

    But the one that really bugs me is:

    Neighbors who have hookers come to their room. For fuck’s sake, please, try to keep the screaming, grunting, bed slamming down. I am sure she is that great. I am sure she is worth whatever the FUCK you are paying her. I just DO NOT WANT TO HEAR IT.

    Sigh.

    That is all.

  • European Travel Log – London

    Quick Edit: I forgot how awesome it is to have yummy Ale served at the “proper” British temperature. ‘Muricans just don’t get proper ales.

    The Austria and Germany portions of this trip went well. Successful demos and sales training. Today I moved to London for a couple days before heading to Yarnton for a seminar on Tuesday.

    I am staying near Waterloo on Lambeth road at the Novotel. Pretty awesome location, near a shitload of great sights and things to do.

    The weather is a LOT warmer than I expected. 50F here this afternoon. I almost was too warm with my winter coat on. Traffic wasn’t too bad, it is a Saturday after all. I got to the hotel about 1:30 and headed out for a stroll.

    The London EyeI thought I might enjoy doing the London Eye. Um, holy cow, the line for that makes Disneyland seem barren. Even the “Fast Pass” line is oppressively long. I didn’t even look up how much it costs. Took a few pics and walked by.

    The Parliment building is cool, and recognizable, and listening to Big Ben chime the hours was fun. I expected there to be more boating traffic on the Thames.

    Lots to see and do. Of course, it isn’t all unicorns and chocolate.

    Novotel hotels used to be nice. This one is not cheap ($250 a night US) and you get almost no amenities. Yes, there is free internet, but it must be a 128K fram relay line for all the free users to share. I lasted about 10 minutes before I caved in and bought the upgraded internet. BReakfast isn’t included (a rarity in Europe), and for $32US I will walk down to a bakery for a pastry and a coffee, thankyouverymuch. But, it is in a great, convenient location.

    Cabs – I love the charming “black” cabs, and I got a chatty driver. Took about 15 minutes to drive to the hotel from Paddington station. Yes, I could have done it via tube, but I would have made a lot of mistakes and it would have taken me an hour or more to figure it out. So I cabbed it. Cash only (which will make it tough to expense), and 17 pounds. Yikes. I have to remember that it is ~ $1.80 to 1 pound.

    Heathrow Express. An absolute joy. Certainly cheaper than a car, but I couldn’t figure out how to get it to take my credit card. So another 21 pounds flew out of my limited stash. At this rate, I will be eating McDonalds for all three meals by Monday. (I think I was just using a bad ticket kiosk)

    Tomorrow I will walk the royal gardens, go to the natural history museum, stroll the riverfront, drink a few pints at a public house, and explore the tubes.

    Mind the gap!

    Monday I head up to Oxford for a day, then back to London (for a much cheaper hotel), and day trips for the rest of the week.