RustyC
Oct 18, 07, 3:16 am
This will not be the most exciting trip report in the forum.
In fact, it may be in the bottom 25%.
Nonetheless, it's the kind of trip that's a building block for status requalification for me. In 15 years of status qualifying (the first year without knowing it!) I could never bring myself to do pure MRs. Surely you can find a reason to go there and stay two or three days. For me, getting away from the computer at home has been reason enough lately.
Booked an ATL-SEA-ATL RT on NW over the summer during a very short-lived $203 all-in RT sale ATL-SNA/SFO/SEA that lasted just a day or two. Those are rare (for NW out of ATL, at least), and as luck would have it I was on a much more exciting Philippines trip when it hit.
So there I was, spending hours on a poky Internet connection not only trying to route the thing, but also applying a bump voucher to pay for it.
Inefficient segments on NW aren't easily done, even if you can get them to work within the fare rules. NW has clustered hubs and is generally hostile to the kind of wacky itins UA especially gets, so the most I did was ATL-MSP-SEA (pretty straightforward), SEA-DTW-MEM-ATL. Putting in the DTW-MEM segment only bought me a seat in the back, as upgrades on the other 4 segments all eventually cleared except for that plat-loaded hub-to-hub one. Didn't really need the extra miles to requalify status, but I didn't know that at the time of booking.
They called for volunteers on the MSP-SEA segment but didn't end up needing any.
Trip over was wonderfully uneventful, not even getting hurt on delays by the MSP runway work. The "priority" bag was one of the last unloaded at SEA airport, though. That and the slowness of getting it (45 min. or so after landing) at a non-busy time made me wonder if it was some kind of job action.
Got the Pricelined rental car at Avis; it was $96.96 for 4 days in a compact on a $13 bid, so $52 was the bid and nearly $45 the taxes + Priceline cost (probably $35 or so on the taxes). It handily beat most of the car companies except Fox, off-airport.
Headed toward Portland on I-5, stopping for lunch at Salty's in Redondo. Was more upscale than expected, especially for a place listed on the exit signs along with the likes of Taco Bell and Jack in the Box! Nice view across Puget Sound, along with Frenchly presented seafood in the seafood neptune. I decided the place would probably work best in a brunch all-you-can-eat format, which they have on Sundays.
Portland lodgings were at Extended Stay America Gresham, Pricelined at $32 for 3 nights or closer to $40 all-in a night. It was a pretty good place, very convenient to an I-84 exit on the east side halfway to Troutdale and not far from the 205 interchange. Some rooms even got views of the cars whizzing by. With ESAs you don't get the daily maid service, but having the frig and the TV with a good channel selection (including 2 Showtimes) is nice.
Portland has to be the thrift-store and bookstore capital of the country, at least per capita. The main Goodwill across from downtown gets my vote for best thrift store in the country, as it's huge and in another league vs. most. Everything is sized and well-organized, there's a big book section that is organized like a bookstore, and even a special section for collectible books. The travel section alone has 2 or 3 bookcases. Most of the stuff isn't current, of course, but you might happen across something. The Portland stores really put other Goodwills across the country to shame. It seems the competition with Value Village (run by a private company, not a charity) has really sharpened both places. The prize finds included size 13 shoes that looked new for $14.99 and a Sean John shirt.
The Hawthorne section also has a big vintage-items store that has a really impressive collection of retro furniture and anything you may remember from 40 or so years ago that shouldn't have been thrown out. Prices aren't cheap but aren't horrible like they might be in some other cities.
Also happened upon a record show that was really a record show (a few CDs, but dominated by vinyl).
That kind of thing was good for passing time on the bad-weather days. There was one good-weather day, which was great for heading toward Salem and Silver Falls state park. The park has several waterfalls including a beautiful main one that has a trail behind it. In summer the place is very popular, especially on weekends, but in the fall on weekdays you get some great tree colors in spots and maybe just a handful of cars in the lot at a time.
Food was good, too, including places like the popular Chang's Mongolian Barbecue (not as good as the bd's chain but still good). Also a place on 82nd, the Canton Grill, that had been around since 1944 but would give a huge plate of food for $9 (cheaper for lunch). Other places also held out some promise.
The trip back was fairly painless as far as those things go (SEA-DTW-MEM-ATL). Would much rather pounce sales to try to fly long-haul on upgradeables than deal with too many segments or RJs (guess I'm just getting old...). OTOH, if NW can hit the 95% or so load and fill the rest with standbys, then on a trip like DTW-MEM it means flying in the back with a full cabin (horrors!) GEs and PEs get "spoiled" sometimes in wanting every flight to have either an upgrade or a bump opportunity (the former if empty enough, the latter if full enough). But it was not to be, at least on that segment.
All in all, it was a low-dollar decompression kind of trip, the kind that makes the more exciting longer award ones to places like SE Asia possible.
In fact, it may be in the bottom 25%.
Nonetheless, it's the kind of trip that's a building block for status requalification for me. In 15 years of status qualifying (the first year without knowing it!) I could never bring myself to do pure MRs. Surely you can find a reason to go there and stay two or three days. For me, getting away from the computer at home has been reason enough lately.
Booked an ATL-SEA-ATL RT on NW over the summer during a very short-lived $203 all-in RT sale ATL-SNA/SFO/SEA that lasted just a day or two. Those are rare (for NW out of ATL, at least), and as luck would have it I was on a much more exciting Philippines trip when it hit.
So there I was, spending hours on a poky Internet connection not only trying to route the thing, but also applying a bump voucher to pay for it.
Inefficient segments on NW aren't easily done, even if you can get them to work within the fare rules. NW has clustered hubs and is generally hostile to the kind of wacky itins UA especially gets, so the most I did was ATL-MSP-SEA (pretty straightforward), SEA-DTW-MEM-ATL. Putting in the DTW-MEM segment only bought me a seat in the back, as upgrades on the other 4 segments all eventually cleared except for that plat-loaded hub-to-hub one. Didn't really need the extra miles to requalify status, but I didn't know that at the time of booking.
They called for volunteers on the MSP-SEA segment but didn't end up needing any.
Trip over was wonderfully uneventful, not even getting hurt on delays by the MSP runway work. The "priority" bag was one of the last unloaded at SEA airport, though. That and the slowness of getting it (45 min. or so after landing) at a non-busy time made me wonder if it was some kind of job action.
Got the Pricelined rental car at Avis; it was $96.96 for 4 days in a compact on a $13 bid, so $52 was the bid and nearly $45 the taxes + Priceline cost (probably $35 or so on the taxes). It handily beat most of the car companies except Fox, off-airport.
Headed toward Portland on I-5, stopping for lunch at Salty's in Redondo. Was more upscale than expected, especially for a place listed on the exit signs along with the likes of Taco Bell and Jack in the Box! Nice view across Puget Sound, along with Frenchly presented seafood in the seafood neptune. I decided the place would probably work best in a brunch all-you-can-eat format, which they have on Sundays.
Portland lodgings were at Extended Stay America Gresham, Pricelined at $32 for 3 nights or closer to $40 all-in a night. It was a pretty good place, very convenient to an I-84 exit on the east side halfway to Troutdale and not far from the 205 interchange. Some rooms even got views of the cars whizzing by. With ESAs you don't get the daily maid service, but having the frig and the TV with a good channel selection (including 2 Showtimes) is nice.
Portland has to be the thrift-store and bookstore capital of the country, at least per capita. The main Goodwill across from downtown gets my vote for best thrift store in the country, as it's huge and in another league vs. most. Everything is sized and well-organized, there's a big book section that is organized like a bookstore, and even a special section for collectible books. The travel section alone has 2 or 3 bookcases. Most of the stuff isn't current, of course, but you might happen across something. The Portland stores really put other Goodwills across the country to shame. It seems the competition with Value Village (run by a private company, not a charity) has really sharpened both places. The prize finds included size 13 shoes that looked new for $14.99 and a Sean John shirt.
The Hawthorne section also has a big vintage-items store that has a really impressive collection of retro furniture and anything you may remember from 40 or so years ago that shouldn't have been thrown out. Prices aren't cheap but aren't horrible like they might be in some other cities.
Also happened upon a record show that was really a record show (a few CDs, but dominated by vinyl).
That kind of thing was good for passing time on the bad-weather days. There was one good-weather day, which was great for heading toward Salem and Silver Falls state park. The park has several waterfalls including a beautiful main one that has a trail behind it. In summer the place is very popular, especially on weekends, but in the fall on weekdays you get some great tree colors in spots and maybe just a handful of cars in the lot at a time.
Food was good, too, including places like the popular Chang's Mongolian Barbecue (not as good as the bd's chain but still good). Also a place on 82nd, the Canton Grill, that had been around since 1944 but would give a huge plate of food for $9 (cheaper for lunch). Other places also held out some promise.
The trip back was fairly painless as far as those things go (SEA-DTW-MEM-ATL). Would much rather pounce sales to try to fly long-haul on upgradeables than deal with too many segments or RJs (guess I'm just getting old...). OTOH, if NW can hit the 95% or so load and fill the rest with standbys, then on a trip like DTW-MEM it means flying in the back with a full cabin (horrors!) GEs and PEs get "spoiled" sometimes in wanting every flight to have either an upgrade or a bump opportunity (the former if empty enough, the latter if full enough). But it was not to be, at least on that segment.
All in all, it was a low-dollar decompression kind of trip, the kind that makes the more exciting longer award ones to places like SE Asia possible.