AJCU

Many people on here are after the premium cabins. Yes, that would be awesome, but I am content with Y, because Y not? I am a college student, so flying around the world for winter break is already cool enough in my opinion, and I don’t need to do it in style. Why be someone that I am not? There is a good chance that when I land, I will drink three coffees, then a bottle of wine, and kick jetlag overnight while I sleep off the hydrated hangover (it is my patented technique). Coffee + Wine costs less than a flat bed, so it is the obvious solution. Is that getting us off on the wrong foot?

I will be reviewing all coach flights with a few lounges, and a bit of what I did in each of my destinations in this report. Just for the record, I am on a budget, a college budget, so when I go to the Admirals Club in Denver and see vodka in a plastic bottle, I am cool with that...because that is what we drink in college, and all you need to know is how to mix it . (That is a posh sentence if I have ever heard one). Also I like street food, and doing things on the cheap. A bus instead of a train instead of flying that saves a couple bucks? I am cool with that. That is what to expect from this short RTW over my Christmas break. To check out some of my other stuff, head to my blog, where things are in more depth. I spared the long version for FT because most of you know how to be relentless when booking trips.

I have an AMEX Platinum, so Priority Pass, and the AA Exec (from 100k). Wow, this guy is such a hypocrite, he is on a college budget with a Platinum card. Yup. But I have many reasons, some of which are found in this post. My main one is I get lunch (and drinks) at most international PP lounges, something I would otherwise be spending money on anyways. (Not to mention a shower in the Centurion after a day of skiing, 2 overnights on planes and a day at the beach, as you will soon find out). This year I flew 83k miles, so for me, it pays off. Getting the card was not easy, but you gotta splurge a bit sometimes. You do you, and I’ll do me.

Flight Logistics

I have been wanting to ski Japan for years now. Skiing tits deep powder all day, every day, was a dream. Vail Resorts announced this year that we would get 5 days of lift ticket sat Niseko (when you think of skiing in Japan, you probably think of Niseko), which made the idea of going to Japan more appealing. Looking at ticket prices in the $1700’s the past few years I quickly learned that it would be close to impossible for me to afford it. Points were my only option.

Doing a lot of research showed me that American Airlines miles were going to be the mileage currency of choice. They charged 25k miles each way to get from the US to Japan and vice versa. This was a deal in comparison to say United which is 35k points each way. AA it was.

AA did not have the availability from the states that I needed, so I eventually came up with the idea to fly around the world. It makes sense, right? Why fly the equivalence of 2/3rds the way around when you can just add another leg and call it a day?

I found a one way ticket that was in the low $600’s between Denver and Poznan, PL, where all of my Polish family lives. I would be here for 3 days during Christmas. I have never been to Poland for Christmas. Mom says its amazing, and since family is starting to disappear, this was an excellent time to go and check it out. I might even be able to ski Malta (their local snowflex, sometimes natural snow field! SKI POLAND!!!! Wooohooo!). I could have flown out of Denver on a flight that connected straight to CPH, or, instead, I could take the flight the night before and force a 12 hour layover in IAD, so I can visit the Air and Space Museum. I call this combining trips, so I opted for the later, and hey, this ticket was $20 cheaper and I didn’t have to miss another ski day at home! The win trifecta struck.

After Christmas in Poland, I will head to Warsaw to catch an Air France Promo Award to Osaka. 20k points was ideal compared to what other things I was looking at purchasing. This worked out great, especially since flying West to fly East makes ideal sense in the world of FlyerTalk, so this is for you FT. In Warsaw, I was going to stay at the Hampton by the airport on points, but instead booked a JR Suite at H15 Boutique using the Orbitz $100 off on Cyber Monday, coming to a total of $24. Hostels were not working out, so I will gladly take my first Jr Suite ever!

After some time on Honshu (Kyoto, Hakuba and Tokyo), I would head North to Sapporo/Niseko. 4,500 Avios poorer (or $370 richer?) I had a ticket on JAL from HND to CTS. Flying was much cheaper (due to Avios) than taking a train, or a bus, or a horse, so flying it is (hopefully I don’t take too much ski s**t, 20 kgs is nothing for ski season while checking bags haha).

After 5 days in Niseko, hopefully getting a very cold, white face, I would fly home via AA miles. All flights were connecting through HNL, which forced a longish layover. Skiing one day, beach the next. Dream come true? Yum.

This flight unfortunately forced an overnight in SFO, so when I got a schedule change that would not get me into Eagle-Vail in time for skiing (this is a serious thing, I am an avid fan of the ski to plane or plane to ski), I called up AA to see what they could do. They ended up pushing my flight (on my request) two days later. This flight has 10 hours in HNL, no overnight in an airport, but instead on a plane. Excellent.

This is the itinerary that I came up (from the description above):
DEN-IAD-CPH-POZ on United/SAS with a forced long layover in IAD so I can go to the Air and Space Museum. This flight was paid.
WAW-PAR-KIX on Air France using 20k Flying Blue miles transferred from AMEX.
HND-CTS using 4,500 BA Avios. This ticket would have been $370! Niseko is included for 5 days with our Vail pass, that is why I went here.
CTS-HNL-DFW-EGE with 25k AA miles. This ticket was originally a lot worse forcing an overnight in SFO. When a schedule change came around, no availability was available so I asked to push the flight back 2 days to better connections forcing 10 hours in HNL, and two red eyes with a Centurion lounge for shower, breakfast and mimosas at the end, then skiing by noon in Vail. Now that sounds like a darn good journey to me!



All in, I paid about $750, 20k Flying Blue (transferred from AMEX), 25k AA and 4,500 Avios from Ultimate Rewards. I really wish I could find a non BA flight to Berlin from the US, this would have cut the cost by about $600, making the total 69.5 k miles to go RTW. That would have been great. Maybe next time.

For a more thorough idea of how I came to this routing, head over to the blog. Yes, I hate to link you to that, but in reality, there is a 3,000 word post over there of how I booked this trip and the problem solving technique I used. Even trying a long layover in Dubai to Ski Dubai was in the works, but it didn’t happen. I don’t know what’s worse, linking to blog, or posting the exact same thing here? You tell me.

With that, greetings from the Admirals Club in Denver. I skied a full day today at Vail. Conditions were great as a new storm was moving in. At the beginning of the day, they reported 2 inches, while at the end I was skiing a good 6-8. The season had a great start (ironically when I was in Barcelona, aka gone), but it hasn't snowed much since. Perfect timing for this trip.







After skiing, we went home, grabbed all the luggage and some dinner, then drove to the airport. Mom insisted that we drive all the way, I wanted to ride the light rail to bus, but, it’s all good. Tonights drive took a whopping 3.5 hours, about an hour more than it should have. There was an abundance of idiotic 2WD drivers. Honestly, why would you attempt Vail Pass when we are in the middle of a 3 foot storm in your Prius? People are idiots.

I digress.

I like the Admirals Club in Denver. Yes it is nothing special, but it is always mellow, and soothing, and exactly what you want a lounge to be. I enjoy the colors. Unfortunately, this might be my last time in the Admirals club for some time, since the card looks like a goner for next year. Indulge in atrocious snacks and cheap booze now.





A few glasses of wine, and I am now off to the B concourse, where United flies out of. I got an upgrade on the first segment, so 2 free 70 pound bags. honestly, that is the best thing about getting upgraded in my opinion. This made it so that my skis and boots are checked through instead of having to figure out what to do with them in DC tomorrow morning.

On a total side note, baggage drop was pretty slow tonight. But someone who "flies 100,000 miles a year" was having a tizzy about his ski bag being overweight. So I waited, and an agent eventually happened, and I started cracking jokes about aggravated travelers. She was very helpful, and very nice. I like DIA at 9 PM on Sunday. Also, this is what you need for a RTW ski trip:



Next stop: The Air and Space Museum

Calchas

Nice itinerary! Subscribing.

grappe

WOW, another member who is a ski and plane nut! Check out my 2 trip reports on my first RTW where I skied in Zermatt and Cervinia (which I do yearly) and also on that trip, but not reported, I skied in Japan at Mt. Naeba and adjacent ski areas while staying at the Kinta Hotel.

Not trying to hijack your trip report – Moderator, please delete if links to other reports is not appropriate.

First trip report: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...is-grappa.html Second trip report for train nuts: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...-part-2-a.html

Best of luck in your adventure, Bill

farbster

Ski trip reports are the best!

Bretteee

My mother told me about her skiing trip to Zakopane in Poland in 1936. She said it was great.

Air Berlin have good mileage deals to Berlin. Maybe it's only with AA and not BA.

I used BA Avios miles on Aer Lingus to Dublin. Low taxes. A way to avoid BA sky high fees.

AJCU

You make me think I should write about all my other ski trips haha. Chile and Switzerland happened earlier this year!

Thanks Bill! Did you make it to Cortina (Japan Cortina) at all?

I bet they had the same cable car in 1936 as they do today. Zakopane is great. Never been skiing, but a very nice place to visit in the summer. We used to go every year.

Air Berlin was not popping up to Berlin, and Avios to Dublin is pointless in my situation. I would have to position from Denver to Boston then pay 2x bag fees to take the Ryan Air flight from Dublin to Poznan, or something else. That just seems like a lot of work for the short 4 days I am in Europe.

AJCU

My United flight from Denver to Washington was pretty darn uneventful. In other words, I passed out. I do have to say that the seats in F on the 757 seem to be more comfortable than the ones I experienced on the 737's.


My plane tonight.


DIA was pretty quiet this evening!

Upon arrival in Washington, a friend from school picked me up at the early hour of 5:30 AM, where we went off to have breakfast at an unknown location (I don't know where we were). After breakfast, we headed to the Smithsonian next to the Dulles airport. My friend is an engineering student like myself, so there really was no one better to nerd out with at the Air and Space Museum.

Logistics of The Air and Space Museum
My friend, Lilly, picked me up from the airport. Honestly, this is not a great idea since you have to pay $15 for parking at the museum itself, which is apparently mandated by the people that run IAD.

If you are on a layover of about 5 hours or more, you can definitely go to the museum and check out all the planes. I asked the information people and they said that there is a bus that runs every 20 minutes at :10,:30 and :50 after the hour to the airport. The ticket costs $1.75 each way, and entrance to the museum is free. With that, I would definitely recommend going and checking it out on a layover instead of just hanging out in the lounge. If anything, it is worth going just to visit the observation deck, which was closing at 4:30 today. Also note that there a free guided "highlight" tours, which take 1.5 hours.

My favorites were the Space Shuttle and Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.



It was hard to get a good picture of this guy becaus eit was massive, so check this one out from the museum website.

This plane was incredible. Apparently they could only load it 1/3 of the way with fuel on the ground, otherwise it leaked fuel all over the ground. Once airborne, it topped off the tank. It was designed to flight above 80k feet, and do secret spy missions over the Soviet Union. The coolest fact, in my opinion, was that it was designed to contract and expand by 4-6 inches so that it could tolerate the heat from the friction of air resistance, which si why it leaked fuel when it was on the ground, or cold.

Another fun fact was that it was made out of titanium, which was bought from the Russians under a CIA undercover company...clever. For it's final flight, it flew LAX to IAD in 64 minutes, setting the world record for horizontal flight speed of 2,123 MPH.















If I could go back in time and fly any airline, it would be Pan Am. My mom came to the US on Pan Am in 1989. Everyone in the family helped to pitch in and buy her plane ticket: WAW-JFK-DEN. So when mom called home saying she is not coming home because she met my dad, Babcia and Dziadek (my grandma and grandpa in Polish) were not too thrilled!




Undercarriage of Concorde.


A330 Landing Gear


707 Prototype


747 Engine from a Korean Air Plane


Restoration Hanger. This was a B26.


The observation deck, which has a live ATC feed for watching the planes. Coming in around 3 might be nice with all the heavies from Euro coming in.



After about 150 pictures, we left the museum around 1:45, where Lilly took me back to the airport. I went back through security (without Pre Check ) and headed to the UA Club at C7.



Nice space, better than Admiral Clubs, but still not very great. I had some tea, and killed some time before heading over to the B gates, where SAS was jetting off from. I was at the club from ~2 to 4:30, which is when it started to get really busy.

grappe

No, I did not make it to Cortina, but did also ski Tashiro which is connected to Mt. Naeba by the Dragondola - supposedly, the longest gondola lift line in the world!

AJCU

I left the United club about 1:15 to departure since I wanted to talk around and check out what other planes were around. I also had to switch to the B concourse, where SAS flew out of.

I have to say, IAD has some decent planes to look at. Saudi, Qatar, BA, South African (I wondered if I have been on that one) and many more to choose from. Also, this was a nice terminal. I liked the flags.


A terrible photo of my plane, an A340-300

I have never flown SAS before, but have to say that it was nice. The staff were beyond friendly, and very happy/energetic. A surprise for a full flight. I was seated in 16C, which was the first seat behind SAS Plus. The seat map on Seat Guru is incorrect for this type of plane. Our flight departed about 45 minutes late because of paperwork. You could tell this had nothing to do with the crew, as they all had no idea what the delay was.

The seat was comfortable, but I was seated next to a leg spreader, so I had to nudge him over a few times. Ironically he was Polish and going to Gdansk.

I thought the magazine was one fo the better ones I have read by an airline. They also had a page with all their fleet information AND fuel consumption. Never seen that before, I calculated my consumption for this leg to be 67.64 gallons, or 255.7 liters. That is really not much for 4,074 miles of flying.


One thing that was odd about SAS is the fact that they did not have free beverages, minus around meal times. I could only assume this is from the competition with Norwegian?


Beverage/Snack price list.

For dinner was a chicken with rice dish. If I heard correctly, Business class had two options of dishes, which the other was ravioli.



I passed out for a good while since I only got 3 hours of sleep the night before. Breakfast was served and was a pretty basic European continental offering, nothing bad about that! If you come to Europe and complain about it, then don't come to Europe and instead stay home to eat your eggs.



I still love flying on the A340's. I think they are quiet and fun to fly on. There is something iconic about flying in on a quad jet. When we landed in Copenhagen, it was still dark. After a short taxi, we were at the gate. I proceeded through immigration, which took about 15 seconds. I love this process: Hand EU passport, preferably open, to immigration official. Official looks at picture, looks at you, then waves you through.

I was off to find the Priority Pass lounges in CPH. The app provided pretty terrible directions. My first stop was the Aviator Lounge, which is located upstairs above the restaurant right next to where the B gates pier leaves the main terminal. On a side note, I found the CPH terminal to be one of the weirdest I have been to. So much shopping, not many places to just sit and do nothing. Slightly overwhelming if you ask me.

The Aviator Lounge was quite nice and boutique like. Many reviews said it was terrible, but when I visited it was very quiet, very clean, and had a nice breakfast spread. Once again, the spread was continental European with cold meats, cheeses, breads, jams, juices, yogurt and cereals. I don't know what else you would expect from a European lounge in the morning.




I don't like taking photos in lounges, so I try to make it quick. Terrible photos is the byproduct.







After about 2 hours I left in search of the other PP lounge, called Aspire. This one was trickier to find. The directions said across from Starbucks. Well, there are two Starbucks, and they are located at opposite sides of the main terminal from each other. The Aspire Lounge is located closer to the "A" gates. It is above Victoria Secret, somewhat across from Starbucks, and the middle of the lounge is across from the Lego store. Once again, this lounge is upstairs, which it failed to mention.

Aspire had basically the same amenities as Aviator, except it had some more seating and was not as busy, especially at the far end. One notable difference was they had Carlsberg on tap, where the other lounge had some other, possibly Danish beer brand of tap.





After about half an hour here, I headed to the gate for my flight to Poznan. We always get bus to gates, no matter where you are flying from. I love bus to gates. You get a free avgeek tour whenever you are going to your flight. Today, we saw a few SAS A330's, Singapore, Thai and a few Tui planes.

Our flight was on a CRJ 200. The flight was about half full, so I opted to take the very back seat so I got a window. This seat was actually pretty nice since it was slightly dark due to the offset of the window. The hour long flight was pretty uneventful, but had a few bumps along the way.












This one was actually just a dirty window. Coming into POZ with the UEFA stadium in the background.

Once we landed, we were the only plane in the airport. Another quiet day. This time it was raining. Some would say boo the rain, but last time I was here in winter, your nostrils were immediately filled with the smell of coal and pollution. The rain made the air seem clear and fresh. Also, the temperature was a pleasant 9 C...that is quite the change from last time I was here in winter!


The feeling of, "OMG my skis made it." Somehow you don't care about the other baggage as much.


Baggage Claim

Poznan Airport, like many of the airports in Poland, has benefited from EU money to upgrade, which has made many of the Polish airports modern and open feeling. Some new upgrades are the taxi ways (you used to have to taxi on the runway, which can land a 747) and a bigger terminal with a different type of parking lot this time!).




I got my things, and were off to get a Christmas tree, then home. Apparently it is tradition to set up the tree on the 23rd, the day before the celebration. In Poland, you celebrate on the 24th.





On arrival day, we did not do much, just hung out with Grandma and saw what was going on in the workshop, located in the back yard. The shop has been there forever, and was started in 1947 after the war. They make crimping devices for cutting spools of wire and pressing them together. Pretty cool story behind it actually, that I won't bore you with. Anyways, the 3rd generation is now taking over the company, making the same products as 70 yeas ago, with some tweaks of course. If you are interested, ill give you the whole synopsis.

Next: Christmas in Poland, then off to Warsaw.

farbster

More please

LH4116

Nice report so far, and interesting that you flew SAS. We don't see many reports of them on FlyerTalk. Though it's worth noticing that SAS PLUS e.g Premium Economy gets two options, and whatever is left you may also have in Economy. Otherwise it's just a single option. In Business Class you have three options.

AJCU

On this flight they announced it to everyone that there were 2 options in Business and just one for Econ + and Economy. I thought that was limiting, but that is what they said on the PA. I sat in the row directly behind Econ +, which didn't look much different haha.

I'll type up some more tonight! Just got back a few days ago and was going through some digital detox

AJCU

Sorry for the delay in posting the remainder of this TR. I was doing the “digital detox” thing while in Japan, then reality hit with school and such, but alas!

Poland is great for Christmas. It is not commercialized. There are few presents, and instead plentiful amount of family and good food. It is like going back to the olden days. I love it. We commercialize things too much in the states (for Thanksgiving, people go shopping. Seriously?). With that, Poland was an excellent place to experience Christmas, and I am thrilled that I got to attend.

Poland Day #1

For my arrival day, we got to get the tree, then head home where Babcia (grandma) had a large amount of Polish favorites already prepared. I did not photograph all of my food stuff, but I can assure you that the pork chops, Zurek, beets and cakes were wonderful.

The rest of the day was pretty mellow, we went down the street to fetch some cheese cake for Christmas Day. The pastry shop was hopping. I loved it.



In the evening, we got to decorate the tree. In Poland, you typically decorate the tree on the 23rd. Aside from the tree, there are not many other decorations except a nativity scene. I did not see a single night time Christmas light while I was there.



Poland Day #2
In the morning, we went to the cemetery. Polish cemeteries are beautiful places that are “alive,” meaning that they do not merely forget about the dead, but instead go to visit them weekly, if not two times per week to clean and redecorate. During Christmas, it was the busiest I have ever seen the cemetery, and the most decorated. It was truly beautiful.






Old's Cool

I usually go to Poland only in the summer, but have been in the winter once before. Last time, it was bleak, dark and freezing. I live in the mountains in Colorado, and I have to say, going to Poland in winter was the coldest I ever was. This time however, it was a pleasant 7-10 C. I was in awe, and amongst the 7 hour days, barren trees and lack of color, the cemetery was a haven. Colors from every walk of life lit the place up, and I think that is what made it so nice.



We went to two cemeteries, one where Dziadek (grandpa) and most of the family is buried, then another one outside of Poznan where my great uncle is buried. I personally like this one a bit more, which was located in a small town, Puszczykowo. I personally liked this one more, as it was less city like and more wooded.


Entrance

In the evening, we went to my uncles, where we had the feast. I found the table with a large piece of holy above it, and elegantly set. Fish is what you eat in Poland for dinner, mainly carp, which is what they had back in the day behind the wall. Another two types of fish on offer were the Greek fish (literal translation) and Pike. The wine was from Georgia, and other things to accompany the fish were pierogies stuffed with mushrooms, barszcz (beet root soup), various types of cabbage, a dried fruit juice (dried fruit soaked in water) and some other goodies. To start the meal, you share a bit of a blessed waffle cracker with everyone at the table, then you can eat.




Greek Fish


Pike Fish

For dessert, there was about 6 types of pies/treats, including my favorite, the ginger bread cookies. Poppy Seed cake was also there, which was nice.




Gingerbread, some gets shipped over by Babcia every year, so it is not a rarity.



Dinner was followed by a few presents and constructing Legos with my cousin.

Overall, a Polish Christmas is very intimate, and special. I was not a huge fan of the fish, but hey, I like food and trying new things is the reason why I go places. I really enjoyed how the holiday was not super commercialized. In the States I feel like I have to go hide for the holiday season because of the frenzy and overly impatient people. That was not happening in Poland, and the main focus instead was family. Everyone gets the 23rd-28th off, instead of just one day, which I thought was nice. These difference could of course be the religious involvement in Poland. 90% of the population is Catholic, and considering they had close to nothing by Western standards a mere ~22 years ago, the concept of family and gratefulness through gifts and shopping has not quite hit the minds of Poles. Who knows what it is, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. I wish I could write more, but it is difficult to put words to it.

Poland Day #3
The third day was pretty minimalist, with many different foods being consumed and different parts of the family coming to visit. I love duck, and every time I go, Babcia makes duck for me, so that was on the menu. Beyond that, sweets and other goodness was consumed. Beyond that, not much else was accomplished.

Poland Day #4
Today was departure day, and my train was at 16:30. Babcia already bought me a ticket, so we did not have to go early. In the early morning, we did go to church. I am not a very religious person, but it was nice to see the customs. The place was packed, and had a nice nativity scene with some Dr. Seuss like trees.


Blue Sky!




The mural was just brought from Venice a week ago.

We hung out and spent some time together until my Uncle came to pick us up and take us to the train station where we said our goodbyes. My uncle has a rather dry sense of humor, and left me on a laughing note.

The Poznan train station is really nice, with Polish, English, German and Russian on each of the signs. My train from Berlin arrived promptly, and left right on time. After a last wave to the family, we were off.


The old station, which is apparently better than the new station and easier to get around in. I think they are connected.



The train was very clean, and quiet, but it did feel like it was from the late 80’s a bit. With that, it still worked and got the job done just fine for the price of 91,00 zł. Another option I was juggling with was Polski Bus. Polski bus takes about twice the time, but is usually about 20,00 zł. Since I was here for only 3 full days, I thought the two extra hours was worthwhile.


Ski bag storage.




Your mandatory leg room shot.



I do have to say that I loved how the train had a food trolley come through with a lady dressed in equally 80’s attire.

By the time I hit Warsaw, snow was on the ground, and it felt completely different than Poznan. I thought it was great, with a temperature of about -5 C. The fresh coating of snow turned the city into what I imagine Eastern Europe to look like in winter. Some would say this sounds terrible, but to me the snow and blistering cold (not that -5 C is blistering) adds a certain charm to the place. I would like to see some other parts of Eastern Europe in these conditions.

Upon arrival at Warszaw Centralna, I took a taxi to my hostel for the night. I was originally going to stay at H15 Boutique through the Orbitz Visa sale, but I realized I booked the wrong night, instead of booking the 26th, I booked the 27th. With that, I booked a dorm bed at Warsaw Downtown Hostel. Because I had a ski bag, carry on and back pack with no real knowledge of where i was going, I decided to take a taxi, which I am morally opposed to. I figured I was saving money while being in the hostel at ~$12 for the night, and it would make my life easier. I much rather would have used Uber if anything. The ride was just a 5 minute ride away.

After passing through the gate, I checked in. This hostel was really nice, and felt very homey. Veronika, the receptionist, showed me around and stowed my ski bag. She informed me that there was Karaoke and drinks to get to know the people in the hostel.


Dorm Room


Hostel Art

Instead of karaoke, I headed off to take some night pictures of the “Gift from the Russians.” Veronika caught me at the door and made me promise to come back and have a few drinks later on.





I loved walking around the frozen streets for a bit, and it provided an opportunity to practice using some of my new camera toys. Next time will have to be more than 10 hours.



Upon returning to the hostel, we had a few drinks with my fellow hostel goers. Hostels are great. You hang out and meet people from all over the world, who are happy and content while traveling the world. Tonight I met 4 Brazilians, 1 Japanese and 2 Polish people. We had such a good time that we finished a few bottles of stuff (not really sure what they were, and they evidently did the trick) and eventually looked at the clock seeing that it was 2 in the AM. Well, considering my flight was at 6, I had 2 hours until I needed to get to the airport, so I retired to my room, and passed out.

With that, the true adventure part of the trip starts, and will hopefully be more interesting to you folks. You can only write so much about family stuff to not bore everyone to death.

Next up: Air France WAW-CDG-KIX and getting to Kamishiro, Japan

krazykanuck

I've had the same issue with Priority Pass. If the terminal isn't 1 level, the directions often aren't helpful. When I was in Dubai, it said the lounge was across from gate Axx. Well, I guess that was kind of true, but it failed to say Axx was on the main floor and you had to take the elevator across the hall from the gate to the 4th or 5th floor. Thanks...

Great report so far though!

AJCU

With a mere two hours of sleep, I woke at 4 AM for my flight at 6 (might be a little later, can’t remember). I quickly packed my things, and headed downstairs for a cup of tea and some breakfast. The hostel staff were so nice that they even made a bit of a continental breakfast for me at 4 AM. That is customer service, which pretty much wrapped up one of my better hostelling experiences in Europe.

Tangent: I don’t really like hostelling in Europe. The people that you meet are generally really clicky, and never want to stray far from their friend groups. It is usually comprised of the group of college students who have never been out of the US, and want to go “backpacking” through Europe. With that, I never really meet great people in European hostels, and never have that exceptional of a time. This hostel however, was perfect, and is probably the best hostel I have stayed in, in Europe (South America I stayed in some exceptional ones).

Dazed and slightly confused, I ordered an Uber to the airport. The train does not begin running from downtown until 5:30 or so, taxi or Uber it was. I ordered one that was 15 minutes away using the hostel WiFi and the address of the hostel, and within 10 minutes a station wagon was waiting outside with a very large man sitting inside it, who I presume, did not speak any English as a single word aside from “Chopin?” came out of his mouth when I told him lotnisko.

It took 15 minutes to get to the airport, and cost 31,83 zl, about $9. This had a 1.5x charge, which means this fare would cost about $6 during a non surge...pretty darn affordable for a 9 km ride with a ski bag. Uber is wonderful.



I checked in online, so just ran to the bag drop, where a not so friendly Air France lady checked me in. My ski bag was 24 kilos without ski boots, which was accepted. Because it was oversize, I had to drop it at the oversize baggage drop off, which was in an “over there” direction. Once out of sight from the Air France counter, I threw my ski boots and tripod into the bag, a classic skier move, wait for the weighing, get the heavy tag, then throw in the extras on the way to the oversize. Some may frown upon this, but whatever. Usually I carry boots on because they are irreplaceable, completely custom and if they did not show up, it would be catastrophic for a two week trip. Oh well, this time I was too tired, and slightly delirious.

At the oversized baggage drop, I knocked on the door, and was told to come in where there were x ray machines and such. I threw my bag on the x ray, saw my precious skis on the screen. The guy looked at them, then told me to put them on the belt and off they went. Adios, and see you in 7,000 miles.

Next was security, which was a 10-15 minute wait, then to the lounge. I spent about half an hour in the very hot, Executive Lounge. Not many people were in there, but man was this place small! A bit of food was available, mainly pastries and continental European breakfast, with some yogurts and such. Decent food, but not much room, but hey, it got the job done. Oh, and it is open 24 hours a day.


Drinks on offer.


Entire lounge seating area.

The Warsaw airport is very nice, and compact, so it was pretty close to the lounge. I headed out and walked around a bit, looked at my plane and some of the other planes, then headed to boarding. At the gate, I was forced to gate check my roll aboard, which was fine as it would show up in Osaka.


Our A321.

For this flight, I fell asleep immediately after I saw the sunrise above the cloud layer. 2 hours later we were landing in Paris, for what seemed to be a pretty choppy landing. We did a go around for some reason, which was kind of cool, I have never done one before.




Above the clouds.


Coming into CDG.

Once we were on the ground, we taxied for a good 15-20 minutes.

CDG is an interesting airport to get around. I had 4 hours to burn, so I headed over to Terminal 2A/C via the bus, which took a good 45 minutes by the time I was through passport control and such. The bus system is beyond inefficient, it would make you think that you were in France or something. After some good plane spotting I arrived at T2A/C, and headed to the AAdmirals club, using my Citi Executive.


Tarmac views.

The club had a full American breakfast on offer, which I indulged in after a shower. This is one of the nicer lounges I have been to for AA. Heathrow might give it a run for its money due to size, but the food and views were better in Paris.









I was going to head over to the Air Canada club (PP), but opted to just hang out and enjoy the tarmac.

On my way out, I stopped by the smoking section next to the lounges. I don’t smoke, but no one was out there, so it was nice to get some fresh air, and is recommended (you even get a peek into the Emirates lounge).

The bus took about 30 minutes to get to Terminal 2E, where I walked around a bit before my 11.5 hour flight to Osaka. My name was on the screen for some issue with my ticket, so I went up to the podium to inquire. Immediately the lady said “You are not going to Osaka” with a cold stern face. 5 seconds later she said she was kidding and I laughed. Some might hate this, but I really enjoyed it. Adding a bit of comedy to the flying process never hurts. Of course this was a bit more jovial than how I wrote it.


Terminal 2E.

Boarding was efficient and quick, as I would soon learn about the Japanese and the boarding process (they can load a 400 pax 777 in 20 minutes). I had an empty seat next to me for this flight, which was indescribably amazing, especially since this seat might have been the most uncomfortable seat I have ever sat in. No lumbar support, no curvature or anything of the sort. I would do anything not to fly 11 hours in this seat again.

We departed the gate, despite boarding on time, 1.5 hours late due to “a lack of ground staff.” French efficiency.

With that, it did have AVOD that was decent. The nose cam was a first or me, and I loved it, although it could have been cleaned. Take off was quick and we were airborne in no time.


Your leg room shot.


Nose Cam.


After take off.

Somewhere over Belgium, menus were handed out showing what was offered on the flight, including all drinks. For dinner was Japanese Simmered Beef or Chicken with Sherry Vinegar, with the accompanying sides. This was one of the better airline meals I had on this trip. I ordered the beef with some wine. Ironically, the La Vielle wine is one that I drink back home every once in a while. Decent table wine.


Menu


[IMG]Japanese Beef.[/IMG]

During dinner I chatted with my neighbor who was from France, and heading to New Caledonia for his new job as a civil engineer. Interesting guy.

After dinner, I walked around a bit, where I found a nice self serve drinks/snacks (sodas, water, soups, ice cream and some cracker like things) area. Nice touch, and something I wish more carriers would have something like this on offer. I fell asleep for about 6-7 hours, just in time for breakfast, which was a nice egg thing. I could provide more details but my the camera on my phone is not the greatest, so I can’t read it off the menu Apparently I forgot to take a photo of it.


Coming into Japan.

Landing in Osaka was smooth, and we were at the gate within 5 minutes. 15 minutes later I was through immigration (fingerprinting to get in was a first for me!). I love the QR code passport stamps, welcome to Japan!

I asked an employee about the ski bag, and they promptly went to the back and fetched it for me. After clearing customs, it was off to the train station. I wanted to spend the day in Kyoto, but that was not going to happen as my flight was nearly 2 hours late into Osaka. I opted to just head straight to Kamishiro, which was 4 trains and about 6 hours away, one of which was the Shinkansen.

The trains were awesome. Beyond impressed...kind of like the seats that spun when the train switched directions. It is the little things, but surviving Nagoya station with a ski bag was quite the experience. Speaking of ski bags, the big trains had places for ski bags. In the end, my train went from the Osaka Airport to Kyoto to Nagoya to Matsumoto to Kamishiro. Each segment became slower and slower, and made you feel like you were getting “off the grid.”


Train tickets.


Spinning train seats.


Train #1: Osaka Airport to Kyoto.


Shinkansen in Kyoto. The trains to Tokyo leave every 10 minutes...mind blowing.


Kyoto Station.


Shinkansen interior.


That leg room!


View from Shinkansen, Kyoto to Nagoya.


Matsumoto Station.

In Matsumoto, I got my first Soba bowl with duck. This is where I put it together: The Japanese people are incredibly helpful and trusting. They go out of their way to help you. Example: At the Soba place, the lady took me outside, asked me what I wanted and helped me with the machine to order my food. 5 minutes later, a hot bowl of slurpy noodles came out of the kitchen. 500 yen for dinner on the platform in the train station. My kind of deal.

Virgin Soba encounter.


Vending Machines, every where.


Slow regional train schedule, Matsumoto to Kamishiro.

Past Matsumoto, the snow came. Deeper and deeper until eventually we arrived and were looking at 5 foot banks around the train. Off I went, and headed to my accommodation for the next few days. Along the way, I admired the snow depths...I had never seen this much snow before, in December. Let the balls deep adventures begin.

Next Up: Skiing Balls Deep (literally) for 4 Days in the Hakuba Valley