As I started on this trip, I wondered if my new 1K status would make a difference. My answer was a definite YES!!

In the HNL Red Carpet Room I am greeted by an entirely new staff. What happened to the regulars? The woman who helped me told me that she was a brand new RCC worker. It shows since she can't figure out how to check me in using my e-ticket. I also ask if I can get upgraded on the UA shuttle from LAX-PHX. She says that she sees no problem since there was space available. After trying to get me a boarding pass for 15 minutes, she tells me to go find a seat and she'll bring my ticket to me. 10 more minutes go by and she brings me my boarding passes and the upgrade certs.

Hmmm...I've got 20 minutes before flight time so I hightail it downstairs. I find my seat on the upper deck of the 747 and get myself comfy. 5 minutes later, I see the RCC woman coming up the 747 stairs. She makes a beeline for me and tells me that she forgot to give me a boarding pass with ticket attached for my LAX-PHX flight. I wonder what would have happened if I didn't have the ticket attached?

During the flight I'm seated next to a man who does motivational speaking. He just finished doing a conference on improving communication among workers. The funny part is that most of the attendees told him that the real person who needed the course was the boss who had sent them. The flight was uneventful except that I am stuck in the dreaded window seat and can't climb over the sleeping man next to me to go to the restroom. Grrr...

After landing at LAX, I hoof it over to the shuttle terminal. Why is the gate I have to go to always the gate which is the farthest away? The only thing served on the LAX-PHX route is a beverage.

My conference is at the Hilton Mesa Pavillion. What a strange hotel. Each fax I receive takes a minor treasure hunt to find. One of the faxes takes 5 hours to find. Where are they filing the faxes?

The highlight of my trip is going to dinner with Onefreeman and Raeban at the Carlsbad Restaurant. The margaritas are great and the food is yummy. We had a great time rehashing the PIP and talking about other FlyerTalkers we have met in person. The night was over all too soon.

On the return, I'm waitlisted for the PHX-LAX shuttle and confirmed for an upgrade from the LAX-HNL portion. I tell the counter person that I need to buy a book of upgrades since I'm short one cert. She tells me not to worry about it and just takes the certs I have. I wonder if this is a 1K benefit or just a stroke of luck?

I check at the gate for my chances of upgrading on the shuttle and am told that I am number 1 on the list. Yeah!! As the plane is boarded, the dreaded announcement that everyone waiting for an upgrade except for me should board. Oh how I hated that announcement all the times I didn't make "the cut". I wait as they board the standbys. Hmmm...I've been waiting a long time so I go up to the desk. The gate agent begins to give me my upgraded boarding pass when she realizes that first has checked in full!! Oh horrors!! She begins to apologize profusely. I smile and tell her it's okay. Hey, it's an hour flight so I didn't really care. While I'm waiting in the jetway to board, the gate agent runs down and waves me back to the gate. She says that there was a computer glitch and hands me my upgraded boarding pass while apologizing again. Ahhh...the benefits of living a good life. One interesting note is that a pilot who was waiting for a seat wasn't given my first class seat even though I was already to go to coach. He got my nice aisle seat in coach though.

The shuttle was uneventful except that the flight attendant handed me not 1, but 2 packages of pretzels this time. I was very happy to get on my flight from LAX-HNL even though it was a 757. I was even happier that I was at the top of the list for menu choices. In case you're wondering...pepper crusted Ahi.

So being 1K has been good to me so far.