Hi folks!

A recent conversation with my best friend got me to thinking about this and I thought this'd be an ideal place to share my thoughts on why I became so passionate about commercial passenger air travel. I am looking forward to your stories. Here is mine.

Being in motion has always appealed to me, and getting there was almost as much fun as arriving; but I was never the "are we there yet" type. As a little boy, I found just pavement markings, posted signs and the flow of traffic to be a work of art. My favorite video games were of course any arcades that involved driving. The only toys I ever wanted were Hot Wheels, Power Wheels, go carts, the Transformers, GoBots, etc. Big rigs fascinated me before I turned ten--how such a large vehicle could be maneuvered, how such a heavy object could move so fast. I sat up front on the bus whenever I could to watch the operator drive the bus for observing the art of steering, braking, accelerating--noting the way the vehicle responded. Railroads that split became another fascination of mine after becoming ten, adding to my infatuation with trollies, lightrail and Amtrak; all started with Mr. Trolley from Mr. Roger's Neighborhood (I liked that little red car more than the stupid stories they had in the land of make-believe). For years, I've dreamed of traveling the Sunset Limited in a sleeper car with a significant other. The only reason sea vessels never appealed to me as greatly was because they didn't go fast enough!

In mid-1995, I developed a relationship with a Canadian in New Brunswick that seemed impossible to consummate because at the time, we were both Jr. Highschool aged. Where there is a will, there is a way, and I know no stronger will than love; so for two years, I promised I'd some how come and see her. I turned my self-taught UNIX skills into a money-making career, and socked away as much dough as I possibly could to fly up.

I figured if I want to fly to Canada, I need to fly Air Canada so in April, 1998 I went down to LAX, and plunked down around $565, in cash, and picked up my paper tickets. All I was looking forward to at the time was seeing my girlfriend (again, since she and her mom managed to fly down first). I'd turn 18 on the 5th of June that same year, just a couple of weeks before my departure. It was on that day, while having my morning breakfast at Jack in the Box on my way to the torturous job--that, in concert with my patience, afforded my trip to Canada--that something had occurred to me. My billfold didn't simply contain airline tickets. They contained the tangible representation of literal freedom. With these giant, metal vehicles, man now can be anywhere in the world in less than 24 hours when, once upon a time, it took months and even years.

On the morning SuperShuttle drove me and my check-in, carry-on and personal item to LAX--along with two other passengers from Santa Monica and Marina del Rey--the sun was rising above Lincoln Boulevard in a way that resembled some of the finer portraits. And then, over the rising, was that trademark theme building and the airport tower near by.

My mom been worried that this great distance at which I'd be traveling for the first time might be overwhelming in the sense of becoming confused and getting lost. I wasn't as concerned although even I recognized that for my maiden experience in the skies, I was embarking on travel more complex than domestic, what with customs to have to clear and all. But the airport is one of the few places in existence designed in such a way that the only way you can become lost is if you're blind because there are so many appropriately placed signs. Made sense to me, since, most major airports have to be accessible by people from all over the world, and most people at the airport aren't from that city and wouldn't know there way around.

The relationship didn't pan out, but the experience touched my mobility cravings. I was watching jet aircraft taxi, takeoff and land the same way I watched traffic on the freeway. It was that beautiful moving-art that speaks to me in a way that I don't believe strikes too many other people. I was enamored with the logical way everything was laid out; everything made perfect sense, and went smoothly. I was well aware of the fact that this has to be the case because at least LAX was doing over 50 Million passengers that year. But it surprised me, no less, how briskly I cleared security. What boarding was like. The thrill of the take off! The amazing, amazing view at over 30,000 feet! Experiencing an in-flight movie, the delicious food... As I had dinner, I remembered about those big comfortable first class and business class seats I passed on my way in, and thought to myself, "If the food here is this good, it's gotta be Awesome up there!"

Already I was developing preferences; I decided to get packing down to a roll aboard 'cause they looked cooler, were more convenient and less awkward to handle. I hated waiting for bags to show up on the conveyor belt and after watching how they're loaded, I'd rather not have a weeks worth of close ride around in the back of a open-face truck before they're hurled onto a conveyor belt, where they sometimes fall off. I did it 'cause I had to and was fairly confident, since I figured most people do this without incident. But it's not possible for the airline to lose a carry-on because they never touch it. I didn't want to find out whether or the airline would mail my lost luggage to my house or to the address of my choice. All I could be is pissed since checking baggage automatically declares I am accepting the risk they lose my stuff.

When it was all over and I came back to L.A. for the first time, I Knew I wanted to do that again. Ever since, I'd watched jets land at LAX while eating at the In 'n Out on 96th St. and Sepulveda--dreaming of being onboard that big, powerful aircraft gliding through the air. But I wouldn't have the income to support my lofty dreams until 2001. Meanwhile, I saved up for a couple good domestic transcons--to see friends mainly. But I wanted to see Miami's South Beach, the slopes outside of Denver, New York's World Trade Center, St. Paul-Minneapolis' mall of America, taste Chicago's pizza, attend Nashville's famed Grand Ole Opry... You know. I wanted to see The World.

I'd already decided I'm seeing Tokyo in 2005 with a try for England first. I'd always had the belief air travel was too expensive though, but the interest was strong enough to get me to look into driving those costs down. Brief conversations with friends clued me into the fact that it can't be That much to fly, even if only some times. My initial efforts were, in retrospect, lame (like I had expedia.com e-mail me whenever there were low fares on cities I was interested in), but that would all change late 2002.

I met a lady from San Jose that I was interested in getting to know a little bette,r but I didn't want to blow a whole lot of time or money. So, I first took Greyhound. My visit went REALLY well, and I decided I'm flying up in in a jet from then on. I recalled seeing ads for flights from southern California to the bay area, so I knew such flights existed, and I found it hard to believe such flights would be expensive at all.

I guess among the travel savvy, everyone knows Southwest Airlines has dirt-cheap fares, and I thought they were among the airlines shown on expedia.com, travelocity.com, etc. So, when pricing fares to San Jose, American Airlines and United Airlines were the only ones showing up before the likes of America West appeared with, like, three times AA's highest fare. Because of that, I was assuming that in, this particular case, they were cheaper than SWA. UA was like a couple of bucks more than AA and UA was already in ch. 11 so I decided to start booking with AA.

Before I did, I was told the reason WN wasn't showing up on expedia.com was because they don't deal with them. They expect people to use southwest.com but when I did, and compared the prices, AA was still cheaper, and found out that's always the case as long as you plan ahead. In the process of shopping AA against WN, I thought to go to aa.com since I had to go directly to southwest.com. So when I went to book my first flight to SJC, I was going to use aa.com (especially when I found out about expedia.com and travelocity.com's $5 booking fee).

In order to make a reservation, I had to enroll in American Airline's AAdvantage frequent flyer program. At first, I hadn't been excited about that because, once, I had a secured Wells Fargo credit card that, upon having better financial resources, I was planning to close. I indeed did close it once I realized I'd only amassed 4,000+ points with people I don't do business with, and those points weren't enough to do anything anyway.

I was just enjoying flying all the time, but as I kept going back to aa.com to book more flights, I noticed my mileage balance growing wildly! Looking at my AAdvantage Summary statements, I found out I was getting 500 miles for any flight 500 miles or less, plus 1,000 bonus miles for every round trip just for booking at aa.com. In the beginning, I didn't like connecting in Orange County or Las Vegas to get a cheaper fare, but those short hops were adding 500 miles. It was becoming clear I was going to go WAY beyond 4,000 points... So, I asked myself, "All right, at one point does having frequent flyer miles matter?" and started looking for as much information I could read about AA's AAdvantage program.

I find out the basics like a free coach ticket can be had for 25,000 miles, and I thought, "Well, that's doable, but it's gonna take me the whole year to get there." But my job can be boring many nights so I spent time either browsing jetphotos.net, rec.travel.air where I found out about flyertalk.com and then hanging out at flyertalk.com; spending a lot of time at their American Airlines forum among others where I learned a ton of things in there.

I decided to go back and read more about the AAdvantage program, and realize miles can be used for much more important things. Like upgrading to FIRST CLASS on a 3-class jet sold as two-class, or a physically two-class aircraft--while earning miles. And not just a half a point per mile either. Then I started noticing this elite status business. I didn't get the point and didn't care about it as much as I did what the actual miles could for me. The perks of Gold Status were interesting, but what got me fired up about actually attaining it was finding my flight activity was getting me there--fast! I hadn't bothered to check at first, thinking I'd have to fly way too many times, beyond what I could afford, to get any kind of elite status. I knew I was buying the ultra cheap fares that only get a half a point per mile. So, despite having nearly 20,000 miles, I only had around 8,000 points. I almost glazed over the part where they mention 30 segments Also does the trick. I thought that was a lot too, until I realized I had 18 segments since January and it was April! I realized, "Wow, at this rate, I'll have more than enough to make Gold! How'd I get all these segments?" Turns out, each flight number is a segment.

I was really juiced to learn that, not only did those extra connections in Santa Ana (when they existed) or Las Vegas afford me an extra 500 miles on my round-trips to San Jose, they also gave me extra segments! So, I started deliberately booking my flights to involve extra segments, where cheaper than non-stop (which is frequentlyt he case). And, actually, it gave me more time to spend at one of my favorite places to be: the airport!

But the mileage hunger didn't stop there. I figured AA is trying to save payroll cash by making sure that customers use resources that involve not going through a live person. So I got my 500 miles for checking in online the first time, my 500 miles for using the kiosk the first time... Then, I had an operation that made me skip a flight to my girlfriends' so I sent flowers instead. ftd.com had an input field for an AAdvantage number. The little light bulb above my head appears and I'm all, "Hey, I've got one of those!" I plug it in, get an easy 300 miles just for sending my baby some flowers and balloons. I kept seeing the CitiBank logo at the bottom of aa.com so I opened up a checking account with them to earn miles on my purchases. And then added that card to iDine... I completed one of two GMAC insurance quote requests this year, surveys at Opinion Place every couple of weeks, started buying Kellogg's cereals instead and mailing in the 100 mile certificates, convinced my boss to switch my work cell to an AT&T wireless phone (and the long distance on our POTS line in the data center)--cause actually it was cheaper, renewed my personal domain names with my AAdvantage number... It turned into a really fun game for me.

I'm looking at between 19 and 29 possible segments before the end of the year and I already have 22! I hope I'm able to keep this up next year, because I am certainly looking forward to earning my four complimentary upgrades after flying 10,000 miles, earning a full one point per mile even on discounted fares, being able to upgrade from even discounted fares, pre-boarding, checking in the first-class line in the rare event I need to check bags, a hotline for that rare event when I need help, getting that pretty, shiny gold card instead of this white, paper card, heh.

My job involves sitting in a freezing cold data center at strange hours with no windows, under ground, around loud machines where often, not much, is going on. So, naturally, my mind fantasizes about a job that involves lots of travel. I cruise through the TSA, love airline food and even "traditional seating" is spacious enough for my 5'6" 145lbs. self so I would hardly dislike it except for maybe some of the places I'd be flown to. But I love being able to have said I've been there and it's good/bad.

Travel I think has got to be one of the most important things to me besides music and the people I love.

Well, I hope this story has been interesting to you.

[This message has been edited by dlombard (edited 07-13-2003).]