SFO-CO-EWR-CO-YYZ-AZ-MXP-CY-LCA-LY-TLV

SFO-EWR 2A Domestic F, 753
I asked the agent at SFO to check my bag thru to MXP, he told me it was dangerous since it would be sitting in yyz all day. I said do it anyways. he did.
Boarded about 30 minutes late due to a late crew coming from a 2 hour delayed 752 flight coming from IAH. Jacket taken, G&T delivered. After takeoff, was offered the snack: some sort of corn soup and a philly cheese steak sandwich. I accepted. The soup was great (as always), the sandwich looked a bit soggy, so I just picked the meat out (which was tasty). I went to bed, and tried to sleep but those 753 seats were very uncomfortable for sleeping. The pilot made a rather loud announcement welcoming everyone, and another loud announcement 30 minutes prior to arrival. Despite the pilot saying we'd end up landing on time, we landed 30 minutes late. By the time we parked at the gate, it was 6:35, my YYZ flight departs at 7. I walked to the other gate, boarded.

CO 567 EWR-YYZ 2E F-class 738S
The purser FA, a guy, was a real smart .... He took my jacket and jokingly said I'll just fold it and put it in the bin, then put it in the closet. He then said I had to ask permission to use the bathroom, before melting into a laugh. It wasn't the kind of humor I needed at that hour after not having slept that well. There was a horrible stack of planes we had to wait through before taking off. We were offered a fruit plate and croissant, not a bad offering for an hour long flight. The fruit was good, I declined the croissant. Despite sitting on the ground for about 50 minutes, we landed into YYZ about on time.I guess that's expected that time of day. Then I got to customs. They asked me why Iw as doing such a weird routing. I explained the mistake fare, he found it amusing and strange that they honored it. I got a canada stamp in my passport, which I haven't gotten before, they usually don't stamp.. oh well. Got my luggage, dropped it at the transfer desk.

Hopped on the 192 bus to the city and had lunch at this fabulous restaurant called Brassaii. It was raining out, but I wanted to see the CN tower, alas it was like $30 to go up, and I felt that was just a little absurd. So I just walked to the restaurant. At a great lunch and headed back to YYZ.

AZ 653 4A Magnifica Class 763

YYZ Terminal 1 is much nicer than T3. Though it took like 4 escalators to get to the departures area. It looked kinda like paris. There was one magnifica check-in and 4 economy. Fortunately, only one group in front of me, they checked me in, made sure my bags were coming along, and gave me the BP, along with instructions on how to get to the AC lounge. AZ uses the 500 gates which are in a remote terminal. You go through security (efficient and friendly), and then down stairs to a shuttle bus, it goes all across the airfield . The AC lounge was nice, free wirelesss, a decent selection of self serve wine and liquor. They had salad with toppings, baked cookies, and soup (it was cream of mushroom which I don't like but they had it..) , and olives, carrots and broccoli. Fresh fruit and chips and such as well.


There was a traffic accident delaying the crew a half hour. We boarded late, by the time I got upstairs they were just boarding everyone like a zoo. No lane for business class. Boarding was via 1L (there is no 2L on the 763) so all the Y pax were going thru. There were two ladies seated behind me, and the FA came and asked for their BPs. Apparently they were squatting, they were like oh... we're all the way back. They brought through Asti, Orange juice that was very reddish, and water. They took some people's coats, not mine. There was a packet of blanket and pillow. The pillow and blanket were about the same quality as CO's standard pillows. They came through with Menus (1 wine, 1 food, and a donation card for UNICEF). They were nice, but they gave us the food menu for MXP-YYZ, not the other way. There's no power of any kind, and the video is on a projector in the middle of the cabin.

Food service was actually pretty good. The pasta was great and the meat dish (while a bit.. chewy, tasted quite good). I asked for the executive meal option, so they gave me the cheese and some fruit straight away. The wines looked good, but as I was planning on Lunesta'ing, I didn't indulge. There was a screaming kid right behind the biz cabin. Screamed most of the flight, very obnoxious.

Breakfast came through way too early, but they started off with some sliced fruit, pastries. Then a cart with powdered eggs (gross), ham and mushrooms. All my favorites (not). The espresso was pretty good. I would expect nothing else. The seats sucked, didn't go back very far and were generally underpadded.

Airport Handling:7/10
Food: 5/10
Service: 3/10
Seat: 3/10

If you paid $200 roundtrip I'd do it, but I wouldn't waste miles or real money on it.

Arrival in MXP was actually 10 minutes early due to a strong tailwind. The flight time was only 7:30 which was unfortunate in that it was less time to sleep. We parked at a remote stand, descended stairs, took a bus to the immigration. They didn't look at my passport and just randomly stamped a page, very weakly unfortunately. Luggage was out in another 5 minutes, my bags made it, phew! Not too bad. Late taking off, early arrival, that much i was impressed with.


MXP-LCA Cyprus Airlines 413 C class 3A

i went to check in at MXP and they told me that I wasn't on the flight... doh. They told me there was space, and printed up a boarding pass for me. I wasn't particularly comfortable so I went to the AZ ticketing counter and asked them to take a look. Sure enough, according to the flight bookings I wasn't on the flight but according to the AZ PNR for me, I was. Bizarre. She printed off a copy of the PNR for me so I'd have it in case of trouble. They told me I'd have access to the AZ Botticelli lounge.

I also tried to see if I could check in for my LY flight, the security officer seemed OK with it, but the check-in lady told me they couldn't do it from there. Bummer. So I went thru security (very speedy, no shoes crap), though the x-ray monkeys didn't appear to be paying much attention anyways.

I went into the lounge, they had a nice bar setup and some snacks though they weren't particularly good. I got an espresso which was good, and later some diet cokes. I tried to access the internet but it was only pay for use, which the front desk confirmed. How tacky. They did however, have showers (and shower kits) so I went to take a shower, (they did check to make sure I was in business, apparently just ST E+ isn't good enough for showers). The shower didn't really run hot, so it was a relatively short shower.

I charged my computer a bit more and then headed to the gate, no line. Boarded, I was the only one in C. C was euro-biz. The seats were really uncomfortable. It felt like there was plastic on the seat, the kind that flexes when you push down like a jug. They offered OJ or water. There ended up being 2 more people sitting in C. They offered papers, and headphones, there was stupid movie on the overhead, I didn't see what it was though it looked bad.

They first brought out drinks with a bag of nuts and a plate of 2 pieces of baguette, one with chicken and one with cream of something, I only ate the chicken thing. Then they asked about a main course: beef stroganoff or fish. I took the beef. It was... eh. It came with some taboule along with 2 shrimp, and a plate of cheese and (seeded) grapes. And they offered hot rolls. There was a nice ritter sport milk chocolate on the tray also. Nothing special. We landed on time in LCA. LCA has no gates, we pulled up to the parking spot, and they pulled up the stairs and the buses, and off we went. customs was fast and then it took about 15 minutes for them to unload the baggage.

Then I went upstairs to the cafeteria because they didn't open check-in for LY yet. My flight wasn't for another 4 hours. LY wouldn't open check in until 2.5 hours ahead, so I was stuck in the "terminal". LCA was like a big barn, it was a rather sad excuse for a terminal. I had an unusually thorough interview, and got my bag sent off and my BP and lounge invitation. I went up to the lounge, they had no wireless, but they had internet terminals. They had lots of comfortable couches and chairs, and good liquor (self-serve).

LY 412 LCA-TLV 3A. C class, 757-200

They called boarding 45 minutes before the flight, they had a separate area, checking bp's to get in, and then waited for a few minutes while they brought out buses. There was significant security ahead of the buses and beside. The aircraft (752 in old livery) was being guarded as well. One of the agents on the bus said for the rear rows to board first and for everyone else to wait (I laughed out loud). We boarded thru 2L, and took my seat. There were 4 people in the C cabin. (4 rows C/1 row Y in the forward section). The 752 has very nice seats, with legrests. The FA came around with an assortment of drinks, juices, I picked one up and he said that it had vodka in it, I said OK. He took my jacket and then he came around with newspapers. Once we took off, he passed out bottles of water, and then asked for drink orders. He also came around with placemats and gave us a choice of 4 sandwiches. We landed the short way, and had a BEAUTIFUL view of Tel Aviv at night, it was spectacular. It was by far the best service of any of the flights so far, and given that it was only 45 minutes made it all the more ridiculous.

We landed, and taxied in, deplaned out of 1L, no wait for customs, the baggage took about 10 minutes, and then I took a cab to the city.

I woke up around 8:15, went out to the balcony and saw my mother's flight (CO84) pass right overhead. It was very cool.

I won't get into the details of the actual trip, it was mostly me showing my mom around the country. We went to Yerushalayim first, staying at the King David (which was very nice). We went to the old city, the kotel, and to nachlat shiv'a for lunch to a place called rachmo's place. It was good to have good hummus and schnitzel again. Some of my plans were torn asunder as my mom doesn't really like 'gourmet' food and good wine. So we didn't go to some of the more fabulous restaurants, opting more for cheap felafel which is fine, especially since you can't get it in the US. Two great dinners in Jerusalem were at Eldad v'Zehu and Cavalier. My mother particularly enjoyed the hot chocolate at Aroma, its awesome.
We took a tour of Mesada and the dead sea, my mother enjoyed that.

I rented a car from SiXT for $37 a day including insurance, they wouldn't let me use my mastercard insurance though chase told me the insurance is valid in Israel. They also told me that my reservation was until 2pm on friday and not 9pm as I had reserved, I didn't have the printout with me at the rental place though that is what it says. she told me I could only return it at the airport and be subject to a 27$ fee. I wasn't happy about it. She also told me that only 200 km/day was included, though the reservation was for unlimited (and says so). I told her whatever and took the car I'd deal with it later.

We drove to Haifa to visit a friend and the technion. We came back, rush hour wasn't too bad, got to the hotel (Cinema Hotel in Dizengoff Square). They had popcorn and the great dictator playing in the lobby (the building was a movie theater a long time ago). The room was small but nice. We had a view of the city, which was magnificent. I took her to Felafel Hakosem which I love. We met up with GeoffCo who had flown in on CO90. As it was very early only 7 or so, we went hopping from coffee houses to bars until about 1:30 or so and then headed to a dance club until around 3:30 and called it a night. We went to one of my favorite spots in Florentin called Bugsy, its wonderful.
We hit Evita, EspressoBar Rothschild (which now operates the Rothschild Kiosk which was the first such place in Tel Aviv 100 years ago), the mitbachon, and a place called Julie's in Neve Tzedek. Julie makes moroccan food (its awesome) but my mom asked if she had hummus and pita to which she replied NO, this is the REAL stuff. I laughed but it was kind of embarrassing. We went back down to florentin thru neve tzedek and got her some hummus. she wanted more felafel, so before we left, we stopped at hakosem again (I usually stop there anyways on my way out). I went twice to my gym there, Pure, it was nice to be back. (its a great gym). We debated between a taxi and the train (but we'd have to walk to the station). It was 4:45 and my plane was at 8:20. We walked to the train station, which took about 35 minutes, and hopped on the train to the airport.




LY411 TLV-LCA 3A C class 757-200

I was with my mother, who was flying on CO later at night, but CO check-in wasn't yet open. I went to the premium LY line, and there were 5 people in front of me. A bunch of agents swooped in to interview us and we were done in about 3 minutes. They scanned my bag and I went to the check-in. Took about 5 more minutes waiting there (they only had 3 positions open). Bought some CDs in the store there and waited around for a bit with my mom, got a last cup of fresh Orange Juice, then I went to the security checkpoint, and then passport control, which took < 3 minutes total. Bought some Margalit Cabernet at the duty free and went to the LY lounge.

I asked about a shower (I wanted to try it out), they pointed me upstairs to their carmel forest spa. Apparently you can also get a variety of spa treatments, I didn't ask for one though. I'm not sure if they charge but its nice up there, I saw the massage room and they led me to a shower, which was nice. Unlike the AZ one, they had great pressure, and it was just well designed in general.

I went downstairs to the main lounge, poured myself some wine, I forget which one but it was pretty decent stuff. I grabbed some salad and spiced olives from the food bar (they had lots of goodies there) They have several espresso/cappucino machines and a large selection of soft drinks. However, they don't have glass bottled diet coke like the dan lounge does. The chairs all have pull out power, and the whole terminal has free wireless. I called my friends to say goodbye, they called the flight and I headed over to the gate, and boarded.

I took my seat, 3A. The C flight attendant came by with glasses with OJ, water and a cocktail he made up with cranberry OJ and vodka I think, he asked me to try it so I did. Then he brought out the newspapers, and then the magazines. He asked me if I wanted another drink, but that was enough for the time begin. There was some nutjob singing a few rows back, he was making weird sounds the whole flight. The FA agreed that he was nuts or drunk or something. He then brought around bottles of water. We took off to the west and saw Tel Aviv sparkling in the night.

Once in the air for the 45 minute flight, our FA came around with the placemats, drink orders and sandwiches, he was disappointed I didn't pick one or two. He then brought me a few packets of nuts. Apparently still disappointed, he went back to coach and grabbed some muffins from there and gave me one. Then he brought around mints and more wine. There was a cute FA who was in coach.. but I didn't get his #

LCA: the line here was a bit longer than before and it took about 15 minutes to get through it. My bag came off by the time I arrived, and I took a cab to the hotel, San Remo which was about 5 minutes and 5 CYP from teh airport. I checked in, they took my passport and gave me the room key and the controls for the TV and air conditioning. I went up, the bed was ok, but the whole room was very.... bare, but it was 20 euro so I can't complain too much, but I felt glad I had the water from LY.

I woke up, ate a little breakfast at the hotel, it wasn't a great spread and cabbed it back to the airport. check in was quick, security was quick (and notably very shoddy based on my observation).

CY411 LCA-MXP A320 4A


I went up to the lounged, checked FT and my email and drank some water and ate a crappy croissant. I then headed to the gate and waited there until they boarded the bus and then the airplane. C was full this time.

The FA came around with OJ/water and then newspapers, but didn't take my jacket though they took others'. After takeoff, they brought us drinks, a hot towel, and then appetizer and nuts (in a bag). Choice for lunch was steak or fish.

The steak was much more substantial than the last time, it was a very 'tough' filet. It wasn't too horrible. There was a salad with some fish in it. They came around with some rolls. They did do another round of hot towels, which I certainly appreciated.

When I got to MXP I realized they checked my bag all the way to YYZ, which wasn't until the next day. It turned out to be good since I didn't want to schlep it with me to Pavia and back.

AZ652 MXP-YYZ 763 3D

MXP was the usual dump it is, I was assigned to the same lounge, this time it was much more crowded, and got even worse, a good deal of people were standing. Again, no wifi, and this time they said they ran out of towels, so no shower either. The lounge is such a dump!

This flight was a bit better than the last one. The crew was very friendly. Boarding was chaotic however, the agents couldn't get the ticket readers on, they didn't keep them turned on long enough for them to work. They handed out drinks and papers before taking off, and collected jackets. J was half full this time, so they told people they could move around, I traded my middle seat for the right side window since there was nobody in the aisle one there either. They came around with menus. And a UNICEF envelope to give money to the UN (as if).

We took off fairly quickly, though a few minutes late. Lunch was served, from the cart, I had some pasta to begin, it was pretty good. Then they came around with the main course. choice of a fish or a meat combo, I chose the meat, which was about 2 oz each of chicken and beef. not terribly impressive, it came with some vegetables also. I had a glass of wine, I forget the label, but it was decent. I didn't want more as I intended to drug myself. They then came with cheese and fruit, I only had some fruit. Last were the desserts, I had a kiwi fruit tart which was good. Then I drugged myself and passed out for 4 hours. Before landing they brought around a 'snack', which was some cheese, bread and dried fruit. They also brought hot towels, which were very nice actually, bigger and more substantial than CO's.

We landed about 10 minutes late. It took a while to bus back to the terminal, passport control was quick, and the bags arrived after a short wait. Took the tram to Terminal 3, and checked in with CO. The agent refused to switch me from IAH-SFO to IAH-OAK, and told me to try in IAH (there was plenty of room). I tried to explain that I couldn't due to my having to check luggage. The USCBP agents seemed nicer than the ones I met in YUL. That was quick, as was security.

CO2377 YYZ-IAH 1A ERJ-XR

They boarded at the time on the BPs, which was surprising. Everyone was on 15 minutes before flight time, they closed and off we went.
Apparently the XR has much less space in 1A than the normal 145's. . Our FA is very nice and kept my diet coke properly refilled!

CO 1428 IAH-SFO 5B 738H

Bummer: Gordon's Galley was closed by the time I got there
Boarding started late, but ended on time, but it took a while before we pushed. The FAs were rushed. They brought only OJ/water, and were delayed getting jackets. One FA seemed rather snippity. We took off, and they are expecting an ontime arrival....