You've just put your finger on the major downside (from a FT perspective) of living in the Rockies (ABQ counts. Really. Honest!). You collect miles, you find a great award, you think "I'm just one click away from drinking myself silly in a great F seat..."

...and then you realize that, frankly, it'd be easier and more fun to just grab a couple 6-packs of really really good microbrews and sit on your deck watching the sunset paint the mountains with the kind of bling that EK only wishes they could achieve.

Glad to have you in the neighborhood!

Bahahahahahaha!

Wonderful read as usual Mr. eightblack. ^

Great TR as always

Man, I was hoping to read about the shenanigans on the UA Mileage run to DXB..

Part of me wonders if Eighblack embellishes a bit but honestly, I don't care. It's a riot to read nonetheless.

Epic as always Eightblack. We're happy to have you back in the USA.

Thank you again for a fantastic 'trip' report as always...drat you aren't in SIN anymore I would have probably regretted saying I would take you out for a 'drink'(sssssssss)...there should be a paid section of FT for eightblacks reports...another classic!

Depending on what side of town you live on, DAVECO up North or Applejacks far West are the best two watering holes I have found here in Denver.

FYI: Denver is unique in that you buy liquor at stand alone liquor stores rather than in grocery stores [which may carry up to 3.2 beer]. Although some are trying to change this, like the Blue Laws on Sunday liquor sales, it is hard to change tradition.

DAVECO and Applejacks do such volume that they have the best discounts. Enjoy the liquid bounty!

And it took you how long to learn this?

In hindsight, much too long.

Excellent report as always. How awesome SFO777 and Eightblack in the same week! Work has kept me off the road for too long! I need to get back in the saddle!

My wife always looks over and asks about what I'm laughing at when I read these reports. And in a similar light gives me a hard time about spending so much time reading this site. She certainly doesn't complain when we travel in style though! Thankfully she hasn't gotten to the level of Mrs. SFO777 with expecting nothing less than first! I'm sure it's only time before she tires of business class though!

My wife just asks CX/SQ or LH/LX?! Don't even mention domestic to her anymore!

Loved, loved, loved your report which had me laughing and jealous about your EK 380 flight. I am still hoping they put a 380 on the DXB-LAX route as I have saved my miles for this purpose and will head to JFK if necessary to try out their product.

Looking forward to future TR's and welcome back!

Cheers eightblack,

I have just spent the last hour absorbing your latest TR Sitting outside in suburban Melbourne in 33C dusk (15% humidity). (it was over 40 in town today). I have been sipping a few local brews as well (not Fosters).

You have encapsulated the while thing about travel with status, family and the USA in a few succinct enjoyable phrases.

It's little wonder the Australian Frequent Flyer website has a thread titled "Another Eightblack Trip report".

Actually one last thing before I forget.

I know that there are some people on FT (and possibly some who are not) who couldn't or wouldn't think of moving suburbs. Let alone interstate. Or overseas. I think travel broadens your mind (unless it is to your mother-in-laws) in which case, all it does is broaden your waist as all I end up doing is drinking heavily to get through the event. But you know what I mean.

I am grateful to this day to my old man for letting me tag along on all those trips to Hong Kong when I was a kid. Grateful for the opportunity to be in a CX cockpit while landing at the old Kai Tak airport, flying through the Hong Kong high rises, watching an old women hang laundry while giving us the bird. We were so close you could see the gaps in her teeth through that angry cantonese mouth. And eternally grateful to my buddy who is a Qantas pilot who let me sit upfront on take-off out of SIN and then landing again in SYD, with the beautiful sunrise, over Botany Bay. These are the moments we remember. And perhaps even cherish.

This trip I managed to accomplish a few things as a courtesy of FT. I re-qualified for UA. And Hyatt. Some might argue, why bother. Or why were you so keen on having status on both AA and UA.

And you know what. I'm not quite sure. But I am convinced, unlike some of the pessimists our there, that status on an airline or hotel chain is better than none at all. You could question the sanity of a person who leaves his house, drives 80-miles in a suburban in the snow, has a back slapping whale of a time at a bar with someone he just met, takes 6 separate flights and completes some 19,000 thousand miles all for the paltry reward of seeing his airline account status indicator move a few microns to the right on his computer screen.

But if it wasn't for FT and the things I have learned and my passion for traveling, we wouldn't be here today. In the end the UA trip to DXB was completely uneventful. Nothing went wrong. Zip. Nada. Would you believe that every (and I mean every) flight ran to the minute. No delays. No mechanicals. No weather. I definitely threaded the eye of the needle. I know some of you were rooting for something entirely different. Peckers.

And the Hyatt thing. I think I said something earlier about those three nights I booked on a rock bottom rate at O'Hare and the subsequent conversation I had with someone at Gold Passport who told me I could basically sit and rotate, and that the nights were not going to count and that I was basically SOL. So I did another mattress run to some tiny Hyatt property in Detroit - but it still left me one night short. I called Gold Passport again and met the nicest agent I could possibly hope for. Perhaps she knew I was a desperate man. I think I did tell her I was married, had 2 kids and just spent yet another Xmas in Michigan with The Big One.

She sighed in sympathy before I had time to finish my plea. And she posted the 3 dubious nights at OHare and then the remaining 2 from Michigan. All in all, I booked and paid for 5-nights in 2 hotels I never even really set foot it just so I could see the word "Diamond" reappear on my Hyatt statement. I can just imaging the housekeeping staff who kept checking my room each and every morning. Probably thought I was the neatest guy in history. Either that or they were well and truly pissed because a hotel guest had worked out how to fold the toilet paper with that little triangle bit on the end. To this day, I have no idea how (or even why) they do this. But I digress.

On this forum, we are in the company of distinguished men. Guys like Seat 2A and SFO777. How could you not want to travel after reading their epic tales? Or seeing some of those images.

I have no idea what 2013 looks like travel wise. I am in a new country, albeit a familiar one. My family are still in one piece and survived the transition. Kids are in a new school. Wife in a new job. Sort of. There is much to do now. Snow to shovel. Home Depot runs to make. Donuts to eat. More importantly, my kids have to learn by heart something called the national anthem. Apparently, scantily clad country music singers perform this each and every time at the start of a football game. Asked my son how he was going with remembering the words.

Like all kids he figured it out on his own.

Simply brilliant Eightblack!