RTW in 68 days
Oct 4, 1999, 3:44 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Washington
Posts: 1,173
RTW in 68 days
Some quick notes about this trip and me. I have decided to leave London and return to Washington DC. I have lived in London 3 years, but have secured a position in DC starting in January. I will be doing a small consulting gig in Las Vegas for the 2 months prior however. Before this return I decided to visit a friend in Sydney and had been looking for a cheap business class fare to get me there. I hoped that this flight would get me most if not all of the additional 30,000 exec platinum qualifying points I needed to make AA Exec Platinum next year.
My focus some what changed when I learned the cheapest option was the OneWorld RTW Business fare and the onslaught of 100K bonus offerings. I decided I was willing to take some time to get the bonuses but not go to any insane (at least not too insane) lengths. After co-ordinating my life for the next few months, I had the following cities that I needed to be in:
Amsterdam on Sep 30th to see a military buddy of mine who works at The Hague.
Hong Kong on Oct 9th to see an old work mate.
Sydney on Oct 15th to see a friend who left London a year ago
Las Vegas on Oct 31 for a Pet Shop Boys Concert at the Hard Rock and start work.
Brussels weekend of Nov 11th (This was bought as a separate ticket. I qualify for Exec Platinum on Nov. 3rd and hope to have the VIP2s to use to upgrade! )
DC for Thanksgiving
London for W/E of Dec 9th to pick up and ship stuff home.
After much planning and research I elected to purchase a ticket with on origination in Amsterdam. The final cost of the ticket was 4,196 USD for 4 continents. I used a travel agent that has supplied me with a number of contracts over the years, so I did not ask for a discount. The itinerary includes day trips to Manila and Taipei from HKG to secure 4 100,000 bonuses. It also includes a trip to London from Amsterdam via Madrid. I will post the full itinerary under the 1 World Category. I will reply below with instalment 1 of the trip report.
My focus some what changed when I learned the cheapest option was the OneWorld RTW Business fare and the onslaught of 100K bonus offerings. I decided I was willing to take some time to get the bonuses but not go to any insane (at least not too insane) lengths. After co-ordinating my life for the next few months, I had the following cities that I needed to be in:
Amsterdam on Sep 30th to see a military buddy of mine who works at The Hague.
Hong Kong on Oct 9th to see an old work mate.
Sydney on Oct 15th to see a friend who left London a year ago
Las Vegas on Oct 31 for a Pet Shop Boys Concert at the Hard Rock and start work.
Brussels weekend of Nov 11th (This was bought as a separate ticket. I qualify for Exec Platinum on Nov. 3rd and hope to have the VIP2s to use to upgrade! )
DC for Thanksgiving
London for W/E of Dec 9th to pick up and ship stuff home.
After much planning and research I elected to purchase a ticket with on origination in Amsterdam. The final cost of the ticket was 4,196 USD for 4 continents. I used a travel agent that has supplied me with a number of contracts over the years, so I did not ask for a discount. The itinerary includes day trips to Manila and Taipei from HKG to secure 4 100,000 bonuses. It also includes a trip to London from Amsterdam via Madrid. I will post the full itinerary under the 1 World Category. I will reply below with instalment 1 of the trip report.
Oct 4, 1999, 3:55 am
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Washington
Posts: 1,173
Trip 1 LHR-AMS-MAD-LHR
Sep 29th. After all my planning I had neglected to secure a way to get to Amsterdam to start the journey. BA wanted £180, so I though Easy Jet here I come. Well in the end I got lucky and called KLM and they offered me a fare of £44 with a departure from LHR. To me this was an awesome deal, but I have been unable to find that fare on any web based systems. The fare basis was TPRNLHR which is not listed in travelocity. Although, I was able to get the UK Expedia to give me a £52 pound fare, Expedia requires that I book it 3 days in advance.
Sep 30th Arrived at Terminal 4 to check in for my 14:40 departure to AMS on KLM. Perhaps 10 people in front of me and 3 agents are working economy checkin. The 2 agents working Business Class also pulled from our line when no Business Class passengers were waiting. I got to the front of the queue and was given an aisle seat on the 767. As she was handing me my passport she looked a little puzzled, then asked me if I lived in Amsterdam. I responded no and she then informed me that as an American passport holder I must have a ticket out of the Netherlands to be allowed in. I laughed and said I had one and proceeded to pull out my 27-page RTW ticket. She said that was fine and I was off.
The line to go through security was extremely long and took almost 15 minutes to get to the front. I looked for the guard that Diana Ross had attacked, but did not see her. (The SUN had published her photo the week before). I then made my way to the BA information desk to attempt to secure a change in my MAD-LHR segment. This segment was on Iberia, but thought it would be easy enough for BA to change. Silly me. I was briskly informed that she was a BA employee and had nothing to do with Iberia. I, with my not so condescending American accent, asked her why the sign above her had a graphic that clearly showed Iberia. She said that they were a member of the same alliance, but that had nothing to do with ticketing or reservations. I smiled and remembered why I hate BA. Good in the air service, but ground agents that seem to revel in finding things customers have done wrong and keeping them off planes.
The KLM 767 was completely full in economy and I was on the 2-seat side sharing with the only “extra-large” Dutch women in the world. I am not exactly thin myself so the flight was not as comfortable as it could have been. During the short hop we were offered a sandwich which I refused since we were planning a rather large dinner. Flight landed on time and I was out of passport control and on the train to central Amsterdam in 20 minutes. My friend arrived at our hotel perhaps 2 hours later and we took advantage of the beer and food on offer. He also told me that he did not need to be back at base till Saturday, so he was gonna stay an extra night. I said I wish I could do the same, but the only thing I cannot change on my ticket is my first segment within 7 days of departure.
Oct 1
My friend drove me to the airport and was able to park (for free!) within 20 meters of the terminal. I ran in with the idea that the Iberia Agents would take pity on me (or just not understand the fare rules of my ticket) and allow me to switch to the next day. The agent looked at the ticket and after a bit of pleading I was given a reservation on the flight the next morning. This worked out perfectly, since it arrived in plenty of time for me to check in and board my Iberia flight back to London that the BA agent was "unable" (I think "unwilling") to change.
Oct 2
As usual we took advantage of many of the things Amsterdam has to offer and was quite shocked to find it was 7:20 am when the second wake up call from the front desk came. My 8:35am flight looked like it would be a problem. Fortunately we made record time and I was quite obviously the last 1 to check in. The agent then asked if I was willing to volunteer to take a flight later in exchange for payment. Before I could respond the lead agent said something in Dutch and I was given a boarding pass. The boarding pass did not have my frequent flyer number for that flight on it. She was unable to put it in and told me to try at the gate since it was getting late. She then proudly informed me I had been placed in Business Class. Since it was a business class ticket, I really did not feel that special, but I said thank you and headed on my way.
At the gate, the agent claimed to put my number in, but she was clearly over worked by the number of people and could not reprint the boarding pass. The flight was totally full and when I asked the agent she told me that about 10 volunteers were being left behind. The flight was on an A320 using 3-3 seating. Iberia European Business uses the same seats as coach but the middle seat is kept empty for BC passengers. The flight was quick and we arrived 15 minutes early. We did not get a gate, so we had to bus into the terminal. The 12 BC passengers were given their own bus, which took us to the domestic terminal. I then made the hike to the international terminal for my flight to London.
At this point I realised that I had not shown my passport or ANY form of ID to anyone as of yet that day. I knew passports are not required for flights from AMS to MAD, but NO ID seems a bit strange.
When I arrived in Terminal 1 (international departures) in MAD, the place was packed. The 15-20 open counters each had 15-20 people queuing to check in. The Business Class Checkin lines (3 of them) had 6 people in each. I chose the 1 with the fewest number of people that looked like they were checking bags. Things went quick and I was holding a boarding pass with the correct FF number on it in about 10 minutes. I walked in to the Iberia Business Class Lounge and the agents were chatting amongst themselves about the tickets of a large group. I was not feeling all that great (Amsterdam remember!), so rather then wait I walked by and found the toilets. A few moments later I was waiting for a stall to free up in the bathroom, when I turned around to find the female desk clerk standing behind me. I was horrified that I had entered the wrong bathroom. Fortunately that was not the case and she just wanted to see my boarding pass. I showed it to her and she walked out of the male toilets. As she walked away i thought that she looked just like the picture of the security women that Diana Ross had attacked. I wonder what she would have done if i was already in the stall!!!!
The Iberia BC lounge had some nice finger foods and time passed quickly. I decided to go to the boarding gate about 12:30 for my 13:00 flight. No agents were to be found. About 1pm I looked at the departure monitor and my flight still read on time. I found an agent and she said the flight was late by 40 minutes. Around 1:20pm the departure monitor was updates to read 1:40pm. I laughed since they had not even stated boarding and there was no way they would make a 13:40 departure. About 14:00 we started to board but they did not allow BC passengers on first so I waited until last call. The flight to London was quick and we were served a choice of veal of fish for lunch.
Made it home maybe an hour and half after landing. Next instalment is BA LHR-BKK on October 7th, although I am on a wait list for the 6th. Sorry for any misspellings.
Sep 29th. After all my planning I had neglected to secure a way to get to Amsterdam to start the journey. BA wanted £180, so I though Easy Jet here I come. Well in the end I got lucky and called KLM and they offered me a fare of £44 with a departure from LHR. To me this was an awesome deal, but I have been unable to find that fare on any web based systems. The fare basis was TPRNLHR which is not listed in travelocity. Although, I was able to get the UK Expedia to give me a £52 pound fare, Expedia requires that I book it 3 days in advance.
Sep 30th Arrived at Terminal 4 to check in for my 14:40 departure to AMS on KLM. Perhaps 10 people in front of me and 3 agents are working economy checkin. The 2 agents working Business Class also pulled from our line when no Business Class passengers were waiting. I got to the front of the queue and was given an aisle seat on the 767. As she was handing me my passport she looked a little puzzled, then asked me if I lived in Amsterdam. I responded no and she then informed me that as an American passport holder I must have a ticket out of the Netherlands to be allowed in. I laughed and said I had one and proceeded to pull out my 27-page RTW ticket. She said that was fine and I was off.
The line to go through security was extremely long and took almost 15 minutes to get to the front. I looked for the guard that Diana Ross had attacked, but did not see her. (The SUN had published her photo the week before). I then made my way to the BA information desk to attempt to secure a change in my MAD-LHR segment. This segment was on Iberia, but thought it would be easy enough for BA to change. Silly me. I was briskly informed that she was a BA employee and had nothing to do with Iberia. I, with my not so condescending American accent, asked her why the sign above her had a graphic that clearly showed Iberia. She said that they were a member of the same alliance, but that had nothing to do with ticketing or reservations. I smiled and remembered why I hate BA. Good in the air service, but ground agents that seem to revel in finding things customers have done wrong and keeping them off planes.
The KLM 767 was completely full in economy and I was on the 2-seat side sharing with the only “extra-large” Dutch women in the world. I am not exactly thin myself so the flight was not as comfortable as it could have been. During the short hop we were offered a sandwich which I refused since we were planning a rather large dinner. Flight landed on time and I was out of passport control and on the train to central Amsterdam in 20 minutes. My friend arrived at our hotel perhaps 2 hours later and we took advantage of the beer and food on offer. He also told me that he did not need to be back at base till Saturday, so he was gonna stay an extra night. I said I wish I could do the same, but the only thing I cannot change on my ticket is my first segment within 7 days of departure.
Oct 1
My friend drove me to the airport and was able to park (for free!) within 20 meters of the terminal. I ran in with the idea that the Iberia Agents would take pity on me (or just not understand the fare rules of my ticket) and allow me to switch to the next day. The agent looked at the ticket and after a bit of pleading I was given a reservation on the flight the next morning. This worked out perfectly, since it arrived in plenty of time for me to check in and board my Iberia flight back to London that the BA agent was "unable" (I think "unwilling") to change.
Oct 2
As usual we took advantage of many of the things Amsterdam has to offer and was quite shocked to find it was 7:20 am when the second wake up call from the front desk came. My 8:35am flight looked like it would be a problem. Fortunately we made record time and I was quite obviously the last 1 to check in. The agent then asked if I was willing to volunteer to take a flight later in exchange for payment. Before I could respond the lead agent said something in Dutch and I was given a boarding pass. The boarding pass did not have my frequent flyer number for that flight on it. She was unable to put it in and told me to try at the gate since it was getting late. She then proudly informed me I had been placed in Business Class. Since it was a business class ticket, I really did not feel that special, but I said thank you and headed on my way.
At the gate, the agent claimed to put my number in, but she was clearly over worked by the number of people and could not reprint the boarding pass. The flight was totally full and when I asked the agent she told me that about 10 volunteers were being left behind. The flight was on an A320 using 3-3 seating. Iberia European Business uses the same seats as coach but the middle seat is kept empty for BC passengers. The flight was quick and we arrived 15 minutes early. We did not get a gate, so we had to bus into the terminal. The 12 BC passengers were given their own bus, which took us to the domestic terminal. I then made the hike to the international terminal for my flight to London.
At this point I realised that I had not shown my passport or ANY form of ID to anyone as of yet that day. I knew passports are not required for flights from AMS to MAD, but NO ID seems a bit strange.
When I arrived in Terminal 1 (international departures) in MAD, the place was packed. The 15-20 open counters each had 15-20 people queuing to check in. The Business Class Checkin lines (3 of them) had 6 people in each. I chose the 1 with the fewest number of people that looked like they were checking bags. Things went quick and I was holding a boarding pass with the correct FF number on it in about 10 minutes. I walked in to the Iberia Business Class Lounge and the agents were chatting amongst themselves about the tickets of a large group. I was not feeling all that great (Amsterdam remember!), so rather then wait I walked by and found the toilets. A few moments later I was waiting for a stall to free up in the bathroom, when I turned around to find the female desk clerk standing behind me. I was horrified that I had entered the wrong bathroom. Fortunately that was not the case and she just wanted to see my boarding pass. I showed it to her and she walked out of the male toilets. As she walked away i thought that she looked just like the picture of the security women that Diana Ross had attacked. I wonder what she would have done if i was already in the stall!!!!
The Iberia BC lounge had some nice finger foods and time passed quickly. I decided to go to the boarding gate about 12:30 for my 13:00 flight. No agents were to be found. About 1pm I looked at the departure monitor and my flight still read on time. I found an agent and she said the flight was late by 40 minutes. Around 1:20pm the departure monitor was updates to read 1:40pm. I laughed since they had not even stated boarding and there was no way they would make a 13:40 departure. About 14:00 we started to board but they did not allow BC passengers on first so I waited until last call. The flight to London was quick and we were served a choice of veal of fish for lunch.
Made it home maybe an hour and half after landing. Next instalment is BA LHR-BKK on October 7th, although I am on a wait list for the 6th. Sorry for any misspellings.
Oct 4, 1999, 10:12 pm
#7
Join Date: May 1999
Location: New York City
Programs: UA MM-1P, Hilton Life Diamond, Marriot Life Gold, ICH Spire
Posts: 4,080
Nice entertaining report, Rich, from another Rich. BTW, which page of the Sun had the picture of Diana Ross' security friend?
[This message has been edited by RichG (edited 10-04-1999).]
[This message has been edited by RichG (edited 10-04-1999).]
Oct 5, 1999, 9:55 am
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Washington
Posts: 1,173
RichG
Despite all the talk about breasts and the Diana Ross incident, the security guard appeared on page 1. However todays Sun has a picture of the woman arrested for joining the mile high club on saturdays flight from DFW-MAN. Perhaps it is her i need to look for instead!!!
rich
[This message has been edited by RichLond (edited 10-05-1999).]
Despite all the talk about breasts and the Diana Ross incident, the security guard appeared on page 1. However todays Sun has a picture of the woman arrested for joining the mile high club on saturdays flight from DFW-MAN. Perhaps it is her i need to look for instead!!!
rich
[This message has been edited by RichLond (edited 10-05-1999).]
Oct 5, 1999, 11:07 am
#9
Commander Catcop
Join Date: May 1998
Posts: 10,259
RichLond... glad to see you here. You are probably aware of the train crash 3 mi outside Paddington Station, London. We're doing the story at the news station I work at in NYC. glad to see your e-mail on here, hope you and your family and friends are ok.
I am particularly concerned of another Flyertalk friend who may be riding that train.
And nice reporting on your experiences. Good luck with everything!
I am particularly concerned of another Flyertalk friend who may be riding that train.
And nice reporting on your experiences. Good luck with everything!