Yet another PIP report...this one from Montréal
Nov 15, 1999, 11:03 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Montréal, Canada
Posts: 1,610
Yet another PIP report...this one from Montréal
Attending the PIP was a travel extravagance that I felt I couldn't afford, yet I couldn't afford to miss. However, because of a previously planned and incontrovertible trip to HNL just a few weeks later, I felt I could only justify it by doing it on the cheap. This was my goal. My mantra became "cheap, cheaper, cheapest".
I decided, quite early on, to try to make use of my Amex Platinum free companion certificate on CP. Since the Canadian version of this rather generous perk allows its usage on any fare, my challenge was to find a companion (my wife considered Hawaii twice in three weeks as excessive) to share the benefits of the free ticket and split costs for accomodation, car rental and food, all the while searching for the cheap sale fare I knew would eventually appear. I scored on all counts. The word "Hawaii" had barely left my lips when Sandra, my banking consultant and confidant practically shrieked "I'll go!". Seeking to avoid all hints of impropriety, we mutually decided to ask our respective spouses' permission. Sandra's husband, Raymond decided to join us to make sure he wouldn't miss out on any "Aloha Spirit" and my wife just said "Yeah, sure". Things were falling in place. I told Sandra I'd keep an eye out for a sale fare and then pounce.
And pounce I did. On Saturday, August 28 I was advised of a CP $744 CAD rt YUL-HNL and 24 hours later I had three tickets in my possession. Cost p/p after using the Amex certificate: $496 CAD ($330 USD) each. Not too shabby.
My next hurdle became our accomodations. Forgoing pricey HNL hotels, I opted for a condo. Having a kitchen could save us a bundle, even if we only used it for breakfast, so I settled on a unit in the Pacific Monarch, a moderate property adjacent to the Hyatt and very close to the beach. The rooftop pool (32 stories up) with jacuzzi, sauna and lounge cinched the deal. The $75 USD daily room rate for an ocean view 1 bedroom apartment didn't hurt either. We had separate sleeping quarters, and as it turned out, Raymond was quite the gourmet cook, using the kitchen to our advantage.
The car rental bargain was just the icing on the cake. Perusing ITN one afternoon, I came across a $12.99 daily rate for a compact car from Alamo. I grabbed it, added my Quicksilver number and then called Alamo directly to see if my reservation was in the system. It was, and the reservationist remarked on the great rate I was given. I can't recall ever having rented a vehicle for less, not even a moped! I couldn't believe how easily everything had fallen in to place. But the best was yet to come!
Day of departure, Nov 04: Having been comped CP Gold Sapphire due to my request and Gold Elite status with NW (sorry PremEx, I know I didn't actually earn it), I managed to get upgraded by gate agents to BC (2 class flights) on both segments YUL-YYZ-HNL using a black system-wide and a 500 mile sticker. Unfortunately, mine was the last available upgrade seat on both outbound legs, and so Sandra and Raymond had to settle for coach (although I did pre-book exit rows). After check-in, we headed to the Empress Lounge where my two companions were allowed access without question or coupons. The lounge was rather small and quite deserted. We availed ourselves of some mixed nuts and refreshments from the self-serve and extensive complimentary bar. I made a phone call while my infrequent traveller friends watched the airport goings-on from the large picture windows. Thirty minutes later we made our way to the gate just as boarding call was being announced.
FL 1621 YUL-YYZ (3:00 PM) was on a Fokker F-28 with 10 seats in first (2-2 layout) and 45 in coach (2-3 layout). I had never flown this commuter jet before and was surprised it was even outfitted with a 2 class configuration. It appeared to be relatively new and in excellent repair. Overhead bins were somewhat small, so the FA graciously volunteered to stow my rather large carry-on in the closet. Drinks were served and cleared away before departure. Pushback was about 18 minutes late with another 10 minute wait on the tarmac before takeoff due to congestion in YYZ. As this was a short flight (50 minutes) only drinks and mixed nuts were served. Inflight entertainment was limited to NEWSNET, a CTV news programming package. Touchdown was about 17 minutes late but still about 20 minutes before the YYZ-HNL boarding call. Made it no sweat, and as it turned out boarding was delayed about 30 minutes due to chaotic re-seating for reasons unknown. The gate agents were so frazzled, I just handed in my boarding pass and sticker and crossed my fingers that my upgrade would go through. It did and I got to experience "Canadian Airlines International Business Class" for the first time.
FL 127 YYZ-HNL (5:35 PM) was on one of my favourite Hawaii-bound aircraft, the DC-10. (Stop snickering you UA 747 fliers!) 28 BC seats (2-2-2 layout), 228 coach (2-5-2 layout). Takeoff was about 35 minutes late at 6:10 PM and must have been on one of the bumpiest runways I have ever experienced. It felt as though we were taking off on an unpaved country lane.
BC was outfitted with those dandy new electric seats. Let me tell you those seats were responsible for many hours of dreamy, blissful sleep. Reclining to an almost (but not quite) flat position, adjusting the headrest and lumbar support just so and raising the leg and foot rest to its utmost horizontal position, I hardly needed my usual double scotch or two to coax me to dreamland. The inflight entertainment was wasted on me. I missed The Sixth Sense (along with Bowfinger, The Thomas Crown Affair, Runaway Bride, The Blair Witch Project, Grey Owl, Molly etc., etc.. The amenity kit was also quite nice and included a pair of nylon slipper/socks, eyeshades and assorted Aveda toiletries with a wooden handled toothbrush in an unbleached cotton drawstring sack.
Dinner was served after about an hour in the air and was interesting in its choices of braised veal shanks, grilled chicken breast and halibut fillet, all served with a crab salad filled spring roll as appetizer. Penne, chateau potatoes, oven roasted vegetables and stir-fried brocolli florets were the accompaniments with a cheese and fruit plate offered as dessert. Oddly enough, beef was not on the menu. Coffee was the new light roast Starbucks which was a nice mellow alternative to the usual strong, full bodied Seattle coffeehouse brew we've all grown accustomed to. Liquers were offered as an after dinner digestif, but I must admit I fell asleep right after coffee with my tray still in position. I awoke shortly before landing, just as a snack and refreshments were being served. I declined and shortly thereafter we began descent into Honolulu, arriving about 28 minutes early at 10:17 PM. Breezed through customs after a short ride on the wiki-wiki shuttle, gathering our bags quickly at the carrousel. Those priority tags seemed to help as our luggage was there waiting for us as we arrived.
Next stop was the Alamo shuttle which arrived ten minutes later to whisk us off-terminal to our $12.99 compact car. The deal was so good, I was anticipating some sort of foul up, but to my surprise the Quicksilver computer assigned me a Toyota Camry and within a couple of minutes we were on the H1 heading for Waikiki. With no traffic, we arrived at our condo in little more than 10 minutes. After settling in and unpacking, we headed off to the Food Pantry supermarket across the street to grab some coffee and milk for breakfast. Our body clocks were still set to EST and were saying 5 AM. 45 minutes later we were were asleep.
Friday, Nov 5 and the first item on my PIP agenda was meeting for drinks at the Sheraton Moana Surfrider, a block and a half from our condo. Once I arrived, at about 1:30, I noticed signs directing PIP'ers to a private salon overlooking the ocean and was happy to recognize Catman and Premex (from an earlier NYC FT get-together). TropicalFlyer checked me off the attendee list, handed me my passport and a very generous and unexpected goodie bag and before I knew it I was sipping Mai Tais (courtesy of Randi) and chatting with the FT'ers I had met in NY and others I had never met yet come to know over the past 6 months or so. Joe, Titus, MegaMiles, BlondeBomber, etc...what a great bunch! After taking a detour to Costco with Jamiel and newlyweds Kyklin and Danielle, we headed off to the Hilton Hawaiian Village for the Hula show and fireworks display. Afterwards, we decided to dine at the Pacific Cafe in the Ward Center thanks to a lift from Karen2 and Einar joining TropicalFlyer and about 15 other FT'ers for some very fine cuisine and copious amounts of liquid refreshments. A fine time was had by all, boisterous and fun, and by the time we left the restaurant there was nary a soul left.
Saturday, Nov 5, 1:00 PM and once again the Sheraton Moana Surfrider played host to the Heavenly Chocolate Tasting. The hotel provided the Grand Salon Terrace, again overlooking the ocean where large banquet tables were overflowing with chocolate from all over the world. I am sorry to admit I couldn't bring myself to sample even a single morsel after all my feasting the night before, but from the expressions on my fellow PIP'ers faces, I would have to say they were most delectable. There were so many chocolates that Rudi had to threaten us with detention lest any remain on the tables. That problem was solved "doggy bag" style, and some PIP'ers must have had some pretty hungry pooches.
Meanwhile, in conversation with NJDavid and his lovely wife, Helen, we were suddenly attacked by a gang of unruly musclebound beachbums and bikini-clad beach bunnies bearing cans of silly string. Needless to say the look of dismay and surprise on the "strung" (I among them) was quite amusing. Even more so, was the cleanup afterwards, without benefit of a vacuum , in preparation for a wedding reception. Things petered out and we all went our separate ways to spend some free time before the feast later that evening.
6:30 PM. The Dinner...the Party...the Main Event...the Frequent Flyer Feast was upon us. This time the venue was the Garden Terrace at the Halekulani Hotel, a decidedly upscale property on the beach at Waikiki. I have oft admired this hotel, but alas from afar, its cost beyond my reach. Until they start accepting pesos, reals or baht at par, I'm afraid it will remain so.
There were already quite a number of PIP'ers milling about and before long a number of us were sidling up to the bar to order our favourite refreshment and once again a surprise...drinks were on Randy!
Things got even better once we were about to be seated at our table and Snowgal, one of our dinner companions yelled out "Surprise!" and motioned towards our seat where yet another goodie bundle awaited us. Then PremEx made the announcement that the entire dinner and drinks would be paid by Randy. This was beyond generous, and the whole room gasped and then cheered Randy, WebFlyer and FlyerTalk. What a great guy!
Well the dinner began, and then Rudi said that they had a special gift for each and every PIP'er in attendance matched to a unique and identifiable post made by that particular FT'er. It was comical to see how accurate or not some of the gifts were. Jamiel received a battery operated alarm clock after posting his experience during a power outage. Rudi received a sheet of carbon paper after noting that "Xerox never comes up with any original". I received a book entitled "Follow Me, I'm Right Behind You!" due to a message I posted to Stimpy, when envious of his frequent and upscale travels, in which I asked if he required the assistance of a man-servant or private-secretary. This went on for some time, Rudi having to forgo the better portion of his meal in order to entertain the rest of us.
Next came the gift exchange, where anyone who donated a gift was allowed to retrieve one. Matt Wald arrived with a cheer, just as the bar was shutting down, but Punki greeted him warmly and someone else provided a warm Becks, so he wasn't completely without.
The raffle coincided with dessert and coffee, and the rest of the evening was spent in animated conversation. I lobbied on behalf of an upcoming Montréal FT get-together, and got to meet some very nice FT'ers and their spouses that I hadn't already met. Hopefully all those who expressed interest in the July event will be able to follow through. It could be a PIP reunion of sorts.
By the end of the evening some of us wandered to the Lewers Lounge at the hotel to smoke cigars and catch up on some FT gossip, while Punki and Joe danced elegantly in the adjacent salon. I seriously think that Punki should change her handle to Spunki. She has more energy and youthful vigor than girls half her age. Maybe its the vegetables and chardonnay?
Everyone most certainly had a great time during the PIP weekend, and the Feast was the highlight of it all. Kudos to the planning committee and all who had a hand in making this the first success of (dare I say?) many more.
On Sunday, I drove down to the Ilikai to watch Matt beat Rudi at tennis, but only because Rudi spotted him something like 60 points. Rudi had a tougher match in Clayton, and it was exciting to see two such intense competitors go at it.
As for the rest of my PIP weekend, I wasn't leaving until very, very early Wednesday morning (more like very, very late Tuesday night) so my roomates and I spent the next couple of days snorkeling, swimming and sightseeing. We did the island tour, Aloha Stadium Swap Meet, stopped at all the great beaches, did Punchbowl, the Tantalus mountain drive, Round Top and Diamond Head.
By Tuesday night we were happily bushed.
Make our way to the airport, where I drop everyone off and then return the Alamo rental. Check in, and we all head to the Empress Lounge to cool our heels before boarding. Unfortunately, there are 2 Empress Lounges in HNL and I mistakenly head to the much smaller transit lounge past our boarding gate. It's too late to turn back, so we settle in and have a couple of drinks. No Mai Tais available. Imagine! Sandra is disappointed.
FL 134 HNL-VVR (00:45) Another DC-10. Another upgrade (using the black sticker) to those great seats. Another great sleep! Can't recall a thing after my second drink. Woke up to have breakfast. Choice of cheddar cheese omelette or ham filled crepe with Mornay sauce. I went for the omelette and had the fresh fruit plate with a croissant. All were good, if unremarkable. Landed just about on time, and then picked the slow line at customs. Twenty five minutes later, the three of us finally cleared and we went to pick up our checked luggage only to have to recheck it for our connecting flights. What a pain. I really do love to fly carry-on only.
FL 986 VVR-YYZ (9:30 AM) Yet another DC-10 and another upgrade to BC with the new seats. I'm on a hot streak. Same routine, same choices, only this time I have breakfast first, then catch up on some more sleep. Miss all the inflight entertainment, but just before landing have a coffee to wake me up. The pilot announces we're to be in a holding pattern for 5 minutes while waiting to land at YYZ. This turns into 15 and we arrive just missing an earlier flight to YUL that I had hoped to be able to catch. I check in with my wife, who has been tracking my flights all the way from HNL. She tells me the flight we're scheduled to take to YUL has been cancelled. I leave the phone dangling and go to ask the gate agent still doing paperwork from the earlier flight. She says its not cancelled and actually overbooked. I'm puzzled as I retrieve the phone and discuss this mixup with my wife. Suddenly Raymond comes to the phone to tell me that the gate agent was wrong and the flight is cancelled. I rush to rebook, and manage to get on the 8:00 PM shuttle flight with all of us upgraded (using my 500 mile stickers). Now we've got 90 minutes to kill before boarding so we make our way to the Empress Lounge. It's a nice two level affair with a shower, internet connection and self-serve bar. Because of the cancellation(s) it gets pretty crowded so I grab a seat at a computer station and go online to check my pile of e-mails that have gone unread since my departure. Time sneaks up on us and we arrive a the distant boarding gate just in time to board.
FL 8832 YYZ-YUL (8:00 PM) Equipment is a 737 with 12 seats up front and 88 in coach. I guess they substituted the larger aircraft to accomodate the cancellation. This flight should be on a F-28 with a FL 1632 designation. No pre-takeoff drinks are served because the FA's are playing musical chairs with a slew of double-booked seat assignments. Finally everyone is seated and we leave about 15 minutes late. The short flight is uneventful but for the conversation I strike up with a fellow across the aisle who has been flying for 22 straight hours from HKG. He tells me about his Cathay Pacific first class flight that he got on promotion for the cost of business class. Flat beds, down duvets, great food, attentive FA's not to mention his access to the first class lounge in HKG where he had a bath, pedicure and sit down dinner all part of his fare. Now that's travel I could learn to appreciate. We trade Asian hotel stories and cost of living comparisons before we touch down at Dorval. Quickly deplane only to be caught in that horrible bottleneck known as the luggage carrousel. Priority tags were no help here. 20 minutes later all our bags finally appear. If the airlines seriously want us to reduce our carry-on, then they should get their baggage handling act together...or else make the overhead bins larger à la CO. At least the disappointing luggage wait was tempered by my wife surprising us at the airport. I really did miss her. We all head to my 4X4 which I parked at the airport and headed home...for now.
Surprises on the trip? Randy's generosity and Canadian's International Business Class (and my ability to get it on all segments after having paid a cheap fare, using only stickers I received with my comped status).
Satisfaction? Meeting the world's friendliest bunch of FT'ers and making new friendships.
Congratulations FT'ers, you are the BEST!
I decided, quite early on, to try to make use of my Amex Platinum free companion certificate on CP. Since the Canadian version of this rather generous perk allows its usage on any fare, my challenge was to find a companion (my wife considered Hawaii twice in three weeks as excessive) to share the benefits of the free ticket and split costs for accomodation, car rental and food, all the while searching for the cheap sale fare I knew would eventually appear. I scored on all counts. The word "Hawaii" had barely left my lips when Sandra, my banking consultant and confidant practically shrieked "I'll go!". Seeking to avoid all hints of impropriety, we mutually decided to ask our respective spouses' permission. Sandra's husband, Raymond decided to join us to make sure he wouldn't miss out on any "Aloha Spirit" and my wife just said "Yeah, sure". Things were falling in place. I told Sandra I'd keep an eye out for a sale fare and then pounce.
And pounce I did. On Saturday, August 28 I was advised of a CP $744 CAD rt YUL-HNL and 24 hours later I had three tickets in my possession. Cost p/p after using the Amex certificate: $496 CAD ($330 USD) each. Not too shabby.
My next hurdle became our accomodations. Forgoing pricey HNL hotels, I opted for a condo. Having a kitchen could save us a bundle, even if we only used it for breakfast, so I settled on a unit in the Pacific Monarch, a moderate property adjacent to the Hyatt and very close to the beach. The rooftop pool (32 stories up) with jacuzzi, sauna and lounge cinched the deal. The $75 USD daily room rate for an ocean view 1 bedroom apartment didn't hurt either. We had separate sleeping quarters, and as it turned out, Raymond was quite the gourmet cook, using the kitchen to our advantage.
The car rental bargain was just the icing on the cake. Perusing ITN one afternoon, I came across a $12.99 daily rate for a compact car from Alamo. I grabbed it, added my Quicksilver number and then called Alamo directly to see if my reservation was in the system. It was, and the reservationist remarked on the great rate I was given. I can't recall ever having rented a vehicle for less, not even a moped! I couldn't believe how easily everything had fallen in to place. But the best was yet to come!
Day of departure, Nov 04: Having been comped CP Gold Sapphire due to my request and Gold Elite status with NW (sorry PremEx, I know I didn't actually earn it), I managed to get upgraded by gate agents to BC (2 class flights) on both segments YUL-YYZ-HNL using a black system-wide and a 500 mile sticker. Unfortunately, mine was the last available upgrade seat on both outbound legs, and so Sandra and Raymond had to settle for coach (although I did pre-book exit rows). After check-in, we headed to the Empress Lounge where my two companions were allowed access without question or coupons. The lounge was rather small and quite deserted. We availed ourselves of some mixed nuts and refreshments from the self-serve and extensive complimentary bar. I made a phone call while my infrequent traveller friends watched the airport goings-on from the large picture windows. Thirty minutes later we made our way to the gate just as boarding call was being announced.
FL 1621 YUL-YYZ (3:00 PM) was on a Fokker F-28 with 10 seats in first (2-2 layout) and 45 in coach (2-3 layout). I had never flown this commuter jet before and was surprised it was even outfitted with a 2 class configuration. It appeared to be relatively new and in excellent repair. Overhead bins were somewhat small, so the FA graciously volunteered to stow my rather large carry-on in the closet. Drinks were served and cleared away before departure. Pushback was about 18 minutes late with another 10 minute wait on the tarmac before takeoff due to congestion in YYZ. As this was a short flight (50 minutes) only drinks and mixed nuts were served. Inflight entertainment was limited to NEWSNET, a CTV news programming package. Touchdown was about 17 minutes late but still about 20 minutes before the YYZ-HNL boarding call. Made it no sweat, and as it turned out boarding was delayed about 30 minutes due to chaotic re-seating for reasons unknown. The gate agents were so frazzled, I just handed in my boarding pass and sticker and crossed my fingers that my upgrade would go through. It did and I got to experience "Canadian Airlines International Business Class" for the first time.
FL 127 YYZ-HNL (5:35 PM) was on one of my favourite Hawaii-bound aircraft, the DC-10. (Stop snickering you UA 747 fliers!) 28 BC seats (2-2-2 layout), 228 coach (2-5-2 layout). Takeoff was about 35 minutes late at 6:10 PM and must have been on one of the bumpiest runways I have ever experienced. It felt as though we were taking off on an unpaved country lane.
BC was outfitted with those dandy new electric seats. Let me tell you those seats were responsible for many hours of dreamy, blissful sleep. Reclining to an almost (but not quite) flat position, adjusting the headrest and lumbar support just so and raising the leg and foot rest to its utmost horizontal position, I hardly needed my usual double scotch or two to coax me to dreamland. The inflight entertainment was wasted on me. I missed The Sixth Sense (along with Bowfinger, The Thomas Crown Affair, Runaway Bride, The Blair Witch Project, Grey Owl, Molly etc., etc.. The amenity kit was also quite nice and included a pair of nylon slipper/socks, eyeshades and assorted Aveda toiletries with a wooden handled toothbrush in an unbleached cotton drawstring sack.
Dinner was served after about an hour in the air and was interesting in its choices of braised veal shanks, grilled chicken breast and halibut fillet, all served with a crab salad filled spring roll as appetizer. Penne, chateau potatoes, oven roasted vegetables and stir-fried brocolli florets were the accompaniments with a cheese and fruit plate offered as dessert. Oddly enough, beef was not on the menu. Coffee was the new light roast Starbucks which was a nice mellow alternative to the usual strong, full bodied Seattle coffeehouse brew we've all grown accustomed to. Liquers were offered as an after dinner digestif, but I must admit I fell asleep right after coffee with my tray still in position. I awoke shortly before landing, just as a snack and refreshments were being served. I declined and shortly thereafter we began descent into Honolulu, arriving about 28 minutes early at 10:17 PM. Breezed through customs after a short ride on the wiki-wiki shuttle, gathering our bags quickly at the carrousel. Those priority tags seemed to help as our luggage was there waiting for us as we arrived.
Next stop was the Alamo shuttle which arrived ten minutes later to whisk us off-terminal to our $12.99 compact car. The deal was so good, I was anticipating some sort of foul up, but to my surprise the Quicksilver computer assigned me a Toyota Camry and within a couple of minutes we were on the H1 heading for Waikiki. With no traffic, we arrived at our condo in little more than 10 minutes. After settling in and unpacking, we headed off to the Food Pantry supermarket across the street to grab some coffee and milk for breakfast. Our body clocks were still set to EST and were saying 5 AM. 45 minutes later we were were asleep.
Friday, Nov 5 and the first item on my PIP agenda was meeting for drinks at the Sheraton Moana Surfrider, a block and a half from our condo. Once I arrived, at about 1:30, I noticed signs directing PIP'ers to a private salon overlooking the ocean and was happy to recognize Catman and Premex (from an earlier NYC FT get-together). TropicalFlyer checked me off the attendee list, handed me my passport and a very generous and unexpected goodie bag and before I knew it I was sipping Mai Tais (courtesy of Randi) and chatting with the FT'ers I had met in NY and others I had never met yet come to know over the past 6 months or so. Joe, Titus, MegaMiles, BlondeBomber, etc...what a great bunch! After taking a detour to Costco with Jamiel and newlyweds Kyklin and Danielle, we headed off to the Hilton Hawaiian Village for the Hula show and fireworks display. Afterwards, we decided to dine at the Pacific Cafe in the Ward Center thanks to a lift from Karen2 and Einar joining TropicalFlyer and about 15 other FT'ers for some very fine cuisine and copious amounts of liquid refreshments. A fine time was had by all, boisterous and fun, and by the time we left the restaurant there was nary a soul left.
Saturday, Nov 5, 1:00 PM and once again the Sheraton Moana Surfrider played host to the Heavenly Chocolate Tasting. The hotel provided the Grand Salon Terrace, again overlooking the ocean where large banquet tables were overflowing with chocolate from all over the world. I am sorry to admit I couldn't bring myself to sample even a single morsel after all my feasting the night before, but from the expressions on my fellow PIP'ers faces, I would have to say they were most delectable. There were so many chocolates that Rudi had to threaten us with detention lest any remain on the tables. That problem was solved "doggy bag" style, and some PIP'ers must have had some pretty hungry pooches.
Meanwhile, in conversation with NJDavid and his lovely wife, Helen, we were suddenly attacked by a gang of unruly musclebound beachbums and bikini-clad beach bunnies bearing cans of silly string. Needless to say the look of dismay and surprise on the "strung" (I among them) was quite amusing. Even more so, was the cleanup afterwards, without benefit of a vacuum , in preparation for a wedding reception. Things petered out and we all went our separate ways to spend some free time before the feast later that evening.
6:30 PM. The Dinner...the Party...the Main Event...the Frequent Flyer Feast was upon us. This time the venue was the Garden Terrace at the Halekulani Hotel, a decidedly upscale property on the beach at Waikiki. I have oft admired this hotel, but alas from afar, its cost beyond my reach. Until they start accepting pesos, reals or baht at par, I'm afraid it will remain so.
There were already quite a number of PIP'ers milling about and before long a number of us were sidling up to the bar to order our favourite refreshment and once again a surprise...drinks were on Randy!
Things got even better once we were about to be seated at our table and Snowgal, one of our dinner companions yelled out "Surprise!" and motioned towards our seat where yet another goodie bundle awaited us. Then PremEx made the announcement that the entire dinner and drinks would be paid by Randy. This was beyond generous, and the whole room gasped and then cheered Randy, WebFlyer and FlyerTalk. What a great guy!
Well the dinner began, and then Rudi said that they had a special gift for each and every PIP'er in attendance matched to a unique and identifiable post made by that particular FT'er. It was comical to see how accurate or not some of the gifts were. Jamiel received a battery operated alarm clock after posting his experience during a power outage. Rudi received a sheet of carbon paper after noting that "Xerox never comes up with any original". I received a book entitled "Follow Me, I'm Right Behind You!" due to a message I posted to Stimpy, when envious of his frequent and upscale travels, in which I asked if he required the assistance of a man-servant or private-secretary. This went on for some time, Rudi having to forgo the better portion of his meal in order to entertain the rest of us.
Next came the gift exchange, where anyone who donated a gift was allowed to retrieve one. Matt Wald arrived with a cheer, just as the bar was shutting down, but Punki greeted him warmly and someone else provided a warm Becks, so he wasn't completely without.
The raffle coincided with dessert and coffee, and the rest of the evening was spent in animated conversation. I lobbied on behalf of an upcoming Montréal FT get-together, and got to meet some very nice FT'ers and their spouses that I hadn't already met. Hopefully all those who expressed interest in the July event will be able to follow through. It could be a PIP reunion of sorts.
By the end of the evening some of us wandered to the Lewers Lounge at the hotel to smoke cigars and catch up on some FT gossip, while Punki and Joe danced elegantly in the adjacent salon. I seriously think that Punki should change her handle to Spunki. She has more energy and youthful vigor than girls half her age. Maybe its the vegetables and chardonnay?
Everyone most certainly had a great time during the PIP weekend, and the Feast was the highlight of it all. Kudos to the planning committee and all who had a hand in making this the first success of (dare I say?) many more.
On Sunday, I drove down to the Ilikai to watch Matt beat Rudi at tennis, but only because Rudi spotted him something like 60 points. Rudi had a tougher match in Clayton, and it was exciting to see two such intense competitors go at it.
As for the rest of my PIP weekend, I wasn't leaving until very, very early Wednesday morning (more like very, very late Tuesday night) so my roomates and I spent the next couple of days snorkeling, swimming and sightseeing. We did the island tour, Aloha Stadium Swap Meet, stopped at all the great beaches, did Punchbowl, the Tantalus mountain drive, Round Top and Diamond Head.
By Tuesday night we were happily bushed.
Make our way to the airport, where I drop everyone off and then return the Alamo rental. Check in, and we all head to the Empress Lounge to cool our heels before boarding. Unfortunately, there are 2 Empress Lounges in HNL and I mistakenly head to the much smaller transit lounge past our boarding gate. It's too late to turn back, so we settle in and have a couple of drinks. No Mai Tais available. Imagine! Sandra is disappointed.
FL 134 HNL-VVR (00:45) Another DC-10. Another upgrade (using the black sticker) to those great seats. Another great sleep! Can't recall a thing after my second drink. Woke up to have breakfast. Choice of cheddar cheese omelette or ham filled crepe with Mornay sauce. I went for the omelette and had the fresh fruit plate with a croissant. All were good, if unremarkable. Landed just about on time, and then picked the slow line at customs. Twenty five minutes later, the three of us finally cleared and we went to pick up our checked luggage only to have to recheck it for our connecting flights. What a pain. I really do love to fly carry-on only.
FL 986 VVR-YYZ (9:30 AM) Yet another DC-10 and another upgrade to BC with the new seats. I'm on a hot streak. Same routine, same choices, only this time I have breakfast first, then catch up on some more sleep. Miss all the inflight entertainment, but just before landing have a coffee to wake me up. The pilot announces we're to be in a holding pattern for 5 minutes while waiting to land at YYZ. This turns into 15 and we arrive just missing an earlier flight to YUL that I had hoped to be able to catch. I check in with my wife, who has been tracking my flights all the way from HNL. She tells me the flight we're scheduled to take to YUL has been cancelled. I leave the phone dangling and go to ask the gate agent still doing paperwork from the earlier flight. She says its not cancelled and actually overbooked. I'm puzzled as I retrieve the phone and discuss this mixup with my wife. Suddenly Raymond comes to the phone to tell me that the gate agent was wrong and the flight is cancelled. I rush to rebook, and manage to get on the 8:00 PM shuttle flight with all of us upgraded (using my 500 mile stickers). Now we've got 90 minutes to kill before boarding so we make our way to the Empress Lounge. It's a nice two level affair with a shower, internet connection and self-serve bar. Because of the cancellation(s) it gets pretty crowded so I grab a seat at a computer station and go online to check my pile of e-mails that have gone unread since my departure. Time sneaks up on us and we arrive a the distant boarding gate just in time to board.
FL 8832 YYZ-YUL (8:00 PM) Equipment is a 737 with 12 seats up front and 88 in coach. I guess they substituted the larger aircraft to accomodate the cancellation. This flight should be on a F-28 with a FL 1632 designation. No pre-takeoff drinks are served because the FA's are playing musical chairs with a slew of double-booked seat assignments. Finally everyone is seated and we leave about 15 minutes late. The short flight is uneventful but for the conversation I strike up with a fellow across the aisle who has been flying for 22 straight hours from HKG. He tells me about his Cathay Pacific first class flight that he got on promotion for the cost of business class. Flat beds, down duvets, great food, attentive FA's not to mention his access to the first class lounge in HKG where he had a bath, pedicure and sit down dinner all part of his fare. Now that's travel I could learn to appreciate. We trade Asian hotel stories and cost of living comparisons before we touch down at Dorval. Quickly deplane only to be caught in that horrible bottleneck known as the luggage carrousel. Priority tags were no help here. 20 minutes later all our bags finally appear. If the airlines seriously want us to reduce our carry-on, then they should get their baggage handling act together...or else make the overhead bins larger à la CO. At least the disappointing luggage wait was tempered by my wife surprising us at the airport. I really did miss her. We all head to my 4X4 which I parked at the airport and headed home...for now.
Surprises on the trip? Randy's generosity and Canadian's International Business Class (and my ability to get it on all segments after having paid a cheap fare, using only stickers I received with my comped status).
Satisfaction? Meeting the world's friendliest bunch of FT'ers and making new friendships.
Congratulations FT'ers, you are the BEST!
