A Brits take on the US Election - ABZ-OSL-LHR-JFK-LAX-SFO (SK, BA, AA)
Nov 4, 2016, 3:18 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2009
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Honors Diamond, Mucci de buveur de gin
Posts: 3,060
A Brits take on the US Election - ABZ-OSL-LHR-JFK-LAX-SFO (SK, BA, AA)
I have been interested in the American way of doing things politically and legally (although the boundaries seem to be pretty blurry) since doing a class on American constitutional law when I studied at a Danish university. The highly political nature of the Supreme Court is something which fascinates me. Earlier in the year, the American political system was heating back up again and there was a shock that The Donald seemed to be doing so well. However much I despise his politics (whether it's belating on about that wall or wanting to appoint judges to the Supreme Court who would take women' rights back by several decades) and his general treatment of women and minorities (pussygate anyone?!), there's something about him which I can't put my finger on. So I was chatting with a friend who lives in San Francisco about the primaries which were taking place and he said that election night would be really interesting. At that point, we didn't know whether Clinton or Sanders would get the Democratic nomination.
I started to have a think about maybe going over there for the election. I played around with a few routings and managed to find a decent business class fare from Oslo to San Fransisco (with stops in London, New York and LA) so I called the BA Gold line to book it. Unfortunately when I called, the guy (very helpful btw) said that the fare I had found was no more and that the flights I was wanting had jumped up by about £700. Agh. He started tapping away and then said "Oh....hmm....would you mind going first class, sir?".....Me: "Erm, no!". He had managed to find the same flights in F for about £200 more than I had originally found for business class. Excellent! All booked and confirmed very soon thereafter.
I found a cheap fare on Scandinavian from Aberdeen to Oslo the day before I would go to San Francisco so booked that too. Scandinavian have a good bidding system for upgrades. So, just to take one for the Flyertalk team, I decided to put a bid in to upgrade to SAS Plus. I think I offered €70. I had forgotten bout it and it wasn't until yesterday morning, I got an email saying that my bid had been accepted and that I had been upgraded to SAS Plus. The only extras really are fast track access at the airport, lounge access and a free choice from the menu on board (I think). Not sure whether I will have a seat free next to me on the plane this morning or not.
Hotels - I booked the Radisson Blu in Oslo which is right beside the last stop on the airport bus into the city. Hopefully it will be easy enough to find. In San Francisco, given that I am getting in late and leaving very early on the way home, I booked a Hilton hotel at the airport. For my days in the city, I was looking at IHG properties but their prices were getting into the ridiculous. I remembered a nice hotel I had been to for a drink on a previous trip to San Francisco but couldn't remember the name of it. I got on to Google Maps and traced my steps around the Nob Hill area and found it - the Stanford Court. I booked 5 nights in one of their suites for a very reasonable price. The night before I was due to fly to Oslo, I decided to treat myself to a hotel at Aberdeen Airport and booked the Crowne Plaza which I have stayed at before.
Fast forward a few months and I find myself at the Crowne Plaza hotel being checked in by a lovely girl. She upgraded me to a Club room because of my IHG status which was nice. My room was on the 5th floor and overlooked the runway at ABZ. The room is a decent enough size and the bed is verrrrrry comfy! The bathroom is massive, comes with separate bath and shower and was absolutely spotless! That was in stark contrast to a Crowne Plaza I stayed in when I was in London last weekend - the glass shower door was covered in mould - YUK!
I headed down to the club lounge which is situated behind the restaurant and bar - very tucked away. There were only two other guys in there. The offering isn't great. There were a few bags of crisps, some chocolate bars and some apples. Oh well, at least there was wine and beer. I poured myself a wine and chilled for a while.
I headed to the Offshore bar and restaurant and grabbed a few starters as I was feeling peckish. The salt and pepper squid with Asian salad was actually very tasty. Fishcake was very good too - supposedly that was a starter size.....main course size one must be giant!
BA coming in for its night stop in ABZ...
After a great night's sleep (there was none of that lavender spray in the room though - have Crowne Plazas done away with this?!), I was up and about at around 7am.
Morning!
I popped down to the lounge and had a few coffees while reading the paper.
Bye hotel!
I walked through the handy walkway down to the airport and was all checked in within 2 minutes. I headed through fast track security which was quite fast and was making my way through to the lounge when I saw the Travelex counter. Bugger. I had forgotten to pick up my currency. Decided to chance my luck to see if she would give it to me there rather than have to go through arrivals and then come back through security. Happily, she obliged. Currency in hand, I headed to the Servisair lounge.
Breakfast....
The lounge wasn't too busy this morning. The staff kept it clean all of the time which was nice. Wifi worked quite well too. I'll stop here as we are away to start boarding. See you in Oslo!
I started to have a think about maybe going over there for the election. I played around with a few routings and managed to find a decent business class fare from Oslo to San Fransisco (with stops in London, New York and LA) so I called the BA Gold line to book it. Unfortunately when I called, the guy (very helpful btw) said that the fare I had found was no more and that the flights I was wanting had jumped up by about £700. Agh. He started tapping away and then said "Oh....hmm....would you mind going first class, sir?".....Me: "Erm, no!". He had managed to find the same flights in F for about £200 more than I had originally found for business class. Excellent! All booked and confirmed very soon thereafter.
I found a cheap fare on Scandinavian from Aberdeen to Oslo the day before I would go to San Francisco so booked that too. Scandinavian have a good bidding system for upgrades. So, just to take one for the Flyertalk team, I decided to put a bid in to upgrade to SAS Plus. I think I offered €70. I had forgotten bout it and it wasn't until yesterday morning, I got an email saying that my bid had been accepted and that I had been upgraded to SAS Plus. The only extras really are fast track access at the airport, lounge access and a free choice from the menu on board (I think). Not sure whether I will have a seat free next to me on the plane this morning or not.
Hotels - I booked the Radisson Blu in Oslo which is right beside the last stop on the airport bus into the city. Hopefully it will be easy enough to find. In San Francisco, given that I am getting in late and leaving very early on the way home, I booked a Hilton hotel at the airport. For my days in the city, I was looking at IHG properties but their prices were getting into the ridiculous. I remembered a nice hotel I had been to for a drink on a previous trip to San Francisco but couldn't remember the name of it. I got on to Google Maps and traced my steps around the Nob Hill area and found it - the Stanford Court. I booked 5 nights in one of their suites for a very reasonable price. The night before I was due to fly to Oslo, I decided to treat myself to a hotel at Aberdeen Airport and booked the Crowne Plaza which I have stayed at before.
Fast forward a few months and I find myself at the Crowne Plaza hotel being checked in by a lovely girl. She upgraded me to a Club room because of my IHG status which was nice. My room was on the 5th floor and overlooked the runway at ABZ. The room is a decent enough size and the bed is verrrrrry comfy! The bathroom is massive, comes with separate bath and shower and was absolutely spotless! That was in stark contrast to a Crowne Plaza I stayed in when I was in London last weekend - the glass shower door was covered in mould - YUK!
I headed down to the club lounge which is situated behind the restaurant and bar - very tucked away. There were only two other guys in there. The offering isn't great. There were a few bags of crisps, some chocolate bars and some apples. Oh well, at least there was wine and beer. I poured myself a wine and chilled for a while.
I headed to the Offshore bar and restaurant and grabbed a few starters as I was feeling peckish. The salt and pepper squid with Asian salad was actually very tasty. Fishcake was very good too - supposedly that was a starter size.....main course size one must be giant!
BA coming in for its night stop in ABZ...
After a great night's sleep (there was none of that lavender spray in the room though - have Crowne Plazas done away with this?!), I was up and about at around 7am.
Morning!
I popped down to the lounge and had a few coffees while reading the paper.
Bye hotel!
I walked through the handy walkway down to the airport and was all checked in within 2 minutes. I headed through fast track security which was quite fast and was making my way through to the lounge when I saw the Travelex counter. Bugger. I had forgotten to pick up my currency. Decided to chance my luck to see if she would give it to me there rather than have to go through arrivals and then come back through security. Happily, she obliged. Currency in hand, I headed to the Servisair lounge.
Breakfast....
The lounge wasn't too busy this morning. The staff kept it clean all of the time which was nice. Wifi worked quite well too. I'll stop here as we are away to start boarding. See you in Oslo!
Nov 4, 2016, 9:03 am
#5
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
Programs: BA Bronze, Emirates Silver, Virgin Silver, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 1,403
Looking forward to reading about your American adventures!
I hadn't realised that the Crowne Plaza was that close to ABZ and like the fact they've got the tunnel connecting up with the hire car one so you are sheltered as you head into the airport.
I hadn't realised that the Crowne Plaza was that close to ABZ and like the fact they've got the tunnel connecting up with the hire car one so you are sheltered as you head into the airport.
Nov 6, 2016, 7:17 am
#6
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: NCL
Programs: FB Plat; BAEC Gold
Posts: 930
Nice start, I always like reading people's back story of how they book a trip and for what reasons.
Loved my time in SFO back in March, looking forward to seeing some familiar places in your TR. If you have not been already be sure to check out the Cable Car Museum, free entry and a good way to see the history of the city.
Loved my time in SFO back in March, looking forward to seeing some familiar places in your TR. If you have not been already be sure to check out the Cable Car Museum, free entry and a good way to see the history of the city.
Nov 9, 2016, 8:33 am
#13
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Lon ,(former ABZ + AUH)
Programs: BAEC Gold, Starbucks Gold, CO Op gold
Posts: 160
Looking forward to this, I have been reluctant to travel much anymore with everything costing about 25% more than what it normally did due to the crashing pound. Waiting for your reaction to the outcome today haha.
Nov 9, 2016, 7:58 pm
#14
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2009
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Honors Diamond, Mucci de buveur de gin
Posts: 3,060
I apologise for being sloppy in updating folks. My MacBook charger decided to die at the weekend and there's not much point in me buying one here. I'll try find one (hopefully) so I can post more.
Needless to say, people here in San Francisco aren't too happy today......
Needless to say, people here in San Francisco aren't too happy today......
Nov 9, 2016, 8:17 pm
#15
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Washington D.C. via Sao Paulo via Houston via Washington D.C. via Boston via New York
Posts: 1,172
I apologise for being sloppy in updating folks. My MacBook charger decided to die at the weekend and there's not much point in me buying one here. I'll try find one (hopefully) so I can post more.
Needless to say, people here in San Francisco aren't too happy today......
Needless to say, people here in San Francisco aren't too happy today......