dat4life

The genesis of this trip really dates back to February 2020 when my Hyatt Concierge reached out with an invitation for American Airlines Executive Platinum status. American was my airline of choice in the not too distant past, and I maintained their top tier Executive Platinum for the better part of a decade. Eventually I got fed up with American’s shoddy service plus the need to connect to go just about anywhere from Houston, and I moved on to greener pastures. But I sure as heck wasn’t about to turn down gratis Executive Platinum.

My grand visions of wearing out my newly re-minted status by jetting around the globe in 2020 didn’t quite pan out. Still I did got pretty decent use out of it when things calmed down in late 2020, and of course when American extended status into 2021. Quite frankly, it was pretty great, and I wasn’t too keen on losing it if I could help it. Thankfully, American launched a promotion for status retention through 2022 with just $2,000 of spend in the last few months of 2021. Thanks to a couple of COVID delayed weddings, I had decent bit of travel planned in the fall. But that still left me a few hundred bucks short of the threshold.

After returning from Paris, I was looking for any excuse to go back to Europe. This seemed like as good of an excuse as any. Greece has been on my radar for a long time, and Greece being the first European country to open back up to Americans piqued my interest even more. Throw in a solid fare on American that would get me to Athens in December and put me over the aforementioned hump, it was a no brainer. Now to get said solid fare I had to park the return portion of the ticket in Europe until 2022, which saved me a cool $800. So I took advantage of Amex’s transfer bonus to Aeroplan to book an award ticket on Air Canada to get home.

Everything was set, or so I thought. A week before departure, I was chatting with a friend. He mentioned a mutual friend and his girlfriend would be in Portugal at the same time I would be Greece, and he was considering joining them. While I wanted to visit Greece, I sure as heck wouldn’t mind taking a deeper dive into beautiful Portugal with a few friends. So I told my buddy if he was going, I’d meet them in Portugal. I woke up to find he sent me a screenshot of his e-ticket to Lisbon the next morning. Alrighty then.

Unsurprisingly, changing my American ticket at the 11th hour to get to Lisbon would set me back an extra $1,000. So that was a no go. Options between Athens and Lisbon were sparse with Aegean Airlines’ non-stop flight the best option. The Aegean non-stop was attractive as Business Class fares were a super reasonable €230. But there was a catch: the flight operated the morning after I arrived in Athens, which meant an overnight connection. Still it was much cheaper than changing my American ticket, so I went ahead and bought the Aegean ticket. With Porto our last stop in Portugal, I changed my Aeroplan ticket to return to the US from there. In a huge stroke of luck, Lufthansa opened up Business Class award space all the way from Porto to Newark, connecting through Frankfurt. And best of all, the Frankfurt to Newark flight was operated Lufthansa’s gorgeous Boeing 747-8i. I was hoping Lufthansa would release First Class award space closer to departure, but no cigar. But anything for a date with the Queen!

Not 24 hours after I made those changes, another friend asked me if I would be willing to help move some furniture from Chicago to New Orleans. The timing was tight between my Europe trip, work, and needing to be home for the holidays. But I haven’t seen this friend in nearly two years, and any sort of face to face interaction was extremely welcome. So I made it happen. There was an United non-stop from Newark to New Orleans with award space, but I couldn’t tack it onto my Aeroplan ticket as connecting time was a shade under the two hour minimum connecting time. Fairly confident the connection was doable with Global Entry, I bought a reasonably priced First Class ticket on that flight. The flight was operated United’s brand spanking new Boeing 737-8 Max, so it was a very comfortable way to experience their latest and greatest. And to finally get back home to Houston, I bought a ticket on American’s non-stop from Chicago to Houston.

With just days to go before zero hour, everything was finally set. I was beyond stoked for this trip. Much of my travels revolve around food, and Portugal is one of the best places in the world to do just that. I visited Portugal very briefly eons ago, which more of a canape than anything and left me wanting a lot more. Whetting my appetite for Portugal even more were the late great Anthony Bourdain’s shows showcasing Lisbon and Porto. Much of our plans in Portugal followed in Bourdain’s massive footsteps, and man was it amazing! Speaking of amazing, Portugal is just an amazingly beautiful country and a perfect backdrop for pictures to spruce up the ol’ dating app profile. So sum it all up, our two objectives in Portugal: eat/drink amazing stuff and take the perfect Tinder pictures. Spoiler alert: mission accomplished.


Previous Trip Reports
2021: How The Turntables: MQD Running With My Parents (AA Domestic F; AM J; UA Y)
2020: Purgatory: Tales of Pandemic Travel in the U.S.
2020: The Last Dance (CX F)
2019: An Unexpected Jaunt Around The World (UA/CX/TG/BR/OS J; AK Y)
2018: Pilgrimage to the Fatherland (CX/MU J; CX W; WN/MU Y)
2017: The Ultimate Flake (AA F; SQ F and Suites; CX/MS/CA/MH/KL/JL J; TK Y)
2017: The Earth IS Round (UA/LH/HU/CZ/TR Y; CX/BR J)
2017: Something Old and Something New (SQ A350 J / AA J)
2015: Christmas in Asia (AA/CX/UA J; BA/AA/CX Y)
2015: A Manic Fall(AA/WN/UA/CX/FD Y; CX F; AA F)
2015: An Apartment in the Sky (Etihad Apartment First Class, AA Y, BA J/Y, QR Y)
2014: The End of An Era (JL/CX/TG/QF A380 F, OZ J, KA Y, and a Chinese Bullet Train!)
2014: A Tale of Two Cities (AA 77W J BA Y IB Y AF J)
2013: It’s The Most Wonderful Time of The Year (AA/MQ F AS Y)
2013: Geeking Out Across America (AA F)
2012: Around The World and From Sea to Shining Sea (AA F/Y, CX F, SQ F, UA F, DL F, WN Y)
2011: Everybody look at me because I'm sailing on a boat (KL J and DL Y)

dat4life

It took me years, but I finally learned when someone tells me something is going to be easy to expect the exact opposite. I was volun-told for was billed as a quick and easy project back in early October. When departure eve rolled around in early December, I was still feverishly trying to wrap up that said easy project. I did find some time to drop my dog off with my parents early that evening. Since he was puppy, he gets pretty down whenever I pull my bag out my closet. So I spared him that downer getting him to my folks before I did my patented grab, shove, and zip packing.



The next morning was pure chaos with a litany of last minute meetings and squeezing in a COVID test. Everything was seemingly squared away by the time my folks showed up to give me a ride to the airport, but I got a meeting request right as I was throwing my bag into the car. So I took the call on the way to IAH. Sitting in the backseat of my own car was a new and strange experience.



A satisfying tap of the end button took me off the clock and into vacation mode. My company prohibits us from taking our laptops out of the country, granting me a temporary reprieve from my burdens. I’m sure that’s not exactly what our mucky mucks intended, but I sure as heck wasn’t complaining.

After hugging my folks goodbye, I was back in the ever familiar confines of Terminal A at George Bush Intercontinental Airport. I’ve flown from there countless times over years, and it practically feels like home. My feet went on autopilot bringing me to American’s check in counters. Online check in wasn’t playing nice, so I had to pay a visit. There was a bit of a queue when I rolled up.



As I suspected, COVID documentation was the reason online check in was on the fritz. Admittedly, this is completely my fault. I incorrectly assumed I didn’t need to fill out an UK passenger locator form since I had an airside Heathrow transit. But it was apparently compulsory regardless of transit type, so I spent a few minutes tapping on my phone to get the QR code before I could get my boarding passes.



Security was a breeze with CLEAR and Precheck, There was a little pre-flight concert going on, which actually was not half bad considering the venue.



After a nearly two decade hiatus, American reopened an Admirals Club at IAH several years ago. The club is small, but nice and the staff is usually top notch.















I’ve always believed in celebrating the little things, and getting away after long few months was definitely something to celebrate. No better way to celebrate than with a good drink. Options are somewhat limited at an Admirals Club, especially on the gratis menu. So I splurged for a Stella Artois, chugged it like my life depended it on it, and ordered another one to wash down lunch. Lunch was the Admirals’ Club finest, which improved from the past but still kinda meh. The kale and sweet potato soup was bland, but Greek salad was decent.



While munching on the cusp of stale pita bread and hummus, I watched my ride pull in from Miami.



My flight was departing from the gate next to the club, so I didn’t bother making way over until the boarding notification popped up on my phone.



American Eagle 3662
Houston (IAH) – Miami (MIA)
Depart: 1:23PM
Arrive: 4:45PM
Aircraft: Embraer E175
Seat: 1A (First Class)

Boarding began right on time, but the gate agents apparently didn’t check with the cabin crew before starting boarding as the cleaners were still doing their thing. We ended up waiting five ish minutes in the jetbridge before setting foot on the plane.



My upgrade cleared right at the beginning of the Executive Platinum window, and I picked the bulkhead seat on the single side seat, 1A, which has a decent bit of extra legroom.





First Class on the E175 is in a comfy 1-2 confirmation. I’ve been flying been flying between Houston and Miami regularly for the better part of the last decade, a mix of 737s, A319s, and A321s plied the route. So I was a bit surprised see to an E175 pop up when I bought my a ticket, but I suppose it makes sense given the times. I wasn’t the only one as I overheard several people ask what the heck kind of plane is this. But from a passenger experience perspective, the E175 is a huge upgrade especially compared to the abomination that is American’s Oasis configured 737s.
Funny enough, the little E175 is has wider seats in coach than the mainline 737s and of course less middle seats.

The load was light, but pushback was still late because of gate check issues and the late closing of the cargo doors. We took off from Runway 15L following an Aeromexico Boeing 737-800 and a Spirit A319





Weather had been gloomy and cloudy the past several days, so seeing the sun as we punched through the thick cloud layer was the first I’ve it in a while



Flight attendant did a quick snack basket and drink run and promptly disappeared for the remainder of the flight. When American rolled out the snack basket right after the US Airways, it was alright. But it’s been enhanced over the years, and now it’s downright terrible. There’s nothing like stale corn nuts with a gin and tonic.



Our route to Miami that day was a bit unusual. Typical routing takes us south to the Gulf of Mexico before turning to hugging the Gulf Coast until passing the mouth of the Mississippi River and then flying direct to Miami. For whatever reason, we flew due east until passing the New Orleans and making a turn to the east southeast over Lake Borgne direct to Miami.



Catching up trip reports that I started but never got around to finishing was a nice way to pass the flight, which I’m sure some of you might have noticed. And before I knew it, the landing hear was being lowered and we were on final approach into Miami.





We pulled into one of the regional jet bays at the far end of the terminal. The walkways to the bay… well… they’ve seen better days.



To sum it up, it wasn’t American Eagle’s finest performance, but overall it was a pleasant enough flight.

Miami International Airport is nice and modern, but it’s one of my least favorite airport. The layout is absolutely awful, and I can’t think of any other airport where employees are uniformly as unpleasant. At least it looks nice though!



I trekked to American’s lounge complex across from gate D30.



Thanks to my Executive Platinum/oneworld Emerald status plus an international ticket, I was able to access the Flagship Lounge. The dour agent confirmed this with a quick scan of my boarding pass and gave me a pass to the lounge, located upstairs opposite to the Admirals Club.



The guardian of frosted door took my pass who then swiped me into the lounge. I’ve always liked American’s Flagship Lounges. They’re not the best, but they are solid and much improved over the last couple of years with a round of extensive renovations.













Flagship Lounge food and beverage options were always decent, but American raised the ante to a level making it hard to believe this is an American Airlines product. The Miami Flagship Lounge was one of better ones in the system, and I’m glad to see service restored to pre-COVID norms.







The carving station was serving up a fantastic roast salmon, which I have to admit is even better than what I make at home.











Right before I left, I found a tequila bar on the other side of the lounge. Not sure if pre-flight tequila shots are the best idea, but whatever floats your boat I say.



Tarmac views from the lounge were great.





The lounge was pretty crowded when I got there. I found an empty seat next to window, and nested with a good pour of Johnnie Walker Black. It’s not my favorite scotch, but it’s good enough. My stress melted away more and more with each passing sip. Soon enough, I forgot about forgetting to set my Outlook out of office message.



With a late evening departure, my plan was tuck in a nice dinner at the lounge and get right to sleep on the plane. I started off with the fantastic roasted salmon with rice. It was flavorful, moist, flaky, and perfectly seasoned.



That was followed by steak, paella, and salad. All of it was excellent.



After a pleasant few hours at the lounge, I packed up for a lap or two around the terminal before heading to the gate, D8, which was clear on the opposite end of the terminal.

tom tulpe

"Hi, I'm dat4life and my parents will drive me to our date!"


(nice report though)

dat4life

Hahahaha. Good one, and thanks for reading!

Duck1981

Thanks for sharing - ah that reminds me when I was in Flagship lounges in 2020....

and unfortunately not even back to the States since then!

jtav559

Looks like a good one! Sub'd

wakesetter93

Enjoying this one so far! Making me ready to get back out of the country again

dat4life

I committed the cardinal sin of trip reporting: starting a report and forgetting about it. Apparently, I'm at a point in my life where I have to take leave to write trip reports


Hopefully, you'll get to visit one soon with things calming down again!

Thanks, jtav559!

Well starting packing already .

dat4life

Ahhhh American Airlines. The mixed bag of mixed bags. Putting consistency in inconsistency. This hop across the Atlantic encapsulated the good, bad, and the ugly of the airline proud to bear the name American.

The fun started right as I rolled up to the gate. Scheduled boarding time came and went without a peep from the gate agents who were busy chatting amongst themselves. Finally at departure time, one of them got on the PA to announce boarding was delayed. You don’t say?

Boarding finally got underway a little over 30 minutes late without fanfare. The gate agents just started scanning boarding passes, and the crowd surged forward. A couple of moments later, one of gate agents realized no one made an announcement and hastily mumbled “First and Business Class for London” into the intercom.

This particular gate was setup with boarding pass scanning stations to either side of the doorway. I sorta naturally drifted toward right which was fortunate. As I scanned my boarding pass, the agent on the other side yelled at the poor soul who dared to approach him. I’m not a customer service expert, but methinks screaming “Stay on the other side, I’m not ready” at a paying customer isn’t the best way to handle the situation. But what do I know?

American Airlines 38
Miami (MIA) – London (LHR)
Depart: 7:35PM
Arrive: 9:15AM+1
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Seat: 3A (Business Class)

Thanks to my Systemwide Upgrade clearing a few days before departure, I made the coveted left turn into the very familiar confines of the “mini-cabin” of American’s flagship Boeing 777-300ER. I’ve spent many hours here mostly aloft high above the vast Pacific Ocean on the way to Hong Kong over the years, thanks to my Executive Platinum status and the associated Systemwide Upgrades. Of course, that all ended when I quit AAdvantage cold turkey a few years back. So it was good to be back in the presence of an old friend.



I was able to snag my favorite seat on the plane, 3A, which is the first row of Business Class on the left side of the aircraft. While not the most modern seat anymore, the Cirrus Business Class seats American equipped their 777-300ERs are still plenty comfortable.



A menu, an amenity kit, and a Bang & Olufsen headset were already at the seat. Certainly B&O is a bigger name than Bose, which American previously used. But I find the B&O headset to be more uncomfortable and the noise cancelling less effective. So I used my own Bose headset, and best of all the flight attendants didn’t try to collect my headset before landing.







The seat controls were intuitive. Having both a USB charging port and an universal AC outlet is much appreciated. One thing I didn’t notice before was how easy it was knock out even a basic iPhone charger from the AC outlet. That was super annoying, and it happened multiple times throughout the flight.



The IFE screen is a decent size and resolution. American’s IFE interface is solid.



Anyone who has done a wee bit of traveling can tell you it’s never a good sign when the folks in the high viz maintenance vests show up. And show up they did right as I stowed my stuff where I wanted it for the flight. A little while later, the purser got on the horn apologize and explained the delay was because of a mechanical problem. The captain followed up by saying the problem was fixed, but the mechanics took off with the plane’s logbook. He was promised the logbook would be back in 20 minutes, but added he didn’t know how reliable the estimate was which was confidence inspiring. So I fired up the IFE system, and I was thrilled to find episodes of The (American) Office.



Four and a half episodes of The Office later, the plane was still at the gate going nowhere fast. Thankfully, American saw it fit to load ten (good) episodes of The Office. To his credit, the captain owned up to being wrong and gave us regular updates through out. I could hear unhappy rumblings around me, but I was personally happy as a clam as my layover at Heathrow was a whopping seven hours. Throw in a comfy seat and quality entertainment, there’s only a handful of other places I’d rather be.

A couple of hours into the delay, the flight attendants came by to take dinner orders. I seriously lucked out as the flight attendant working my aisle was warm, friendly, and professional. Folks seated on the other aisle were not as fortunate. The flight attendant working the other aisle was miserable, condescending, and downright rude. When a couple of passengers asked him question, he loudly and proudly told each of them it wasn’t his job to explain things and just read the dang menu. Again, there’s gotta be better way convey that message, no?

The snack basket made an appearance in the cabin.



While all of this was going on, my phone buzzed constantly with a barrage of delay notification texts from American. Just in case I didn’t know we weren’t quite on the way to London yet.

I started to get a little antsy when the delay started pushing to the brink of a fourth hour. While I wasn’t worried about my connection per se, the crew timing out was a bit of a concern given the latehour. That would throw a big wrench in my very intricately arranged plans. I quietly asked a passing flight attendant how the crew was doing on duty hours, and she assured me they would be fine. Just in case, I researched potential alternatives on Expert Flyer. The only viable option was TAP Portugal’s nonstop flight from Miami to Lisbon the next day, but there was just one coach seat available. Not exactly the most palatable option, but I could live with it. I was plotting how to sweet talk an agent to put me on that TAP flight if things really went pear shaped, when yet another guy in a maintenance vest ran past my seat toward cockpit with something in hand. Seconds later the captain announced all was finally well and ordered the flight attendants to prepare the cabin for IMMEDIATE departure (emphasis by the captain).

The cabin door was shut and the jetbridge was quickly detached.



Exactly four hours late, the massive GE 90-115B engines roared and propelled the massive aircraft down the runway and into the night sky climbing out over Miami Beach and eventually the darkened expanse of the Atlantic Ocean.

Service began roughly 30 minutes after take off beginning with a cherished blast from the past: hot gauze towels.



Tablecloths soon followed. Do tablecloths covering the entire tray tables really cost that many pennies more?



WARM NUTS! It’s been far too long since a flight kicked with those satisfying warm salt bits. Speaking of nuts, I have a bit of a confession to make. I went a bit nuts (pun intended) in the summer of 2020 after being stuck at home for a few months. For one reason or another, I ended up buying a few legacy (i.e. pre-Doug) American nut ramekins on eBay. If I can’t fly for warm nuts, I might bring a “piece of the air” home. I still haven’t mastered warming up nuts properly, but the scotch is far better at home. So win? Anyhow, I certainly enjoyed my properly warm nuts that evening along with the perfectly acceptable Glenlevit 12 year.



I originally planned to eat at the Flagship Lounge in Miami, and then go straight to sleep on board. But with the lengthy ground delay, I was wide awake and hungry by the time we were airborne. After all, sitting around watching TV makes one especially ravenous. So I called an audible and decided to eat dinner. And I’m glad I did.

The first course was the shrimp remoulade appetizer with a salad. The shrimp remoulade was excellent as was the salad. I was thrilled to see the always delicious pretzel roll already on the tray.





Since I decided to eat last minute, I told the flight attendant I’d take whatever entree was left. The red headed stepchild on this flight was the red fish, which was pretty good. I’m pretty sure that’s the biggest piece of fish I’ve ever been served aloft.



Although the menu listed an ice cream sundae or cheese plate as the dessert options, raspberry cheesecake and raspberry cheesecake was actually loaded on the plane. It was a bit too sweet for my tastes, and I gave up after a bite.

I went to sleep after hitting the lav to brush my teeth and change. I’ll be the first to admit I’m a bit of an odd duck. One of my more odd oddities is the inability to sleep on lie flat seats aloft, try as I might. In fact, I realized I slept better in coach than in first or business class. I eventually figured out the trick to a good night’s sleep in a premium cabin for me is putting the seat in a “lazy Z” position. I promptly conked right after I got the seat adjusted just right, and I slept rather well for nearly five hours waking up off the coast of Ireland just in time for breakfast.



Breakfast was a choice of an omelet or granola with fruit and yogurt. I went with the omelet, which was decent.



Breakfast trays were cleared right as the plane pitched slightly earthward at the top of the descent. With a thick overcast shrouding the planet below us, I didn’t catch a glimpse of terra firma until final approach.





As usual, plane spotting at Heathrow was top notch.







We pulled into a stand right next to a RwandAir A330-300.



There was a bit of kerfuffle as the flight attendants weren’t sure if we were deplaning via 2L or 1L. But eventually, a jetbridge was attached to 2L, and we were off. Naturally, I followed the dude bro in 4A toward the door. I turned to say thanks to the flight attendants when I was bowled over a couple of people from the rear of the plane and whacked on the arm by one of their backpacks. So yeah, seemed like quite a few people misconnected. That was further confirmed by the army of agents meeting the flight.

I still had plenty of time. So it was leisurely ten mile walk over to the terminal bus station. I got to say bye to the lovely N718AN that brought me over the pond.





The T5 bus pulled away pretty much the second I got to the bottom of the escalators. So I joined what was then a short queue for what was supposed to be a relatively short wait for the next bus. At least, signage indicated buses ran every 15 minutes. 15 minutes came and went with no sign of another bus. Again not a big deal for me, but the person in front of me seemed to grow more anxious by the second. While I didn’t recognize her per se, her (distinctive) backpack was the one that whacked me while I was trying to deplane. I was annoyed still, but I decided to see what’s up. Turns out, this was her first solo trip meeting up with college friends in Spain over winter break. Because of the delay, she missed her flight to Madrid. The agent meeting the plane told her she was rebooked on a later flight and to go to T5, but didn’t give her a boarding pass for the rebooked flight and the American app wasn’t showing the London to Heathrow segment at all. I guess that explains what happened when we were getting off the plane

This might be an understandably nerve wracking situation for the normal traveling public, but it’s no sweat for us FTers. I told her what I thought happened, and I suppose I sounded like I knew what I was talking about. So she happily accepted my offer to help sorting it out. The T5 bus finally showed up, and we squeezed in like sardines for the journey. Once at T5, I led her to the transit desk. Luckily the queue dragon insisted on seeing my boarding pass as well and sent us over to elite queue as the general queue was massive. As I suspected, her ticket was horribly out of sync as it was issued by American, the missed flight was on Iberia, and she was rebooked on British Airways. (Making me look really good ) It took the agent a few bursts of furious typing and a couple of phone calls, but eventually everything was fixed and she had a fresh boarding pass in hand.

Good deed for the day done, I headed off to transit security with my new friend in tow. I don’t habitually invite complete strangers into lounge with me… Actually, in fact I’ve never done it before. But my new friend seemed decent enough, and she could probably use a good drink to calm her nerves. So off we went to the British Airways Galleries First lounge. I noticed earlier her backpack was athletic team issued by a fairly large Division I university. So we had a nice chat about that over a couple of glasses of rose.





I never understood the fuss over the horse lamps, until I saw them in person. They are pretty boss.





The lounge itself was large with plenty of comfortable seats.







My first order of business after parting with my new friend was a shower. After traveling for 20 something hours, I was a hot mess to it mildly. There’s actually pretty new (to me at least) nifty feature to request a shower room via cell phone. Within a couple of minutes, I got a text that a room was ready so I made a beeline to the showers.

I’ve actually been to British Airways’ T5 South lounge complex for whatever reason. The showers here are far nicer than that in the Galleries South.



Thoroughly refreshed, I found a nice spot by the windows to enjoy the tarmac activity. I was absolutely fascinated and amused by the remote controlled tug pushing narrowbodies from the gate directly below me.



Food could be ordered by cell phone as well. I ordered some tea sandwiches, which were served with crisps, and a scone.



Since I was sit in the back of the bus and arriving in Athens late, I ordered a shepherd’s pie for dinner.



My Athens flight departed just a few gates away from the lounge, so I didn’t leave the lounge until ten minutes before scheduled boarding. Funny enough, I was able to find the gate info from Google well before BA displayed the gate on the departure board.



British Airways 636
London (LHR) – Athens (ATH)
Depart: 4:10PM
Arrive: 9:50PM
Aircraft: Airbus A320-200
Seat: 11D (Economy Class)

Boarding began right on time. I was able to use Fast Track as a oneworld Emerald, so I headed down toward the jetbridge in no time.



But I ended up stuck on a jetbridge for ten minutes as the young family ahead of me figured out how to fold their stroller.



Our chariot for the evening was a classic Airbus A320 equipped with the dreaded slimline seats.



While I was “stuck” in coach, I arguable had a better seat in the exit row than the folks in Business Class. Leg room was great, and I lucked out with an empty middle seat.





An American family sat in the row in front of me. One of their kids couldn’t find his AirPods, so he stood in the aisle rifling through his backpack trying to find them for a solid couple of minutes. He finally figured out the AirPods were in his pocket all long and moved out of the way. I found the whole situation kinda amusing and very relatable as I spend about 50 percent of my time figuring out where my own AirPods are. But I doubt the folks behind them felt the same way.

The captain did his welcome aboard spiel as boarding wrapped up. We were expected to land in Athens a few minutes behind shed-jewel due to strong upper level winds that would also cause turbulent ride en route.

Other than that, not much to talk about. I enjoyed the extra space with the empty middle and exit row leg room as did my seat opponent in the window seat. Before leaving home, I downloaded some episodes of Parts Unknown to watch on this flight. I enjoyed that with British Airways provided crisps and water.



The ride was rough as advertised. Things got a lot more unsettled as we descended into Athens and strong winds continued to buffet the aircraft. On short final, it was clear the pilots were crabbing the plane for a crosswind landing. Despite the less than ideal conditions, the rudder was kicked over and the A320 settled softly on the runway. I couldn’t help smiling listening the lost AirPods kids yammer on how cool the crosswind landing was.

Immigration was a breeze. I was a little peeved that my checked bag was the very last to hit the belt despite the priority tag. But c’est la vie. Afterwards, it was a short walk to the Sofitel.



The Sofitel commanded quite the premium as it is across the street from the terminal and is one of the few nice options near the airport. Still, €170 was steep for a short overnight. That said, it saved a ton of time and was a still a lot cheaper than changing my American ticket. So win?

My superior room looked pretty standard to me, but it was pretty nice.









I was dead tired, but I tossed and turned through the night waking up for good at 5:30am for my 8am flight.

wakesetter93

Now imagine, getting to the start line of a half marathon to find your AirPods weren't in your case

enviroian

Great report! I've taken 38 twice in the last six months in J. I agree that shrimp starter is good although I pre-ordered so I wouldn't have to see that largemouth bass on my plate

What the mx problem? I would have been livid 3 hours delay for mx. Makes you wonder why the plane wasn't checked out when it arrived rather than wait for the new crew to find out.

dat4life

It took all of 90 seconds to walk from the hotel back to the terminal.

The airport decked out with Christmas decorations. As much as I enjoy Christmas and all the associated paraphernalia, I doubt Bethlehem sees much in the way of snowflakes and Douglas firs. Bah humbug.



Travel in the age of COVID, while possible, can be a bit of a pain. Portugal changed entry requirements a week before my trip to require at least an antigen test taken within 48 hours of arrival. Not too bad, but it was a challenge for my convoluted itinerary. So I waited until the 11th hour to get tested. I was bit apprehensive as my test was a smidge over the 48 hour mark, accounting for time zones. The Aegean check in agent didn’t bat an eyelash at my test results, but she did take issue with my lack of a Portugal passenger locator form. I swear I looked at the Portuguese government website from top to bottom, and I didn’t see a PLF requirement. Whatever. The agent gave me the URL, and I quickly filled it out. Finally satisfied, she handed over my boarding pass and bag tag.



Security was quick, though I lucked out big time as a large mob descended upon the checkpoint right as I walked away. The lounge was about a 10 minute walk away from the checkpoint. Going into this flight, I knew the Lufthansa lounge was a bit nicer than Aegean’s. And the Lufthansa lounge is right next door But I went to Aegean’s lounge for whatever reason. The lounge staff was pleasant enough as was the lounge itself which was on the small side.



Seating was limited to a room with comfortable chairs and a smaller room with chairs and tables.





Food options were limited to stale bread and sandwiches along with bland looking egg dish. Even the orange juice was on the incredibly tart side. So I passed.

I probably should have gone next to door to Lufthansa, but the Aegean’s lounge wifi was decent. So I caught up with a few emails.

My Lisbon flight departed from a few gates away from the lounge, so I left just a couple of minutes before scheduled boarding. The ground crew was hard at work readying the new-ish sharklet equipped A320, which wore Aegean’s sharp new livery well.



Aegean Airlines 720
Athens (ATH) – Lisbon (LIS)
Depart: 8:00AM
Arrive: 11:10AM
Aircraft: Airbus A320-200
Seat: 2A (Business Class)

I wasn’t sure Aegean Airlines was a real airline for the longest time. In fact, I was convinced it was just a FlyerTalk concocted scheme for easy Star Alliance Gold status. The only thing that would convince me Aegean is real is when I actually set foot on that aircraft. Myth busting (or confirmation) would have to wait a smidge longer, as boarding began a few minutes late. The gate agents doing yet another round of COVID test, proof of vaccine, and PLF checks. But finally I walking down the jet bridge toward said myth.

Hmmmm… a smiling flight attendant was waiting at the door greeting passengers and handing out disinfecting wipes. Aegean’s flight attendant uniforms are a pretty awesome old school look. I turned to the right and saw an actual passenger cabin, so I guess Aegean is an actual airline after all.

As expected, Aegean’s Business Class was typical intra-Europe style with coach seating and blocked middle seats. Aegean does have a pretty neat feature moving the middle seat armrests an inch toward the seat giving the aisle and window seats a little extra width. Legroom was decent as well. I selected seat 2A.







While most folks don’t care for the shorthaul European Business Class setup, I personally don’t mind it as most intra-Europe flights are relatively short. And from dollar and cents point of view, this setup makes sense for the airlines as they can adjust the cabin on demand. Today, the cabin was configured with four rows of Business Class. All of the seats were taken including the seat next to me. Mr. 2C sat down shortly after I boarded and hung out all the way until the cabin door closed. Then a flight attendant had a word with him, and he disappeared into parts unknown never to be seen again.

Just before pushback, the captain gave his welcome aboard spiel impressively in Greek, English, and Portuguese without skipping a beat. Flying time was announced to be four hours, and the captain added those folks seated on the right side of the plane would have lovely views of Athens while we climbed out, which was a nice touch I thought.

Not surprisingly, Aegean dominates the traffic at Athens International Airport.







Just before the plane turned onto the runway, I noticed a couple of general aviation aircraft parked in the grass with US registrations which is unusual given the location. I did a little research after the flight and found out those planes are registered to a New Jersey based flight school, but no idea why they’re in Athens.



Flight attendants got hard to work minutes after the plane left the ground beginning with distributing menus.





While breakfast was cooking, the paper tablecloths were laid. At least it covered the entire tray table.



I ordered the omelet accompanied by an apple juice. The omelet was pretty bad with just cold cut turkey and cheese, and I just had a bite of it before calling it. The fruit and cheese were the only good part of the meal.



Service was extremely attentive throughout breakfast. The flight attendant constantly roamed the cabin offering refills and extra bread, and trays were cleared very quickly. I ordered a cappuccino as my tray was being cleared. Impressively, Aegean saw it fit to equip their planes with a real espresso machine, and the flight attendant used it to make a decent cappuccino. She served it with a chocolate on top of a fresh tablecloth.



I have a confession to make. I consider myself to be pretty knowledgeable in geography. But until I booked this flight I had no idea how far Athens is from Lisbon. I thought it was around 800 miles, give or take. In reality, Lisbon is 1,788 miles away from Athens hence the four hours of flying time. I planned to pass at least part of the flight with the Porto Parts Unknown episode for obvious reasons. But I connected my iPad to wifi at the Sofitel throwing the HBO Max app just stopped working because I was outside of the United States. I understand the issues with distribution rights and all that jazz, but downloaded content should still work per the app itself. Fortunately, my Kindle app came to the rescue.

The views on approach to Lisbon were gorgeous.













The parking brake was set and engines shutdown slightly ahead of schedule. The advantage from the early arrival was promptly wasted as checked bags didn’t arrive on the belt for another hour. I took the opportunity to get robbed at Travelex, which was conveniently located right next to our belt. Before I could finally get out the heck out of the airport, my COVID test was checked yet again. Luckily the line moved fairly quickly.

The next challenge was finding a taxi. Signs for the taxi queue were absolutely convoluted. I followed a mom and daughter who looked like they knew what’s up but were just as confused as I was. Eventually, a nice police officer spotted us and directed us to a spot we passed several times before. Alright then.



In my experience, cabbies aren’t exactly the most pleasant bunch. But this cabbie was a cool dude. He was a proud Lisboa native who was more than happy to talk about his city and the NBA. We had a great chat about Lebron’s image/legacy and Anthony Davis once I told him I grew up in New Orleans.

One of the streets leading to the hotel was closed to setup for a Sunday pedestrian zone. But the cabbie was able convince the cops twice to get us through. Major ...... moment there.



To help the cabbie avoid having to go around the block due the hotel located on a quirky one way street, I got out of the cab a block short of the hotel. It was a picture perfect day, so I didn’t mind a bit and it was a perfectly pleasant walk. The ride from the airport set me back just €21.

By the time I coordinated with my friends on lodging, the cancelation deadline for my hotel reservation came and went already. So I just stuck with my two night stay at the Fontacruz Lisboa, which is part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection.



Since I arrived at the hotel well before check in time, I wasn’t confident my room would be ready. But the front desk agent didn’t bat an eyelash and just made me the keys. My rate was a fairly reasonable €110 per night, and I was able to use a couple of Suite Night Awards to confirm the Lisboa Suite.

The quirky room number signs were pretty cool.



The Lisboa Suite is a good size one-bedroom suite.









The living room was a weird setup. As nice as it was to have a suite, it was pretty pointless as the only time I set foot there was to take pictures.





The bathroom was also a weird setup. It was a decent size, but the shower cubicle was tiny.





Also, the toilet was so close to the shower stall that the door hit toilet when it was opened.



Breakfast was served in the hotel’s restaurant, and it was gratis due to my Platinum status. I only ate there one morning, but it was pretty good. The buffet consisted of some very fresh and ripe fruit, cereals, and an egg frittata. The fresh honeycomb was pretty cool. The waitress brought over a tray of pastries, bread, and charcuterie, and egg dishes and pancakes could be ordered as well. All in all, the Fontacruz’s breakfast offerings were solid.

dat4life

I changed and out to meet my friends at their AirBnB near Pink Street.









My friends and I caught for a bit at their AirBnB for a bit before making the trek out for a late lunch.



But first, a quick stop for Portuguese egg tarts. They were phenomenal. Nothing wrong with dessert before the meal on vacation, right?





It took another ten minutes to reach the restaurant. This officially kicked off our Bourdain tour, and man what a kick off it was. Cervejaira Ramiro is a no thrills restaurant specializing in fresh seafood. Seating is communal. Fortunately, the people sharing the table left quickly we needed the extra room for our feast. What the Cervejairo Ramiro lacked in aesthetics was more than made up for by the incredible meal.

I was that day years old when I found out barnacles (yes, those barnacles growing on ship hulls) are edible and quite tasty. We started off with an order of barnacles and a heaping plate of buttered and toasted fresh bread.



Fresh crab salad made even better by addition of self supplied chili oil.



Clams steamed in white wine, butter, and garlic. Simple, but delicious.



Oysters on the half shell.



Grilled rock lobster. Absolutely divine.



Steamed giant red prawns.



Steamed spider crab legs and crab dip. It was an experience trying crack open with the provided mallets. I got a few looks because of my maximum brute force approach. Kinda like eating boiled crawfish back home, it was a lot of effort for a tiny tasty bite. Oh yeah, and that crab dip… Out of this world amazing.



And finally, pork sandwiches. Simple, but yet oh so delicious.



I don’t know how, but the four of us somehow manage to tuck all of that away. It certainly helped the last thing I really ate was the shepherd’s pie back at Heathrow. The damage for lunch was €250, which considering the quality and quantity of the meal was a pretty good value.

After lunch, I hopped a cab with one of my friends back to the AirBnB so he could nap while my other friend and his girlfriend met up with her family living in Lisbon.



Feeling pretty good still, I headed down to the waterfront.







And then I slowly made my way back to the Fontacruz while enjoying the sights along the way.











Somehow I overshot the hotel, and adding insult to injury I walked straight into a light pole while checking Google maps to see how badly I overshot it. Which reminds me, back in third grade one of my classmates did the exact same thing while walking back to the classroom after recess. I laughed, and I got detention for doing so. I suppose karma can wait a couple of decades to extract revenge.

I fell asleep as soon as I got back to the room, but not before setting alarms to make sure I got up for our evening plans. I managed to sleep through all of them, but luckily one of my friends called and woke me up. I hopped an Uber for an evening of fado.





Fado is a form of traditional story telling these days often conveyed in the form of song. I could write about it, or I can send you to where everything is known and 100 percent accurate. I choose the latter.

But what’s a show without dinner and drinks? We weren’t terribly hungry after our massive late lunch, so we ordered a light meal to share. Ok… “light” is a relative term. But regardless, everything was delicious and went down well with several bottles of a nice chardonnay.

We started with grilled cod with potato croquets.



A lovely cheeseboard.



Blood sausage, which was excellent.



To say we ate some vegetables for the day, we ordered sautéed wild mushrooms topped with an egg.



The show began right after dinner was served. We could still order things during the intermissions, but there was no service during the show. For good reason, the show was absolutely wonderful. The owner and waitresses doubled as the entertainment, and they were all incredibly talented.





We got the dessert during the first intermission.



The owner made his rounds during the intermissions chatting up each of the tables. He already made his presence known during the introduction by polling the room to find out which languages were preferred by the patrons and then making the intro fluently in all of those languages, English, Portuguese, Spanish, and German. But his affable personality really shined through during the one on table(?) interactions. Fado owner/singer is only the side gig to his math and physics professor day job, which needless to say is beyond impressive. His love of Portuguese culture and the desire to preserve it as much as possible is what prompted him to purchase the joint, and it definitely showed. As hard as it was to believe, I think we impressed him with the number of languages spoken at our mini melting pot of a table (English, Spanish, Chinese, and Vietnamese). It was truly a wonderful experience chatting with him.

While we ended up leaving a bit early as due to exhaustion and slightly inebriation, we definitely stuck around as the matron of the group brought down the house.



I thought about hailing an Uber, but I decided walking off dinner a bit was probably the best course of action. It was a little eerie navigating through the nearly deserted streets at that late hour, but I felt perfectly safe and made it back to the hotel in about 30 minutes.

dat4life

Oh man! That's tough. When i ran halfs many moons ago, I like doing the Rock n Roll series because of the bands along the way. Come to think of it, AirPods weren't even a thing then Glad the race went well otherwise! 2:12 is impressive!

Thanks, enviroian! Basically, the spiel we got was that boarding was initially delayed as the aircraft originally operating the flight went MX so the decision was made to fly that plane instead. That plane had a minor issue which got fixed already, but the mechanics took off with the logbook causing the final four hour delay.

wakesetter93

The goal is to get the next one under 2:00.. Had a chance to run Cowtown this weekend but bailed and did the 5k instead.