A (kinda silly) H/S/J promo "daytrip for 2" trip report: PHL-BOS-DCA-CLT-BTR-CLT-PHL
Aug 18, 2010, 3:21 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: PHL
Programs: Former long-time US GP; now AA dirt
Posts: 4,904
A (kinda silly) H/S/J promo "daytrip for 2" trip report: PHL-BOS-DCA-CLT-BTR-CLT-PHL
Taking advantage of the Hop/Skip/Jump promo on August 17, my girlfriend, Andrea, and I were on the same PNR and arrived at the airport for our first leg (7:15A, PHL-BOS). I tried to get the airport kiosk to print our many boarding passes, but the kiosk pretty much said, "Uh, I'm not dealing with this. Talk to a human..."
Then the TA saw us waiting and asked if we were going to LAX (which was another flight leaving at that time). "No," I replied.
"Where are you going?" he then asked.
I was stumped by that simple question, for I realized at that moment that -- for the first time ever -- I had arrived at an airport with tickets technically to nowhere! After all, we were coming back to PHL that same day, with no plans to leave any airport.
"We're connecting through Boston," I told him, hoping that weak response would suffice. But no.
"What is your destination?" he asked.
Remembering that my itinerary actually listed my "return" flights as beginning in BTR (even though my "stay" in Baton Rouge would be 28 minutes...), I said, "Baton Rouge", and hoped for the best.
He took our ID's and started typing. Then a BP was printed. Then a second BP was printed. Then a third, and a fourth, and a fifth...
At that moment, he had run out of counter space and -- as the sixth and seventh BP's were printed -- he looked a bit alarmed. He clearly thought something had gone wrong.
"It's correct," I reassured him as the eighth BP was printed.
He glanced up at me as the ninth and tenth BP's printed and said, "Really?"
I paused as we watched the eleventh and the twelfth (and final) BP's print, then I explained the h/s/j promo in 30 words or less.
The TA smiled, held out his hand to shake mine, and said, "Have a great journey!"
Perhaps the TA's appreciate the unusual sometimes, considering that much of what they do is mundane. Besides, he really didn't have to do anything special for us in this case; all he had to do was stand back and watch the parade of BP's exit his printer!
Realizing the ridiculousness of holding twelve boarding passes, we had to record it...
And after taking that photo, we decided to do a countdown at every gate. Not wanting to make a scene at each gate, we waited until all pax had entered the plane. This, in itself, was very odd behavior for a loyal Zone-1 boarder! But since we had no large carry-ons, it didn't matter when we boarded. That actually gave us an odd sense of flying freedom.
Anyway, I took this at the gate at PHL. Five BP's to go each!
But hand-holding a camera and getting the right framing was quite tedious, so at BOS we decided to try to enroll the GA to be our photographer. She was fabulous, and took this photo with four BP's to go each.
The only gaffe that GA made was her asking, "Is this your honeymoon?"
OK, look. I'm thinking men and women need to make a deal, ok? Men will never ask a woman if she is pregnant and women will never ask a man if he is on his honeymoon while he is with a woman -- for when the answer to either question is "no", it can be quite awkward.
But wouldn't you know it?! At DCA, the male GA/photographer also asks, "Is this your honeymoon?"
Well, at least he took a good pic. Three BP's each left...
With a 2.5-hour layover at CLT, we grab a leisurely lunch and get ready for the flight to BTR. Again, we get a very friendly GA who takes our photo with two BP's left each -- and this time she doesn't ask too many questions! ^
So far, we'd been pretty spoiled with upgrades on two of our three flights (and nice exit-row seats on the other). But the CLT-BTR-CLT legs are on what can only be called a "shrunken" aircraft: the dreaded CRJ. Look, I'm 5' 11" and my head almost hits the ceiling!
When people walk around the cabin while you are seated, the warped sense of scale creates a weird, Alice-in-Wonderland effect. To add to the effect, I had Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" playing on my headphones.
Adding to the trip -- literally and figuratively -- was the fact that the spinning water in the toilet was green, not blue. I thought that was kinda cool, until... (more on that later
).
We noticed one gentleman on both our DCA-CLT and CLT-BTR legs. Sure enough, he didn't leave the terminal after we landed at BTR, so I approached him and said, "I know what you're doing!"
I think I may have startled him, so I immediately followed-up with, "Are you on Flyertalk?" He told me that he reads FT, but does not post. I guess we posters have a following of sorts.
With a few minutes to kill at BTR, we headed for the gift shop, where I found this most interesting shirt for sale...
The shirt reassured me that a 28-minute layover in BTR was more than enough, so we headed to the gate for another photo session, with one BP left each! And Andrea is clearly holding up better than I...
On the BTR-CLT leg, we were surprised to have a different flight crew. The FA was absolutely hilarious (I guess you have to have a sense of humor to work in that shrunken jet). She warned everyone about the toilet water having not been replaced and later came over to our seats (we were near the lav) and explained the water's green color quite eloquently: "Blue plus yellow equals green." Okay.....
Later when she was passing with the tiny drink cart, I showed her this photo I took on a very recent award flight in F on Asiana Air and said, "Hey, why isn't THIS happening?"
Her reply, "Wow, they even served you GOOD water!"
(BTW, I recently posted very cool trip reports of my award F trip on Asiana, Thai, and Swiss in F. Here is the departure and the return.)
Andrea and I arrived at CLT hungry and find just enough time to grab a nice to-go meal at the Rum Bar and Grill and be the last to board the 757. Since we had seats 7A and 7B (right at the door) and no big bags, we were able to squeeze in time for the meal purchase. Of course, the GA took our final photo -- with no more BP's -- before we boarded...
We actually arrived home by 12:05AM, which normally would afford us a full night's sleep -- expect that Andrea had a 5:30AM flight to catch as part of a three-segment award trip of PHL-CLT-PHX-SLC!
So it was nap time, really, until I dropped her off at PHL at 4:45A -- after our six-segment trip to, well, nowhere.
Then the TA saw us waiting and asked if we were going to LAX (which was another flight leaving at that time). "No," I replied.
"Where are you going?" he then asked.
I was stumped by that simple question, for I realized at that moment that -- for the first time ever -- I had arrived at an airport with tickets technically to nowhere! After all, we were coming back to PHL that same day, with no plans to leave any airport.
"We're connecting through Boston," I told him, hoping that weak response would suffice. But no.
"What is your destination?" he asked.
Remembering that my itinerary actually listed my "return" flights as beginning in BTR (even though my "stay" in Baton Rouge would be 28 minutes...), I said, "Baton Rouge", and hoped for the best.
He took our ID's and started typing. Then a BP was printed. Then a second BP was printed. Then a third, and a fourth, and a fifth...
At that moment, he had run out of counter space and -- as the sixth and seventh BP's were printed -- he looked a bit alarmed. He clearly thought something had gone wrong.
"It's correct," I reassured him as the eighth BP was printed.
He glanced up at me as the ninth and tenth BP's printed and said, "Really?"
I paused as we watched the eleventh and the twelfth (and final) BP's print, then I explained the h/s/j promo in 30 words or less.
The TA smiled, held out his hand to shake mine, and said, "Have a great journey!"
Perhaps the TA's appreciate the unusual sometimes, considering that much of what they do is mundane. Besides, he really didn't have to do anything special for us in this case; all he had to do was stand back and watch the parade of BP's exit his printer!
Realizing the ridiculousness of holding twelve boarding passes, we had to record it...
And after taking that photo, we decided to do a countdown at every gate. Not wanting to make a scene at each gate, we waited until all pax had entered the plane. This, in itself, was very odd behavior for a loyal Zone-1 boarder! But since we had no large carry-ons, it didn't matter when we boarded. That actually gave us an odd sense of flying freedom.
Anyway, I took this at the gate at PHL. Five BP's to go each!
But hand-holding a camera and getting the right framing was quite tedious, so at BOS we decided to try to enroll the GA to be our photographer. She was fabulous, and took this photo with four BP's to go each.
The only gaffe that GA made was her asking, "Is this your honeymoon?"
OK, look. I'm thinking men and women need to make a deal, ok? Men will never ask a woman if she is pregnant and women will never ask a man if he is on his honeymoon while he is with a woman -- for when the answer to either question is "no", it can be quite awkward.
But wouldn't you know it?! At DCA, the male GA/photographer also asks, "Is this your honeymoon?"
Well, at least he took a good pic. Three BP's each left...
With a 2.5-hour layover at CLT, we grab a leisurely lunch and get ready for the flight to BTR. Again, we get a very friendly GA who takes our photo with two BP's left each -- and this time she doesn't ask too many questions! ^
So far, we'd been pretty spoiled with upgrades on two of our three flights (and nice exit-row seats on the other). But the CLT-BTR-CLT legs are on what can only be called a "shrunken" aircraft: the dreaded CRJ. Look, I'm 5' 11" and my head almost hits the ceiling!
When people walk around the cabin while you are seated, the warped sense of scale creates a weird, Alice-in-Wonderland effect. To add to the effect, I had Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" playing on my headphones.
Adding to the trip -- literally and figuratively -- was the fact that the spinning water in the toilet was green, not blue. I thought that was kinda cool, until... (more on that later
).We noticed one gentleman on both our DCA-CLT and CLT-BTR legs. Sure enough, he didn't leave the terminal after we landed at BTR, so I approached him and said, "I know what you're doing!"
I think I may have startled him, so I immediately followed-up with, "Are you on Flyertalk?" He told me that he reads FT, but does not post. I guess we posters have a following of sorts.
With a few minutes to kill at BTR, we headed for the gift shop, where I found this most interesting shirt for sale...
The shirt reassured me that a 28-minute layover in BTR was more than enough, so we headed to the gate for another photo session, with one BP left each! And Andrea is clearly holding up better than I...
On the BTR-CLT leg, we were surprised to have a different flight crew. The FA was absolutely hilarious (I guess you have to have a sense of humor to work in that shrunken jet). She warned everyone about the toilet water having not been replaced and later came over to our seats (we were near the lav) and explained the water's green color quite eloquently: "Blue plus yellow equals green." Okay.....
Later when she was passing with the tiny drink cart, I showed her this photo I took on a very recent award flight in F on Asiana Air and said, "Hey, why isn't THIS happening?"
Her reply, "Wow, they even served you GOOD water!"
(BTW, I recently posted very cool trip reports of my award F trip on Asiana, Thai, and Swiss in F. Here is the departure and the return.)
Andrea and I arrived at CLT hungry and find just enough time to grab a nice to-go meal at the Rum Bar and Grill and be the last to board the 757. Since we had seats 7A and 7B (right at the door) and no big bags, we were able to squeeze in time for the meal purchase. Of course, the GA took our final photo -- with no more BP's -- before we boarded...
We actually arrived home by 12:05AM, which normally would afford us a full night's sleep -- expect that Andrea had a 5:30AM flight to catch as part of a three-segment award trip of PHL-CLT-PHX-SLC!
So it was nap time, really, until I dropped her off at PHL at 4:45A -- after our six-segment trip to, well, nowhere.
Last edited by tommyleo; Nov 28, 2012 at 8:32 pm
Aug 18, 2010, 3:26 pm
#2
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: 1 mile from RDU
Programs: SW, AA Gold, Hilton Diamond, Hertz 5*, Avis Presidents
Posts: 506
impressive, so what did this trip generate for you?
Aug 18, 2010, 3:34 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: PHL
Programs: Former long-time US GP; now AA dirt
Posts: 4,904
I will be PP for the next 18 months while Andrea will be GP for the same time period.
This affords us the ability to use miles the rest of the year for our travels rather than spending money to book flights while also trying to maintain our previous GP and SP statuses -- with a step up in status to boot!
For example: I'm traveling to Budapest this weekend. Originally, I was going to spend about $1200 for a Y ticket to get to BUD and to earn miles to get me very close (but not quite) to Gold. Since I no longer need to earn miles for status in 2011, I instead used 100,000 miles (purchased for about $900 in a recent promo) plus $150 in taxes/fees to book a BIZ CLASS ticket to Budapest on LH. ^
This affords us the ability to use miles the rest of the year for our travels rather than spending money to book flights while also trying to maintain our previous GP and SP statuses -- with a step up in status to boot!
For example: I'm traveling to Budapest this weekend. Originally, I was going to spend about $1200 for a Y ticket to get to BUD and to earn miles to get me very close (but not quite) to Gold. Since I no longer need to earn miles for status in 2011, I instead used 100,000 miles (purchased for about $900 in a recent promo) plus $150 in taxes/fees to book a BIZ CLASS ticket to Budapest on LH. ^
Aug 18, 2010, 3:59 pm
#4
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Dayton, OH
Programs: United, Delta, Alaska, American
Posts: 102
Thanks for sharing! Love the pics - and I'm glad you two had a problem free day!
The bump in status is sooooo nice ....
The bump in status is sooooo nice ....
Aug 18, 2010, 4:05 pm
#5
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Virginia
Posts: 1,558
I just missed you in BOS 
Aug 18, 2010, 4:07 pm
#6
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: US-CP, UA, Marriott Rewards, HHonors, Avis,
Posts: 4,549
How did you coax your girlfriend into joining the adventure? I have always wanted to go on some crazy mileage-run-on-steroids adventure day or weekend but my boyfriend still thinks I'm nuts for suggesting it. We'll both hit CP for 2011 so h/s/j wasn't enough of a temptation. Any pointers?
Aug 18, 2010, 4:22 pm
#7
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: CAE,AGS
Programs: AAExP, Hyatt Globalist, HHonors Gold, IHG Spire, Marriott Plat
Posts: 3,124
Great 'trip' report Tommy - what is insanely funny is that we were passing each other in the air, I am sure, on an occasion or two. Believe it or not, I got the same sort of look when I had my boarding passes printed out in AGS... they just kept coming and coming - seven for the day. I had today's flght printed out while I was waiting in the lounge in Boston.
Boston was the only airport where I actually witnessed the great rush of humanity to the gate at boarding time. They began queueing up about ten minutes before the flight. I just sat over to the side until they called the Zone 1's and with a few 'Excuse Me's',I maneuvered around a huge crowd of 'other zoned' individuals andmanaged to board in a timely fashion.
As I said, it was a great experience overall! You were, indeed, fortunate to have Andrea accompany you!
Boston was the only airport where I actually witnessed the great rush of humanity to the gate at boarding time. They began queueing up about ten minutes before the flight. I just sat over to the side until they called the Zone 1's and with a few 'Excuse Me's',I maneuvered around a huge crowd of 'other zoned' individuals andmanaged to board in a timely fashion.
As I said, it was a great experience overall! You were, indeed, fortunate to have Andrea accompany you!
Last edited by miffSC; Aug 18, 2010 at 4:54 pm
Aug 18, 2010, 5:53 pm
#8
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Jamison, PA
Programs: AA Platinum Pro
Posts: 288
HaHaHa, loved replaying my H/S/J day with your trip and the pictures. My friend and I also took pics of each other with the airport signs in the backgound.
Great trip report, thanks!
Great trip report, thanks!
Aug 18, 2010, 6:07 pm
#9
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: RIC
Programs: US CP, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Plat, *wood Gold, Amex Plat
Posts: 1,600
You were right in the other thread. Your girlfriend is much more memorable than you! Nicely done on both the trip report and the pair bonding.
Aug 18, 2010, 6:35 pm
#10
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Jamison, PA
Programs: AA Platinum Pro
Posts: 288
OMG, I just finished looking at your photos from your trip to Asia. An amazing photo journey. I really, really want to travel this way--someday!
Thanks for making me drool.
Thanks for making me drool.
Aug 18, 2010, 6:40 pm
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: PHL
Programs: Former long-time US GP; now AA dirt
Posts: 4,904
Aug 18, 2010, 7:03 pm
#12
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Germany
Programs: MMR-Platinum, US Airways Chairman`s Preffered
Posts: 29
Aug 18, 2010, 8:22 pm
#13
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 4
I will be PP for the next 18 months while Andrea will be GP for the same time period.
This affords us the ability to use miles the rest of the year for our travels rather than spending money to book flights while also trying to maintain our previous GP and SP statuses -- with a step up in status to boot!
For example: I'm traveling to Budapest this weekend. Originally, I was going to spend about $1200 for a Y ticket to get to BUD and to earn miles to get me very close (but not quite) to Gold. Since I no longer need to earn miles for status in 2011, I instead used 100,000 miles (purchased for about $900 in a recent promo) plus $150 in taxes/fees to book a BIZ CLASS ticket to Budapest on LH. ^
This affords us the ability to use miles the rest of the year for our travels rather than spending money to book flights while also trying to maintain our previous GP and SP statuses -- with a step up in status to boot!
For example: I'm traveling to Budapest this weekend. Originally, I was going to spend about $1200 for a Y ticket to get to BUD and to earn miles to get me very close (but not quite) to Gold. Since I no longer need to earn miles for status in 2011, I instead used 100,000 miles (purchased for about $900 in a recent promo) plus $150 in taxes/fees to book a BIZ CLASS ticket to Budapest on LH. ^
Is this a r/t ticket for 100,000 miles and if so did you use dividend miles to book travel via alliance or were they continental one pass miles?
Aug 18, 2010, 9:25 pm
#14
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: AVL
Programs: AA EXP ; Cunard Plat
Posts: 4,211
tommyleo, your reports (incl the trip in F to Asia) are the kind I like - short in prose, plenty of pics (and what wonderful ones too!!), and capturing some of the human element (joy, enthusiasm), which warms my heart. THANK YOU!
I'm usually in C on those long trips, but after seeing your other report, I'm envious and think I should cash in my Miles for F more often
I'm usually in C on those long trips, but after seeing your other report, I'm envious and think I should cash in my Miles for F more often
Aug 18, 2010, 10:14 pm
#15
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: L.A.
Programs: USAIR gold, HH diamond, SPG gold
Posts: 270
Loved reading about your MR! I'm trying to put something together out of LAX, but we're so far west, with no direct flights eastward except to PHX, CLT & PHL. Would you mind posting how you booked that itinerary (what website & did you type in each segment separately or did you search PHL to CLT & find a flight that had connections through BOS & DCA) and what the cost was? Any suggestions for me?