Every now and then there are fares that attract swarms of folks out looking for miles. When a $140 round-trip transcon comes along, for example, it is rather common to see folks buying a couple of them to accrue a collection of points and make their elite status for the year. It gets even better when one of the flight attendants working on the flight is also a junkie, intimately familiar with the crazy that is the mileage run mentality. Today’s trip to Ontario, California is a prime example of making such a situation work.
Settling in to 3A at 5:30am is a mixed bag of emotion. Happy because the upgrade cleared but stupid tired because of the 4:45am wake-up call. I seriously need to stop booking sunrise flights. Still, we settled in to our seats and started chatting only to have the guy in front of us turn around and ask us what our names were on FlyerTalk. Apparently it was obvious.
Sunrise was nice, as was the quick nap I caught on the flight after breakfast. And then on to Houston where we met another guy flying this weekend on a quick run to San Francisco. A quick chat at the gate and then we headed into the Presidents Club for another snack and to enjoy the layover.
Our flight from Houston to Ontario had at least six folks in it just for the miles. Three of them are returning on the same plane back eastward while three of us are headed onwards towards other adventures. One guy just has a different routing back to Chicago and two of us are headed to Palm Springs for some fun before heading home on the redeye. We spent most of the last hour of the flight in the forward galley having a blast with one of the most professional men in the industry. Great time.
As we boarded the flight I was greeted by name by the flight attendant. Apparently I’m just that famous (not really). Still, it was a warm greeting following the email I received last night warning me that he knew I was coming and that he’d have the bar cart ready for me. Apparently being infamous isn’t so bad after all.
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The party was pretty good, but you gotta step up your game…there was still enough liquor available for the trip back from ONT to IAH…
Correction: There was BARELY enough liquor for the trip back!
I did my best but it was early and a long day – more of a marathon than a sprint. I still think that the 5 or 6 I put down was rather respectable.
Besides, with nearly 250 alcohol servings catered on the plane I would hope there would be some left for the return flight.
Good fun. Nice to meet some new folks and have an impromptu cocktail party in teh sky.
Wrong I killed all the Bailey’s had to settle for Kahluah on the way back to IAH. We finally found the Walkers cookies at the last IAH President’s lounge we hit 🙂