A long couple of days travelling and I have arrived back home safely, after an uneventful journey.
I decided to travel back to the UK from Seattle as the San Francisco flights were looking very busy. So first flight of the day was north to Washington State. I got to Seattle by 9am, and faced a long wait for the BA flight to London that evening. At least the airport had free Wi-Fi so that helped pass the time.
Compared to Heathrow's T5, many of the American airports (like Seattle) are very sparse, with little to help you pass the time. T5 is basically a shopping mall built on top of a baggage system, that happens to have some gates for the aircraft to pull up to. At least there's plenty to do to help you spend a few hours.
Eventually, the time passed and the check in desk opened. The lovely lady who checked me in gave me a nice seat in Club (Business) Class, and I went air-side, to the bar to spend the last of my dollars.
The flight back to the UK passed quickly as I slept through most of it, and I was in Heathrow by lunchtime on Sunday, ready for my last flight of the day back to Newcastle. Once again, a quiet uneventful flight.
It was lovely to walk out of the arrivals hall, with all my luggage having safely made it as well, to see Gillian, Simon and Nathan waiting for me! A short drive later and I was home at last, in time for dinner.
Showing posts with label flights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flights. Show all posts
Monday, 9 May 2011
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Day 0: The Windy City
The day got off too a good start this morning when I found that some kind sole had left a breakfast voucher in my room! So having made use of that, I set off for the airport to find out if there would be a seat for me on the flight to Chicago.
I was in luck, and got a good seat towards the front of the plane. Result!
The young lady sitting across the aisle from me had obviously taken part in Sunday's London marathon, and on talking to her I discovered that she was not just any athlete, she was none other than Amanda McGrory, who had won the lady's wheelchair event. Twenty six and a bit miles in 1:48 - that's quick. She seemed very nice and it was interesting talking to her; hopefully the first of many interesting people I'll meet over the next few weeks.
Other than that it was a quiet and uneventful flight, exactly how you want it. I managed to watch a couple of movies that I hadn't seen (The King's Speech and Social Network both good in their own different ways), and managed to fit in a snooze in between.
On arriving in O'Hare airport I had to wonder if the US Authorities would rather that foreigners didn't visit at all. Immigration was so slow and painful. Nearly 2 hours after landing however, I was pleased to see my bag on the carousel, and treated myself to a taxi ride to the hotel, rather than take my chances on public transport.
I've had a few hours looking around the vicinity of my hotel, which is on Michigan Av - the Magnificent Mile, full of high end shops and restaurants. Gillian would love it! From what little I've seen, it seems like a nice city, and one that warrants a further visit some time in the future. It is very cold though, with snow and sleet showers forecast for tomorrow. Less than ideal; I hope it warms up quickly as I head south!
So tomorrow EagleRiders will pick me up from the hotel and take me to their office, where I pick up the bike, and the journey begins in earnest. It's 8pm here, but for me that really means 2am! Time for a quick bite to eat, and then off for an early night. Until tomorrow then, but in the meantime here are a few pictures to prove that I really am here.....
I was in luck, and got a good seat towards the front of the plane. Result!
The young lady sitting across the aisle from me had obviously taken part in Sunday's London marathon, and on talking to her I discovered that she was not just any athlete, she was none other than Amanda McGrory, who had won the lady's wheelchair event. Twenty six and a bit miles in 1:48 - that's quick. She seemed very nice and it was interesting talking to her; hopefully the first of many interesting people I'll meet over the next few weeks.
Other than that it was a quiet and uneventful flight, exactly how you want it. I managed to watch a couple of movies that I hadn't seen (The King's Speech and Social Network both good in their own different ways), and managed to fit in a snooze in between.
On arriving in O'Hare airport I had to wonder if the US Authorities would rather that foreigners didn't visit at all. Immigration was so slow and painful. Nearly 2 hours after landing however, I was pleased to see my bag on the carousel, and treated myself to a taxi ride to the hotel, rather than take my chances on public transport.
I've had a few hours looking around the vicinity of my hotel, which is on Michigan Av - the Magnificent Mile, full of high end shops and restaurants. Gillian would love it! From what little I've seen, it seems like a nice city, and one that warrants a further visit some time in the future. It is very cold though, with snow and sleet showers forecast for tomorrow. Less than ideal; I hope it warms up quickly as I head south!
So tomorrow EagleRiders will pick me up from the hotel and take me to their office, where I pick up the bike, and the journey begins in earnest. It's 8pm here, but for me that really means 2am! Time for a quick bite to eat, and then off for an early night. Until tomorrow then, but in the meantime here are a few pictures to prove that I really am here.....
Old (for the US) buildings seem to mix easily with the newer skyscrapers.
Yes, it's me, and it really is as cold as I look!
More tall buildings make for an impressive skyline. Chicago boasts 3 of the 5 tallest building in the US, including the Wallis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower), which is the tallest of them all.
Monday, 18 April 2011
Day -1 : And so it begins....
It was with a mixture of nervousness and sadness, but mostly excitement, that I said my fairwells to the family at Newcastle airport this afternoon, and started what is for me, an adventure of a lifetime.
This week has been very busy making my last minute preparations and packing for the trip. My birthday was on Thursday and I was very touched by the reaction of everyone at work. My desk had been decorated with banners and balloons, and I was greeted by a chorus of "Happy Birthday" on my arrival. Very nice and unexpected.
The evening was spent with my family at Fratelli's, a nice Italian restaurant not far from where we live, and it was great to see everyone before I left. It was nice that Lynsey, Matt and Seth travelled up from Leeds to help me celebrate.
Saturday was our wedding anniversary, which Gillian I spent at the Mal Maison hotel in Newcastle, and we had a lovely dinner at "Six", the restaurant on the top of the Baltic art gallery in Gateshead, with outstanding views over the river and across Newcastle.
And so to today. We had a family Sunday dinner at The Badger, a pub/restaurant next to the airport, and then I was dropped off to catch the first leg of my journey to Heathrow, along with a few emotional goodbyes.
I don't think that it's sunk in yet that I really am doing this. I travel to London fairly regularly on business, probably about 2 or 3 times a month, so this part didn't really seem out of the ordinary. Tomorrow, when I head off to the USA will really be the start of the trip, and I expect then it'll dawn on me that the trip, years in the planning, has started.
On the flight down to London though, I began to realise that in 18 years of marriage, this will be the longest time I've been away on my own and the longest journey that I'll have taken on my own. I'd like to thank my family, and especially Gillian, for letting me take the time out to do this trip, and although it will be exciting and great fun (I'm sure), I will be thinking of them, and wishing I could share my experieneces with them. Unfortunately, getting them all on a motorbike would prove to be challenging!
Well it's late, and it's been a long day, I'm tired and getting emotional, so I'll sign off for now, and retire to my bed in the luxurious T5 Travelodge!
Today; London, Tomorrow; Chicago!
This week has been very busy making my last minute preparations and packing for the trip. My birthday was on Thursday and I was very touched by the reaction of everyone at work. My desk had been decorated with banners and balloons, and I was greeted by a chorus of "Happy Birthday" on my arrival. Very nice and unexpected.
The evening was spent with my family at Fratelli's, a nice Italian restaurant not far from where we live, and it was great to see everyone before I left. It was nice that Lynsey, Matt and Seth travelled up from Leeds to help me celebrate.
Saturday was our wedding anniversary, which Gillian I spent at the Mal Maison hotel in Newcastle, and we had a lovely dinner at "Six", the restaurant on the top of the Baltic art gallery in Gateshead, with outstanding views over the river and across Newcastle.
And so to today. We had a family Sunday dinner at The Badger, a pub/restaurant next to the airport, and then I was dropped off to catch the first leg of my journey to Heathrow, along with a few emotional goodbyes.
I don't think that it's sunk in yet that I really am doing this. I travel to London fairly regularly on business, probably about 2 or 3 times a month, so this part didn't really seem out of the ordinary. Tomorrow, when I head off to the USA will really be the start of the trip, and I expect then it'll dawn on me that the trip, years in the planning, has started.
On the flight down to London though, I began to realise that in 18 years of marriage, this will be the longest time I've been away on my own and the longest journey that I'll have taken on my own. I'd like to thank my family, and especially Gillian, for letting me take the time out to do this trip, and although it will be exciting and great fun (I'm sure), I will be thinking of them, and wishing I could share my experieneces with them. Unfortunately, getting them all on a motorbike would prove to be challenging!
Well it's late, and it's been a long day, I'm tired and getting emotional, so I'll sign off for now, and retire to my bed in the luxurious T5 Travelodge!
Today; London, Tomorrow; Chicago!
Monday, 11 April 2011
Weekly Countdown: 1 week to go!
With just 7 days till I leave for Chicago, the excitement is mounting. It's going to be a busy week this week with some 'domestic' things to do before I go, and of course, celebrating my birthday on Thurday. Then it's our wedding anniversary on Saturday - 18 years, which is porcelain I'm informed. SWMBO want's the bathroom refitted this year, so that seems appropriate.
Dave B came through with the goods this week, and has loaned me a set of H-D bags specifically designed to fit in the Harley's fitted panniers and top-box, so I know how much space I have to play with. Not much is the answer, so I am cutting down on what I will take with me. Still, it's better to know now rather than having to ditch stuff when I pick up the bike.
I ordered a small amount of US dollars - ironically the best exchange rate was from SAGA, with free next day delivery. I dare say the first of a number of transactions with them over the years to come!
I've also booked some internal flights to help me get home at the end of the trip, as the availability on the flights back from San Francisco has not improved any - these give me the option of flying back from LA, Seattle or even New York. I must remember to collect the tickets on Wednesday. It's not nice to think that a month from today I'll be back at work though.
Preparations are so well advanced in fact that last night I was even able to go through my music collection to decide what I should load up onto my iPod and take with me. How organised is that? I also realised that I'll be away on St George's day, so have got a St George's flag to fix to the bike. That should provide a talking point when I stop for gas.
Looking at my route again for the upteenth time I noticed something that I hadn't thought about before. I will be travelling through 4 time zones over the course of the trip (Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific). As I'm travelling east to west that means that I will get an extra 3 hours! What a bonus. So bike hire is actually 18 days and 3 hours. I hope they don't try to hit me with a surcharge!
Now it's just a case of waiting for Sunday. This trip has been so long in gestation, that it's hard to believe that it's now just a week away. It's also slightly scary.
Dave B came through with the goods this week, and has loaned me a set of H-D bags specifically designed to fit in the Harley's fitted panniers and top-box, so I know how much space I have to play with. Not much is the answer, so I am cutting down on what I will take with me. Still, it's better to know now rather than having to ditch stuff when I pick up the bike.
I ordered a small amount of US dollars - ironically the best exchange rate was from SAGA, with free next day delivery. I dare say the first of a number of transactions with them over the years to come!
I've also booked some internal flights to help me get home at the end of the trip, as the availability on the flights back from San Francisco has not improved any - these give me the option of flying back from LA, Seattle or even New York. I must remember to collect the tickets on Wednesday. It's not nice to think that a month from today I'll be back at work though.
Preparations are so well advanced in fact that last night I was even able to go through my music collection to decide what I should load up onto my iPod and take with me. How organised is that? I also realised that I'll be away on St George's day, so have got a St George's flag to fix to the bike. That should provide a talking point when I stop for gas.
Looking at my route again for the upteenth time I noticed something that I hadn't thought about before. I will be travelling through 4 time zones over the course of the trip (Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific). As I'm travelling east to west that means that I will get an extra 3 hours! What a bonus. So bike hire is actually 18 days and 3 hours. I hope they don't try to hit me with a surcharge!
Now it's just a case of waiting for Sunday. This trip has been so long in gestation, that it's hard to believe that it's now just a week away. It's also slightly scary.
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
Weekly Countdown: 6 to 66
This week I got the flights sorted. For most people that's simply a case of finding a flight to where you want to go, on the day that you want to go, for a price that you're prepared to pay. However, as an airline employee, things are complicated by the additional choices offered by staff travel options.
With staff travel, employees can get highly discounted fares, and the opportunity of upgrades. The down side is that to get these discounts one has to travel on standby - in other words, you get a seat only if there's one left after all the fare paying passengers, and any other staff travellers with higher priority than you, have been allocated theirs. So if the flight's full, you don't get on.
This means, of course, that you are not guaranteed to get a seat on any particular flight. Great if you can be flexible, but given that I'll have a Harley waiting for me to pick up in Chicago on the 19th April, this is not ideal.
So what to do? Well my route out has to be Newcastle to Heathrow to Chicago, so the first part is to get to London. There are even more options for this, including train, coach and driving, however as I have no hope of getting a flight to the US if I don't get to London in time, so I've opted for a to pay full fare for a flight on the Sunday night, and to spend the night in the T5 Travelodge. Hardly salubrious, but OK for the few hours I'll be spending there, and a lot cheaper than getting the first flight down on Monday morning, the price of which is pushed up weekly commuters making their way down south.
So I know I'll be in Heathrow in time for a flight to the US on Monday. BA has two flights daily to Chicago, so the ideal would be to get one of those. Having been lured by the low prices and the chance of getting into Club (Business) class, I've decided to get a Premium Standby ticket on the first flight, which if I don't get on I can change to the second. As of today, there's plenty of seats unsold, but anything could happen in the next 6 weeks.
I've also bought a backup ticket to New York, as there's loads of flights there so a good chance of getting on one of them if I'm unlucky with Chicago. To bridge the gap I've also got an internal flight ticket between JFK and Chicago. Any tickets I don't use will be refunded.
I've booked the flight back from San Francisco, but to be frank, I'm less worried about getting back on time - there's worse places to be stuck!
Days to departure: 42
Paydays to departure: Just 1.
Funding: $$$No lottery win, so covered by my credit limit$$$
With staff travel, employees can get highly discounted fares, and the opportunity of upgrades. The down side is that to get these discounts one has to travel on standby - in other words, you get a seat only if there's one left after all the fare paying passengers, and any other staff travellers with higher priority than you, have been allocated theirs. So if the flight's full, you don't get on.
This means, of course, that you are not guaranteed to get a seat on any particular flight. Great if you can be flexible, but given that I'll have a Harley waiting for me to pick up in Chicago on the 19th April, this is not ideal.
So what to do? Well my route out has to be Newcastle to Heathrow to Chicago, so the first part is to get to London. There are even more options for this, including train, coach and driving, however as I have no hope of getting a flight to the US if I don't get to London in time, so I've opted for a to pay full fare for a flight on the Sunday night, and to spend the night in the T5 Travelodge. Hardly salubrious, but OK for the few hours I'll be spending there, and a lot cheaper than getting the first flight down on Monday morning, the price of which is pushed up weekly commuters making their way down south.
So I know I'll be in Heathrow in time for a flight to the US on Monday. BA has two flights daily to Chicago, so the ideal would be to get one of those. Having been lured by the low prices and the chance of getting into Club (Business) class, I've decided to get a Premium Standby ticket on the first flight, which if I don't get on I can change to the second. As of today, there's plenty of seats unsold, but anything could happen in the next 6 weeks.
I've also bought a backup ticket to New York, as there's loads of flights there so a good chance of getting on one of them if I'm unlucky with Chicago. To bridge the gap I've also got an internal flight ticket between JFK and Chicago. Any tickets I don't use will be refunded.
I've booked the flight back from San Francisco, but to be frank, I'm less worried about getting back on time - there's worse places to be stuck!
Days to departure: 42
Paydays to departure: Just 1.
Funding: $$$No lottery win, so covered by my credit limit$$$
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