know that flies a lot has had the Goddamn TSA steal stuff out of their
luggage.
-- b1-67er
Monday, August 31, 2009
quote of the moment
You know flying IS a lot more dangerous than it used to be. Everyone I
know that flies a lot has had the Goddamn TSA steal stuff out of their
luggage.
know that flies a lot has had the Goddamn TSA steal stuff out of their
luggage.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
big victories
i now have an aisle seat from JFK to LAS. (still need one from the schedule change on the first flight from OAK to JFK.)
but the big big one is mr. crypto is going to let my accomplice and me crash at his mansion in NY. that means not one, not two, but three nights free in the big apple. this is huge. (the only downside of NYC in my eyes now is the closing of vittorio's -- home of the legendary pasta wheel.)
but the big big one is mr. crypto is going to let my accomplice and me crash at his mansion in NY. that means not one, not two, but three nights free in the big apple. this is huge. (the only downside of NYC in my eyes now is the closing of vittorio's -- home of the legendary pasta wheel.)
i just found out ...
... i live in "the valley of heart's delight."
seriously. i had no idea.
how can i travel when i don't even know about my home?
Thursday, August 27, 2009
schedule tweak
my accomplice decided to bag the architectual highlights of PA for now. as a result we've just cancelled the PIT run and are extending our time in new england (and resulting in a closed jaw flight).
again, no problems (and no charge!) with the booking changes ... the only catch is things are getting full enough that we have two middle seats on the flight at the moment -- one in front of the other -- if we keep an eye open we may be able to snag better seats once everyone else starts changing as well.
again, no problems (and no charge!) with the booking changes ... the only catch is things are getting full enough that we have two middle seats on the flight at the moment -- one in front of the other -- if we keep an eye open we may be able to snag better seats once everyone else starts changing as well.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
AYCJ t-shirts ...
... get 'em while they're hot (and you're not in the air) at the all-you-can-jet airport locker. 100% of the proceeds go to carbonfund.org, jetblue's carbon-offset partner.
i'll do an official press release on this, probably later today, but wanted to get some spider fodder up for now.
i'll do an official press release on this, probably later today, but wanted to get some spider fodder up for now.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
all set
it took three solid hours of planning, and another hour on the phone with a super-nice booking agent, but my accomplice and i have booked our entire AYCJ trip. it's very unusual for me to plan this far ahead, especially when a travel pass has built-in flexibility, but i wanted to nail down a schedule. setting up now keeps me from having to scramble later on, or worse, miss something later because i was lazy.
all US fees are included in the pass, but international tariffs are not. for an airline that most people think of as domestic, JB flies to a surprising number of countries -- most of them caribbean. to our eyes costa rica, colombia, bermuda and mexico all look tempting with associated fees of roughly $75 roundtrip each.
and that makes an interesting rub ...
if you fly to all four of those destinations it would be an additional $300 in fees. relative to the price of the pass that's a lot of money and chasing those countries has the danger of sliding into a "if it's friday, this must be mexico" state-of-mind.
it we decided to combat that specifically, and extend the time on foreign soil, at some level we'd be burning pass time that could otherwise be used elsewhere. (and while that's true at any US destination as well, somehow it seems "worse.")
on the other hand, you could think of the situation as "hey man, you can fly to colombia for $75." if you set aside the idea of the pass, it's hard to imagine how i'd ever turn something like that down.
we ended up splitting the difference.
costa rica is one of our favorite places in the world, but to our mind it demands more than just a few days ... really it needs at least a week (and shouldn't be polluted in the collective mind by other immediate travel needs). we crossed it off the list.
mexico is great, and pretty heavily underrated by americans as a tourist destination, but we border it in CA so it's a fairly easy jaunt any time. that's off too.
now colombia is really interesting. it's been dangerous for years and has only recently settled enough to be passable. even now it's still a bit dodgy. right this second the US state department still advises that you register as you enter the country and not travel on the ground from city-to-city. (not that that scares me -- it's just something to be aware of.) ... i've never been anywhere in south america and the timing is good. because of the restrictions, and the underlying possible problems, it's pretty easy to justify not wandering far from bogota, so the only-there-a-few-days trick is easy to rationalize. colombia's on.
i've been interested in bermuda ever since i first heard of the triangle -- even moreso now that i've lived in england. it's sort of a freak country in that it's the not-caribbean caribbean island. tiny. expensive. easy to cover in a fairly short period of time. it's exactly the kind of place i'd probably never go to otherwise. i love the idea of going there.
so here's the schedule (and our rationale):
SFO -> BOS (friends)
BOS -> PIT (architecture)
PIT -> OAK (baseball)
SJC -> BDA (bermuda)
BDA -> LAS (concert)
LAS -> FLL (everglades!)
FLL -> DEN (family)
DEN -> MSY (all things new orleans)
MSY -> BOG (colombia)
BOG -> SJC (home bittersweet home)
JB uses a hub and spoke system with emphasis on JFK, BOS, MCO and LGB. the legacy of having developed on the E coast still shows through in some places ... for example, DEN doesn't have any interaction with points W -- so if you want to go there you have to fly through either JFK or BOS (from those you can fly indirect to BGI, 3400 miles away from the origin; but not SLC, just over the mountains at 400 miles).
the flights are actually 15 independent legs, but i haven't listed the places that are
essentially transfer points. (note too that SJC, SFO and OAK are all within 40 miles of each other -- from a travel perspective, it's the absolute best thing about living in the bay area.) what's funny is even though i live in CA, i'm not making any flights through LGB.
before the days of "southwest airlines thinking" -- when individual legs would have been more expensive than roundtrips -- this would have been a hideously expensive trip ... especially when you add in little details like the open jaws involved.
as my accomplice requested the flights over the phone, i followed along on the JB website and tracked the dollar amounts of each ticket as we booked it. the pass details are very clear: flights need to be booked (or changed) at least three days ahead of time without penalty; otherwise, if you they have a seat, you can get it (no blackouts, no pass quotas).
including international fees, our tickets were a whopping $3160 each (on the equivalent of a $750 pass). the most expensive single leg was a red-eye from LAS to FLL on a sunday night -- by normal booking that ticket would have been $534.
my good friend, the robot, flatly stated the jetblue pass was no bargain -- he predicted that when all the travel was said and done, it would end up being the most expensive $600 i'd ever spent. the miscellaneous expenses aren't going to be trivial for my pocketbook, that's for sure, but i'll bet i end up doing the entire trip for less that the face value purchase price of the plane ticket. (in fact it wouldn't surprise me in the least if this month on the road ended up being cheaper than staying in my silicon valley apartment.)
before i quit it here, it's worth mentioning an interesting side-way that JB will make money off the AYCJ flyers -- something i didn't read in the media, anywhere. if a "normal" passenger were to jump in and book a seat on my LAS -> FLL flight now, they'd pay $574 [i "bought" the last $534 seat] ... without all the AYCJ people, i'm certain the price on that ticket would have been significantly less ... the final result: any pass people booking before paying customers will result in upping the dollar amount that the regular people will pay.
years ago i read somewhere that once an airline decides to fly a plane from point A to point B the cost to the airline to carry that passenger is relatively trivial (i seem to remember it being something like $2.50 -- that number might be off a bit, but not by much ... there's no way it's $20) because all the other pieces of doing the flight are already in place. there's little doubt in my mind that JB are making money on me -- even with the abusive flight schedule i have here.
i've traveled a lot in my life and yet i've never flown JB. it doesn't hit the flight corridor that i tend to frequent the most. so not only are these my first flights, it's also definitely true that the $600 i plunked down is money they wouldn't have seen in 2009 otherwise.
and JB wouldn't have gotten this 'blog (and associated twitter-stream chatter).
nor my incessant banter with my pals.
they also wouldn't have gotten my fat ass in a plane seat, thereby automatically forcing the next fat ass (who happens to have real money) to buy a more expensive seat.
they may not be making a lot off me, but i'm pretty sure they're making something. and that's pretty damn cool. because it's mnoney in the pocket for them (along with more than a little free publicity) and an unbelievably great deal for me. i already like jetblue and i haven't even ridden a plane away from the gate yet.
as an american i think you're not living your life properly if you're not using your passport at least once per year. i'm really looking forward to this trip.
in the oh-so-quaint words of ian anderson
all US fees are included in the pass, but international tariffs are not. for an airline that most people think of as domestic, JB flies to a surprising number of countries -- most of them caribbean. to our eyes costa rica, colombia, bermuda and mexico all look tempting with associated fees of roughly $75 roundtrip each.
and that makes an interesting rub ...
if you fly to all four of those destinations it would be an additional $300 in fees. relative to the price of the pass that's a lot of money and chasing those countries has the danger of sliding into a "if it's friday, this must be mexico" state-of-mind.
it we decided to combat that specifically, and extend the time on foreign soil, at some level we'd be burning pass time that could otherwise be used elsewhere. (and while that's true at any US destination as well, somehow it seems "worse.")
on the other hand, you could think of the situation as "hey man, you can fly to colombia for $75." if you set aside the idea of the pass, it's hard to imagine how i'd ever turn something like that down.
we ended up splitting the difference.
costa rica is one of our favorite places in the world, but to our mind it demands more than just a few days ... really it needs at least a week (and shouldn't be polluted in the collective mind by other immediate travel needs). we crossed it off the list.
mexico is great, and pretty heavily underrated by americans as a tourist destination, but we border it in CA so it's a fairly easy jaunt any time. that's off too.
now colombia is really interesting. it's been dangerous for years and has only recently settled enough to be passable. even now it's still a bit dodgy. right this second the US state department still advises that you register as you enter the country and not travel on the ground from city-to-city. (not that that scares me -- it's just something to be aware of.) ... i've never been anywhere in south america and the timing is good. because of the restrictions, and the underlying possible problems, it's pretty easy to justify not wandering far from bogota, so the only-there-a-few-days trick is easy to rationalize. colombia's on.
i've been interested in bermuda ever since i first heard of the triangle -- even moreso now that i've lived in england. it's sort of a freak country in that it's the not-caribbean caribbean island. tiny. expensive. easy to cover in a fairly short period of time. it's exactly the kind of place i'd probably never go to otherwise. i love the idea of going there.
so here's the schedule (and our rationale):
SFO -> BOS (friends)
BOS -> PIT (architecture)
PIT -> OAK (baseball)
SJC -> BDA (bermuda)
BDA -> LAS (concert)
LAS -> FLL (everglades!)
FLL -> DEN (family)
DEN -> MSY (all things new orleans)
MSY -> BOG (colombia)
BOG -> SJC (home bittersweet home)
JB uses a hub and spoke system with emphasis on JFK, BOS, MCO and LGB. the legacy of having developed on the E coast still shows through in some places ... for example, DEN doesn't have any interaction with points W -- so if you want to go there you have to fly through either JFK or BOS (from those you can fly indirect to BGI, 3400 miles away from the origin; but not SLC, just over the mountains at 400 miles).
the flights are actually 15 independent legs, but i haven't listed the places that are
essentially transfer points. (note too that SJC, SFO and OAK are all within 40 miles of each other -- from a travel perspective, it's the absolute best thing about living in the bay area.) what's funny is even though i live in CA, i'm not making any flights through LGB.
before the days of "southwest airlines thinking" -- when individual legs would have been more expensive than roundtrips -- this would have been a hideously expensive trip ... especially when you add in little details like the open jaws involved.
as my accomplice requested the flights over the phone, i followed along on the JB website and tracked the dollar amounts of each ticket as we booked it. the pass details are very clear: flights need to be booked (or changed) at least three days ahead of time without penalty; otherwise, if you they have a seat, you can get it (no blackouts, no pass quotas).
including international fees, our tickets were a whopping $3160 each (on the equivalent of a $750 pass). the most expensive single leg was a red-eye from LAS to FLL on a sunday night -- by normal booking that ticket would have been $534.
my good friend, the robot, flatly stated the jetblue pass was no bargain -- he predicted that when all the travel was said and done, it would end up being the most expensive $600 i'd ever spent. the miscellaneous expenses aren't going to be trivial for my pocketbook, that's for sure, but i'll bet i end up doing the entire trip for less that the face value purchase price of the plane ticket. (in fact it wouldn't surprise me in the least if this month on the road ended up being cheaper than staying in my silicon valley apartment.)
before i quit it here, it's worth mentioning an interesting side-way that JB will make money off the AYCJ flyers -- something i didn't read in the media, anywhere. if a "normal" passenger were to jump in and book a seat on my LAS -> FLL flight now, they'd pay $574 [i "bought" the last $534 seat] ... without all the AYCJ people, i'm certain the price on that ticket would have been significantly less ... the final result: any pass people booking before paying customers will result in upping the dollar amount that the regular people will pay.
years ago i read somewhere that once an airline decides to fly a plane from point A to point B the cost to the airline to carry that passenger is relatively trivial (i seem to remember it being something like $2.50 -- that number might be off a bit, but not by much ... there's no way it's $20) because all the other pieces of doing the flight are already in place. there's little doubt in my mind that JB are making money on me -- even with the abusive flight schedule i have here.
i've traveled a lot in my life and yet i've never flown JB. it doesn't hit the flight corridor that i tend to frequent the most. so not only are these my first flights, it's also definitely true that the $600 i plunked down is money they wouldn't have seen in 2009 otherwise.
and JB wouldn't have gotten this 'blog (and associated twitter-stream chatter).
nor my incessant banter with my pals.
they also wouldn't have gotten my fat ass in a plane seat, thereby automatically forcing the next fat ass (who happens to have real money) to buy a more expensive seat.
they may not be making a lot off me, but i'm pretty sure they're making something. and that's pretty damn cool. because it's mnoney in the pocket for them (along with more than a little free publicity) and an unbelievably great deal for me. i already like jetblue and i haven't even ridden a plane away from the gate yet.
as an american i think you're not living your life properly if you're not using your passport at least once per year. i'm really looking forward to this trip.
in the oh-so-quaint words of ian anderson
the long road is a rainbow ...
and a pot of gold lies at the end.
so slip the chain and i'm off again ...
you'll find me everywhere ...
... 'cuz i'm a ...
rover!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
the stages of decision and life
overall i tend to be optimistic toward most everything, including my fellow man. i cut people slack. i assume everyone holds a deeper benevolent intent. i think of the average person as being smart. sometimes this philosophy comes back and bites me on the ass, but there's no question that i've reaped far more benefit from my sociological stance than i have dealt myself problems or pain.
and yet this AYCJ pass pushes some of the limits of my tolerance.
jetblue takes the bold step to do something different and try to fill some seats during the dead season in a down economy. immediately people are looking for the defects.
"well, you can't fly from the same city on the same day." meaning you can't fly NYC -> BOS -> NYC -> DEN on the same day. please.
"everyone who has this pass will be on stand-by." i just booked a 15 leg trip, getting every flight i asked for.
"the reason jetblue cancelled the offer is because they were losing money." here's a shocker: jetblue actually has people who are paid to think about this stuff beforehand. JB themselves said the reason they wanted to limit the program was to make sure that people could get flights.
"it's not worth the money for most people." nearly always people doing these "calculations" are looking at far-ahead booked plan reservations and igorning the 3-day notice that's available on these passes. i'm certain that most people are more-than-able to figure out if it's a good deal for them or not.
"i can't believe you stopped the pass before you said. what? is my money no good?" JB did exactly what they said they would do and even gave one day of warning.
i think i know part of the underlying problem here.
one of the biggest lessons you learn as a kid is the famous, "if something appears to be too good to be true, it probably is." belief in this philosophy is the way that you learn how not to get scammed.
but people begin to ignore one of the key words in the sentence: "probably." some offers that on the surface seem "too good to be true," are also legitimate. if you can delve these, big things are in store. being able to discern the difference between the two is how i: had a trip with all expenses paid in vegas for 24 hours; have been handed countless event tickets (rolling stones, madonna, no doubt, world series, etc. etc. etc.); and rode an elephant across kaziranga to see the indian rhinoceros ... and all for free. all it took was a leap of faith crossed with an understanding that it was nearly too good, but was also true.
as soon as you limit your thinking, you limit your life. when you try to limit other people's thinking, you become a bitch. i don't understand what people think they gain by "warning" other people of what they attempt -- but i'm fairly certain i don't want to be able to understand it.
cynicism is a weapon of the weak.
and yet this AYCJ pass pushes some of the limits of my tolerance.
jetblue takes the bold step to do something different and try to fill some seats during the dead season in a down economy. immediately people are looking for the defects.
"well, you can't fly from the same city on the same day." meaning you can't fly NYC -> BOS -> NYC -> DEN on the same day. please.
"everyone who has this pass will be on stand-by." i just booked a 15 leg trip, getting every flight i asked for.
"the reason jetblue cancelled the offer is because they were losing money." here's a shocker: jetblue actually has people who are paid to think about this stuff beforehand. JB themselves said the reason they wanted to limit the program was to make sure that people could get flights.
"it's not worth the money for most people." nearly always people doing these "calculations" are looking at far-ahead booked plan reservations and igorning the 3-day notice that's available on these passes. i'm certain that most people are more-than-able to figure out if it's a good deal for them or not.
"i can't believe you stopped the pass before you said. what? is my money no good?" JB did exactly what they said they would do and even gave one day of warning.
i think i know part of the underlying problem here.
one of the biggest lessons you learn as a kid is the famous, "if something appears to be too good to be true, it probably is." belief in this philosophy is the way that you learn how not to get scammed.
but people begin to ignore one of the key words in the sentence: "probably." some offers that on the surface seem "too good to be true," are also legitimate. if you can delve these, big things are in store. being able to discern the difference between the two is how i: had a trip with all expenses paid in vegas for 24 hours; have been handed countless event tickets (rolling stones, madonna, no doubt, world series, etc. etc. etc.); and rode an elephant across kaziranga to see the indian rhinoceros ... and all for free. all it took was a leap of faith crossed with an understanding that it was nearly too good, but was also true.
as soon as you limit your thinking, you limit your life. when you try to limit other people's thinking, you become a bitch. i don't understand what people think they gain by "warning" other people of what they attempt -- but i'm fairly certain i don't want to be able to understand it.
cynicism is a weapon of the weak.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
here we go again
on august 12, jetblue announced they were having an all-you-can-jet (AYCJ) pass: $599 for all-you-could tolerate in a plane from 9/8/09 - 10/8/09 (what i refer to as "31 glorious days"). the sale was going to go on until august 21 or they until they decided to cancel due to public stampede.
i first heard about it from my pal, cap'n happy, on august 13. i bought my pass the same day -- an accomplice of mine bought one the next morning. on august 18, jetblue quit selling the pass.
before i started up the archipelago a few years ago, i had never kept a journal, with one big exception: ever since living in london i've always tried to keep a physical journal on major trips. i've had some big successes with keeping track of my travel -- the biggest probably being my trip through russia. but, it doesn't always work when the travel gets to the point where the journal part is too difficult to do -- my 2,000 miles across morocco is a good example of that, so was my 5,000 miles across canada.
because of this pass i'm going to start an independent travel journal here. the initial focus will be on AYCJ, but will include occasional comments from me about travel in general. i'll be bringing it in-and-out of dormancy as i make my way through the world.
as any of my longer-term readers know, i'm not a facebook-twitter-your-every-movement kind-of-guy. but here will be a little different. when i'm on the road i'll be posting far more of my day-to-day activity.
as always, comments are welcome, but certainly not necessary. please don't expect a response from me on the site -- if you want comments back, say so in your remarks or fire me an email directly.
just how many damn 'blogs can a person have, anyway? i guess we're going to find out ...
i first heard about it from my pal, cap'n happy, on august 13. i bought my pass the same day -- an accomplice of mine bought one the next morning. on august 18, jetblue quit selling the pass.
before i started up the archipelago a few years ago, i had never kept a journal, with one big exception: ever since living in london i've always tried to keep a physical journal on major trips. i've had some big successes with keeping track of my travel -- the biggest probably being my trip through russia. but, it doesn't always work when the travel gets to the point where the journal part is too difficult to do -- my 2,000 miles across morocco is a good example of that, so was my 5,000 miles across canada.
because of this pass i'm going to start an independent travel journal here. the initial focus will be on AYCJ, but will include occasional comments from me about travel in general. i'll be bringing it in-and-out of dormancy as i make my way through the world.
as any of my longer-term readers know, i'm not a facebook-twitter-your-every-movement kind-of-guy. but here will be a little different. when i'm on the road i'll be posting far more of my day-to-day activity.
as always, comments are welcome, but certainly not necessary. please don't expect a response from me on the site -- if you want comments back, say so in your remarks or fire me an email directly.
just how many damn 'blogs can a person have, anyway? i guess we're going to find out ...
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