Just being TravelholicTom…
You didn’t think I was just staying in Chicago, did you? They don’t call me “TravelholicTom” for nothing! This was the start of an epic trip across the US of A spending nearly 3 weeks visiting 8 states. The British Airways First class flight was only the first of many firsts for this trip.
Today was set to be a rather exhausting day travelling regardless but with everything that went wrong, it only made it even more so. Now let me ask you one question. Would you like to travel from Chicago to California for a mere £4? Not a difficult decision to make right! That’s nearly 500 miles flying for only £1! However, there’s a slight catch to it.
Me being TravelholicTom I believe it's not just about the destination on a holiday but the journey to get there too. So this travel day to LA LA Land included 3 flights on 2 airlines with a day out in silicon valley in between to break it up a little. After getting to the hotel late the previous evening it was of paramount importance to sleep as much as possible but nope that’s wasn’t to be. 3 hours sleep and there I was showering ready for the long day travelling ahead.
Delay was just the beginning…
It only felt like a couple of hours ago that I was in the hotel shuttle going to the hotel but now I’m back in it with a bit of déjà vu sat in the same seat but this time going back to the airport. Flight number one for today was the 6 am flight from Chicago to Seattle. We boarded as usual everyone still looking half asleep after being awake for probably the majority of the night. After 10 minutes or so the dreaded ding dong happened. “Good morning ladies and gentlemen this is your captain speaking!…” trust me this is not what you want to hear post departure time when you’re still sat on the ground with a connecting flight at the other end of the country in a few hours. “Unfortunately there’s a slight issue with one of our hard drives used for the GPS being corrupt due to the pilot last night not shutting down the aircraft properly, so we’re going to try to restart the computers which will hopefully correct the fault.” You’ve got to find it funny that even on a multimillion-dollar aircraft the initial troubleshooting is the same as a $300 laptop.
After what felt like an eternity of waiting the ding dong went off again, but this time the news got even worse… an engineer was being called out and a spare part was to be installed. Kind of lucky that being a Boeing aircraft we were sat on the tarmac in Chicago O’Hare airport though. As the sheer size of it along with being the city where the HQ of Boeing is located there had to be a spare part nearby. Many of us with connecting flights in Seattle were asked to disembark as it was becoming clear that many of the connecting flights were going to be missed. Eventually, when it was my turn at the customer service desk I was shocked to be told that although my final destination with Alaska was San Jose that they were prepared to fly me on another airline direct to my final destination that night to make sure any other delays didn’t impact me further.
STOP RIGHT THERE! Just as the tickets were getting issued the captain came down the jet bridge to say “Departing in 20 minutes!” So there I was put back on the original flight to Seattle but with a later connection to the next destination of San Jose. So not all was missed as I still had my day out in silicon valley to look forward to. And a fluffy cutie pie of a dog in front who wanted to play for 3 hours.
It only gets funnier though as although I was put on the next flight from Seattle to San Jose than originally booked this still was quite a tight connection. After getting treated to some stunning views en route to SeaTac airport the holding before the approach made the connection even tighter. It's not often that I’ve got to run across an airport to catch a flight, in fact hopefully this is the first and last time.
Woo Hoo, I made it! Surprisingly wasn’t the last to board which was very surprising. It wasn’t until we were on our way down to San Jose that it suddenly dawned on me… “If I ran across one side to the other of the airport, Was there someone outside rushing just as much with my luggage from one plane to the next?” What a way to start a holiday if not. The baggage belt never even started before the dreaded ding dong was heard across the terminal, oh no this could only mean one thing. “Could Tom Wilson please make his way to the Alaskan baggage reclaim desk!” That’s right you guessed it. There wasn’t anyone rushing and running as mad as me across Seattle airport meaning my luggage was indeed sat 700 miles away in Washington state all lonely still.
This worked massively in my favour though as I made a massive mistake. I had planned to go to silicon valley to the Apple HQ for the Apple visitors centre to have a look around. However, with all the planning I forgot to look if San Jose airport had luggage storage which it didn’t. If you don’t ask you don’t get right? So after being reassured that my bag will be here in 5 hours and lunch paid for by Alaska Airlines I had to ask if they would also store my hand luggage for 5 hours so I could leave the airport without dragging everything with me. Looking back they probably should’ve never done this for security reasons. But who am I to question it? On top of all that I even got a $50 voucher for future travel. When in reality I was kind of happy the bag missed the flight.
To Apple City!
With silicon valley being home to some of the worlds largest technology companies it's hardly a surprise this is where Apple decided to base themselves too. Even though this was my second visit but first to the new campus, it is still very surreal. When walking around “Infinite Loop” and the entire Apple Park to see around half the people walking the streets to have MacBooks in their hands like it’s a normal thing. It shows how many eyes for detail Apple have when it comes to everything as even the architecture on all the buildings they have is out of this world. The main Apple Park building is the shape of a space ship! And is even claimed to be powered using 100% renewable energy with the largest solar panel roof in the world. How very Apple!
It was only when in the uber on the way back to the airport though, that I realised how big the iPhone in particular has become. The uber driver was looking at my Huawei like an alien would look at a bar of chocolate. Must admit I did get a few funny looks with it around the visitor centre, but hardly surprising being Apple HQ.
Next stop… La La Land
As the rush hour approached and the golden sunset started over the Californian skies I made my way back to the airport to get ready for the final flight of the day. Any ideas on “La La Land?” You guessed it, Im, off to Los Angeles Baby! By this time I had no idea how I was still awake. But one thing I knew for sure was that caffeine and food was a must. So coffee and pizza sounded pure perfection to me. Such a strange combination I know, but who makes rational decisions after a long few days travelling. Well, not me haha. As I soon found out exhaustion mixed with caffeine isn’t a good mix.
Before I knew it the time had come to make my way to the 3rd and final flight of the day. This time instead of using Alaska Airlines I was flying a subsidiary of American Airlines. American Eagle operated by Compass Airlines. Of which sadly become one of many victims of the Covid-19 pandemic and ceased trading early into the pandemic in 2020.
At the time Compass operated Embraer 175 aircraft for both American Eagle and Delta Connect with the unique opportunity for the crew to operate one day under the American Airlines name and the next under the Delta Airlines name. Surely this must have caused many mistakes with crew announcements over the years… “Good morning ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Welcome aboard American flight AA…. Uhhhhhh Delta Connect flight 1234 to Sacramento!” That must have happened… Surely.
Whenever I’ve flown into Los Angeles I always make sure that I land at LAX at night for one reason. The stunning views of all the lights. There are very few cities that have such a stunning nighttime view on approach as LAX. Tonight was no exception as after the short hop on one of the most comfortable regional jets out there we were already descending and making our downwind turn towards the westerly facing runways with the stunning view of city lights all around. Thankfully this was a rather uneventful flight that apart from the windy landing was all smooth sailing from start to finish. But all I could think of now was the dreaded ding dong better not make another appearance in the baggage reclaim hall again.
With the tiredness kicking in once more I hopped in the chevy suburban living the true American lifestyle and got my ride to my apartment for the week. What better way of airport transfer can you think of than the big SUVs in the USA? It was so comfortable it felt like the first-class seat on BA the day before.
Who knew a 6 am flight, the first flight of the day for my particular aircraft might I add. Could be delayed for over 3 hours and cause this much hassle. In all honesty, Alaska Airlines went above and beyond given the circumstances and exceeded all expectations when it came to dealing with the delays and the knock-on effects it had. I mean I had a flight with another airline later in the evening and they were even about to book me on a flight to that destination instead of my destination with Alaska. Just to minimise the chances of another delay meaning I miss that too. That truly is above and beyond if you ask me and a credit to the Alaskan Airlines team.
“Air Miles are King!”
So what’s the catch I mentioned earlier I hear you ask? Back in 2016, I flew an airline called “Virgin America” this was one of Richard Branson’s many attempts of making an airline however although it was once dubbed the fun airline of North America it was sold to Alaska Airlines Group, who scrapped everything Virgin about it and incorporated the airline into its branding very quickly.
If you know me, you’ll know by now that I swear by the Moto “Air Miles are King.” Even if I have no intention of flying an airline again in the future I’ll make sure I receive air miles for every flight that I take regardless of where they are located in the world. At the time I never had an airline account to which the Virgin America scheme accredited. So I made a Virgin America Elevate account which was their frequent flyer program. Even though I flew domestic first on this flight a few years ago the air miles awarded were fairly minimal and didn’t mean anything to me. That was until the Alaska Airlines buy-out happened. Just after the announcement, I received an email from Alaska offering me a $100usd voucher or 10k Air Miles for switching to their program now, before the official take over had finalised.
Let's just say I jumped at the chance so there I was with 10k air miles for free for doing nothing apart from signing up to a frequent flyer scheme a few years previous. With air tax as cheap as it is for domestic USA flights that’s how the £4 airfare came about. 10k air miles plus $5.60usd was all it cost me to get from Chicago to San Jose. Which later turned out to be an even better deal as 10k air miles + $5.60usd turned into 2 flights travelling a total of 2400 miles, free luggage storage in San Jose, free food and drink onboard, free lunch in San Jose and a $50usd voucher towards future travel. Pretty good deal if you ask me.
How do I earn Air Miles?
The best way to think of air miles is to think of them as cashback or free money. For every flight you make you earn some points back for it. However, that’s not the only way you can earn them. The best way to start collecting is to choose a frequent flyer scheme with an alliance you feel best suits your travel needs. Mine personally is the British Airways Executive Club. As I live in the UK and British Airways being our national flag carrier it makes sense to jump on this airlines bandwagon. BA are like many airlines part of an airlines alliance. They’re a part of “One World” which is made up of many airlines all over the world from Qantas in Australia to Fiji Airways. You’ll have the opportunity to earn to your account from flights on airlines all across the alliance and even if not flying to or from the UK. Another way is to use affiliate links from the British Airways site to buy things on online retailers. For example, you can earn air miles from making your day to day purchases just by clicking through the BA website to the site you’re purchasing from.
The most popular way of collecting air miles rapidly is to use travel credit cards. There's a vast array of credit cards out there that collect points that can be accredited to airline’s frequent flyer programs and even hotel chains. For example the American Express which have a dedicated British Airways AMEX card which you earn miles on for each purchase you make. Usually around the £1 for 1 point/air mile mark but that can soon equate to much more. If you’re savvy you could have an airline credit card that earns points for every purchase and also use the affiliate links through your airline’s frequent flyer program which essentially means you could earn double or even more for that transaction. Before you know it that upgrade on your next flight is much more affordable. Some of them even include extra perks like free lounge access or no transaction fees abroad which even makes spending whilst abroad that little bit cheaper.
Obviously, credit cards are a big decision which you should never be taken lightly and you should always make every effort to pay each bill off in full each month to avoid paying fees and interest as that’ll make the entire concept of earning points “pointless” if you pardon the pun. And could run the risk of damaging your financial situation.
If you feel a travel credit card might be a good option like me for yourself then check out the team at money.com. Who have compiled a thorough guide on the best travel credit cards of the year with comparisons of different providers and their benefits.
