Glad I Have Lifetime SPG Status

I'm glad I grabbed lifetime Platinum status with SPG last year and it will transfer to the combined Marriott program. The new numbers for lifetime Marriott status are a huge hurdle.

Next Up - Lifetime United Status

Tax Haven Travel - Portland

Portland, OR is a great city for a weekend of beer, food, and shopping, especially since there is no sales tax. Downtown has a large mall and an Apple store. A little bit north, there are more brand specific shops and breweries. I enjoyed my stay the The Nines hotel and the MAX light rail is a great way to get into town from the airport and hop around central Portland. 

Horizon Q400 Departing Portland

The Portland Japanese Garden is a bit out of the city center, but a great morning or afternoon of tranquility. The airport has shops after security that sell beer and wine if you'd prefer to carry on liquid souvenirs. 

Another Photo PostSFO

SFO Plane Spotting

Photo Post

Enjoy.

Fun Name

AA Award Changes

My American Airlines saver award trip has changed 5 times in as many weeks. My original arrival time was backed up over 4 hours and I didn't want the new 5 hour connection, so I called reservations. Since the arrival time was greater than 4 hours different, I could pick any available flights to make my trip work, not just saver award flights. This was great news, because I could switch from an obnoxiously early departure time to a reasonable time. Added bonus, the new flight was on an A330 with flat bed seats. This was better than I booked.

Old Flat Bed Seats

Then my flight changed again. The connecting aircraft changed to an all coach E145 and arrival moved back 2 hours to 11:04PM. I booked first class and a 5:30 arrival originally. This was a non-starter and I call AA reservations. I was looking to cancel and rebook for an alternate airport.

No First and No Fun Over 60 Minutes

The reservations agent let me change my arrival airport and pick from any flight with seats. This was great, so I booked a reasonable flight and hope it will stick. I'm also back in first for both segments. The key is being persistent and having flight options to suggest to the phone agents before calling. Also 4 hours difference is the magic number for American agents to offer you anything reasonable.

No Flat Bed Seats, but Open Bar

New CRJ Cabin

The tube is the same diameter, but new CRJ 700's, 900's, and 1000's can have larger bins and in seat power as part of a cabin refresh from Bombardier. Offer not valid on CRJ 200's.

Delta Will Have New Cabins on 20 new CRJ's

Antonov Volga Dnepr

Fun sighting.