Flying First Class... Flouncy, Flouncy

Thursday = travel day! Yay! The days go by much quicker when I know I get to go home that night. I usually take a 4:30 or 5:30 flight, and I leave the office about an hour and a half before that, so it's a short day anyway. One of the perks of my job, even if leaving the office at 4pm gets me home at 10:30.

For whatever reason my 2 days of waking up at 6 to exercise caught up with me by Wednesday night, and I let myself sleep in on Thursday and then packed up. Breakfast was a repeat of the day before, although this time with some banana and a little of my leftover granola, which I brought with me in a baggie from home. Lunch was a big salad, but with nothing substantial in it (romaine, grape tomatoes, mushrooms, asparagus, olives, sunflower seeds, a few chickpeas), so I had the other half of my banana and a Pure bar in the afternoon. Totally preferred the blueberry Pure bar to chocolate brownie.

And now, a special segment:

The Art of Flying:
I like to think of myself as a strategic flyer. I have learned many tricks of the trade in my year of life on the road. Of course, I would be foolish to divulge my secrets to you, lest anyone takes up frequent flying anytime soon, but I can share a few things.

Number 1: Dress code. Never wear shoes with buckles, laces, inaccessible zippers, etc. Too much work. I have also found that traveling in business casual clothing garners more respect. For whatever reason, I feel like I get through security faster, and people on the plane are more willing to help me grab stuff from overhead when we land. Probably because I look like a serious flyer. Strategic travelers can recognize integrity in each other.

Number 2: Whether or not you're sitting in a 1st class seat, getting on the plane first is CRUCIAL. I never check a bag when I travel for less than a week, so I always have a carry-on size suitcase. Overhead space is precious, so I cherish my Priority Access boarding pass even if my seat sucks. At least I get on the plane first to secure a place for my bag. Nothing is more disappointing than having to check a bag at the gate. Baggage carousels = the enemy.

Number 3: Always request the upgrade. I used to only request upgrades after really hard weeks, but lately I've been requesting upgrades every time I fly. I tend to take popular consultant routes, which means there are tons of other people on my flights with airline status competing for the upgrade. Hence, I need to request EVERY time to increase my chances. Every airline works differently, but on American Airlines, I get to upgrade my ticket to first class in exchange for 3 upgrade points. I don't know exactly how it works, but I think you get 4 upgrade points for every 10,000 miles you fly, or something like that. And then you trade them in to upgrade.

This week, my upgrade request had not been confirmed by the time I checked in, so I went off to my favorite fro yo stand to get some "dinner" and some dried fruit/nuts. On my way over to the gate, I heard the gate agent call my name, and... UPGRADE! At first a little sad that I had already sated myself with fro yo and M&Ms (I was about to get free food!), I got over it and gladly accepted seat 3A.

The dinner this time was a little disappointing -- dry but well-flavored chicken teriyaki over mushy rice -- but the warm melange de noix at the beginning is AWESOME, and I also had a very good shrimp cocktail. I fell asleep before takeoff, so I was a little groggy when the flight attendant was taking drink orders, and I also still had my iced latte, so I waited until dinner to have my glass of wine. First class is more fun when you don't sleep through most of it. But I love having the bigger, better seat. And watching everyone else board the plane, looking wantingly at my seat :)

More flying tips and adventures to come!