Greatest Hits of the
first day:
- Trainin’ to SFO is cheap and easy – no,
really.
- SWISS upgraded us to Business at a 75% or
more discount. Wow, what a difference.
- Priority Pass is the ticket for layover
luxury at no extra cost.
TRAIN’IN - I highly recommend anyone living in the
Sacramento area that needs to fly out of SFO to try the Amtrak / BART route to
the International Wing of SFO. OK, it took about 3 hours and one could argue
that it takes an hour and a half by car. I agree. Now, add in gas, parking
fees, hauling your stuff from the garage to the terminal and the stress of
traffic snarls possibly killing your flight plans. Oh, the cost was $29 each
and we have left over money on our BART card for the ride home. Tip: you can
purchase a $10 BART card for eight bucks on the train. I haven’t even gotten to
the fun part: the train pulls into the departure terminal for International
flights. We actually had to walk 200 feet with our 4-wheel-drive luggage to
check in. (You gotta have the spinners! – travel made easy, what took them so
long?) One more thing, you can drink on the train, “just sayin.”
FLYING
UPPER CLASS - As soon as we
rolled up to SWISS (not called Swiss Air anymore), a lovely lady offered us an
upgrade to Business Class for our 11+ hour flight to Zurich. It was pricey for
us working folks, but at $600 each, about a 75% discount, we got to enjoy fine
dining, with linen no less, and a fully reclining seat. Did I say FULLY? Think:
“lower than a Lazy Boy” with a pillow, blanket and remote control in hand. Just
like at home, except you are sharing the room with 30+ people. One guy really
should have brought his C-PAP, major snores. NO worries, they gave us a nice
little flight kit with earplugs, eye shields, booties and a tooth brush. SWEET
DREAMS. :)
FREE
VIP - Ever heard of VIP lounges
at the airport? I knew they existed, but never realized they were accessible by
mere mortals as Pat and I. With our Accolades American Express card from Bank
of America we were able to enroll for a free Priority Pass subscription for VIP
lounges in all major airports. If you like free nibbles, free drinks,
comfortable chairs and Internet access, this subscription is for you. There’s
no better way to spend five lingering hours at an airport waiting for your
connecting flight.
The
rest of the day was just boring stuff like a connecting flight and a taxi ride
into town at 2:00 am in the morning. That’s OK though, turns out this town just
gets started at 11:00 pm. Entire families, kids included are eating dinner
after 10:00 pm.
