CLT | Jason Around the World

Washington DC to La Paz, Bolivia on US Airways and Avianca

Airports, Bolivia, Bolivia and Ecuador plus Medellin, Colombia, Flights No Responses »

May 062014

Got to the airport in plenty of time, since the US Airways app refused to let me check in online. Was rather shocked when the agent was able to print out all four boarding passes up front. Went through the northern most checkpoint, since that’s where TSA precheck is located, as well as being the pier that my flight was supposed to leave from. The US Airways club is pretty grim, however, so I took the shuttle bus over to the middle terminal to use the American lounge. On the shuttle, we had to stop, because an HonorFlight was coming in, filled with World War II Veterans coming to DC for the day to see the memorial:

Made it to the American lounge, home of the best airport bloody mary anywhere. To quote the bartender: “I make them from scratch and I’m gonna get you there before your flight does!” He wasn’t lying – they were delicious!

Then it was time to take the shuttle back to the terminal and board the first flight on time:

US Airways flight 3264 (Operated by Republic Airlines)
Washington, DC National (DCA) to Charlotte, NC (CLT)
Depart 11:00, Arrive 12:32, Flight Time 1:32
Embraer ERJ-175, Registration N128HQ, Manufactured 2008, Seat 3A

Pre-flight beverages were offered and I had a water to offset the bloody mary, and soon we were off to the north, with a gorgeous view on takeoff:

Plenty of Salt, Not Enough Oxygen…a Trip to Boliva, Colombia, and Ecuador

Bolivia, Bolivia and Ecuador plus Medellin, Colombia, Ecuador No Responses »

Apr 232014

I’d been thinking about this trip for a long time. For about a year, I’ve had only two countries remaining to visit in South America, Bolivia and Ecuador. I’d always planned on doing it with American, but earlier this year when United seriously devalued miles I wanted to burn every last one. I started looking for weeks I could get away, and possible routings. Getting into La Paz and out of Quito were pretty easy, but getting between them was harder.

I could have done the easy thing and just buy it, but I had some more miles left, and United was giving me all sorts of exotic routings that would allow 23 hour connections in cities I hadn’t been to before. In the end, I decided on Medellin as it sounded the most interesting and exotic. I’ll admit, I didn’t do much research when putting this together. I had over 500,000 United miles to burn, and under a week to get things done, so I planned the in and out flights…and left the middle to chance a bit. That said, I leave in barely a week and still don’t have everything booked. It’ll all come together I suspect.

…any last minute “musts” or advice are certainly welcome.

The planned itinerary, and rough plans for this report:

Part I: Washington DC to La Paz, Bolivia on US Airways and Avianca (via Charlotte, Miami, Bogota)
Part II: La Paz, Bolivia
Part III: La Paz to Uyuni, Bolivia and the Hotel Luna Salada
Part IV: Salar de Uyuni – the Salt Flats
Part V: Uyuni to La Paz, and daytrip to Lake Titicaca
Part VI: La Paz to Medellin, Colombia on TACA Peru (via Lima)
Part VII: Short Stay in Medellin
Part VIII: Medellin to Quito, Ecuador on Aero Republica and COPA (via Panama)
Part IX: Quito, Ecuador
Part X: Quito to Washington DC on COPA and US Airways (via Panama, Cancun, and Philadelphia)

Routing:

I promise this won’t be one of those post and run trip reports….it’ll go live in just over a week with the first update! I also can’t resist sharing, as a teaser, the BIG trip I’m planning in October/November. Suiffice to say with a trip report name like “From Bula to Shalom!” I hope it will be epic…four weeks in the south pacific, a couple days in DC for laundry, and then Israel and Palestine.

Minneapolis to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea on US Airways and Lufthansa

Airports, Equatorial Guinea, Germany, New Years 2013-2014, Nigeria 2 Responses »

Jan 052014

I had booked this ticket as a one-way United award many months prior, using US Airways to Frankfurt and then Lufthansa to Malabo on miles in business. Fortunately, the day before, Lufthansa freed up first class award space across the ocean AND onward to Malabo, so a quick call and I was all set! The routing was a bit out of the way, but it would be a longer flight so hopefully I’d get more sleep, plus my first chance to fly the Lufthansa A380 in First.

Got to the airport at the crack of dawn, as was surprised to see this jolly old soul in the gate area, handing out gifts:

Continue reading »

5th Annual Crazy New Years Trip

5th Annual Crazy New Years Trip, Angola, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Germany, Nigeria, Portugal, Sao Tome e Principe No Responses »

Dec 312013

“Since I had peeped over the edge myself, I understand better the meaning of his stare, that could not see the flame of the candle, but was wide enough to embrace the whole universe, piercing enough to penetrate all the hearts that beat in the darkness. He had summed up — he had judged. ‘The horror!’ He was a remarkable man. After all, this was the expression of some sort of belief; it had candor, it had conviction, it had a vibrating note of revolt in its whisper, it had the appalling face of a glimpsed truth — the strange commingling of desire and hate.” – Joseph Conrad, the Heart of Darkness

Africa. The more I go, the more I learn about myself. But as Conrad noted, it’s just a peep. Enough to know these people are tougher than me, they endure way more that I could. I come into their world for a brief couple of days, usually via some Lufthansa first class flight, and only glimpse at the reality that is Africa. But it’s enough to know that given enough time…Africa would win most likely 😉

This trip came just 7 days after returning from three weeks in Tajikistan, Moscow, Montenegro, and Serbia. I left exhausted, to take on probably the most difficult group of countries I’d set out to do to date. For some foolish reasons, I combined many of them into one trip. The visas themselves, well, they were a mix:

Cameroon: easy, but sketchy. Made me wait around there embassy for two hours, but then $140 in cash later I had it on the spot.

Gabon: drop it off, two days later it was ready. Piece of cake.

DRC: ugh, letter of invitation, notarized with three different stamps in the DRC, etc. Once I had that, however, it was a piece of cake.

Congo: well, there’s a story here. I’ll tell that when we get to it.

Angola: eight trips to the embassy. Lots of confusion, forms, cash, stamps, emails, angry people. But I got it. I still can’t believe I got it.

The rest were no visa, or visa on arrival. I’ll detail more when I get to the individual posts.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to keep up not TOO delayed. The flight routing is:

Trip Map

…first post coming soon. First thought on parts:

Part I: Minneapolis to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea on US Airways and Lufthansa
Part II: Malabo, Equatorial Guinea
Part III: Malabo to Douala, Cameroon on Ethiopian
Part IV: Douala, Cameroon
Part V: Douala to Libreville, Gabon on South African
Part VI: Libreville, Gabon
Part VII: Libreville to Kinshasa, DRC on ASKY
Part VIII: Kinshasa, DRC
Part IX: Kinshasa to Brazzaville, Congo by boat
Part X: Brazzaville, Congo
Part XI: Brazzaville to Pointe-Noire, Congo by train
Part XII: Pointe-Noire, Congo
Part XIII: Pointe-Noire to Cabinda, Angola by taxi
Part XIV: Cabinda, Angola
Part XV: Cabinda to Luanda, Angola on TAAG
Part XVI: Luanda, Angola
Part XVII: Luanda to Sao Tome, Sao Tome e Principe on TAGG
Part XVIII: Sao Tome e Principe
Part XIX: Sao Tome e Principe to Praia, Cape Verde on TAGG
Part XX: Praia, Cape Verde
Part XXI: Getting home – TBD!

I already know this isn’t how it will happen. It’s Africa. Things change, and break, and don’t happen, or go places they don’t expect to. It’s gonna be an adventure!

Some thoughts on US Airways Express Washington National (DCA) to Charlotte (CLT)

Airports, Flights No Responses »

Aug 012012

I know I normally write about international travel, things that are confusing or more difficult to figure out…or places that many people haven’t been to. However, I had a rather “typical” domestic trip this past week that I thought might be worth sharing. I was originally planning on driving down to Charlotte due to it only being six hours or so, but when US Airways had a weekend sale it was definitely worth it. See, unlike Delta and United, the US Airways weekend fares allow you go to go on Saturday and return Sunday. The others make you stay until Monday. Flight times planned around flights that were two cabin, and I was off!

Got to DCA about 70 minutes before my flight, which was more than enough. I’d had my boarding pass sent to my iPhone, and I’d estimate total time from metro to the other side of security at 10-15 minutes absolute max. I was at the centre pier at DCA, so there was no US Airways lounge there – only the American one and the closed United one. With no way to get in, I waited a few minutes in the common areas recharging my phone and guzzling water, and soon it was time to board. Just one note: in the past week the United club has been converted into a second US Airways Club at DCA, so there’s now another option for people with access here. This will be nice in the future!

US Airways Express operated by Republic Airlines Flight 3183
Washington National (DCA) to Charlotte (CLT)
Depart 10:55, Arrive 12:21, Flight Time 1:26
Embraer E-175, Registration N116HQ, Seat 3A

Boarding was completely on time, friendly, and efficient. Took the flight attendants a little time to take pre-departure drink orders, but they were more than happy to do so. Can’t really say anything out of the ordinary here. Crew was friendly and polite, everything was on-time, and my upgrade cleared at the time of booking. All in all, what I would consider an absolutely perfect domestic experience. Now, a quick pic of the hair of the dog, aka bloody mary #1 of 2 on this flight:

Landed in Charlotte a couple minutes early, quick taxi, and to the gate a few minutes ahead of schedule. Had an hour to kill before my brother arrived on Delta with the car reservation, so had a quick lunch at BoJangles. Mmmm, can’t go wrong with chicken and biscuits, especially when you don’t have access to it all that often. Can’t be THAT bad for you!