Southwest Airlines – a first – from San to San

Unfortunately I lost my boarding passes on my quick trip to San Diego from San Francisco and back. It was the first time that I had the pleasure to fly with Southwest, eat nuts, and drink wine out of a plastic cup. Flights were punctual, boarding was efficient, and the crew was nice. Southwest just has a fleet of 737’s and all are taken care of. Tomorrow I am back to Miami with AA – already got notification that I got upgraded – thank god.

Miami, FL – San Francisco, CA | AA 431 | 4A

Up early – said goodbye to wife, mom, and dog and was back at MIA checking in to my flight to San Francisco for both a global and regional meeting.  I was lucky enough to get upgraded for the five plus hour flight and let me tell you that the blueberry pancakes were great.  I was travelling with some colleagues of which one was celebrating her b-day today (she turned 29 – so she says).  We asked the flight attendant to please mention over the intercom – and in Southwest style fashion it was done.

The flight was smooth and I had the pleasure to sit next to Claudia which gave for a great conversation and made time pass bye quick.  Pilot made a great landing – almost as good as the lady yesterday.  Flight left and arrived on time with out any issues – smooth sailing and I was also able to get a great view of the Rockies.

Rockies from plane

Bogota, Colombia – Miami, FL | AA 2170 | 3G

I have said it once and I will say it again, women pilots are better at landing than men.  Case and point, on my flight back to Miami, the landing was absolutely fantasic – the pilot a woman, and let me add that she was somewhat of a cougar – I could definitely see some fangs.  The flight left on time and arrived without any delays – unfortunately since I am in the process of getting my green card, I always need to go the “the room” when I arrive at any US airport.  “The room” is notorious in Miami, today I was there for over three ours.  I will not even get into the effectiveness of the people working in that place – I am sure documents could be processed a lot faster.

This flight was on a Boeing 757 – while I know the planes are fairly old yet technically and mechanically sound – American Airlines should at least upkeep the interior.  The seat in front of me was falling apart.  Tomorrow I am off to San Francisco – early in the morning on a 757 – again.

Erin – you better start writing!

Lima, Peru – Bogota, Colombia | LAN 2582 | 16J

What can I say – it has been way to long to not post, figured I would start again and hope that Erin will continue the trend.  A few days ago I was in Lima to speak at a web 2.0 conference and am now in Bogota, have been travelling a lot again lately and getting used to the jet fumes again .  

I had the pleasure to fly with LAN airlines (part of One World) – and must say that it is probably one of the top carries in the region – I was even served food – imagine that.  The flight was normal, no wacky passengers, no technical difficulties (thankfully).  On Saturday I am back to Miami just for a few hours and then off to San Francisco – hoping that I get the upgrade – request has been sent in a long time ago.