Me and John Daniels. That’s is who accompanied me on my overnight journey from Helsinki to Stockholm. The cruise from Finland to Sweden is supposed to be a ‘party’ boat and in some ways it was and in others it was downright silly.
The boat leaves sharply at 6 something, nobody seems to care as everyone make a rush to the Duty Free store to buy up the alcohol. It’s a toss up if Duty Free is worthwhile when traveling to many countries, but in Scandinavia it is a must. Alcohol and everything cost way too much in general, so the quasi discounted prices were a nice change.
I purchased a personal size Jack and prepared myself for the restful journey. That quickly changed when I met Italians, Germans, Swedes, and Fins, who were on board to do one thing- get plastered.
There was a live band and later on a DJ with people from a variety of backgrounds showcasing their best rendition of “So you think you can dance.” This wedding like atmosphere got increasingly rowdy as the night went on as new friends bought shot after shot.
Hours later I was awoken from my dungeon located on the 2nd floor (I believe it is called the hull) to find that we had arrived in Stockholm.
Flying business has its perks but this was a grander celebration.
Welcome to Sweden!
Jack on the High Seas
The Press in Helsinki
The press in Helsinki is expensive. A double espresso at the Stringdberg Cafe on the esplanade is a tickling 4 euros and 90 cents.
It does come with a great seat to people watch. Directly across the street is a park that runs parallel to the road in both directions. Locals enjoy picnics, play music, and relax, taking in the last days of summer before they retreat to Lapland for Christmas preparations.
Passerbys are a mix of the business elite, curious tourists, and too many skateboarders for my taste. It’s not just the espresso that is expensive, it’s everything. Beer to food to air cost more money than I’d care to share. Yet even with these unreasonable prices, the people continue to partake in this charade.
Is it normal that water costs 5 euros? Is it sustainable that lunch goes for half a week’s salary? How much is my waiter paid to keep a straight face as she serves me my 12 euro beer?
I don’t get it so I, just like everyone else, pay and walk on.
And Now for your Business Travel Weather Report
I’m watching CNN International waiting to see if the sun ever goes down in hot Helsinki (as it is 11pm over here) when the business traveler weather report came on. I’ve traveled everywhere and still can’t understand the utility of this traveler forecast so I’m going to complain about it and hope that you guys are with me on this.
Let’s start with the map:
Aside from helping me with geography, I can’t understand why a ‘business traveler’ needs to know the simultaneous forecast of Glasgow to Athens. Worse is the arbitrary list of cities around the world which are listed in alphabetical order that serve better as a drinking game of ‘where have I been’ than useful information.
Heat in Helsinki
When you think of Helsinki, hot does not come to mind. I arrived at 9am today and had to walk five minutes from the bus station to the Hotel Kamp, part of SPG’s Luxury Collection.
And let me tell you, it is hot! It’s supposed to get up to 90 degrees today and the sun literally does not go down. Sunrise was at 4:41AM and sunset is at 10:11PM. That’s 17.5 hours of daylight so it will be interesting to see what the nightlife is like.
For lunch I had reindeer meatballs which were rough and pretty much disgusting. And now I’m off to the fortress to see some history, i.e., go to the brewery located on the island.
From there, I probably should take a nap but I am relishing in one of the last days of warmth before the move. Luckily my room came with a library, so I’ll have some books to trick me into sleep.
Wi-Fi: Adults : : Cartoons: Children
It started in Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport then it spread to Las Vegas McCarran Airport. Last week when I was in Detroit Metrpolitan Airport I heard the announcement, “Wi-Fi is now available free throughout the North Terminal.” There’s a fee for everything now including silly departure taxes, so why do more and more airports provide free Wi-Fi? The answer: Wi-Fi: Adults : : Cartoons: Children When we used to take an annual 18 hour trip from Michigan to Florida my parents would dream up innovative ways to keep us busy and more importantly quiet. My sister and I used to write down the license plates of cars that sped by which often got contentious because she wouldn’t share all her recordings, a violation of the Freedom of Information Act. When we upgraded from the Chevy Conversion van to the Toyota Previa, I brought a ‘portable’ TV that had a built in VHS so I could watch recorded episodes of Family Matters and Step by Step. That made the trip slightly more tolerable. The same strategy applies for passengers waiting in the departure terminal. Back in the day, nobody had cell phones to pass the time making them more sensitive to any delays announced by the airline. Passengers sat at the gate anxiously staring at the departure time (not electronically displayed) and dreaded when the airline attendant changed the placard to read ‘delayed.’ Today, everyone’s heads are pointed down at their phone, undoubtedly leaving us all with a degenerative neck condition in the future, as we pretend to care about the Facebook status of our acquaintances. But even spotty 3G service was not enough to keep us distracted from inclement weather, equipment failures, and other random excuses why our flights would not depart on time. So, and I’m serious when I say this, the geniuses at the airlines teamed up with the airport and pushed for free Wi-Fi keeping us constantly busy and unaware. Now, besides being able to read the mobile ESPN page, we are able to blog, watch HBO GO cartoons, and catch up on life as we wait to leave. Evidence to support my claim comes from a personal experience when I didn’t even hear that my gate had been changed because I was too fixated on writing a post about how angry I am. Speaking of which, I need to see if my flight to Helsinki is on time.
Näkemiin everyone!
Hangin On
I’m hangin on to the last few hours I have in the United States for awhile by eating, drinking, and carrying on in New York City. The adventure resumes tomorrow flying Finnair from JFK to Helsinki.
Nothing deep in this post but I wanted an excuse to post a pic.
Riga, Latvia?
I leave for Finland tomorrow and was originally scheduled to go to Tel Aviv on the 28th, a flight that I had to cancel. The problem was that my flight to my new home in Mongolia left from TLV and for my points sympathizers, it was a longhaul aboard Turkish airlines via Istanbul to Seoul.
Panic did not set in, not even for a moment, as I strategized the best way to salvage my vacation, preserve the funds in my wallet, and add another country to the Country Count List. But where to go in Europe? The land is so big, the choices are so infinite. Like Hakim, I let fate decide. Actually, I let the Star Alliance Routing Map decide. My flight to Mongolia goes from Istanbul to Seoul to Beijing to Ulaanbaatar, an extended route that I purposefully chose to enjoy more business class flights and lounges. Something that other point obsessed individuals can relate to.
The issue was that I could not add more than one leg to get to Istanbul per United one way rules (somebody please let me know if that is legit).
Scouring the routing map, I saw a direct flight from Riga, Latvia to Istanbul.
Riga, Latvia?
Sure, I’m in. I contacted United and couldn’t believe that I had to call and hang up multiple times before receiving an exemption for a change fee waiver due to the situation in Israel. To put it into perspective, if United changes your flight by even five minutes, they will not assses a change fee because they deviated from the original itinerary. This was not the case on these calls. One agent had the audacity to say that United could not extend the exclusion past today because they did not know when the conflict would be over. He then added that, “United values the safety of its passengers,” before transferring me to a no one.
In the end, I was able to add the flight, avoid the change fee, and was refunded $15 in taxes!
Tel Aviv Another Time
Last October, I was one of the lucky ones to book an Explorer Award ticket on American Airlines that consisted of 16 segments, 50,000 miles flown, all in business class. It was my crowning achievement as a points traveler because I got to fly the Dreamliner on JAL, business class over and over on the incomparable Cathay Pacific, sample British Air, enjoy the service of Malaysia Air, and find little value in the overhyped Qatar Airlines. While planning the trip that had more rules and regulations than a legal textbook, my goal was to maximize new cities visited and miles traveled. I planned it so I could leave for Asia, Africa, and the Middle East in December, return to the United States in January, and resume my travels to Europe this summer. The routing for the rest of the trip was New York (JFK) to Helsinki (Hel) to Tel Aviv (TLV). I had always wanted to visit Tel Aviv after watching a great 60 Minutes segment on this enchanting city located on the Mediterranean Coast. Even with the escalation of violence over the past few weeks, I was determined to go especially after reading a Washington Post article dated July 9, 2014 reinforced what I learned from speaking to friends who had lived and traveled there. They all made the same point: life goes on uninterrupted even during times of war. To quote the Post, one local said, ““I was at the movies last night when the siren went off, and we did not even hear it,” None of the residents trivialize the real danger that is near their doorsteps, but as the article states, “This city’s defiantly blase attitude masked a hardened sense of risk acceptance among its residents,” A significant reason for this sense of security comes from the protective shield known as the The Iron Dome that defends Tel Aviv from enemy rockets. Today, the U.S. State Department issued a specific travel warning for those with travel plans to Israel writing, “Long-range rockets launched from Gaza since July 8, 2014 have reached many locations in Israel – including Tel Aviv. . . While many rockets have been intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, there have been impacts that have caused damage and injury. In light of the ongoing rocket attacks, U.S. citizen visitors to and U.S. citizen residents of Israel and the West Bank should familiarize themselves with the location of the nearest bomb shelter or other hardened site, if available.” I am still confident that even with all that is going on, Tel Aviv is relatively safe but I cancelled my trip there because it is superficial to worry about myself as a tourist when it is a daily matter of life and death for those on both sides of the conflict. This is not the time nor the place for talk of vacation and trivial matters when there are far more important issues that must be resolved.
Viva Southwest to Vegas!
My inaugural post for the flight reviews page has to begin with Southwest Airlines because I fly it domestically more than any other airline. I have had the good fortune to have a companion pass on Southwest for what will be three years and enough Rapid Reward points to only pay the TSA tax (which is going up as of today). Southwest has no business class, no lounge asccess, and there is no champagne, but there is free on-demand TV if you want to want to watch International House Hunters on Dish (with in-flight Wi-Fi for normal web browsing only costing $8 per flight). There are complimentary drinks and snacks. Wine, spirits, and beer are available for $5. Vitamin Water is $3.
Specifically, I will be reviewing what may be the best route in the entire United States- Phoenix to Las Vegas, a flight path I know far too well. SWA flys about a dozen nonstop hour long flights daily to Sin City on the standard Boeing 737.
My only gripe with Southwest is the unassigned seating because I always forget to check in exactly 24 hours before I take-off. This is annoying if you are stuck in a middle seat flying from Phoenix to Newark because the flight time is 5 hours. Even on cross country flights, the seat size is not too uncomfortable in comparison with other US commercial airlines.
However, if you do get the dreadeed C60 seat assignment on the way to Vegas, fear not. It means that you will end up sitting in the middle next to two strangers who are just as excited as you are to make the trip. The flight attendants are as happy as can be as they serve you a welcome cocktail, most likely free from a drink coupoon.
Try to schedule a flight that gets you into Vegas at night because the strip lit up on approach to McCarran airport rivals any international skyline. Don’t worry, if you scheduled a day flight, Southwest does allow changes with no fees.
I will not be reviewing any other Southwest flights because they are all the same. And that’s a great thing!
Westin DTW: Leaving the D in Style
