Oh, how I love to be a United Premier Frequent Flyer member. I go in the fast check in lanes at the airport. I board early. I get to sit in Economy Plus seats that give me five inches of extra leg room and if spaces allows, the seat next to me is empty. Plus, I get 25% extra frequent flyer miles every time I fly United. After many years of flying a lot, this is the first time I’ve accumulated more than 25,000 miles in one year on one airline and qualify for the special status. However, I wasn’t even trying to get that elite rank and I was quite surprised when I found out that I was bumped to a higher social strata of flyer. To keep my coveted place in frequent flyer paradise, I have to fly 25,000 miles or more each year. I flew 18,500 miles in the first four months of this year. For my trips to Orange County later this month, I am specifically going to the San Francisco airport instead of San Jose airport, which is much closer to my house, just so that I can fly on United and accrue my miles.
I have been seduced by United.
I was thinking about how I could avoid emitting so much carbon into the atmosphere with my lifestyle. I could buy carbon credits. That’s on my list of things to do after I get my IRS tax rebate. Then, I could fly from a closer airport. How about taking the train? Oh yes, the beauty of Amtrak. When I told my Dad that I was thinking of taking the scenic and LONG route to Southern California via the train, he laughed.
“Are you crazy? The train barely crawls. The scenery is boring once you leave the coast. You will be bored!”
Hmm, twelve hours on a slow locomotive may make me go loca (crazy). I do espouse traveling via National Geographic Magazine and the Discovery Channel, but there are times when I physically have to be somewhere else. Especially when people are paying me to get my body to a meeting room, as in the case of my Southern California jaunts. Also, I want to go to the Book Expo in Los Angeles in late May and look for a publisher for my book and make connections.
Flying premier or slowly taking in the California landscape? What’s this traveler to do?