Mileage Run

Saturday, September 9, 2006 11:40 AM EDT

I’m sitting in Terminal C at Dulles Airport. I am making my first-ever mileage run. By the end of this month, I will have enough EQMs to qualify for Premiere status with United. That entitles me to free upgrades, bonus miles, advanced boarding and a host of other benefits. I can’t wait!

Today’s itinerary is IAD-LAX-LAS-SFO-IAD. That’s about 5,600 miles in one day.

Dulles is surprisingly quiet. The last few times I’ve been here, it’s been very busy. Thousands of people coming and going. I’d say it’s down to hundreds of people coming and going.today.

This is the so called “shoulder season.” Travel tends to peak in the summer months, and tends to drop off dramatically after Labor Day. In large part because of families taking trips before kids head back to school. Many of the people waiting at the gate are retirees, without school-aged kids. Not many families with kids are flying today.

The good parts about traveling during shoulder season are smaller crowds, lower travel prices, less ground traffic and more parking.

Time to board the plane.

2:00 PM, EDT, Somewhere Over the U.S.

Two hours into the flight and things are moving smoothly. The movie is Poseidon. The movie is an entertaining adventure/thriller. But there are a few major problems. First, animation is overused for many scenes such as the ship and the ballroom. Second, several of the actors were miscast. Andre Braugher plays the ship’s captain. He’s an excellent actor. But he isn’t meant to be a ship’s captain. Kevin Dillon plays an obnoxious gambler. He is well cast in that role. Several of the lesser-known actors are weak.

The movie is a remake of the 1970s version. This version came out this summer. It didn’t do very well in the theater. An unfortunate flop for Warner Brothers. I think it will do much better on DVD.

One way to describe this movie is a “Body Count” movie genre. Any movie where hundreds of people get theatrically killed off falls into this category. That includes all of the “Living Dead” movies and related spin offs. When you know the movie you are watching is really bad, counting all the dead bodies can be a way to pass the time until the movie ends.

Sitting in coach is cramped. I’m having a hard time working on my laptop. The good news is after this month, I’ll get upper class seating for the next 15 months.

Time to do some work.

3:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time

We landed at LAX on time. The weather out here is beautiful. Sunny, relaxing and enjoyable. I really enjoy sunny weather. When the sun is out, my mood and disposition are a million times better. I feel more active, more relaxed and more energetic. When it’s cloudy and rainy out, I feel like curling up and sleeping. I notice I sleep less in summer when the days are long and more in winter when the days are short.

I’m sitting next to a power port, recharging my laptop battery and watching passengers go by. You see a huge cross section of people and cultures at airports. There is an Aussie sitting across from me eating a Big Mac. On the plane, I sat next to a blue collar worker who looked like he came off the set of My Name is Earl. The guy had a moustache, unkempt, long hair, mirrored sunglasses and a camouflage cap. There are cutsie J-Pop Japanese tourists wearing mini, mini skirts. A college coed is sitting next to me recharging her laptop and playing solitaire. An Indian baby is exercising her lungs and letting the whole world know she’s alive and unhappy about something. Airports are fantastic places to people watch.

I had dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express. A Caesar Salad and a big Iced Tea. The salad was delicious. It goes back to the sunny California weather. The sunny weather helps produce fresh and tasty fruits and vegetables. When those veggies are packed and shipped out to the East Coast, they lose a lot of their freshness and flavor. You tend to get a lot of wilted, uninspiring veggies on the East Coast during winter months. I like Wolfgang Puck’s food, but the menu items are overpriced – unfortunately typical for LAX.

The only other disappointment I have is the lack of free wireless Internet access. Several airports offer free access. LAX is not one of them. I known SFO offers free access. I’m not sure about Las Vegas though. I’m guessing Las Vegas does not. The hotels want visitors to spend time at the casinos, not in the airport surfing the web.

Almost time to board the next flight.