United Premier: What to do if your flight is cancelled

United put me up in a hotel because my flight was canceled. I walked to the customer service desk near C18 as instructed but not to rebook my flight, I had already done that.

For united premier travelers when you call the united reservations desk with your personal cell phone they automatically recognize your number and route you to the right desk. Its amazing. You are literally talking to a person in under 60 seconds. Its my favorite thing about being a united premier traveler.

Access to a reservations agent so quickly has saved my skin so many times I can’t even count. Many premier travelers don’t even utilize this service! I don’t know why but when I went to the customer service desk I talked to a couple premiers in line who were on the same flight that got canceled and they said they were going to try and get on the first first next morning. You know, the one I was already booked on… In the absolute last seat!

This is a great example of why its sooo important to call united reservations with your personal cell phone as soon as your flight is cancelled. kept that to myself.

A lot of times they rebook you automatically so even if you don’t call you’ll be on another flight but I’ve found better ways home than what they auto-booked me on just talking to an agent for a couple minutes!

Winter weather from the air

This was an interesting view where two large cloud systems formed a long strip of land that was visible. This is the calm after the storm ad I was delayed due to multiple flight cancellations out of EWR and ORD. The clouds look peaceful now, the morning after.

The ground looks grayscale with whites, grays and blanks but there’s also hints of blues. It almost looks like the face of an imperial star destroyer or a Borg ship.

United Club ORD Concourse WW

Soup

Potatoes, corn, peas and other sorted vegetables in a tomato base.

Salad

Carrot, tomato, chickpeas with a Tomato basil couscous over greens.

Cajun style rice with shrimp and andoille sausage. Nice and spicy. I couldn’t believe I actually found shrimp in my serving.

I really like united clubs that have a hot food option like this. Its great they have healthy options like salad and they do it really well but sometimes you want something a bit more than salad.

At breakfast the hot food option is oatmeal which I definitely partake but a lot of clubs just don’t have anything hot the rest of the day!

Stanford Grill

Found this place in Columbus, Maryland. The ahi tuna salad looked amazing but since I was in Maryland I felt like I should go to with the crab cake salad.

The salad was everything Avacado was everything I was expecting and more. The heat from the crab cake balanced the coolness of the salad. The avacado was delicious and was an excellent compliment to the salad which tasted almost like salsa rather than s salad. The grapefruit added some sour to the mix and was an odd but welcomed addition to the medley.

Phillips Seafood @ BWI

Pretzel sticks with crab and artichoke dip. Very cheesy, delicious but very heavy. Pretzel bread was awesome but not enough to finish the dip. They charged me $1.50 for another pair.

Crab cake bites topping fried calamari served with a zesty Asian and more traditional tartar sauces. I am not a huge fan of fried calamari but the crab cake bites were great. The zesty Asian sauce saved the fried calamari for me.

I typed it of with Phillips amber lager which was full bodied amber. Good taste but a bit to heavy for me given what I was eating.

Don’t be too cool to look out the window

I travel a lot and I meet a lot of people that travel a lot while traveling. I sit next to them on airplanes or in lounges and one thing I’ve noticed is that they tend to find everything very mundane.

I’ve been traveling professionally for 12 years and I don’t find it mundane. Sometimes does it suck? Oh yeah but barring extenuating circumstances I enjoy traveling. Specifically, I enjoy flying.

On the airplane you’ve got a couple types of travelers: chatters, sleepers, and workers. Thereof definitely fluidity between these types. Immediately after we all take our seats everybody falls into their category.

To me this is a shame, not because I’m against sleepong, working or chatting on airplanes but because the seldom seen fourth type is so uncommon. Lookers. Lookers are so rare because they are usually under 8 years of age and lets be honest, this is a very narrow percentage of the air traveler population. Probably the most famous and infamous portion of the population but rare nonetheless.

Kids aren’t afraid to be caught looking out the window and we grown ups should take a lesson. Airplanes are cool.

The fact that there is a several ton hunk of metal rocketing 30,000 feet above the ground is pretty darn amazing and we adults totally take it for granted.

The views you can get from up in an airplane are amazing. Some people spend millions of dollars on a house that gets a downright crappy view compared to some I’ve seen in the air.

Its funny every time I go to take a picture of one of these epic views somebody else sneaks a shot in as well. its almost like because I made the first move, now its okay. I think this is the general negative cultural trait amongst the grown up population that is not cool to be impressed by things. At least in front of other people let alone strangers!

But I don’t care and you shouldn’t either! So go ahead and look out that window, soak it in and maybe snap a picture to make it last longer!

Here’s a shot I took of NYC while passing through today.

How to go through security like a pro

Minimize the number of hands you need

Buying the right bags is crucial if you are a frequent traveler. Knowing the routine is one thing but having the right tools is entirely something else.

Get a roller bag that is compatible with a backpack or briefcase that will slide into place. I’m using my trusty Briggs and Riley baseline 2 wheel domestic carry on with a Briggs and Riley leather backpack.

The backpack has a small sleeve where the handle slides up through it allowing the bag to rest snuggly on the roller bag no matter whether it is standing erect or at a diagonal.

For so many years I struggled with my backpack that did not have this sleeve. I would still keep my backpack.in the same place but it would constantly fall off. This was one of my stressors.

Maximize space for other people

Most people that go to the airport are tourists. They aren’t used to it say in and day out. These people need more time than professional travelers. Not because we are smarter but for the simple reason that it is a routine for us. We are less likely to make mistakes if we are rushing or trying to figure things out because it’s not our first rodeo.

Giving people more space while going through the security line is crucial. A lot of people need a lot of space because they haven’t perfected the art of going through tsa security check points. This may not help you directly but it helps everybody go through security more expediently. If you show a good example to follow maybe other professionals will follow your lead.

I always stack my trays containing my laptop(s) with the top tray being my personal items. On the picture above I have for trays. Two for two laptops. One for a portable monitor and one for my personal items.

If you are a sane human being and only travel with one laptop then you only need two trays. One on the bottom for the laptop and one on the top for clothing, phones, accessories.

Know what you need

I know how many trays I need for what be packed before I go grab them. There is almost always wait time where I can do the math.

I know if I need to print a ticket or not. I know if I’m tea precheck or not and plan my route accordingly.

I put my wallet and cell phones and anything in my pockets for that matter in my back pack. This minimizes you rummaging around trying to find it in one of your trays. I’d its behind a zipper, it won’t get lost.

Sushiko On Mondays

Best place for sushi on Mondays. They have a great deal on assorted specialty roles and drinks.

Great roll deal. We like sticking to the specialty rolls. However, I do like the spicy tuna and abacado hand roll.

We always order a lot. It looks like way too much but somehow it always gets finished!

Volcano down the middle, spicy tuna, cucumber, topped with avocado, spicy crab salad, crunchy

California on the right side

Caterpillar on the left, spicy tuna, cucumber, topped with avocado, masago

Spider…soft shell crab, Spicy crab, avocado, cucumber, masago