Turkey Trip Recap - Day 1 (Saturday, Oct 21)
Thusly starts the recap of my trip to Turkey in late October. Enjoy!
Flight plan is Orlando to Chicago, Chicago to Istanbul. The plan is for my brother and his wife to rendezvous with me in Chicago during the 4 hour layover. Kerri and I bought some brand new luggage for the trip; my old "set" was subpar, to say the least. Bags are packed and spirits are high on this, the first day of my long journey to the land of my father's forefathers.
Kerri and I arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. The automatic check-in machine offered me an upgrade to First Class for $90 for the Orlando -> Chicago leg of the trip. "Hell yes!", I declared loudly as my credit card swiped downward. Kerri sighed in a mixture of boredom and slight embarrassment while a parade of free alcoholic drinks and flight attendants waiting on my every whim danced before my eyes. Dancing about, I declared, "First Class, here I come. SUWEET!!!"
Kerri and I said our goodbyes and traded kisses immediately before security frisked me down and inspected all my underwear. Nothing was confiscated. A few hours later, I boarded the flight without incident. The First Class seats were very nice. Large, comfy, pillowy seats that reminded me of the couch back home. The food was a choice between Roast Beef Sammich or Beef Enchilada. I chose the sammich; it was quite good. Coach customers only got peanuts and drinks. Ha ha! Some of the First Classers got multiple alcoholic drinks (all for free) but I didn't actually partake. It was a fun experience even if I didn't get to recoup some of the $90 in the form of wine or scotch.
This flight lasted only about three hours but it was one of the best flights ever. The First Class people were all so friendly. Dude sitting next to me was named Jeff. We talked for most of the trip about business, our lives, our final flight destinations, etc. We hit it off so well that, after we landed, he took me to the Vice Rear Echelon Admiral's Happy Club or whatever the hell the fancy frequent flier club was named for the airline. It was filled with bored looking loiterers, many TVs and a lot of comfy seats. My brother arrived ten minutes later so I waved goodbye to all the (now) perplexed Vice Rear Echelon Admiral members and carted my fat ass to the International Terminal.
We had to go through security and customs in Chicago. Was such a pain in the ass... our security line was the one single line (out of 8) that late flight crews were permitted to cut. So, what took the other lines about 15 minutes to clear, took us 50 minutes. Six or seven full flight crews cut our line over the course of that time. It was ridiculous.
My brother is not the paragon of foresight. He had a big final online exam for one of his classes due before end of day, Saturday. Of course he doesn't take the test before the trip. He waits until we are in Chicago to ask if I have a laptop and internet connection he could borrow. This exam was worth 50% of his entire class grade. Good ol' brother... never fails to pretty much fail at the important things. Luckily, I had my work laptop so he was able to complete the test. Due to the flight crew security debacle, he was working right up to the final boarding call of our flight. I knew, right then, that this was going to be a great trip!
Unfortunately, the flight to Istanbul was crowded so we couldn't stretch out during the 13 hour trip. More on the flight, and our first day in Turkey, to come tomorrow.
Flight plan is Orlando to Chicago, Chicago to Istanbul. The plan is for my brother and his wife to rendezvous with me in Chicago during the 4 hour layover. Kerri and I bought some brand new luggage for the trip; my old "set" was subpar, to say the least. Bags are packed and spirits are high on this, the first day of my long journey to the land of my father's forefathers.
Kerri and I arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. The automatic check-in machine offered me an upgrade to First Class for $90 for the Orlando -> Chicago leg of the trip. "Hell yes!", I declared loudly as my credit card swiped downward. Kerri sighed in a mixture of boredom and slight embarrassment while a parade of free alcoholic drinks and flight attendants waiting on my every whim danced before my eyes. Dancing about, I declared, "First Class, here I come. SUWEET!!!"
Kerri and I said our goodbyes and traded kisses immediately before security frisked me down and inspected all my underwear. Nothing was confiscated. A few hours later, I boarded the flight without incident. The First Class seats were very nice. Large, comfy, pillowy seats that reminded me of the couch back home. The food was a choice between Roast Beef Sammich or Beef Enchilada. I chose the sammich; it was quite good. Coach customers only got peanuts and drinks. Ha ha! Some of the First Classers got multiple alcoholic drinks (all for free) but I didn't actually partake. It was a fun experience even if I didn't get to recoup some of the $90 in the form of wine or scotch.
This flight lasted only about three hours but it was one of the best flights ever. The First Class people were all so friendly. Dude sitting next to me was named Jeff. We talked for most of the trip about business, our lives, our final flight destinations, etc. We hit it off so well that, after we landed, he took me to the Vice Rear Echelon Admiral's Happy Club or whatever the hell the fancy frequent flier club was named for the airline. It was filled with bored looking loiterers, many TVs and a lot of comfy seats. My brother arrived ten minutes later so I waved goodbye to all the (now) perplexed Vice Rear Echelon Admiral members and carted my fat ass to the International Terminal.
We had to go through security and customs in Chicago. Was such a pain in the ass... our security line was the one single line (out of 8) that late flight crews were permitted to cut. So, what took the other lines about 15 minutes to clear, took us 50 minutes. Six or seven full flight crews cut our line over the course of that time. It was ridiculous.
My brother is not the paragon of foresight. He had a big final online exam for one of his classes due before end of day, Saturday. Of course he doesn't take the test before the trip. He waits until we are in Chicago to ask if I have a laptop and internet connection he could borrow. This exam was worth 50% of his entire class grade. Good ol' brother... never fails to pretty much fail at the important things. Luckily, I had my work laptop so he was able to complete the test. Due to the flight crew security debacle, he was working right up to the final boarding call of our flight. I knew, right then, that this was going to be a great trip!
Unfortunately, the flight to Istanbul was crowded so we couldn't stretch out during the 13 hour trip. More on the flight, and our first day in Turkey, to come tomorrow.