I used to be irritated by the concept of being "elite" - Continental elite, that is. Who did those people think they were? Give me Southwest cattle call any day of the week. I don't need to be special.
But then I discovered what being special felt like. Bags coming out first, free upgrades, special treatment... oh, this is starting to make more sense. As of Monday, I was 2,500 miles away from being Platinum elite (the grand poo bah of eliteness). So, instead of direct flights to/fro Dallas this week, I booked connecting flights to get the extra miles.
My flight to Dallas on Tuesday connected through Houston. It snowed in Houston on Tuesday. What the???? It snows there like once/decade. It was beautiful though.
I knew I was in trouble when they cancelled my flight and then, on my way to the next gate after several cocktails at Pappadeux's, I passed a room where I saw people sitting on cots... uh.... So, I cut my losses in the travel department and stayed at the wonderful Hotel McElwong for a night. I strongly recommend the accommodations. But don't ask for Christmas Ale. Blaine's stingy with that stuff. Caught a flight to Dallas in the morning, as did most of the people who were scheduled on the flight the night before. Poor souls had to pull up some cots while I was resting comfortably on a tempurpedic mattress.
On the way back from Dallas, I missed my flight. And it wasn't because I wasn't at the airport in time. It was because my awesome admin puts my flights on my calendar for me. I, unfortunately, couldn't do the time zone conversion. I thought my flight was at 5 CT, not 5 ET. So while my flight was taking off with someone else in my upgraded first class seat, I was drinking a Shiner in TGIFridays. Poor me... But, do not cry for me, Argentina. I got home just fine, as did my bags.
The travel was not great. But it did accomplish my goal! And now I'm platinum special. Yay! The kool-aid tastes wonderful.
Let me know if you need some miles to get somewhere. I've got some to spare.
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