Time's a Flyin'

After nearly six weeks without getting on an airplane, which is the longest GLH and I have gone without flying for a very, very long time, we are once again mimicking the life of the jetsetters...

This weekend we are flying to Paris for the weekend. By the way, we were very surprised to discover that it is cheaper to fly to Paris than to take the train.

Next week we are flying to Munich for three days. GLH is going for a business trip and I'm tagging along for the ride.

Then yesterday it was decided we would be flying to the United States the week after we get back from Munich. GLH has meetings in Kansas City and New York. I have a doctor's appointment, family and friends to see and shopping to do in both Kansas City and Minnesota.

By the way, some of you may recall my previous posts on first class travel here and here and here.

The topic has once again come up...

See, our agreement was that we would use frequent flyer miles to upgrade me on the transatlantic flights when it is practical and possible to do so. And we have more than enough frequent flyer miles for the upgrade.

However, since the departure date is only a couple of weeks away, it is too late. Apparently the airline has only a certain number of upgrades allowed per travel date. The upgrades on the days I am flying have already been used by other passengers who booked long before I did.

There is another wrinkle. We thought GLH's flights, which were arranged through his company's travel services, would be one itinerary. So I arranged independently to be on the same flights. After my nonrefundable flights were booked, we discovered they actually booked him on a completely different airline, flying through a different city and arriving more than 4 hours apart!

There is a new rule.

In the future all transatlantic travel will be decided upon and booked at least one month before departure. That way there is time to wait to find out which flights GLH is actually booked on before I need to book my own flights. And time to upgrade me so I can sit with him in first class.

I do not believe that is asking too much.

I imagine this will be very difficult for GLH who tends to decide travel plans with only a week or two notice. But he'll just have to adjust.