Thank You, Northwest
Sep. 17th, 2007 09:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kevin_standleeWhen Lisa and I arrived to check in for our 20:55 flight this evening (having arrived 2 1/2 hours early), they asked for volunteers to be bumped. I reckoned that I could, at worst, just take another day off from work and they'd understand, and asked for more details. They said there was nothing tonight on which they could send us as an alternative. I said, "That's okay, as long as you send us tomorrow and put us on comparable seats and put us in a hotel tonight."
They looked around for a while and noticed that our ultimate destination is Portland, Oregon. They offered to fly us out tomorrow on direct flight to PDX, with a pair of World Business Class seats, put us up in the Radisson Narita, provide dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow, and give me an $800 Northwest travel voucher. (It's actually 2 * $400, but Lisa doesn't fly much so they made it out to me as a single voucher.) We said, "Sold." In exchange for flying out the following afternoon, we will actually arrive in Portland only about eight hours later than originally scheduled, thanks to not having to do the double-connect thing through HNL and SEA.
Now, it took a little while for them to do the paperwork, and Lisa was starting to show signs of strain, as was I, but eventually it got done. Unfortunately, we had to wait most of an hour for the next shuttle for the 20-minute ride out to the hotel. On the brighter side, instead of a "contractual obligation" airline-crew room, we got upgraded to what I consider a mini-suite -- a room that would be fairly spacious in the USA, let alone Japan. (Lisa has found some faults with it, however, and notes that it's really designed for a single person, despite the king-sized bed.)
Now I need to cancel my hotel reservation at PDX and let my co-worker in Oregon know that I won't be back until the morning after we originally expected. Then we need to pop down to the nearby konbini -- which unlike last night, isn't a bus ride away -- and lay in a bit of stuff that the hotel doesn't provide but Lisa and I want, like milk.
They looked around for a while and noticed that our ultimate destination is Portland, Oregon. They offered to fly us out tomorrow on direct flight to PDX, with a pair of World Business Class seats, put us up in the Radisson Narita, provide dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow, and give me an $800 Northwest travel voucher. (It's actually 2 * $400, but Lisa doesn't fly much so they made it out to me as a single voucher.) We said, "Sold." In exchange for flying out the following afternoon, we will actually arrive in Portland only about eight hours later than originally scheduled, thanks to not having to do the double-connect thing through HNL and SEA.
Now, it took a little while for them to do the paperwork, and Lisa was starting to show signs of strain, as was I, but eventually it got done. Unfortunately, we had to wait most of an hour for the next shuttle for the 20-minute ride out to the hotel. On the brighter side, instead of a "contractual obligation" airline-crew room, we got upgraded to what I consider a mini-suite -- a room that would be fairly spacious in the USA, let alone Japan. (Lisa has found some faults with it, however, and notes that it's really designed for a single person, despite the king-sized bed.)
Now I need to cancel my hotel reservation at PDX and let my co-worker in Oregon know that I won't be back until the morning after we originally expected. Then we need to pop down to the nearby konbini -- which unlike last night, isn't a bus ride away -- and lay in a bit of stuff that the hotel doesn't provide but Lisa and I want, like milk.
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no subject
Date: 2007-09-17 01:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-17 01:39 pm (UTC)Sweet...very sweet.
Here's hoping for a similar sweet deal for us, as we could use an infusion in the AA-flight-bucket for the next year.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-17 11:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-17 11:45 pm (UTC)As it happens, many of the conventions to which I fly are not especially convenient for the use of this Northwest voucher. If I were not already using USAir miles to fly to SMOFCon in Boston this year, I might use the voucher for it instead.
I also need to investigate whether I can use the voucher partially or whether I have to use it all at once. If the latter, then spending it domestically is a waste of resources, and I'll need to look into a trip to Europe, time permitting. I do have only a year to use it, after all. (I once got a free-flight voucher from America West and then forgot I had it, only to discover it more than a year later after it had expired. Very annoying, that.)
no subject
Date: 2007-09-18 01:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-18 04:40 am (UTC)