… and I’m now a Platinum level frequent flyer!
Yes, I have completed 70,000 qualifying miles on a single alliance, and earned Platinum status for 2009. Here is a complete list of all flights this year:
| Month |
Flight (click for map) |
BIS Miles |
Status Miles |
Award Miles |
| January |
Tel Aviv - Hyderabad via Amsterdam |
13,298 |
13,276 |
19,914 |
| April |
Tel Aviv - Frankfurt; Stuttgart - Amsterdam - Tel Aviv (Award ticket ELAL + KLM) |
4,215 |
none |
- 5,000 |
| May |
Tel Aviv - Honolulu via Amsterdam, San Francisco, Newark, and Paris |
20,586 |
20,545 |
30,817 |
| May |
Honolulu - Hilo (not Skyteam) |
433 |
none |
none |
| July |
Tel Aviv - Frankfurt via Amsterdam |
4,575 |
5,606 |
8,410 |
| August |
Tel Aviv - Istanbul direct (not SkyTeam) |
1,408 |
none |
none |
| September |
Tel Aviv - San Francisco via Amsterdam (one way) |
7,533 |
7,513 |
11,269 |
| October |
San Francisco - Mexico City via Atlanta |
6,939 |
6,939 |
12,143 |
| October |
San Francisco - Frankfurt via Houston, Amsterdam and Newark |
13,309 |
13,831 |
24,204 |
| December |
San Francisco - San Diego via Salt Lake City |
2,449 |
2,449 |
4,287 |
| TOTAL |
74,746 |
70,148 |
107,388 |
| Previous Balance/Level |
|
Silver |
45,230 |
| New Balance/Level |
|
Platinum |
152,618 |
Mission accomplished!
December 17th, 2007 at 04:26
Posted by
epsalon |
Frequent Flyer |
one comment
Today I have concluded my first purely domestic itinerary and achieved my Platinum status by flying from San Diego to San Francisco via Salt Lake City (yes, it really isn’t on the way).
The flight to Salt Lake was delayed due to a ripple effect (the plane arrived to SLC late from the east coast due to weather). My seat selection tricks worked and I found myself next to the only empty seat on the plane (in a row of 3).
Even with the late arrival there was enough time to grab a burger at Burger King, especially as this flight was also delayed 20 minutes. As usual I asked if an upgrade is possible and surprisingly the answer was “sure!” and I immediately got my new boarding pass assigned to seat 2D (window seat in a 1-2 row on CRJ-900) with 2C next to me vacant.
The first class seats were slightly wider and with a lot more legroom. My drink was refilled as soon as I finished it was cleared just as fast. I rested most of the flight until our only slightly late arrival at SFO.
I’m now in the shuttle home. I’m the only passenger! Good to be back.
December 15th, 2007 at 11:00
Posted by
epsalon |
Frequent Flyer, San Diego, Travel |
2 comments
Today was the first day of the WINE2007 conference in San Diego. After having breakfast at McDonald’s, I arrived very early and waited for the conference to start.
The first talk was by Nobel laureate Kenneth J Arrow, best known for his Impossibility result in social choice. Surprisingly, the talk about economic equilibrium was rather uninteresting.
I spent the rest of the morning session half-asleep due to jet lag, as there was no flight West before this conference, I had to adjust to waking up a lot earlier.
At the conference, I met many people I knew from Israel or other conferences, including Ola (from the Amazing Race post). Four of us (all Israelis) decided to go and eat together with my car. We drove to one of the restaurants recommended by the conference only to find out it was way over our price range, so we went back and ended up buying prepared food at Safeway and eating it at the hotel.
I decided to skip the last session today and go to bed. Slept for some hours and now woke up again.
December 13th, 2007 at 09:14
Posted by
epsalon |
San Diego, Travel |
one comment
Hi all from San Diego, CA. I am here for a conference called WINE2007.
Yesterday I have flown a pure domestic itinerary for the first time without ever presenting my passport. I flew via Salt Lake City, where the pilot announced it’s 30 degrees. “Hmm, warm,” I thought to myself until I realized he was using a strangely calibrated scale called Fahrenheit and he actually meant minus 1, which explained the snow everywhere.
Upon arrival at SD, I decided to visit the road where I have lived 20 years ago. At that time my family lived in University city, San Diego and I went to elementary school. I managed to find the street, the school, and the house (photos soon).
Now I’m waiting for the conference to start. More updates to come.
December 12th, 2007 at 19:35
Posted by
epsalon |
San Diego, Travel |
2 comments
Yesterday, was my birthday, and my friend Jesse and I went over to “the city” known as San Francisco. At start, I drove and she navigated (with the aid of my friend Miss GPS). We went to see city hall and the opera house, then to Japantown and ate an American lunch. The next stop on our journey was Coit Tower (nothing to do with the radio station KOIT).
Here we switched places, with Jesse driving and me navigating, and didn’t get much out of the car. We saw the palace of fine arts, and the golden gate bridge. The route took us by the Pacific shore, though we couldn’t see anything due to heavy fog. At this point we decided to head back home. We ate dinner at a nice pie restaurant and back to Jesse’s house where we saw the movie Garden State.
Pictures from the Tour
November 19th, 2007 at 23:58
Posted by
epsalon |
Leisure, US Travel, Personal, USA |
3 comments
