“But why, when you are working at the same place every day?” he asked.  The only truthful reply that I had was that I am obviously crazy!

So now I had to explain my reason for putting myself through the inconvenience of packing up, checking out, checking in, and unpacking EVERY SINGLE DAY this week…..”Well Sweetie, Marriott is running a promotion where I can get 2500 bonus points with every stay after my first stay, and Hilton offers Diamond status to someone who has 28 stays or 60 nights.  So I am trying to maximize benefits at both chains”.

“Why?”  he asked.  “Is it the “thrill” of going for these promotions or are you running low on points?”  Hmmm….I had to think about that one.  I don’t particularly find it thrilling to earn the maximum bonus during a promotion, but at the same time if I didn’t try to earn the maximum then I would feel like I let a resource go to waste. (Maybe I am obsessive-compulsive along these lines?)  I don’t really need the points, I have almost a half-million in my Marriott account – and this is AFTER booking several stays with points in the last few months.  So WHY am I doing this again?

The Hilton thing is a different story.  I requested Hilton match my Platinum status at Marriott earlier this year.  The reply I received did NOT make me joyous.  “We can give you Gold status for now, and if you stay 21 nights in the next 90 days we will give you Diamond status”.  OK, since I was just a lowly silver member, I was happy with the bump to Gold, but 21 nights in 90 days when all it takes normally is 60 nights (28 if your stays are only 1 night) in 365 days!  Their offer for Diamond status seemed like a penalty because of the 90 day time limit.  So to maximize the number of stays for Diamond status doing it the normal way, I need to have some time in between nights at the same hotel. 

I really would like to attain Diamond status at Hilton to compare the benefits with Marriott.  Due to Marriott’s Roll-over promotions, I have already earned Platinum status until 2012, so why not try elsewhere.  And just another 75 nights total at Marriott and I will have attained LIFETIME PLATINUM!!!  LOVE IT!! 

So this trip I am spending the first night in a Fairfield Inn (Marriott), which will count as my first stay during the promotion period.  The next night I will be in the Hilton Garden Inn to get a stay there.  The next night is the SpringHill Suites (Marriott) to get my 2^nd stay for the promotion – and the extra 2500 bonus points.  The next night will be at the Courtyard by Marriott – which I really hate but hey – another 2500 bonus points.  The last night will be back at the Hilton Garden Inn for my 2^nd stay.

Am I crazy?????   Probably.  All this LUGGING of LUGGAGE will probably throw my back into a tizzy  – which will serve as a good excuse to get a massage when I come home.

Sorry sweetie, you married a crazy person!!

I am loving United Airlines right now……

OK, it’s a love/hate relationship, but right now it is definitely love.

Due to my visa troubles (explained previously), I had limited options for flights when rescheduling on short notice.  My client was not willing to pay any more than necessary, so I was stuck with a really tight connection in IAD, if missed, would cause a 1 day delay in getting to my destination.

Part of the problem is that I didn’t trust United Express to be on-time.  They have their difficulties on a good day, let alone in the thunderstorm season of the north east.  Storms were predicted every afternoon for the upcoming week, and my flight was scheduled to leave Hartford around 5pm.  I had a 45 minute connection in Washington for my Frankfurt flight – miss that and I am stuck for a day – either in Washington or Frankfurt.

So I called the Global Services desk the night before, explained the situation and asked to be rescheduled on an earlier flight thru Chicago.  They explained to me that this option would cost an additional $1400 – not something I could pass along to my client.  I was advised to go to the airport early the next day because flight changes could only be done at the airport on the same day.

I decided to call the desk again that morning to see what the possibility of changing to go thru Chicago was, and thankfully this agent was able to put me on an earlier Washington flight (which previously I was told was sold out).  It did happen to be sold out and they were asking for volunteers for later flights, but I got my seat and I was happy with that.  The earlier flight (which also happened to be delayed slightly) afforded me peace of mind and plenty of time to make my connection.  This was positive number 1.

Positive number 2 was a gate agent named Claus who totally made my day.  I asked him if it were possible, to give me a free upgrade to first class since I wanted to try it for the newly configured United planes and since I am global services.  My ticket was booked in business class, which is great, but my philosophy is that it never hurts to ask.  So I asked, and I received!  Claus came through for me and I am sitting in 2C as we speak.  This is one of the newest compartments on the international flights.  I have been in the newly configured business class before, but first has several advantages:

1. the passenger to bathroom ratio is 5:1
2. the compartments are very private – no one next to you waking you up because they need to go to the bathroom
3. lots of overhead storage space because there are so few people up here
4. more personalized attention
5. chocolates

I don’t know that I would pay for these extras…..much of the other things are the same. Same video/audio selections, same in-seat power, same food basically (the short ribs I had tonight are the same that I had in business a few weeks ago), but for a freebie it is great and I am extremely thankful!!!!

Maybe on the way home I will try this again…..maybe another agent like Claus will be sweet and kind and upgrade me again.  Thanks Claus!!! Thanks United!!!

ADDENDUM

Just a note to follow up - I did try this on my return trip and United delivered again!!  At Frankfurt airport I was invited to go to the first class lounge due to my GS status even though I wasnt flying first class at this point.  When I got to the gate, my name was called and I got another free bump up to first.  Thanks again United!!!

Oh the drama……

As I sit at the airport at the start of my journey to India, I reflect back on the events of this week and the number of gray hairs these events generated.  My journey is beginning 3 days later than planned, all because there were problems with my application for a visa.

First of all – why do US citizens need a visa for India?  The visa application required proof that I would be returning to the US – basically I had to book my tickets and show a return.  How many people currently living in the US would possibly want to defect to India?  Have they looked at the statistics?  On the dhs.gov site, I found numbers of those from India receiving permanent resident status over the last 10 years.  The numbers fluctuate from between 30,000 and 80,000 per year!!!  The only information I could find on Americans immigrating to India was those of Indian descent.

So imagine my surprise when my business visa application was rejected.  The agency didn’t like the letter my client wrote because it didn’t explicitly request a 5 year visa, it said I would likely be working with the company in India through 2014.  So when the letter was re-written, it requested a 5 year visa, but if that could not be granted, then a 1 year visa would suffice.  REJECTED…..  Finally – leaving the part out about the 1 year visa, my paperwork was accepted and the visa was granted.  Too bad it wasn’t in time for my original flight.

What made matters worse was the so-called “expeditor” who is supposed to have relationships with these agencies and help the visa application process.  The only thing expedited was my aggravation.  When I first checked my application status online, I saw where the application was not accepted.  I promptly called my travel agent, who called the expeditor, and we were told that it was still in process.  It took them until the next day to get the information that I had – the application was rejected.  So we re-issued the letter, re-applied, and the expeditor told us the visa was approved and gave us the fed-ex tracking number.  So I start packing, going to the store to pick up some last minute items, and 2 hours later we were told the application was rejected again.  Can you say “CLUELESS”???  How can these guys charge for expediting???

Anyway, the drama ended yesterday, 3 days after it should have, when fedex rang the doorbell and delivered my passport and visa.  Now with my ticket rebooked, I am on my way to that place where everyone I know who has been has gotten sick.  Cant wait….