A perfect layover!

My airline offers those of us on Reserve a "Wish List" every Christmas.  This is a list of four cities where you'd like to be for a layover during the Christmas holiday.  I battled within myself as to where I'd like to be, since many great cities were within a wish's reach: Zurich, Munich, Moscow, Dubai, Tokyo... After changing it several times, I decided on London (LHR), Paris (CDG), Dubai (DXB) and San Diego (SAN).

I reasoned that I knew London and Paris very well, and if no one wanted to go out and do anything, I'd be just fine on my own.  I chose Dubai, because 1.) I've never been 2.) it would be warm and 3.) since it isn't a Christian country, I'd find most places open on Christmas Day.  Finally, I picked San Diego because it would hopefully be warm and I like the hotel.

On December 22nd, the first of 5 Reserve days in a row, The Voice called and gave me a London trip!  I was shocked and excited.  Even better, it was the morning departure at 9:45 a.m. that arrives in London at 10 p.m.  This meant we'd get to our hotel around 11:30 that night, tired and ready for bed--no real sleep issues to deal with-a perfect trip!

The flight was a 767 with 9 Flight Attendants working.  There are only 8 jumpseats on that plane--and I have never worked with 9 before!  (I was the #9 Flight Attendant, so I had a passenger seat as my "jumpseat".)

At the briefing, I saw Jason and Jessica, two Flight Attendants I've flown with before.  (It's always nice to meet new colleagues, but even nicer to fly with people you know and like to work with.)  The flight was non-eventful, and we all know that is good.  There was no drama, no issues, no whining, no complaining--and the passengers were good, too!  ;) Seriously, a perfect flight!

After receiving our hotel room keys, I said to everyone "If you want to go shopping, meet here at 11 a.m. and for dinner, meet at 6 p.m."  And off to our rooms we all went.

The next morning, 8 out of 9 of us met in the lobby.  That is almost unheard of!  I would have expected 3 or 4 of us to show....but 8?  That was great!

Our first stop was the 414 bus to Harrods, since a couple of the crew had never been there before.  We all ended up staying together as we shopped the gifts and Food Hall.  Of course, we had to see the Diana and Dodi Memorial.  From there we grabbed a quick lunch, and continued walking to Piccadilly Circus-almost a mile.  Along the way, we stopped at several stores, as well as a tiny Christmas market.  Once in Piccadilly, we went to the Cool Britannia store-a new fave of mine for just about any London souvenir.  Anne was especially interested in finding what we dubbed "William and Kate crap"--you know, the junk souvenirs to share with family and friends of the upcoming nuptials of the future King of England and his bride-to-be.

From Piccadilly, we walked up Regent Street, to a favorite restaurant of mine, Strada.  We rested our dog-tired feet and had a glass of wine, before heading back to the hotel to meet for dinner.  The one Flight Attendant that did not join us for shopping decided to stay solo and not come out with us for dinner.  We walked a couple of blocks to a lovely little Indian restaurant, where Anne and I were able to enjoy our new William and Kate drink coasters.  A little tandoori chicken and spicy vindaloo later, we made one last stop for a beer at the pub on the corner--for a nightcap on a perfect day.

The next morning, our hotel pick-up to return to the airport was at 9:30.  (Not too early, perfect!)  Once at the airport, we were all given seats in Business or First Class because we were deadheading home.  (Have I mentioned that this was a perfect trip?)

I ended up at home Christmas Eve afternoon, so Norm and I had that night together (which is when we exchange presents).  We had Christmas morning together, before I had another assignment to fly.  It was the perfect ending to a perfect London layover.  I could not have handpicked a better crew, a better layover city, or a better day spent in London with my crew!

Diana and Dodi Memorial at Harrods

The perfect crew: Jessica, Debbie, Anne, Amy, Jason, Sherry and Sarah

Harrods

On the walk to Piccadilly

Harvey Nichols Department Store

On the walk to Piccadilly

At the Cool Britannia store in Piccadilly

Jessica, Sarah, Amy, Sherry and Anne taking a coffee break.

Sarah bought Russian nesting dolls at the Christmas market and shows off the tiny tenth doll!

Jason and Jessica

Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus

Lower Regent Street

Anne and Sarah on the Tube.

Jason on the Tube.

The view from the hotel room--see the London Eye? (blue ferris wheel, middle left)

Sherry, Sarah, Jason, and Amy trying to decide on dinner.

Me and Anne, with our "William and Kate crap."

Jason, Sarah, Sherry and Amy at the pub.

Me, Jason and Sarah at the pub.

Sherry and Amy at the pub.

My meal in First Class--a vegetarian lasagna with fresh sage and feta cheese. Yum!

A toast to our perfect trip!

Happy holidays, wherever I am!

I'm spending the better part of my afternoon packing--I haven't flown in a while, so my suitcase is *gasp* empty...everything has been taken out and now must be put back in.  So, our bed is now the staging ground for my next trip....socks, camis, yoga pants....all in little stacks waiting to be packed or put away.

I start five days on Reserve tomorrow.  Since I have very low hours this month, I'll be one of the first ones The Voice will call out--and you can bet it's going to be one of the oh-dark-thirty Airport Standby calls.  From there, I could end up anywhere--Tokyo, San Diego, or home.  I think if I don't get used tomorrow and come home, I'll likely be assigned oh-dark-thirty Airport Standby the following day.  *sigh*

I love how this picture turned out--it may be next year's Christmas card!

I am more than likely to be flying Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  Our tree at home is decorated, presents are wrapped and have been sent to my family...Norm and I will celebrate Christmas on the 27th. Last year he surprised me by showing up on Christmas Eve from his new job in Germany.  This year, he is home safe and sound.





So, if you're flying this holiday, look for me and say hi!  I have no idea where I'm going, but, you'll know it's me--I wear goofy Christmas necklaces that light up!  This year's collection includes the new flashing snowflakes, by the way...

Whatever your holiday plans are, I hope you are with your family-in person, via Skype, or even a warm e-mail or Christmas card.  I can't think of anything else more important.

Happy Holidays from Blondie, Norm and the kitty cats!

*** 11:10 p.m.  I just got The Call from The Voice....I'm going to London (LHR) with a 38 hour layover, back on Christmas Eve.  Looks like Norm and I will have Christmas on Christmas Day, after all!!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

As you may know, my unnamed airline merged with another unnamed airline a couple of months ago, but we are keeping our unnamed name.  There have been a few changes already, like that we're getting new ID badges.  The only bad part about that is we're keeping our current photos.  Oh, well. That's small 'taters...

The two Flight Attendant unions are battling it out for the hearts and minds of all the Flight Attendants.  It's a social media nightmare and a galley-gossip festival.  Good old-fashioned jumpseat-therapy has nothing on the heated discussions taking place in planes circling the globe.  One union will save thousands of jobs, the other will guarantee an industry leading contract...it's mind-boggling the lengths the unions are going to in order to win our dues.  Yep.  The union that wins will be in control of almost $1 million dollars a month in dues.  (Rough guesstimate, figuring $40 per month from around 25,000 Flight Attendants.)  The stakes are high, and we are the pawns.

The best change to come down the pike so far, in my opinion, is a total relaxation of the dress code when non-revving.  In 1997, I remember being in San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU) and seeing all the non-revs (standbys) wearing suits and ties in the middle of August, trying to catch a flight home.   (The suit people were trying to get First Class.)  Three years ago, my then 17 year old,  6'3" son, Chase, nonrevved to Hawaii with friends.  He was fortunate to get First Class all the way over to Honolulu (HNL).  On the return flight, I looked up his "spot" on the computer, and saw next to his name "tennis shoes."  Seems the HNL agents had a much sharper eye and noticed my son's shoes were not the required dress shoes, so he was ineligible for First Class.  After "suffering" the flight in Coach from HNL to LAX, and before heading back to the East Coast, my son called me to ask if there was a shoe store in the LAX airport.  No, son, there isn't.  Maybe he'll listen to his Mama next time?

Or, maybe he doesn't have to.  The new combined airline has issued a super-relaxed non-rev attire policy, and we can wear jeans and tennis shoes in First Class now.  No tee-shirts or torn stuff, but, still...to wear jeans in the First Class cabin?  This is a huge deal!  Airline employees across the planet are shocked at this turn of events!  The once stoic, non-flexible policies are changed...and I venture to say that most of us would have expected peace in the Middle East before this kind of change would occur.

Of course, getting all comfy to travel in my jeans is one thing...finding a seat on the sold-out flights is a whole 'nother ball of wax!

Overhead space issues

My husband arrived home from his year-long deployment in Germany late yesterday evening.  We had an interesting conversation over a long-awaited-Mexican dinner about baggage in overhead compartments.  One of the Flight Attendants on his flight from Germany had moved him forward to the bulkhead seat, which gave him extra legroom. Just prior to landing he moved back to his original seat, so he would be able to retrieve his bag from its' place, without having to try and move backwards against the flow; or (horrors!) wait until the crowd was off the plane and he could move back to it freely.

He mentioned how inconsiderate he thought it was that people put their coats in the overhead compartment, thus depriving other passengers of space to put their suitcases.  I absolutely agree!  I told  him how I used to move suitcases, and pull down coats, to provide room for those passengers just starting to board.

We make many, many announcements in the Winter, during boarding, requesting folks to hang on to their coats and hats, and to place their suitcases "wheels first."  No one really listens, and the bins fill up with coats, and sideways suitcases.  I'd "spin the bags" and ask the coat-people to hold on to their big ol' puffy jacket until we had all the bags put up, then I'd stow it for them.

Then two things happened.  The most important was that I'd notice my shoulders would start to hurt and be sore after a three or four day trip of doing all this bag turning.  This was bad, because I knew if I injured my rotator cuff, I was on my own--the airline does not cover this type of injury with Workman's Comp.

The secondary thing I noticed was--it didn't improve the passenger's attitude onboard. The people's whose coats I asked them to hold on to it for a few minutes were shocked and pissed, frankly.  And the guy that I found space for?  It didn't seem to make him want to be nice to us, my actions didn't elicit a "thank you" and I was breaking a sweat and no one seemed to care.   (Really, a simple thank you goes a long way.)

So, I've stopped.  And, everything is the same.  Well, except for the poor souls who end up having to check their bags.  And, I'm sorry for them, really.  Their fellow passengers needed to stuff their coats up there....and their Flight Attendant won't help.

At least my shoulders don't hurt anymore.