The Traveling Steve's

This week I (UNO) am writing for Steve (DOS) who is on another whirlwind trip, this time to China.  I think since he abruptly had to quit flying a couple years ago (due to a pacemaker) he never really gave up his weekly urge of traveling.  While he doesn’t miss the ‘piloting’ work so much as he does the travel, he really enjoyed his international travels each week; late in his career to Tokyo most weeks.

So now he’s on a fun quest to re-qualify again for Executive Platinum, and is doing it the extreme way by flying to Shanghai for three days.  And by way of Toronto too!  Why throw Canada in the mix?  A quick search on Google Flights (awesome search engine for airfares) shows that it’s approximately half the cost to fly from there vs the US, at least for Business Class.  Not sure why that is; taxes or supply and demand, but it’s definitely cheaper to buy a separate ticket and fly to Canada, and then start your trip there.

We started off his trip with an overnight at the Orlando Airport Hyatt on Saturday night, as he had an early flight to Toronto on Sunday.  He was in Toronto about the time I was having a late breakfast.  We always enjoy staying at the MCO Airport Hyatt, and had a farewell dinner at McCoy’s the night before.

So now I’ll post a few pics DOS has sent me along the way so far.  To start with, he had a six hour wait in Toronto before his international flight, so he went into town via the train, and walked around a bit, taking a few photos of the city and skyline.

Next DOS was off to Dallas (DFW) for the connecting flight to Shanghai.  Since the Shanghai flight left in the morning, he overnighted at the airport Hyatt Regency in DFW, before checking in for his flight to Shanghai the next day.  Since he was flying international and has Executive Platinum status, he was entitled to the Flagship Dining in the DFW Admiral’s Club before his flight.  While he went by there, he didn’t eat, as he had had a full breakfast at the Hyatt before checking in for his flight.  Flagship Dining for dinner I’m sure would be an experience I wouldn’t want to miss, but I would also probably be too full from breakfast to eat that early; plus with the long flight and meals coming up.

Then at 10:30am came the LONG (14 hour flight) trip from DFW to PVG on an American Airlines Boeing 787 jet.  Prior to the flight leaving, DOS emailed me a few photos of the aircraft and Business and Coach cabin.  We flew the 787 on TAM to Easter Island last year, and the aircraft is nice (window-darkening shades, better air circulation and cabin pressure), but for us, it’s got to be Business Class due to my airplane claustrophobia, and the general cattle-car crunch of Coach. Here’s an exterior photo of the aircraft he flew, although this was going out of gate 25 and he left out of gate 30. The 787 is unique-looking with its slightly curved wing tips, as opposed to many aircraft that have a 90 degree angle tilt on the tip of the wing.

Once aboard, DOS had a nice rear-facing Business Class window seat (2L) on this long journey to PVG. American, like many carriers is fazing out First Class and making Business Class the new ‘First’.

As seen from his seat, you can better appreciate the pod-like design of this aircraft, and notice how far apart the seats are from each other, with each seat in Business having direct aisle access.

 On American Airlines version of the 787 there is only ‘Business Class’, Main Cabin extra, and Economy.  Compare business class to economy class that has 9 seats across and a 31 inch pitch.  Yikes – maybe when I was younger, but not for a 14 hour flight at my ripe old age of 54!

Later . . .  it’s now late Tuesday night as I write this, and DOS Face-timed me from Shanghai.  The connection was so incredibly clear it was like he was next door!  It was way better than most US hotels that I Face-time him from.  Anyway, he had a really enjoyable flight from DFW to Shanghai, and actually arrived nearly an hour early.  He said that while a long flight, it was nice because it was daytime, and he could nap here and there in between movies and meal services.  American served three meals on this 14 hour flight, and sitting in his Business Class seat, DOS was more than comfortable.

DOS arrived to Shanghai at 3:30pm local time, so he walked around a bit, had dinner, and then went to bed early.  He sent me just a couple photos of his walk around the hotel.  Tomorrow he is taking a private tour around the city, so I’m anxious to hear about that.

For now, it’s just after midnight here in Orlando, and 1:08pm (tomorrow afternoon, WED) in Shanghai; a thirteen hour time zone change.  So hope you’re enjoying your tour of Shanghai DOS, and for me it’s Good Night!