Streamline

I have been doing this enough to know how much time I need, how to get perks, and so on. Unfortunately, I have only been upgraded at the hotel once or twice, and that is probably due to it being empty. I will never be upgraded on American due to the amount of travelers with a higher status that I. The only silver lining is getting through security quickly.

I tried out the Admiral's Club lounge, and I must say that I am impressed. I wasn't ready for the breadth of customer that utilizes the lounge as well. People from all walks of life used it. I paid the $50 to get into it just so I could try it out. My flight ended up being delayed, so I got lucky in that the $50 was not a waste. I had 3 vodka tonics for free and they used Smirnoff. I'm not saying Smirnoff is bad, but I'm also saying it isn't a vodka I would normally go out and purchase for myself. However, if it is between a free Smirnoff and $10 for Absolut/Ketel One/Belvedere, I'll go with the free one. There were plenty of places to sit, lots of plugs to recharge laptop/cell phone batteries, nice bathrooms, and apparently showers somewhere.

Going to this lounge has brought me to a crossroads. I was thinking that I should spend the $450 to get into the lounge for a year. Or, I could spend $450 and get the AMEX Platinum card, which would allow me to get into multiple lounges. The only thing is I'm not sure if I will get reimbursed often enough, and therefore would be worried that a lot of money is coming out of my own pocket every month to pay back the Charge Card, since the balance is owed every month. Sure, it evens out in the end, but I'd prefer not to have to pay to work.

The reason I am actually deciding to pull the trigger now is that due to the winter season coming up, I have a feeling my flights have a greater chance of being delayed/cancelled, and I need a place to hang out that isn't the terminal. When I was in the lounge, I didn't feel like I was in an airport, and that is a relaxing feeling.

So here we are today. I have a conference call @ 1, and it would be nice to use the executive center at the lounge, except that I'll be sitting at some bar listening in. Sorry, I'll be a but more responsible than that. I'll wait until after the call to have my standard preflight cocktail. Can a beer be called a cocktail, or would I need to get liquor? I'll ponder that while I daydream about the lounge while listening to some toddler act up as their parents hope that someone else will police their kids.

Sigh