Just got to Rio, 1st night Point summary

[floridarob]

I usually pick weird routing, rather than fight for flight segments the end of the year for status...Went Boston-Newark-Houston-Sao Paulo- Santos Dumont, all biz class except for the the last leg on Azul. Bought this ticket last July for 2100usd confirmed Business, was a good fare, I thought.

I'm staying at Atlantico and the hotel is full with 1 working elevator, but I still like this place.

I was so tired, I almost fell asleep and didn't go to Point but I snapped out of it and got there a little after 6pm.....

It was packed, both customers and GP's.....I could've gone with at least 7 or 8 there but I'm not a rabbit like so many here, lol

I went with a 19 yr old, very humble back to the hotel. He only asked for 150, I gave him 200......good to see Point so busy, Junior was working the bar as well.

[PeterRS]

1 hour ago, floridarob said:

I usually pick weird routing, rather than fight for flight segments the end of the year for status...Went Boston-Newark-Houston-Sao Paulo- Santos Dumont, all biz class except for the the last leg on Azul. Bought this ticket last July for 2100usd confirmed Business, was a good fare, I thought.

I've done this as well to boost mileage and status points. But it can sometimes backfire. A dozen years ago I needed more miles to get to South America biz class for a month's vacation. So on a round-the-world ticket which allows for a lot of flexibility I flew BA from London to New York using a roundabout route. London to San Francisco, overnight at the airport Hyatt using points, early morning American San Francisco to Miami, change to American to New York. But . . . all went well till the flight neared Miami. There was an electric storm near the airport and so the airport virtually closed. After a bit of circling we finally landed - and then just stayed on a taxiway. No flights were taking off and the gates were all full of planes and passengers.

I thought no problem. I had allowed 2 1/2 hours for the connection. As we sat on that taxiway, I occasionally looked at my watch. After 15, 30 even 45 minutes I was not worried. But that damn storm was still around and there were no flight movements. After 75 minutes, I could see some flights taking off. I assumed all would still be fine. It wasn't. By the time we had crawled to the arrival gate, I had 15 minutes to change terminals and get to my departing flight. Still I was not overly worried as almost all flights had been subject to long delays. As luck would have it, my New York flight departed on time. After racing through the terminals, I arrived just as the aricraft was being pushed back.

At the lounge, the very nice lady who was being bombarded by screaming passengers with missed flights offered me a flight the following day via Charlotte. But this got me into NYC in the afternoon and I had an important business lunch. From experience I know there is absolutely no point doing anything other than being nice. So I explained this to the lady and asked if she would "kindly" etc. do her best. She gave me a couple of drinks coupon and said she'd page me if a seat on the last flight to NYC opened up. Sure enough, it did. And sure enough, she remembered me and I got that seat.

When we arrived at 10:30pm I was desperatey tired, but I had got the points and mileage. That was not the end of the troubles, though. Half the bags appeared on the LGA carousel in reasonable time. My bag and the others did not. After an hour in a nearly deserted airport, some of us found an AA rep. She explained that the aft cargo door on the 757 had stuck but engineers were working on it. I got my bag having waited 90 minutes. The taxi took no time to get in to the city and I could not wait to grab a shower and sleep. At the hotel where I had a pre-booked, pre-paid reservation, the young man looked at my booking, checked his computer and then said since I was so late they assumed I was not coming and had sold the room. The hotel was full! Just before I finally lost it, he added. "But don't worry, we'll put you in the top floor Westminster Suite for your three nights."

[caeron]

 

You are wise. 

My experience mirrors yours. Be polite to the worker bees, and explain your pain to them. When treated well, they often work miracles for you.

I've had multiple experiences where that courtesy has paid out in spades.

 

 

[floridarob]

9 hours ago, PeterRS said:

I've done this as well to boost mileage

Too bad this "mileage" earnings went away and is now based on ticket price, no matter how many miles. I used to get enough miles on a BKK trip to pay for a Brasil trip,,,,I understand why they changed it and often wondered what took them so long, but still don't like it.