Scotland – - Fall – - 2009

It’s been a week since my first installment of planning a trip to Scotland on my own.  Have I come to my senses and handed it over to a travel agent yet?  Have I scrapped the whole idea and decided to sit on my sofa the entire time talking to people at my office on the company provided cell phone? 

Absolutely not! 

Actually, I’ve been on line looking for a kilt to wear to one of the Whiskey Week dinners!

I know where I want to go: Scotland ?

I know when I want to go: September ?

I’ve checked the weather: Not too bad to iffy by the end of the month ?

I’ve checked the calendar for things to do: Events winding down,  fewer tourists ?

Now I just have to figure out how I am going to get there …

I am going to have to rely on the two most reliable methods of crossing the Atlantic.

SHIP

You betcha! You can still catch the Queen for a six day sail from New York. Quicker than you can say Christopher Columbus discovered Columbus, Ohio you’ll be in Southampton, England. 

Suffice to say, you’ll probably eat better than the Queen herself, and not lack for things to do, but there is the time factor.  But, if you’ve got the time, and of course the extra cash, it’s certainly an option.

Queen Mary 2                        Approx. $1395.00 Per Person (Inside Cabin)

Remember … that’s one-way!

www.cunard.com

** And, for a sign of the times, be sure to read the very fine print about their right to charge you $9.00 per person, per day if oil goes above $70 per barrel … even if you’ve already paid your fare.

AIRLINES

Of course most of us are in a hurry to get places, and flying is the only option.

UK Based Airlines: British Air – Virgin Atlantic – BMI

I’m a big proponent of flying on a carrier that’s actually based out of the country I am going to.  It adds to the cultural experience.

If you live on the east coast you can hop on a British based carrier in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, etc. and not have to connect to London.  But, from the western U.S. there are few options for direct flights to London and vicinity.  That’s why I fell off of my chair when I found out that British Airways (BA) offers a non-stop 747 flight from Phoenix to London Heathrow seven days a week.

At $784 per person coach, I was impressed.  I could drive, or take a shuttle to the airport, hop on the plane in the evening, and step off in London the next afternoon.

Then I saw the catch.  I went on the major airline seat configuration website to check out the plane:  www.seatguru.com

Tips on choosing where you’ll be sitting

Sometimes it’s the little things, especially when you are traveling with someone.  What I saw was not going to add up to a happy conversation, especially after the last flight I was on.

It seems that either configuration of BA’s 747 fleet is a 3-4-3 seat configuration in World Traveller class (economy).  I like to sit by the window and my wife the aisle.  That leaves that pesky middle seat for a single traveler to help balance the load.  And the last flight we were on, they wanted to balance the load!

(The old trick of buying up the window and aisle seat and then hope no one books in between is becoming more difficult with airlines jamming customers into planes while they cut service).

Thus, I was extremely disappointed at the 747 seat choices.

So, I tried Virgin Atlantic … same problem with their 747 fleet, plus we needed to catch a ride to Las Vegas, or Chicago, or …

BMI … same problems, smaller plane, and an even weirder connection in Sanford, Florida (try getting there from … anywhere). 

www.virgin.com

www.ba.com

www.flybmi.com 

Am I going to have to give up on my cultural experience?  I reluctantly went online to see what the consolidators would dig up for me.  At www.cheapseats.com,  I found a one-stop US Air flight to London’s Gatwick airport.  The first thing I did was look at the seat configuration.  We would have to put up with an Airbus 3-3 configuration to Charlotte, but then it was an Airbus 2-4-2 setup to London!  That was great, at least 60% great!

Then I looked at the US Air price … and then the price of the BA flight again from the quote I had printed out.  I couldn’t believe it! US Air would save me a whopping $7.00 for my trouble!

$1562.00 US Air vs. $1569.00 British Airways

So, it was no longer about the price, it was about the convenience. Non-stop vs. one-stop & a plane change.  The seat configurations might have to be dealt with by a really good pair of noise canceling headphones …

So I am holding off on the decision.  In the meantime, I am going to see if either carrier can give me some type of a package deal … air/hotels … air/car, or both. 

Next time: Are independent traveler’s packages really worth it? 

As promised, I’m filling in the return trip for my recent visit to North Carolina.  The four days we spent in North Carolina were rainy, gloomy, chilly and drizzly. 

It reminded me of the Judith Viorst book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (great book, not just for children).  Only the day was a long weekend. 

However, some bright spots – Bar-be-cue was good at Smithfield’s (which has numerous locations).  We stopped at the one in Warsaw, North Carolina.  Service was helpful – “This is what people usually get.” 

Quantities were copious.  I couldn’t finish everything.  Tender barbecued chicken, pulled pork.  I’m drooling thinking about it.

We visited with our family, ate at some chain restaurants and one excellent Thai restaurant, The Old Siam, in Jacksonvillle, NC.  The Old Siam had great atmosphere, flavorful meals (they were very accommodating about adjusting the spiciness) and a solicitous wait staff.  My granddaughter – like the old cereal commercial – liked everything, including the lemon grass soup. 

Trip Home

Everything went smoothly.  We passed through security with time to spare.  My boarding pass got torn as I juggled it with my things at security and a very friendly TSA lady taped it together for me.  When I reached the gate, I asked some of the airline staff if I needed a new one since it was torn.  They smiled and said not to worry.

Then, when our boarding number was called, as I reached the gate where the airline personnel were collecting boarding passes – one of them said –

“Oh, no, your pass is torn!  You need a new one!” and grinned at me broadly.  She winked and onto the ramp I went.

The plane was about two-thirds full.  Since the flight began after 9:00 AM, we were offered lunch-type choices.  The salad meal was smallish, but decent with fairly fresh ingredients. A Reuben was also available.  There were no headphones, films or Muzak offered.

Ahead is behind

Surprisingly, our US Airways flight landed about ½ hour early.  That’s where you get penalized for arriving before they’re ready for you.  We had to park on the tarmac for a while until our gate was ready to accommodate us.  We sat there for nearly the full 30 minutes before we finally could pull up to a gate. 

Since we had brought our luggage onboard as carry-ons, we were on our way quickly.  Outside, our “Gecko” bus brought us to our parking lot and we reached our car quickly.

Can this be the new air travel?  Less people, faster connections.  People even able to show kindness and a sense of humor!

Wow!

We found a spot in the economy surface lot ($8 per day), traipsed over to the bus stop and were able to board a bus quickly to the terminal. When our otherwise silent bus driver made announcements as we neared the terminal, he thanked us for joining them and commented that the last two days had seen the most traffic he’d seen in three months.

As we neared the usually scary long lines at the security area, we had only about three people waiting ahead of us. The TSA “greeter” reviewed my boarding pass and license, looked up with a smile and offered, “Happy birthday. I see your birthday was last week.”

Wow, personable and observant, too! What’s happening to air travel? The last time I flew, the lines were long, the officials especially officious and the effort to get to the gate on time difficult.

Our almost full plane left the gate close to the scheduled time, but had to wait a while before we could take off. About a half hour. Our non-stop flight proceeded pleasantly with several attendant services. The snack box offered by US Airways for $5 was a fairly edible tuna salad with somewhat healthful ingredients, tiny Oreo cookies, a cheese spread, some crackers, a sweetened apple/berry sauce and plastic utensils – no fork – but a plastic toothpick that could be far more lethal than a fork. Air security measures are far from making any sense.

It appears we’re about to land soon – on time, I may add! – so I must stow this.

Amazing! The new world of travel appears to be here. And, I never removed my belt with the heavy metal buckle and still passed muster at the security gate.

Hmm. We’ll see if the situation is the same on our return flight.