1. My mom made Gold Elite on Continental for the first time this year. Flying IAH-EWR-HKG recently on a discount fare, she got automatically upgraded to first class for IAH-EWR, which is quite normal for 2nd tier elites. What's unusual is that she got operation upgraded for the EWR-HKG at the gate. CO's BusinessFirst is one of the best business class in the world, and they only upgrade passengers when economy is overbooked, which was exactly what happened.

Again, elite status is really worth something. For a $1,000 discount fare IAH-HKG, she gets to sit up front for at least the whole outbound leg. And after she comes back, she will have earned close to 40K Onepass miles, about 20K are EQM. Other benefits include Elite check-in and security lines, priority boarding, dedicated phone agents, etc... Can't complain.

2. My dad flew a different itinerary on an award ticket. IAH-NRT on CO, and then NRT-HKG on NW. While all airlines are doing non-stop Asian flights, NW's still sitting on its hub at NRT and nothing else. Because they have to wait for all incoming connecting passengers, their NRT-Asia flights are always always late. This time, it's almost an hour late arriving at HKG (close to 11pm). With one more stop than UA and others, no individual screens on the 747s, no "economy plus" or "premium economy" products, NW still can only compete with pricing. Pitiful.

3. I'm going to fly CO's "Oilman Express" IAH-YEG (Edmonton) route this holiday weekend, for no particular reason. Used up some of my Delta Skymiles that's been gathering dust, and saves myself $20 in fees compared to using my CO Onepass miles. What's surprising is that I actually talked to a non-Indian phone agent at DL! I guess the international partner desk is still somewhere in the US.

[Unlike Dell Computer - well that's another story... My new Dell monitor broke, so I have to call to get that replaced under warranty. I talked to 5-6 Indians until I found one that I can communicate with, and get the thing resolved. Argh...]

And thank god YEG is 1,854 miles from IAH, a little too far for the Jungle Jets. Or else I'm sure CO will fly those instead of 735s over there.

4. If I count the upcoming YEG, I will have landed or taken off at 85 airports around the world. Two new ones this year - BRS (Bristol, England) and YEG (Edmonton). [Yeah, I do have a spread sheet to keep track of these things. ]

I've been upgraded on three of six transatlantic flight segments this year on Northwest. All of these were on A330s, which is a very nice business class service. I couldn't agree with you more about the value of elite status.

Enjoy Edmonton. I'm not much of a shopper, but the West Edmonton Mall is unreal and worth a stop. The drive from Edmonton to Jasper is mostly boring for the first two-thirds of it, but being up in the Canadian Rockies is a wonderful reward for making it.

One Edmonton restaurant suggestion, if you want one that's got some character but isn't too pricey:

Chianti Café and Restaurant
1438 17th Ave SW
Calgary, Alberta T2T 0C8
(403) 229 1600

Lots of great pasta specialties and a great ambiance with an adequate wine list; fun staff when we were there too. (It's been several years, but it didn't look like the kind of place that wouldn't continue to be succeeding for a long time.)

Flyboy, that restaurant in Calgary is a bit of a drive from Edmonton ... about 290 kilometres. Did you mean the Chianti on 82nd Avenue in Edmonton?

Anselm

Thanks guys. I'll be hitting Calgary too. Only been there for several hours during a flight layover at YYC. Went up the Calgary Tower and had lunch up there last time.

7/1 arrive late at YEG. Westin Edmonton for $55 from Priceline.

7/2 Calgary Marriott. $45 from Priceline.

7/3 Hinton Holiday Inn. C$132. Rejected Priceline bids.

7/4 red-eye back to IAH. Work 7/5.

Using the most of my holiday.

I have some relatives in Edmonton that I haven't seen for over 10 years. Hopefully they'll be in town.

DL partner award agents are still based in SLC (for now). Once in a while, if it's busy your call might get bumped to another US call center. Have a great trip!

Anselm, you are absolutely right. I MEANT the one in Edmonton, but I unfortunately pasted in the wrong address & phone -- and didn't read it before posting, obviously. Thanks!!! It's in the University area.

And just to set the record completely straight:

Chianti Cafe & Restaurant

Here, you'll find Renaissance-style cuisine at a reasonable price, right in the heart of Old Strathcona.

10501 82 Ave
EDMONTON, AB T6E2A3
Phone: (780) 439-9829

* * *

Glad to hear they are taking care of your mom, rkkwan. Have a good trip this weekend. Isn't it Canada Day, or something, on Monday?

I am a believer in elite status, too, but in my case it is United MP Premier Exec. In May, I flew IAD-SFO-NGO-SFO-IAD on United. Got upgraded to business class on both transpacific flights. Upgraded to first for SFO-IAD using five 500-mile certs (earn four every 10,000 miles). Ticket cost was $629 and with 100% elite bonus and double miles promo for SFO-NGO-SFO, the trip earned 41,494 miles.

If both DEN Stapleton and the new one count and if both the old and new PIT count, then I've been to 77 airports (including 40 in the US and 11 in Japan). Here is the list from my spreadsheet, in alpha-geo order:

ALB DEN1 IAD ORD CAI AGP FRA KOJ
ATL DEN2 JFK ORF IZM AMS MUC NGO
BGR DFW LAS PHX TLV ATH THF NGS
BOS DTW LAX PIT1 BKK BRU EZE NRT
BUF EWR LGA PIT2 CNX CDG GIG SDJ
BWI FAT LGB SAN DPS IST GRU TOY
CLE FLL MCI SDF HKG LHR CTS YGJ
CLT GRR MDW SEA ICN MAD FUK
CMH HNL MEM SFO PEK ZRH HIJ
DCA HOU MIA STL REP DRS HND

mrwunrfl - Canada Day's 7/1. Friday for this year.

It seems like economy cabins on many long-haul international flights are very full this summer. The airlines are definitely overbooking them.

So it is July 1, how insensitive of me. Should be a bit cooler up there than in Houston.

I just checked weather for Jasper, AB. I was reading Tripadvisor and while the hotel I'll be staying is decent, it has no A/C. Well, I don't think I need to worry. Light rain, high in the 60's, low in the 40's. Just a little bit cooler than Houston.

take a parka