Ski-Air Travel

Tony Crocker said:
Our plane was taxiing at JFK, stopped abruptly, knocking over a flight attendant who was injured and needed to leave the plane. Then all 8 brakes were checked to prevent a recurrence so the plane took off and landed 2 hours 10 minutes late.

So we landed 8:40am and did not get out of Milan airport with our car rental until 10:45. We had a scenic drive over Simplon Pass 1pm but did not have time for James style arrival day skiing. We got to the Tasch parking garage for Zermatt at 2pm.
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Sorry to hear. I am landing 6:45 (maybe?) 3/29 and planning on skiing Monterosa out of Alagne same day. Alternatively if the Nordstau over performs I might head direct to Zermatt. Looking forward to your update!
 
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We passed Rothwald at 1PM, decided that was too late to change clothes and ski. We got to Zermatt early enough to walk around town and find the Zermatters office.
 
Not air travel but from time to time one must travel through the Frejus, Mont Blanc, St.Bernard or Gotthard tunnels. Only Mont Blanc seems subject to queues, typically 15-25 minutes. But we arrived about 6PM on April 3 and had to wait 75 minutes.

Departure from Milan Malpensa had its moments. United and Delta have been exiled to check in counters 20-24, which are a significant schlep beyond 1-19, especially with ski bags.

Then the automated kiosks for return to the US malfunctioned so we had to push our way forward in a big passport line to be reviewed by a human because it was past our boarding time.

On a positive note, this flight home achieved a travel milestone.
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Tony Crocker said:
Then the automated kiosks for return to the US malfunctioned so we had to push our way forward in a big passport line to be reviewed by a human because it was past our boarding time.
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I mentioned a month ago that Global Entry nationwide had been paused due to the Iran War but you're saying that the situation at MXP was only due to a kiosk malfunction?
 
That's pretty awesome that they recognized you in person at the airport.

I'll never get a million mile status with any airline. I'm too price sensitive and not anywhere loyal enough to accomplish that. My best mileage of butt-in-seat is with United but that is only several hundred K miles. A good example is that I have only occasionally flown United the past year or two because their prices have been way out of line compared to the competition more often than not - and that includes trying to use miles for some trips - just outrageous milage numbers they want for trips that should only cost ~25-35K.
 
EMSC said:
I have only occasionally flown United the past year or two because their prices have been way out of line compared to the competition more often than not - and that includes trying to use miles for some trips - just outrageous mileage numbers they want for trips
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I think that you should try to fly Southwest or Frontier more often.
 
jamesdeluxe said:
I think that you should try to fly Southwest or Frontier more often.
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I'm pretty equal opportunity for the most part. I've flown United, AA, Delta, Southwest, Frontier, Alaska, Air Canada in the past ~2 years... All for various reasons including price, airport service (eg only Delta flies to Elmira), flight times, # of bags, length of flight/trip, etc...

Frontier can be OK for shorter trips, but with bags or etc... it is frequently as or even more expensive than other options and all for a much shittier experience with much higher likelihood of delays too IMO. Be careful thinking discount carriers are actually cheaper.

I have not flown since my heart attack so far, but had just flown home from FL on Southwest 4 days prior from turkey week for example. Wonder how the experience is now with no free bags but assigned seats...
 
I was surprised about the airport recognition only because flown miles don’t usually show up in my account until 2-3 weeks after the flight. Obviously the system calculated this trip would put me over and alerted the agents when we checked in. So they didn’t complain about Liz’ 58lb ski bag.
 
The Points Guy explains the Xs and Os of Tony's feat. The underlined part is what would kill me.

How long does it take to earn Million Miler status?​

Earning 1 million lifetime flight miles is not easy. Even if you earn 100,000 lifetime flight miles per year, it'll take you a decade to earn 1 million lifetime flight miles.

Delta economy


If you qualify for lifetime elite status entirely on one-way flights from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) — a distance of 2,579 miles — here's what it would take to secure status for life:
  • Gold Medallion: 388 flights
Of course, if you frequently travel on long-haul routes, you can achieve Delta Million Miler status with fewer flights. However, remember that basic economy fares won't accrue any lifetime flight miles toward Delta Million Miler status.
 
From 2014 - 2023 Delta had Medallion Qualification Miles which were calculated as miles flown. I would get 20-30K extra of these every year as a bonus for Amex card spending. These were also added to miles flown and thus are probably responsible for a quarter of those million miles. I have been in Delta’s program since the late 1980’s.

FYI my dad was a million miler with American due to the 10+ round trips a year he flew to DC as Manager of Government Contracts for Lockheed California from 1959-1973.
 
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Our track record with Alps travel continues despite that award presentation. The plane was a bit late leaving the gate in Milan. Then we got an announcement that it weighed too much to take off and would burn fuel for 15 minutes to lighten the load. That's a new one to me!

We arrived in Atlanta half an hour late and the Delta app suggested we rebook a 2 hour later flight to LAX. That was a correct move on their part because of course we have to claim luggage and schlep it to a transfer point, two such points with oversize. Then we had one of the most anal TSA inspections ever despite having precheck. I had a patdown, perhaps due to my knee brace which contains no metal. Then our sealed duty free bag from Milan airport was opened, two jars given an explosives inspection, then resealed.

At least Delta has tons of flights between ATL and LAX. I hope our luggage is on the same flight as we are. I was presented with another Million Miler certificate at the Atlanta gate despite being not the originally scheduled flight.
 
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Tony Crocker said:
From 2014 - 2023 Delta had Medallion Qualification Miles which were calculated as miles flown. I would get 20-30K extra of these every year as a bonus for Amex card spending. These were also added to miles flown and thus are probably responsible for a quarter of those million miles.
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It was odd (and a major omission) for The Points Guy not to mention the importance of credit card spending on a person's FF war chest, for Medallion Qualification or just to score free flights. Very few people other than the George Clooney character above (great scene and the actor cast for the pilot is perfect) flying business class exclusively could reach any major milestone without it.
 
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