UA, $313, 3.8 cents per mile

United Airlines$312.40
8,473 miles
4 segments
3.75 cents per mile

SFO-EWR-SJU-EWR-SFO

San Francisco to Paris

This is a decent price for a direct flight from San Francisco to Paris on United Airlines.

United Airlines
$1047
11,166 miles
9.4 cents per miles
2 segments

SFO-CDG-SFO

$1054
11,863 miles
8.8 cents per miles
3 segments
This books into L class, available for a promotional mileage bonus.
SFO-CDG-IAD-SFO

Register for the 50% mileage bonus at united.com.

UA, $256, 4 cents per mile

United Airlines
$255.50
6,343 miles
5 segments
4 cents per mile
$137.12 per segment
 
MCO-FLL-IAD-SAN-IAD-SAN

With elite minimums, 6,665 miles at 3.8 cents per mile.

Red Eye to NYC

Complimentary upgrade on red eye to New York City.  Dinner of cold salads was just right.  This bumped me into 60,000 United Airlines PQM for 2013.

Sunrise over New York City

San Diego Construction, Paint Peel

The San Diego airport parking is under construction.  Unfortunately for travelers, signs inside the airport have not been changed.  For example, this sign indicates hotel shuttle pick-up is to the left (toward the United terminal).  Hotel shuttles are only allowed to pick up across from the terminal, so travelers should cross the street right here and should not go to the left.

Walking to the commuter terminal in San Francisco, I saw a couple planes.  Would I board the plane on the left with the peeling multi-tone paint, or the plane on the right with the white paint?

Boarding the United Express plane with peeling paint.

Cannery Row

I enjoyed reading Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck.

The 1945 printing of the book.

I particularly liked this part:

    Hazel kicked sand on the fire.  "I bet Mack could of been president of the U.S. if he wanted," he said.
    "What could he do with it if he had it?" Jones asked.  "There wouldn't be no fun in that."

When I see people chasing status and material objects, I wonder if they are getting what they thought they wanted.

Pick-Up Etiquette

When picking up travelers you haven't seen in a couple years, first clean out the car interior.  Bags of recyclables and hub caps are not what your visitors want to find in the seats.  Notice how the guy is simply staring at the trash bag on the passenger seat.

Click for larger images.

Linchpin

Read Linchpin by Seth Godin.

A couple notes from the book:

Page 95
Nobody cares how hard you worked.

Page 103:
The discipline of shipping makes it happen, even if imperfect.

Sad Stories

When boarding in San Diego, I sat next to a lady, apparently in her late-50s, who had a foot problem and a cane.  She quickly explained to me how she "lost out on 15,000 miles in two months" when she could not travel.  It was really sad to hear her describe her measure of self-worth (time in airplane seats) and then to exit the plane by hobbling up the jetway, refusing help with her roller bag.
A week later on the commute from San Francisco to San Diego, I sat beside a younger Polish immigrant sales lady who told me the finer details of why the Starwood hotel points program is better than the Ramada hotel points program.  This seemed to be her big interest.

It is sad to watch people take their frequent flier status (time away from home status) too seriously.