Our flight to Chicago was uneventful, except that it got us to Chicago. At the pickup area, we watched every hotel shuttle in the greater Chicago area come and go before ours arrived to whisk us off on a 30 minute drive to the good ol' appropriately named Country Inn. When we arrived at the hotel, we stood at the front desk staring at the clerk with puzzled expressions as she tried to explain in her thick Indian accent why we should accept a free room upgrade. I thought I should have been the one to bargain with her. I was certain in all my computer support calls overseas that I probably knew her brother. But Mark was determined and was met with equally puzzled expressions. Speaking very slowly in his best pigeon English, he was questioning her logic that an upgrade from two queen beds to one King bed for 3 people was not exactly an upgrade. His best attempts were thwarted and he agreed to sleep on the pull out couch.
Sunday morning we endured a continental breakfast at the hotel and by early afternoon we were sitting in the Admiral' s Lounge on an American Airlines concourse. While this would otherwise be a rather boring topic to talk about, it turned out to be quite a pleasant experience. The cost of a visit can be rather expensive but we were granted free access as a perk of one of Marks's many Credit Card benefits. The lounge provided free food and drinks and plenty of comfy seating, complimentary Wifi and plugs for charging our numerous devices. It felt rather special, however briefly, to be part of this exclusive club.
The two hours in the Admiral's Club turned out to be the first time the three of us had even talked about the trip. Before arriving in Chicago, Bryan and I didn't even know we were spending the night there. We have travelled with Mark before, and we know him to be meticulously thorough in travel planning. Mark's passion for travel has far surpassed a hobby and at times seems to be his life's endeavor. He has truly mastered the practice of collecting credit cards and travel reward clubs that afford him free and reduced travel, as well as benefits like those we enjoyed at the Admiral's Club. Thanks to Mark's remarkable ability, he managed to find us a total of 10 flights landing us in Chicago, Japan, Kuala Lumpur, Borneo and Hanoi, and all for less money than one average round trip ticket to and from just one Asian destination. Now that's worth smiling about:
With iPads fully charged and bellies satisfied, we headed toward our departure gate.
No comments:
Post a Comment