Two years ago an Emirati airline started flying directly from Chicago to Abu Dhabi. It's the only direct flight from this country to the Windy City. This summer I was finally able to take it. In anticipation I paid $270 for an Etihad credit card to earn "miles." I was supposed to get tons of benefits all of which turned out to be a lie.
On Sunday, however, I received my first benefit:
When I checked in at Chicago I was given a pass to the Premium Lounge. I could lie and say the place was amazing - personal chefs, massage therapists on demand, bartenders at your service for whatever cocktail you could dream up (believe it or not there are some premium lounges that are that great). Instead I have to say they kept out a fresh bag of chips and rotated the bottles of wine quickly. The atmosphere was almost Ikea-like (functional but nothing cool).
At this point in my Etihad membership this glass of wine has a $270 pricetag. I do think I'm collecting enough miles to maybe get a trip to Nepal but I'm not holding my breath.
The trip, however, was perfect. I boarded a plane at about 8:30 PM Iowa time Sunday, flew overnight for 12 hours (we made good time) and got off the plane in Abu Dhabi at 6PM Monday. I slept well on the plane and I can't think of a better trip. Usually jet lag is worse flying east but I'm doing well so far.
Anyhow, I'm in and almost all is well. One of my bags is missing. I'm going to hope it shows up soon. My much more well traveled friends have said it always shows up eventually so I'm not going to panic... Although if I did panic I wouldn't know what affect that would have on my blood pressure because the machine I bought to measure BP is in the missing bag...
So glad you are back, Steve! We hope to see you soon.
ReplyDeleteAs for premium lounges, the ones in the U.S. always suck for some reason. Go to the Etihad or Emirates ones here or in UK, and you'll see a big difference.
Best of luck for this semester!
Cheers,
Adrienne