Chicago

Tag Archives for Chicago.

May Travels: A Whirlwind Adventure-crazy month

May was a crazy month, packed with adventures, new experiences, and 29 flights through 16 airports with visits to 11 cities! Almost every city had its unique charm, and every flight offered a different story. I went from the furthest northern point of Spokane, Washington, USA (approximately 47.6588° N) to the southern city of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia (approximately 42.8821° S) via Portugal, Philippines, and Japan! I ran in my sixth Bloomsday Race in Spokane, visited friends in vibrant Seattle and bustling Dallas, got to know the charming city of Des Moines, explored the hidden gems…

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My Top 40 cities.

I am fast closing in my 200th city that I have visited with over 100,000 inhabitants. With each city, I rate their: Natural and Built aesthetics Their liveability Their Culture Crime rates and safety Transportation Their “Vibe 12 of my favourite cities are in Europe, nine in the USA, five in Asia,four in the UK, two in Canada, four in Australia, one in New Zealand, one in South America and two in the Middle East. My top 40 cities ranked are: 1 Paris 2 Berlin 3 Barcelona 4 San Francisco 5 Melbourne 6 Adelaide 7 Stockholm…

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Getting Exercise- A walking guide to world airports

I don’t like spending much time in airports. Every minute in an airport feels like a minute wasted! I mentioned last week, however, that I use spare time in airports to help build fitness whilst flying by using the experience to build toward my 7 to 10 thousand daily step goal. I even sacrifice riding in the airport shuttle trains to achieve this. As a train nut, this is a sacrifice! Walking also enables me to  people watch and plane spot. Let’s face it, using the time to get exercise is probably better than being a  couch…

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Good Bye US Airways- will they be missed?

  Tomorrow, US Airways disappears as a brand. It joins AirTran, Aloha, Continental, Midwest Express, Northwest, TWA as airline brands that have all disappeared since 2001. The largest airlines in the US have contracted to just three large carriers: American, Delta and United. US first flew in 1939 as mail carrier All American Aviation, adding passenger traffic in 1949. In 1953 it became Allegheny Airlines, a name it carried until the deregulation era of 1979 when USAir was adopted. USAir was varied to US Airways in 1997. In 2005, they entered into a “reverse merger” with America West with the America West…

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LOT announces 787 services

At last a European carrier gets their turn. LOT Polish Airlines has announced that the carrier’s inaugural Boeing 787 service from Warsaw to Chicago will be on January 16, 2013. This will be followed closely by Warsaw to Toronto on February 1 and to New York  JFK on February 3. LOT Polish Airlines will launch Boeing 787 service to Beijing a month later, on March 3. LOT is offering 252 seats all with individual entertainment in three classes of service on the new aircraft. This compares with JAL’s 186 seats, ANA’s 216, United with 219 and Ethiopian’s 270 seats. Elite Club (business…

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Honey, guess what we lost today?

Normally my whacky Wednesday posts are funny or at least a little amusing. Today’s is far from amusing. United Airlines, who I regularly bag, bash and mock in my blog are apparently in the business of transporting luggage and people around the USA. According to Brett Snyder, they are doing worse since the merger with Continental (vale).  For example only 70.1 percent of their flights were on time in June. In addition, United lost bags at twice the rate of Delta which is a bigger airline. Luggage being lost is annoying. On June 30, 2012 United Airlines lost a bag…

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United Breaks Guitars

My least favourite airline still has an embarrassing song that just won’t go away. Musician Dave Carroll claimed that his guitar was by United Airlines baggage handlers at Chicago airport.  Carroll filed a claim with the airline but was told he would not receive any compensation becasue he had not claimed within 24 hours after the incident He kept approaching United for nine months. At which point,  he wrote and recorded the song: “United breaks guitars.” Millions of people have now seen it. Carroll now travels doing presentations on customer service. In the best follow up possible, United lost his luggage on such a speaking trip!

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