Flying on American carriers

In the last six months, I've flown internationally on two Indian carriers (Kingfisher and Jet), two European airlines (Swiss and City Jet - a budget carrier), and one American carrier (Continental). I have Gold status on Continental and no status on the Indian or European carriers. Still, my flying experience on Continental was probably the worst. The service on the plane was terrible since the crew consisted of a cranky, loud, and inhospitable older woman and two inexperienced, rude, and indifferent colleagues.

It's true that status doesn't help once you are on the plane, but it should help during booking, check-in, and if you want to change flights. Unfortunately, because of the policies of the American airlines, it doesn't. Kingfisher and Jet offer one free ticket change after the first leg of your journey, which I used on one of my trips. And when I wanted to return on an earlier flight from Geneva, the Swiss airport attendant allowed me to board the earlier plane with no fuss. She was helpful, friendly, and efficient. I was completely taken by her until I realized that this is how airlines should treat their paying customers - I was just not used to it because I had been mostly flying American carriers for the past twelve years.

Consider my experiences with Continental - when I needed to change an international flight, I had to pay a $250 change fee. When I wanted to board an earlier flight on the same day (previously called " flying stand-by"), I had to pay $50. When I asked anattendant to help with an earlier flight, she simply pointed to the check-in kiosk and asked me to figure it out by myself. Add the baggage fees, on-board drink fees and it soon gets pretty ridiculous.

I should learn my lesson. I shouldn't fly Continental on my London-New York trips. The problem is that I'm a sucker for elite status. I have this fantasy that status will help me when things go wrong - when I am running late for a flight, when there is a long check-in line, when I have too much baggage. The truth of the matter is that status doesn't matter. The non-American carriers offer the same or better service to non-elite members. I just need to remember this when I book my next flight.

* this post was inspired by a recent article in the NY Times about airline fees. If you want to get more outraged, read this.

Keep it simple

In his funny book Notes from a Small Island, Bill Bryson pens his perspectives on Britain and the British. Bryson, himself an American, notes differences between the British and Americans -

The British are so easy to please. It is the most extraordinary thing. They actually like their pleasures small. That is why, I suppose, so many of their treats - teacakes, scones, crumpets, rock cakes, rich tea biscuits, fruit Shrewsbury - are so cautiously flavourful.

Offer them something genuinely tempting - a slice of gateau or a choice of chocolates from a box - and they will nearly always hesitate and begin to worry that it's unwarranted and excessive, as if any pleasure beyond a very modest threshold is vaguely unseemly.

All this is completely alien to the American mind. To an American the whole purpose of living, the one constant confirmation of continued existence, is to cram as much sensual pleasure as possible into one's mouth more or less continuously. Gratification, instant and lavish, is a birthright.

Of course he is making gross generalisations, but I feel there is truth to these characterisations. The British enjoy simple activities, like walking, gardening, and watching antique shows, that are not really popular in America.

Elections

Today is election day in UK, but you can't tell from TV coverage. Unlike the US, there are no touchpoint screen with endless analysis by party experts and no 24-hour election coverage. According to British law broadcasters cannot show election coverage or discuss issues during voting hours. So, BBC is going about its normal business with regular news coverage and occasional departures to cover the party leaders voting.

The entire election process is relatively low-key. Parties are allowed one month of official campaigning because elections are declared only one month before the day of the elections. This seems like a more efficient system with fewer wasted resources.

Regents Park

Regents Park is easily my favourite spot in London so far. Part of the reason is that it is located only 3 minutes from our flat, making it an ideal destination for my evening runs (only started last week).

The park is not as big as some of the larger parks like Hyde Park, but it has a little bit of everything - a beautiful rose garden, a small boating lake, football and cricket pitches and a wonderful variety of trees. For all those coming to visit, be assured that you will be taken for a few strolls through it.

Coffee in London

One of the joys of being unemployed in a new city is that you can plan a new exploration every day. I've been planning mine around coffee. Yes, I know I'm in the land of tea, but I like my coffee.

Timeout recently published a list of best coffee in London. My plan is to walk to these cafes to provide some direction to my otherwise aimless walks around the city. I've tried some of these already, and they are quite good. My favourite, thus far, is Kaffeine, an Australian establishment close to our place. Their cappucinos are simply delicious, very similar to Think Coffee in New York.

Walking on the Thames Path

Walking is a very popular activity in the UK. Travel books that I have been reading talk about thousands of people heading out to the countryside every weekend. Almost every town has a trail network that allows you to explore the neighbouring area, and almost every town is accessible through the excellent public transportation system.

In addition to the smaller trails, UK has a number of National Trails which link vast portions of the country. These are long distance routes that cover hundreds of miles of terrain. The routes were created by linking exiting roads and bylanes and by creating new paths where needed. Well-marked and well-maintained, they are relatively easy to follow.

To celebrate the advent of warm weather (finally!), last Sunday we headed out on one of the national trails - Thames Path. It is a 184 miles trail that runs along the river Thames from its source in Cotswold to the sea. We walked a 11 mile stretch from the town of Bourne End to Windsor. Because the trail follows the river, it is a fairly level walk with few inclines.

The walk was peaceful, except for the time when we thought we had 9 miles to go when actually we had only 3 miles remaining. Our GPS had miscalculated our progress. I have to admit that I was doubtful about completing the remaining 9 miles, but luckily, that was not the case, and we made it through easily.

A very pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I'm looking forward to walking on the remaining stretches of the Thames Path.

IPL

Just when you think that the IPL is overrated with inexperienced, Indian unknowns and retired international players that are past their prime, you see a match like the Rajasthan Royals versus Deccan Chargers. Shane Warne basically led his team to victory with his talent and sheer will power. Its a shame he didn't captain more for Australia.

I don't think another captain could have willed that victory, definitely not Dhoni or Sachin. Ganguly has the temperament, but not the talent. Maybe Kumble.

Book your flight

For all those planning to come visit us this summer (I hope at least some of you follow through), here are useful tips from Frugal Traveler on booking flights.

Start with Kayak.com or Vayama.com, which specializes in international flights. ALWAYS book directly through the airline.

If you are worried that the fare will go down (as it seems to happen more often nowadays), check Farecast.com or Yapta.com.

To find the best seat in the plane, try Seatexpert.com

So, now that you have all the tools, I expect phone calls about arrival dates.

Bookstores - love 'em!

London has an amazing number of bookstores. Unlike the mega chains like Borders and Barnes & Noble that dominate the US, bookstores here are mostly specialized.

My favorites are two travel bookstores - Daunt and Stanfords. Apart from the usual collection of travel guides and maps, they carry a range of fiction and non-fiction literature organized by country. Truly ingenious, if you ask me.

Both stores have excellent websites - definitely worth exploring if you are ever looking for region-specific literature.

My main problem right now is that because of space constraints in our bookshelf, we have made a pact - we won't buy a new book until we have finished and donated one of our current books. I have a feeling this is going to be difficult to abide by, let's see.

Battle of Democray by PRG

I wasn't aware of Shiv Sena and their protests against SRK's My Name is Khan until I read this by PRG.

Ladies and Gentleman, LETS GET READY TO RUUUUUUMMMMBLLLLLEEEE. Introducing, in the orange corner, weighing 1600 fanatics and people with no Kaam Dhanda, we have the lunaticcccccc Shiv Senaaaaaaaaaa. In the blue corner, weighing the burden of protecting its citizens and the spirit of democracy, we have the Government of Maharasssssshhtttrraaaaaa.

Welcome to the Battle of Democracy. In this weekend's fight we have two tough opponents. Both capable of winning this battle with the edge going to Shiv Sena because they are above the law in many respects. But don't count out the Maharashtra Gov completely. After taking a back seat all these days the CM has stepped up and he guaranteed the smooth release of MNIK, the centre point for this glorious waste of time.

Check out the full post here - it is hilarious.

Musings from a confused Ipad

It's a cool looking device with an identity crisis like a lot of ABCDs (Apple Built Confused Devices). This is what its thinking:

• 'Am I iphone's big brother?' - no, sorry you are not a phone.
• 'Am I a macbook's younger brother?' - no, sorry - you don't have basic multi-tasking capabilities (well you do but your father Steve decided to hide that from you). So no listening to Pandora while surfing the web or chatting with friends. Cant really be a computer with single tasking capabilities.
• 'Am I going to become the surfing device of choice?' - no, you don't support flash which is used in some way by almost all websites.
• 'Am I going to replace the Kindle for serious reading?' - no, your battery life and color screen will make it impossible to read entire books; plus you are too big to be truly portable.
• 'Can I at least be used a photo viewer?' - sure but only as long as you don't try to transfer pictures directly from your camera's sd/micro sd card as you don't have a sd card slot. Of course, you can spend the extra money to get an accessory to give you a capability that was there in my $150 Nokia from 4 years ago.
• 'I can definitely replace iphone/bberry for emails' - This is a great way to sell more ipads. Encourage people to type emails while on the go on a device as big as this, and you will surely have people dropping it and then running to replace it. I will use my computer to send emails when I am home or the email is long. Or I will use my phone to send emails when I am on the go or the email is short.
• 'Can I become the management centre for people's digital files - cant. no usb/flash slots.
• 'Can I be a tablet pc for business users?' - you are losing it man - for any business user to take you seriously you need a way to input handwriting and the abilitiy to transfer files through usb ports (non-existent)
• 'Netbook killer then?' - seriously? my $300 netbook can multi task, has usb/sd slots, weighs about as much as you do but has the same battery life.
• 'I do have a cool map app' - well yeah, but do you see yourself being used in a car to find your way home. or do you see yourself being carried in my pocket when I am on my way to a party but dont know my way to the club from the subway station. or to be at hand when I want to find the nearest thai restaurant.

SO WHAT CAN I DO?

Well, you are to be used by iphone lovers who love their apps enough to want to use the same on a bigger screen. But not on the go as you are too big. You are also to be used as a browsing device by undemanding surfers who are happy to do one thing and one thing only while they surf. May be fun to read the daily NYT but at my speed, I may run out of batteries before getting to the obituary section. But most of all, you will be used as a show-off tool. No different than the the latest pair of limited release Nike kicks signed by the most popular athlete of the day. Its a dirty job. But someone has to do it.

From V.

If I didn't have you

Hat-tip to HoopyFrood for pointing me to Tim Minchin. Here is a song about the statistical probability of finding someone to love. Hilarious! Should provide inspiration to all you single players.

Fooding

Much of our time in London has been spent exploring food choices. I have tried a range of grocery stores and must say that, on the whole, the quality of groceries is impressive. I'm not just talking about high-end stores like Waitrose, even regular grocery chains and neighborhood stores carry great products.

The other day I used juicy, vine tomatoes in my pasta sauce, and they made all the difference. Today at a farmer's market across our flat, I found four varieties of potatoes that I had never seen before.

If I were keeping score between New York and London - 1 point to London.

Week One

It's been one week since we arrived in London - so far so good. I must admit, it has been hard to escape the tourist mindset resulting in us doing things that we would normally do on a holiday. The fact that we are here to stay (for the next three years) hasn't sunk in as yet. Perhaps it will when we move into a permanent residence.

London welcomed us with the worst weather it had experienced in 30 odd years. It has snowed everyday, and while it is still warmer than New York, it is definitely not what we were hoping for. Couple the weather with our Newark airport debacle and maybe these are signs trying to tell us something...

I'm optimistic though. People tell us that this is the coldest it gets. If that's true, it's not bad at all.


Disclaimer: For the next couple of months or so, this blog is mostly going to focus on our settling-in escapades in London. I hope that you find them interesting.

Goodbye

Like most people I don't like goodbyes, especially drawn-out ones. Luckily our US goodbyes were relatively painless as we had enough time to say farewell to everyone we wanted to. And I'm reading Stephen Colbert's I am America (and So Can You!) to help me get through this transition. Like everything Colbert, it's hilarious!

The only painful part of our departure was the six hour delay at Newark airport because of a security breach. Apparently some bloke intentionally or unintentionally entered a secure zone without an ID check. Since they couldn't find him they had to rescreen everyone at the airport. We had to deplane, go out of the terminal, and then go through the security check along with thousands of other passengers. The entire process took about four hours, resulting in our flight being delayed by six hours.

It could have been much worse. At first we were sure that our flight would be canceled. Instead, once rescreening began, things proceeded relatively quickly. While thousands of passengers were packed in a small area, most waited patiently, and Continental called in reinforcements to get stranded passengers onto alternate flights. Of course the fact that authorities felt like they had to respond to the breach in this way is another matter altogether. To me the episode highlighted what I most liked and disliked about living in the US.