Click here to view the embedded video.

I had just spent about twenty minutes in line and hated it.  This leaflet promised expedition through Immigration which I’m all about and I’m sure you as well.  I had already signed up for the IRIS program in the U.K. which gets me through the process in no time, so I was ready.

Amsterdam, Netherlands has a similar program, but I’m not eligible (only Dutch citizens allowed), so I have not signed up sadly.  Also, the U.S. had a test program a few years ago, but it went belly up.  Yes, I did sign up for that too and it worked well, while it worked.

I’ve just found out though while writing this article that I can now apply for Privium due to an agreement between the two governments.  Details at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/trusted_traveler/global_entry/global_entry_flux.xml.  This is a huge deal as the lines in Amsterdam can be very long when departing the airport.  Privium is a bit pricey though, so I will have to consider if it is worth it.

Once I got home, I went online to the URL listed in the brochure, http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/trusted_traveler/global_entry, no the government is not marketing savvy, so they don’t have http://www.cbp.gov/globalentry set up .  I was eager to sign and paid the required $100.  If I save nineteen minutes out of my life not waiting in line, I win.

The process is not easy as you have to enter all the places you’ve visited ever.  Well, I’ve visited 85 countries , so you get the picture.  I kept focussed though and looking at those long lines at Immigration.  Once this was done, I then had to get an appointment at any airport that had Global Entry.  That presented a challenge as the hours were only 9-5.  Despite that I made it work and made an appointment at Houston-Intercontinental.

I took my passport and other identification, did the interview and now I’m in.

So, although the process is a bit lengthy, it is worth it.  On my trip in this weeekend from London, the lines for U.S. citizens and visitors were maxed out.  I walked straight to the special Global Entry line, placed my passport on the reader, then four of my right fingers as requried, answered a few questions, then I’m done in under 30 seconds.  Meanwhile the line got longer.

Downstairs in Customs, there is a special line for us too.  I was through that in no time as well.  I felt very special as a I walked past all those non-Global Entry travellers.

So, now you know what is Global Entry and why you need it.  So go get one at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/trusted_traveler/global_entry.

If you are currently a Global Entry user, please share your experiences with us and tell us why you decided to spend that $100?  If you are not, tell us what is holding you back?

Please leave your comments below.

The Albuquerque Airport in Albuquerque, NM

Houston, TX 20 Oct. 2009.  I am doing some research for my free “I will teach you to travel” mini-course (you can subscribe to the right) and when I checked the TSA’s Web site about airport wait times, I got this message:

“The Wait Time Calculator is currently under construction. We apologize for the inconvenience while we are working to make the tool more user friendly.”

Other Web sites linking to it says:

 ”We are sorry but our security wait times application is unavailable at this time. The TSA is currently not publishing this information. Once this information becomes available again, we will re-introduce this feature”

I wonder how long it’s been down?  Anyone knows? If you are looking for this information you can check with your airline’s Web site for details.

Remember to give yourself enough time to get to the airport.  As a general rule, I’ll try to arrive at the airport 1.5 hours before the scheduled departure of my domestic flight.   If you are checking bags and going international, give yourself more time.  As usually you have a one hour cut off time to have your bags checked in.  At worst, I can hang out in the airport/airline lounge .

There was someone sitting in my seat when I got there, so I offered a trade.  It was funny as the ladies were really very friendly and I told her that I would not get up all night so she said I could sit in the window.  I would not have minded sitting in the aisle, but they insisted as she said she may get up during the night.  They were perhaps the best seatmates I’ve had in ages.

We soon pushed back and headed out in the cool night skies.  My best thing about Las Vegas is taking off at night and seeing all the lights below.  There is really nothing like it.  We took off with the Strip on the right and then making a right turn so we could see the Strip from the other end as we gained altitude on this wingleted Boeing 757-300.  I had noticed the winglets until we pushed back.  This is the first Boeing 757-300 in revenue service with winglets.

I was way tired so sleep came really quickly as I covered up with the plastic wrapped provided blanket.  A pretzel and beverage service passed through, but I was full from the barbecue at the Hilton so I declined anything.  Landing seemed to come quickly on this 4:15 flight touching down at 5:22a.  I don’t think I will make the connection flight I thought.

As I was in the back of the plane and we got to the gate at 5:30a, I missed the 5:45a which was in the other finger of Terminal C at rainy Newark airport.  The agents moved me over to the next flight, a Boeing 777-200ER at 7:45a.  I then went to find a place to take a photo of the wingleted bird which was now heading for Orlando, FL (MCO) at 7:00a.  I could not find a place though due to its gate assignment at 102.

I did however find a spot in the Presidents Club that would give me great pictures.  And so at 7:00a when it pushed back, I got a few pictures in the rainy dawn.  I also had some breakfast of cereal and mini muffins.  I left almost right after the pushback as I did not want to lose my place on this flight.

At the gate I collected my middle seat boarding pass and headed onboard.  It was freezing in the jetway, I thought these things had heat.  As I waited onboard, a guy came for the aisle seat, but no one showed for the window.  Once the doors were closed, the guy asked if he could take the window as I was about to move over.  He said he wanted to sleep; I guess I did not look sleepy.  I obliged him anyway and he was thankful.  I was psyched about having that empty seat as I believe it was the only one on the plane.

We pushed back a few minutes late and made the long trek to the runway and took off  into the rainy morning skies.  I reclined my seat and the guy behind me protested that he was tall, annoyed I un-reclined and tried to fall asleep.  Maybe I should have complained about the noise his little girl was making…The flight attendants did come by with a breakfast offering of cereal and bananas; At this point, I kind of wished the offering was a bit different, oh well.

This airplane has power at the seats which I utilized and audio/video on demand which I did not use as I could hardly keep my eyes open.  I did hear the Captain come on and say that due to the winds we would have to fly past the airport and then come back which would cause us to arrive at the gate a few minutes late.

As we descended, the guy’s daughter kept kicking my seat back and tapping it with her hands.  Her father never once told her to stop it or apologize for her behavior and I never said anything to him.  Some people can be really selfish it seems.

We landed without incident and headed to the gate arriving about five minutes behind schedule.  I then called Metro and was advised the next bus was at 10:51a, good deal I had enough time.  This was a pretty good trip.

How are you spending your weekend?

Houston, TX 17 Oct. 2009

The flight was quite full and I was only able to get an aisle seat, but I was happy.  I always prefer a window seat going out there as the American topography is spectacular.  It changes from flat lands, to snow capped mountains to green pastures to desert and lakes, just fantastic.

This pleasure was bestowed upon a Brazilian guy and his friend who were in the U.S. for ten days for a conference in Las Vegas.  They had just arrived on the red eye flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil so were pretty exhausted.  We chatted for quite a bit before takeoff and during the flight though.

We pushed back ontime and then had a clear path to the runway so we were off in no time.  It is a 2:45 flight this morning and we would arrive ontime the crew advised.  Soon after takeoff, we were served cereal with a banana and non-alcoholic complimentary beverage of choice.  Alcoholic beverages were 6 USD which can be paid with cash or debit/credit cards.  Headsets were 1 USD for the animated Disney movie UP, being shown.

I had a chance to get some zees as did other passengers including the Brazilians.  These early flights are brutal!  As we flew along, the Captain did come on and pointed out cool stuff. I love it when they do that.   It was soon time for landing so we all prepared for it.  You could see the mountains and brown desert floor outside as we descended into “Sin City.”  It was 8:31a when we pulled up to the gate a few minutes late on this Boeing 737-800.

I headed for the Presidents Club which is fun to find if you’ve never visited it, where a similar breakfast as the Club in Houston and the airplane was being served.  I got online and finished registering for the event, contact @sseagraves as he was attending and then headed out taking the train into the main terminal as Continental is in Terminal D at Las Vegas-McCarran.  Sadly, I would miss the keynote address scheduled for 9:30a.

I found a waiting shuttle for 6 USD, paid and waited.  Shuttles also cost 6.50 USD or 36.00 USD for a limousine and I assumed about 20 USD for a cab.  At about 9:55a, we left for the Hilton from where I would walk over to the Las Vegas Convention Center South Hall.  I arrived there at 10:45a after dropping passengers off at Koval Resort, the Venetian, the Mirage, Treasure Island and the Riviera.  It was a good tour but I was annoyed.  I should have taken a cab.

These flights have been made possible with advancement in aviation and primarily two airplanes: The Boeing 777-200LR (LR is for Longer Range) and the Airbus A340-500.  The Airbus Web site states that there are 29 of these airplanes in operation and a total of 35 have been ordered.  It has a range of 9,000 nautical miles.  On the other hand, the Boeing Company says that the 777-200LR has a range of 9,395 nautical miles with a full passenger load of 301.  They’ve delivered 36 of the 56 airplanes that’s been ordered.  Don’t let these numbers fool you as the airlines can configure the airplanes differently so they can increase the range and they have.

Oh, I would be remiss if I did not mention the Boeing 777-300ER which is used by one of the airlines on the list.  Boeing has delivered 206 of the 408 on order.  The Boeing 777-200ER, the workhorse 777 is also on the list and allows these routes to be possible.  But enough of the numbers and planes, let’s get to the list.

I’ve compiled what is today’s top 10 longest flights by distance flown along with the airlines flying them plus some more details.  Some routes which have been flown in the past are currently not being flown, such as Bangkok, Thailand (BKK) to New York’s JFK which was flown by Thai Airways (TG) on an Airbus A340-500 so it was not included.

Enjoy and please add your comment below.  I’d love to hear if you’ve flown any of these routes, airlines and/or airplanes. I’ve flown #1, #9 and #10.  #6 continues to elude me in either direction.  I’ve flown the #3 route, but made a stop in Sal Island using a South African Airways (SA) Boeing 747-400.  Flown #2, but made a stop in Tokyo-Narita using a Singapore Airlines (SQ) Boeing 747-400.

I then got ready and jumped in the weekend rental car that I have and headed for the airport at about 9:07a.  As its a Saturday, traffic was light and I was at the airport at 9:35a parking at FastPark.  It was about 9:55 when we pulled into Terminal B.

The TSA security line was minimal so it did not take long.  There was a guy who had a flight in 17 minutes, so we all allowed him to go ahead of us.  Some of the folks in the line commented that, only in Texas would he be allowed to jump the queue, adding that people in the Northeast would have scoffed at him.  Ah, northeasterners have such a bad rep.

There was also a young guy in his navy garb.  He had just spent nine months in Florida and was heading back home to Pittsburgh, PA (PIT) for some well deserved rest and relaxation before returning to find out where he would be deployed.

I cleared security after having to remove my belt as the kid in front of me beeped.  What does that have to do with my belt?  Geez…It is a new belt and I wanted to test if it would beep anyways.  To avoid any issues, I took it off and cleared without beeping.  No new see thru machines in Terminal B.

I then headed to the Presidents Club where I had a bagel with light cream cheese (is there really such a thing though?), some muffins and water.  I was looking for a banana, but they only had apples.  All four available newspapers (Wall Street Journal, Houston Chronicle, Financial Times and the USA Today (yesterday’s edition))  had the President Obama Nobel Peace Prize headline.  Congrats Mr. President.

It was time to get to the gate, so I did.  I settled in after getting my boarding pass and used the power plugs that are set up to charge your phone before the flight.  Soon an announcement was made for y flight to Charleston, WV.  It was at that moment that I noticed that the flight to Charleston, SC was leaving from the doorway right next to my flight.  People were confused and also laughing, but checking their boarding passes to ensure that they board the correct plane.

An older lady next to me was a little confused, but I assured here that her flight to South Carolina was not yet boarding.  Some people including me took pictures of the two displays next to each other.  I looked around and everyone was checking their boarding passes to ensure they did not miss their flight or board the wrong airplane.

When it was time, I boarded through the door for West Virginia and headed down the jetway, noticing that were signs above both jetway entrances with the city names.  At the airplane door, a couple was talking with the flight attendant as there was another couple sitting in their seat.  Oops, I thought, I believe that they boarded the wrong flight.

Sure enough that was the case.  The gate agent came on board and made an announcement that we are going to Charleston, WV, not South Carolina.  The flight attendant also reiterated this fact.  The couple headed off adding they do not want to go to West Virginia as their car is in South Carolina.

The door on this not so heavily booked Embraer ERJ-145 closed at 10:50a and then the flight attendant started her demo.  Seven minutes later, we pushed back and headed for the runway.  On our way there, the pilot made a hard step on the brakes and we changed our direction.  This was followed by another direction change.  I assumed that we changed runway and we did, we were now heading for runway 27-9 which takes you over Lee Road on takeoff.

I did notice a Boeing 777-200ER that had just landed and wondered where it was coming from that early in the morning.  It ended up at E4.  I’m puzzled.

We were number six for takeoff behind a few Continental jets as well as a Continental Connection Saab 340 and a Continental Express ERJ-145.  As it was almost our turn, here came a Delta Connection CRJ-900 who took to the runway ahead of us.

At 11:15a, we took to the cloudy skies breaking into beautiful sunshine as we cleared them.  Soon after the lone flight attendant came on the PA and announced the service expectations for our flight which included a snack.

Soon after that announcement, I smelled nail polish.  Why would anyone think that it is O.K. to polish your nails in an airplane?  People do this from time to time, please don’t do it.  I now have a headache and watery eyes.

The flight attendant came by at 11:33a and offered a choice of a turkey or ham sandwich.  I chose Turkey which was served with mayonnaise, a pack of Fritos corn chips and a mini Hershey milk chocolate bar.  Drinks followed at 11:43a.  Trash pickup was at 11:58a.

I fell asleep after the battery on my MacBook died.  I awoke as we started our descent into West Virginia.  It was really beautiful as the leaves were just changing.  Also, it is a very mountainous area, so you can see homes nestled into the side of the mountains and ridges.

We were really close to the ground though, wow.  We made it into the runway which sits at the top of one of the mountains at 981′ above sea level.  It was 2:11p when we touched down and we made it to the gate within a minute.  The pilots really hot the brakes and when we turned I realized why, the runway ended pretty short after where we turned off.

Charleston, WV 10 Oct. 2009

At the gate, I deplaned and headed for the exit as I wanted to see what the ticket counter area was like.  It looked like all the passengers were already at the gate as the flight departs at 2:55p.  I made it outside to the ticket counter, checked in, got my boarding pass then headed outside to take some pictures.  At the counter, there was a lady waiting as she had some liquids to put back in her suitcase.  I don’t think that was going to happen as there was no one at the counter.  In small stations, there is usually a small staff and they do everything.  Since the flight was in they were at the gate.  Also, her bags were more than likely already in the plane.  I told her I’d tell the gate she was there, but if they did not show by 2:30p, she was to make her way back to the gate.

After taking pictures, I walked through the baggage claim area and headed back through security.  I was the only one going through as everyone else was at the gate.  I heard an announcement that the pilot wanted to leave early so everyone should make it to the gate.

At the gate, I collected my boarding pass from the agent.  I told her about the lady at the counter.  Eventually I saw the lady coming up to the gate, not sure if she got her bag back.  I doubt it though.

I boarded when it was time and as it turns out sat across from that lady.  I heard her say that she had to throw her stuff away as she could not get her bag back.  She had like peanut butter I think she said as well as a large tube of toothpaste.  She was none too happy, but her friend she was traveling with told her she would give her some toothpaste.  It was really funny listening to them talk about.

The door closed at 2:54p, so much for leaving early.  Not sure what was the hold up.  I kept thinking that I was going to get booted as the airport is 981′ above sea level and the flight was weight restricted as a result.

It was 3:00p when we pulled forward after the jetway had been pulled out of the way.  We taxied down to the lone runway and was airborne by 3:07p.  It was beautiful as we cleared the trees and saw the foliage below.  We also flew over the city and you could see the river that runs through it as well as the city’s capitol building.  I wonder how many U.S. cities have one of those capitol buildings?

Soon, we had some pretzels and drinks.  I was a bit tired so I fell asleep and awoke when we landed in Houston at 4:40p on 8L-26R.  It took another ten minutes to make it to the gate at B81A.  As it turns out, the airplane will now go to Charleston, SC (CHS).

I disembarked and located the Presidents Club which is next door to the American Airlines Admirals Club across from gate 13. I stopped in to check it out as well as check e-mail.  Having a membership is killer as I save so much on airport food and in the case where I need a shower after a redeye, I’m sometimes lucky to have a Club at that airport with a shower.

I decided to head into town, so I caught the #100 for 0.75 USD from the arrivals area.  It left at 10:40a and takes 30 minutes to get downtown; you can’t beat that?  While on the bus I noticed that a day pass was 1.50 USD, so I just bought that, since  I do have to return to the airport and in case I need to grab the bus again while downtown.

I sent out a tweet about suggestions and got the following back:

• ssegraves@mskonfa1990 the Bob Bullock Museum is interesting. Don’t forget that ACL [Austin City Limits] is this weekend so downtown will be crazy
• jonberrydesign@mskonfa1990if time permits – amazing bbq at Salt Lick, but go to original location 30 mins S of Austin in Driftwood

I did see the Bob Bullock Museum, but did not get a chance to stop in.  Did not see Salt Lick either, a reasons to head back and see more of Austin, TX.

Austin is really lively today with a street fair blocking 6th street around San Jacinto St. (similar street names as Houston).  Say, random thought: how come Houston or Dallas is not the capital of Texas?  The street fair made for the bus detouring.  In addition there is a college football game at the University of Texas and the Austin City Limits music festival so all this made for a crazy day in the city.

People were everywhere mostly in orange t-shirts with the Texas Longhorn on it.  Quelle jour.  I walked around a bit after exiting the bus at the UT campus.  It is a very nice campus, I want to go back to college, umm…  I then checked out the state Capitol (taller than the one in Washington D.C. I’m told) which is really cool and then headed to the street fair at 6th street.

By now I was tired and sweaty and wanted air conditioning.  So I headed back to the bus stop.  This was not as easy to find due to the detour so I missed it, but did see the one going in the opposite direction.  As fate would have it, it is the guy who I had initially.  So I rode with him all the way back to UT.

The temperature had risen by at least 15 degrees and now there are so many cars and people on the streets.  What a mess. Get me out of Austin please.  After many detours and twists and turns we were out of there and on US 183 heading for the Austin-Bergstrom airport.

It was a great time in the city albeit quite short.  Another visit is due and soon.

Have you been to Austin?  Did you like it?  What did you do?  Let me know please by commenting here.

Follow me on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/mskonfa1990 for constant updates.

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Unfortunately, the New York-John F. Kennedy, NY (JFK) to Long Beach, CA (LGB) flight at 3:45p on Sat. is booked solid.  In addition, the one at 2:30p which goes via Las Vegas, NV (LAS) only gives me a 26 mins connecting time from my Aguadilla, PR (BQN) flight.

I can’t risk a misconnect as @jetBlue is really strict about missing flights and re-booking.  Apparently, if you miss a flight you have to wait three days to re-book.  How silly is that!  So with that said, the next weekend’s routing is booked albeit a boring one:

1. Austin, TX (AUS) to Long Beach, CA (LGB) 26 Sep. 2009
2. LGB to Oakland, CA (OAK) 26 Sep. 2009
3. OAK to New York-John F. Kennedy, NY (JFK) 27 Sep. 2009

Are you jetting off somewhere for the weekend?

Follow me on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/mskonfa1990 for constant updates.  Also, you read what others are saying about All you can jet on twitter at http://twitter.com/#search?q=aycj.

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