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JFK-LAX
FYI: My ticket on American Airlines to L.A. cost just $119 with tax! Those fares are still available even on a last-minute basis (but they will probably go up after June 16th). However, I ended up spending a lot more because I decided to take advantage of my American Gold status (you have to fly at least 25,000 actual air miles on American in a calendar year). Since it was my birthday week, I upgraded to business class. Unfortunately, I didn't have any upgrade coupons left in my account so it cost me $150. But considering a one-way, walk-up business class ticket is $2,243, it was a great deal. Having that extra space to work or stretch out on a five-hour, 30-minute flight can sometimes be priceless. The downside: The flight attendants fatten you up with a three-course meal: salad, chicken pot pie/open face steak sandwich, ice cream sundae, chocolate chip cookies and Ghirardelli chocolate. The flight attendant (Kristin) working my side was a star so kudos to her for being so friendly and attentive.



IN-FLIGHT INTERNET
I'm an Internet junkie and I love having Wi-Fi in the sky. I think I was one of the first to use it back in 2006 when Connexion by Boeing had it on a few foreign airlines. Back then, I was on a SAS flight from Newark to Copenhagen and I was Skype-ing my friends over the Atlantic, which freaked them (and me!) out! These days, the airlines block Skype and other VOIP so no talking on the plane, which is a good thing. After Connexion went out of business, Aircell stepped in and they've started offering Internet service called Gogo since last year and it's now on many domestic airlines. The only airline that offers it for every flight is Virgin America. American Airlines is starting to make it increasingly more available and they charge $12.95 for flights longer than three hours; $9.95 for flights under three hours. It's easy to use. Just register, put in your credit card information and voila! It had all my data stored from when I used it last August and in a few clicks, I was surfing the net. The speed was surprisingly fast – faster than the service I get from Time Warner in New York City. The only downer – I couldn't send Outlook mail out (maybe I need to change a setting? Does anyone know?) Anyway, it's highly recommended especially if you want to make a five- hour, 30-minute flight go by fast.

FLIGHT DELAYS
Everyone asks me: Don't you get sick of traveling? I don't because I pack light, never have to wait for my bags to come out at baggage claim (or wonder if they won't!) and I cruise through security. The only thing I don't like is being delayed, which hasn't happened too often except this past week. I purposely chose American's 2pm departure so I would miss JFK's late afternoon congestion but wouldn't you know it – the plane kept getting delayed due to mechanical issues. I'm perfectly happy to wait for a safer flight but it does get annoying when they keep announcing a departure time and there's no plane at the gate. We ended up being delayed two and a half hours and the taxi at 4:30pm took another 55 minutes. The good news is I just received an unsolicited email from American, apologizing for the inconvenience and adding 5,000 miles to my AAdvantage account. I emailed their star PR woman to see if this was typical and she said that: American Airlines proactively reaches out to its customers on flights such as yours. We try to reach all customers although sometimes we are unable to do so as we do not have their contact information. TIP: Register for every frequent flier program out there so you can get rewards like these.

WEST COAST B-DAY PARTY
While in L.A. my cousin Dennis and one of my best friends Kevin O’Connor threw me an impromptu birthday brunch for a few of my west coast friends and family. You know you are getting old when your birthday parties have evolved into brunches! Also, thanks to JoelleLederPhotography.com for taking the pics.

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