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UPGRADING ON AMERICAN
I talked my dad into going the long way home and spending a few days with me in California. I forgot that flying with my dad is an adventure since he's like a little kid. I feel like I always have to keep an eye on him since he doesn't understand that if a flight departs at 5:45pm, he can't show up at 5:40pm like in the old days. He wants to grab a coffee, newspaper, browse the bookstore, hand my card out to every pretty girl ... Since I have elite status on American, I put in an upgrade request. Our upgrades cleared about five hours before the flight (YES!) so I was really looking forward to the trip. The best way to get your upgrade to clear is to pick flights that business travelers most likely won't be on (like midday or on a Saturday). I had five 500-mile upgrades (or stickers) in my account, which was just enough to cover my business class seat. However, I needed to purchase five more for my Dad, which ended up costing $175 (more than his ticket) but it was well worth it since the regular business class ticket is $1,905.

AMERICAN FLIGHT 181
We had an interesting flight. It was American Airlines flight 181, which was scheduled to depart at 5:45pm. They shut the doors at 5:33pm (See that dad? You would've missed the plane!) and we pushed back at 5:44pm. We taxied for 30 minutes and were number one for takeoff when all of a sudden, we turned around. The announcement the flight attendant made was weird. She said something about going back to the gate, saying that it would only be a brief stop and then she alluded to fuel. A few minutes later, the pilot got on and made the same announcement, that we were going to get fuel. Then a bunch of rumors started flying around that a passenger in the back was freaking out because he'd left his laptop in the terminal. Normally, planes don't turn around for this kind of thing but since he wouldn't listen or even sit down, they brought him back to the gate. When they kicked him off, a passenger asked about his checked luggage. Normally, planes can fly domestically (and to Canada) without the actual passenger on the plane but since the guy looked suspicious and acted crazy, they had to take every bag off the plane. Well, that's what they started to do until an employee realized that his bad hadn't even made it on the plane. Apparently, this guy had had a tight connection from the Caribbean (he looked like a Jamaican Rastafarian) and his luggage was sitting in lost baggage. We finally ended up taking off at 8:03pm and I was sure glad I'd spent the $175 for the upgrade because passengers were not allowed off the plane.

AMERICAN'S BUSINESS CLASS
Business class made the flight seem short, even with the two-hour delay. After takeoff, they served a second round of drinks, appetizers, salad and a choice of beef or lasagna. Then came ice cream sundaes and a fattening-as-hell Mrs. Fields cookie just before landing. The 767-200 series plane was pretty old and so were the seats. The good news is that American will be refitting all of their 767-200s with new Next Generation Business Class cabins, featuring new lie-flat seats; I got a sneak peak of them at their headquarters and seat factory in Dallas two years ago. Currently all of their 58 Boeing 767-300 airplanes have them. The economy class cabin will also receive new LCD monitors for a clearer, brighter picture, replacing the current CRT monitors (the big screen in the middle of the cabin), which is so outdated it seems like the drive-in movie theatre days. I guess you get what you pay for. For now, American's first and business class passengers on the 767-200 get a cool little handheld device that's loaded with movies, TV shows, games and music. It's a little bit of a hassle to plug them in and find room on your tray for them and the food but it's way better than nothing.

HIGH SPEED INTERNET 37,000 FEET UP
The best part of the flight is that I got to try out American's new high-speed wireless Internet, which debuted a few weeks ago. It's powered by GoGo and all passengers with laptops can use it: just fire up your computer, enable wireless and open up a browser window. There are a few sites you can surf for free: AA.com, some destination guides (powered by Frommers.com) and a few Wall Street Journal articles. That's just a tease because to get to the good stuff requires you to register (it takes two minutes) and enter your credit card information to pay $12.95 for the flight; it's turned on and off once the plane reaches 10,000 feet. I found the service to be fast and well worth the cost but then again, I'm an Internet junkie. The coolest part was that I could log on to FlightExplorer.com to see exactly where we were since there was no GPS maps on board. If every airline can offer this and provide a power port, flying would be a complete joy. American's power port is for DC Power Outlet (it's shaped like a cigarette lighter and also referred to as EmPower). Currently, American's wireless is only offered on their nonstop flights between JFK-SFO, JFK-LAX and JFK-MIA. FYI: They block VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) so no phone calls using Skype at 37,000 feet up. I think that's a good thing.

AVP MANHATTAN BEACH OPEN
On Sunday, my dad and I watched the Manhattan Beach Open, which is Pro Beach Volleyball's Wimbledon. It's always fun to catch this tournament and this year, it was more special because my dad was with me, the Olympic gold medalists (Misty May-Treanor, Kerri Walsh, Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser) were all in the finals and we were guests of one of the sponsors, PNY Technologies. A bunch of companies have booths set up and hand out free stuff, everything from sunscreen to granola bars. PNY's booth had a former Olympic champion signing autographs and they even handed out one of their 1GB SD flash cards to anyone who would put on a PNY temporary tattoo. The best part about our seats is that they were in the shade up in the VIP tent with all the celebs, politicians and free food and drinks. My dad had a great time!

VIDEO
Sorry! No video this week! As always, all of the Johnny Jet videos ever made are available for your viewing pleasure on YouTube.

NEXT WEEK
Next week we travel to a west coast city that is almost a 1,000 miles away from Los Angeles.

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