If you’ve been following along with my travels, then you know that last week, I took advantage of the slowest travel day of the year: Thanksgiving Day! Everyone talks about the craziness of travel surrounding the holiday but few talk about how it’s the best day of the year to travel if you want cheap airfares and airplanes and airports that aren’t crowded.
Here’s part one of my trip report, flying LAX-JFK in JetBlue’s Mint and here’s part two about spending the night in NYC, which includes a fantastic hotel package deal and a quick walk around Rockefeller Center.
For part 3 and the final report on this trip, I took a Blacklane car service to see my dad since I was pressed for time and I do some work for them so I had a voucher to use (including back to the airport). The good news is Blacklane has given me a 15% voucher for first-time Blacklane guests in December. Use promo code: JOHNNY15DEC21
Driving from New York to Greenwich took over an hour since there was traffic and I was shocked to see not one but two separate beggars on the highway near Yankee Stadium.
There were still some golden leaves hanging on for their lives on the trees so it made the drive picturesque once on the Merritt Parkway and the back roads of Greenwich.
My dad was so surprised to see me since I had just been there 10 days ago. He didn’t believe it was me at first. His eyes are getting bad and he’d just woken up from a nap.
My sister came and ordered a pizza, which I’ve been jonesing for for months since you can’t get great pizza in California like you can in NY/CT.
After a few hours of chatting and listening to live music at his long-term care center, it was time for him to go take a nap and me to head back to JFK airport.
He asked why I was leaving so soon and I told him there were few reasons. One: I have two little kids who I miss. Two: the price was double the next day and the airplane/airports would be packed. And three: the weather was going to be in the low 30s while L.A. was in the 70s. He understood all three points.
Driving to JFK took less than an hour and the view of the Manhattan skyline from the Whitestone Bridge was incredible (I posted a video on my Instagram but it doesn’t do it justice).
I flew American Airlines back because I wanted to make sure that I was able to requalify for my elite status (Executive Platinum). I wrote about it in detail here but I had a business class ticket and just as I was boarding, I noticed my seat changed from 6A to 4F, which meant I got upgraded for free to AA’s exclusive first class.
BTW: I went to the Flagship Lounge first and they were serving a turkey dinner, which was a nice touch.
The lounge was packed again, including the quiet room, which wasn’t quiet as billed. However, the Admirals Club near Gate 42 was again empty so that’s the place to go to avoid the crowds.
My flight was uneventful, which is what you want, and it felt like Groundhog’s Day as it was the same menu as my trip a week earlier. Here are those details.
What a wonderful photo of you and Dad. You both have great smiles!!