Detailed review of Ventana Big Sur, pro tips for your stay, and suggestions for what to do around the area and along the beautiful Pacific coastline. Click the title to read more.
Category: photography
AA 767-300 Business Class JFK-MXP
The second leg of my outbound to Europe was in Business class on American Airlines’s newly retrofitted 767-300s. It’s a two-class plane (i.e. no First class), with eight rows of seats in a 1-2-1, staggered configuration. Basically, this results in all the seats being forward-facing, with cut outs for your seat in the ottoman of the seat in front of you. My seat looked something like this:
Well, it looked exactly like that. I was seated in 4A, which is a window seat on the left aisle. This gave a really private feeling, as there was a table between me and the aisle which minimized disruption as the flight attendants walked up and down the aisle.
Pre-departure service included sparkling wine (yay!), which I gladly imbibed=&0=&because I needed to fall asleep as soon as meal service ended, and wine makes me very sleepy. Similarly to my previous transcon, First class flight, every passenger got an amenity kit and pair of Bose headphones for use during the flight.
After takeoff, the flight attendants came around with warm nuts and a selection of drinks. I had my glass topped off and eagerly awaited meal service, for which I had ordered the pecan-crusted tilapia as my main course. Before that arrived, however, I got my appetizer, which included a delicious (like, would order from a restaurant) beet-quinoa salad with glazed balsamic dressing. I also got my first (but hopefully not last) world-famous AA pretzel roll, which totally didn’t fit with what I was eating but was nonetheless delicious.
After I finished my salad, I had my plate replaced with my main course, which, to be generous, was passable. It certainly tasted like fish, but the pecan-crusting was lost in a sea of butter, and the vegetables on the side were lifeless and pale. Ah well, can’t have it all. I got another glass of champagne to ease my sorrows.
For dessert, I got a cup of chocolate ice cream, of which I had two scoops before the alcohol kicked in deciding that I wanted to get some shut-eye. I converted my seat to its lie-flat position and promptly fell asleep.
My one complaint about the seat is one that others have noted, which is that because of how small the foot cubby is, your feet actually get really hot during the flight. That actually woke me up for good about four hours later from what was otherwise a pretty solid chunk of sleep. I recognize that I’m just quibbling here, but it’s still worth mentioning.
Breakfast was done ad-hoc as passengers woke up. I had a fruit salad with yogurt and a cinnamon pastry. The man next to me had the omelette, which looked fairly good all told, but I’m not really one for eggs on a plane (and besides, my stomach was still on Pacific time, so it wasn’t really in the mood for anything too heavy).
And then there was sunrise. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves:
Oh right, and the Alps were also pretty damn beautiful:
And before I knew it, the flight was over. It was a pretty good length — 8 hours — just long enough for a solid slumber but short enough so as not to feel endless, and I would definitely take it if given the chance again. Thankfully, American flies this plane on a number of routes from the East Coast to Europe, so I’m sure that chance will come up again.
Ciao!
AA A321T First Class SFO-JFK
Hello from Milan!!! I’m here (well, in Europe) for a week visiting my sister, and for the first time, I booked all of my travel into premium cabins! I’m not usually one for trip reports (here was my first admittedly pathetic attempt at one), but I want to say that’s mostly because no one wants to hear me talk about how comfortable my economy class seat was or how the person next to me had bad body odor (hey, I call it as I smell it). Anyway, here goes:
For those of you who are unfamiliar, the AA 321T is American Airlines’s premium transcontinental offering meant to compete (or exceed, depending on who you ask) with Delta One domestic service and United p.s.. Roughly, they offer lie-flat seats on lucrative routes like SFO-NYC and LAX-NYC which attract contracted (cough Hollywood cough Silicon Valley) business travelers whose companies will pay a premium for their fares. For a good set of reviews and comparisons, see Eric Boromisa’s head-to-head reviews here.
American is the only carrier to offer a full three-class premium plane, meaning it has fully differentiated Economy, Business, and First class cabins. I’ll be flying Business class in July for my birthday, so you’ll get a review of that then, but for this trip, I got to fly First class.
Check-in was easy (well, I did it online), but there is a dedicated check-in line for premium cabins at SFO. Security too was straightforward, as I have TSA Precheck. Once I got through, I headed to the Admiral’s Club in Terminal 2 (unfortunately, the Centurion Lounge is inaccessible without first exiting security for American Airlines departures), which pleasantly surprised. It was clean and fresh, which I guess I should expect from the U.S. carrier lounges in S.F.O., as most of them have been recently redesigned or renovated.
Breakfast comprised granola, yogurt, cereal, and some baked goods, as well as your standard selection of drinks. However, I was saving my appetite for the plane (yes, I was actually excited for plane food), so I just stuck with some coffee and a yogurt.
Boarding commenced sharply at 8:20, and I was second to board the plane. The First Class cabin consists of twelve, reverse herringbone seats (meaning they sit at a diagonal, feet facing the window) in a 1-1 configuration. They look like this:
I’m honestly not sure how I feel about reverse herringbone configuration, since despite all the surface area, most of it is just too far to reach comfortably from the seat. But that’s just a nitpick, since it’s SUPER spacious, both for the general seat as well as in the foot cubby, which comfortably fit my backpack and the provided pillow and blanket.
I initially laughed that they gave us pillows and blankets for a daytime flight, but I actually ended up taking advantage of the opportunity lie flat and take a nap (I had not slept much the previous night). They also provide Bose noise-cancelling headphones as well as a nice amenity kit, although I didn’t have a need for either on my flight.
Breakfast was served about thirty minutes after departure, having been preceded by (non-alcoholic) drink service on the ground. Everything was actually delicious! I had a yogurt parfait and a bagel with lox and cream cheese. Not the best bagel or lox I’ve ever had (I’m a New Yorker, after all), but for a plane, it was great.
The two courses were followed by a dessert plate, with various chocolates and sundries:
Because I was so tired, I didn’t make it long enough to have my sparkling wine ???? . Instead, I reclined my seat into its fully lie-flat position and promptly, as they say, PTFOed.
Two hours later, I woke up, and on his next pass through they cabin, my flight attendant told me, “Welcome back!” before offering me some coffee (+++++) and snacks. I took a black, drip coffee, although they make espressos and cappuccinos if you so desire. I also got a warm chocolate cookie for my troubles 😛
I spent most of the rest of the flight in the same way I had spent the beginning, eating working and catching up on email. The internet was solid throughout and outlets were plentiful, so I didn’t have to worry about running out of charge on my phone or laptop.
And then we landed. Well, some other things happened before that (for example, we descended 30,000 feet, the pilot put on landing gear, etc, etc), but they weren’t particularly notable.
All in all, it was a great flight, and a really cool opportunity to try out a product that I (probably) won’t make a habit of flying, as six hours is within my range of flights for which it isn’t worth it to pay extra for a premium cabin. That said, I could see myself flying it again if I were to take an Eastbound redeye, since I actually haven’t taken one in a few years because of how poorly I tend to sleep in Economy.
Hope you enjoyed!
Happy hacking!
We Are Titans
Hi everyone!
As follow-up to our photoshoot from our recent trip to Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji, a reader suggested that it would be great to offer a way for everyone to share their travel-hacking successes with others. So whether it’s a photo of a credit card that helped you out, a landscape you particularly enjoyed, or a selfie that you had to contort your arm to frame, send it on over to us at demflyers [at] gmail [dot] com, or tweet at us (@demflyers) with the hashtag #wearetitans.
And check out everyone’s photos on the page linked below! Happy travels!
My First J: SFO-SYD on Qantas!
Greetings from Sydney!
At long last, the whole DEM Flyers crew is together in one place traveling for two weeks, and we could not be more excited. Unfortunately, Michael and I are still sitting on the tarmac at Sydney as we wait for a truck to tow our 747 the last 500 feet to the gate. So close, yet so far….
I don’t typically write trip reports, but I figured this occasion was significant enough to warrant it. And besides, I don’t have anything better to do ????
I’m going to ignore the part where we were delayed five hours in San Francisco waiting for engineers to repair the hydraulic systems as well as the part where we leaked hydraulic fluid all over the runway as we landed in Sydney, because otherwise, my first time flying an international premium cabin was fantastic! I got a full eight hours of sleep, had endless legroom, and was in general waayyyy more comfortable than I’ve ever been on a flight.
There are plenty of other places you can read in-depth reviews and reports about Qantas’s business class (see here and for a good one), so instead, I’ll just turn it over to my (excellent) camera work and let my photos tell you the rest of the story.
Cheers!
The best money I spent in Bali
After jumping on a mistake fare to Indonesia in the spring (and convincing my friend Jacob to join), I finally got to live out my trip, spending five days in Bali followed by one in Singapore and another in Tokyo.
We spent a large portion of our Bali segment staying in Ubud, from which we had access to much of northern Bali (like Mt. Batur, an active volcano, shown above) as well as respite from the hordes of tourists typically crowding the beaches of Kuta (we did of course spend a day in Legian to take advantage of the beaches).
On the third day of our stay, we followed the advice of the (wonderful!) hotel manager at the Gajah Biru Bungalows and walked into Ubud city center searching for ‘push bikes’ (not to be confused with normal ‘bikes’, which is how the locals refer to motorcycles) to rent.
After walking down a side street we stumbled on a vendor and asked how much it would cost to rent bikes for the day. He told us 25,000 rupees (a bit less than $2) per bike.
“25,000?!” I asked, feigning outrage, “That’s ridiculous!” (The hotel manager told us to expect 15,000 as a fair price). I turned to walk away.
“Fine. 20,000”, he acquiesced.
I gave the man an uninterested glance and then continued down the street.
After proceeding about five minutes without passing another vendor, Jacob turned to me and pointed out, “You realize that you turned down an offer for a full day bike rental of $3, right?”
“That’s not the point. We have to get a good deal!” I retorted.
We then started laughing and turned back down the street.
At the end of the day, during which we biked about 15km, we navigated our way back through rush hour traffic and returned to the vendor from whom we had rented.
“The bikes were good?” he asked.
“Yes, very.”
As we walked away I remarked that the price of the bike rentals — barely $3 — was by far the best purchase of the whole trip. They had carried us 15km in and around Ubud, through expanses of farmland, dozens of local temples, and finally, to the terraced rice fields at Tegalalang.
Jacob agreed.
Feeling reminiscent, I then posed the logical extension to what was originally meant as a rhetorical question — for each of the trips we had taken since the start of the year, what was the best money we had spent? I’ll clarify here that we settled on the term ‘best money’ to mean the greatest ratio of enjoyment to amount spent, with free things being excepted.
Here were my answers:
Bay Area Sunset Drive :)
Check out the video for stunning dashcam footage during a sunset drive!