Crisis Management with Miles: Why one-way awards exist.

In my last post, I mentioned that Iceland was making my life difficult (yet again). Last year, my flight to Shanghai was shanghaied by the volcanic ashcloud and this year another ashcloud is causing problems for one of my relatives who was supposed to be on a plane to Reykjavik (KEF). They've been rescheduled for tomorrow, but who knows if that's going to happen at this point.

The lava fields of Helka, another volcano in Iceland, which was once called the "Gateway to Hell".
This one hasn't erupted since 2000, so if I'm really lucky maybe it'll erupt in 2012 and ground one of my planes then too.

Travel disruptions like this are annoying, but this is a good chance to show off what miles and mileage are good for. While I'm still hoping that Icelandic Air will pull through and be able to put planes in the air tomorrow, just in case I've got a one-way ticket for if the cloud gets worse on hold. The total cost? $30 plus 27,000 miles (which I just about earn on a roundtrip back to Seattle from here with my indirect routings and elite bonus). Plus, with United you can hold award reservations without buying them for a little while, so if the planes fly this insurance policy will have cost about 20 minutes of my time and nothing more.

Overall, that's a great deal. If you were to buy a one way ticket right now, the same flights would run you at least $1,100.

Knock it off, Iceland

Iceland is erupting again, just like it did last year. I seem to have the worst luck in the world with them. Last year,  my flights were cancelled (resulting lost frequent flyer miles!) and this year, I have relatives who are supposed to be flying through KEF today. Don't do it, Iceland Air! Don't cancel that flight!

Update: Yup. Cancelled.

Food Fridays: Food in the UAE

The foreign born population in the UAE is massive in comparison with the native Emiratis. As a result, there is actually a fair amount of variation in the food, with great Indian and Pakastani restaurants all over the place as well as Lebanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Western style cuisine. My friend and I tended to end up at Lebanese places or other restaurants serving kebab or shawarmas, but here's a run down of some of the different inexpensive (and good) places that we ended up trying. No meal here was more than $15.

The Riviera Restaurant: Nicely presented and tasty, but also slightly touristy. Some of the other lebanese places we went to felt like they were more authentic.

The standard spread, plus muhammara and hammos.

Muhammara: A slightly spicy paste with the same consistency as hummus. The dark drizzle is a pomegranate syrup that gives it some sweetness as well.  

Kebab: A lot of the kebab in Abu Dhabi of this particular style reminded me of Swedish meatballs.

The Green Darbar Pakistani Restaurant: One of my favorites of the bunch and definitely NOT in your guide book. This was less $10 for two people and matched the quality that we got anywhere else. The chicken literally melted off the bone and the flavors were right on. The restaurant itself caters to locals and some people would be put off by the simple standards of the place, but the people were friendly and the food was great. The only reason it felt even the remotest bit odd was because it seemed like not too many expats go there, so I was somewhat of a novelty.

Chicken Biryani and Masala: The Masala (left) was about $3, the bread $0.75, and the Chicken Biryani (right) was about $5. Great deal!

Hatam: Hatam is a chain of Iranian restaurants found in malls. It's decent, a little on the expensive side because it's in a mall, and very filling. Last time I was here, I had the lamb kebab which was really good and this time I tried the "Soltani", which is a combination of minced kebab (chenje) and steak (barg). Perfectly reasonable for a quick bite.

Lebanese Village Restaurant: Among the tastier kebab we had was the Lebanese Village restaurants. Inexpensive and the mix grill was very generous with the meat. Below is also an example of lemon-mint juice which is fantastic. It's just lemonade with fresh mint mixed in, but it's amazing.

A little bit of everything. 

Transit Pass Collection: Istanbul

When I touch down in a place, nine times out of ten I'm going to be getting on some form of public transit to get where I need to go. I rarely rent cars and love taking the train or bus perhaps more than most, which also means that I end up with a lot of transit passes over my travels. Today I want to share with you one of the most unique I've seen thus far: The Istanbul AKBIL.

The AKBIL, which is a shortening of "Intelligent Ticket" in Turkish is a keychain pass which functions as either an e-purse (stored value) or time limited pass. It's pretty comfortable to hold, and gives you a substantial discount on transit trips in the Istanbul network. Most notably, when you use this you can transfer between services, while normally you pay every time you step onto a vehicle. It also works on rail, bus, and boat.

The ticket itself is used by pressing the metal button into the green socket below. Your balance shows up on the screen and it allows you to pass through. Simple system, but getting the akbil  requires a little effort, as they're only sold at specific offices and require a couple dollars for a deposit. However, if you're looking for one of these the next time you head to Turkey you might not be able to find them at all: They're being phased out in favor of RFID cards link you find in most other mass transit systems. I'm headed to Turkey at the end of the month, I'll post pictures of the NEW card soon.

Also, never say no to panda.

Flight Report: Back to Sweden on Lufthansa

I've previously talked about how to make flying in economy class more comfortable, including ways to get consistently better food on long haul flights but also tricks to get more room, such as my A/C trick. When travelling with two people it's a technique that uses known preferences to discourage people from sitting beside you, giving you a sort of "Business Minus" flight experience.

Air New Zealand's "Skycouch" in their 777-300ERs. Looks nice!

However, for long haul flights, and especially red eyes, the ultimate economy luxury is a row to yourself. If you manage to a get row to yourself, you can sleep across all four seats in enviable luxury. In fact, airlines are taking note of this and Air New Zealand is even offering up a new product which some have dubbed "cuddle class" based on this. Before checking in online, I noticed that based on the seat map it looked like I might have a shot at my own sleeper class. Take a look after the break, plus pictures of Frankfurt and Stockholm...

Light load on the flight? Check. Open row? Check. Plenty of seats to fill, from front to back? Check. This was too tempting to pass up, especially since the flight was at 1:50 in the morning. So what did I do?

I went for it. Unfortunately for me, what Lufthansa didn't tell me was that the flight was actually sold out and they were shuffling people around. I ended up in the middle with nothing to trade and no way out. Misery, but I only had myself to blame. The lesson here? Keep your preferred seat as long as possible and be sure that the plane is actually empty before you volunteer for a middle seat. In other circumstances, this might have been enough to "reserve" the three seats for myself (or at least two), but in this case it came back to bite me!

LH AUH-FRA: Breakfast in Economy

Except for this snafu, the flight went well. Nohing amazing to take pictures of, since I was wedged between two people and far from the window. Once we arrived at Frankfurt, things got better. I was in a window seat on my way up to Stockholm and had a chance to see a United plane in the old liverly (both battleship (pic by Sven Eifert)  and the one below). The merger with United took the weaker brand identity as the primary logo, in my opinion.

You will be missed, UA.

Frankfurt am Main's CBD

Butter Pretzel. Basic and good.

Spring has finally come, although in Sweden it was still around freezing when I arrived. The trees are green and the snow is gone, so at least that's something. When summer does come to Sweden, it's amazing here but the winters really are difficult.

This is Stockholm, "The Venice of the North".

I think I manage to take a picture of this same church everytime I land at ARN...

Food Fridays: Fauchon in Dubai

Dubai is something of a Disneyland. A place where money flows (even now after the crash) and where the luxuries of the world are found in the malls beside buildings unburdened by pesky details. One of the places I was surprised to see available in the Mall of the Emirates was a friend from Paris: Fauchon.

Fauchon is known as a trendy and upscale Parisian pâtisserie that focuses on high quality breads and sweets. Given their reputation for high quality, the allure of French desserts, and the expendable income here, Fauchon is a natural fit for a place like Dubai. Chocolates, cookies, mousse, and cakes are all on the menu, but my favorite are their macaroons.

All flavors are wonderful, but for the UAE they have added a flavor I haven't seen elsewhere. Across the UAE an extremely popular and refreshing drink is lemon with mint, and at the Fauchon here they have a macroon that is exactly that. I give to you, the lemon-mint macaroon from Fauchon, Dubai (along with a raspberry macaroon and their Number 6 chocolate truffle).

Abu Dhabi: Other Scenes from Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi: The Grand Mosque

A few photos from the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, which opened in 2007. It's a massive complex made out of marble and has cost more than $500 million to build. This is the definition of opulent.