waapblog.com – Wing and a Prayer

Ah, nothing like a little Labor Day pre-commencement-of-year-of-organic-chemistry-and-biology vacation. I realized in the past weeks I was getting restless, and wanted to jet off to some crazy destinations, and knock a few countries off my list. What better way to preceed a crazy year of courses, MCAT studying, and med school application preparation than with a trip to an even crazier destination.

You see, as a traveler, I’m not one for sitting on beaches, cushiness, resorts, and generally, any trip with an easy language barrier to cross, and a quiet in the air. Na, I prefer a city, grit, grime, rush, noise, and perhaps – even a bit of danger. If I need a moment of relaxation,  I say, throw out the chaise-lounge, and give me a seat in a sidewalk cafe with a book, or a chance to people watch. Thus, I figured I’d head to a destination that’s a little obscure, a little risky, and just a bit unorthodox.

How about Iraq?

Exactly.

I’ve finally thrown together my quick Labor Day week/weekend trip with a visit to Brussels, and a visit to Erbil/Arbil in Northern Iraq. I have never been to Belgium (I’ll have to tell the story of the time I almost went – only to have my heart broken when I learned I could not go), and wanted to experience the architecture, the food, speak some French, and of course, sample a few (dozen) Belgian beers. I also want to see the epicenter of the Belgian comic book series Les Aventures de Tintin, on which I wrote my English honors thesis before graduating from Berkeley. I’ve heard the comic book museum there is quite excellent. Then, it’s off to Iraq, to experience the culture, and to drink in a different and controversial scene.

Of course, when you’re booking with United frequent flyer miles, it’s never so simple as to simply select your desired flights, and to get ready to travel. Booking award tickets with United, in the face of the despised Starnet blocking, in which United blocks most First and Business class seats on their partner (read: better) airlines, is a terrible tangle having to reconcile your ideal flights and dates, with the complete and utter lack of choices. It seems that every time I book an award with United, well, every time except for once, I have never, ever, ever had flights that conformed to my desired dates of travel. It has always seemed to work out that way.

So, I made sure to do the requisite United homework – searching the venerable ANA tool, and airlines’ websites for their flight schedules and flight numbers. I was willing to leave either immediately after my summer term, or over the Labor Day week. Here’s a list of all the possible flights I compiled, based on knowing United does not usually block these particular award flights, or with the ANA tool showing first class availability (for those not adept [read - less nerdy and more normal a human being] with airline IATA two-letter codes, LH is Lufthansa, LX is Swiss Air, UA is United, and OS is Austrian).

Aug 15:

JFK – FRA – LH401
JFK – FRA – LH405
EWR – FRA – LH403
JFK – MUC – LH411
IAD – FRA – LH417
IAD – FRA – LH419
IAD – MUC – LH415
ORD – FRA – LH431
ORD – FRA – LH433

Aug 16:

JFK – FRA – LH401
JFK – FRA – LH405
EWR – FRA – LH403
JFK – MUC – LH411
EWR – MUC – LH413
IAD – FRA – LH417
ORD – FRA – LH431
ORD – MUC – LH435
JFK – AUS – OS088

Aug 31:

JFK – FRA – LH405
EWR – FRA – LH403
IAD – BRU – UA950

Sept 01:

JFK – FRA – LH401
JFK – FRA – LH405
EWR – FRA – LH403
IAD – FRA – LH417
IAD – FRA – LH419
IAD – FRA – UA916
ORD – FRA – LH431
ORD – FRA – LH433
ORD – FRA – LH944
JFK – ZRH – LX015
JFK – ZRH – LX017
EWR – ZRH – LX019
JFK – GVA – LX023

Sept 02:

JFK – FRA – LH401
JFK – FRA – LH405
EWR – FRA – LH403
JFK – VIE – OS088
IAD – FRA – LH417
IAD – FRA – LH419
IAD – FRA – UA916
IAD – MUC – LH415
IAD – MUC – UA902
IAD – BRU – UA950
ORD – FRA – LH431
ORD – FRA – LH433
JFK – ZRH – LX015
JFK – ZRH – LX017
EWR – ZRH – LX019
JFK – GVA – LX023

Remember, all of these flights either showed explicit, available first class seats, or were on LX, whom United does not usually block for award tickets. It works best to feed United agents flight number after flight number to verify availability, often to their palpable disdain or annoyance at having to actually do some work for a United customer. With an exasperated, older-sounding UA agent, a checked the above flights. Guess how many were available? One. The United flight on September second from IAD – BRU. And, of course, the above list only represents outbound flights.

I am now booked JFK – IAD – BRU on United, unfortunately, in old-configuration 777. After a few days in Brussels, I’ll jump on Austrian Airlines down to Vienna, and make the transfer for the flight to Erbil, Iraq. After Iraq, I will fly to Vienna, spend the night in Vienna, and then, grab a Swiss Air flight home to JFK on September 8th. After fighting with the crabby agent for a while on the definition of a stopover (she thought that a stopover meant that I would have to book two-separate award tickets – despite my banging my head on the wall and telling her that I was simply trying to construct a Middle East award ticket with a stopover – uh, exactly as I did for my Uzbekistan trip in March), I ticketed the reservation. It’s not exactly to my standards now, but it’s a good framework from which to work, and to make changes. My, perhaps, favorite benefit of being a 1K United Mileage Plus member is free, unlimited changes to award tickets prior to travel. I changed my Uzbekistan itinerary and stopover several times prior to departure.

Best of all, we’re approaching a new fiscal quarter. Come July 1, the tight-fisted cheapskate mules that run United award travel budgets relax their slime-filled grips of hate for their customers, and, apparently, relax Starnet blocking for a bit. I’d like to see if I can at least change my outbound flight to a new-config United airplane, tighten up the number of days I spend in Iraq, and perhaps try to snatch a seat on a newly-configured Swiss Air airplane back to JFK.

Regardless, though, I’m very pleased, and very happy to be traveling again. Hey, perhaps a trip to Iraq will put organic chemistry and biology in perspective.