It started as a quick trip to Las Vegas that coincided with a friend who was heading down there for a conference. Now our fourth GWT has booked a flight down as of yesterday to join us. And we couldn't be more excited! All four Guys Who Travel in Vegas? What could be more fun? And what kind of trouble can we get into?
Mike being a Vegas Virgin (VV), we are extremely excited to show him around. Vegas is ridiculous. There is too much food, there is too much waste, and we love it. Maybe not for the waste part, but we embrace Las Vegas for what it is... kind of ridiculous.
Brad and I aren't big gamblers, but we do gamble enough to get some free rooms, some credits and some free food. This trip we managed to score rooms at Aria, Cosmopolitan and Planet Hollywood, so we definitely have enough rooms to go around. Yes, we may be moving around and checking in multiple times during the weekend but that is all part of the fun.
Another part of the fun, at least for Brad and especially me, is getting there. One of my goals this year is to achieve United Premier Gold via the United Challenge. I currently have 7 segments and I need 8 more before I get Premier Gold for the remaining calendar year and in turn I will achieve enough status miles that I will have United Premier Gold next year too. So you may call me crazy but I'm going to have fun doing this itinerary... Tomorrow I'll be visiting 6 airports... wish me luck!
| Flight # | Destination | Upgraded? | Miles |
| UA4267 | Toronto (YYZ) to Newark, NJ (EWR) | 500 | |
| UA1605 | Newark, NJ (EWR) to Boston, MA (BOS) | YES | 500 |
| UA887 | Boston, MA (BOS) to Washington, DC (IAD) | 500 | |
| UA1288 | Washington, DC (IAD) to Denver, CO (DEN) | 1,452 | |
| UA5623 | Denver, CO (DEN) to Las Vegas, NV (LAS) | YES | 629 |
| * I get 500 minimum for being Premier Gold | 3,581 |
So far so good, but I haven't left Toronto yet. Taking the TTC at 6:30 was a breeze... 30 minutes to Kipling station, the bus was waiting and I was at YYZ in no time. I made my way to the United Priority counter and my 5 flights, no bags, did cause the system to glitch. But after a manager came along she got it all sorted out.
The line up for non Nexus / Global Entry was massive outside of where they even let you in. Again, I can't stress the importance of getting Global Entry. They have also increased the number of Global Entry machines and are letting people know that Nexus will be no longer available very soon. Bye bye retina scan, hello finger printing. (I did drop my passport and the machine took my picture at the same time, as a result I had a great picture of the line up behind me. I had to show my Nexus card to show my identity.)
After some rubbery poached eggs at the Plaza Lounge, I'm ready to go... let's get this show on the road!
This article is in the category: Travel.
