luxuries of travel: part, the first

It pays to join loyalty programs and accumulate points/miles/stays/whatever. Goodness knows we've benefited a number of times now in terms of dining, cashing in points for gift certificates to use on some very very fine restaurants. Miles, too. I've used mine in the past for shorter hops - a trip to Spain in 2004, Allison's wedding last year. Conrad's accumulates more, and we've leveraged his miles for other wonderful jaunts: Sweden, Hawaii, New Zealand, and now New Zealand again.

This time is a bit different: United for 2/3 of the way each direction, flying in and out of different cities. And we're not suffering, oh no. Conrad's miles have got us first class tickets to and from, and on a long haul, that's a good thing. So an entry or two or three devoted to travel comfort. Yes, bragging, I know, but also a glimpse into the luxuries of it all for any of the two or three of you reading this who might want to splurge one day.

First up: O'Hare. Now yes, I know, I just wrote knocking the airport some for its lack of services and style. This is true for regular travelers. First Class? Well, it gets a bit better. Tucked in by our gate was the United International First Class Lounge. Some observations:

1. it's not very big, but it's not heavily used. The Red Carpet Club can be as hectic and unpleasant as being in a throng at a gate, but this room was serene. Lovely.

2. the food and drink was in a compact area, but it was fairly good. We each took a little snack, and I would gladly have dined more. Also, real champagne. I'm in a champagne mood these days.

3. super staff. They made some seat changes for us, scrambled about, alerted us to a delay, brought us more champagne to wait out the delay, escorted us to a side door that let us get into line at the gate without wading through folks.

So it was that we started the trip well.

The San Francisco lounge? Well, that was magnificent. A grand space, and with almost no one in it when we got there. Beautiful. Look at that chair Conrad is in. Lovely.

I liked Chicago more.

Why? At SFO, the only staff person was at the reception upstairs from the main part of the lounge. Well, also one person picking up dishes. No sense of service. The food in Chicago was better, I think, though I liked the cold, grilled tandoori shrimp. Finally, it got progressively busier in the lounge, and I got (unfairly) cranky as I had to put up with the noise of conversation around me. Yes, I know I'm being unreasonable.

I don't have photos of the Koru Club lounge we're presently in, but it stacks up well. It's been busy this morning, but the place is huge. The food selection is good, and best of all? Showers. Ahhhhh, refreshing after 24 hours of travel. I may yet take a few shots, and if so, I'll post a supplementary entry.