Sick in bed(flu), away from home, not much fun :-(

Good news for the airlines, people are flying again. I measure that by my increased wait times at TSA; 30 mins today against 10 4-5 weeks ago

Update on Zuca Pro

Having used my new Zuca Pro now for about 6 roundtrips, it is time to give an update on my experiences. Overall I am very pleased with this luggage, it has met and exceeded my expectations. I have been able to pack everything that I need, even for a recent trip when I actually spent 5 nights away from home. The packing cubes work really well, all I have to do is remember to unroll my shirts and slacks when I arrive at my destination. The built-in 3-1-1 bag is really good, and I have often used the extra pockets on the sides for things varying fom my keys (small pockets) to magazines (large pocket). The other day I discovered something very useful, this case fits into the overhead bins on the CRJ aircraft!
Of course there are always some less positive issues, one small quirk is that the case is sometimes a little unstable when being pulled, due to its narrow wheelbase. Having said that, the big polymer wheels run very smoothly and the case is very easy wheel through the terminal and down the aircraft aisle.

All in all, a bag to be recommended, I expect it to last long beacuse of the strong aluminum frame.

Delta Paperless Check-in

In the month of January I was very happy to see that Orlando was added to the list of airports that allowed Delta's paperless check-in. Coupled with some changes to Delta's technology, so that you now receive a link to a web-site that can be bookmarked, it seemed a good thing to go paperless. As I am traveling to and from Chicago, where both airports also participate in this program, for three weeks I was able to do paperless round-trips. Just in case though, for those three weeks I did print a backup copy of the boarding pass. In the fourth week I thought, this is going so well, last time for the backup print. But when I arrived at the TSA ID check in Orlando, I was glad that I had my paper backup. For some reason TSA had decided that they would no longer use the barcode readers needed for the paperless boarding passes. And since the paperless TSA check at Midway is also quirky, I have gone back to the old fashioned paper boarding pass

Snowing again in Chi-town, OK as long as is is over b4 I leave later this week

Back up to the Windy (& cold) City. One of those days, but I just managed to make my connection.

an unexpected treat tonight, Phantom of the Opera, live at the Bob Carr

Wow, that was fast! 45 mins desk to security MDW

On my way home from an icy Chicago.

Phew, finally made it home. Thank goodness most trips are not like today's

Uh oh, 2 cnxl on 1 trip, must be a record. Hopefully I can get out of ORD today

Uh oh, Delta just cancelled one of my flights, so I get home real late
tomorrow. With the upcoming weather, it might be "if I am lucky!"

On my way back to Chicago. just looking forward to the cold (NOT). Happy New Year to all my friends and colleagues

New Rollaboard Luggage

On my last trip of the year, my faithful Tumi of 15 years finally gave up the ghost (again), or at least one of the wheels. I had promised myself that this time I would not repair it (as there were two things to fix, the wheels and the main zipper). Instead I finally bit the bullet and bought myself a new bag.

I decided to go with the Zuca-Pro and was even able to get a good deal at Overstock.com, with delivery just before Christmas. So although not intended, it turned out to be an extra present uner the tree.

The Zuca has a very interesting approach, in that it has a solid aircraft aluminium frame, strong enough to use as a seat. Inside it has 6 fitted packing cubes, 5 "normal" and one clear 1-qt size for the TSA 311. Intially I was concerned about its capacity, because it is slightly smaller than my old Tumi (22" with suiter flap). But that turned out to be not as bad as I thought. My wife was concerned since the cubes are quite small and Zuca recommends rolling clothes up, rather than laying flat. So we packed it as suggested, left the clothes in all day (6-8 hours) and then unpacked them. We were both quite surprised how well they came out of it.
I am now on my first trip of the New Year and have squeezed 4 dress shirts, 5 pairs of dress socks, 5 underwear, a workout t-shirt, shorts and shoes (Earth travel sneakers). I have 3 ties, a sweater, an extra golf shirt and a pair of house pants. As well as a packet of jerky, 3 magazines and some cookies. This things can carry a lot!

No problems with the metal frame at the MCO TSA. and the thing rolls very freely. Now to see how it fits in the overhead. More details later.

Merry Christmas, or other appropriate Season's Greetings to all

The Woman Road Warrior site has a great peom base on the "The Night Before Christmas", called "The Flight Before Christmas". Worth a read at this time of year.

And safe travel to everyone, all the best for 2010

Your "Geek On The Road"

Stefan

Made my connection tonight by 2 minutes, phew!

weather great, now maintenance problem delay out of ORD. Tight cnxn in ATL, so no chance. Thanks Delta for rebooking on next flight

Bad weather in ATL so delay getting and 1 hour delay out :-(

New Inflight WIFI Pricing

I just found out that GoGo Inflight have changed their pricing plans, giving far more flexible approach.
For flights less than 1 1/2 hours the charge is only $4.95, and a day pass is now $12.95 (same as the 3 hours + rate). In between the two is a $7.95 charge for mobile devices (smartphones, etc.), for 3 hour + flights.

This seems a more reasonable pricing, so will probably result in more people availing themselves of this service. In addition, GoGo has been running some promotions which allow people to earn free access. This probably means that the bandwidth on each flight will be shared across more users. Hopefully the impact is not too serious.

Back off to Chicago, from 80 F to 20 F? At least it is warmer than last week

New Gate Checking procedure for carry-ons

A while back I made mention of my set of laminated gate check labels, an effort to be more evnironmentally correct by not needing a new label for each flight. On a couple of recent Delta Connection flights, I have been forced to use new labels as it is claimed they are now scanning the gate checked luggage.

I do not understand why re-using the same label should be a problem, especially if the scan is related to the flight. In fact, I think it would be a good idea for Delta, or any other airline, to issue their frequent fliers with permanent gate check labels (like my laminated ones) to save using all that paper.

C-c-cold in Chicago this a.m. only 2 degrees, -20 with windchill. Looking forward to heading home tonight (80 degrees today)

Now that Tiger lost the Gatorade sponsorship, maybe Viagra should be the
next sponsor

The snow continues to fall in Chicago, luckily though not sticking on the ground

Woke up this morning to a blanket of white across Chicago. Will make for some fun getting to the client