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Springtime in Georgia: Part One, Purpose and Planning.

A trip report documenting my March 2010 visit to Katie.

1. Purpose and Planning
2. Getting Started
3. To London, Sir
4. Back in the US Airways
5. Terminal A-West, Philadelphia Born and Raised

So it was Christmas, and what had I done? Someone told me that war could be over, if I wanted it. I wouldn’t mind that, but I’d prefer that song be over. It’s terrible. But as much as I want war to be over, or even perhaps to never have to hear that song again, there was something I wanted even more.

I’d spent the previous Christmas in the states with my girlfriend, and having to instead spend this Christmas at home, with my family of all people, reinforced just how much I missed her. Sure, I’d last seen her only three months ago in September, but suddenly I wanted nothing more than to be in Georgia, with my arms squeezed tightly around a certain Ms. Fuller. Unfortunately, my work don’t allow people to take time off around Christmas. I think it’s something to do with the company actually being run by Satan. Also, since I’d only started in September, I would need to wait until I’d been there long enough to get two weeks off, so just after Christmas I asked my boss when I could go on holiday.

Eventually the news came back that I would be allowed two weeks off in March. Now I knew the dates I could go for, it was time to look at my options for airlines. My last trip had been with US Airways. It had not been particularly enjoyable, except for the hiccup in the weather giving me a mini holiday in Philadelphia itself. However, due to the frequent flyer scheme I’d joined, I was looking for star alliance airlines to get me to Atlanta.

That leaves me with Continental Airlines, US Airways or United Airlines. For some reason, United are never competitive on routes from Glasgow. Probably due to them not flying there, and forcing you to connect through London Heathrow on a bmi flight. On the dates I was looking at, Continental were proving to be about £20, £30 more expensive than US Airways. However, the direct Glasgow US Airways flights I’d taken in the summer were seasonal, so like United I’d have to connect through London.

This wasn’t actually a negative for me, as by flying through London the route would be 9000 miles, as opposed to about 7500, which would be enough to get me Silver status in the BMI Diamond Club frequent flyer scheme. Actually, if my British credit card worked on the American US Airways site, I’d have thrown a couple of extra segments in for free, through either Chicago O’Hare, Washington Dulles or Charlotte, just for the extra miles. Always come in handy. As it was, I booked through Tesco, who appear to own Lastminute.com, so that at the very least I could get clubcard points, and indeed British Airways air miles.

The planning all cushty now, it was time for the most difficult task. Waiting. And waiting. Still, at least it wasn’t boring. My boss went off sick, and the replacement boss I got in didn’t know about my holiday, then when I told him about it, tried to tell me I couldn’t take it. In fact, it escalated so much that I had to threaten to quit my job, and only found out the day before I left that it was actually fine for me to take my holiday, but the compromise was that I’d only get paid for one of the two weeks. Like I say, company run by Satan.

Stay tuned for the start of the journey, all the excitement of a transatlantic trip in the back, my encounter with America’s finest border agents, and finally making it to Atlanta and my woman, some bits about what I did while I was there, and the return journey itself. Considering the trip itself was in March, and that it’s now the end of May. Expect me to finish this trip report sometime in the next three or four years, perhaps.

Related posts:

1. To Munich and Beyond! Part One: Purpose and Planning
2. Springtime in Georgia: Part Three, To London, Sir
3. Springtime in Georgia: Part Four, Back in the US Airways
4. Springtime in Georgia: Part Five, Terminal A-West, Philadelphia Born and Raised
5. Springtime in Georgia: Part Two, Getting Started

A trip report documenting my March 2010 visit to Katie. Purpose and Planning Getting Started To London, Sir Back in the US Airways Terminal A-West, Philadelphia Born and Raised So...