Vegas Report - Thursday - Departure

Last week I ventured off to my favorite destination in the United States – Las Vegas. I’m going to recap the trip in a number and variety of posts. I’ll be jumping from “I” and “we” as I took the trip with a good friend, but we weren’t always together. We’ll begin the journey from my house.

I’ve always been a nervous airplane traveler. I tend to get to the airport 2+ hours before a flight just to be safe – especially when going out to Vegas for fun. My flight was scheduled for 1pm. My car service was about 15 minutes early so I gladly departed at 10am. I upgraded to first class and check in was a breeze.

There was about 2 hours until boarding so we got a quick bite at McDonald’s. I haven’t had a McDonald’s breakfast in a while. I’m happy the meal was uneventful.

I remembered I passed a Wine Bar so I wandered back towards the gate and decided to give it a shot. I try not to go to the bathroom mid flight so I don’t tend to drink much before a flight. I decided on a flight of California red wines while I caught up with work before I took off. The wine bar was nice and relaxing. One of the wines was a pinot noir that was perfect. I could enjoyed the rest of the bottle if I had time.

The flight out was overbooked and Continental offered a nice package to those willing to wait on their flight – $300 voucher + food vouchers + first class on the next flight + (I think) access to the captains lounge during the wait. This was quite an offer, but not enough for me to delay my trip to Las Vegas by 7 hours.

First class on this airplane was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. I believe that the plan was a Boeing 757. Leg room was insane. I couldn’t reach the seat in front of me with my feet. The seats reclined more than any other seats I’ve had before. There was a foot rest that popped out when reclined and lumbar support. There was an individual entertainment center located in each seat. It had TV shows, video games, movies and music. I thought only Virgin Atlantic had something like this. It was awesome. I knew my coach flight back would suck.

1stclass

Surprisingly, I didn’t bother with the entertainment center. I had my ipod and tried to fall asleep with a few more glasses of wine. When that didn’t work, I had a Grand Marnier. I knocked off for a little while after my burrito lunch and then it was on to skyy vodka and club soda. I felt nice by the time I got to Las Vegas and didn’t even care that I was 20 minutes late.

One perk of being in first class is that checked bags come out very quickly. After gathering our bags it was off to the “Taxi Line.” I hate this line, but it wasn’t so bad. I’ve stood in a line 3 times as long. Once in the cab I told the driver we were off to Caesars and to please don’t take the tunnel. He sighed about that and went on to explain that taking the tunnel is how he makes his money. Too bad – not my money. We talked about the fight a bit and he asked who I was rooting for. I told him Manny would probably win, but I just want a good fight. The driver revealed that he was Filipino and rooting for Manny.

On to Caesars Palace next….