Stay Report: INNSIDE New York NOMAD (New York City - March 2022)

 Stay Report: INNSIDE New York NOMAD
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Even though I have traveled to New York many times, it is always a search to find a good hotel in the city.  When looking for a hotel, we are looking for a centrally-located hotel that provides a nice-sized room and with decent customer service.  In the search, I narrowed our search to Chelsea as that was centrally located to many restaurants and transportation including Penn Station, subway and other aspects.  Within Chelsea, we found Innside NOMAD by Melia Hotels.  I have stayed at Melia before but it was an all-inclusive in Punta Cana at the Melia Caribe Tropical but that was my first experience at a Melia hotel.  That experience was nice so when I noticed the InnsidebyMelia, decided to try out this hotel.

The hotel is located in Chelsea and is in walking distance to many shops, restaurants, and transportation access.  The hotel is 6 blocks from 34th Street and Herald Square, is 6 blocks away from Penn Station, and is close to Madison Square Garden as well as many subway stops.  The hotel itself is located on 27th Street between 6th and 7th Avenue; location on the side streets is very nice as it is away from some of the noise and hustle so you get a more restful sleep.  There are two main doors to the hotel - the outer door leads you into the covered patio for the restaurant and lounge and you walk straight through to the other door which leads you into the general lobby.  It is New York so everything is small including the lobby; in the middle of the lobby is a small sitting area while on the right is the restaurant and to the left are the check-in desks.  Because the lobby is a bit narrow, it can get crowded during peak check-in and check-out times.  Check-in is generally very quick and efficient and you get your key as well as bottles of water - bottles of water are available at the check-in desk and can be requested at any time. 

We received our key and proceeded to the elevator.  The elevator was located in the back of the lobby and you needed your key to access guest rooms.  My review of the hotel is based on 3 different stays and each stay there were different rooms, all basically the same but the only difference is one room was bigger in size but amenities were the same.  When you get off the elevator and go down the hallway to your room, there is a full-length mirror next to each  room number and that was a nice feature of the hotel; to have a last look of yourself and outfit before proceeding out.  As you enter into the room, on one side was the restroom.  The restroom had a sliding door and contained a shower, a toilet and a sink.  The sink had a huge drawer underneath which contained all the towels plus the hairdryer.  There were refillable bottles with handsoap and lotion next to the sink and body wash and shampoo in the shower; the smells were really nice and it was very nice quality and options for the toiletries.  There was not a lot of storage space in the drawer but there was some; there was more storage space underneath the drawer.  As in all New York hotels, space is limited to the bathroom space is compact. 

On the opposite side of the bathroom, in the entrance hallway was the open closet.  The closet contained a small iron and ironing board, a rack to hang clothes on, drawers underneath, shelves on top, and an umbrella in the closet.  Next to the open closet were open shelves and those contained the mini-fridge, the safe, and the coffee maker.  Next to the open closet was a landing where you could store your wallet and phones and along the closet was a ledge where you could store your phone.  Next to the closet mounted on the wall was the TV and at the end of the wall was the small table and chair.  There was a nice window that provided a lot of light and views of the city and there was a chair next to the window.  The beds were located along the wall across from the TV and I generally booked a room with 2 double beds - the beds were spaced out with a nightstand in the middle.  The nightstand had a phone on it and above were 2 small individual reading lights.  The beds themselves were comfortable and provided a good enough sleep; the beds were big enough to sleep 2 people comfortably.   The only negative on the room was the lack of lights.  There were enough outlets throughout the room for various plugs to charge. 

As I said, the review was based on multiple stays and 2 stays were in the same room type while a 3rd stay was in the bigger room.  The typical room type was spacious enough and was a standard hotel size so 2 people could comfortably fit; it was definitely more spacious than some of the other NYC hotels I have stayed at.  The bigger room had the same amenities but was more spacious - there was definitely more space in the bathroom and in the bedrooms which meant that 4 individuals could comfortably fit into that room.

Amenities in the hotel included wifi, bottles of water, a fitness center, a restaurant, and meeting rooms.  There is a $35 daily resort fee to cover all the costs of these amenities which to me is just another excuse to get more money because I doubt these amenities cost that amount nor is there enough demand on all the facilities to justify that costs.  The bottles are water are limitless so you can go to the front desk multiple times a day to get bottles of water; the wifi was fast and you can load as many devices as you want so both of these were nice.  Because I was usually on there for a weekend I never had time to access the fitness center (and when I did try and check it out it was closed due to COVID restrictions).

Overall, it is a nice centrally located hotel in Chelsea.  The location is perfect with easy transportation and walking access to many shops and restaurants.  The room itself is not squashed and is a decent size, the supply of water (which is important when travelling) and the multiple devices on wifi make this a nice hotel in New York City.

Trip Report: American Airlines, Providenciales to Baltimore (July 2021)

Stay Report: American Airlines - Providenciales to Baltimore
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Travelling has seriously changed in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.  Flight schedules have been drastically reduced or cancelled and this can be more impacted when a natural disaster happens.  I was returning from Turks & Caicos back to the U.S. onboard American Airlines from Providenciales to Baltimore via Charlotte but there was a hurricane that was disrupting travel so my flight was cancelled (my flight was severely delayed so that my connecting flight would be missed so they just cancelled it all).  I received the notification via email and my flight was rebooked 3-days later; that rebooking did not work for me since I needed to get back to work so I left my hotel and went to the airport to see if there was any other flights or options available.  After standing in line for 3+-hours, I finally was able to get on the flight to Miami and connect to Washington, D.C.  

My first flight was onboard a Boeing 737 from Providenciales to Miami.  Flight time was a bit over

2hrs and it was a completely full flight.  The plane was in a 2-2 configuration in business and a 3-3 in economy with extra legroom space upfront and main economy in the back.  Main economy seats were a bit tight but were decent enough for the 2-hour flight time.   The seat looked updated and was comfortable enough for the flight duration.  There was a space for airline literature uptop followed by a contraption to hold your electronic device in place.  There were no seatback screens as American has removed those and instead installed these contraptions to hold your personal device and you can personally stream videos to your phone/tablet through the wifi.  In my opinion, its great you get to stream to your own device but the contraption does not always work.  American has also installed USB ports on every seatback so that you can constantly charge your device while streaming; there are universal power ports beneath the seat for additional power.  Once airborne, the inflight service commenced which consisted of pretzels plus a complimentary beverage.  I do like that on most American flights they do give you the entire can of drink and not just a mouthwash size glass, especially on internationally flights.  After a relatively smooth flight we landed in Miami.  

My original destination was Baltimore but when I was rebooking in Providenciales they thought I could not make my connection to Baltimore so they booked me on a flight to Washington Reagan.  When I got to Miami, I went to the transfer desk where there was luckily no-one and asked if I could be transferred to the Baltimore flight.  Thanks for my Global Entry and having hand-luggage only, I got through immigration quickly so would be able to make the flight if they could rebook me.  After 20 minutes of waiting and negotiation, I got onto the flight to Baltimore.  The flight from Miami to Baltimore was operated by an older plane that needed to be updated.  I had been allocated the first seat with plenty of legroom and but it was still a less comfortable ride for the 2hr35min flight time (I recently flew from Charlotte to Baltimore and that was on the newer and updated Boeing 737 so not sure if that plane had not been updated yet).  Again after takeoff the inflight service commenced of pretzels and a drink and again, appreciated receiving the entire can.  After a relatively smooth flight we landed in Baltimore and deplaned.

Overall, it was a pleasant journey on American.  After this trip, I recently took American on a domestic trip and had a similarly decent experience - the seats were decent, they had working USB ports and the service was decent as well; they were a solid B-grade airline.  I did have to argue somewhat both in Providenciales and in Miami for the flights but I think I would have had to do that with other airlines as well.  I would definitely choose to take American domestically or to the Caribbean; I have taken them internationally once and vowed never to do that again.

Trip Report: jetBlue Airlines, New Orleans to Providenciales (July 2021)

Stay Report: JetBlue Airlines - New Orleans to Providenciales
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I wanted to travel to Turks & Caicos and I had originally booked travel on another carrier but then dates changed so had to look for another option and in my search Jetblue came up.  I have flown Jetblue before and really enjoyed their service so decided to try them for Caribbean service and see if their reputation held up.  At the time of booking, Jetblue had partnership with a variety of airlines so you could earn AAdvanage, Skyward or TrueBlue miles on this flight.  

My flight operated from New Orleans to Fort Lauderdale to Providenciales.  My flight was early in the

morning with a 6am departure on an Airbus A320 from New Orleans to Fort Lauderdale and then a 2.5hr layover prior to departing on an Embraer E190 to Providenciales at 12pm.  I had booked the 'Blue' fare which includes a carry-on, a personal item, and seat selection; checking luggage on this fare requires a cost.  Jetblue also introduced 'Blue Basic' to compete with ULCC's and that only includes a personal carry-on, no additional carryon or seat selection is available.  In every class, every passenger gets access to the inflight TVs and the wide variety of snacks.

My first flight was on an Airbus A320 with a 3-3 seat configuration.  The plane had a small business class followed by standard economy.  There were some seats that had extra legroom, which required an extra charge, but the standard legroom on Jetblue was very generous.  I am 6'1 and the seat pitch was extremely good and I could easily fit my legs in the seat.  The seat itself was very comfortable and wide.  Each seat came with a PTV screen and the plane was equipped with wifi.  The PTV had access to movies and TV shows as well as live TV.  After take-off, Jetblue's signature inflight service commenced.  I say signature because Jetblue is the only one to offer a wide variety of snacks including chips, popcorn, and cookies and these are offered throughout the flight and you can go up to the FA to request more.  In addition to these complimentary snacks, complimentary drinks are served and you can also purchase additional food and beverage items.  The extra seatpitch, the PTV and access to free content, and the access to quality snacks are some of the main reasons that people choose Jetblue; its good that they have kept those options all these years.

We landed in Fort Lauderdale and had a very long layover in a small airport (Fort Lauderdale airport

was not built to handle the capacity that it currently operates at).  About an hour before our flight to Providenciales, passengers were called to the gate so that documents could be checked - these included passport but also COVID tests and T&C health screenings.  Once all documents were checked, we were able to board the plane.  The flight from Fort Lauderdale to Providenciales was operated by an Embraer E190 with a 2-2 seat configuration.  The plane was small and it felt small - even though the flight time was 1hr50min and T&C can accommodate bigger planes; I am not sure why Jetblue operated the smaller plane.  The seats on the E190 were the same in terms of seat pitch and width and each had a PTV screen, but these were older and so did not have access to all the content from the previous plane; free live tv was still available.  After take-off, the signature service commenced with complimentary snacks and drinks and then it was time to enjoy the Jetblue experience before we started our descent into Providenciales.  

Overall, it was a nice flight experience with Jetblue.  The comfortable legroom, the comfortable seat, the access to PTV screens, and access to complimentary snacks made the overall experience a very pleasant one.  The FA's onboard were nice and friendly so it made the experience that much more pleasant.  Since taking this flight, Jetblue has increased its partnership with American meaning you can earn and redeem AAdvantage points on Jetblue flights.  This is just another reason to choose Jetblue. 

Trip Report: Frontier Airlines, New Orleans to Atlanta (April 2022)

  Trip Report: Frontier Airlines, New Orleans to Atlanta
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I fly from New Orleans to Atlanta a lot of surprising there are a lot of options.  The standards are Delta, which have a flight almost every hour or so; Southwest which does not as much availability but comes with perks such as free bags; Spirit which has limited availability but comes at a lower cost; and Frontier which only has one flight a day and is comparable to Spirit.  I have flown Delta, Southwest and Spirit on this route many times and used to fly Frontier but they stopped this route.  They have recently reintroduced the route so decided to try them again.

The Frontier flight from New Orleans to Atlanta leaves on at a different time depending on which day

you are traveling.  On the day I was traveling, the flight departed at 4:20pm and arrive into Atlanta at 6:52p; on the next day, the flight left at 7am and arrived into 9am and there was no afternoon flight.  I am not sure what the pairing or timing is but that is Frontier.  Frontier is a low-cost airline so the ticket only includes the seat and a personal item, everything else requires payment.  Frontier, like Spirit, has introduced 'Bundle packages' in which you can bundle a seat, a carry-on, checked baggage and priority boarding.  I have done this many times on Spirit and have always found it beneficial, especially the extra luggage and the priority boarding.  I was only going for a short period so I did not need the extra luggage but the person I was traveling with was going for a longer period and the extra carry-on was $35-40 and the bundle that included everything was $50 so it was more cost-effective to get the bundle; even with the bundle the ticket was less than $100.

Booking the flights on the app is a lot easier than the website - the website for me kept spinning and taking longer than necessary; this is where Spirit wins in the low-cost area as their website is faster (app is slower and a bit useless).  Both Spirit and Frontier do try and upsell you throughout the entire booking process and this is where you can select the various bundles.  I have bundled many times on Spirit and my travel companion bundled with Frontier; the bundle that I normally choose includes a carry-on in addition to your personal item, a checked baggage (at 18kg/40lbs instead of the standard 23kg/50lbs), priority boarding and seat selection.  If you do not choose any of the bundles, then the only thing included in your ticket is a personal item; everything else comes at a cost.  I was able to check-in 24-hours in advance and on Frontier I was given the option at the beginning to buy a seat but then afterwards there was no availability to look at the seat-map; on Spirit you are able to see the seatmap after boarding and potentially move seats within your section.  

The flight was scheduled to depart at 4:20pm and the plane was already at the gate (it had earlier come

from Atlanta) and so boarding started ontime at 3:50pm.  Unlike Spirit, Frontier only made one announcement regarding hand carry items.  Frontier boards in groups and if you purchase a bundle, that includes priority boarding so boarding in Group 1.  I was in group 3 but after group 1 the groups were not really enforced.  The operating aircraft was an Airbus A320 with a 3-3 seat configuration.  The style of the seat, the seat pitch, and the seat width all reminded me of Spirit; Frontier seats even had the tiny tray table similar to Spirit.  Both airlines offer a basic seat that is already 'prereclined' so you cannot recline anymore, the seats are decent but only for short-haul and will be uncomfortable for long-haul, and the seat pitch is tight so decent for short-haul but again would be uncomfortable for long-haul.  Once onboard, I did ask the flight attendant if the flight was full and if I could move; they said the flight was full but that was incorrect as they did allow people to move upfront or to exit rows but did charge them for these moves ($50 to sit in the exit seat).   Everyone boarded and the door closed, we pushed back ontime and headed out to Atlanta.

The flight was very basic and minimal.  Because of tail winds + short flight time + some turbulence, normal inflight service was not going to operate but rather if you wanted something then you had to ring your call bell and you could order directly from the FA's.  Other than that, the flight was very basic and not really exciting.  After 50mins, we started our descent into Atlanta and landed on-time and taxied to the gate.  One thing in the air - the FA's kept mentioning keeping a tidy airplane and that if we could help them since they had to turn the plane to Las Vegas and that 'they were the cleaning crew'.  The FAs also did an odd thing on the ground; I had put my carryon in the overhead above row 3 and I was further back.  When row 3 deplaned, my bag was still there since it would take some time for my row to deplane; but in the meanwhile the FAs was going through the overhead and taking down all the bags that were left and putting them on the seats.   This is fine except this information was not told to the passengers so I only noticed as I was trying to understand what they were doing with bag.  It was very odd.

Overall, it was an interesting experience with Frontier.  Many aspects of the process were similar toother ULCC including Spirit so in that sense at certain aspects you could not tell whether you were flying Frontier or Spirit.  Based on this experience, I would not hesitate to fly Frontier short-haul if the timings were right, the price were right, and it was short-haul.  

Trip Report: Air Canada, Toronto to Washington, D.C. (October 2021)

   Trip Report: Air Canada - Toronto to Washington, D.C.
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I was booking my flight from Washington, D.C. to Toronto and return.  On the outbound the best flight and connection I found was with Delta and on the return the best connection, flight time and price I found was with Air Canada.  This routing would take me from Toronto to Washington Reagan via Montreal.  I found the flight on Google Flights but went to AirCanada's website directly to book the ticket.  It was quick and easy to book the ticket online, select my seat, and get my reservation.

My original flight had me departing Toronto at 4pm with an 1hr layover in Montreal and then arrive into Washington. D.C. at 8pm.  I arrived to the airport a little more than 2-hours in advance because I thought I had to stand in line for my documents to get checked.  In line they said that if I received my mobile boarding pass then everything was clear and nothing needed to be shown/checked so I proceeded to security.  Since I was going to Montreal it was treated as a domestic flight so I did not need to clear immigration and because of that, I got to the gate really quickly.  When I approached the gate, the earlier flight to Montreal was on 'last call' and they asked me if I was part of that flight.  I said I was part of the later flight and they asked if I wanted to take the earlier flight; since I had only hand-carry I said yes and I was able to take the 2pm flight to Montreal onboard a Boeing 787 dreamliner.  

This flight generally departs Toronto at 2pm and arrives into Montreal at 3:14pm.  The flight was

operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and it was great to experience this Dreamliner plane on a short domestic flight.  The plane was laid out in a 3-3-3 configuration in economy and the seat width and seat pitch were very good; I am tall and the legroom was excellent.  Yes it did help that no one was next to me but despite that I thought the legroom was great.  The seat was very comfortable to sit on and had a lot of features including a seatback PTV with a USB port and headphone jack; underneath that was a full-size tray table; and below that was a seatback pocket.  Universal power outlets were also available.  The amenities were nice for the short domestic flight but given how everything was laid out, I would not hesitate to take the flight long-haul.  Shortly after we reached cruising altitude inflight service commenced.  I was surprised that Air Canada was doing a full drink service and pretzels on this short flight; yes the entire cabin was not full but flight time was only 1hr15min and that is not a lot of time to get through the service.  The FA's were really good about being efficient but also decently friendly; they were definitely friendlier and better as compared to some American FAs.  We landed in Montreal and because of my earlier flight I now had 3-hours in Montreal. 

Unfortunately, due to COVID there was only one or two shops that were open in the entire airport.  I understand it was a pandemic but there were A LOT of people and not enough services provided so either more services needed to be available or less people needed to be transited through Montreal.  I bided my time and then proceeded downstairs to the basement where my next flight would be departing from. 

My flight to Washington, D.C. would be operated by a CRJ2 which is a small regional jet with a 2-2 configuration.  The plane was very small, tight, and not a lot of leg space.  There was an open seat available and I asked the FA if I could move, but there was a main FA and a FA in training and they had taken up those seats even though not of them sat there throughout the flight (not great customer service).  The service and experience on the CRJ2 experience was in complete opposite of the my previous experience - the plane was smaller and extremely uncomfortable, the FAs were not nice nor customer friendly and overall it was not a good experience.  Once airborne, inflight service of a drink and pretzels were provided and then it was not long before we landed as it was only a 1.5hr flight.

In the end, it was an interesting flight with AirCanada.  During my first flight from Toronto to Montreal I got to experience their long-haul fleet and that seemed comfortable so something I would want to try and experience.  On the second flight, from Montreal to Washington D.C. I got to experience their regional jets and FAs which were not nice and very uncomfortable.  I have flown on AirCanada's Embraer from Toronto to New Orleans (link here) and it was a very comfortable experience so I will try and remember that experience versus this one.

Trip Report: Pegasus Airlines, Zurich to Istanbul SAW (November 2021)

 Trip Report: Pegasus Airlines, Zurich to Istanbul (SAW)
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I needed to fly from Switzerland to Istanbul and the options I found were either Turkish or Pegasus.  I have flown on Turkish many times (in both Business and Economy) and will probably fly them again in the future but have never experienced Pegasus so decided to try them out.  Pegasus is a low-cost airline based out of Istanbul's second airport - Sabiha Gokcen Airport.  Being low-cost means that they offer a lower fare for the flight but that nothing is included except for your seat and a personal carry-on.  Additional hand luggage, checked baggage, meals, picking your seat - all of that comes at an extra cost.  I was not looking forward to the low-cost experience, but it was a direct flight from Zurich, the departure and return timings were good, and the flight was about 2.5hrs long.  This plus there was a significant price difference between Pegasus and Turkish.

It was really easy to go through and book my ticket online and manage my trip through the app - I did

want to say that my Western credit card did think that Pegasus was potentially fraud so that was the only hiccup in the booking process.  Since I was only going for a short period, I did not need to add any extras to my ticket so I did not purchase the extra hand-carry or the checked baggage; there are packages which provide everything including checked baggage and seat selection and I have chosen these on other low-cost carriers but did not need to on this journey.  

I was able to check-in 24-hours prior to my flight but need to check-in at the desk again to show my health documents, check my documents, and obtain my boarding pass.  During check-in I was assigned a seat and I was assigned an aisle seat which was fine with me; had I been assigned a middle seat I probably could have switched it at the airport.  Documents checked and after security I proceeded to the gate.  The plane arrived from Istanbul, deplaned, was 'cleaned' and then we started our boarding process.  The flight was schedule to depart Zurich at 11:45a and arrive into Istanbul at 4:35pm.  The flight boarded a little behind schedule but quickly everyone got to their seats and we pushed back.  Turkish airlines have always had a 'flexible on-time' departure and Pegasus was no different; it was what I have come to expect so if we depart close to the scheduled departure time then I considered it on-time. 

The operating plane was an Airbus A320 on the outbound and a Boeing 737 on the return, both with a 3-3 seat configuration.  I did not see a business class section so I am assuming that its an all economy class configuration.  The seats were basic like a low-cost carrier with a section for magazines/safety card, menu, tray table, and a small pocket below that.  The Airbus was definitely more comfortable than the Boeing with the seats being more comfortable and the legroom a bit better; although it is low-cost so do not expect much.  There is no seatback entertainment but you could stream certain movies and TV shows through your personal device; the free content was extremely limited but you could pay to access more shows.  The only thing with using your own device is that I did not see any power outlets nor USB ports to recharge your device so make sure it is fully charged prior to boarding. Once airborne, the inflight service commenced.  As with all low-cost airlines, nothing is free and everything is buy-on-board.  A lot of passengers were buying onboard or had prepurchased meals and so it looked very popular.  The inflight purchase happened twice, once as soon as we took off and again prior to landing.  

Overall, it was a standard low-cost flight experience with Pegasus.  Given the short flight time, the fact

I was only going for a little while, and it was a direct flight I did not mind the flight.  Had the flight time been longer, my stay in Turkey longer and I needed to add more services, or I needed to transit in Istanbul then Pegasus would not be my first choice.  With low-cost airlines, you have to know what you are getting into and choose them for what they do best.  In my opinion, they are good for short-haul basic flights at a low cost and that is what Pegasus delivered.