Where is Andrew This Week

Hello everyone, time for another installment of "Where is Andrew This Week". Amazingly Andrew is going to be in town all week long. I will be in Baltimore on Monday, but I am driving there and it's just a day trip, the rest of the week I am right here at home FINALLY !!! It's going to be very nice to not be in a hotel all week long and no airplanes or airport.

I hope everyone has a great week as well and while there will be no trip tales for the week as I am not traveling, don't worry I will be coming up with something for the blog and next week it's back on the road time to Las Vegas, staying at my wife's and I favorite place there so stay tuned.

Take care everyone

Real Time GPS Tracking System

Ever wanted to keep track of your teenager when they are driving late at night or maybe you wife to see if she is buying shoes again, or maybe you have delivery vehicles and you need to keep track of where they are during the day, you should check out gps tracking.

gps tracking provides real time GPS tracking devices that you can locate on the internet with no software to download. They have a variety of GPS tracking devices for business and individuals that are easy to operate and install.

I know everyday I am wondering "hmmm I wonder if my wife is at the shoe store again, if only I had GPS to know for sure (just kidding dear), seriously though I know there are times when you need to know the location of your cars, motorcycles or other property and these devices are great. I especially like that there is no software you have to put on your computer and they have great customer service assistance as well. Check it out at gps tracking.

Dallas TX: Embassy Suites Hotel DFW Airport North/Outdoor World: "The Best Embassy Suites I Ever Stayed In"

I recently stayed at the Embassy Suites DFW Outdoor World for two nights on business.

This hotel was by far the best Embassy Suites I have ever stayed at. Once again the thing that made this hotel special were the little things that the hotel and staff did to make my stay better. It's hard to remember all of the little things that I thought were so great at this hotel but I will try and list them all.

The rooms were very comfortable with a lodge theme. The hotel grounds and hotel rooms were immaculate and housekeeping kept them that way the entire time. There was even evening turndown service at night. On the bed every night, instead of the usual advertisements were cards with sayings on them that I thought were really great, small inspirational notes along with a card about how the hotel wanted every guest to feel at home when they were away from home.

On arrival in my room, the hotel had left water, diet cokes and fruit which were on my profile but also filled the ice bucket. Everything that I could think of that I would need, they had already done which is really rare in hotels these days. The living room area had a very comfortable couch and chair in it, along with a nice desk to work at. The bedroom was extremely comfortable along with the bed. The lodge theme was very comforting and made the room feel less like a hotel room. The bathroom was packed with amenities, everything you could think of, different kinds of shampoo and soap, a sewing kit which you never see anymore.
My bedroom also had a balcony off it which I love, its nice to go outside and get some air, but please note, not every room has these.

The pool and fitness area were great with clean and well maintained equipment. The lobby was spectacular and connected to the bass pro shop next door.

I ordered room service and it was wonderful and arrived early. Probably one of the best burgers I have had in a while.

All the staff were fantastic, always friendly and accommodating.

I really loved the whole theme of the hotel, there was something about staying in a room with a lodge feel to it that is very comforting. A great hotel room is one thing, but all the effort the hotel went through to provide extras and attention to detail that is lacking in many hotel is what made this hotel stand out by far as the best hotel I have ever stayed at in Dallas and the best Embassy Suites hotel I have stayed in for a very long time.

During this trip the airline had lost my bag, it was late at night, I had to shop for clothes and really just wanted to be at home. This could have easily been one of those bad trips and this hotel turned it around, the minute I arrived I felt relaxed and better from my trip and that is saying alot for a hotel

My next trip to Dallas, no matter where my business is, I will be returning back to this hotel. I found my all time favorite in Dallas and this hotel goes on my list as one of my favorites anywhere.

United Express Loses My Bag......Again

Today I was flying from D.C. to Dallas Texas. The only time I usually have problems with United Airlines is when I fly on United Express, the regional carrier for United.

This time United decided that my bag should go to Ottawa Canada instead of Dallas Texas. I understand how they were confused as Dallas Texas being so close to Ottawa Canada it is very easily confused HAHAHAHAHA.

So here I am in Dallas Texas with no suitcase, the good news is they are putting my bag on a flight that will arrive at 3 PM tomorrow, 3 hours after my meeting starts. So not wanting to go to my meeting in my jeans and t-shirt that I wore today I ran to the mall after I landed and had to buy new pants, socks, shirt, belt...everything. Then it was off to CVS to get shaving cream, deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste....after I was done it was $200.00 for United to loose my bag.

I asked if any of that was reimbursable which the baggage rep on the phone (who I could tell was in India) told me I could submit a claim and it would be considered after 5 to 7 weeks. I am just filled with hope in getting any of that money back.

Moral to this story, if you are going to fly one of those crappy regional airlines, take your bag on the plane !

Hilton Birmingham Perimeter Park

I recently stayed at the Hilton Perimeter Park in Birmingham for 1 night on business.

The hotel grounds and property are very nice and well maintained. The staff was very friendly even though the room I confirmed on my reservation was not available, the front desk person found a suitable substitute, honestly though one of my biggest pet peeves with hotels is getting the reservation right.

The room was very well maintained. The whole property is going through a renovation and I was trying to figure out if my room had been done or not because everything in the room was immaculate even thought it didn't look like one of the renovated rooms. The room was very comfortable with a king bed, sofa and desk. Everything in the room functioned well including the A/C and WiFi which both performed flawlessly and two of things that are the most important to me.

The bathroom was pretty much a standard hotel bathroom but very clean and with plenty of amenities.

I didn't get a chance to actually use the fitness room as I was only here for one night, but looked in it and it seemed ok, not many machines but the ones that were there were in good order. There is also an outdoor pool.

Overall, this hotel is what you would expect every Hilton you stay at to be like. For Birmingham, its probably one of the better full service hotels in the area. There are plenty of restaurants and shops nearby and its central to the suburban business district. I wouldnt have a problem returning here.

Where is Andrew this Week

Welcome to another edition of "Where is Andrew This Week". After a great weekend with my wife and mother who was in town visiting, its time once again to live the bliss of my weekend life and cram myself into another aluminum tube with the collection of humanity at the airport and hit the high speed bobsled to hell.

This week Andrew will be making two trips with a break in-between at home. Monday and Tuesday takes me to the magically fun city of Birmingham Alabama, and for those of you who know where Birmingham is, knows I'm being completely sarcastic. But what Birmingham lack in magic, it makes up for desolation although in their defense, they have really great Bar-B-Q.

I am back on Tuesday night through Thursday, when the fun begins all over again for a trip to Dallas Texas where everything is bigger in Texas, literally, including probably my seat mate.

Even though there are two trips this week, its still a pretty light week and I am home more then I am away this week which I am thankful for. Everyone stay tuned for travel tales, hotel reviews and news from the road in the coming week.

Hilton Ft Lauderdale Beach Resort - The Best Hotel in Ft Lauderdale

This was my second time staying at the Hilton Ft. Lauderdale Beach Resort and it just keeps getting better. I stayed this time for 2 nights and was upgraded to a King 1 BR Suite and it was fantastic. My first stay was in King Studio room and that was great but the 1 BR suite is awesome. This is one of the few Hilton hotels that I get upgraded every time I visit for being a diamond member, most other Hilton's do not.

The suite had a full kitchen, living room, bedroom, walk-in-closet, huge bathroom with walk in shower and spa tub and a guest bathroom in the hallway. Both the living room and the bedroom have 42" plasma TV's in them and the kitchen has a bar with three stools which makes a great place to hang out. The living room has a sofa and chair while the bedroom has a king bed and desk area. There is also a large balcony off the living room and the bed room with views of the ocean.

The rooms and the hotel grounds are immaculate and well maintained, its just as if it were a new hotel. There is a large pool area and fitness facility that is staffed and the beach is just right across the street and is staffed as well with lounger and umbrella service. (I never get to go to the beach because I am always working when im here but it looks great)

The staff at this hotel are fantastic as well. All of them are very friendly
and helpful doing little things like offering you water when you are going out for the day. Housekeeping cleans and re-stocks the room perfectly every time and are not banging on the door at 8 am which is wonderful!

This hotel, by far, is the best in Ft. Lauderdale and one my favorite hotels in the U.S. I try and stay here every time I travel to South Florida and it is always a wonderful visit.

Air Sick Lesson 10 / Waiting in Line 1 Hour Before The Plane Takes Off is Stupid

So today I was flying to Miami, yes I know I said I wasn't going anywhere but an emergency came up and I had to fly down for the night. Usually I try and get to the gate about 10 minutes before the plane boards and spend the rest of the time searching for a Starbucks in the airport to get my fix before the flight.

As I was walking past the gate that my plane was leaving from, about an hour before boarding and before the plane was even at the gate, I looked over and saw this guy. I will bet you $20 that you can't walk past a gate and see one of these guys standing at the line to board the plane hours before the planes even boards. I would even venture that the majority of people you see doing this look just like this guy and have a cell phone crammed in their ear.

It mystifies me why anyone would do this. First lets point out that this person is a premier executive or 1K flyer with United because he is waiting on the red carpet line, meaning this guy is going to board first anyhow. The airlines have gone through great trouble to assign seats, put zones on your board pass so that you don't have to stand in line for 2 hours before the plane takes off. Now if your elite with United you board first anyhow, I usually board at this time, and I don't understand the big advantage to being the first one on the plane or the tenth, I mean after all there are 200 seats on the plane, I don't think they are going to run out of room (of course they might if they are all as big as this dude). None the less, there they are, the line standers, as if they were waiting to get tickets to Dave Matthews as opposed to boarding a stupid plane. Even if your sitting in first class and boarding first, there will be some moron standing in line 2 hours before the plane takes off.... your in first class...relax for god sakes.

Anyhow this is another installment of silly people at the airport. Someone needs to pass out yoga tapes at the gate to the line standers, they will live longer.

The Most Miserable Airports in the US

Most Miserable Airports

This table ranks the 47 largest hub and nonhub airports according to a combination of on-time performance and average load factor. The airports with the highest Airport Misery Index have the worst combination of late and crowded flights.

On-time performance data are year to date through April 2007. Load factor data are year to date through February 2007.

Airport	City/Name of airport	Pct. of flights on time	Percentage of flights delayed	Average load factor	Misery Index ranking (lower is better)
DTW	Detroit: Detroit Metro Wayne County	61.1	39.0	76.9	47
ORD	Chicago: O Hare	57.7	42.3	75.8	46
CLT	Charlotte, NC: Charlotte Douglas International	61.2	38.8	76.0	45
JFK	New York: Kennedy International	57.6	42.4	75.4	44
EWR	Newark, NJ: Newark Liberty International	61.0	39.0	75.7	43
MSP	Minneapolis/St. Paul: Minneapolis St Paul International	67.1	32.9	76.2	42

Air Sick Lesson 9 / The Ups and Downs to the Aisle Seat

I have always been an Aisle seat passenger, I think most people who travel for business are. Long since past being wowed by the view outside the window, I choose the Aisle seat for an easy way in and out of the plane.

Lately I have been rethinking my seat choice for several reasons. There are definitely some bad things about sitting in the aisle and they have been getting worse lately. First lets start with the downside of sitting in the aisle during boarding. People bring entirely too many things on the plane then they can carry. The airlines have a crew that do nothing but carry and stow your bag for you but people insist on dragging them onboard. The problem is most travelers do not have the physical dexterity to carry a suitcase, briefcase and their lunch down the narrow isles of the plane without hitting every single person sitting in the aisle seats. Come to think of it, a lot of people themselves getting on the plane are too big to fit down the aisle. I have grown very weary of being smacked by 20 to 30 times a flight by Conan the Adventurer lugging 4 carry on's.

In flight its not bad to have the aisle seat for the most part except for some reason, when the flight attendants are handing out drinks they always seem to park their cart right by my seat. When your sitting next to your garden variety 300 pound business gorilla taking up 1/2 of your seat on the right side, being sandwiched in my the drink cart for 30 minutes really sucks.

The last reason I am tired of the aisle seat, and the funnest to watch, is when the plane pulls to the gate. Contrary to popular belief, sitting in the aisle seat doesn't get you off the plane faster. What it does is give the illusion of getting off the plane faster. It's so funny to watch aisle people as the plane gets close to the gate. First they take their seatbelt off as the plane slows to pull into the gate area, as if that 2 seconds it takes to take the belt off is going to make that much difference. Then they all place their hands on each arm rest and get into a spring position so that when the seat belt sign turns off they can be the first ones to hurl themselves into the aisle. Next time you take a flight you really have to watch this, its the funnest thing you will see on the plane aside from the size of your peanut bag. Once the aisle cattle have cleared the pen and are standing ass to ass in the aisle, for reasons past understanding, they all have to take their luggage out of the bin at the same time before the door even opens. Since their is not enough room for all these idiots to stand at the same time, when they take their bag out they inevitably smack three or four people in the head. I have never understood why they don't wait until its their turn to get off the plane to take their bag down but once again I guess that 5 seconds it would take is just too much.

After much consideration I am thinking that the window seat might be the way to go. As long as people don't act like they were born in a barn and let you out when its your turn, you eventually get off the plane just like everyone else and you save yourself from several chances to get concussed. As an added bonus you get a place to lean your head against so you can sleep and actually the view out the window is nice sometimes.

Promise me next time you fly you watch the aisle people, its the best show on the plane. You haven't seen anything like it since fifth grade when everyone was waiting for the second hand to hit three o'clock so you can jump out of your desk. Yes, the airlines regress us back to grade school everyday.