For this first post, I'm just going to give of a summary in one post of the 3 award trips I've taken since I really started collecting miles - all have been to Denver.
Once I got my SWA Companion Pass (CP) [post about the CP still to come], my wife and I have taken 3 trips to Denver. We went for Thanksgiving/Chanukah/our engagement party (yes, it was a long weekend), an extended weekend after we got married in January to spend some time with her family/more parties, and again for a weekend in February to surprise her mother with a visit (yes, I am such a good son-in-law).
As SWA award flights cost 60 miles times the dollar cost of the ticket (starting 3/31/14 it's going up to 70 miles), most of our tickets cost between 13K-20K miles, depending on how early/late we booked. Of course with the CP, we only had use miles for 1 ticket as Eliana flies for free on any SWA flights - paid or award travel - that I take till the end of 2014. Therefore, you can really look at our cost for those flights at 6.5K-10K per person. SWA also has amazingly low fees. It's just $2.50 for each leg of a flight (even the companion has the fee). (Sorry to the pros out there, but just to quickly explain for the beginners: a stopover adds a leg/segment to your flight. So, when we flew direct EWR-DEN, we paid $2.50 each way per person (pp) - $10 total. When we flew EWR-MDW-DEN and returned DEN-EWR, we each paid $5 on the way there and $2.50 on the way back - $15 total.)
I love Southwest. (or should I say LUV?) You can cancel your trip up to 10 minutes before departure without any fees. You can bring 2 bags for free (!) which is unheard of today. Peanuts, pretzels, various Nabisco cookies and snacks are available for free, as well as classic drinks - Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, other sodas, seltzer, ginger ale, coffee, and hot chocolate (I haven't yet confirmed if it's Kosher). For $3-5, Vitamin Water and various alcoholic drinks are available. They even mailed me 4 free drink vouchers on Valentine's Day! They may not have TVs, but they do offer free DirectTV if you bring your laptop along with you. Select movies are available for $5. WiFi is available on most flights for $8 - more than I would pay for entertainment or a short flight, but not so costly if you have business to attend to. Their freakin' ticker symbol is LUV!
Annoying, but funny-after-the-fact story: On our most recent return flight to NY, I misread our departure time thinking it was a 1/2 hour later than it actually was, which we only realized once we saw the schedule board in the airport. We ran to checkin, and because there was only 45 minutes till our flight, they couldn't guarantee us that our bags would get on the plane. If they couldn't, they would send them on the next day's flight (which meant returning to EWR the next day to get our bags). The other option was to try to bring our bags on the plane, since they were just a drop bigger than carry-on size. We were debating back and forth and just decided to bring the bags with us. So, we run to security with 2 suitcases and 3 carry-ons hanging onto our shoulders, a la Home Alone, just to realize all our liquids were in our suitcases. As we wait on the security line, we started going through our bags, collecting all our liquids into a plastic shopping bag. We, unfortunately, toss it all into the trash as we go through security.
Anyone familiar with DEN knows that after security you have to take a train to the terminals. Of course, SWA is in the last terminal. We just caught the train as the doors were closing. Phew. Just as we were coming to terms with the fact that we were not likely going to be able sit together on the plane, as we were definitely going to be the last people getting on the plane (unless something was delayed, which we were hoping for), Eliana had a great idea - we would just ask at the gate to have our bags put under the plane! They'll know the plane is full and don't want to waste time, so they would just throw them under and our bags would come with us without having to awkwardly shove these huge things into the overhead. We get off the train, run up the stairs with all our bags and down the terminal to our gate. We get there with 8 minutes till the flight and no one's boarding anymore, just the lonely gate agent waiting to close up. We made it! We hand over our boarding passes, he scans them and tells us that... we're not checked in.
We go to the customer service desk and find out that 10 minutes before flights, unboarded seats are released to any standby passengers. We were crushed. We thought we made it, but we didn't. We couldn't believe that policy, although I guess it goes hand-in-hand with being able to cancel a ticket up to 10 minutes before departure. They offer to get us the 1 last seat going to EWR and 1 seat going to PHL, but we were not about to split up. The next flight wouldn't be till the morning and as compensation, SWA gave us each $50 vouchers, so hey, that was kinda cool.
As we head out the airport to go back to my in-laws, I realized that we threw out our liquids for no reason because we would be able to check our bags normally when we came back to the airport in the morning. So, I had Eliana wait on the side while I got back in the security line. I got to the agent, showed my old and new boarding passes, explained that I missed my flight and just wanted to get my liquids out of the garbage can behind her, which I recognized was the one I threw the shopping bag into. She looked at me like I was crazy (maybe I am) and said, "You want to go through the garbage for your liquids?" Next thing I know, I have a TSA escort to the garbage can 5 feet away, I grab my bag which was right on top and am led out of security. Win!
And a quick, awesome story: On the flight home from Thanksgiving/engagement party, my now brother-in-law and his friend who were on the flight with us, decided to tell the flight crew that we just got engaged. The flight attendant got on the loudspeaker and said, "Attention ladies and gentleman, we would like to officially crown our flight's king and queen, Eliana & Yehuda who recently got engaged!!" They brought out crowns made of peanuts and pretzel bags and gave us a toilet paper cake! We lived one of those crazy Southwest stories.
Things we've done in Denver (we've never really been there with enough time for a ski trip, so don't yell at me):
Big Bear indoor ice skating arena - It's only open for the public at random hours, which you can view on their site. $7 for skating + $3 skate rentals for the public skating slot, which is usually 1-2 hours long. Skates were tight and not so comfortable and time flies on the ice, so if not for our feet killing us, the short timeslot would have been annoying.
Monaco Lanes bowling alley - Been here a bunch of times. Looks like your regular bowling alley. Not sure the exact prices, but we once went in the middle of the day, and it was like $12 pp for unlimited bowling till midnight including shoes. We've also been there on Saturday night when they shut the lights around 11PM for Extreme Bowling with disco balls, black lights, and only your pins lit up. Suffice it to say, that was not my highest scoring game ever.
Bonnie Brae ice cream - This place is incredible. Homemade ice cream tastes infinitely better than anything you can get a Carvel or Baskin Robbins. And a lot of it is Kosher, too! Kosher flavors have the Denver Scroll K next to them and there is a more official certification letter behind the counter. The aroma in this store might warrant a trip to Denver in and of itself.
Vail Village - Like it sounds, this is in Vail, not Denver. It's a cute little ski town at the bottom of a mountain in. Lots of little shops, picnic areas, a little stream flowing through it. Looks recently built/renovated but has the antique look to it. There is also a gondola that takes you up the mountain (don't remember how much it costs). We went during the summer, so there was no skiing, but there were still some things to do at the top of the mountain like a restaurant, rock climbing walls, and balancing beams. Some activities were free, some cost money. But obviously, you don't go up the mountain just to rock climb. The views from atop the mountain are incredible, breathtaking, and every other adjective you can use to describe something beautiful. Coloradians are proud of their mountains, and they should be.
Some more Kosher food options:
East Side Kosher Deli - This is the 1 Kosher grocery store in Denver. Has a very impressive selection, including a butcher. Prices are Out-of-Town (OOT) prices, which should be expected. There is also a restaurant in the back, which I've been to several times and am a fan of. Some dishes are obviously better than others. The fajitas are a classic. I liked the grilled chicken on rye with Russian dressing. If you get a burger, they are known to under cook them - order with that in mind.
Brooklyn Pizza - Modern-looking store, but I personally did not like their pizza.
The Bagel Store - Fresh bagels and a few other pastries (it's not exactly a bakery), as well as fresh Challah. I liked it.
King Soopers - Supermarket chain that has a location with a Kosher bakery. It's the one at 890 S. Monaco Parkway. The stuff I've had from there so far has been amazing.
Menchies - FroYo chain with a few locations in Denver and has Kosher flavors. Sounds Jewish, but it's a regular chain. Personally have not been there yet, but if you go, you should be able to find the certification to see what exactly is Kosher.
Shul options:
The "East Side" of Denver (1/2 from the airport) is the modern community and has a few options. EDOS (East Denver Orthodox Synagogue) is where we Daven when we're there. It's a friendly Shul, with a relatively older crowd. That is, relative to DAT (Denver Academy of Torah), which is generally more of a younger crowd. There is also a Chabad, but I have not been there before. The "West Side" has the Denver Yeshiva and is more of a yeshivish community. The "Southeast Side" is an Aish community. The communities are not walking distance to each other, you need to drive.
That's all for now on Denver, but I'm sure there will be more to add in the future!
Once I got my SWA Companion Pass (CP) [post about the CP still to come], my wife and I have taken 3 trips to Denver. We went for Thanksgiving/Chanukah/our engagement party (yes, it was a long weekend), an extended weekend after we got married in January to spend some time with her family/more parties, and again for a weekend in February to surprise her mother with a visit (yes, I am such a good son-in-law).
As SWA award flights cost 60 miles times the dollar cost of the ticket (starting 3/31/14 it's going up to 70 miles), most of our tickets cost between 13K-20K miles, depending on how early/late we booked. Of course with the CP, we only had use miles for 1 ticket as Eliana flies for free on any SWA flights - paid or award travel - that I take till the end of 2014. Therefore, you can really look at our cost for those flights at 6.5K-10K per person. SWA also has amazingly low fees. It's just $2.50 for each leg of a flight (even the companion has the fee). (Sorry to the pros out there, but just to quickly explain for the beginners: a stopover adds a leg/segment to your flight. So, when we flew direct EWR-DEN, we paid $2.50 each way per person (pp) - $10 total. When we flew EWR-MDW-DEN and returned DEN-EWR, we each paid $5 on the way there and $2.50 on the way back - $15 total.)
I love Southwest. (or should I say LUV?) You can cancel your trip up to 10 minutes before departure without any fees. You can bring 2 bags for free (!) which is unheard of today. Peanuts, pretzels, various Nabisco cookies and snacks are available for free, as well as classic drinks - Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, other sodas, seltzer, ginger ale, coffee, and hot chocolate (I haven't yet confirmed if it's Kosher). For $3-5, Vitamin Water and various alcoholic drinks are available. They even mailed me 4 free drink vouchers on Valentine's Day! They may not have TVs, but they do offer free DirectTV if you bring your laptop along with you. Select movies are available for $5. WiFi is available on most flights for $8 - more than I would pay for entertainment or a short flight, but not so costly if you have business to attend to. Their freakin' ticker symbol is LUV!
Annoying, but funny-after-the-fact story: On our most recent return flight to NY, I misread our departure time thinking it was a 1/2 hour later than it actually was, which we only realized once we saw the schedule board in the airport. We ran to checkin, and because there was only 45 minutes till our flight, they couldn't guarantee us that our bags would get on the plane. If they couldn't, they would send them on the next day's flight (which meant returning to EWR the next day to get our bags). The other option was to try to bring our bags on the plane, since they were just a drop bigger than carry-on size. We were debating back and forth and just decided to bring the bags with us. So, we run to security with 2 suitcases and 3 carry-ons hanging onto our shoulders, a la Home Alone, just to realize all our liquids were in our suitcases. As we wait on the security line, we started going through our bags, collecting all our liquids into a plastic shopping bag. We, unfortunately, toss it all into the trash as we go through security.
Anyone familiar with DEN knows that after security you have to take a train to the terminals. Of course, SWA is in the last terminal. We just caught the train as the doors were closing. Phew. Just as we were coming to terms with the fact that we were not likely going to be able sit together on the plane, as we were definitely going to be the last people getting on the plane (unless something was delayed, which we were hoping for), Eliana had a great idea - we would just ask at the gate to have our bags put under the plane! They'll know the plane is full and don't want to waste time, so they would just throw them under and our bags would come with us without having to awkwardly shove these huge things into the overhead. We get off the train, run up the stairs with all our bags and down the terminal to our gate. We get there with 8 minutes till the flight and no one's boarding anymore, just the lonely gate agent waiting to close up. We made it! We hand over our boarding passes, he scans them and tells us that... we're not checked in.
We go to the customer service desk and find out that 10 minutes before flights, unboarded seats are released to any standby passengers. We were crushed. We thought we made it, but we didn't. We couldn't believe that policy, although I guess it goes hand-in-hand with being able to cancel a ticket up to 10 minutes before departure. They offer to get us the 1 last seat going to EWR and 1 seat going to PHL, but we were not about to split up. The next flight wouldn't be till the morning and as compensation, SWA gave us each $50 vouchers, so hey, that was kinda cool.
As we head out the airport to go back to my in-laws, I realized that we threw out our liquids for no reason because we would be able to check our bags normally when we came back to the airport in the morning. So, I had Eliana wait on the side while I got back in the security line. I got to the agent, showed my old and new boarding passes, explained that I missed my flight and just wanted to get my liquids out of the garbage can behind her, which I recognized was the one I threw the shopping bag into. She looked at me like I was crazy (maybe I am) and said, "You want to go through the garbage for your liquids?" Next thing I know, I have a TSA escort to the garbage can 5 feet away, I grab my bag which was right on top and am led out of security. Win!
And a quick, awesome story: On the flight home from Thanksgiving/engagement party, my now brother-in-law and his friend who were on the flight with us, decided to tell the flight crew that we just got engaged. The flight attendant got on the loudspeaker and said, "Attention ladies and gentleman, we would like to officially crown our flight's king and queen, Eliana & Yehuda who recently got engaged!!" They brought out crowns made of peanuts and pretzel bags and gave us a toilet paper cake! We lived one of those crazy Southwest stories.
Things we've done in Denver (we've never really been there with enough time for a ski trip, so don't yell at me):
Big Bear indoor ice skating arena - It's only open for the public at random hours, which you can view on their site. $7 for skating + $3 skate rentals for the public skating slot, which is usually 1-2 hours long. Skates were tight and not so comfortable and time flies on the ice, so if not for our feet killing us, the short timeslot would have been annoying.
Monaco Lanes bowling alley - Been here a bunch of times. Looks like your regular bowling alley. Not sure the exact prices, but we once went in the middle of the day, and it was like $12 pp for unlimited bowling till midnight including shoes. We've also been there on Saturday night when they shut the lights around 11PM for Extreme Bowling with disco balls, black lights, and only your pins lit up. Suffice it to say, that was not my highest scoring game ever.
Bonnie Brae ice cream - This place is incredible. Homemade ice cream tastes infinitely better than anything you can get a Carvel or Baskin Robbins. And a lot of it is Kosher, too! Kosher flavors have the Denver Scroll K next to them and there is a more official certification letter behind the counter. The aroma in this store might warrant a trip to Denver in and of itself.
Vail Village - Like it sounds, this is in Vail, not Denver. It's a cute little ski town at the bottom of a mountain in. Lots of little shops, picnic areas, a little stream flowing through it. Looks recently built/renovated but has the antique look to it. There is also a gondola that takes you up the mountain (don't remember how much it costs). We went during the summer, so there was no skiing, but there were still some things to do at the top of the mountain like a restaurant, rock climbing walls, and balancing beams. Some activities were free, some cost money. But obviously, you don't go up the mountain just to rock climb. The views from atop the mountain are incredible, breathtaking, and every other adjective you can use to describe something beautiful. Coloradians are proud of their mountains, and they should be.
Some more Kosher food options:
East Side Kosher Deli - This is the 1 Kosher grocery store in Denver. Has a very impressive selection, including a butcher. Prices are Out-of-Town (OOT) prices, which should be expected. There is also a restaurant in the back, which I've been to several times and am a fan of. Some dishes are obviously better than others. The fajitas are a classic. I liked the grilled chicken on rye with Russian dressing. If you get a burger, they are known to under cook them - order with that in mind.
Brooklyn Pizza - Modern-looking store, but I personally did not like their pizza.
The Bagel Store - Fresh bagels and a few other pastries (it's not exactly a bakery), as well as fresh Challah. I liked it.
King Soopers - Supermarket chain that has a location with a Kosher bakery. It's the one at 890 S. Monaco Parkway. The stuff I've had from there so far has been amazing.
Menchies - FroYo chain with a few locations in Denver and has Kosher flavors. Sounds Jewish, but it's a regular chain. Personally have not been there yet, but if you go, you should be able to find the certification to see what exactly is Kosher.
Shul options:
The "East Side" of Denver (1/2 from the airport) is the modern community and has a few options. EDOS (East Denver Orthodox Synagogue) is where we Daven when we're there. It's a friendly Shul, with a relatively older crowd. That is, relative to DAT (Denver Academy of Torah), which is generally more of a younger crowd. There is also a Chabad, but I have not been there before. The "West Side" has the Denver Yeshiva and is more of a yeshivish community. The "Southeast Side" is an Aish community. The communities are not walking distance to each other, you need to drive.
That's all for now on Denver, but I'm sure there will be more to add in the future!
Glued to my seat.. Cannot wait for your next post!!
ReplyDeleteThanks :)
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