Travel Summary 2019

Travel Summary 2019

Over the last year I’ve realized, in no small part with the help of Greta, that my frequent flying hobby is definitely part of the problem, and I decide to be conscientious about my flights and do something about this.

I’ve managed to cut my flights by 40% compared to the last few years.

While 60 flights is still a ton of flights, I figured this is a good start. I’m clearly not going to stop flying, but I can (and I do) think twice before I get on a plane.

Progress starts somewhere.

Actual miles flown: 69,825
# of segments / flights: 61
# of trips: 18
# of airports / (new): 53 / (28: KWA, KSA, PNI, TKK, GUM, ROR, MNL, IST, PVG, GCN, NYO, LTN, RVN, BLL, DME, SVO, BEG, PAE, CBC7, CBF7, YWH, CXH, BFI, BUR, DBV, ZAG, LJU, PVR)
# of airlines / (new): 23 / (8: TK, HO, HI, JU, JB, H3, XE, OU)
# of countries / (new): 25 / (8: FM, PW, PH, TR, AD, RS, HR, MX)
# of continents: 2
Longest: PVG-YUL, 7050 mi (Longest economy flight I’ve done)
Shortest GCN-GCN, 0 mi (Scenic tour flight)
Total time spent on planes: 7d, 7h, 37m.

StarMegaDO 9

This year’s SMD9 was a bit of a letdown, compared to last year’s SkyMegaDO. Could be possible that last year’s even was really great, or that we just all have really high expectations now. Anyways I didn’t take as many photos as I normally would, so instead of a multiple posts, I’m just going to have this one.

Departing FRA

Our Croatia Airlines Charter

Airbus Hamburg factory tour

Sheraton Dubrovnik welcome reception

Zagreb Airport behind the scene tour

Croatia Airlines maintainance facility

Flying home via Warsaw

Damn it to Croatia Airlines’ FB page

Pacific Northwest Visit: Charter airline, helos, seaplanes, new airport

Robin is visiting the US and asked me if I wanted to meet him up in Seattle. I decided to join him and crossed a few items off of my list

• Paine Fieid, normally the airport for Boeing’s Everett factory, but newly opened to commercial service.

• Helijet in Vancouver, to fly the Sikorsky S-76

• Harbour Air Seaplanes, first time ever in a seaplane

• JSX aka JetSuiteX, the hassle-free charter air service

All the unfinished 737 MAX sitting at Renton Municipal Airport due to the grounding

As a bonus I saw my 2nd favourite airplane.

Helicoper over Grand Canyon

Tale of 3 Saturn V

After the Apollo program was cancelled there were 3 Saturn V rockets left. Finally managed to see all three.

Kennedy Space Center, Florida

Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas

U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama

Travel Summary 2018

Actual miles flown: 93,504
# of segments / flights: 93

SkyTeam MegaDo

SMD8

Boeing B-29 Superfortress "FIFI" Flight

I had the good fortune to be flown by none other than Jeff Skiles , the co-pilot on US Airways Flight 1549, better known as “Miracle on the Hudson”

Driving from Sweden to Canada

When I started school in Sweden people were shocked that I brought my American car to Europe from North America. This is how I did it (in reverse)

Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport

Aside from Pearson Airport, Toronto has a small airport on an island off of downtown called

Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. Aside from being ridiculously convenient due to the location, it has amazing views of the city skyline on takeoff and landing.

Private Jet Flight

So I managed to get a 3 months trial to JetSmarter, an app for booking private jet flights, like ridesharing but for private jets. Obviously this is not cheap, but as part of the trial, I can get so-called “empty legs” flight for free. Since I’m back in the US for a few weeks. I figured this is about as good of an opportunity as any. Sure enough, a suitable flight popped up from San Jose to Van Nuys.

Yup, it was pretty amazing, and since it is an “Empty leg” flight (the plane is being positioned from A to B so it is going with or without passenger), I don’t feel too bad about how wasteful it is.

Falcon Heavy Launch

I’m in the US after being “exiled” from Sweden. Might as well go around the country to do some thesis research. What do you know, the Falcon Heavy is launch around the same time!

Spaceport America

Travel Summary 2017

Travel Summary 2017

Actual miles flown: 81,695
# of segments / flights: 100
# of trips: 28
# of airports / (new): 33 / (11: MAD, MMX, HAM, NCL, BFI, SGD, VAA, PMI, PRG, BIO, LIS)
# of airlines / (new): 14 / (4: 6I, SN, TP, D8)
# of countries / (new): 19 / (5: FL, SK, CZ, ES, PT)
# of continents: 3
Longest: LGW-OAK, 5364 mi
Shortest (Tie) UME-VAA, 68 mi
Most popular route: UME-ARN (21)
Most popular airport: ARN (42)
Total time spent on planes: 9d, 5h, 47m.

Norsk Luftfartsmuseum / Norwegian Aviation Museum

Stopped in here on a recent road trip to Lofoten

StarMegaDO 8, Day 3: Park Hyatt Mallorca

The last day of SMD8 was spent at Park Hyatt Mallorca, where Hyatt organized activities for the group before wrapping up this year's festivities.

StarMegaDO 8, Day 2: Brussels Airport tour

2nd day of SMD8 was our chartered flight from VIE to BRU to PMI, stopping in BRU to tour Brussels Airline's hanger and Brussels Airport. 

StarMegaDO 8, Day 1: Vienna Airport tour

For the 2nd year in a row I'm attending MegaDO, the almost annual tour with 150+ frequent flyer who charters a plane and partners with various airlines and / or hotel partners for some behind the scene events. This year, for StarMegaDO 8, the schedule involves tour of Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and Hyatt Hotels

We spent the first day in Vienna Airport, where I chose to do the Vienna AIrport operations tour, followed by a small presentation from Austrian Airlines.

Zeppelin NT Hanger tour

Since I'm in Southern Germany right now, I booked a flight on the Zeppelin NT. Unfortunately, due to high wind my flight was cancelled twice. The first time they notified me the day before, but the second I didn't get the notification until I showed up in the morning of the flight. Since they never notified me before I drove the 1.5 hours to their facility to find my cancelled flight, they were kind enough to have their head pilot to give me a tour of the hanger and the airships.

Alsie Express's black ATR 72-500 SGD-CPH

Alsie Express is a tiny Danish airline based out of Sønderborg in southern Denmark. They have this beautiful matte black ATR 72. I've flown ATR 72s before but never out of Sønderborg Airport before. Since I had a friend that was driving from Copenhagen down to Germany and will pass by Sønderborg, I decided to catch a ride down so I can fly back on this plane, and cross another airport (SGD) off of my list.