A quick update

First thing is that I got my passport back!  I had no problems in obtaining a new 2 year VISA for China.  I dropped it off at the travel agency last week on Wednesday (February 15th) and the approval date was February 16 (the next day).  They have had it for about a week and the check I wrote them cleared yesterday from my checking account.  They called me at 2PM today and I went in an hour later to get it.  No hassles this time!  Glad I got it done.  The only thing I am worried about is that I only have 4 blank pages left in my passport.  I need to send it in to get more pages.

Went on a mileage run on Tuesday night and go back this morning on a red-eye.  It was DFW-SFO (AA) then SFO-IAH-MIA-IAH-SFO (CO) and finally SFO-DFW (AA).  All my segments on AA cleared but they were both refreshment flights (only hot nuts and drinks).  Only the first 2 segments on CO cleared this time for me. A snack was served on the SFO-IAH red-eye consisting of the pasta salad with sesame oil/chicken, fruit cup, cheese & crackers while breakfast was served on the IAH-MIA flight (strawberry yogurt, fruit cup, cheese/English muffin sandwich with a choice of cinnamon rolls or croissant).

I used the Admiral's Club at SFO and DFW and the United Club at IAH.  My first flight was delayed from DFW-SFO a few minutes since they had to shampoo the carpet when a previous passenger threw up on the plane.  We still made it on time to SF Terminal 2 with enough time for me to catch my CO flight in Terminal 3.  Continental/United use Terminal G at SFO and there is no airline club there (rough way to spend 3 hours at the airport).  The food choices there were pretty limited as well (smoothie/wrap place, pizza hut, and a bar) within the secured area.  I bought a sandwich to go at the bar place (not too bad but pricy).

I did stand by for an earlier flight from IAH-SFO and got in a little earlier to have a 3 hour before my red-eye back to DFW on AA.  While I greatly enjoy Terminal 2 at SFO, re-clearing security at SFO between AA and CO/UA is annoying.  I earned

I took advantage of a few SFO-JFK turns since they are pretty good fares this week.  Doing them as DFW-SFO-DFW on AA and 1 SFO-JFK overnight trip on UA (wait-listed right now for Business Class using Confirmed Regional 1certificates) / 2 quick turn trips on AA (free upgrades to Business class - space permitting of course) with out bound on red-eye and the first flight back to SFO.  I have over 100,000 Elite qualifying miles (with promos) booked on AA right now with the last revenue flight for me to reach Executive Platinum on a SFO-DFW return flight in early May.  I have almost 60,000 booked on United/Continental booked through the end of may right now.  I hope to have all of this finished by the end of July at the latest do I don't have to worry about requalifying for Executive Platinum, and 1K the rest of the year.

This week I earned 5,856 EQMs/5,856 RDMs on AA flights and 5198 EQMs/12,996 RDMs on CO flights.