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= WEBSITE Didn't have a chance to read last week's newsletter? Click here! HOUSE KEEPING: Remember when you click on the pictures in "Where's Johnny Jet," they will open up in another window. Just click the "x"(close) in each picture to get back to the newsletter. This should alleviate complaints about closing Johnny Jet. Thanks again for your support, and remember: If you book trips on the web, please go through johnnyjet.com (we get a commission and it doesn't cost you any more money). "If you want Johnny Jet to continue I need your support and the support of your fellow travelers". This week's map is featured by MyTripJournal.com . Click here to set up your own free travel website. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Greetings! We had a lot of positive feedback from our first Johnny Jet video (It was a 30 second clip of a helicopter ride). If you couldn’t view it, you probably didn’t wait long enough for it to download (I tried on a few different computers and it took between 20 seconds and 4 minutes). We’re including another Johnny Jet video from this week’s trip to Erie, Pennsylvania. It’s half the size and pretty funny (of my dad playing golf). Because I go to Erie so often, instead of writing long stories I will just tell you some of the highlights, and post a ton of pictures from my 3-week trip. Enjoy! My sister Carol and her husband Tom are very fortunate to have a gorgeous piece of property right on Lake Erie. It’s so nice that I hardly want to leave their place. Every day we played games, rode bikes, swam in the pool or went down to the beach. It’s also a fine place to nap in a hammock, underneath two huge oak trees. Both Carol and Tom are awesome chefs-- which means plenty of home-cooked meals. That’s a real treat for me, since I eat out almost everyday. Great food and eating outside overlooking Lake Erie’s spectacular views is hard to beat. Did you know that Lake Erie was ranked by "National Geographic" as having the third best sunsets in the world? That’s behind Hawaii and Japan. I don’t know if that is an accurate fact because I heard it from a local, but Erie sure gets my vote. Every summer, the sunsets are spectacular. On the flip side, Erie also always has some wicked thunderstorms. That’s actually a treat for me too, because I live in L.A. and we very rarely if ever get any of those storms --let alone rain. If you don’t know by now my niece Amanda is quite a character. Check out these pictures. One day we played Wiffle Ball in the yard. I turned around for a second, and look what she did. How funny is that? Later we were hanging out in the backyard. She came by with a serving tray with cookies. Of course I popped one in my mouth. When I looked up at her as she served my father I almost choked. Is she classic or what? I think Tom had a cow. The great thing about eating at home almost every day is that we get to go to Wegmans grocery store to stock up. Wegmans is one of my favorite grocery stores in the world --they have everything you need, and more. By the end, though, I think little Johnny was tired of always going with me. We did eat out a few times and those places are worth mentioning. The best food was at Petra Restaurant. I met the owner/chef who is originally from Jordan and used to cook at a fancy restaurant in Washington, D.C. Carol told me he was the nicest guy and after speaking to him for a few minutes I agree. Not only is he nice, but the boy can cook. Petra Restaurant, 3602 W Lake Rd., Erie; tel.: (814) 838-7197. My favorite restaurant was Greg’s probably because it’s in the Erie Airport. I know it sounds crazy but the people who eat there usually aren’t even traveling. That’s something you don’t see all the time--an airport restaurant that caters to locals. We went there the night I was supposed to fly back to L.A. on the last flight out, but USAir cancelled it (something they have done a lot in Erie, according to our waitress). It turned out to be a good thing for me. Not only did I get to stay in Erie longer, but I was able to try "Greg’s." Greg used to run Greg’s Place in downtown Erie. He serves the best steaks and chicken parmigiana in town, and now it’s at a more convenient location (for me, anyway): the airport. Since Erie has so many chain restaurants, I’ll throw in one I went to for the first time: The Texas Roadhouse. The food is good, and the atmosphere is fun (waitress sing and dance, they give out all the peanuts you want, and you can throw the shells on the floor). But my favorite part about this place are the sweet rolls that come with cinnamon butter! Holy cow, are those good! I think I ate a dozen of them. Texas Roadhouse, 7475 Peach St., Erie; tel.: (814) 864-9494. If you still have room for dessert then head over to my new favorite place in Erie: Creamland. They serve both soft and hard ice cream. My favorite flavors are "Piece of Cake," "Moose Tracks,: and …. Forget it, I like them all. Creamland, 6221 West Ridge Rd. Carol and Tom have a great group of friends. Every Thursday night we went to their friend Greg’s house (not the same Greg from the restaurant) for "Steak Night." It was a lot of fun for everyone. The kids all play together, while the adults fire up the grill and the stories. Next to where we go for Steak Night is also where Carol and the kids ride horses. It’s up in the middle of the boonies but it’s beautiful farm country. The day I went Johnny didn’t feel like riding so instead I chased him around the parking lot and talked to my sister’s friends. Whenever I go to Erie, I always bring my golf shoes. That’s because we get to play at the Kahkwa Club. This country club is so nice that they had the 2004 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship going on while I was there. We watched the finals -- it was open to the public, free of charge. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would be interested in watching anyone play golf, let alone two amateur women but it was actually entertaining and relaxing. It’s incredible to watch how far these ladies could hit the ball and so straight. That brings us to our second-ever Johnny Jet video. This is a 15-second clip of my dad teeing off on a par 3. FYI: He is going to kill me that I am posting it for you to see so I have to make sure he and his friends don’t get this week’s newsletter. Otherwise, I’m dead. In my father’s defense (to cover my butt in case he does hear about it), when I showed this video to him-- he was so mortified that he took a lesson with the golf pro. The lesson worked, because we played a week later and he came within four feet of the pin on this same hole. Kahkwa Club, 3300 Kahkwa Club Rd., Erie; tel.: (814) 838-1901. Speaking of video: Carol does a weekly TV segment for the Erie Humane Society. She does a great job organizing it all, then putting adorable homeless animals on TV. She has saved thousands of animals through her work and we are all very proud of her for making a positive difference in this world. Well, guess who else has been getting in on the action when Carol is unavailable for the show? Amanda! It’s so cool to see a 7-year-old do her own segment on TV. She’s a natural, and every time she goes on the animal(s) gets adopted. Here’s a funny story: One morning I woke up to Johnny and Amanda fighting outside my door. I walked out of my room with just a towel around my waist to see what was going on when suddenly I found myself like a deer in headlights. I wasn’t the only one there to break up the brouhaha. The other person was a new babysitter I had no idea existed. Since I hadn’t shaved in days and my hair was sticking straight up, I looked just like Captain Caveman. I was so embarrassed, that I couldn’t even say a word. Instead I just made a beeline to the bathroom. We spent a lot of time with Kassy, who is really nice and the kids’ best babysitter. If you’re in Erie in the summer, make sure to hit Waldameer Park. You can’t miss this amusement park if you have kids (Thrill ride seekers should go to Cedar Point, a few hours away in Ohio). Waldameer doesn’t cost anything to park or to enter – you pay just for the rides (and those prices are very reasonable). This year Waldameer introduced a brand-new roller coaster, the SteelDragon. It spins while you ride. Luckily, no one in our group is into spinning rides so we stuck to our favorite: the log ride. We all got soaked. My dad and I spent most of our money playing games trying to win cheap stuffed animals for the kids. My dad did well throwing darts at the balloons but not at throwing the popcorn in his mouth (I'm a dead man). Waldameer Park, 220 Peninsula Dr., Erie; tel.: (814) 838-3591. Next to Waldameer is Presque Isle State Park. This place is beautiful, and its 10-mile paved surface is perfect for bicycling, skating, jogging or walking. Presque Isle also has seven miles of guarded, sandy beaches that have earned a spot in Condé Nast Traveler magazine as one of the nation's Top 100 Swimming Holes. And you thought Erie was dreary! Here are some bonus pictures. Every time I go to Erie I attend a party. This trip I made it to two. The first was at my sister’s house. It had a beach party theme in celebration of their new winter house in Florida. Of coucrse, that was before the hurricanes hit. The second party was a lot more dressy, so I made a quick stop at TJ Maxx and DSW to buy some clothes and shoes for cheap. This party was a fund raiser for a school that serves inner-city kids with a passion for the arts. My sister helped organize it. The turnout was great, because Pat Monihan from the band Train is Erie’s very own rock star. He came up with the idea, and also performed. That boy can sing. He is also a really nice guy. The following day I packed my bags and flew back to L.A. (through Pittsburgh) on USAir. I remember walking by USAir’s lost baggage office at LAX and saying to myself "I’ve never seen a place so full of bags, I hope they don’t lose mine." I jinxed myself. They did indeed lose one of my bags (as well as a few other passengers’). I hadn’t packed anything valuable, but I was still bummed because I had two new comfy pillows from TJ Maxx (for $7 -- yeah baby). I was looking so forward to using them. The guy running the office was way overworked. When I handed him my bag receipt so he could scan it and tell me where my bag was, he said, "We don’t scan bags." I was like, what? Are you still in the Stone Age? I said, "This isn’t Bedrock -- it’s L.A.!" He laughed and said, "Tell that to our executives." To make a long story short, I had to fill out a form. To my surprise I did get my bag back – although it wasn’t a few hours like they promised, it was 36 hours later. But that’s okay. I’m just happy I can finally get a good night’s sleep. Happy Travels, Johnny Jet and book all your online travel through JohnnyJet.com. *Please tell us what you think of this week's newsletter! |
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READER STORY Here's my best airline customer service story this year. It's a story about great customer service from several people on one plane - enough to make you forgive some of the other, worse experiences :-). I was traveling through Chicago on a business trip, and was very busy working in the United Red Carpet Lounge. In fact, I was so busy on a phone call I forgot to watch the time. When I finally hung up and looked, my flight was leaving in 10 minutes. I re-packed my bags and raced to the plane which (luckily) was right across from the lounge. I boarded the plane and took my seat in first class (yes, an upgrade!) and started to settle in. Then I realized something was missing. My cell phone - oops. I looked around and couldn't find it. This isn't the first time it's gone missing and I have found it later in some seep dark recess of my bags so I wasn't too concerned. Then I remembered how much I rushed out of the lounge. Maybe I did forget it. My seat mate sat down just then. I asked if I could borrow his phone to try mine. He agreed. Sure enough, it wasn't there. He encouraged me to go get it. And, he even told the flight attendant. She encouraged me to go get it too! So I started to rush out the door and the plane manager was at the door. He also encouraged me to go get it. But, I decided that it wasn't worth making the plane late to get my phone (I travel through Chicago a lot), so I backed off and started to go back to my seat. He asked me to give my address to him so they could mail it to me. And, he said he would bring it to the lounge after he closed down the plane so it could leave. So, I sat down again, really happy knowing everything seemed like it was taken care of. About an hour into the ride, the same flight attendant popped over to me and told me that the pilot had my phone (and that he was calling all my friends on speed dial to tell them I had left it at the airport :-)). My seat mate and I looked at her, astonished. She explained. The plane manager had taken my note to the lounge - who had already found my phone - and he then took my with him down to tarmac where he was closing out the ground crew. He talked with the pilot - and the pilot OPENED the front window of the plane. They put my phone in a glove from the crew, and amazingly threw it up to the pilot who caught it! The attendant told me I'd have the phone back a little later once the pilots opened up the front cabin. A few minutes later, she showed up with my phone perfectly in tact (and on!). She said,"they can fly the plane but they can't figure how to turn these darn things off"! We all laughed pretty hard....and then I promptly turned the phone off and thought, now that was awesome customer service! Kristin Peterson P.S. - I travel all the time and love your newsletter! Have A Travel Tip or Travel Joke? (Send it to Johnny@johnnyjet.com) |
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Airline bankruptcy update Many frequent fliers are holding their breaths and crossing their fingers, hoping that their preferred airline will overcome financial worries and keep flying. However, several airlines are hovering on the brink of bankruptcy, with a few more struggling to restructure and exit Chapter 11. We've brought you the latest news on the financial status of US Airways, United, Delta, ATA, and Air Canada, so you can make an informed decision about whether it's time to stop hoarding and start redeeming your miles. Click Here To Read Article |
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