Roadboy Returns to The Getty

Visiting Again Two Decades Later

 

The Hilltop Getty Center

This weekend I had the chance to return to the hilltop Getty Center in Los Angeles.  The trip was provoked by the chance to view a special exhibition of tapestries from Versailles (which sadly may not be photographed). 

A little background. My first visit to the Getty Center was a 1998 architectural pilgrimage shortly after its opening, when the Getty was being lauded as a modern icon in American architecture.

I remember being pretty underwhelmed at what so many cost overruns (a final price tag of $1.3 billion) and nearly a decade worth of construction delays had finally delivered.

Here was a site where an owner decided to grade 24 acres of prime hilltop land until it was fully subjugated to accommodate a series of soulless little "Plopling" pavilions.

Little about the buildings evoked any real sense of the energy or history of one of America's great cities. Instead the history and vocabulary of Los Angeles was ignored delivering architecture that could be dropped almost anywhere. A bland generic complex exclusively using two types of stone coupled with an "every color as long as its white" pallette.

As a firm believer in the concept of "Site Repair" (as articulated so perfectly in Christopher Alexander's wonderful book Pattern Language), I contend that a monumental project (like the Getty Center) failed in its once-in-a-lifetime responsibility to repair a damaged site (of which there are plenty in LA), rather than consume one of its last and most pristine untouched hilltops.

Alas Roadboy's crocodile tears irrigate nothing as that ship sailed two decades ago.

So here's what I found upon return.  The Getty has matured nicely. Its buildings and gardens clearly reflect years of meticulous care. And, its cultural treasures are still offered free of charge to over 1 million visitors a year. Just a marvelous gift.

Parking no longer requires a reservation, but does cost $15. Since parking is now first come, first served, plan to arrive early.

After parking you still ride little white (is there any other color?) people movers up the hill. So LA, So Disney.

Upon disembarking everyone arrives at a ceremonial series of steps.  My first gaze on the steps was Charles Ray's "Boy With Frog" which I mistakenly thought must have been moved here after being removed from the Punta Della Dogana in Venice.

A little digression. In 2011 on a Sunday morning walk I literally stumbled upon this larger-than-life sculpture (it was a leftover from Venice's 2009 Biennale). Venice's "Boy With Frog" enjoyed an elegant (perfect?) site on the Punta Della Dogana.

But, after a little research, I came to realize my first impression (that Venice's Boy had been moved to the Getty) was wrong. The Getty's Boy was installed in 2011 and Venice's Boy remained on the Punta Della Dogana until its forced removal in 2013 (only to be replaced by a "historic" street lamp).  Anyway Venice's sculpture remains in storage.

While I hoped the Getty's Boy might be a permanent acquisition (especially since its artist is from Los Angeles), alas, it is also identified as a temporary installation.

Boy With Frog 

(Charles Ray)

 At the Getty Center 2011-Present

 Boy With Frog

(Charles Ray)

Punta Della Dogana Venice 2009-2013

From the entry court guests proceed into a reception center where an orientation film is well worth viewing. We availed ourselves of free I-pod (offered to provide descriptions of many of the items at the Getty).

 

An Orientation Model of the Getty Center

 

The collections include a wide and varied selection of art that spans the history of mankind. It is all well displayed and most is very approachable.

 An Allegory of Passion

(Hans Holbein)
About 1532-36

(E Cosi Desio Me Mena = And So Desire Carries Me Along)

I loved this small painting on wood of a horse and rider. Note how the classically clad rider glares directly into your eyes with his all-knowing gaze. The wonderful audio explanation was from the perspective of the horse.

One of the more interesting objects in the collection was the huge bronze "Vase Monumental". When examined close up you find motif's of monsters, bats, even snails that seem to be designed for the Addam's Family.

Vase Monumental 

Jean-Desire Ringel d'Illzach 1889

Detail: Vase Monumental

(Note the strange creatures emerging above the bust)

The vase has been searching for a permanent home since 1889 (when it has first displayed at the 1889 Paris Universal Exposition - where it was overshadowed by a certain tower). This one is Edgar Allen Poe creepy.

Site art and landscaping, despite plant materials suffering from heavy use and California's on-going drought looked pretty stunning.

The Central Garden

(Robert Irwin)

A Stream Introduces Sound 

& Opportunities to Just Be A Child

Despite misgivings about what it "could" have been, the Getty Center "is" a wonderful museum and gift to the world.

Don't forget that the Original Getty Villa at Malibu is still available to enjoy as well. The Villa houses classic collections of Roman, Greek and Etruscan art. It has strict rules for access as well. Be sure to study the Getty's very helpful website here for tips on arrival, parking and dining information.

Roadboy's Travels © 2016

2015 in Review, Anticipating 2016

The Totals

In 2015 I spent 140 of my 365 nights sleeping in hotels. I produced my passport in seven countries and witnessed some (I think) very significant changes in travel.

1. The App's Travel Revolution Continues

2015 saw a rapid rise in the usage of apps based transport (Uber and Lyft) as well as fractional use (ZipCar) type services by travelers. Similarly short-term accommodation services (like Airbnb) continued to flourish. 

But, to really fully enable app's enhanced travel American travelers are at a disadvantage. While most of us carry "smart" phones, we are served by "dumb" cell providers incapable of providing competitively priced access to global data services. 

So as app's based travel services proliferate, our need for true global cell / data service will intensify. This has already spawned a minor explosion in rental car and hotel based mobile wifi hotspot services.

2. Hotels Are Morphing

Many parts of the travel industry have been busy re-inventing themselves. This year I was delighted by my stay at the Citizen M (Paris CDG) and disappointed by a stay at Marriott's Moxie at Milan Malpensa.

High end hoteliers like Four Seasons, Penninsula, Mandarin, Ritz Carlton and Langham (not my realm) are differentiating themselves and becoming even more exclusive. This is exemplified by nightly room tariff's beginning to flirt with four figures in some markets. I suppose it just illustrates how much richer the ultra rich continue to get. 

As for me I continue to find hope via some emerging chains like Valencia (Lone Star Court in Austin) and Spain's wonderful Room Mate Hotels (that now offer lovely properties in New York and Miami).

3. Big Cities = Less Cars

I very much appreciate the advances in multi-modal public transport globally.

Stepping right from baggage claim onto a Metro or light rail train at the airport continues to be a favorite option for me. Places like Madrid, London, Chicago, Portland, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Seattle, Lisbon and Miami now all make inter-connectivity easy.

While tourism-centric airports like Los Angeles, New York City and Las Vegas totally neglect any competent rail-based link services. 

Las Vegas' airport still bars hotel shuttles from servicing pick up tourists at McCarran.

And Cities that offer short-term bike share programs are the bomb.  

4. Consolidation Continues

This year ended with a mega hotel merger (Starwood being gobbled up by Marriott). This results in the largest hotel chain in the world.

I guess this is just a continuation of the trend begun by the airlines and car rental companies.

5. Airlines Nickel and Dime Everyone

US airlines just keep squeezing passengers (all seemingly wanting to emulate EasyJet) with annoying fees seemingly for everything save breathing.

After a nearly hour long experience with the ineptitude that is Spirit Airlines this year I came to realize how truly awful customer service may actually get.

Please folks, if there is one thing any savvy traveler should understand, it is that any fare that appears too good to be true - is too good to be true. The teaser fares offered by Allegiant, Spirit and Frontier just conceal all the little fees they add on.

Do you want to select a seat?
Do you want to have us print a boarding pass for you at the airport for you?
Do you want to charge your ticket on any card other than the one we issue?
Do you want to put something in the overhead bin?
Do you want to move up in line?
Do you want legroom designed at human scale?

The above is (or will soon be) available to you each at extra cost!   

These fees add up. This summer I found that an inter-Europe Air France "all-in" fare that initially looked higher, was actually a far better travel option than an EasyJet flight once I added in all EasyJets extra fees.

6. Airlines Care Less and Less About Loyalty?

Airline statistics confirm that there are less and less passengers who fly a lot. Many Road Warriors are finding they can more effectively spend their time using web meetings and less time traveling.

It turns out that for most folks air travel is a once (or maybe twice) a year event. So airlines are betting the farm that their success hinges more on simply being able to present the lowest initial fare when a traveler searches the net, rather than rewarding traveler loyalty among a shrinking pool of truly frequent travelers (like moi).

Achieving elite status on airlines now requires revenue and distance to achieve elite status. So, while frequent international business class travelers will continue to be lavished with perks, everyday road warriors should expect a whole lot less love in 2016.

Even the lone holdouts (American and British Air) both announced in 2015 that they'd soon abandon the last feature that had differentiated them from their competitors (i.e. abandoning their passenger friendly "miles flown" accumulation systems).

One airline (the "New American" airlines) in 2015 fully embraced all of the features that made the old American one of the nation's most universally despised carriers (right down to its awful 500-mile segment upgrade system).

As for me, now that airlines are abandoning their loyalty programs, I'll find it easier to walk right past American, United and Delta in order to fly some much better airlines (Alaska, Hawaiian, JetBlue and Virgin America) whenever I possibly can.

Today, for example, I booked an Alaska Airlines flight instead of United flight even though the Alaska flight will take a bit longer.

7. Unload Those Points

While we are on the subject of points....

If you've been stockpiling airline or hotel Frequent Flier points I say "If you got 'em, smoke 'em".  Sitting on your points will allow you to view their value erode as airlines make it harder to use them and systematically reduce their redemption value. 

8. Change Your Credit Cards

This year I switched all my travel cards to products with zero foreign transaction fees and a chip. I now focus on Visa and MasterCard since acceptance of American Express is still spotty and AE no longer offers a comprehensive network of global service outlets in major world cities. Need a check cashed by AE in Tokyo? Forget it. 

With airline frequent flier programs being eviscerated I'm now leaving airline point credit cards in my wallet for day-to-day purchases.

Since hotel rates are soaring, I am using my hotel based credit cards more and more.

9. Focus on Experiential Travel

In 2015 I took my first organized bicycle tour (Normandy and Brittany with Vermont Bike Tours). I loved it (and have already booked another in 2016 for Spain's Costa Brava).

More and more I seek cultural immersion over "seeing all the sites" travel events. My advice is to consider cooking tours, booze-n-bites tours, art tours over a regimen of relentless "sightseeing". Now when I travel I look for subject matter experts. A day spent cooking may well prove more memorable than a day waiting in line for another museum.

10. Do Your Homework 

Before I travel somewhere I do some pre-planning, but I no longer go overboard planning every minute.

Conversely, people that do no planning and just go and "expect the magic to happen" are wasting their time and money. If you want a mindless trip, take a cruise. They'll spoon feed you packaged "experiences" at every port.

Today huge amounts of on-line data is offered for any major destination. I find that many of the restaurants I try I find via TripAdvisor. And, as much as I respect travel icons like Rick Steve's and Frommer's, my man bag rarely contains little pocket travel guides anymore.

11. 2016 Will Be a Critical Year

In 2016 expect to see airlines throwing piles of money at congress via their lobbyists.

Thanks to the Supreme Court's tragic Citizen's United ruling, America's congress is "For Sale!" And airline's seem convinced that lobbying can convince Congress to create barriers that can effectively thwart some fine international carriers (think Emirates) who have expressed the desire to better serve US customers.

Perhaps US airlines believe it is cheaper to buy Congress than to deliver globally competitive travel products.

Roadboy's Travels © 2016

When the Wright Thing Happens

The David and Gladys Wright Home

I suppose most architects of my generation have their "Frank Lloyd Wright" story.

As for me, I have two.

The First:

When I was young my grandmother took me on annual visits to San Francisco at Christmastime.  She just said we'd be going to the "City". The trip always included a stop to see the three-story Christmas tree in the very elegant "City of Paris" department store. It is now a Neiman Marcus store and has suffered from a tragic Philip Johnson "renovation".

We'd go on to the (now defunct) Podesta Baldocchi florist shop with its annual display of lavishly decorated Christmas trees. This is the florist shop that Jimmy Stewart stumbles into from an alley in Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 movie Vertigo. Our final stop was Swedish meatballs in an upstairs Scandinavian cafe on Maiden Lane.

On one of those trips (when I was about six or seven) I was intrigued by a shop with a simple brick facade on Maiden Lane.  To enter it you walked into a curving brass and glass tube that projected into the store. In those days the shop was Helga Howie's Boutique.

 

The Helga Howie (VC Morris) Shop on Maiden Lane

  

The Entry (With a View Into the Boutique)

I walked into the entry and was transfixed at the space inside. Without even going through the entry door I felt its interior soar in an upward curving spiral capped by a fantastic luminous ceiling of white half spheres of glass. 

That space (along with Kevin Roche's spectacular Oakland Museum) confirmed my desire to become an architect.

The Second:

In 1976 my parents decided to take a trip across the US in celebration of the American Bicentennial. Along the way we planned a stop in Chicago to visit the neighborhoods mom grew up in.

I was excited as the stops would allow me to visit Oak Park, La Grange and Riverside and experience various examples of Wright's early "Prairie Style" architecture.

While driving around mom's old neighborhood, she told me about a wealthy matron that rolled up in a chauffeur driven limousine one day to her elementary school. The woman's regal arrival and amazing fur coat (at the height of the depression) made for a lasting impression on my mom.

The women turned out to be Mrs. Peter Kroehler (of the Kroehler furniture company). She came into Mom's classroom and "selected" a few little girls to play with her visiting grandaughter. It was right out of a Shirley Temple movie.

At the appointed time a limo came for mom for her play date. Upon arrival at the Kroehler house she joined the other girls playing in what she described as a "huge, dark and very modern" house. Mom remembered a separate playhouse with stained glass panels. She also remembered servants delivering snacks of peeled grapes.

As she told me her story we toured various Chicago area Wright buildings. Then, I set out to see the Avery Coonley house in Riverside.

As we approached the Coonley house mom's eyes got huge. This was the very house she had visited as a child. So, as we stood on the sidewalk looking at it, Mom gave me a room by room tour based on her recall of a visit when she was about 9 years old.

After a little research I verified that the Coonley's sold their 9000 square foot Wright designed residence to Peter Kroehler in 1921.

Now all these years later I live in Phoenix and find myself surrounded by numerous examples of Wright's work.  Here, we have the Arizona Biltmore (the world's only remaining Wright inspired hotel), the soaring First Congregational Church on Seventh Avenue, Taliesan West, ASU's Gammage Auditorium, the (nearly football field long) Price House in Paradise Valley and the circular linear residence Wright designed (at the age of 84) for his son David in what is now Phoenix's Arcadia neighborhood.

David and his wife Gladys lived in the house until they passed away after living more than a century.  

Since 2012 the house has been a source of controversy after a developer bought it and floated various options to subdivide the property and possibly tear down the house. 

Efforts to save the house were mounted immediately.

Simultaneously Arcadia neighbors (afraid preservation would result in a noisy tourist attraction), loudly and aggressively fought preservation efforts.

Finally benefactors emerged with the energy, patience and resources to restore the home.

So far they have made great strides rebuilding the house, securing its historic designation and establishing a foundation that will assure its preservation.

And tonight a long time friend, who now works there as a docent, invited me to come and experience it.

What a joy!

The David and Gladys Wright Home Today

 

The Living Room With its Brilliant Carpet

 

The Compact and Circular Kitchen

 

Space for a Steinway

 

And Views Every Direction 

(Including Camelback)

 

When I visited the Rooftop Terrace 

I Was Rewarded With A Spectacular Arizona Sunset 

The David and Gladys Wright House is truly an Arizona treasure. An icon Phoenicians and visitors will be able to celebrate and enjoy for generations to come.

Always quotable, Wright's own words sum it up best.

 

Roadboy's Travels © 2015

Vizcaya

James Deering's Fantasy Estate and Gardens

OK I admit it. I'm not a fan of Miami. 

The times I've visited it, I found it intensely hot and dirty. Just felt generally kinda icky.

The fact that it is filled with young, incredibly beautiful, fit, zero body fat residents (that make Roadboy feel old and fat) also tends to work against it.....

Last week, however, while attending an architectural conference downtown in Brickell, I came up with a few hours for some personal sightseeing.

Since I've always wanted to visit Vizcaya, the timing was perfect. After a few days working amid downtown's traffic and highrises Vizcaya represented everything I found myself craving. It is lush, beautiful, uncrowded and quiet.

From downtown Vizcaya is a short drive (or just a few Metrorail stops) away. And, if you drive, and space is available in its on-site lots, parking at Vizcaya is currently free.

View of Biscayne Bay From Vizcaya's Barge

(Arguably The Most Beautiful Breakwater Structure Ever Built) 

 

Vizcaya, now a museum and park, was conceived as a spectacular winter residence by James Deering a wealthy Chicago industrialist. 

James Deering

(Painted by Deering's Friend / Houseguest: John Singer Sargent)

James Deering (1859-1925)
Mr. Deering was heir to the Deering Harvester Corporation (founded by his father William Deering).

Deering was a Chicago socialite who had a passion for collecting art and antiquities. He was also a conservationist and philanthropist. Deering traveled extensively and (besides Vizcaya) maintained residences in Chicago, Evanston, New York City and Paris.

Deering never married and died of pernicious anemia in 1925 while aboard the steamship City of Paris.

Professional Career

After one year at Northwestern and one year at MIT, at the age of 21, James Deering became treasurer of Deering Harvester.

In 1902 JP Morgan purchased both Deering Harvester and McCormick Reaper and "Morganized" them into a new (monopoly) mega-company International Harvester. Deering became a vice-president in the new corporation. By 1909, at age 50, Deering retired from day-to-day operations at International Harvester.

Creating Vizcaya

A year after retiring (in 1910), at the age of 51, Deering turned his attention to a new project, planning an epic winter estate in South Florida. To accomplish the task he enlisted Paul Chalfin (an artist and designer who was busy creating the interiors to Deering's Chicago home).

Deering and Chalfin then began extensive travels to Europe to gain inspiration and acquire antiquities for the new Miami estate.

In 1912 Deering added 30 year old F. Burrall Hoffman to serve as the architect of the house. He also began purchasing land in the Coconut Grove section of Miami. His initial purchase was 130 acres of virgin mangroves and hammocks fronting Biscayne Bay, just north of his brother Charles' estate. After a second land purchase of 50 additional acres the estate encompassed 180 acres.

In 1914 construction on the house began. Also in 1914 Deering retained Diego Suarez (a Columbian landscape architect he had met in Italy) to create Vizcaya's elaborate gardens.

 

The Overall Vizcaya Site

(Note how the plan essentially results in the huge house "fronting" on three sides)

With planning and construction teams now in full swing, the house was completed and ready for occupancy by Christmas of 1916.

From this point on Vizcaya became a "must see" stop on the celebrity circuit of the era. Deering's winters at Vizcaya became enriched by a parade of artists, movie stars and dignitaries.

The design of the house and estate is exquisitely composed. The villa is one of the few estates of its day to front directly on Biscayne Bay. This meant it would always be particularly vulnerable to hurricanes. To offset the hurricane risk the house is built of concrete, is elevated above the bay and is protected by a large ornamental breakwater in the shape of a huge stone barge. Hence, the east face and terrace is front door to visitors arriving by boat. The west facade and terrace serve as front door to visitors arriving by land. The South facade and terrace faces the estate's magnificent gardens.

Sadly, photography inside the home is prohibited, so my photos where limited to the grounds and the (now) enclosed interior courtyard.

Vizcaya's East Facade and Terrace Facing Biscayne Bay

As you leave the East Terrace you confront Vizcaya's main character defining element, its amazing "barge". The barge serves as a landmark for visitors arriving by water (including Deering who frequently arrived on his yacht Nepenthe). And, during Deering's time the barge was heavily planted and contained a gazebo for meals or tea. The hurricane of 1926 destroyed the gazebo and planting. They have never been replaced.

The Vizcaya Barge

(A truly spectacular breakwater)

 Part of the Interior Courtyard

(Deering was fond of projecting Hollywood movies in the courtyard)

Originally the house surrounded an open courtyard which allowed for the convection of natural breezes and airflow, throughout the house. To preserve the house, the courtyard has been covered with an elaborate skylight. This has enabled the house to be fully air conditioned. 

Even Little Details Like These Wall Mounted Courtyard Curtain Tie-backs 

Were Meticulously Designed

Looking Up In the South Wing's Spiral Staircase

The South "Garden" Facade and Terrace

Complete With A Playful Frog Garden Sculpture 

Construction of the extensive grounds continued on for 9 years with delays in part due to labor and material shortages caused by World War 1.

I found it stunning that at times the shear size of this project resulted in the employment of 10% of the population of Miami.

A View to The Fountain Garden

Although I came to see the house, I found myself spending more time enjoying Vizcaya's Gardens. Deering was fascinated by European gardens and some note that the design of the gardens evoke a sort of a traditional European garden style executed with tropical plant materials.

Deering opened Vizcaya's gardens to Miami's residents on Sundays. Lore has it that Deering would discretely watch his guests and take great pleasure in witnessing their enjoyment of the gardens.

Central Garden

A Large Reptilian Houseguest

Vizcaya is a Cherished Backdrop for Quinceanera Photos 

A Sample of the Extensive Garden Sculptures

In The Gardens 

Don't miss the north side of the villa as it is the most private and intimate side of the estate. Below the north terrace is a cafe, gift shop and elaborate grotto where one might plunge into the indoor outdoor swimming pool that extends beyond this facade. The North facade also faces into the Orchidarium. Another favorite spot of modern photographers.   

The Orchid Garden is Perfect backdrop For Celebratory Photos

As you tour the house carefully note some of its subtle details.

Despite the lack of air conditioning and fully subjected to Florida heat, the kitchen was built upstairs (at bedroom level). This results in all food for major meals being transported to the dining room downstairs via a dumbwaiter.

The house featured a built-in vacuum system and a modern annunciator system allowing Deering and his guests the ability to summons staff around the clock.

When Deering was in residence the house required a staff of 16-18 with another staff of 25 to maintain the gardens.

Some house staff lived in bedrooms in the west towers (not on the tour). Bedrooms in the east towers offered privacy and spectacular bay views and were coveted by Deering's guests.

A village of secondary structures with some staff housing, repair shops and barns to keep the estate pristine and raise animals for the kitchen was built near Miami Blvd.

Other features worthy of note include the built-in pipe organ downstairs (surrounded by a spliced antique mural), a very early residential elevator and direct-dial telephone room.

One quirk of the design are the concealed doors from one guest bedroom (allowing private movement to Deerings private balcony and master suite). I'd be very interested to see the gender represented in the guest roster for that bedroom.

Also note how the big tub in his master bathroom has two sets of gold handles. One tap was for fresh water, the other was for salt water. His shaving stand has the most spectacular view imaginable.

The history of Vizcaya is not without trials and tribulations. Deering entrusted the design and management of the project to his friend Chalfin who, although very talented, was not an architect.

Apparently, over the years Chalfin "forgot" that fact, and started taking credit as the architect. The true architect ignored it initially. Then after a noteworthy magazine article credited the architecture to Chalfin, Hoffman finally took legal action to correct that.

Although the gardens remained under construction until 1921, the landscape architect Suarez was released in 1917. After which Chalfin took credit for the garden design as well. 

Upon Deering's death in 1925, the estate was deeded to his brother Charles, eventually passing on to Deering's two nieces.

Just a year after Deering's death Vizcaya was devastated by the hurricane of 1926. His nieces worked hard to restore and keep the estate maintained, but eventually sold much of the estate including the southern lagoon property to the Catholic Diocese (for a hospital in 1945).

Even after hurricane's, the Great Depression and World War's, Vizcaya was kept as intact as possible (including many of the original furnishings) until it was sold in 1955 to Dade County for a largely symbolic payment.

Vizcaya is a true one-of-a-kind.

Similar to Hearst's "Castle" in California, the Biltmore Estate in Asheville NC and all of the estates in Newport RI, it provides insight into the lifestyle of America's pre-depression over-the-top rich.

Putting such estates into perspective, Vizcaya was built at a time when many Americans were unemployed and monopolistic corporate greed was encouraging the rapid dehumanization of industrial working conditions. Where Pinkerton thugs were employed by Ford to work over any employee caught whispering about unionization.

Where child labor was standard and one in five steel workers would die in a workplace "injury". It was when William Jennings Bryan rose to champion the worker only to be defeated in his presidential bid by JP Morgan's willingness to buy the presidential election for McKinley. It was when Upton Sinclair shocked the nation by chronicling the desperate conditions of Chicago's meat packing industry and when factory doors were used to lock staff in factories, resulted in terrible deaths during warehouse fires.

It was an era when America's wealthy could spend millions on a winter home like Vizcaya, yet a typical American family's monthly income was less than $100.

Roadboy's Travels © 2015

Road Warriors Take Another Jab

American and Marriott News

Those of us who travel a lot have all been speculating how long it would take (after the US Airways/American computer systems merged) for the "New American" to screw their frequent fliers.

Most of us assumed it would occur early in 2016. But we were wrong.

Today American defined how it will gut its frequent flier program.

Yes the points American sold you yesterday are to be devalued tomorrow.

This just confirms that with the airline mergers now complete we continue to see steady declines in service as fares continue to increase.

Luckily for me I can do more and more skype and travel less and less.

To add even more salt to the wound, the three big American "legacy" carriers have now joined forces to use political pressure to seal off America's airline markets to foreign carriers.

You see it is easier to prevent competition than to actually compete against it. Especially when the competition they face offers superior service delivered in fleets of clean comfortable aircraft.

Now the hotel industry is taking a page from the airline industry with the biggest hoteliers starting to devour each other.

Yet, if the airline mergers tell us anything it is that mergers have only been good for the growing monster, never the customer. 

So yesterday's Marriott / Starwood merger is likely the opening shot of a whole new hotel based merger mania. 

My guess it will lead to higher hotel prices with corresponding declines in quality and service.

Roadboy's Travels © 2015

Resist Fear

More Parisian Heartache

As I sit in the Denver airport waiting for my flight home I am witness to our media blazing with images and updates describing horrific attacks upon the citizens and visitors of Paris.

And, as usual frightened alarmists are going berzerk in the blog-o-sphere calling for immediate and massive western attacks upon anyone that looks or acts differently than they do.

I'm quite sure that the French economy (which is heavily dependent upon tourism) will suffer. And the collateral damage will be economic hardship on innocent Parisians.

Everyone that reads my blog knows I solidly believe that the world becomes a more dangerous place in direct proportion to our descent into isolationism.

I just returned from Paris and Normandy and would have zero reservation about returning again.

We only truly live our lives when we lean into, and overcome, our fears. 

So, if you had planned your "trip of a lifetime" to Paris, Go!

Your life will vastly richer for it.

 

Symbols of Heroism and Resiliency 

As for me the most dangerous places I frequent are the city streets (filled with reckless, gun toting and distracted drivers) in my hometown of Phoenix.

Roadboy's Travels © 2015

More Adventures in Flight

Montana, Illinois, Colorado, Arizona and California
All in 10 days....

  

When architects get busy, they get very busy. 

When they slow down, they immediately start to worry. 

Then they get busy again and remember wistfully how nice it was when things were a little slower.

In our firm when things get busy it means we travel a lot. When I'm really busy I try to do the impossible and work on my flights.

Today on my flight from Phoenix to Chicago I was hoping to get some work done and scored a nice exit row seat with legroom and enough room to actually open my laptop.

Then my seatmate arrived. 

Lets just say the seat did not accommodate her well.  She was way too big for the tiny airplane seat and she groaned pitifully trying to squeeze into it. 

Luckily for me exit row seats are pylons (to accommodate the tray table), so you can't lift an armrest and expand onto your neighbor.  For this I offer my sincerest gratitude.

Then as the plane began to move she started a prolonged asthma attack. It was only her second time flying so there was some major anxiety going on.

Enter the flight attendants. 

It was a large 321 aircraft and every seat was filled. Yet, they came and checked on her constantly. They brought lots of water, cold compresses and some soothing words.

Real pros. 

I didn't get any work done, but I did get to watch an amazing Phoenix based flight crew. One that American Airlines can be very proud of.

Roadboy's Travels © 2015