BRITISH AIRWAYS: LOOKING FOR A POSITIVE SPIN

Lest this be obvious, the goal of this blog is to be both informational and, at the same time, upbeat.  Life is too short to be relentlessly "doom-and-gloom," and plenty of others provide the news of the day with all of life's inherent challenges.

The next somewhat obvious point is what a privilege it is to travel the globe.  The hubby and I try very hard to remember that point.  We go when we choose, where we choose, and enjoy it to the fullest.

All that said, I can't stand British Airways!  Why take on the "gateway to Europe?" (Not sure if that's an actual reference or I made it up.)  Oh, let me count the ways:  ridiculous taxes for flying through Heathrow, ridiculous charges to pre-book seats, and that front/back seat configuration!  Ugh.

The seating configuration at left requires being a bit of a contortionist if one is in the window seat and needs to get up. Think about this:  you're flying solo on an overnight flight.  There's no way to cleanly step over the person in the aisle seat if it's fully extended.  Who thought this was a good idea?

When it comes to utilizing my accumulated OneWorld miles (acquired mostly through AA Citi Mastercard, but also transferred through Starwood), I prefer online searches.  When all else fails, I'll engage AAdvantage customer service.  Online booking seems to rarely list flights with partner airlines where Europe is concerned; it's all about the BA flights unless one calls the airline directly.  Persistence can payoff -- case in point is our April flights to Helsinki with AA miles:  first to Paris via Air Tahiti Nui, then to Helsinki via Finnair -- I'm very proud of that one!

The most recent travail was finding an acceptable way to return from Athens this October.  I damn-near burnt out my computer with endless searches.  Not willing to spend 135K miles PER PERSON/ONE-WAY(!) to get home, I finally opted for 57.5K each to fly business class from Athens-Heathrow with an overnight, and then Heathrow-LAX the next morning.  A reasonable amount of miles but $773 in taxes!!  FYI, taxes for most similar flights on AA are less than $50 -- even to Hong Kong.  

Aerial view of massive Heathrow

After several unsuccessful calls to AAdvantage, requesting (but not finding) any other OneWorld partners to get us home -- nothing through Barcelona, Madrid, Paris or even Doha(!) -- I capitulated and secured the seats for the Heathrow route.  When it came time to finalize the transaction, the lovely AA person asked for my credit card to charge me the sum of $853.  Wait; what?  Why the higher total?  "That is for the service fee ($40 per person) charged for engaging a live person instead of booking online." Hold the phone! Your website told me I could NOT complete the transaction online; I had to contact AAdvantage to finalize. So you're forcing me to contact you directly, and then charging me for that privilege??!! "Let me speak to your supervisor."  Pause ....  "Mrs. Bialosky, your corrected total is $773."  Why, thank you kindly.  

The final coup de grâce?? Seat selection is unavailable until 24 hours before departure, unless you pay up.  I could have lived with taking our chances for the relatively-shorter flight from Athens to London, but opted to pre-reserve anyway.  Anything other than pre-reserving for the 11+ hours from London to LAX was unthinkable.  Cost for two pre-reserved seats for two flights:  $340.  And now you know why BA makes it so very hard to find a positive spin ...  On the upside, Heathrow has great food and shopping.  So there's that.

BACARA WEEKEND INCLUDES MONTECITO

When a well-known resort just north of Los Angeles changed from being independently operated to the Ritz-Carlton brand, one wondered what the discernible changes might be.  Happily speculation is no longer needed after a recent visit.

Floral perfection greets guests in the lobby.

The raison d'etre for this particular weekend was attending a beloved tradition of the Organization of Women Executives. Our "Spa Weekend" (now "Annual Retreat") convenes at some of Southern California's most desirable destinations: Terranea, Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel and Park Hyatt Aviara (at the time a Four Seasons) along with many previous to Bacara. Our event chair works hard keeping us all happy, which is not an easy task.

The ocean is visible from nearly every part of Bacara.  The view is from the main building.

Concerns about the location were first raised with the dreadful fires that hit the Santa Barbara area especially hard.  At the time we were still six weeks out, plus Bacara is at the north end of Santa Barbara, a considerable distance from the fires.  And then the rains came.  And then mudslides closed Highway 101, the main thoroughfare.  Were we just thinking of ourselves when considering this was not the year to go to this particular spot??

The blessed alert came with two weeks to spare:  The 101 was back in business.  Our collective cheer was both for the residents and what they've gone through plus some for our group.  All was well.

Room service on the patio.  A electronic tablet is in every room where you can request just about anything at the resort (assuming one can figure out how to use it!) This order was placed the night before and arrived on time and correct in every detail.

Bestie/roomie/carpool mate Nancy McGinnis is responsible for the lady on the right.  Stay tuned.  She just might make regular blog appearances.  What should I name her???

As for the resort changes, not much is different about the physical property.  Staff is friendly, attentive, and "at your service."  There were some glitches with changeover in personnel assigned to our group of 54 in terms of the catering.  Some of us noticed (I did), but most thought the entire stay grand.  The food was terrific and it's pretty tough to beat that view.  

The main pool above

Photo credit above & below: Bacara

 

On the way home, we detoured to get a real look at the mudslide damage.  Wow.  Say what you will about the ultra-rich celebrity enclave of Montecito, but Mother Nature doesn't give a hoot about net worth. She is an equal-opportunity devastator when it comes down to it.  Wide swaths of property damage were visible particularly north of Highway 101 on the main roads -- Sheffield Drive, San Ysidro Road and especially East Valley Road that connects the two.  Others were not yet accessible.  The shots below tell the unfortunate tale.

But then there were signs like the one below seen over and over again from grateful residents ... 

 

I'll end on a lighter note.  Not 5 seconds after pulling over to get the shot below, Nancy & I heard:  "MOVE THE CAR OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY!"  Oprah's security doesn't mess around....  

On East Valley Road