Some of you reading this must be thinking “here Mike goes again….this dude just can’t stay put in one place!”. In all honesty, I wish I could sit in one place for at least 3-4 months….but alas, this is the life I have created (note that saying, be careful what you wish for!!).
But really, this is a cool life, just exhausting.
So I have been meaning to book my ticket to USA for a while, main reason, one of my home boys from college is getting married, Julian, and after him, I’m the last one that is still single from our crew! So I gotta be there, I’m in the wedding party, its on September 24th, so I’ll come a bit before to get over jet lag, and have some business meetings. Below is my crazy itinerary (yea, I’m a boot strapping entrepreneur, so I booked the cheapest flight I could find….so many long layovers…)
Flight booking:
Customer Information
Traveler: Mike Michelini Booked on: Mon, Jul 25, 2011Departing Flight – Wednesday, Sep 21, 2011
Air China, Flight 112, Airbus Jet 321 Jet
From: Hong Kong (HKG)
02:10pm -Sep 21, Wed
To: Beijing Capital (PEK)
05:30pm -Sep 21, Wed Nonstop CoachConnecting flight wait time 4 hours 0 minutes
Air China Flight 983 BOEING 747 Jet
From: Beijing Capital (PEK)
09:30pm -Sep 21, Wed To
Los Angeles (LAX)
06:30pm -Sep 21, Wed Nonstop CoachFlight Duration: 15hr 20min
Layover Time: 4hr 0min Total Trip Time: 19hr 20minReturn Flight – Wednesday, Oct 12, 2011
Air China Flight 986 Boeing 747 (Passenger) Jet
From: San Francisco (SFO)
02:50pm -Oct 12, Wed To
Beijing Capital (PEK)
05:55pm -Oct 13, Thu Nonstop
Coach
Connecting flight wait time 14 hours 5 minutesAir China Flight 101 Airbus Jet 321 Jet
From
Beijing Capital (PEK)
08:00am -Oct 14, Fri To
Hong Kong (HKG)
11:35am -Oct 14, Fri Nonstop Coach
Flight Duration: 15hr 40min Layover Time: 14hr 5minTotal Trip Time: 29hr 45min
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Price Details (USD) Flight Price Details
Traveler Type Ticket Price Tax & Fee Breakdown Total
1 Adult/s $695.00 $94.61 $789.61
Insurance Fee: $0.00
Promo Discount: -$20.00Charged on Credit Card – MasterCard – 5424**02 Subtotal: $769.61
Total Booking Amount: $789.61
Total Discount (Savings): -$20.00
Total Cost: $769.61
Please Note:Your credit card may be billed in multiple charges totaling the above amount.
Some airlines may charge baggage fees.
Charge Authorization, Your Electronic Signature CopyI, Michael Michelini, have read the Terms and Conditions and I understand that this fare is non-refundable. I agree to pay a total amount of USD 769.61 (Credit Card Number:5424**02 ) for this purchase. This will serve as my Electronic Signature.
If you notice I fly into LA on Wednesday Sept 21 but have my friend Julian’s wedding on Sept 24 in NEW JERSEY (yes on the other side of the world) the main reason is I don’t have so much time, and I want to get a couple meetings done in LA, and flying to the west coast is cheaper. ALSO, I cannot use credit card miles for international flights, so I can use my credit card miles for domestic flights (i.e. flights from Los Angeles to New York City) to then catch my friend’s wedding.
So I have not worked out all the details inside that window of Sept 21 to Oct 12 (22 days!) but here is the basic idea (and if you have ideas, let me know!):
- Wed Sept 21, the first few days is Los Angeles, meet with ecommerce warehouse companies, distributors, friends.
- Friday Sept 23, head across country to New York City quickly rush to Julian’s wedding in New Jersey Saturday morning. Not sure how long to stay in the area, sooo many friends in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York. Have some distributors, product designers, affiliate marketers, and all kinds of business meetings to see as well. Also hope to visit my university Stevens Tech, again
- Head down to Florida – see my family, accountant, my friend who sells her own Tequila wants to distribute it in Asia, also some customers for bar supplies is down in Florida.
- Hope to cross up and over to Seattle visit my friend SEOmom at seomoz.org office….as well as check out the cafes all over the place and coworking spaces.
- End the trip in San Francisco, California where I fly out to Hong Kong on Oct 12, hope to see Silicon Valley for the first time in my life, feel like now maybe I’m “worthy” enough to step foot there, discuss the coworking in Shenzhen, China, the startup community I have met all over Asia, as well as see what they got going on there.
So….I have a couple more months to hammer down details, hopefully blogging openly will again help me meet new people beforehand and organize more meetings.
Let me know!
update, booking my domestic flights
Friday, September 23, 2011
Flight from: Los Angeles, CA (LAX) to Newark, NJ (for my friends wedding)
Continental Airlines 1594
Depart: 10:25 PM
Arrive: 6:22 AM (+1 day )
Mon, Oct 3, 2011
New York J F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to West Palm Beach International Airport (PBI)
JetBlue Airways Flight 143 Economy Class
Depart: 05:00pm
Arrive: 08:08pm
Saturday Oct 8 will be a full day of travel…
Sat, Oct 8, 2011
West Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) to New York J F Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
JetBlue Airways Flight 142 Economy Class
Depart: 09:10am
Arrive: 11:41am
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Flight from: Newark, NJ (EWR) to Los Angeles (LAX)
Continental Airlines 1142
Depart: 5:45 PM
Arrive: 8:37 PM
Comments
Oh man Mike you put SO much info out there! If you stop by Stevens and have time, I’m usually around at lunch!
aha, Jen, its good I put all that info out there – well i dont put my credit card info, ….. but you can meet me at the airport if you want!
sure lets do lunch at stevens….maybe like Monday Sept 26?
You paid $769 for a roundtrip to the US ?? That is a killer price, specially when flying out of HK :-p Let me know how you did it so I can book my xmas trip at around those rates, hehehe
haha, finally someone noticed, thought it may be you bro!!
yea, its a really cheap flight…I used them last year too…its a crappy flight though…like 1 tv screen at the front of the cabin, crying babies and low class people. guess i fit right in 😉
haha, I wouldn’t care, I have bose to wrap around my ear and my 5″ tablet phone with two 5000mah backup batteries to last the entire flight. Saving $500+ is my primary concern!
Come on, spill the beans, where did you book the ticket?
That 14 hour lay over coming back, I would go out and get me some beijing duck (and perhaps some beijing lovin after that with the girl you met in boracay, with the red dress…she in beijing, right? right??)
the travel website I booked from? its in the email confirmation there in the blog – onetravel.com , check it out!
I think your red dress chinese girl we met in boracay is in shanghai actually…..hahaah, but sure feel free to reach out!
hahaha, my bad, I had one too many drinks that night to remember prime details like that. Though I did find a light bulb in my pocket that night, not sure if I found it, stole it, or if someone gave it to me :-p
Doh, I missed the URL, though thanks for pointing it out.
Oh man, you really put too detailed information here.
you worried about me Katherine?
haha, everyone would worry about you.
Worry when I stop blogging
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Great price on the flight 🙂 Make sure you take your return trip this time! No retail stores in NYC please :).
Cheers!
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