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Tell me about it. For those of you unfamiliar with AA seat maps, the 15 orange seats are empty and the one grey seat is taken. The one grey seat is not me.

I had missed a call from American Airlines this morning.  As I was driving later today my mind started to wander as I thought of the possibilities. Perhaps my SFO-LAX-JFK flight next week is already canceled and I could sweet talk them into routing me through SEA and MIA for the most miles. I almost ran a red light as my mind was in "upgrade heaven" counting the additional miles.

As the light turned green, and I headed down the boulevard to the next set of lights, my phone rang - the display read "American Airlines".

"This is Hope from American Airlines calling about your trip next week from SFO to LA to New York's JFK airport."

This was it! I couldn't wait - I wasn't at my computer, but I was sure I could come up with a creative routing without running too many red lights or crashing into things. In addition the upcoming lights all were synchronized to green - I might make the best time of my life back to my office.

She continued, "We would like to offer you a trip on the non-stop SFO to JFK flight for only $49 additional. Are you interested?"

The light turned red.

I stuttered for a moment, not sure what to say. A thousand questions raced through my head as I quickly slowed for the light. Non stop? What was she talking about? Who would want to take a non-stop flight when you can get more miles going indirectly. $49? Who would want to pay more for less miles, less take offs and landing, and less hot nuts? Why didn't she address me by name?

The silence must have been deafening to her "Sir, are you interested?" she persisted.

"No, no I am not interested" I replied with a sigh. And without thinking I drove through the red light.

Warning: Possible spoilers! (???)

This Sunday CBS is airing the 16th edition of The Amazing Race. As you may know contestants race around the world performing tasks and trying to reach the finish line, in each stage, before everyone else. The last team at each stop is eliminated until only one team remains.

Back in November there were several film crews and some brightly dressed contestants for this show transiting LAX. When the JFK flight was delayed about 90 minutes the panicked contestants budged the line so they could get on another flight. I have no idea what flight they ended up taking, or where they were connecting to, but we arrived in New York only 45 minutes late that day. I am sure they could have made their connection. Rookies.

VIP service for non-VIPs

Two of the contestants telling their story

Update: Josh pointed out my mistake - this was at LAX not SFO - the above post is updated to reflect that.

In addition to ANA's "super biz-wari" and "super eco-wari" fares, ANA airlines has fares through September 2010 announsed departing Japan.

I can't keep up - but as of right now rueters is reporting that JAL is sticking with OneWorld and not joining Delta in Skyteam.

JAL's new chief executive officer, Kazuo Inamori, and officials of the ETIC have decided that switching alliances is too risky and could hinder their ability to turn around the airline quickly, the Asahi said on its website.

As expected there are too many hurdles for cash strapped JAL to overcome including anti trust challenges that were sure to arise. Long term I think this makes the most sense for JAL's growth as they have much bigger issues to deal with immediately. Obviously this is good news for OneWorld and American.

The only downside is what to do with the JAL content from this week's podcast that will go up later today? It seems outdated already ;)

Are you a bather or a wiper? Individual fingers or the whole hand at once? Steaming hot or wait till it cools?

On many airlines hot towelettes are provided for passengers in premium cabins, presumably to act as a way to wash your hands before eating. However, many airlines provide the towelettes after the highly acclaimed hot-nut service, thereby missing the obvious opportunity to clean your hands before handling your, ah-hem, nuts.

[yes, yes, I know. get your mind out of the gutter]

I've noticed on my flights a range of uses for the towelette. I am not sure if some people missed their morning shower and look to the hot towelette as an instant bath - or why they give a big workout to a little piece of cloth. Face scrub, temples, over the ear, back of the neck, into the shirt, then around the hands, in between the fingers, and finally one last (cold) wipe of the mouth. yuck...

So what am I missing here? Is there a secret to the first class hot towelette that I kneed to know because I only wipe all 10 of fingers? (I also wash down my nasty tray table/arm rest.) What is your routine?

Photo Credit: Lucky