I recently traveled from Los Angeles to New York. For an hour. It’s not like I could leave the airport anyway unless I was willing to quarantine. And you know something? It was exactly what I needed. So while my 12-hour journey from Gate 77 to Gate 76 at LAX did not ultimately take me far, it was a productive day in the skies.
My Productive Day In The Skies
When you live in a small house with two young children, productivity comes at a premium. The trip was not planned, but after a string of unproductive days I asked my wife for her blessing to spend the day in the air. I’ve been working on a big personal project which requires not only time, but solitude.
I chose to fly from Los Angeles to Newark and back on United for three reasons. One, despite poor loads United continues to operate widebody aircraft on the route with Polaris lie-flat beds. Two, upgrades are easy. In fact, the flights often go without mostly empty in economy class and with open seats in business class. Third, because this is one of the routes United is still serving meals and it eliminated the need to find or bring food along.
So at the very last minute I booked the ticket and found myself at a fairly busy Terminal 7 at LAX. While the United terminals still feel like a ghost town by afternoon, the morning rush was indeed a morning rush.
Additional food concessionaires have re-opened.
Boarding began on schedule, with Global Services and 1K boarding first, followed by back-to-front boarding.
Onboard, it was so nice to be back onboard. My first flight to Newark was operated by a 787-10 and I was assigned seat 3A.
The flight attendants were lovely and someone did not get the memo that meals were to be served wrapped because breakfast (egg whites with potatoes and sausage) arrived beautifully presented with a side of fruit and a biscotti. I did not mind.
It was nice to have coffee again onboard.
Usually on a transcontinental flight like this I’ll take advantage of the bed to relax and watch a movie. Not today. I furiously typed on my keyboard for most of the journey. With my noise canceling headphones on, there were no distractions. I did not even connect to the internet.
At one point we flew directly over Chicago:
A snack basket was offered throughout the flight, which offered additional fuel, though it was coffee that kept me going.
United still offers Sunday Riley amenity kits onboard with toothbrush, toothpaste, earplugs, and and eyeshade. Duvets have been replaced with throw blankets. Every business class passenger was handed a bottle of water prior to takeoff.
Right Back To LAX
In Newark I simply walked over to my connecting gate, eyeing a trio of birds (Austrian, Lufthansa, SWISS) heading to Europe before boarding commenced for my 767-300 flight home.
The flight attendant who served my side of the aisle was so wonderful on this flight. She was attentive and charming, mixing humor with genuineness.
Dinner choices were ravioli or chicken (the same chicken I had when I flew this route last month). I chose ravioli, which was delicious, but still left me hungry. Since the cabin was not full and crew meals are loaded separately, I asked if there was any chicken left. Indeed there was, and the flight attendant was ecstatic that I would eat it so it would not go to waste. In fact, she even offered me a third! I love it.
Although I was tempted to fall asleep, I remained productive the rest of the flight, this time catching up on reading before pivoting back to my other project.
We landed at LA, I walked out to my car, and drove home…what a productive day it had been!
Safety First?
I want to address something head-on. Airports and airplanes are among the safest environments in the country now. My actions put less people in danger than going to a coffee shop and trying to work there all day. People who travel mostly seem to get the new routine. Yes, the gate area at LAX was crowded, but airplanes are cleaner than I have ever seen them and everyone seemed to respect the new boarding protocols and mask policy.
CONCLUSION
If you ever need a day for study or solace, consider a transcontinental trip. Airlines have taken steps to protect the safety of passengers onboard and the more limited service leaves you with plenty of time to focus.
Have you ever flown just to have a productive day in the skies?
Where and how did you get the United mask?
I have many flight attendant friends! 😉
That mask sends a message: “I’m an insider; look after me”. It’s a little like the masonic handshake . It would be a very useful accessory.
Where did you get the United mask?
haha, I thought the exact same thing
How much were you able to secure your ticket for? While your post seems to imply you booked an economy class ticket hoping/knowing an upgrade would come, it was never specifically stated.
From a cost / benefit perspective, I’d be curious to see how it played out for you. While it may seem ludicrous to most, for someone who’s time is so valuable such as yourself (both on a professional and personal level, having both their own business and two kids) I can certainly see how you came to that judgement call. Really, I’d just like to know the dollar figure you put on having quiet, uninterrupted space to work on this occasion.
You would save time/hassle on food which is a plus, while losing on the cost of parking, time commuting to/from lax, and tsa checkpoint.
Tickets cost $220 r/t but I have United travel credit.
Hi Matthew… I worked for years in the travel industry and recently flew from IND-SMF rountrip for 130.00. It’s great on the prices right now!
I normally would fly from Indy to Krakow, Poland, numerous times per year and just waiting for the Covid-19 issues to be over with so I’m able to travel to Europe, once again!
Thanks for your story!
Appreciate the details on the amenity kit but surprised they don’t include a little sanitizer bottle in there. Delta always had one (at least in international Delta One)
I did not include the picture, but every passenger is handed a sealed hand sanitizer wipe during boarding.
Brilliant article !
BUSINESS CLASS? Who the heck can afford it during this KRISIS?? Only the wealthy, the rich and NOT SO FAMOUS!! Using mileage credits for upgrades is CHEATING!!
And how did you upgrade? This is not a cpu route if my understanding is correct?
20 Plus Points.
Oh ok that makes sense. I didn’t think you had any though I thought you had dropped to life time gold?
No, I made 1K again late last year. I was close and did a mileage run to Sydney to get me over.
Haha you addict !
The Newark flights are interesting during this abnormal time as UA has not updated its routing rules so fares often break with connections in Newark and so price significantly higher than other hubs. Normally I guess this would be to protect the flights for premium pricing o and d bit during this time it just makes them extra empty and I suppose an upgrade goldmine.
What was your fare?
Are you going to hit $9k spend this year for the PlusPoints?
No chance of hitting $9K this year.
Difficult to hit $9k when August premium transcontinental flights were $110
I did this in the past. As well as working from home until now. I recently had the opportunity to rent a flat next door which I turned into my office. Organizing it takes away some of the wish for travel (and is also an opportunity to exhibit all kinds of travel memorabilia). But your method is cool as well.
I like your method too. I am working on something similar.
I feel you man. Due to restrictive liquor sales in Ohio (at least, that was my excuse), I hopped on a transcon to SFO and headed back in the evening. I caught up on so much work, collected a few fun bottles I would have no hope of finding in Ohio, and finally replace a bowl in a set from Daiso I bought a few years back. Most of the bars and restaurants were closed but Benjamin Cooper was having some special Suntory marketing event and I had fun chatting with the bartenders. It sounds like the stupidest of reasons to fly across the country, but it scratched my travel itch. The lounges in ORD and SFO were missing a lot but had the one thing I wanted: isolation. You’re not alone in valuing several hours of isolation there and back.
I have done this many times. In my line of work it’s actually refreshing to be disconnected.
It was nice to be disconnected for a time. I even turned off the phone so I would not receive text messages.
HOW DARE YOU!
No kidding ‘Greta’ – horrifying. How many barrels of kerosene combustion byproducts injected into the upper atmosphere for this lark? Yuck…
I feel your work from home pain! I have done this several times even pre-covid just to get a work project completed. Did you get your project done in between taking photos and eating??
The photos actually took very little time. I had plenty of time to work, especially on the longer return flight.
That sounds fun. I think I might take a trip to nowhere if I have a slow day come up.
For all the people who will cry foul, I consider it far safer than sitting down at the coffee shop terrace around a bunch of people not wearing masks and interacting with the barista several times while using a common credit card machine.
Very nice photos. It was a little risky as you wrote in the other article that United could cancel your flight in the last minute which would mess up your turn around return flight. They could easily swap the equipment also. I am glad it worked out perfectly for you.
United actually did cancel the flight back before mine (the 4pm EWR-LAX), but even then my flight wasn’t even close to capacity.
Great report Matthew. I live in Germany, and even here the safest I have felt in the last few months was in a Polaris window seat in a mostly empty cabin to the US. Perfect distancing.
I have done a lot of work on planes so I see Matthew’s point. However, with the pandemic, I wouldn’t do it. Instead, I might consider checking into a hotel. Rodeway Inns can be a bit hard to work in but Comfort Inns (same family of brands, Choice Hotels) is much better.
That’s fair and I will be doing that next month for a couple days during a big project. I wanted to fly. I wanted a quiet pace to work. Was it necessary? Of course not. Did I accomplish my goal? I truly did.
I also find that are too many distractions in hotel rooms. A comfortable bed leads to napping. A TV leads to time wasted (I have no TV at home). I know those distractions exist on airplanes too, but I find being productive on an airplane so much easier.
Hmm. Side question to this: do you self-isolate after the trip?
While I agree that flying is probably safer than library right now, you did “rub elbow” figuratively with people across the country. What precautions do you take after flying? I would imagine your family ain’t exactly thrill that you might have brought back droplets from the other side of the continent…
Weekly testing.
Weekly testing may help the community but it probably won’t help others in the household. I had the misfortune of getting possible Covid-19 at the beginning of August. (Testing was negative but may have been too early as it was day 2 of symptoms).
Fortunately for me, I didn’t have to go to the hospital ICU but I guess that my symptoms were 35 on a scale of 100 (100 being dead and 1 being the most minimal symptoms but not asymptomatic). I was coughing my head off and had a low grade fever. I lost about 3-4 weeks of productivity.
To prevent spread, the morning I had a hint of symptoms, I threw a few things in my mostly unpacked rollabag from a recent trip and stayed at another place away from family members.
Productivity? What a strange excuse to take a pointless flight. What exactly did you do that was so productive, writing this blog post? I assume you are not one that cares about CO2 emissions, bc otherwise you would be a massive hypocrite. Your presence on the plane increases fuel burn, but most importantly you are part of the total demand picture which dictates supply, ie how many flights are scheduled, so yes, you choosing to fly does impact emissions.
Maybe next time just lock the door to your home office? Or go to a outdoor coffee shop? Or basically just go anywhere. I can’t imagine flying right now, and being forced to have a mask on most of the time, could be a pleasurable experience anyway.
100% in agreement. Well said.
These people screeching in the comments about how “irresponsible” traveling is don’t seem to understand traveling right now. I work as a flight attendant for a major airline, and we always appreciate our frequent fliers. This was literally a work trip, he traveled for business. The idea of flying being irresponsible and unsafe is just not true. Airplanes are deep cleaned after EVERY flight. Airplane air is recycled and filtered, and unless the flight attendant licked his food before serving it, the chances of COVID transmission in a Polaris pod are insanely low, probably the safest seats to be in on any plane. By following the basic safety protocols airlines are rigorously enforcing (such as masks), flying can be and IS safe for everyone. This may read like a propaganda post, but for airline workers this fear of flying people in the comments have is costing us our jobs by the thousands.
@WR2: I didn’t imagine you’d be someone who cares about CO2. Wearing a mask is really not a burden. I still struggle to understand why people are so resistant to them.
While I regard the politicization of masks bizarre and unnecessary, I 100% agree with WR2. I can tolerate keeping one on for an hour or so to go to the grocery store, take the train to work, etc. But anything more than that, let alone 10 hours, is an actively unpleasant experience. And no, I don’t accept the “you get used to it” shtick; I’ve been trying since April and I can’t.
P.S. @WR2, you clearly don’t have toddlers or pre-school age children. There is literally nowhere in the house you can hide from one, door closed or not.
I think this was great idea especially if u accomplished what u set out to do. If ur family agreed and money isn’t an issue, a good experiment!!!
Those emissions would be there with or without him. Unless he’s so important that they’d cxl the flight because he didn’t go
I think this was great idea especially if u accomplished what u set out to do. If ur family agreed and money isn’t an issue, a good experiment!!!
Somehow it’s only Americans who have an issue with wearing masks. When India in the peak of summer has 90% mask compliance theres no excuse for those who live in the USA
We flew United business last month from india back home to SFO had a great flight and must say very clean and safe . Our attendant Mark was one of best I have come across in last year of my flying . It was great to be back on board and no more fear of flying
I wrote an article on my experience though please let me know where can I send you
Use the contact form at the top of the page. I look forward to reading it!
“Safest” is not the same as “safe.”
I get that you have cabin fever, we all do. I have kids at home, too, and it’s hard to be productive stuck at home. In the past, I was often super productive on planes (I never watch movies and rarely drink on board because I get work done), so I see the appeal.
That being said, your trip was pretty irresponsible. Did you get a COVID-19 test before you flew? How do you *know* that you didn’t expose someone else in the airports or on the plane? Have you been tested yet? How do you *know* that you’re not exposing your family to COVID-19 right now?
Responsibility is a personal value judgment call, and your calls are different than mine from time to time. But unlike traveling to say, Tel Aviv during an election campaign, where you’re taking your own risk, doing a mileage run right now heightens risks for a lot of other people, too.
I’m tested often because my other activities now expose me to people during the week.
Obviously you didn’t read the post…replace the word plane with library, cafe, office, train station, hotel etc. and you see why he chose an airplane.
When does travel shaming become simple jealousy?
Well, well, well…it certainly didn’t take long for all the “well-informed” trolls to crawl from their dark dank corners to tear strips off you Matthew for your truly heinous, vile depravity! Oh Lordy, there are so many worse and far more important things to truly be upset about and take true initiative to engage in, but in their great wisdom they chose you Matthew. I say well-done Mr Klint. You are having an impact! The judgmentalism is beyond believable. “Are you people for real or acting out the role of offended good citizen in order to gain your own self appointed brownie points?” Do what you feel is right Matthew during this extraordinary time, in order to achieve what you need to while not harming others. Let the rest of the anal retentive swarm, stay puckered away in their bubbles of finger-pointing and self righteousness ! From one flyer to another…enjoy the flight ✈️…
can we please just tell anyone that is scared of the freakin covid to go f*** themselves? that’s what i’ve started doing and it feels great.
You did it for clicks. And that’s fine, if blogging and writing is your business. But at least be honest. If you needed solace to be productive, why not just get a hotel? It’s incredibly irresponsible (financially, environmentally, in terms of COVID…) to recommend this as a solution to a lack of productivity. My husband and I both work from home and, due to a perfect storm of COVID-related issues, are temporarily stuck in a one-bedroom apartment. It sucks. It really, really sucks. But never once has taking a pointless cross-country flight crossed my mind as a solution. And if my husband did so, leaving me alone with two kids, he would not be my husband much longer.
Thank you for stating the obvious.
Monetized posting is not frivolous.
It can do real harm.
Please stop recommending irresponsible behaviors.
Now I’m the one recommending irresponsible behaviors…? I understand reading tone can be difficult on the internet. “That’s fine” as written in my comment hardly condones this trash blog post, but if you’d like to willfully misread it, you’re welcome to. That’s what internet comment sections are for, isn’t it? I don’t know why I bother.
I think LateStageRealist was agreeing with you.
Hard to make money these days on the blog. I’ll never recoup the price of the ticket (voucher).
@MK: Part of the calculus of every post I write is how many will click on it, but I did not take this trip for the clicks. I get far more clicks writing about masks. Far more. You have no idea how little this blogs makes as a result of the pandemic. I took this trip because I wanted a quiet place to reflect and work and because flying brings great joy. While I understand your family dynamic is different than mine, my wife was 100% onboard with my spur-of-the-moment trip, just as I am 100% onboard with giving her a couple hours each day to spend at our (now outdoor) gym. #Different_Strokes_Different_Folks
I think it’s great if you were to make some revenue. It means people want to read it. I wish there were more reviews out there! Isn’t it the same as a travel book lol! “You travelled to alaska just to sell a book! Shame!”
I enjoyed the read. I miss flying but work quarantines me if I get on a plane 🙁
I can’t believe you watched the quantum of solace on repeat for 10 hours.
Looks pretty good. Productivity comes from comfort and that seems to be the case.
Doesn’t weekly testing contribute to the testing backlog? Perhaps it would be better to modify your activities to socially distance until California can get its testing under control. A bit surprised that in this Zoom economy and considering you aren’t a retail employee, that you need weekly testing.
With all due respect, Ben’s trip to Bodrum sounds more responsible.
With respect, I found Ben’s trip to Bodrum very responsible.
Furthermore, I am not being tested because of my occupational work, but because of my volunteer work.
Still need to use points plus to upgrade? Flying lax > ewr this week as a 1K but don’t want to “waste” points when economy isn’t full….trying to stay optimistic international travel will return before they expire
Yes, PP still needed (20)
Walla Matthew, I’m not kidding with your gluteus maximums, Stop paying attention to necessary stuff. Allah does not like people who fly and risk their lives. Allah is going to throw you into the hellfire. When you are sitting there for all eternity, then you are going to live and learn the hard way. You are taking a big unnecessary risk. I would not fly if you paid me $1,000,000. Your life is worth millions. Also, don’t waste wallah money. You are a waster and Allah doesn’t like wasters.
Forgot to mention that you and walla Joe Biden are going to the hellfire. You both have sinned in the eyes of Allah.
Walla Matthew you want to die of COVID-19? Why you risk your life unnecessarily? Allah said don’t throw yourself into destruction.
Matthew, I’ve been resisting the urge just to fly to “nowhere” or roundtrip transcon like you. I’m jealous. Not disagreeing on the safety, That said, still not comfortable myself; that’s a personal choice, not something to be asserted to others. To be clear, I’m not judging, more jealous. In a pre-Covid-19 world, I’ve done round trips to Sri Lanka and Cairo and found incredible solace.
This post made me smile.
What a disgusting waste of fuel and carbon emissions.
Making sure that you only fly when you need to is essential for us to lower our carbon footprint and reduce the pollution that is causing major problems with global warming.
I do a lot of flying myself for meetings and meeting with people only when I can’t do things via a video link. Flying, just so you can sit in a seat away from your family is a horrendous waste of resources, money and pollutes for no reason at all.
You really need to rethink your decisions.
“I do a lot of flying myself ….?” What kind of cretin are you? Perpetuating the hydrocarbon economy and providing the demand to combust thousands of gallons of jet fuel and resultant emissions of CO2?
Oh, you’re the hypocritical kind of cretin who wags their finger at others while not walking your talk. If you want to “reduce the pollution that is causing major problems with global warming,” then swap your flights for a bicycle and don’t forget to hold your breath whilst you peddle across the country to avoid exhaling CO2.
Or don’t. But leave the rest of us out of your hypocritical delusion so we can enjoy the poor guy’s prose.
Does Heidi ever say no to you when you ask her for permission to do that? Great wife you’ve got! 🙂
She does say no. 😉
More power to you Matthew! While I’m strongly on the side of wearing masks, social distancing and getting tested, going from 22,000 miles a month t0 0 miles from April to August felt so strange and empty. So I found ultra-cheap flights on United, got upgraded very easily and spent a Saturday in the air. I wasn’t very productive but it felt so good. 🙂
All these comments and not one mention of how gorgeous that inferior of the 787 is. Wow. Hope I get to be on one of those someday.
Interior*
Good for you, Matthew. Reminds me of the time I needed an extra trip for 1K qualification and flew RT First Class SFO -JFK ( a previous UAL route).
It was a special holiday in the air.
Good for you putting yourself out there with your story. We are such a divided nation and that is far more serious than COVID concerns. Someone tells a story of their experience and we have to judge it – right or wrong.
I’ll admit- I’m jealous
Take care
I would absolutely love to do this and maybe this will be the mini break I plan when I’m able to afford it and such. I’m glad you had such a wonderful time!!!
Loved this article! My husband and I are both Global Services flyers with United, and the immediate cessation of all travel back in March has been crazy-making. We’re heading to India in a couple of weeks to help take care of a sick family member, but are inspired by your trip and definitely will be planning a day in the skies here in the US after we return. BTW, my husband just returned from India and reported that the flying was easy: uncrowded Polaris cabins, super clean aircraft, friendly FAs, and people taking the mask rules seriously.
Enjoy the trip Adrienne!
I did this in January. I had a million things I needed to do, but with multiple jobs plus day to day life, if I stayed home, someone else always needed me for something. I needed some time to myself to get organized, so I flew from jfk-lax and back on the same plane, same seat. I got so much done, had a nice meal, and got some uninterrupted sleep. I completely understand.