The "Boston All" map for the BluePass. As the bottom says, every city that is in white has nonstop service to Boston (at least at the start of the pass - after Labor Day, the Portland-Boston non-stop goes away and I have to route through New York, for instance). Every city in orange is a place that I can also go to, I just have to connect in a different city. Where should I go next?
Okay, so here is what I have planned for my JetBlue BluePass to start out with. I think it's a fairly masterful job of weaving in everything I wanted to do.
Flights were first able to be booked last night, August 15th. I was able to secure every flight that I wanted so far. Here's what is going to be happening, starting next week. Remember, the unlimited travel pass goes from August 22 to November 22, and every flight has to be either to or from Boston.
August 22:
Portland to Boston. Red eye, departing PDX at 11:35 PM and arriving in Boston at 7:49 AM the next day. Red eyes are horrible, I'm not going to lie. Only option from PDX, though.
August 23:
Boston to New York (JFK), then New York to Santiago, Dominican Republic. I purposely built in a long connection in New York, so I could go grab some stuff for my great friend Ryan Bowen, who is the reason I am heading to the DR first. Ryan and I go way back to high school, playing football together and attending youth groups, and we have gone on plenty of adventures together since then (Bogota, Colombia during the first year of JetBlue's "All You Can Jet" promotion is a highlight in my mind). Ryan recently moved down to Santiago full time, after working for the Boys and Girls Club in New York for a couple of years. He left a few things in New York that I'm going to try to help him with, since shipping them would be very expensive and JetBlue allows you to check a free bag.
I will arrive in Santiago at about 8:40 PM, go through customs (to add insult to injury, the DR collects a $10 visitor fee at the airport, in addition to the highest airfare taxes of anywhere JetBlue flies), and meet up with Ryan. Then, I'm hoping to just go to his new spot and sleep the rest of the night, as I know I will be a total zombie the whole day from the red eye.
August 24-26:
Lots of fun in the sun with Ryan, and our Dominican friends that I met last year, including Ryan's girlfriend Jenny, who was an amazing host last time (I will never ever forget staying the night at her place last year, but that's another story). Really, the trip out will probably be the first of several down during the pass, as everyone in the DR is really awesome and I always enjoy seeing Ryan.
Ryan and his girlfriend Jenny! Yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing them and the incredible Dominican food!
August 27:
This is going to be one heck of a day, I'll say that right off the bat. First off, I'm leaving Santiago at about 1:40 AM (I wonder if I will have another insane story of getting to the airport, like I did last year) and getting into New York around 5:12 AM. I took this same flight last year and it left me feeling about the same as a red eye does. Anyway, once I get to New York, I'll have to clear customs in Terminal 4 and head right over to the main JetBlue Terminal (5, or as those in the community say: T5), because I have a flight leaving at 7:38 AM heading to (of course), Boston. I will hopefully arrive around 8:45, then I have another flight at 11:00 AM, heading down to Washington, DC and the really fantastic DCA airport. I really adore Washington DC - it's pretty hard not to as a Social Studies teacher. I was just there in June after school got out, but I'm back this time, because...
at 7:30 PM on the 27th, our very own Portland Timbers are playing at DC United! This will be my first ever official MLS matchup, as tickets here in Portland are incredibly expensive. The ticket to sit in the Away fans section (really high up in RFK stadium) was a grand total of $24! I'll be sitting (or more accurately, standing and chanting with any other Timbers fans) in the first row with my Timbers jersey on (sorry JetBlue, but I'm going to have to rep our hometown airline/jersey sponsor - Alaska Airlines), so be looking for me! The game should air on ROOT Sports (formerly Fox Sports Net) at 4:30 PM PST on Saturday, August 27th. For those with Comcast, it is channel 34 in standard definition and 734 in HD.
That night I will be staying at Hostelling International - DC, which I could not recommend highly enough. Almost exactly like being at a clean, organized, centrally located, cheap summer camp. I stayed there in June for a night and could not have been more impressed. It sets the standard for any hostel I've ever been to.
August 28:
Another day in DC. This is going to be a rest and laundry day, probably. Did this because I knew I needed a break and I got to stay the second night at the hostel for free because I bought a membership to Hostelling International USA for $28. The year long membership pays for itself already, because the free second night would have been another $35. Too bad the free second night is a one time coupon - I would be staying at a hostel every night if that wasn't the case! So in total, two nights in Washington DC, in a really awesome hostel that is like 5 blocks away from the White House, for a grand total of $35. That's a deal.
The other reason I'm staying another day is that my friend Erin, who works and goes to school in DC, and I are planning to meet up at some point to catch up again. Always great to see her.
August 29:
Early flight up to Boston, leaving Reagan National at 7:55 AM and arriving at 9:31. Luckily, Washington DC has an incredible Metro system that could not be easier to use and will take me right to the airport. Once I get to Boston, it's right back down to New York and T5 at JFK. This time, I'll be staying for a couple of days, to watch the start of:
August 30:
I will also come back to watch the tennis for the entire day on August 30th. I have a ticket at Arthur Ashe Stadium for the morning and evening sessions - though I'm guessing that for the morning session, I will wander around the grounds quite a bit, getting great seats for the lesser known players on further away courts - like I was able to do when I went to Wimbledon in 2007 and had a Grounds Pass on the day of the Women's Singles Final. At the US Open last year, players that had matches at Arthur Ashe on Day 2 included: Novak Djokovic (I'd be really surprised if he wasn't featured in a night session this year), Maria Sharapova, and Rafael Nadal. If I get to see Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic as I am thinking that I have a very good shot at, I will be one happy tennis fan.
As for where I'm staying in NYC - that's a little bit up in the air right now, as I'm waiting for a confirmation. If worse comes to worse, I'll probably get a hotel room for the first night, and then spend the night of August 30 at JFK.
August 31:
Flight out of JFK going to Boston at 11:50 AM, arriving at 12:55 PM. This time, I'm actually staying for a day! I'll be seeing my college roommate Max Tremblay and going to a Boston Red Sox/New York Yankees game with him at Fenway Park!
We don't know where we are going to sit yet, and tickets are going to be pretty expensive on the resale market, but come on, this is totally a once in a lifetime type deal (or at least until I can find more time to get to Boston for a game). Really excited about this. The game starts at 7:10, and then I will stay the night at Max's house outside Boston.
September 1-4:
Flight on the 1st from Boston to Chicago, leaving at 5:25 PM and arriving at 7:07 PM. This part of the trip will be to see my brother Maxwell, as he just moved out to Chicago to start a new job. I'll try to help him move into more permanent housing, watch Oregon play LSU in the Ducks season opener on the 3rd, and conduct our annual fantasy football draft (I'm the reigning champion, thank you very much) on the 4th. I have stunningly never been to Chicago outside of the airport, so I'm really looking forward to exploring, eating some famous pizza, hanging out with my brother, and relaxing.
September 5:
Flight from Chicago to Boston at 8:40 AM, arriving at 11:54 AM. Actually, as I write this, I'm realizing this flight is probably too early since my flight from Boston to Portland doesn't leave until 7:30 PM. Might have to change that up (with this year's BluePass, you can change, cancel, or book flights any time up until 90 minutes before scheduled departure, for free). In any case, I'm heading back to Portland this day to recoup, spend some time at home for at least a few days - I would guess that I stay at home until after the Oregon vs. Nevada home opener at Autzen Stadium on the 10th.
Okay, so that is the plan! I have all the flights booked, places to stay figured out (there is NO WAY that I could go on all these adventures without the support of all my amazing friends and family), sporting event tickets purchased (except that Red Sox/Yankees game), and everything else is really coming together nicely. I can't believe that I leave in a week! Make sure to bookmark this blog and come back, as I'm hoping to update it frequently during my travels. Have a great day and thanks for the interest and support!
EDIT: By the way, I'm also keeping track of how much the flights would have cost if I didn't have the pass. The total for all of the above would have been $1720 before taxes. Almost entirely recouping the price of the BluePass in two weeks, haha. I'll have another 2 and a half months after that to try and really run up the total.
EDIT: By the way, I'm also keeping track of how much the flights would have cost if I didn't have the pass. The total for all of the above would have been $1720 before taxes. Almost entirely recouping the price of the BluePass in two weeks, haha. I'll have another 2 and a half months after that to try and really run up the total.
6 comments:
sounds like a great adventure!!!!
keeep it up Luke. :D"
Thanks for the interest Eva! I wish you were able to come jetting too - though I'm not sure there will be any free coconut water this time! I'll have to have some real coconut water in the DR for you. :-)
From my understanding, there are taxes on the domestic flights you have to pay for this year. Are you tracking the cost of those? Would be interested in knowing the cost. I racked up 30 flights during last year's AYCJ, probably breaking JB's bank, and forcing them to up the price this year. Have fun!
Hi JeanCarl,
Yes, there are domestic taxes, but they are relatively flat. Each flight is $10.70. So, most domestic taxes for a two flight roundtrip are $21.40. Yes, I am tracking the cost of those, plus the international taxes. Right now, after 14 flights booked, it's $255.20 - but way over half of that is the one roundtrip down to the Dominican Republic which, as I said in the post, really takes a ton.
I think I did about 25 flights last year on AYCJ and 27 the first year, but those were just on the four weekends I had free (I was working at a school four days a week). I'm interested to see what my total is at the end of the three months.
Thanks for the interest!
Your trip looks amazing! I look forward to following your adventures along the way and feeling mildly resentful :) ¡Buen viaje!
Thanks Rebecca! Only mildly resentful? Come on, I want the full on resentment! Alexis tells me that you got that job at Roosevelt - yay! It's on my list of schools in Portland I need to visit to see people this year. Thanks for the interest in my travels!
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