DHS is a pain in the ass.
It seems that searching my bags was not enough. I got selected for secondary screening when I went through the x-ray, and was given the old 3x over with the magic wand. They found nothing.
I'm starting to think that arriving in the states wearing an orange skirt, and a beard is perhaps not the best thing - even after I explained to the customs guy that Thailand has the death penalty for drugs - and that I'd be a complete idiot to bring anything in the country.
However, after all that - fate seemed to smile at me.
My flight from San Francisco -> Washington DC was heavily oversold, with a number of business-men who had paid full price fares and were demanding to be in DC that night....
I happily gave up my ticket, was put on a flight to Baltimore leaving 15 minutes later - and in exchange, was given a free round-trip ticket anywhere in the US + a one-way upgrade to 1st class for my next United trip. Awesome!
Fate continued to smile on me....
Kat met me at the airport, we drove to DC. On the way, I called up the Marriott and asked to speak to the manager. I explained the bump-situation, and told him that we'd had to rent a car to get from Baltimore to DC. Was there any way he could waive the $27 parking fee? He Could? Lovely.... He also confirmed that they'd given us a free upgrade from a deluxe room to a junior suite.
However - once we got to the hotel, I did my very best to flirt with the manager-on-duty. After a few minutes of heavily-British-Accented chatting with him (man/woman, it's all the same if it gets us a nicer hotel room), he announced that he'd upgraded us to an executive suite, and that he'd given us an extra-late checkout time of 5PM. Woo!!
The room.. oh, the room.
A huge bed, 2 bathrooms, a living room with a huge dining table, a mini-kitchen, and a HUGE rooftop balcony overlooking the NPR headquarters on K street.
The next morning, I called down to the reservations desk, and found out that the room would normally have cost $600.
The power of flirting, and a British accent!
>and a British accent!
ReplyDeleteThe Basil Fawlty approach, works everytime!
>through the x-ray, and was given the old 3x
>over with the magic wand
All this radiation + all these extra free flights (more radiation), maybe you should start freezing the white stuff now?
You seem to be kind of a scam artist, looking for freebies, why the hell would the Marriott need to waive your parking? Because you whined about it? You should suck it up and pay for what you enjoy.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the suite? If you cant pay the bill dont pretend to live the life.
Never take others for granted as it always comes around.
...my 2 cents