Somewhere over the Pacific

A few weeks ago, Northwest Airlines offered me a free few month trial period in their Silver Elite program, which gets you early boarding and free upgrades to first class. I'm not really sure why because I haven't flown Northwest too much lately. I didn't think it would do too much since I won't be flying Northwest in the coming months. However, I did fly Northwest's partner Continental to Palau. Continental has its own "onepass" benefit program, but I did get to board the earlier planes during preboard. A nice little benefit and I thought that would be it for Silver Elite benefits. I posted the Guam picture right before I boarded the plane to Palau and it caused me to board at the end of boarding and I was not paying attention to where I was sitting. Once I got on the plane I made it to my seat, I discovered that I was in first class for the flight from Guam to Palau. I had never actually flown first class before, so it was quite a way to finish the trip. Nice big seats and plenty of legroom for the weary traveller. I got a full meal of fresh fruit and a cheesesteak sandwich for dinner Palau time (which made for an interesting breakfast since my body thinks its 5 am). Actually, the best part was the hot towel. After nearly 24 hours of travel, that towel was really refreshing. It is a testament to the fact that often times unexpected little benefits can make life just a little bit nicer and make all the difference.