Friends,

Happy Saturday! Two things as this great weekend keeps rolling:

1. The Plaza Premium Lounge in Terminal E has the best airport lounge coffee at DFW, thanks to a full-send espresso machine that graces the pleasant but otherwise unremarkable space. It is totally worth a stop.

2. American is effectively giving away status with their newest, targeted promo. Bloggers Ben Schlappig and Gary Leff break it down well, so I won’t reiterate further except to say I was not among the chosen few to receive said offer.

I mention both to highlight a simple truth: not all who wander are lost, and sometimes things surprise you. This brings me to the AirCal jet.

American has a subset of domestic narrow bodies that are painted in the liveries of former carriers—airlines they bought, merged with, or otherwise absorbed over the decades. One of those is AirCal, 60’s-era intra-state California airline that American bought in the mid-1980s.

N917NN is the tail number for the 737-800 in American’s fleet that currently sports the AirCal livery, serving as a flying homage to a very 'dead and gone' piece of aviation history. I have flown the AirCal jet three times now (including a memorable late night journey from DFW to Memphis).

I kind of love that orange striped 737, mostly because it stands for a few unique journeys and the people who shared them with me.

I hope you stop and think about the AirCal jets in your world this weekend. And I hope you find good coffee in unexpected places.

Your life is a wonderful occasion—rise to it.

Fly well.

Links

Today has been super boring in “airline-travel-points-mania” world so I do not have more for you in this section. Huzzah. Check back tomorrow!

Remember, this life you are living has meaning. Thank you for reading. I am grateful you are here and would love to hear from you. If you'd like to write me a note, simply reply to this email. Otherwise I'll see you in the next one.

P.S. If I can ever help you plan your next travel adventure (slash help make your points go farther), I’d be delighted. You can schedule time together here.