Mmmmm! BAcon! - Off to Denver and Beyond with Aer Lingus and British Airways

Mmmmm! BAcon! – Off to Denver and Beyond with Aer Lingus and British Airways
The introduction

Index:

Wow. Two trips in two months. It’s great having a job that pays money.

Welcome one and all back to the back where I’m going to do something different… go to a conference where I actually have to pay attention to things. Into the bargain, you’ll get a lot more of a travel report rather than a trip report – and yes; my writing is getting more meandering than ever.
Still gentle reader – some things never change!

Once again, I’m down the back of the plane with my views on travel for those who can’t afford those lovely business class seat, and out there to prove that Economy Class “isn’t that bad”.

As a reminder to some of my grammar conscious/grammar sensitive readers, please head to http://economyclassandbeyond.boardingarea.com/2012/03/18/blog-admin-a-message-to-the-grammar-checkers-out-there/ for an explanation of why my grammar may not be up to others high standards.

A Conference… why not?

BAcon. Nope. Not the lovely stuff you get in supermarkets or decent butchers (and certainly what some places in the USA define as “Bacon”), but a conference of Boarding Area bloggers (and others) getting together to learn and talk. A genesis of an idea that turned into a conference quickly.

This trip was one I was keen to make, but there had been a few black clouds in my world – thankfully now passed – so once things in my life were sorted, I was keen to be back in the seat again – so a chance to catch up with my fellow bloggers at Boarding Area.

As such I didn’t even look to begin booking this trip until after I got back from Chicago, so with a trip in May – prices were going to be expensive.

And I was right.

Flights to Colorado Springs were out of the question from the get-go as they were hitting £800+. So next it was flights to DEN from Heathrow… with the fare engine pulling back idiot fares of £700+

Excuse me? £700 for a flight to Denver? I think not.

Obviously, a cost effective method was required, meaning some creative routing was going to be needed, and looking beyond the shores of Britannia as a departure point. Thankfully, departures from Dublin were pricing at £482 or so – on BA which would take me through… well you guessed it… Heathrow.

I give up.

So DUB-LHR-DEN-LHR-LGW-DUB. That’s doable. Of course there is the matter of getting to Dublin – which can be solved with good olde Aer Lingus doing a hope from Birmingham to Dublin first thing in the morning – for a grand total of £38 each way.

That’s still £150 up on the direct flight.

Next was the interesting part – whilst the venue would be sorted in Colorado Springs, I’d need to get there, get back. Rapid Travel Chai kindly offered me a lift from Denver International Airport to Colorado Spring. As he was staying at one hotel, I went for something a bit more… “Value Oriented”, with my primary choice being the Staybridge Suites which was just down the road (in UK sense.. about a 1/4 of mile, not US sense where that road can be going for many miles).

On the way back, I’d be staying in Central Denver for a night – this time at the Crowne Plaza Denver… and to get back to Denver – that would be something I would have to sort out a bit later during the trip, which thankfully FlyGracefully came to rescue offering me a lift to Downtown Denver.

So, a map, a map, my kingdom for a map

So, there we are. Lots of fun ahead, and of course – there are some surprises. Well it wouldn’t be a Kevincm/GhettoIFE trip report without a few surprises ;).

Disclosure Notice: Frequent Flyer Services kindly supplied a hotel room at the Cheyenne Mountain resort to me to assist in this visit.

All opinions expressed within this trip are my own, represent my own personal thoughts and my observations during the visit.

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