Does it involve getting high on katt and hijacking a freighter ship with a bunch of Somalis?
Now This is Flying First Class...
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Does it involve getting high on katt and hijacking a freighter ship with a bunch of Somalis?
NickH
Uber Driver
These are such exciting options! A non-Somali tramp steamer actually sounds like a great way to travel. If I have to shovel coal myself, it's probably still slightly more pleasent than Economy Class on United.
Actually I was eyeing Singapore's JFK-FRA route. 115K miles and $500 gets you a return trip in their Suites class, which leaves you with a monkey to earn your miles. Easy peasy!
Actually I was eyeing Singapore's JFK-FRA route. 115K miles and $500 gets you a return trip in their Suites class, which leaves you with a monkey to earn your miles. Easy peasy!
ChasenSFO
hen teaser
I don't know him but I have friends who know him pretty well. They've never said anything about him being a crappy person, I think people on the interwebz are just jealous really. As I'm told he lives in Abu Dubai and comes from a very wealthy family with few commitments in life which puts him in a position to joyride the world in first class for the hell of it. He creates these opportunities for himself accordingly, I do not believe he's paid much other than for the hits on YouTube and sales of his photography. Does that make him a bad guy? I say hell no. If I had the money to never be home, travel the world on a whim in first class, and set up aerial photoshoots and jumpseat rides whenever I wanted, I'd do it too. Working for a living is great and all, but with enough hobbies and passions in life, one can keep busy without having a job.
Cal Goat
Prestige Worldwide™
Sure. The story I heard was that he had been in touch with one of the long time LAX guys about getting a lift and doing some on-airport shooting. Allegedly the guy drove him to LAX ops and Sam promptly got out of the car and said bye. Kinda left the LAX guy high and dry while he went and took pictures of heavies rotating from taxiway whatever.
It's all hearsay, but as someone who has dabbled in aviation photography myself, I find his level of access to be a bit jarring. Kind of like Global Girl. Someone with enough money and a big enough lens just gets to take pictures from whatever location they can schmooze their way into. It's probably just a petty bitterness on my part, but I had to scurry around airports to find that one spot with the right angle and wait for the right light and get chased away by airport police. Plus working as a ramper out in the weather for crap pay and trying to sneak decent shots in between my actual job. Same goes for actually being in the cockpit as 121 guy now.
And that's true for most of the photographers I know. I participated in airliners.net from the early 2000s and almost all of the content was generated by people in similar circumstances. So seeing someone like Sam posting up pictures from the taxiways at LAX or the cockpit of an Iranian airliner in flight or every single first class suite from here to Dubai... I don't know, just feels like it takes the sport out of it. But I'm so far out of that world now that maybe I'm not qualified to opine on such things anymore.
ChasenSFO
hen teaser
I mean if you have the ability to do it, power to you. Sam getting 8mm shots of 747s rotating in his face and aerial shots of A380s gliding over In n Out at LAX doesn't take any of the appeal out of doing that stuff as far as I'm concerned. Good for him getting his. If I ever earn the kind of money I hope to one day, you can bet I'll use it to get ahead in my hobbies like photography and for lavish travel.
Speaking personally, some of the local spotters talk crap about the access I get at SFO, as if it takes away from how my photos look because they aren't allowed where I shoot from. Get cool aerial shots, "Must be nice to be able to just take a Cessna and buzz (insert airport) just to take photos". A few weeks ago when the arrivals were using the 01s at SFO and I got shots from all sorts of public off-airport spots, people were quick to say dismiss my shots talking crap along the lines of, "must be nice to be from the Millbrae hills and know where all the prime spots are". Yeah, sure. I used to be the kid getting chased away from the police, cutting class to get crappy shots thru the glass windows at an airtrain station. Now I can shoot out on the ramp and roof tops, get ops escorts around the airport, bring my camera up to the different control towers, and fly over the airport in GA planes whenever I feel like it for the most part. That didn't happen over night. That took working my way up through gig after gig sacrificing most every weekend since High School. I earned it. And I'm very grateful for it, knowing full well as I move on with my life I won't always have this freedom. So when people try to dismiss my photos because of it, haters be damned. Accordingly, I can relate to the talk about Sam, and I'm quick to defend him in most cases. If he's really a jerk, I haven't heard.
Speaking personally, some of the local spotters talk crap about the access I get at SFO, as if it takes away from how my photos look because they aren't allowed where I shoot from. Get cool aerial shots, "Must be nice to be able to just take a Cessna and buzz (insert airport) just to take photos". A few weeks ago when the arrivals were using the 01s at SFO and I got shots from all sorts of public off-airport spots, people were quick to say dismiss my shots talking crap along the lines of, "must be nice to be from the Millbrae hills and know where all the prime spots are". Yeah, sure. I used to be the kid getting chased away from the police, cutting class to get crappy shots thru the glass windows at an airtrain station. Now I can shoot out on the ramp and roof tops, get ops escorts around the airport, bring my camera up to the different control towers, and fly over the airport in GA planes whenever I feel like it for the most part. That didn't happen over night. That took working my way up through gig after gig sacrificing most every weekend since High School. I earned it. And I'm very grateful for it, knowing full well as I move on with my life I won't always have this freedom. So when people try to dismiss my photos because of it, haters be damned. Accordingly, I can relate to the talk about Sam, and I'm quick to defend him in most cases. If he's really a jerk, I haven't heard.
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z987k
Well-Known Member
Did you see the Emirates JFK-MXP valentines deal? $400 round trip if you bought 2.
NickH
Uber Driver
Yes, a great deal for a route that is usually more than double that! You'll want to use points for hotels, as they are spendy!
FloridaLarry
Well-Known Member
fholbert showed us:
Best case of scissor-mouth (you know, the expression of concentration usually made while using those scissors with the rounded points) I've seen for a while. And the poor guy missed it!