This post is written by Katie about her flight to Chicago for Chicago Seminars.

JT had left yesterday morning, so I headed alone to park in a remote UT lot for the weekend. There was a home football game this weekend, so I couldn’t leave my car in my normal campus garage.

The remote lots were surprisingly crowded, but I found a spot eventually. Then I walked about 15 minutes to the northern-most 100 Airport Flyer stop. I caught the 8:46am bus.

I arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. I walked around to get steps and then headed to the Admirals Club, where I used my AA boarding pass and Citi Prestige to gain access.

The Admirals Club was rather crowded, but I found some space in the business center. The breakfast spread was surprisingly good with fresh cantaloupe and blueberries, hot oatmeal, granola, cereal, bagels, boiled eggs, and breakfast breads. Since my complementary ExPlat upgrade looked questionable at best for the flight to Chicago, I opted to eat a lunch of a piece of bread, some fruit, and a boiled egg in the lounge.

My flight was delayed – but only 45 minutes due to the incoming aircraft being delayed. The front desk staff at the Admirals Club provided information about this without me even having to ask.

For the flight from Austin to Chicago, I sat in 8A – a window main cabin extra seat on this 737 flight. I haven’t missed many – if any – complementary upgrades since becoming ExPlat. So it was certainly different sitting in main cabin extra, but it was fine. I’m just glad I opted to eat in the Admirals Club!

ORD on landing from Austin

The departure from Austin provided a wonderful view of downtown Austin, campus, and our apartment. I read a Lonely Planet Mauritius book during the flight to help plan our trip next summer. I was treated to nice views of ORD on arrival.