I flew five hours to New York for a two-hour cocktail reception hosted by United Airlines, then flew six hours back. Just another day in the life of a travel blogger.

Jetting To New York And Back For A Two-Hour Event

This has been a very busy year in a way that I never could have imagined when 2025 began. A key role changed in May and I’ve been doing things I never thought I would do, though I am thankful for the professional opportunities I have each day and that my skillset for tackling life, not just a particular career, is expanding.

This blog has had to take a secondary role this year, which is a shame in many ways…I have not been to a new country this year and don’t expect to visit one. Travel has been more limited in years past, and my hotel stays have been even more limited.

United Airlines hosts a reception in New York City once a year, the day it announces new longhaul routes, and I enjoy attending it…it’s an important networking event. I had to miss it last year and did not want to miss it this year, but my family and professional obligations meant this had to be a very quick trip.

I booked a same-day trip on JetBlue because JetBlue offered the latest departure from New York back to LA: 10:30 pm. That would allow me to attend the reception from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm and still get home that night.

At 3:30 am PT, I arose to get some work done, leaving at 5:30 am for LAX. I flew JetBlue Mint on the way out…an increasingly rare I-class seat opened on the early Los Angeles to Newark flight. It was great to fly JetBlue Mint again and I’ll offer a full review of this flight, but note here the breakfast on JetBlue remains the best in the industry, at least among US carriers:

In Newark, I bumbled around (this also calls for a dedicated post…) getting to Manhattan, but finally made it to New York Penn Station at 5:30 pm and walked up to 48th Street by foot, enjoying the sights and smells of Manhattan…it’s such a bustling city.

Before going upstairs, I did a quick change in the bathroom.

The event went well and the two hours flew by…I didn’t consider it a work trip, but a social trip, and I loved hanging out with fellow writers (“content creators”) as well as members from the United team like Patrick Quayle, the SVP Global Network Planning and Alliances, and Matt Stevens, the VP of International Network at United Airlines. Two sharp young men. I had such a nice conversation. I also met a United 777 pilot named Hady Eltokhy and had a great discussion on travel to the Middle East.

8:00 pm rolled around and the party was still going, but by 8:15 pm I excused myself in case of an unforeseen delay in getting back to JFK, and that turned out to be a wise move.

Taking the subway was faster than driving…at least according to the schedule…however, enroute we suddenly came to a stop due to “police activity.” For 30 minutes, we sat on the train between two stations and I began to fear I’d be stranded in New York overnight.

Thankfully, we finally started moving again. Upon reaching Jamaica station, I bolted for the Air Train to Terminal 5, only to find that my flight was delayed…whew.

I changed back out of my suit and settled in for the six-hour flight home, this time in economy class (though I traded someone an aisle seat in the back for a middle exit seat, which I considered a good trade).

I tend not to eat or drink at these receptions, since I wanted my breath to be clean, so I was hungry…I tried the turkey sandwich onboard because it was the menu item with the most protein, and while dry, it was pretty good.

While I intended to get a lot of work done during the flight, I ended up dozing, though woke up about 90 minutes outside of LA and managed to crank out three blog posts.

We landed at 2:15 am, I walked to my car, and drove home, arriving around 3:15 am. After a two-hour nap, the alarm went off and it was off my my Friday Bible study at 6:00 am and then a drive out to Palm Springs.

No rest for the weary…

Was it worth it? Totally. I love these receptions and while I generally turn down these airline invitations (I turned down two this week), this is the annual reception I enjoy most.