Whilst in New York, I tried to buy tickets for the Twins games over the phone. Unfortunately, this was unsuccessful just like buying the tickets on the website. The man didn't appear to be able to understand what I was saying, but after we'd struggled through what sounded like the same form that I had failed to fill in on the website, he also found that the credit card was rejected, which didn't bode well. I had to leave the hotel at 7am this morning, even though the flight wasn't until 11.35 because the hotel shuttle only leaves hourly and leaving at 8am would have been too late, due to an odd 45-minute gap in NJ Transit trains out to Newark. Despite joining the E train only one station from the start of the line, it was the rush hour and I didn't get a seat and the journey to 34th St Penn Station seemed to take forever. Needless to say it was very hot again, and only slightly less hot on the train. In retrospect, I should have got off the train or not got on it in the first place and taken a train the other way up to the terminus and started with a seat.
The train out of Penn Station, just before 9am, was fairly empty, as you'd expect, as it's going the 'wrong way' for the rush hour. Fortunately, it appears I don't have to pay the $25 baggage fee on any of my internal flights, as I had feared. I don't know whether this is because it is an international itinerary (which has usually been sufficient in the past for them to waive the fee) or because I'd had a BusinessFirst flight in my itinerary. Whichever way, it is a welcome saving of $150! I was able to sit quietly and cool down and have breakfast when I got to the airport. Fortunately, there were lots of food outlets near the gate so I could have a coffee and sausage on toast.
The flight to Minneapolis left on time and was a bit bumpy at various points. I had a single seat, so it was both an aisle and a window seat, rather than being in the pairs on the other side of the aisle. I decided to have lunch at the airport before collecting my baggage, as I thought it would take some time to come out. When I got there, the conveyor had already stopped and the remaining bags, mine included, had been placed together next to the airline's office.
It is much cooler here - only in the 70s. I took the metro rail service to downtown Minneapolis and walked the two blocks to the hotel. I have a huge room here at the Marriott. I also received a loyalty voucher with a choice of 1 day free Internet access, 5 Buffalo wings, 1 draft beer or 250 Marriott reward points. I chose the $14.95 value Internet access, even though I think they have a nerve charging that much for it. In fact, that's the only problem with this hotel: everything's chargable. Some things are a little odd: drinks glasses made of glass; coffee cup polystyrene. A small straw to stir coffee, HD television and more ways to connect your laptop to display on it.
As it was around 3.30pm by the time I was settled in, I decided to go to Target Field to see if I could buy tickets for tonight's game. I couldn't work out whether or not I could use my metro ticket again (it was still within the 2.5 hour validity limit - but can you make multiple trips?) but as I was wondering, I looked up and could see the stadium only 3 blocks away anyway, so I walked up there instead. It was threatening to rain as I left, some light spitting, but then it cleared up and the sun game out. After circling the place once looking for the open ticket window, I found it. The man there was able to offer me a seat in the Legends Club (not available only) and a ticket for Friday (I chose to go in the lower section rather than the Legends Club again, but now I wish I'd taken him up on the offer), but confirmed that they had nothing left at all for Saturday. The Legends Club tickets were only $2 more than the other tickets.
Then the moment of truth arrived: an attempt to pay by credit card. Earlier in the day, I'd taken out another $100 in cash, so I had plenty in case I had to resort to paying by cash. However, this time the transaction went through with no trouble at all. The added benefit of buying in person at the stadium: no convenience fees, additional charges, or anything extra.
I returned to the hotel for a quick dinner (another $18 - for a salad!) and then went the stadium for the 7.10pm start.
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