Rep. Farenthold’s travel hassles: No ‘Dublin’ Dr. Pepper, no more platinum upgrades

By Christina Wilkie - 03/07/11 08:16 PM ET

Like most frequent flyers, freshman Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas) has a few quirky preferences when he’s on the road. He likes a special kind of soda, and he likes seat 12A on the airplane.

But ever since he was elected to Congress, the former radio-show host has found it harder, not easier, to get what he likes.

For more than a year, Farenthold has been racking up Continental Airlines miles and noting his flight numbers on Twitter, because, as he wrote on the social networking site in December, “I AM on the transportation and Infrastructure committee ... But I’m really after the Platinum upgrades [to] the DCA flights.”

But the frequent-flyer upgrades he used to enjoy have been nearly impossible to come by since being sworn in.

“I’ve only had one [platinum upgrade] since I’ve been in [Congress],” he told ITK on Monday, noting that there are often so many lawmakers on the weekly flights he takes between Texas and Washington that his airline miles fall short of the standard needed for an upgrade.

But what Farenthold really pines for isn’t a good seat — it’s a good bottle of Dr. Pepper.

Specially bottled Dr. Pepper from Dublin, Texas, is Farenthold’s favorite drink (he has a fridge full of it in his congressional office), and he recently griped to the Twitter-verse that he couldn’t find any in a Los Angeles airport, writing, “No Dr. Pepper in a bottle to be had on AA concourse at LAX. Really????”

Farenthold explained the difference between regular Dr. Pepper and Dr. Pepper from Dublin. “True Dr. Pepper connoisseurs drink Dublin Dr. Pepper. It’s bottled with Imperial Pure Cane Sugar, not high-fructose corn syrup,”

Liquid restrictions mean that Farenthold can’t pack his own Dublin Dr. Pepper for the road.