Trip Report SEA-ORD part III - "The ice queen express"
Pictures at http://www.photoblog.com/kevincm/2008/02/27/
Alas my time at space needle central was over, and it was time to head back to Chicago. Checking Chicken Noodle Network lead to one conclusion... Snow. And lots of it!
After making it to SeaTac, and checking in the rucksack of doom (all 49.5lbs of it), we managed again to secure E+ seats, and after a quick browse of the load factors, it was going to be a quiet flight.
The SeaTac little trains they have that go between the terminals is a nice bit of fun, and make an interesting dimension to connecting between terminals.
Cue boring airplane pictures
Flying fish!
An Alaska Airlines hub? Never!
Inbound UA 757 (I don't collect numbers 
)
After arriving at the N concourse, I resisted buying a 787 model (as opposed to buying the plushy 777's the day before), an found an empty gate to watch planes take off and land. This was novel for about an hour or so, and by this point, it was time to board with the first boarding group.
Flight UA200, 25/02, D14:14, A20:25 - Seattle-Tacoma International - Chicago O'Hare International
Boeing 757-200
Seat 14F, E+
Channel 9 enabled
Load Y = 60%
Boarding was quick and easy, without the crush of the outbound flight. I managed to secure a window seat for myself a aisle seat for my friend and as boarding went on, the middle seat was assigned to no one (which became a handbag and camera seat)
A seat pounce tried to nick an E+ seat, but was politely pushed back by a FA. ^ for the FA protecting E+
The plane pushed back on schedule, and we taxied to cargo, where we waited for a short while before we turned onto the runway for a powerful take off.
After 10 minutes, we reached an ok for electronics altitude, but the belts sign was lit up for another extra 20 minutes due to turbulence.
At this point, the first service was begun (with BOTH of us avoiding the snack boxes).
Where as last time, we had a lovely and warm flight attendant, this time, we had the ice queen of they skies. Either she had been exposed to Chicago weather or I had offended her when I asked for something very stressful..
A vodka and diet coke!
(call the national guard, the battle groups, and everyone.. I'm having and alcoholic beverage!)
This was met with a total look for nigh disgust. My friend had (shock n horror) a Chardonnay! This was met with equal disgust, as was the fact I was paying with 1K drink vouchers (which fell into my hands - another story entirely). She pushed off, and was nicknamed "Ice Queen of the sky's"
After settling into a nice voddy and coke (HINT: don't poor all the vodka in at once... That or learn to swig the diluted vodka and coke), the move began "Martian kid". All well and good... Except the soundtrack was a bit dodgy (so much so, my friend went back to channel 9)
Arty shot as a cup of coffee looks like a cup of coffee
A coffee service was made, with me being forgotten about until ice queen returning for the milk
.
The flight continued, plodding from Seattle to Salt lake city to Minneapolis.
More arty shots..
After we passed Mini, things started to look odd from outside... And it got worse as we were approaching ORD. ... we went closer into the heart of the fresh snowstorms, the snow was literally vertical all the way down from 29500 feet to the bottom.
http://i2.photoblog.com/photos2/6247-1204207187-12.jpg
Hmm...
Its going to be snowy!
Needless to say, with 25 minutes to go the seatbelt signs were lit up, with the ground not really visible until nearly touchdown. As we landed, the runway had not been recently cleared as there was fresh snow over it.
Snow!
After we moved off, we did a slow wander around ORD until we reached the gate, seeing planes covered with snow all the way.
Lots of the white stuff!
After a short break where our plane would be going off to Kansas city next, we got off into the chaos that was ORD, and made luggage pickup, with both bags out within the first 20 items..
Our UA757 parked up at ORD
Then it was off to explore the winter wonderland of Chicago...
Thoughts:
On these ORD-SEA/SEA-ORD legs I’ve seen two very different sides to the flight attendant crews. I've seen the best side where nothing wasn't enough (even when a crew member down with a full load) to the lazy side (a half empty plane, full crew and one FA spoiling it all.)
A big thumbs up for both captains having channel 9 active.
The 757 in E+ configuration is quite nice, with the seat width, however, we both found the seats a bit narrow. This is where the A320 series wins out with the ever so slightly wider seats. The interiors do need a refresh, (as I’ve said before about UA, a paint job does NOT equal a new aircraft, nor a new interior) just to spruce them up. The formal dark blues would suit nicely.
I suppose the biggest issue that's out bar the variability of service is the Buy-on-Board snack boxes.
Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear. Even Ryanair has more selection as a BOB service, and the quality of the food is normally ok. Granted, $5 isn't a lot (i reckon you could swap the $ for a £ to get to the same.
I was due to take a Mileage run, but once I saw what the possible weather was, I abandoned it, so instead, no flying for a few days.
Random Chicago photos will follow in my
, but next up on this trip report, the homeward legs - BD706 on the bmi A330's.
Will it actually fly? Will I get PE seating? Or am I condemned to seat 33A with a seatmate I don't really want?
All to be revealed soon!