TravelWeary
Oct 11, 99, 1:23 pm
(Sorry, I guess this should be SEA-SMF-SEA)
Be gentle...this is my first.
This is a frequent trip for me (average 1 to 2 times a month). I arrived early at Sea-Tac and checked in at The Boardroom--AS 326, 1C aisle seat 2C, using those wonderful upgrade anytime MVP Gold comp certs issued after each 5,000 flight miles. The place was very busy (early afternoon) at first, but it cleared out shortly. Snacked on wine (complimentary as are all their drinks), cheese, crackers and fruit and Seattle's Best Coffee. Also managed to sneak in some work in one of the cubicles.
Used my favorite baggage maneuver. My bag qualifies as a carryon but I hate to search for space and then lift it into the overhead (even in 1C), so when I surrender my ticket I just ask to gate check it. It unfailingly is waiting for me when I deplane. (The best of both worlds--no baggage claim, no on-board hassle.) We took off about 30 min late but made up the time in flight. One of the attendants had a sense of humor and "O-Miss" on her name tag. This was a cashew and drinks flight only and having imbibed enough Chardonnay in the Boardroom, I stuck to the bottled water AS has waiting at your seat. I also wanted to test my theory that my face is red when I deplane due to my alcohol consumption in flight. (This theory tested wrong, so I can go back to inflight drinking, right?!) http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif
The pax in the bulkhead seat in front of me reclined fully at 10,000 feet although he hunched forward over his laptop througout the flight. Shrug...that's not neighborly, but it's his business, but when my seatmate (of average size) got up to use the restroom she had difficulty squeezing by. When she returned, she politely asked the recliner to put his seat forward so she could get back in. He gave her an annoyed look but complied while his traveling companion started muttering to him. Come on--this was a reasonable request and surely preferable to someone abruptly banging the back of your seat!!
Reveled in the 80+ degree temperature while I waited for the Avis shuttle. Zoomed right over to the Preferred window and picked up my Grand Prix--mileage 104. Arrived at the Hilton Garden Inn in South Natomas in time for the fresh-baked cookies. I've recently switched to this new hotel from the two nearby Marriotts, but this my second visit was not quite up to the first. When I got to the room my message light was flashing on my phone--but no messages. And worse, I had a room with a connecting door and later in the evening cigarette smoke started leaking into my room from the Non-Smoking room next door. I reported both of these annoyances to the front desk the next morning but neither of them were attended to so I put up with smoke and the flashing light throughout a second night. I return to this property next week and will give them another chance, but may have to go back to Marriott after all.
The flight back on Friday night was late as usual and uneventful except for a woman having a hissy fit at the gate. Although flying up front, I was not eager to get on the plane, so I hung out until last call. I overheard this woman being told that first class had checked in full so she could not upgrade. She was very rude to the agent which is puzzling because where would that get her? Anyway, I boarded the plan third to last and this woman came on last. And what does she see? An empty seat in first. Uh oh. They held up the flight while she demanded and got that seat and coupons were exchanged and the gate agent boarded, etc. I was secretly sad to see her get that seat after her rude behavior. I know the gate agent had made a mistake, but this woman did not know this at the time of her rudeness. Somehow the pax that was supposed to be seated in first, was back in 12a. Go figure--I didn't get the rest of the story.
A quick pop in to the Boardroom for a cup of coffer while my ride arrived. This was a Friday night and they were getting ready to close at 9 p.m. That is a bit ridiculous I think.
It's good to be home once again. Thanks for listening.
[This message has been edited by TravelWeary (edited 10-11-1999).]
[This message has been edited by TravelWeary (edited 10-11-1999).]
Be gentle...this is my first.
This is a frequent trip for me (average 1 to 2 times a month). I arrived early at Sea-Tac and checked in at The Boardroom--AS 326, 1C aisle seat 2C, using those wonderful upgrade anytime MVP Gold comp certs issued after each 5,000 flight miles. The place was very busy (early afternoon) at first, but it cleared out shortly. Snacked on wine (complimentary as are all their drinks), cheese, crackers and fruit and Seattle's Best Coffee. Also managed to sneak in some work in one of the cubicles.
Used my favorite baggage maneuver. My bag qualifies as a carryon but I hate to search for space and then lift it into the overhead (even in 1C), so when I surrender my ticket I just ask to gate check it. It unfailingly is waiting for me when I deplane. (The best of both worlds--no baggage claim, no on-board hassle.) We took off about 30 min late but made up the time in flight. One of the attendants had a sense of humor and "O-Miss" on her name tag. This was a cashew and drinks flight only and having imbibed enough Chardonnay in the Boardroom, I stuck to the bottled water AS has waiting at your seat. I also wanted to test my theory that my face is red when I deplane due to my alcohol consumption in flight. (This theory tested wrong, so I can go back to inflight drinking, right?!) http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif
The pax in the bulkhead seat in front of me reclined fully at 10,000 feet although he hunched forward over his laptop througout the flight. Shrug...that's not neighborly, but it's his business, but when my seatmate (of average size) got up to use the restroom she had difficulty squeezing by. When she returned, she politely asked the recliner to put his seat forward so she could get back in. He gave her an annoyed look but complied while his traveling companion started muttering to him. Come on--this was a reasonable request and surely preferable to someone abruptly banging the back of your seat!!
Reveled in the 80+ degree temperature while I waited for the Avis shuttle. Zoomed right over to the Preferred window and picked up my Grand Prix--mileage 104. Arrived at the Hilton Garden Inn in South Natomas in time for the fresh-baked cookies. I've recently switched to this new hotel from the two nearby Marriotts, but this my second visit was not quite up to the first. When I got to the room my message light was flashing on my phone--but no messages. And worse, I had a room with a connecting door and later in the evening cigarette smoke started leaking into my room from the Non-Smoking room next door. I reported both of these annoyances to the front desk the next morning but neither of them were attended to so I put up with smoke and the flashing light throughout a second night. I return to this property next week and will give them another chance, but may have to go back to Marriott after all.
The flight back on Friday night was late as usual and uneventful except for a woman having a hissy fit at the gate. Although flying up front, I was not eager to get on the plane, so I hung out until last call. I overheard this woman being told that first class had checked in full so she could not upgrade. She was very rude to the agent which is puzzling because where would that get her? Anyway, I boarded the plan third to last and this woman came on last. And what does she see? An empty seat in first. Uh oh. They held up the flight while she demanded and got that seat and coupons were exchanged and the gate agent boarded, etc. I was secretly sad to see her get that seat after her rude behavior. I know the gate agent had made a mistake, but this woman did not know this at the time of her rudeness. Somehow the pax that was supposed to be seated in first, was back in 12a. Go figure--I didn't get the rest of the story.
A quick pop in to the Boardroom for a cup of coffer while my ride arrived. This was a Friday night and they were getting ready to close at 9 p.m. That is a bit ridiculous I think.
It's good to be home once again. Thanks for listening.
[This message has been edited by TravelWeary (edited 10-11-1999).]
[This message has been edited by TravelWeary (edited 10-11-1999).]