Trip Reports - American SFO-ORD (rt)

It was once again off to Chicago today. Given the current state of my business, these trips become commonplace. American is my carrier of choice, which seem silly going into Chicago, but it works for me because I get miles on my AS account.

AA 682 D 10:36 A 16:35

Arriving at SFO, the progress on the new International terminal is quite noticable. It will open September 26, if my memory serves me correctly. The BART connection will be at least a year later. Parking and check-in were quick, and I soon reached gate 67, apparently none too soon, judging by the gaggle of people circling around the check-in counter. The flood gates to the 767-200 were opened at 10:05, giving us 30 minutes to board and make our claims on precious carry-on luggage space. Since I am a "premium" economy passenger, and this is a three-class aircraft, I was seated in row 10. This seat is in what would be Business Class on a three-class flight. Pushback occured spot on the dot at 10:36. There was almost no wait for takeoff, but it appeared that an emergency of some sort had occurred shortly before our departure, as fire trucks were rushing down a taxi way. I couldn't get a very good view, because the person next to me had pulled down the window shade. Anyway...if anyone knows more, please enlighten me.

We roared down the runway, and with barely a thump, were aloft at 10:47. The flying time today was 3 hours and 25 minutes. The service is the same as in the regular coach class section on these flights, but the 40 inch seat pitch, extra 1.5 inches of seat width, and legrest do help. The seat was one of the new blue leather and cloth ones, but I didn't find it to be especially comfortable. As usual, I passed on the movie. Today we got a choice of lunch entree, which already was an improvement over my last two trips. The F/A proclaimed that there was "some chicken thing" or a "pizza type thingy." I chose the "chicken thing" which turned out to include a small portion of breaded pollo, a potato salad with a mustard dressing, and a jalapeno muffin, microwaved in a plastic carton. OK...its better than last time, but I still think that whoever comes up with these lunch menus needs to spend time at the Betty Ford Clinic. There were no vegitables or fruit of any kind, the mustard and potato salad were totally incompatible, and the muffin just about killed off my taste-buds. But, its airline food, and nobody flies to eat (well almost nobody, Carfield) http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif Thankfully, the F/A service was attentive, the flight was smooth, and we had a minimal wait into Chicago. We pulled up to T3, gate H8 17 minutes early at 16:18. Baggage came off in about 25 minutes from claim 7. I'll give the flight an 9 out of 10, due to the attentive service, early arrival, and business class seat

As has become the routine, I waited 15 minutes for my Shuttle to the Sheraton Gateway Suites. As reported before, its an "atrium hotel"...nice rooms. Tomarrow, I intend to catch #489 back to SFO. The last time I made this journey was 1/31, so it is an experience that doesn't conjure up pleasant memories with me.

I just checked weather.com for the current temp, and to look out on things back home in the Golden State. The headlines were down right hilarious... "rain and snow teacherous in California"...but it gets better..."airzona to get spell-dry"

This is one of the most visited sites on the net...WHO DO THEY HAVE EDITING THIS? Do you suppose hackers have broken into their website? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif

P.S...its a respectable 42 degrees in Chicago. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cool.gif

G'Night y'all...


[This message has been edited by West Coast Flyer (edited 02-22-2000).]

Hilarious! Enjoyed reading it WCF, especially the F/As descriptions of their "cuisine"

And, I did visit weather.com, and the scary thing is...its all true. I e-mailed them, in case you hadn't.

WCF -

I heard something on the news yesterday about a DL (I think) flight landing w/ hydraulic problems so they rolled the equipment. Apparently had to tow the a/c in from the runway. Maybe the same thing.

Greg

A DL L1011 from ATL had hydraulic problems with the nosegear, which made it unsteerable. Saw the landing on TV, pilot held the nose up longer than usual, but nothing different. Thankfully, the nosegear was straight and nothing happened.

a330300

The food sounds execrable...and this isn't a 50 minute flight either.


thanks for the trip report!

Sorry

[This message has been edited by EvergreenState (edited 02-23-2000).]

A quick return trip:

AA 47 ORD-SFO 767-300 L 18:50 A 21:29

When I arrived at Terminal 3, gate K19, boarding was already under way. I believe this flight originated in Heathrow. Again, my seat was a new blue one in the Business Class section, which beats out Economy Plus on United, and beats the heck out of the seat I was going to get in coach, had I stayed with the earlier fligh on the 738. We pushed-back at 18:51, and were aloft by 19:14. Flying time was first estimated at 3 hours and 34 minutes, which sounded absurd. In reality, it took over 45 minutes longer. The dinner was a choice of chicken or (some mystery food beginning with a "b"). I chose the chicken, and it came with barbecue sauce, some macaroni, a salad, and a brownie. The barbecue sauce was very sweet and the chicken very dry, but otherwise it was acceptable for coach service. F/A service was reasonably attentive. The approach to SFO was bumpy, thanks to scattered thunderstorms. My seat gave me a good view of the landing light, and which illuminated the Bay on final, and made everything seem all too close for comfort. We made a rough landing at 21:35 and taxied 14 minutes, getting us to the gate 20 minutes late. Baggage arrived quickly, but AA made a serious gash into the side of my new TUMI http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mad.gif

And that's about it...AA gets a 7 for this one.

[This message has been edited by West Coast Flyer (edited 02-25-2000).]