richard
May 26, 00, 9:07 am
Monday night 5/22/00
I was to take UA 744 IAD-LAX at 5:50 to Los Angeles. First mishap was my luggage falling apart when I left security at Dulles. The rollaway handle had come apart. It's a great piece of luggage, a Boyt, that has gone through a lot with me. Now it was very awkward to carry a suit in a bag, the rollaway with the broken handle, and my computer bag.
Curiously they had assigned me an upstairs exit row but instead they gave me the downstairs exit row in C. The nice thing is that I didn't have to lug my broken luggage upstairs.
I boarded first and had to have every person who boarded subsequently brush against my seat and walk past. And, it is next to the galley so we had a great view of the galley activities and the rolling and trading of carts amongst the staff. But there was the legroom so that made up for it. And a lav right there that people didn't use much because there's another right around the corner.
The flight crew were very pleasent. They served pre flight champagne/water/juice. Takeoff was great and the pilot had Channel 9 working. Meal choices were filet mignon, a seabass I think, or turkey picatta. I had the filet mignon which was very good, not overcooked. Dessert was the tiny Eli's cheesecake, not bad. No nuts of course.
The entire flight was smooth, friendly FAs. I sat next to an air force colonel and we had a nice conversation. When that was finished, on went the NC10s. Lots of entertainment, I watched a Sundance program of short films which is great.
We landed on time in LAX and I grabbed a SmarteCarte and headed to the RCC for some help. I asked them if they could help fix the luggage and they were short and testy. After some perfunctory and useless suggestions they asked me to get the carte out of the club. So much for being helpful. I headed over to UA baggage service office and had the most helpful person. Even though I hadn't checked the bag in when it broke (it was a carry on after all), she loaned me a new bag and is sending the old one to be fixed at UA's expense. I'll pick it up next time I'm in LA and give them back the loaner. She threw in some discount coupons good for future travel. Great service!!
Avis provided me with a Buick LeSabre and I drove to the Hyatt in Westlake Village. It was late at this point, but I ordered Cobb salad by room service which arrived promptly and was very tastey.
Tuesday
I checked out in the morning and went to a quick meeting. Then I raced to Burbank airport. The Avis car return there is like molasses, just no hussle. I finally got the car return accomplished and raced to the WN counter for the 11:25 BUR-OAK flight. It was almost empty, but I was the last one on the plane and they shut the door behind me.
Great WN service with a smile as always. If it weren't for the cramped seats, lack of F, lack of widebodies, and lack of direct flights, I'd love WN.
I noticed that the pilot rotated the aircraft 1/4 way down the runway and then our angle of ascent was extremely steep. Perhaps it was for noise abatement, perhaps sensitivity to the short runway, but it was rather unusual.
Perfect flight. We landed and I headed accross the street to the Avis and got an Oldsmobile Intrigue with a great fit and finish, no complaints whatsoever about that car.
I drove to a meeting in Redwood City, then downtown to the Crowne Plaza in SF. It's in a great location, at Powell and Sutter, right across from the Sir Francis Drake, around the corner from the Grand Hyatt, near a lot of neat art galleries, quite a few of them up and down the street in fact.
They were going to upgrade my room but instead gave me free breakfasts because of no availability.
The dining room is run in a strange way there. The waiters and manager are like a family, you do things there way or they get upset. It was good service but a bit strained when I forgot to give my breakfast voucher BEFORE the meal, but we got past that and had a great relationship after all for both days I was there.
I headed off to the W for meetings. I had never been to the W there. Everything is relentlessly cool. Dark blue, stainless steel, art deco-ish.
Dinner was at an event at the Metreon. It was one of my first experiences with wild boar, water buffalo, and alligator. The alligator tasted a bit fishy and I didn't care for it, but the wild boar was excellent. This was a special event and you won't find this food normally at the Metreon!!
The next day I had lunch at the W, which is really extraordinary. Simply superb, it's called the XYZ (get it??)
Dinner was at the Grand Hyatt Grandviews and it was excellent too. I know that most people wouldn't try hotel food but this was extraordinary. I've eaten there before so I knew what to expect. The view is incredible too. You can see Alcatraz, East Bay, Sausaliot, Coit tower, a bit of the Golden Gate Bridge, it is phenomenal on a clear day and we had one (it was early and not yet dark.)
Flight back was on the redeye, two hours late. I started out in the RCC outside of security where I chatted with OC my bartender friend there. He is a real character and always fun, and that club is not nearly so crowded because most people go to the one inside of security which is always jammed. This club closes earlier, though, so we had to go to the other one after all. That one closed too, because the flight was very late and only left at midnight.
It was a 757, completely full. I asked but the pilot wouldn't put on Channel 9. The service was very good for a redeye, they actually came around several times. FIrst they served sandwiches, cookies, fruit salad. Then they offered coffee and tea. They later came around with muffins. We had pretty constant chop during most of the flight. We arrived at about 8:00 into Dulles.
I was to take UA 744 IAD-LAX at 5:50 to Los Angeles. First mishap was my luggage falling apart when I left security at Dulles. The rollaway handle had come apart. It's a great piece of luggage, a Boyt, that has gone through a lot with me. Now it was very awkward to carry a suit in a bag, the rollaway with the broken handle, and my computer bag.
Curiously they had assigned me an upstairs exit row but instead they gave me the downstairs exit row in C. The nice thing is that I didn't have to lug my broken luggage upstairs.
I boarded first and had to have every person who boarded subsequently brush against my seat and walk past. And, it is next to the galley so we had a great view of the galley activities and the rolling and trading of carts amongst the staff. But there was the legroom so that made up for it. And a lav right there that people didn't use much because there's another right around the corner.
The flight crew were very pleasent. They served pre flight champagne/water/juice. Takeoff was great and the pilot had Channel 9 working. Meal choices were filet mignon, a seabass I think, or turkey picatta. I had the filet mignon which was very good, not overcooked. Dessert was the tiny Eli's cheesecake, not bad. No nuts of course.
The entire flight was smooth, friendly FAs. I sat next to an air force colonel and we had a nice conversation. When that was finished, on went the NC10s. Lots of entertainment, I watched a Sundance program of short films which is great.
We landed on time in LAX and I grabbed a SmarteCarte and headed to the RCC for some help. I asked them if they could help fix the luggage and they were short and testy. After some perfunctory and useless suggestions they asked me to get the carte out of the club. So much for being helpful. I headed over to UA baggage service office and had the most helpful person. Even though I hadn't checked the bag in when it broke (it was a carry on after all), she loaned me a new bag and is sending the old one to be fixed at UA's expense. I'll pick it up next time I'm in LA and give them back the loaner. She threw in some discount coupons good for future travel. Great service!!
Avis provided me with a Buick LeSabre and I drove to the Hyatt in Westlake Village. It was late at this point, but I ordered Cobb salad by room service which arrived promptly and was very tastey.
Tuesday
I checked out in the morning and went to a quick meeting. Then I raced to Burbank airport. The Avis car return there is like molasses, just no hussle. I finally got the car return accomplished and raced to the WN counter for the 11:25 BUR-OAK flight. It was almost empty, but I was the last one on the plane and they shut the door behind me.
Great WN service with a smile as always. If it weren't for the cramped seats, lack of F, lack of widebodies, and lack of direct flights, I'd love WN.
I noticed that the pilot rotated the aircraft 1/4 way down the runway and then our angle of ascent was extremely steep. Perhaps it was for noise abatement, perhaps sensitivity to the short runway, but it was rather unusual.
Perfect flight. We landed and I headed accross the street to the Avis and got an Oldsmobile Intrigue with a great fit and finish, no complaints whatsoever about that car.
I drove to a meeting in Redwood City, then downtown to the Crowne Plaza in SF. It's in a great location, at Powell and Sutter, right across from the Sir Francis Drake, around the corner from the Grand Hyatt, near a lot of neat art galleries, quite a few of them up and down the street in fact.
They were going to upgrade my room but instead gave me free breakfasts because of no availability.
The dining room is run in a strange way there. The waiters and manager are like a family, you do things there way or they get upset. It was good service but a bit strained when I forgot to give my breakfast voucher BEFORE the meal, but we got past that and had a great relationship after all for both days I was there.
I headed off to the W for meetings. I had never been to the W there. Everything is relentlessly cool. Dark blue, stainless steel, art deco-ish.
Dinner was at an event at the Metreon. It was one of my first experiences with wild boar, water buffalo, and alligator. The alligator tasted a bit fishy and I didn't care for it, but the wild boar was excellent. This was a special event and you won't find this food normally at the Metreon!!
The next day I had lunch at the W, which is really extraordinary. Simply superb, it's called the XYZ (get it??)
Dinner was at the Grand Hyatt Grandviews and it was excellent too. I know that most people wouldn't try hotel food but this was extraordinary. I've eaten there before so I knew what to expect. The view is incredible too. You can see Alcatraz, East Bay, Sausaliot, Coit tower, a bit of the Golden Gate Bridge, it is phenomenal on a clear day and we had one (it was early and not yet dark.)
Flight back was on the redeye, two hours late. I started out in the RCC outside of security where I chatted with OC my bartender friend there. He is a real character and always fun, and that club is not nearly so crowded because most people go to the one inside of security which is always jammed. This club closes earlier, though, so we had to go to the other one after all. That one closed too, because the flight was very late and only left at midnight.
It was a 757, completely full. I asked but the pilot wouldn't put on Channel 9. The service was very good for a redeye, they actually came around several times. FIrst they served sandwiches, cookies, fruit salad. Then they offered coffee and tea. They later came around with muffins. We had pretty constant chop during most of the flight. We arrived at about 8:00 into Dulles.