LarryU
Aug 30, 00, 1:18 pm
I was heading to JFK to spend a week on site at a client and two dinners with CATMAN http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
08/27/2000 UA Flight 2283, 7:15AM Seat 2D
I left my apartment at about 5:45AM and, not surprisingly, encountered very little traffic on my way to PDX. Within a minute after finding a spot at the Thrifty lot, a shuttle picked me up and whisked me over to the terminal. Traffic was moderately crowded in front of the UA/Delta area but there seemed to be a relatively light load of check-ins by each of the respective counters. Security had two stations open and there wasn’t much of a wait. As I sauntered towards the RCC, I noticed that the Brookstone store was finally open and briefly debated checking out their noise cancellation headphones but opted to forgo it for now. Besides, the crazy glue and tape holding together my FOURTH pair of NoiseBusters still seem to be holding.
When I arrived at the RCC at 6:15, I was the only one there and was checked in by Angela. Believe it or not, all SFO sh*ttles seemed to be on time! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif I settled into my usual seat and looked over the selection of newspapers: two copies of the Sunday Oregonian, adorned with “Do not Remove” on each page and a few copies of Useless Today and the WSJ from Friday. At 6:55, I packed up, journeyed to gate E5 and boarding commenced about a minute later. I was the first person to board and interrupted the FA’s breakfast. “Watch out, they’re coming!,” I exclaimed. I recognized the FA from some previous sh*ttle flights and he is definitely one of the good ones. In fact the entire crew seemed to be on the ball, going about their business with happy expressions and pleasant countenances. Pillows were actually placed on each of the F class seats in contrast to other flights where FAs had told me shuttles NEVER have pillows. Cookies were offered with the drinks, in contrast to the same flight in July where I was told short shuttle flights (PDX->SFO) don’t offer any “snacks!”
Pull back commenced a few minutes early at 7:10 and we were soon airborne, climbing to our cruising altitude of 29,000 feet. Seemed lower than usual but I assume they had their reasons. The sky was clear throughout the route and we basically cruised along the beautiful Oregon coast on our way to California. My seat mate was a bit of an armrest hog but we managed to avoid each other most of the time, made easier by the fact that he slept most of the way. I had three servings of my usual coffee with Baileys while I read through Willamette Week. About 20 minutes into the flight, the passenger in front of me put his seat a little back and then became VERY concerned that it might be intruding on my knees! As much as I would have enjoyed the extra room (I would really enjoy a private plane), as far as I am concerned its his right to put it back all the way (as long as its done slowly) and I insisted that he do so. He was one of the most courteous people I have run into on a flight; he must be an infrequent traveler. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif
We landed at SFO a bit early at 8:45 and quickly pulled into gate 70. As we pulled up, I noticed the outlines of the new RCC taking shape. It looks like it will be a very big club indeed. I also noticed some construction related trucks pulled off to the side, protected by a barrier emblazoned with “Do Not Park”. Someone had also scribbled on it “You will be towed”. I helped a few people pull out their luggage from the overheads, grabbed my jacket and trundled out into the concourse.
The RCC was not very crowded at all but I only spent a few minutes there to nibble on a pastry before heading over to the Premium Transcon lounge. This would be my first time in the lounge, which is only open to full fare passengers in employee class on flights to JFK. On my last such trip, I never made it to SFO at all (thanks, sh*ttle http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif ) and on an earlier trip, I never even knew it existed.
The lounge, which UA really views as a business center, is located directly across from the 1K room and you press a little buzzer (or knock as I did) to be let in. It is a MUCH larger room that the 1K room and contains 12 of the same type of cubicles/work areas. It also contained an open space near the window that housed three chairs, a very small table and a fax machine. Unlike the 1K room, some refreshments were available, a small fridge containing soda (pop to you westerners), cheese and OJ. Two thermoses contained hot water and coffee. Three concierges attended the front-desk and I chatted with them a while in order to give my Migraine a chance to evolve past visual mode. By the front-desk were many copies of the Financial Times; a NY times would have been nice.
We talked about many things. Sh*ttles, transcon flights and why I am boycotting UA on international flights for the remainder of the year. There was a thread recently on FT about similar premium transcon lounges at other airports and I asked the concierges about it. The FT thread had suggested that there was a small, alcohol-laden lounge at JFK and that travelers in LAX could make use of the 1st class international lounge. All three concierges denied all of this, saying that SFO had the only such premium transcon lounge. And I practically live at JFK and never heard of such a lounge but none of this really means anything. The concierges may simply not be well informed; it certainly wouldn’t be the first time. I just offer this info for whatever its worth; I’ll try to remember to ask my friends at JFK when I fly out next Saturday.
Anyway, I really didn’t do much of anything in the transcon lounge that I don’t normally do in the 1K room. I just worked on the computer (in this case, starting this trip report) and listened to MP3s on my pilfered UA headphone. I wanted to have the headphone handy because I figured they would “forget” to load the correct ones once again on my flight to JFK. One thing I DID like about the lounge (besides the fact that refreshments were handy) is that the room was substantially cooler than the 1K room. The 1K room seems to invariably have warm, stale, anoxic air. During my entire tenure in the lounge, by the way, I was the only guest. I guess the remainder of the passengers in F on my flight will once again be employees or perhaps nobody else knows about this room. Given all of the unused space, I would suggest that UA combine this room with the tiny 1K room and make the whole thing a dedicated 1K/premium transcon business lounge. I told them just that as I walked out the door to stroll over to gate 86. Given the lack of guests, I am not sure what exactly the concierges do there to occupy their time.
[This message has been edited by LarryU (edited 08-30-2000).]
08/27/2000 UA Flight 2283, 7:15AM Seat 2D
I left my apartment at about 5:45AM and, not surprisingly, encountered very little traffic on my way to PDX. Within a minute after finding a spot at the Thrifty lot, a shuttle picked me up and whisked me over to the terminal. Traffic was moderately crowded in front of the UA/Delta area but there seemed to be a relatively light load of check-ins by each of the respective counters. Security had two stations open and there wasn’t much of a wait. As I sauntered towards the RCC, I noticed that the Brookstone store was finally open and briefly debated checking out their noise cancellation headphones but opted to forgo it for now. Besides, the crazy glue and tape holding together my FOURTH pair of NoiseBusters still seem to be holding.
When I arrived at the RCC at 6:15, I was the only one there and was checked in by Angela. Believe it or not, all SFO sh*ttles seemed to be on time! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif I settled into my usual seat and looked over the selection of newspapers: two copies of the Sunday Oregonian, adorned with “Do not Remove” on each page and a few copies of Useless Today and the WSJ from Friday. At 6:55, I packed up, journeyed to gate E5 and boarding commenced about a minute later. I was the first person to board and interrupted the FA’s breakfast. “Watch out, they’re coming!,” I exclaimed. I recognized the FA from some previous sh*ttle flights and he is definitely one of the good ones. In fact the entire crew seemed to be on the ball, going about their business with happy expressions and pleasant countenances. Pillows were actually placed on each of the F class seats in contrast to other flights where FAs had told me shuttles NEVER have pillows. Cookies were offered with the drinks, in contrast to the same flight in July where I was told short shuttle flights (PDX->SFO) don’t offer any “snacks!”
Pull back commenced a few minutes early at 7:10 and we were soon airborne, climbing to our cruising altitude of 29,000 feet. Seemed lower than usual but I assume they had their reasons. The sky was clear throughout the route and we basically cruised along the beautiful Oregon coast on our way to California. My seat mate was a bit of an armrest hog but we managed to avoid each other most of the time, made easier by the fact that he slept most of the way. I had three servings of my usual coffee with Baileys while I read through Willamette Week. About 20 minutes into the flight, the passenger in front of me put his seat a little back and then became VERY concerned that it might be intruding on my knees! As much as I would have enjoyed the extra room (I would really enjoy a private plane), as far as I am concerned its his right to put it back all the way (as long as its done slowly) and I insisted that he do so. He was one of the most courteous people I have run into on a flight; he must be an infrequent traveler. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif
We landed at SFO a bit early at 8:45 and quickly pulled into gate 70. As we pulled up, I noticed the outlines of the new RCC taking shape. It looks like it will be a very big club indeed. I also noticed some construction related trucks pulled off to the side, protected by a barrier emblazoned with “Do Not Park”. Someone had also scribbled on it “You will be towed”. I helped a few people pull out their luggage from the overheads, grabbed my jacket and trundled out into the concourse.
The RCC was not very crowded at all but I only spent a few minutes there to nibble on a pastry before heading over to the Premium Transcon lounge. This would be my first time in the lounge, which is only open to full fare passengers in employee class on flights to JFK. On my last such trip, I never made it to SFO at all (thanks, sh*ttle http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif ) and on an earlier trip, I never even knew it existed.
The lounge, which UA really views as a business center, is located directly across from the 1K room and you press a little buzzer (or knock as I did) to be let in. It is a MUCH larger room that the 1K room and contains 12 of the same type of cubicles/work areas. It also contained an open space near the window that housed three chairs, a very small table and a fax machine. Unlike the 1K room, some refreshments were available, a small fridge containing soda (pop to you westerners), cheese and OJ. Two thermoses contained hot water and coffee. Three concierges attended the front-desk and I chatted with them a while in order to give my Migraine a chance to evolve past visual mode. By the front-desk were many copies of the Financial Times; a NY times would have been nice.
We talked about many things. Sh*ttles, transcon flights and why I am boycotting UA on international flights for the remainder of the year. There was a thread recently on FT about similar premium transcon lounges at other airports and I asked the concierges about it. The FT thread had suggested that there was a small, alcohol-laden lounge at JFK and that travelers in LAX could make use of the 1st class international lounge. All three concierges denied all of this, saying that SFO had the only such premium transcon lounge. And I practically live at JFK and never heard of such a lounge but none of this really means anything. The concierges may simply not be well informed; it certainly wouldn’t be the first time. I just offer this info for whatever its worth; I’ll try to remember to ask my friends at JFK when I fly out next Saturday.
Anyway, I really didn’t do much of anything in the transcon lounge that I don’t normally do in the 1K room. I just worked on the computer (in this case, starting this trip report) and listened to MP3s on my pilfered UA headphone. I wanted to have the headphone handy because I figured they would “forget” to load the correct ones once again on my flight to JFK. One thing I DID like about the lounge (besides the fact that refreshments were handy) is that the room was substantially cooler than the 1K room. The 1K room seems to invariably have warm, stale, anoxic air. During my entire tenure in the lounge, by the way, I was the only guest. I guess the remainder of the passengers in F on my flight will once again be employees or perhaps nobody else knows about this room. Given all of the unused space, I would suggest that UA combine this room with the tiny 1K room and make the whole thing a dedicated 1K/premium transcon business lounge. I told them just that as I walked out the door to stroll over to gate 86. Given the lack of guests, I am not sure what exactly the concierges do there to occupy their time.
[This message has been edited by LarryU (edited 08-30-2000).]