onedog
Dec 10, 00, 8:19 pm
LAX-LHR-LAX (Really long and detailed)
I had been planning this mileage run since AA put Europe on sale in early October. With this mileage run, I would qualify for Executive Platinum somewhere westbound over the mid-atlantic. I had posted a thread in the Mileage Run forum about my mileage run, inviting any other FT’rs who would be in London this same weekend to get together for drinks and dinner. Soon, I was all set to meet Lalala, CART_flagman, and Rmpkwpw and his partner (whom from now on will be referred to as E, being that E does not have a FT handle, but nevertheless deserves his own alias) in London for a mini FT do. There was also an outside chance that I would have the opportunity to meet Letiole Sunday morning who had a 4 hour lay-over on UA during her LHR mileage run before her return flight back to the USofA.
My ticket price was good, but I’ve done better. I didn’t have any AA discount coupons or $$ vouchers, so the entire cost came out of my pocket. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif (My flight was scheduled to depart LAX at 6:45 p.m. and as usual, by 3:30, I had not yet packed and I stilled needed to take a shower. Oh well, good thing I live so close to the airport.
I finally took a shower and packed into my Kirkland 22” roller bag what little change of clothing I needed for just an overnight trip. I also packed my Dell laptop along with my Targus Universal Auto/Air Power Adapter purchased at http://www.port.com for $119.99, plus S&H so that I could work on this trip report during my flight. If you have a Dell computer, you may have to call Targus for the powertip adapter that fits your specific computer. I made sure I had my passport, wallet and I was off to LAX. I drove southbound on Sepulveda Boulevard, made the little loop connection onto W. 96th street and pulled into Valet Air-Park. I usually leave my car at Park-One when I fly out of LAX, but since Valet Air-Park was cheaper than Park-One at $10.95/day vs. $14.95/day, and since Valet Air-Park had a coupon in the current edition of the Entertainment Book valid for one free day, they got my business this trip. Valet Air-Park had very efficient shuttle operation. A mini bus came by to pick me up within minutes and before I knew it, I was in front of Terminal 4. From parking my car to Terminal 4 in approximately 10 minutes. Not bad in my book. Since I am currently considering taking my business elsewhere from the notoriously inept Park-One operation, 10 minutes isn’t too shabby. Terminal 4 was peculiarly empty for a Friday afternoon. No one was in line for F or C check-in, and Y had only a few passengers in line. Since I wasn’t checking baggage and I was not upgrading L, I bypassed the counter and went directly to the Admirals club to obtain my boarding pass.
At the Admirals club I waved my little blue card as I sped past the nice woman who checks your club credentials just before the elevators. I’m not sure she saw me, but as she was dealing with a whole gaggle of people, I wasn’t about to stop and wait. At the ticket desk, I provided my Platinum card and drivers license as proof that I was who I said I was. Since this was an international flight, the agent also requested my passport and the name of an emergency contact not traveling with me. The agent noticed my 2 million mile status on my Platinum card and thanked me for my business. This was the first time this has happened and I was pleasantly surprised. She provided me with two drink coupons good for either cocktails or bottled water. I asked the agent how full the main cabin was. She told me that there were about 30 empty seats. I decided not to inquire about an operational upgrade to C. On hindsight, I should have asked anyway, considering the extra kudos I had earned with her from my two million miles platinum card. You know the old saying, if you don’t ask, you don’t get.
The club was full of the usual road warrior crowd heading home after a long week and a few older couples heading off on vacation. I grabbed a cup of pretzels and planted myself in front of the television, all the better to drown myself in the endless parade of politicians either praising the merits of the Florida Supreme Court’s order for a statewide hand recount of the under-votes, or decrying the travesty of a court overstepping its judicial boundaries. IMHO, whoever wins this showcase of democracy might as well shoot himself in the leg and start quacking, as he is going to be a lame duck from day one. Nice try at an electoral mandate buddy. But I digress. About an hour later, cheese and crackers were brought out. I was pretty much famished by this time as I hadn’t eaten anything since my bowl of Post Raisin Bran in the morning so I helped myself to a generous portion. I retired back to my seat like a mouse who had found nirvana.
I soon grew restless in the club and so I headed down to the gate a bit early to stretch the legs and take a look at the Boeing metal I would soon be flying. Boarding began about 6:05. The first class cabin was invited to board followed by business class. The F passengers boarded in an orderly manner. However, when C was called, a mad rush ensued. As the C passengers boarded, I felt a tinge of regret and longing. Should I have upgraded? I too could be boarding at this time. I could be flying in C. Perhaps I may have spoiled myself in upgrading to C my past few trips. Oh well, at least I could look forward to boarding before the rest of the Y cabin as they soon called for AAdvantage Executive Platinum, Platinum, and Gold, Oneworld Emerald, Saphire and Ruby, and American AirPass members. If I thought C boarding was a mess, Elite boarding was reminiscent of a stampede of buffalo. A woman who had way too much carryone baggage and who had brought her luggage cart right up to the boarding area started throwing a tantrum that people were causing her luggage to fall off the cart. Two things came to my mind. One, she had way too much carryon luggage and two, she compounded her dilema by taking her luggage cart right up to the narrow confines of the boarding pass readers. Being the good samaritan that I am, I helped her pick up one of her pieces of luggage as I made my way to the jetway.
I quickly found my seat, 27H, the exit row aisle seat on the right side of the airplane. Needless to say, legroom would not be a problem on this flight. I would have to be as tall as Manute Bol before legroom would be an issue. For this I thanked the Platinum gods. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif When in steerage on the 777, the exit row is definitely the way to go. For those of you who have not made the requisite sacrifices to the Elite gods and so may have difficulty being securing the exit row in advance, the bulkhead aisle seats of the center section, seats 26C and 26G are a very good second choice, as the bulkhead fronts only about one-half of the seat. Since 75% of my fellow passengers had yet to find their seats, I quickly moved over to the window seat to prevent the left side of my body from being bludgeoned to a pulp by the throngs of humanity slogging with their luggage down the aisle. Since I was one of the first passengers in Y to board, I had no problem finding space in the overhead bins to store my belongings. Again I thanked the Platinum gods as the overhead bins quickly filled and passengers began the up-the-aisle and down-the-aisle dance in search of space to park their luggage and duty-free purchase of liquor or cigarettes.
Takeoff was delayed due to an ill passenger. We had already pulled away from the gate when the captain made an announcement that we had to return to the gate to offload the passenger and their baggage. A couple of us wondered what could be going on that we were returning to the gate to offload an ill passenger. Someone must have been really ill. Exotic contagious diseases came to mind http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif. Must have been a VIP in F because we didn't see anyone get up back here in steerage. Overall delay was approximately 50 minutes. However, since we were expecting strong prevailing winds, we were still projected to arrive within 20 minutes of our scheduled 1:05 p.m.
As we sat while they offloaded the passenger, my seatmate, a woman returning from a holiday in Vegas with her husband and I struck up a conversation with the flight attendant who was seated in the jumpseat directly in front of me. We chatted about what we were going to do in London, what the weather was expected to be like, etc. I asked her how long her layover was, and she said that she was returning to LAX on Sunday’s flight #137. What a coincidence I commented, mentioning that I would see her on the flight, from the exact same seat as I too was returning the next day.. She asked why I was going to London for such a short time. I explained that I was meeting friends for drinks and dinner and that I wanted to do a little Christmas shopping at Harrod’s. If she only knew that I was meeting a bunch of fellow flying nuts in quest of elite status.
I scanned the Y cabin and noted about 10-15 empty seats. C was about one-half empty. About fifteen minutes after takeoff, immigration forms and the remaining newspapers not distributed in the F and C cabins were passed out. Shortly thereafter, a beverage service began. Packets of honey roasted peanuts were passed out. For my pre-dinner drink, I ordered a screwdriver, sans the vodka. The F/A’s were quite generous with the beverages as all the passengers seated around me who had asked for alcoholic pre-dinner drinks were immediately provided with a double, be it beer, wine or a cocktail.
Dinner was a choice between steak or salmon. I choose the steak. A small salad consisting of shredded iceberg lettuce, two slices of roma tomato sprinkled with parmesan cheese with an olive oil vinegarette was my starter. The dinner roll was a braided bread type of substance which had the texture and consistency of a dried sponge. The steak was a petite potion, about the size of half a playing card, and about an inch or so thick, accompanied by a rice pilaf and a vegetable mixture of corn and green beans. Desert was a cookie and a slice of Tillamook cheddar cheese, both sealed in plastic wrap for my protection. For my dinner beverage I had another vodkaless screwdriver. The food wasn’t all that bad for airplane food in steerage. I have had worse.
Shortly after they had served the entire Y cabin their entrees, the F/A’s made a second beverage run, making absolutely sure that we were adequately plied with beverages for the long journey in front of us.
After dinner, 10 channels of video programming and 8 channels of “music and more” were available for my entertainment pleasure. At first I was fooled into believing that there were 12 music and more channels, but then I noticed that they were numbered 1-7, and 12. What became of channels 8-11, I may never know. Since I had just rented Chicken Run at our local Blockbuster, I turned to video channel 2 to watch X-Men. On hindsight, I wish I had turned to channel 1 for CBS Eye on American and an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond. On the Onedog Moviemeter, X-men was definitely not worth the price of a discounted matinee ticket.
I got up after the movie to head back to the galley to help myself to the snacks which had been set out for our choosing and to drown myself in orange juice. It was a good thing that I was seated near the lavatories. The F/A’s provided a late night water service to anyone who was still awake.
After the movie, I changed into sweat pants, put in a pair of earplugs, strapped on my eyeshade and turned in for the night.
Next up, arrival in LHR
[This message has been edited by onedog (edited 12-11-2000).]
I had been planning this mileage run since AA put Europe on sale in early October. With this mileage run, I would qualify for Executive Platinum somewhere westbound over the mid-atlantic. I had posted a thread in the Mileage Run forum about my mileage run, inviting any other FT’rs who would be in London this same weekend to get together for drinks and dinner. Soon, I was all set to meet Lalala, CART_flagman, and Rmpkwpw and his partner (whom from now on will be referred to as E, being that E does not have a FT handle, but nevertheless deserves his own alias) in London for a mini FT do. There was also an outside chance that I would have the opportunity to meet Letiole Sunday morning who had a 4 hour lay-over on UA during her LHR mileage run before her return flight back to the USofA.
My ticket price was good, but I’ve done better. I didn’t have any AA discount coupons or $$ vouchers, so the entire cost came out of my pocket. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif (My flight was scheduled to depart LAX at 6:45 p.m. and as usual, by 3:30, I had not yet packed and I stilled needed to take a shower. Oh well, good thing I live so close to the airport.
I finally took a shower and packed into my Kirkland 22” roller bag what little change of clothing I needed for just an overnight trip. I also packed my Dell laptop along with my Targus Universal Auto/Air Power Adapter purchased at http://www.port.com for $119.99, plus S&H so that I could work on this trip report during my flight. If you have a Dell computer, you may have to call Targus for the powertip adapter that fits your specific computer. I made sure I had my passport, wallet and I was off to LAX. I drove southbound on Sepulveda Boulevard, made the little loop connection onto W. 96th street and pulled into Valet Air-Park. I usually leave my car at Park-One when I fly out of LAX, but since Valet Air-Park was cheaper than Park-One at $10.95/day vs. $14.95/day, and since Valet Air-Park had a coupon in the current edition of the Entertainment Book valid for one free day, they got my business this trip. Valet Air-Park had very efficient shuttle operation. A mini bus came by to pick me up within minutes and before I knew it, I was in front of Terminal 4. From parking my car to Terminal 4 in approximately 10 minutes. Not bad in my book. Since I am currently considering taking my business elsewhere from the notoriously inept Park-One operation, 10 minutes isn’t too shabby. Terminal 4 was peculiarly empty for a Friday afternoon. No one was in line for F or C check-in, and Y had only a few passengers in line. Since I wasn’t checking baggage and I was not upgrading L, I bypassed the counter and went directly to the Admirals club to obtain my boarding pass.
At the Admirals club I waved my little blue card as I sped past the nice woman who checks your club credentials just before the elevators. I’m not sure she saw me, but as she was dealing with a whole gaggle of people, I wasn’t about to stop and wait. At the ticket desk, I provided my Platinum card and drivers license as proof that I was who I said I was. Since this was an international flight, the agent also requested my passport and the name of an emergency contact not traveling with me. The agent noticed my 2 million mile status on my Platinum card and thanked me for my business. This was the first time this has happened and I was pleasantly surprised. She provided me with two drink coupons good for either cocktails or bottled water. I asked the agent how full the main cabin was. She told me that there were about 30 empty seats. I decided not to inquire about an operational upgrade to C. On hindsight, I should have asked anyway, considering the extra kudos I had earned with her from my two million miles platinum card. You know the old saying, if you don’t ask, you don’t get.
The club was full of the usual road warrior crowd heading home after a long week and a few older couples heading off on vacation. I grabbed a cup of pretzels and planted myself in front of the television, all the better to drown myself in the endless parade of politicians either praising the merits of the Florida Supreme Court’s order for a statewide hand recount of the under-votes, or decrying the travesty of a court overstepping its judicial boundaries. IMHO, whoever wins this showcase of democracy might as well shoot himself in the leg and start quacking, as he is going to be a lame duck from day one. Nice try at an electoral mandate buddy. But I digress. About an hour later, cheese and crackers were brought out. I was pretty much famished by this time as I hadn’t eaten anything since my bowl of Post Raisin Bran in the morning so I helped myself to a generous portion. I retired back to my seat like a mouse who had found nirvana.
I soon grew restless in the club and so I headed down to the gate a bit early to stretch the legs and take a look at the Boeing metal I would soon be flying. Boarding began about 6:05. The first class cabin was invited to board followed by business class. The F passengers boarded in an orderly manner. However, when C was called, a mad rush ensued. As the C passengers boarded, I felt a tinge of regret and longing. Should I have upgraded? I too could be boarding at this time. I could be flying in C. Perhaps I may have spoiled myself in upgrading to C my past few trips. Oh well, at least I could look forward to boarding before the rest of the Y cabin as they soon called for AAdvantage Executive Platinum, Platinum, and Gold, Oneworld Emerald, Saphire and Ruby, and American AirPass members. If I thought C boarding was a mess, Elite boarding was reminiscent of a stampede of buffalo. A woman who had way too much carryone baggage and who had brought her luggage cart right up to the boarding area started throwing a tantrum that people were causing her luggage to fall off the cart. Two things came to my mind. One, she had way too much carryon luggage and two, she compounded her dilema by taking her luggage cart right up to the narrow confines of the boarding pass readers. Being the good samaritan that I am, I helped her pick up one of her pieces of luggage as I made my way to the jetway.
I quickly found my seat, 27H, the exit row aisle seat on the right side of the airplane. Needless to say, legroom would not be a problem on this flight. I would have to be as tall as Manute Bol before legroom would be an issue. For this I thanked the Platinum gods. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif When in steerage on the 777, the exit row is definitely the way to go. For those of you who have not made the requisite sacrifices to the Elite gods and so may have difficulty being securing the exit row in advance, the bulkhead aisle seats of the center section, seats 26C and 26G are a very good second choice, as the bulkhead fronts only about one-half of the seat. Since 75% of my fellow passengers had yet to find their seats, I quickly moved over to the window seat to prevent the left side of my body from being bludgeoned to a pulp by the throngs of humanity slogging with their luggage down the aisle. Since I was one of the first passengers in Y to board, I had no problem finding space in the overhead bins to store my belongings. Again I thanked the Platinum gods as the overhead bins quickly filled and passengers began the up-the-aisle and down-the-aisle dance in search of space to park their luggage and duty-free purchase of liquor or cigarettes.
Takeoff was delayed due to an ill passenger. We had already pulled away from the gate when the captain made an announcement that we had to return to the gate to offload the passenger and their baggage. A couple of us wondered what could be going on that we were returning to the gate to offload an ill passenger. Someone must have been really ill. Exotic contagious diseases came to mind http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif. Must have been a VIP in F because we didn't see anyone get up back here in steerage. Overall delay was approximately 50 minutes. However, since we were expecting strong prevailing winds, we were still projected to arrive within 20 minutes of our scheduled 1:05 p.m.
As we sat while they offloaded the passenger, my seatmate, a woman returning from a holiday in Vegas with her husband and I struck up a conversation with the flight attendant who was seated in the jumpseat directly in front of me. We chatted about what we were going to do in London, what the weather was expected to be like, etc. I asked her how long her layover was, and she said that she was returning to LAX on Sunday’s flight #137. What a coincidence I commented, mentioning that I would see her on the flight, from the exact same seat as I too was returning the next day.. She asked why I was going to London for such a short time. I explained that I was meeting friends for drinks and dinner and that I wanted to do a little Christmas shopping at Harrod’s. If she only knew that I was meeting a bunch of fellow flying nuts in quest of elite status.
I scanned the Y cabin and noted about 10-15 empty seats. C was about one-half empty. About fifteen minutes after takeoff, immigration forms and the remaining newspapers not distributed in the F and C cabins were passed out. Shortly thereafter, a beverage service began. Packets of honey roasted peanuts were passed out. For my pre-dinner drink, I ordered a screwdriver, sans the vodka. The F/A’s were quite generous with the beverages as all the passengers seated around me who had asked for alcoholic pre-dinner drinks were immediately provided with a double, be it beer, wine or a cocktail.
Dinner was a choice between steak or salmon. I choose the steak. A small salad consisting of shredded iceberg lettuce, two slices of roma tomato sprinkled with parmesan cheese with an olive oil vinegarette was my starter. The dinner roll was a braided bread type of substance which had the texture and consistency of a dried sponge. The steak was a petite potion, about the size of half a playing card, and about an inch or so thick, accompanied by a rice pilaf and a vegetable mixture of corn and green beans. Desert was a cookie and a slice of Tillamook cheddar cheese, both sealed in plastic wrap for my protection. For my dinner beverage I had another vodkaless screwdriver. The food wasn’t all that bad for airplane food in steerage. I have had worse.
Shortly after they had served the entire Y cabin their entrees, the F/A’s made a second beverage run, making absolutely sure that we were adequately plied with beverages for the long journey in front of us.
After dinner, 10 channels of video programming and 8 channels of “music and more” were available for my entertainment pleasure. At first I was fooled into believing that there were 12 music and more channels, but then I noticed that they were numbered 1-7, and 12. What became of channels 8-11, I may never know. Since I had just rented Chicken Run at our local Blockbuster, I turned to video channel 2 to watch X-Men. On hindsight, I wish I had turned to channel 1 for CBS Eye on American and an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond. On the Onedog Moviemeter, X-men was definitely not worth the price of a discounted matinee ticket.
I got up after the movie to head back to the galley to help myself to the snacks which had been set out for our choosing and to drown myself in orange juice. It was a good thing that I was seated near the lavatories. The F/A’s provided a late night water service to anyone who was still awake.
After the movie, I changed into sweat pants, put in a pair of earplugs, strapped on my eyeshade and turned in for the night.
Next up, arrival in LHR
[This message has been edited by onedog (edited 12-11-2000).]