Jet'Dillo
Dec 3, 00, 1:17 am
I wrote this up on the way over and back so if the tenses are a bit screwed up thats why.
SFO->LAX->ORD->LAN->ORD->SFO
knew this itinerary was going to be a bit risky when I booked it and this
was confirmed pretty quickly Tues. morning when I woke up. Anybody who
lives in the Bay Area knows the recipe for massive Sh*ttle snarls is
clouds and rain. So the first thing I did
after getting my clothes out of the dryer was to call the UA Premier line
and check on the status of my flight that evening. Sure enough, it was
only 10:30am but already turning out to be a banner freakin' day for the
shuttle as my 21:40 on uA 2079 was already pushed back to 21:57. A couple
calls later in the day and in the evening had it holding steady until I
got to SFO and then the roof fell in. My departure time had been pushed back
to 22:15, way too late to make my connection to UA 128 which left @ 23:59.
The D/A @ the Premier desk tried everything he could think of to get me out
of SFO and into ORD, but everything was booked solid,even for completely
off-the-wall routings through BOS,IAD,ATL or MIA to ORD.
The best he could offer was a standby on UA 2073, which was leaving in 20
mins @ 21:10. I took it, hoping against hope that I'd be able to get on
there,m figuring that even if THAT one was delayed, it would be still be
likely to leave sooner than my current booking.
DPMC in hand, I trotted over to Gate 77 as quick as I could. Things didn't
look much better when I got there because there was the usual mob of bumped,
delayed and other generally haggard pax clustered around the G/A desk.
"Then a miracle occurs..."
To make a long story short, I got my DPMC converted into not only a BP, but
6F no less(I like windows, always have). So did about a dozen other pax.
Just about everybody who was on stand-by for that flight managed to get
on.
The flight down was rather uneventful, Channel 9 was available which I plugged
into and the flight passed pretty quickly with a nice smooth touchdown onto
24L. Almost immediately though I knew there was something wrong. As we exited
the runway, I heard LAX Ground giving the flight crew instructions to make a
speed exit off the runway and hold short on the ramp for emergency vehicles.
The taxiway was blinking orange with our intersection solid red. We held 3
times for about 1-3 minutes each on our way to the gate and I very much all
attention as the taxiway intersection would go from blinking orange to solid
red as fire trucks and ambulances raced by. I asked the crew afterwards if
they knew what was going on, but they didn't know either.
It was kind of interesting because we had to do a bit of a roundabout
taxi to get to our gate so I could see what parts had been closed off, what were
open ,etc. We docked @ gate 83 and my LAX->ORD leg was out of 75 so I had a pretty
long haul ahead of me to get over to T7.
I stopped in the T7 RCC(Thanks to all of you who convinced me to join, I've only been
twice but it's still been WAY worth it), went over to see the "angels" to check on my
U/G to ORD. It's a short flight, but since it was also an overnight, I was really
looking forward to catching a nap. I got lucky again when they told me I was 2nd in
line, w/ only 1 PremEx in front of me http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
LAX->ORD UA 128 752 DEP 23:59 ARR 05:09
Again, a big line at the gate counter, but again no problem for me. The G/A called me over
about 23:35 and exchanged my 13C for 5C, saying that the PremEx hadn't showed yet and
there were 8 no-shows in 1st so he didn't see why he should keep me waiting.
I happily gathered my stuff and tromped down the jetway, where there was a big
mob at the door, all arguing over where to seat this guy that had been assigned one
of the 2 seats on the right side exit row. It was kind of weird 'cause this older
F/A(who I'll call "The Matron") was arguing with this younger one about whether he
could sit there or not. The guy was apparently a stand-by and he kept saying "I'll move
and sit whereever you want to put me" and kept offering to move and was being
very compliant and trying to be helpful but The Matron just looked at him and said
"You just stay right where you are mister while we figure out what to do with you!"
like a Mom scolding her kid.
It was kind of amusing and yet at the same time not. I know I wouldn't want to be
treated that way.
I figured that in the confusion, I could just move on up to my seat unnoticed but
she caught me as I was trying to get past with my rolley cart.I had packed some of Ca's finest in there and wanted it right close to me.
"You can't go up there with that!" The Matron groused, "There's no more space!"
I was about to protest as there did seem like there might be a spot
or two up front, but when I turned around there was already a Ramp Agent
there, flourescent orange tags in hand. I acquiesced but only after taking
Robert Mondavi and Co. out of the bag and putting them in my satchel.
Things took a slightly better turn when the younger of the two female
F/As offered to take my duster from me and asked what I'd like to drink.
I happily handed it off to her and settled into my seat.
Pushback and takeoff were quick and smooth in comparison to my arrival on the
Sh*ttle earlier. Whatever the emergency, it had been cleared up by now, enough so that
the taxiways now had their familiar blue & green sidelights on.
We stopped short of the runway, waiting for a Qantas 744 to takeoff. Anybody from here
on that one? A Qantas 744 going out of LAX around midnight-sh on 11/22?
Takeoff and climb-out were smooth and quick. The 752 just really bolts into the sky
IMHO.
Another round of drink orders was taken and we were asked if we wanted to eat. I said yes,
hoping the food would help me pass out.
Dinner was a ham sandwich served w/ a hot roll and just about everything but mustard http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif
There was also a small thing of cold pasta, and a soft,warm chocolate-chip cookie.
I liked the fact that the roll was hot, but was a bit disappointed by the lack of mustard.
I ate and then set to making up my seat. I somehow got an extra blanket and pillow, arranged
them and passed out. The seats, BTW, were of the newer cloth type.
I woke up when the Captain announced we were on approach to ORD and said we'd be on the
ground in about 20 mins. There was a final round of water and OJ and we set down @ ORD
a few minutes later.
Getting off was a lot easier and quicker than getting on. I grabbed my jacket, made sure
I had my laptop and wine-laden satchel and headed for the door. As it was about 05:20 CST
and my flight to LAN wasn't until 07:00, I decided to head for the RCC as it was just down
the hall from my gate. It was rather busy, even at that early hour, but I managed to find
a seat, not too far from the coffee, juice and biscotti. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
I had a quick nibble and an espresso. The combination of travel-adrenalin and caffeine made
me a bit too jumpy to sit still so I cut out of there after just a few minutes and
decided to try to find my gate.
UA 6733 ORD->LAN EMB120A
For all the 50 zillion times I've been in and out of ORD, I've never had to fly out of any
of the F gates. *MAN*, that is one long-... haul to be sure! Just as bad if not worse than
going from 54 to 88 @ SFO. The LAX tromp from 7 to 8 is just a short trot by comparison.
As I was coming up out of the tunnel between B & C, I couldn't resist the Laptop Lane that's
squirreled away in under the stairs at the B end of things. I like the fact that I can just
plug my ethernet card right in there and get a REAL network connection instead of having to
go through a dial-up.
I appreciate the fact that there are more data-capable phones that you can toss a copy of
"Hemispheres" at in the RCC, but when are we going to start seeing some ethernet jacks in
there?
I got to F3 just as they were starting to board. Our plane was sitting out on the tarmac,
steam blowing off it in the early dawn. That whole section of F and E was just really
buzzing with UA/GRE Embraers buzzing in and out, AA CRJs scooting past rows of NW DC9s,etc.
I gave the G/A my ticket and headed out the door and down the ramp. I can see why they had
the foul weather hood on the stairs extended all the way out 'cause actually getting out
there onto the tarmac was a real smack in the face, what with 12-15 degree temps and
gusting winds and me in just a sweatshirt and my Driza-Bone duster. It was a good 5-7 minute
line while we waited for everybody to get up inside. It was snowy @ ORD and snowy in
Grand Rapids where the plane had just come from so the stairs were quite slippery and
they were letting only one person on at a time. When the F/A signalled the service
guys that the person was seated, they'd let the next person go on and so on.
I was actually getting quite miserable by the time it was my turn to go up the ladder and
get on. I'd worked up quite a sweat trying to get from B to F and now it was all freezing
onto me waiting out there on the ramp. Teresa, our lone F/A on this flight, was a real
treasure because she saw me there shivering in my seat and asked me if I wanted a cup
of coffee before we took off.
Problems aside, I really do enjoy the smaller planes because it really does feel a lot more
like really flying. Each little buffet and shove is more noticeable and the engines have
this "I think I can" sound about them as they earnestly rev up and start to pull the plane
down the runway.
We got pushed around a bit by crosswinds on our takeoff run and shortly after we lifted off
but quickly climbed up through the clouds turning west over Lake Michigan. Cloud cover was
thick and even over much of the trip, so I pulled the shade and started working on this
trip report some.
I did look out once or twice and saw a very bright,almost blinding white cottony landscape of snow-weather clouds covering the view for as far as the eye could see.
40 mins later as we started our descent into LAN, the view changed drastically, The cottony white slipped out of view as we headed through and below the underside of those clouds into grey skies w/ driving snow.
LAN has actually grown some since I was there last a few years ago. They actually have two jetways now. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif Alas they were not for us, reserved it seems for NW Airlink into DTW.
We deplaned and Teresa stood there at the door to make sure that everybody had a grip on the staairs before heading down. A nice touch I thought.
My uncle was waiting there for me just outside of security. We collected the one bag the Matron had made me check back at LAX and headed off for a few days of family stuff.
The holiday was really nice. I got to see both of my grandmothers(The primary impetus for the trip. Both are 80+ and not getting younger) I got quite a few kudos on the vino I delivered to the table, got to see my other rels and a good time was had by all.
Part II coming up.
JD
SFO->LAX->ORD->LAN->ORD->SFO
knew this itinerary was going to be a bit risky when I booked it and this
was confirmed pretty quickly Tues. morning when I woke up. Anybody who
lives in the Bay Area knows the recipe for massive Sh*ttle snarls is
clouds and rain. So the first thing I did
after getting my clothes out of the dryer was to call the UA Premier line
and check on the status of my flight that evening. Sure enough, it was
only 10:30am but already turning out to be a banner freakin' day for the
shuttle as my 21:40 on uA 2079 was already pushed back to 21:57. A couple
calls later in the day and in the evening had it holding steady until I
got to SFO and then the roof fell in. My departure time had been pushed back
to 22:15, way too late to make my connection to UA 128 which left @ 23:59.
The D/A @ the Premier desk tried everything he could think of to get me out
of SFO and into ORD, but everything was booked solid,even for completely
off-the-wall routings through BOS,IAD,ATL or MIA to ORD.
The best he could offer was a standby on UA 2073, which was leaving in 20
mins @ 21:10. I took it, hoping against hope that I'd be able to get on
there,m figuring that even if THAT one was delayed, it would be still be
likely to leave sooner than my current booking.
DPMC in hand, I trotted over to Gate 77 as quick as I could. Things didn't
look much better when I got there because there was the usual mob of bumped,
delayed and other generally haggard pax clustered around the G/A desk.
"Then a miracle occurs..."
To make a long story short, I got my DPMC converted into not only a BP, but
6F no less(I like windows, always have). So did about a dozen other pax.
Just about everybody who was on stand-by for that flight managed to get
on.
The flight down was rather uneventful, Channel 9 was available which I plugged
into and the flight passed pretty quickly with a nice smooth touchdown onto
24L. Almost immediately though I knew there was something wrong. As we exited
the runway, I heard LAX Ground giving the flight crew instructions to make a
speed exit off the runway and hold short on the ramp for emergency vehicles.
The taxiway was blinking orange with our intersection solid red. We held 3
times for about 1-3 minutes each on our way to the gate and I very much all
attention as the taxiway intersection would go from blinking orange to solid
red as fire trucks and ambulances raced by. I asked the crew afterwards if
they knew what was going on, but they didn't know either.
It was kind of interesting because we had to do a bit of a roundabout
taxi to get to our gate so I could see what parts had been closed off, what were
open ,etc. We docked @ gate 83 and my LAX->ORD leg was out of 75 so I had a pretty
long haul ahead of me to get over to T7.
I stopped in the T7 RCC(Thanks to all of you who convinced me to join, I've only been
twice but it's still been WAY worth it), went over to see the "angels" to check on my
U/G to ORD. It's a short flight, but since it was also an overnight, I was really
looking forward to catching a nap. I got lucky again when they told me I was 2nd in
line, w/ only 1 PremEx in front of me http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
LAX->ORD UA 128 752 DEP 23:59 ARR 05:09
Again, a big line at the gate counter, but again no problem for me. The G/A called me over
about 23:35 and exchanged my 13C for 5C, saying that the PremEx hadn't showed yet and
there were 8 no-shows in 1st so he didn't see why he should keep me waiting.
I happily gathered my stuff and tromped down the jetway, where there was a big
mob at the door, all arguing over where to seat this guy that had been assigned one
of the 2 seats on the right side exit row. It was kind of weird 'cause this older
F/A(who I'll call "The Matron") was arguing with this younger one about whether he
could sit there or not. The guy was apparently a stand-by and he kept saying "I'll move
and sit whereever you want to put me" and kept offering to move and was being
very compliant and trying to be helpful but The Matron just looked at him and said
"You just stay right where you are mister while we figure out what to do with you!"
like a Mom scolding her kid.
It was kind of amusing and yet at the same time not. I know I wouldn't want to be
treated that way.
I figured that in the confusion, I could just move on up to my seat unnoticed but
she caught me as I was trying to get past with my rolley cart.I had packed some of Ca's finest in there and wanted it right close to me.
"You can't go up there with that!" The Matron groused, "There's no more space!"
I was about to protest as there did seem like there might be a spot
or two up front, but when I turned around there was already a Ramp Agent
there, flourescent orange tags in hand. I acquiesced but only after taking
Robert Mondavi and Co. out of the bag and putting them in my satchel.
Things took a slightly better turn when the younger of the two female
F/As offered to take my duster from me and asked what I'd like to drink.
I happily handed it off to her and settled into my seat.
Pushback and takeoff were quick and smooth in comparison to my arrival on the
Sh*ttle earlier. Whatever the emergency, it had been cleared up by now, enough so that
the taxiways now had their familiar blue & green sidelights on.
We stopped short of the runway, waiting for a Qantas 744 to takeoff. Anybody from here
on that one? A Qantas 744 going out of LAX around midnight-sh on 11/22?
Takeoff and climb-out were smooth and quick. The 752 just really bolts into the sky
IMHO.
Another round of drink orders was taken and we were asked if we wanted to eat. I said yes,
hoping the food would help me pass out.
Dinner was a ham sandwich served w/ a hot roll and just about everything but mustard http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif
There was also a small thing of cold pasta, and a soft,warm chocolate-chip cookie.
I liked the fact that the roll was hot, but was a bit disappointed by the lack of mustard.
I ate and then set to making up my seat. I somehow got an extra blanket and pillow, arranged
them and passed out. The seats, BTW, were of the newer cloth type.
I woke up when the Captain announced we were on approach to ORD and said we'd be on the
ground in about 20 mins. There was a final round of water and OJ and we set down @ ORD
a few minutes later.
Getting off was a lot easier and quicker than getting on. I grabbed my jacket, made sure
I had my laptop and wine-laden satchel and headed for the door. As it was about 05:20 CST
and my flight to LAN wasn't until 07:00, I decided to head for the RCC as it was just down
the hall from my gate. It was rather busy, even at that early hour, but I managed to find
a seat, not too far from the coffee, juice and biscotti. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
I had a quick nibble and an espresso. The combination of travel-adrenalin and caffeine made
me a bit too jumpy to sit still so I cut out of there after just a few minutes and
decided to try to find my gate.
UA 6733 ORD->LAN EMB120A
For all the 50 zillion times I've been in and out of ORD, I've never had to fly out of any
of the F gates. *MAN*, that is one long-... haul to be sure! Just as bad if not worse than
going from 54 to 88 @ SFO. The LAX tromp from 7 to 8 is just a short trot by comparison.
As I was coming up out of the tunnel between B & C, I couldn't resist the Laptop Lane that's
squirreled away in under the stairs at the B end of things. I like the fact that I can just
plug my ethernet card right in there and get a REAL network connection instead of having to
go through a dial-up.
I appreciate the fact that there are more data-capable phones that you can toss a copy of
"Hemispheres" at in the RCC, but when are we going to start seeing some ethernet jacks in
there?
I got to F3 just as they were starting to board. Our plane was sitting out on the tarmac,
steam blowing off it in the early dawn. That whole section of F and E was just really
buzzing with UA/GRE Embraers buzzing in and out, AA CRJs scooting past rows of NW DC9s,etc.
I gave the G/A my ticket and headed out the door and down the ramp. I can see why they had
the foul weather hood on the stairs extended all the way out 'cause actually getting out
there onto the tarmac was a real smack in the face, what with 12-15 degree temps and
gusting winds and me in just a sweatshirt and my Driza-Bone duster. It was a good 5-7 minute
line while we waited for everybody to get up inside. It was snowy @ ORD and snowy in
Grand Rapids where the plane had just come from so the stairs were quite slippery and
they were letting only one person on at a time. When the F/A signalled the service
guys that the person was seated, they'd let the next person go on and so on.
I was actually getting quite miserable by the time it was my turn to go up the ladder and
get on. I'd worked up quite a sweat trying to get from B to F and now it was all freezing
onto me waiting out there on the ramp. Teresa, our lone F/A on this flight, was a real
treasure because she saw me there shivering in my seat and asked me if I wanted a cup
of coffee before we took off.
Problems aside, I really do enjoy the smaller planes because it really does feel a lot more
like really flying. Each little buffet and shove is more noticeable and the engines have
this "I think I can" sound about them as they earnestly rev up and start to pull the plane
down the runway.
We got pushed around a bit by crosswinds on our takeoff run and shortly after we lifted off
but quickly climbed up through the clouds turning west over Lake Michigan. Cloud cover was
thick and even over much of the trip, so I pulled the shade and started working on this
trip report some.
I did look out once or twice and saw a very bright,almost blinding white cottony landscape of snow-weather clouds covering the view for as far as the eye could see.
40 mins later as we started our descent into LAN, the view changed drastically, The cottony white slipped out of view as we headed through and below the underside of those clouds into grey skies w/ driving snow.
LAN has actually grown some since I was there last a few years ago. They actually have two jetways now. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif Alas they were not for us, reserved it seems for NW Airlink into DTW.
We deplaned and Teresa stood there at the door to make sure that everybody had a grip on the staairs before heading down. A nice touch I thought.
My uncle was waiting there for me just outside of security. We collected the one bag the Matron had made me check back at LAX and headed off for a few days of family stuff.
The holiday was really nice. I got to see both of my grandmothers(The primary impetus for the trip. Both are 80+ and not getting younger) I got quite a few kudos on the vino I delivered to the table, got to see my other rels and a good time was had by all.
Part II coming up.
JD