jetsetter
Mar 29, 01, 11:46 am
I took a cab to BOS, and checked one bag with the curb side check-in. They do not issue boarding passes apparently at curb side, as I was only given a first class ticket jacket with a bag claim tag. The man did say they would put a "priority tag," on the bag.
US1075G BOS-PHL
I proceeded to the departure gate, and apparently the two previous flights BOS PHL had been cancelled. There was someone in front of me in line, who said they had been stranded in BOS for days, and the agent revalidated this paxs ticket on AA who had a slightly earlier flight. Then I checked in with my G seat pre-assigned, and the agent simply gave me my boarding passes. Such good and expedited service. I put myself on the volunteer list, but the flight was full but did not go over.
US19 PHL LAX
This flight was also not over-sold, and it started boarding somewhat late. The flight was on the new A321 plane. I was talking to an US pilot, and he said that the A319, A320, and A321 look identical in the cockpit and that once a pilot is certified to fly one they can fly all of them. He said the A321 was larger, and did have a slightly different fuel system on board. The seat was pretty good, but nothing to write home about. I would think that a brand new plane would have a more urgonomically designed seat. The plane did have the empower laptop port, headset jack, etc. Also no air phone service, though there was a place where it looked like they would just pop out a panel and install the telephone. The service was quite good on the flight, and the FA was very friendly. They offered a shrimp cocktail, salad, rolls, choice of main meal, and ice cream Sunday. Hot towels were provided at the beginning of the meal. We got to LAX more or less on time despite the delay out of PHL. The entertainment system was ok. I listen to a News Week show, though wished I had chanell 9 and some other options.
My bags came out relatively quickly, and it was a pretty short wait before the shuttle to the LAX Hilton arrived. I went into the Hilton, and went directly to the 16th floor executive lounge to check in, there by avoiding the lines at the front desk. There was no line at the executive lounge. Floors 14 to 17 are upgraded floors, and floor 16 is comprised of all suites. The agent said they had a room on 17, and I said very casually "do you have anything on 16," aiming for the suite upgrade. She looked at her computer, and said yes, giving me the keys for a suite on floor 16. I went into the suite, but noticed that it did not have the high speed internet access which the hotel was supposed to have. Also there was not a really good desk for business, etc. More like a table, etc. I called the hotel operator, and she told me that the Cais Internet access was only on floors 12-14. I called the front desk, and said I would like to move to the 14th floor. I would stay for a week, and it was more important to have the internet access, than to have all this extra room for just one person. A bellman came up, and moved my bags to a room on 14, but we found the internet box was missing a cable. Then the bellman went downstairs, and returned with a key pack for a near by room on 14 that had all the cables. It was good, as I had not unpacked at all. I verified with the front desk that I would still get the bottled water, turn down service, and access to the lounge being on floor 14.
The lounge provided a full continental breakfast, evening apetizers, and cookies after 8 which I never went up to try. The lounge was also the strictest at any hotel I have ever stayed in regarding access. Usually before letting you enter, they would ask for your room# and name. They would verify this in the computer before admitting you to the lounge. I have not observed this practice at other hotels. Also one morning, I brought a friend with me for breakfast. They said she would have to pay $10 to come in. I told the guy that my reservation was booked to show two people. Tip: Book your reservations with two people to get the extra breakfast coupons. The guy asked if the woman was staying with me, I said yes, and he let the two of us in. Nice try at making a fast ten bucks, but it wasn't going to work with me. Usually when you book a room with two people, you do not need to specifiy the 2nd name, e.g. it is an optional field. If ever asked, use a gender neutral name like Chris Woods, as Chris could either be a man or a woman.
I also had occasion to vist the LAX Marriott, which is next door to the Hilton on the same street. The property in the lobbey, etc. did seem a bit newer, etc. I did not get to check out a guest room, but did have most of my meals at the Marriott. Alley's American Grill, Champions Sports Bar. Also they had a steach house, but the night I went, it was going to be a wait, so just hit Champions. The meeting rooms are on a level below the lobbey, accessible via escalator, and cell phones (at least my Spring digital one) basically did not work at all on the meeting level floor. Also there is a direct entrance that goes to the meeting rooms, so you can skip walking through the lobbey. At night, in the Marriott, they would have someone playing the piano near / in the lobbbey.
I mostly had meals in the Hilton lounge breakfast, and evening snacks. As someone pointed out, in another post, they did one night have fried chicken in the lounge. But the evening foods did vary most all nights, and I think having that available saved us quite a bit.
I checked out, and took the shuttle to LAX. I was booked on a 645AM flight LAX PHL BOS. I got to the ticket counter at about 615AM. I had to check one bag, check in, get put on stand-by for an upgrade, get put on the volunteer list, and buy one of those sets of 4 upgrades for $120. The agent was a nice man, but not very quick on the computer. He was just completing my transaction at about 640AM with another agent who was helping him. Then she said there were only 5 minutes left, there was no way I would get on a 645AM flight, and just told him to confirm me in first on the 715AM via BWI. My bag was already on its way to PHL, and it had a stamp of like 06:19AM as the time the bag tag printed, so it really did take the guy a while. The other agent, not sure if she was the supervisor, asked the agent what took him so long, and he said he was just trying to get the upgrade coupon to issue. It seems they write out the upgrade coupons using two paper Special Service Tickets, and then it is complex because you pay for 3 and get one for free so they have to make some entries in the system to make that jive. I'm surprised the whole upgrade book does not print out on ticket like stock like other documents? I was hoping that because of this slight delay, they would just tell me to forget about handing in a cert for the upgrade, but they stappled three of the 4 bought certs to my ticket. Also they convertted my eticket to paper, and sent me up to my gate. I think they may have done an over-ride to confirm me in first, because they referred to the term "no rec" which was a pacer entry which would confirm a seat even if the flight was full. E.g. "no rec him on flight 20" A no rec entry is usually used if a pax reservation has been cancelled in error. For example, in pacer, if a pax no showed a flight it would cancel all the downline space. Say you got out on an early flight stand-by, and if they did not adjust your pnr accordingly, it would cancel out the rest of your rservation, so they might no rec you on the flights again if they are full to get you the confirmed space. Whether an airport will use the no rec entry seems very much a thing of agent discretion. I don't know what the comprable Sabre entry is.
I went up to my gate, and sat down. I had neglected to get on the volunteer list for the new LAX BWI flight, when I hear over the PA that they need a few more volunteers. I get up and charge to the front of the line, tell them I want to volunteer, that it had taken them 25 minutes to che ck me in downstaris, and "I'm Gold so can you give me some priority on this volunteer list." In retrospect, it might have been better to whisper the part about Gold giving a priority. The agent put me on the list, and said he would give me some priority for being Gold.
Then the agent started bumping people. First a group of 3, then a single person, then another. They would page the person, and say "we're going to need your seat." I was in a panick! Would I lose out because I was so dumb as to not get on the list at the ticket counter, and did this guy give me any priority? Then finally "passenger Jetsetter please see the USairways agent at gate 4," and I went up and they would need my seat. They said to sit down until the flight left, and then they would fill out all the paperwork. Sitting down gave me a chance to cool my heals, as I had narrowly gotten the bump despite my neglegence / forgetfulness. Also it was ironic that I got the bump because I happened (via fait) to get a slow agent, and they decided to just confirm me on an overbooked flight due to the slow agent. I have read that a lot of the time UA will confirm 1K's on overbooked flights as well. I suppose they may think of it as taboo to then get bumped and compensation after they booked you on an overbooked flight, but it was not my fault that the guy took 25 minutes.
After the flight left, they paged me, and rebooked me on a 110PM flight once again via PHL. They gave me the standard transportation voucher, as well as a $10 meal voucher. There were some people they did not rebook until night, and they gave them hotel vouchers for day rooms at the Four Points and the LAX Hilton.
I asked to go on the volunteer list for the 110PM flight, and the agent said the computer would not let them put me on anymore than 4 hours in advance of departure, but that flight was overbooked by 20 people.
I had my breakfast, and then went to the club which was pretty nice. Nice charis in the workstation cubes. I used my laptop until the batter died (charger in checked bag), etc. The club agent put me on the volunteer list for the new flight, and this time I was really number 1 on the list.
After getting bored with the club and its atmospheer, I went back out to the gate area. There was a basketball team from one of the CA universities, and the place went crazy when they got off the flight they were arriving on. The 110PM to PHL did not actually over-sell, so I got on. It seemed like all the flights were overbooked out of LAX. I had dreams of getting like 3 transportation vouchers, hotel accommodations, etc., but again I figure I was lucky to get the one since it was not the flight I was booked on.
LAX PHL was on a 767, and similar service. FA's not as friendly, though ok. They did have two hot towel services, and the Sunday was served in a glass cup.
The flight left LAX late, and arrived late into PHL so as to give me theoretically about 8 minutes to get to a different concourse. My connection was still showing on time. I went over to the connecting gate, arriving about two minutes after the scheduled on time departure time. The gate was still full of people, and the flight was obviously delayed. The gate agent was on the phone talking about how they had thru pax from wherever the airplane came in from, and how they couldn't find seats, and that it wasn't oversold or they would just take extra seats, and asking somebody on the phone "what should we do." I asked if they were going to need volunteers, and she just said "no," so I don't know what exactly went on or what they did.
The flight left about 15 minutes late or so, and then was like number 6 for take off. This was a bit nostalgic from the days I flew CO mostly, and reminded me a lot of EWR. Though perhaps at EWR you would be 20th to take off. PHL does always seem to be a very chaotic place more so than other hubs.
I got to BOS, and went down to baggage service to inquire about my bag that preceeded me by several hours. They entered my bag tag number in the computer, and said the bag was "on hand," which is apparently some status a bag can have. The agent got the bag, and said that if bags are not claimed they keep them "on hand" for 4 days, and then send them to PIT. I don't know what happens once they get to PIT, but perhaps I can find that out another day. The agent said it was particularly difficult to figure out where bags belonged when multipple airlines were involved in an itinerary.
I was hoping that the agent, who recognized me, would ask how I got so dleayed and offer me a cab voucher, but she didn't. And because I still felt it had been a pretty good stroke of luck that they put me on the over-sold flight I did not ask for a cab voucher on my own, though usually if delayed I have found they typically will give you one.
I set out from BOS to my house once again completing a trip that was not all routine, not all boring, and had those twists that are the key to really making travel interesting and fun.
A couple of other notes:
1. The 767 has foot rests and the seat reclines back further than the A321, though 767 does not have laptop ports;
2. A friend staying at the Marriott said he could not find the internet connection box. Not sure if it is only on some floors like the Hilton?
US1075G BOS-PHL
I proceeded to the departure gate, and apparently the two previous flights BOS PHL had been cancelled. There was someone in front of me in line, who said they had been stranded in BOS for days, and the agent revalidated this paxs ticket on AA who had a slightly earlier flight. Then I checked in with my G seat pre-assigned, and the agent simply gave me my boarding passes. Such good and expedited service. I put myself on the volunteer list, but the flight was full but did not go over.
US19 PHL LAX
This flight was also not over-sold, and it started boarding somewhat late. The flight was on the new A321 plane. I was talking to an US pilot, and he said that the A319, A320, and A321 look identical in the cockpit and that once a pilot is certified to fly one they can fly all of them. He said the A321 was larger, and did have a slightly different fuel system on board. The seat was pretty good, but nothing to write home about. I would think that a brand new plane would have a more urgonomically designed seat. The plane did have the empower laptop port, headset jack, etc. Also no air phone service, though there was a place where it looked like they would just pop out a panel and install the telephone. The service was quite good on the flight, and the FA was very friendly. They offered a shrimp cocktail, salad, rolls, choice of main meal, and ice cream Sunday. Hot towels were provided at the beginning of the meal. We got to LAX more or less on time despite the delay out of PHL. The entertainment system was ok. I listen to a News Week show, though wished I had chanell 9 and some other options.
My bags came out relatively quickly, and it was a pretty short wait before the shuttle to the LAX Hilton arrived. I went into the Hilton, and went directly to the 16th floor executive lounge to check in, there by avoiding the lines at the front desk. There was no line at the executive lounge. Floors 14 to 17 are upgraded floors, and floor 16 is comprised of all suites. The agent said they had a room on 17, and I said very casually "do you have anything on 16," aiming for the suite upgrade. She looked at her computer, and said yes, giving me the keys for a suite on floor 16. I went into the suite, but noticed that it did not have the high speed internet access which the hotel was supposed to have. Also there was not a really good desk for business, etc. More like a table, etc. I called the hotel operator, and she told me that the Cais Internet access was only on floors 12-14. I called the front desk, and said I would like to move to the 14th floor. I would stay for a week, and it was more important to have the internet access, than to have all this extra room for just one person. A bellman came up, and moved my bags to a room on 14, but we found the internet box was missing a cable. Then the bellman went downstairs, and returned with a key pack for a near by room on 14 that had all the cables. It was good, as I had not unpacked at all. I verified with the front desk that I would still get the bottled water, turn down service, and access to the lounge being on floor 14.
The lounge provided a full continental breakfast, evening apetizers, and cookies after 8 which I never went up to try. The lounge was also the strictest at any hotel I have ever stayed in regarding access. Usually before letting you enter, they would ask for your room# and name. They would verify this in the computer before admitting you to the lounge. I have not observed this practice at other hotels. Also one morning, I brought a friend with me for breakfast. They said she would have to pay $10 to come in. I told the guy that my reservation was booked to show two people. Tip: Book your reservations with two people to get the extra breakfast coupons. The guy asked if the woman was staying with me, I said yes, and he let the two of us in. Nice try at making a fast ten bucks, but it wasn't going to work with me. Usually when you book a room with two people, you do not need to specifiy the 2nd name, e.g. it is an optional field. If ever asked, use a gender neutral name like Chris Woods, as Chris could either be a man or a woman.
I also had occasion to vist the LAX Marriott, which is next door to the Hilton on the same street. The property in the lobbey, etc. did seem a bit newer, etc. I did not get to check out a guest room, but did have most of my meals at the Marriott. Alley's American Grill, Champions Sports Bar. Also they had a steach house, but the night I went, it was going to be a wait, so just hit Champions. The meeting rooms are on a level below the lobbey, accessible via escalator, and cell phones (at least my Spring digital one) basically did not work at all on the meeting level floor. Also there is a direct entrance that goes to the meeting rooms, so you can skip walking through the lobbey. At night, in the Marriott, they would have someone playing the piano near / in the lobbbey.
I mostly had meals in the Hilton lounge breakfast, and evening snacks. As someone pointed out, in another post, they did one night have fried chicken in the lounge. But the evening foods did vary most all nights, and I think having that available saved us quite a bit.
I checked out, and took the shuttle to LAX. I was booked on a 645AM flight LAX PHL BOS. I got to the ticket counter at about 615AM. I had to check one bag, check in, get put on stand-by for an upgrade, get put on the volunteer list, and buy one of those sets of 4 upgrades for $120. The agent was a nice man, but not very quick on the computer. He was just completing my transaction at about 640AM with another agent who was helping him. Then she said there were only 5 minutes left, there was no way I would get on a 645AM flight, and just told him to confirm me in first on the 715AM via BWI. My bag was already on its way to PHL, and it had a stamp of like 06:19AM as the time the bag tag printed, so it really did take the guy a while. The other agent, not sure if she was the supervisor, asked the agent what took him so long, and he said he was just trying to get the upgrade coupon to issue. It seems they write out the upgrade coupons using two paper Special Service Tickets, and then it is complex because you pay for 3 and get one for free so they have to make some entries in the system to make that jive. I'm surprised the whole upgrade book does not print out on ticket like stock like other documents? I was hoping that because of this slight delay, they would just tell me to forget about handing in a cert for the upgrade, but they stappled three of the 4 bought certs to my ticket. Also they convertted my eticket to paper, and sent me up to my gate. I think they may have done an over-ride to confirm me in first, because they referred to the term "no rec" which was a pacer entry which would confirm a seat even if the flight was full. E.g. "no rec him on flight 20" A no rec entry is usually used if a pax reservation has been cancelled in error. For example, in pacer, if a pax no showed a flight it would cancel all the downline space. Say you got out on an early flight stand-by, and if they did not adjust your pnr accordingly, it would cancel out the rest of your rservation, so they might no rec you on the flights again if they are full to get you the confirmed space. Whether an airport will use the no rec entry seems very much a thing of agent discretion. I don't know what the comprable Sabre entry is.
I went up to my gate, and sat down. I had neglected to get on the volunteer list for the new LAX BWI flight, when I hear over the PA that they need a few more volunteers. I get up and charge to the front of the line, tell them I want to volunteer, that it had taken them 25 minutes to che ck me in downstaris, and "I'm Gold so can you give me some priority on this volunteer list." In retrospect, it might have been better to whisper the part about Gold giving a priority. The agent put me on the list, and said he would give me some priority for being Gold.
Then the agent started bumping people. First a group of 3, then a single person, then another. They would page the person, and say "we're going to need your seat." I was in a panick! Would I lose out because I was so dumb as to not get on the list at the ticket counter, and did this guy give me any priority? Then finally "passenger Jetsetter please see the USairways agent at gate 4," and I went up and they would need my seat. They said to sit down until the flight left, and then they would fill out all the paperwork. Sitting down gave me a chance to cool my heals, as I had narrowly gotten the bump despite my neglegence / forgetfulness. Also it was ironic that I got the bump because I happened (via fait) to get a slow agent, and they decided to just confirm me on an overbooked flight due to the slow agent. I have read that a lot of the time UA will confirm 1K's on overbooked flights as well. I suppose they may think of it as taboo to then get bumped and compensation after they booked you on an overbooked flight, but it was not my fault that the guy took 25 minutes.
After the flight left, they paged me, and rebooked me on a 110PM flight once again via PHL. They gave me the standard transportation voucher, as well as a $10 meal voucher. There were some people they did not rebook until night, and they gave them hotel vouchers for day rooms at the Four Points and the LAX Hilton.
I asked to go on the volunteer list for the 110PM flight, and the agent said the computer would not let them put me on anymore than 4 hours in advance of departure, but that flight was overbooked by 20 people.
I had my breakfast, and then went to the club which was pretty nice. Nice charis in the workstation cubes. I used my laptop until the batter died (charger in checked bag), etc. The club agent put me on the volunteer list for the new flight, and this time I was really number 1 on the list.
After getting bored with the club and its atmospheer, I went back out to the gate area. There was a basketball team from one of the CA universities, and the place went crazy when they got off the flight they were arriving on. The 110PM to PHL did not actually over-sell, so I got on. It seemed like all the flights were overbooked out of LAX. I had dreams of getting like 3 transportation vouchers, hotel accommodations, etc., but again I figure I was lucky to get the one since it was not the flight I was booked on.
LAX PHL was on a 767, and similar service. FA's not as friendly, though ok. They did have two hot towel services, and the Sunday was served in a glass cup.
The flight left LAX late, and arrived late into PHL so as to give me theoretically about 8 minutes to get to a different concourse. My connection was still showing on time. I went over to the connecting gate, arriving about two minutes after the scheduled on time departure time. The gate was still full of people, and the flight was obviously delayed. The gate agent was on the phone talking about how they had thru pax from wherever the airplane came in from, and how they couldn't find seats, and that it wasn't oversold or they would just take extra seats, and asking somebody on the phone "what should we do." I asked if they were going to need volunteers, and she just said "no," so I don't know what exactly went on or what they did.
The flight left about 15 minutes late or so, and then was like number 6 for take off. This was a bit nostalgic from the days I flew CO mostly, and reminded me a lot of EWR. Though perhaps at EWR you would be 20th to take off. PHL does always seem to be a very chaotic place more so than other hubs.
I got to BOS, and went down to baggage service to inquire about my bag that preceeded me by several hours. They entered my bag tag number in the computer, and said the bag was "on hand," which is apparently some status a bag can have. The agent got the bag, and said that if bags are not claimed they keep them "on hand" for 4 days, and then send them to PIT. I don't know what happens once they get to PIT, but perhaps I can find that out another day. The agent said it was particularly difficult to figure out where bags belonged when multipple airlines were involved in an itinerary.
I was hoping that the agent, who recognized me, would ask how I got so dleayed and offer me a cab voucher, but she didn't. And because I still felt it had been a pretty good stroke of luck that they put me on the over-sold flight I did not ask for a cab voucher on my own, though usually if delayed I have found they typically will give you one.
I set out from BOS to my house once again completing a trip that was not all routine, not all boring, and had those twists that are the key to really making travel interesting and fun.
A couple of other notes:
1. The 767 has foot rests and the seat reclines back further than the A321, though 767 does not have laptop ports;
2. A friend staying at the Marriott said he could not find the internet connection box. Not sure if it is only on some floors like the Hilton?