FlyByMike
Sep 15, 01, 9:55 pm
This is my first trip report. I'm not so much writing it for the exotic location I traveled to, but rather for the details of the trip during this unfortunate travel week.
My originally scheduled flight for 8pm was canceled, so I rebooked for an earlier flight. I asked for an aisle seat towards the front and they gave me 4E in first (MD80) so I was happy. I have never used my upgrades (I plan to trade them in for miles) so going in first class is a treat to me. Before I left I cleaned out my laptop bag. I found a screwdriver that I had never seen in there before and decided I should probably take it out. On the news they were recommending getting to O'Hare 2.5 hours early so that's what I planned for. My flight was at 4:40pm so I left for the Blue Line at 1:15. There were 3 of Chicago's finest staked out at the blue line stop I take (Chicago Ave). Usually there are never police there. The train to O'Hare was very full, with most of the people going all the way to O'Hare. I got to the airport at around 2:15. As I was going up the escalator to the check in counters, I saw tons of people. Then I turned my head towards the First Class/Platinum/Gold check-in and saw no one! I walked straight up to an agent with no wait. I checked my one bag and then she asked me if I had a carry-on and asked if I had any sharp objects inside it, to which I said that I left my screwdriver at home. I got my boarding pass and on I went. I was traveling on an e-ticket, and did not have the receipt. Just after the check-in but before security there was someone making sure you had a boarding pass in order to get into the security area. Then right before going through the metal detector, there was someone asking for ID and comparing that to your boarding pass. I sent my laptop through the conveyor and walked through. I got through unscathed.
Well, I had tons of time to kill before my flight so I sat at my gate and read my book. The 4:40 flight was later posted to leave at 5:05. We boarded around 4:45. At about 5:30 the captain came on and said that he and the crew had just deadheaded here and he needed to leave the plane for a few minutes and that it would take about 20 minutes to finish up some security checks. I think he was just hungry. Meanwhile we were served a couple drinks in first. About 20 minutes later the captain came on and clarified what the security checks were that they had to do. It had something to do with getting the gross weight and wing stablizer (?) info before takeoff. He said that before, they were able to get that information "on the fly". We took off at 6pm. Along the way he said we were scheduled to land at 8:10 EST and considering the situation, only an hour late was pretty good. Most of us agreed. First class was only half full, and coach had a lot of empty seats as well.
We were served drinks in glass glasses, and mixed nuts in ceramic cups. The snack was veggie pizza or a chicken quesadilla. I had the quesadilla, which came with grapes and a cookie. There was plastic silverware.
The guy sitting next to me was a fellow Platinum. He was stuck in Las Vegas for the week, and spent the week at Caesars. One story he had was his trip to buy some clothes. He bought 4 shirts, some socks, underware, bathing suit, and sneakers. The salesperson in the shop said that most guys are just buying 1 or 2 shirts and that most guys seem ok wearing their socks more than once. That's probably true.
So we got to Buffalo at 8:10pm. The airport was pretty dead. My parents picked me up. Outside we walked through the now unused parking lot and my dad pointed out a sign telling people where they could find their now towed away vehicles. Then off we went. All in all it was a pretty good trip. I don't think I will be getting to the airport so early next time though.
My originally scheduled flight for 8pm was canceled, so I rebooked for an earlier flight. I asked for an aisle seat towards the front and they gave me 4E in first (MD80) so I was happy. I have never used my upgrades (I plan to trade them in for miles) so going in first class is a treat to me. Before I left I cleaned out my laptop bag. I found a screwdriver that I had never seen in there before and decided I should probably take it out. On the news they were recommending getting to O'Hare 2.5 hours early so that's what I planned for. My flight was at 4:40pm so I left for the Blue Line at 1:15. There were 3 of Chicago's finest staked out at the blue line stop I take (Chicago Ave). Usually there are never police there. The train to O'Hare was very full, with most of the people going all the way to O'Hare. I got to the airport at around 2:15. As I was going up the escalator to the check in counters, I saw tons of people. Then I turned my head towards the First Class/Platinum/Gold check-in and saw no one! I walked straight up to an agent with no wait. I checked my one bag and then she asked me if I had a carry-on and asked if I had any sharp objects inside it, to which I said that I left my screwdriver at home. I got my boarding pass and on I went. I was traveling on an e-ticket, and did not have the receipt. Just after the check-in but before security there was someone making sure you had a boarding pass in order to get into the security area. Then right before going through the metal detector, there was someone asking for ID and comparing that to your boarding pass. I sent my laptop through the conveyor and walked through. I got through unscathed.
Well, I had tons of time to kill before my flight so I sat at my gate and read my book. The 4:40 flight was later posted to leave at 5:05. We boarded around 4:45. At about 5:30 the captain came on and said that he and the crew had just deadheaded here and he needed to leave the plane for a few minutes and that it would take about 20 minutes to finish up some security checks. I think he was just hungry. Meanwhile we were served a couple drinks in first. About 20 minutes later the captain came on and clarified what the security checks were that they had to do. It had something to do with getting the gross weight and wing stablizer (?) info before takeoff. He said that before, they were able to get that information "on the fly". We took off at 6pm. Along the way he said we were scheduled to land at 8:10 EST and considering the situation, only an hour late was pretty good. Most of us agreed. First class was only half full, and coach had a lot of empty seats as well.
We were served drinks in glass glasses, and mixed nuts in ceramic cups. The snack was veggie pizza or a chicken quesadilla. I had the quesadilla, which came with grapes and a cookie. There was plastic silverware.
The guy sitting next to me was a fellow Platinum. He was stuck in Las Vegas for the week, and spent the week at Caesars. One story he had was his trip to buy some clothes. He bought 4 shirts, some socks, underware, bathing suit, and sneakers. The salesperson in the shop said that most guys are just buying 1 or 2 shirts and that most guys seem ok wearing their socks more than once. That's probably true.
So we got to Buffalo at 8:10pm. The airport was pretty dead. My parents picked me up. Outside we walked through the now unused parking lot and my dad pointed out a sign telling people where they could find their now towed away vehicles. Then off we went. All in all it was a pretty good trip. I don't think I will be getting to the airport so early next time though.