SMessier
Dec 18, 01, 9:43 am
[If I don't start posting this I'll never finish it, so here goes the beginning.]
A December Spectacular!
Well, there was only one way of following up on the November Extravaganza, and so for this reason alone here comes the December Spectacular.
As part of our continuing efforts to improve customer satisfaction, this trip report marks the return of the SMessier Scoring System (SSS), now made with entirely organic ingredients. The SMessier scoring system is only licensed for entertainment purposes. Any reproduction, in whole or in part, requires the express permission of Major League Baseball.
In addition, the following features are now appearing for the very first time:
* Gold Upgrade Tally (GUT): Provides an easy to use scorecard of the complimentary upgrades to FC received.
* Miles Until Gold (MUG): Provides an up to date account of how many miles must be flown in order to renew Gold Status for 2002. Will I make it? Or is a downgrade to Silver in the future?
And they're off....
Ah, the lovely month of December, so rich of traditions dear to us all, such as the airing of grievances, the aluminum pole, and the feats of strength. I am speaking, of course, of that special time that is Festivus. And nothing says Festivus quite like a 2-day, 8-segment run to PHX and back.
Day 1/Flight 1 NW BWI-DTW
I reached a once again fairly quiet BWI on this Monday morning around 7am for my 7:55 flight. After pointing out that I had a “long day” ahead of me, the friendly agent handed me my stack of four boarding passes, though not before telling me the closest any of my four flights came to being oversold was 30 free seats on one of the legs. I guess you can’t have it all, and I resigned myself to following my planned itinerary. Though the agent remarked that I had a long day, no comments were made about this rather convoluted way of getting to PHX, though I think she got the impression I had some sort of business meeting in ATL on account of a 3h58 layover there.
Luckily I had been upgraded on this first segment [GUT 1/1] [+2 points]. After a short wait at security [+1 point] I made my way to the gate and waited patiently for FC boarding. Once aboard I settled into 2C on one of NW’s “finer” 757. We pushed back from the gate on schedule, and reached DTW on time, a mixed blessing as always given the state of this facility [+1/-1]. [MUG: 10,922 – 500 = 10,422]
Day 1/flight 2 NW DTW-ATL
Luckily I only had a short wait, and soon it was time to board NW 495 with service to ATL. Having settled into 3A [GUT 2/2], I learned that with a scheduled flying time of 87 minutes, this flight too would be meal free even in FC, and resigned myself to the usual assortment of “butter” flavored pretzels and salty peanuts. Light load or not NW did manage to fill up FC, but being the friendly social fellow that I am I chose not to interact with my neighbor. Having made it to ATL [MUG: 10,422 – 605 = 9,817] ahead of schedule [+1 point], I looked around for my “business meeting partner” who was sadly missing. Choosing instead to get some work done, I had but a few minutes to wait before FT’s B747-437B materialized and we began talking business.
Once we had left the rather desolate area where NW’s 4 gates can be found, I was rather impressed by ATL and was reminded that just because NW’s main domestic hub sucks it doesn’t mean that all other airlines’ main domestic hubs have to suck. Between flight information monitors one can actually read, a list of food outlets whose highlight is not Taco Bell, this is one nice airport (with the exception of the train connecting terminals which had a mind of its own that day).
We made our way to a first Crown Room Club (CRC) and boy was it ever nice. Comfy chairs (and soft cushions – I didn’t expect the Spanish inquisition though), large TV’s, drinks as far as the liver could see, a PC with an internet connection, it made NW’s WorldClub at EWR look like a janitor’s closet [+8 points to DL]. After I finished some much delayed work, I used the PC to order a Nomad II MP3 Player and resumed talking business with B747. Once the drinks were drunk, we made our way to the local TGIF for some fine dining, before picking up one of them portable DVD players from Inflight Motion Pictures.
We then went on our quest for N866DA, the airplane and not the well known FT poster. And there she was at her gate waiting to carry a load of happy passengers to CDG. With the long awaited encounter completed, we made our way to the closest CRC, which was rather busy but as impressive as the first one we had visited [+4 points.] Alas all good things must come to an end, and it was time to leave the shiny and new parts of ATL for the scrap heap that are NW’s 4 gates, which we reached just as they announced boarding.
Day 1/Flight 3 NW ATL-MSP
Assuming the sitting position in 4B [GUT: 3/3], I noticed the FC cabin was rather deserted with a total of 8 passengers. I began watching one of my movies on the DVD player but was reminded that this is a big no no and had to amuse myself with a pre-flight drink. Once airborne I was able to watch the rest of Charlie’s Angels [unfortunately, and -9 points to Bill Murray] and eat NW’s patented FC “snack” consisting of the focaccia turkey sandwich. Having reached MSP on time [+3 points] [MUG: 9,817 – 908 = 8909] , I was curious to see how NW’s other hub looked given the state of DTW. And good golly miss molly it actually looked good. I mean, the carpets were clean, there was an actual choice of food places, and one could read the TV monitors, which had colors!
I made it to my gate (estimated distance: 2.4 miles) and waited for:
Day 1/Flight 4 NW MSP-PHX
After settling in 2C [GUT: 4/4], I waited patiently for our departure, eager to get to PHX on time so I could enjoy my 7 hours there. Regrettably, a passenger on this flight was flying with hi/s/her dog, which had been sent into airport never never land by the ground crew, a situation that took well over 30 minutes to be resolved [-5 points]. As annoyed as I was, I imagined the owner of the dog had it much worse. With extra time on my hands though I was able to take a quick look at one page of the passenger manifest, which showed at least 10 Silvers sitting in Y on account of a full FC cabin. Ah, to hold on to my Gold status for next year! We arrived in PHX shortly before midnight [MUG: 8909 – 1276 = 7633]. After a phone call to the PHX Hilton and a short shuttle ride to the hotel, I was able to check in and catch almost 5 hours of sleep. Wow.
The Hilton PHX, booked on Priceline for a whopping $29, was a fine hotel and the room quite nice (and larger than a standard room at the 4Points/EWR). So let’s give out +7 points to Hilton. Having received my wake up call at the agreed upon time, I made it back to PHX at 7:10 for my 7:55 departure. Luckily no one was in line, and I quickly received another stack of 4 boarding passes from a very indifferent agent [-3 points.]
At security I set off the metal detector which meant I was asked to remove my shoes so they too could be scanned [-3 points]. I was too tired to ask the sense of this and complied.
Day 2/Flight 5 NW PHX-MSP
Once aboard in 8H [GUT: 5/5] I relaxed a bit and enjoyed not having a neighbor, as did everyone else in this half full FC cabin. While 2 weeks earlier on SEA-DTW breakfast consisted of 3 choices, that morning’s offered only the cereal and bagel option, a decent though not impressive one [-2 points.] I began watching 13 Days which turned out to be everything that Charlie’s Angels wasn’t, not that this should have been a big surprise. Luckily Kevin Costner did not drink his own urine in this particular movie. [+27 points]. In MSP [MUG: 7633 – 1276 = 6357].
Whoa – abrupt ending, eh? Fear not my friends for the best is yet to come! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
A December Spectacular!
Well, there was only one way of following up on the November Extravaganza, and so for this reason alone here comes the December Spectacular.
As part of our continuing efforts to improve customer satisfaction, this trip report marks the return of the SMessier Scoring System (SSS), now made with entirely organic ingredients. The SMessier scoring system is only licensed for entertainment purposes. Any reproduction, in whole or in part, requires the express permission of Major League Baseball.
In addition, the following features are now appearing for the very first time:
* Gold Upgrade Tally (GUT): Provides an easy to use scorecard of the complimentary upgrades to FC received.
* Miles Until Gold (MUG): Provides an up to date account of how many miles must be flown in order to renew Gold Status for 2002. Will I make it? Or is a downgrade to Silver in the future?
And they're off....
Ah, the lovely month of December, so rich of traditions dear to us all, such as the airing of grievances, the aluminum pole, and the feats of strength. I am speaking, of course, of that special time that is Festivus. And nothing says Festivus quite like a 2-day, 8-segment run to PHX and back.
Day 1/Flight 1 NW BWI-DTW
I reached a once again fairly quiet BWI on this Monday morning around 7am for my 7:55 flight. After pointing out that I had a “long day” ahead of me, the friendly agent handed me my stack of four boarding passes, though not before telling me the closest any of my four flights came to being oversold was 30 free seats on one of the legs. I guess you can’t have it all, and I resigned myself to following my planned itinerary. Though the agent remarked that I had a long day, no comments were made about this rather convoluted way of getting to PHX, though I think she got the impression I had some sort of business meeting in ATL on account of a 3h58 layover there.
Luckily I had been upgraded on this first segment [GUT 1/1] [+2 points]. After a short wait at security [+1 point] I made my way to the gate and waited patiently for FC boarding. Once aboard I settled into 2C on one of NW’s “finer” 757. We pushed back from the gate on schedule, and reached DTW on time, a mixed blessing as always given the state of this facility [+1/-1]. [MUG: 10,922 – 500 = 10,422]
Day 1/flight 2 NW DTW-ATL
Luckily I only had a short wait, and soon it was time to board NW 495 with service to ATL. Having settled into 3A [GUT 2/2], I learned that with a scheduled flying time of 87 minutes, this flight too would be meal free even in FC, and resigned myself to the usual assortment of “butter” flavored pretzels and salty peanuts. Light load or not NW did manage to fill up FC, but being the friendly social fellow that I am I chose not to interact with my neighbor. Having made it to ATL [MUG: 10,422 – 605 = 9,817] ahead of schedule [+1 point], I looked around for my “business meeting partner” who was sadly missing. Choosing instead to get some work done, I had but a few minutes to wait before FT’s B747-437B materialized and we began talking business.
Once we had left the rather desolate area where NW’s 4 gates can be found, I was rather impressed by ATL and was reminded that just because NW’s main domestic hub sucks it doesn’t mean that all other airlines’ main domestic hubs have to suck. Between flight information monitors one can actually read, a list of food outlets whose highlight is not Taco Bell, this is one nice airport (with the exception of the train connecting terminals which had a mind of its own that day).
We made our way to a first Crown Room Club (CRC) and boy was it ever nice. Comfy chairs (and soft cushions – I didn’t expect the Spanish inquisition though), large TV’s, drinks as far as the liver could see, a PC with an internet connection, it made NW’s WorldClub at EWR look like a janitor’s closet [+8 points to DL]. After I finished some much delayed work, I used the PC to order a Nomad II MP3 Player and resumed talking business with B747. Once the drinks were drunk, we made our way to the local TGIF for some fine dining, before picking up one of them portable DVD players from Inflight Motion Pictures.
We then went on our quest for N866DA, the airplane and not the well known FT poster. And there she was at her gate waiting to carry a load of happy passengers to CDG. With the long awaited encounter completed, we made our way to the closest CRC, which was rather busy but as impressive as the first one we had visited [+4 points.] Alas all good things must come to an end, and it was time to leave the shiny and new parts of ATL for the scrap heap that are NW’s 4 gates, which we reached just as they announced boarding.
Day 1/Flight 3 NW ATL-MSP
Assuming the sitting position in 4B [GUT: 3/3], I noticed the FC cabin was rather deserted with a total of 8 passengers. I began watching one of my movies on the DVD player but was reminded that this is a big no no and had to amuse myself with a pre-flight drink. Once airborne I was able to watch the rest of Charlie’s Angels [unfortunately, and -9 points to Bill Murray] and eat NW’s patented FC “snack” consisting of the focaccia turkey sandwich. Having reached MSP on time [+3 points] [MUG: 9,817 – 908 = 8909] , I was curious to see how NW’s other hub looked given the state of DTW. And good golly miss molly it actually looked good. I mean, the carpets were clean, there was an actual choice of food places, and one could read the TV monitors, which had colors!
I made it to my gate (estimated distance: 2.4 miles) and waited for:
Day 1/Flight 4 NW MSP-PHX
After settling in 2C [GUT: 4/4], I waited patiently for our departure, eager to get to PHX on time so I could enjoy my 7 hours there. Regrettably, a passenger on this flight was flying with hi/s/her dog, which had been sent into airport never never land by the ground crew, a situation that took well over 30 minutes to be resolved [-5 points]. As annoyed as I was, I imagined the owner of the dog had it much worse. With extra time on my hands though I was able to take a quick look at one page of the passenger manifest, which showed at least 10 Silvers sitting in Y on account of a full FC cabin. Ah, to hold on to my Gold status for next year! We arrived in PHX shortly before midnight [MUG: 8909 – 1276 = 7633]. After a phone call to the PHX Hilton and a short shuttle ride to the hotel, I was able to check in and catch almost 5 hours of sleep. Wow.
The Hilton PHX, booked on Priceline for a whopping $29, was a fine hotel and the room quite nice (and larger than a standard room at the 4Points/EWR). So let’s give out +7 points to Hilton. Having received my wake up call at the agreed upon time, I made it back to PHX at 7:10 for my 7:55 departure. Luckily no one was in line, and I quickly received another stack of 4 boarding passes from a very indifferent agent [-3 points.]
At security I set off the metal detector which meant I was asked to remove my shoes so they too could be scanned [-3 points]. I was too tired to ask the sense of this and complied.
Day 2/Flight 5 NW PHX-MSP
Once aboard in 8H [GUT: 5/5] I relaxed a bit and enjoyed not having a neighbor, as did everyone else in this half full FC cabin. While 2 weeks earlier on SEA-DTW breakfast consisted of 3 choices, that morning’s offered only the cereal and bagel option, a decent though not impressive one [-2 points.] I began watching 13 Days which turned out to be everything that Charlie’s Angels wasn’t, not that this should have been a big surprise. Luckily Kevin Costner did not drink his own urine in this particular movie. [+27 points]. In MSP [MUG: 7633 – 1276 = 6357].
Whoa – abrupt ending, eh? Fear not my friends for the best is yet to come! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif