Indurain
Jun 18, 02, 7:44 pm
(Part I)
On-again, off-again…
A technical fire flares up in Korea, I’m summoned to put it out. They book me on the red-eye while we try to resolve things remotely. I make calls to rearrange personal commitments. The fire is out, everyone is happy, and my trip is canceled. Friday before the Chicago Do, fire flares up again, and I need to be out there ASAP. This being the time and place for World Cup, the best tickets corporate travel can hand me are on Korean Air. For those of you not familiar with who I am, well, my status in life changed rather dramatically in the last year, and I am no longer willing to take big gambles on my life like flying on an airline distinguished as one of the world’s most dangerous. I make a few calls and finally secure a flight out on United, the Monday after the Do. Now I need to repack for 2 weeks instead of 2 days.
Why did I do this again?
Honeybaby drives me to LAX bright and early Saturday. I enter Terminal 7 tugging 2 rollaboard suitcases and 2 laptops, semiconscious of the fact that I’m not as young as I used to be and can longer afford to stay up late doing laundry and repacking for a changed trip. I swipe my card in the “Easy” machine to check in. It asks me where I’m going and it takes me a while to find the letters “O” “R” and “D” on the touch-screen kepboard. The “Easy” machine thinks for a moment and tells me that I’m too ugly for a machine upgrade and it must be handled by an equally ugly human. I manage to flag down a human, who typed and typed and typed then asked where I’m going and what’s my name and did I pack my bags and did anyone give me their valuables and how will I support my upgrade. I finally get the boarding pass and ask about the secret elite security line. It must really be secret because she said it doesn’t exist. It turned out to be okay because the longest line was only 3 deep.
I enter the 1K center to ticket the new itinerary. Keep in mind now, I’m opting out of a Y-fare on Korean Air paid for by the company in favor of an equivalent on UA out of my own pocket (to be reimbursed later), and I’m making two extra connections. The agent in the 1K center, who is not a regular nor anyone I recognized, was not impressed with my attempt to give them business and maintain her employment. She coldly processes my seat change requests without telling me what new seats I got, coldly took my credit card and charged the 4-figure Y-fare, and bluntly tells me there are no upgrades available and I’m waitlisted on everything. She then hands me the blue-jacketed itinerary, which I later discovered is actually a paper ticket. I think I walked out of there a whole foot shorter than when I entered.
LAX-ORD UA54 N212UA
The flight boards and departs on time despite being quite full. This is my first time on a 2-class 777, and I’m not impressed. The crew, on the other hand, was excellent. I received a pre-departure drink, a burrito breakfast tray, and drink refills throughout the 3 hour flight. There was a movie on the screens but I listened to Channel 9 instead. We arrived several minutes early. My 2 bags came out last.
The windy Do
I took the Blue EL and followed AnnaS’ directions to my $47 room at the Hyatt. There’s plenty of trip reports and pictures from the big Do, so I’ll just concentrate on some of my experiences. The weather on Saturday was warmer than its been in California, and I worked up quite a sweat walking to the hotel. I also tried to walk to the main event, but Yahoo is no AnnaS when it comes to giving directions, and they sent me to S. Franklin instead of North, and it took me almost an hour to find the restaurant. After Sunday brunch, where I found some of Chicago’s highest-dwelling spiders on the 95th floor of the Hancock, I walked over to the Sears Tower for a visit. Upon returning to the hotel, I was able to enjoy a fine meal thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Belle, and watched the Lakers put the Kings to bed before I do the same myself.
This is why I stay United
Since I’m still waitlisted for all upgrades, I thought I’d make a last-ditch effort before giving up for good. I called the secret number and spoke with the secret elite agent about my itinerary. She pulled up the record and remarked, “what a mess!” Apparently the reason I’ve not cleared a thing is I’m not on the priority list. Why a 1K agent at the 1K center would not put a 1K customer on the priority list is beyond me. She proceeded to process all upgrades, and now only SEA-NRT would not clear, because there’s only 1 seat left. Now comes the above-and-beyond part. She checked status and fare-paid for everyone on the waitlists, and I had the highest status and highest fare paid. She then contacted inventory management, who agreed that I should be upgraded with those qualifications. 8 hours before my trip, all segments are upgraded. Good airline or bad, this effort was one in a million!
Time to go!
An obvious indication of having too great a time is oversleeping the next day. I completely ignored the 5AM wake-up call, and bolted up when the “Easy” update message arrived on my phone at 6:30AM. The cab driver says 20-40 minutes, but we arrived at the terminal just shy of 8AM. I thought I’m going to miss the flight for sure. I was wrong. There was no waiting at the business class check-in. The agent was very quick, and attached my SWU to the SEA-NRT portion of the boarding pass. Security was 2 deep, and also very quick. I must say, the funky tunnel looks even funkier when you’re in a rush and sleep-deprived.
ORD-SEA UA755 N226UA
This is a 3-class aircraft. I settle in and dial up Channel 9 – nothing. I flip through all the channels, and only 9 and 0 are filled with silence. I ask an FA and he says the captain made it clear there will be no Channel 9 on this flight. Bummer. We taxi slowly and in a round-about manner as rain beats down on the wing – the captain is hiding something, we must have been hit with a ground hold. Sure enough, a 15-minute ATC west-bound ground hold turns out to be a 1 hour delay arriving SEA. My original 2-hour connection had been cut in half. I express my worry to the working FA and the deadheading FA sitting next to me. They assure me this is the aircraft continuing to NRT. Don’t they need 2 hours to turn the plane? I’m still feeling uneasy.
Sleepy in Seattle
I dash out the gate to check the monitors – 875 is 4 gates away. Had a few minutes to spare upon reaching the gate, so I called Honeybaby before entering the 1K center. Who do I see as I open the door but the famous Trish! Wow! I introduce myself, and she checked the status of my flight briefly. This really made my day. I bought a shotglass in one of the shops before heading back to the gate for boarding.
SEA-NRT UA875 N218UA
My first transpacific flight on a two-engine aircraft is about to get underway. I flagged an FA to ask if they take meal choices from the back or from the front, and she replies, “actually, we’re supposed to take it in order of your status.” YES! As we taxi, an FA is already hopping around taking meal choices. I had Obento as usual, sipped on an unknown wine, and watched a couple of movies before taking a nap. Before long, the “seato belto” sign came on and we landed on the old runway at the New Tokyo International. NRT now has 2 runways, but still not enough gates. We parked at remote area on the tarmac and took a “Friendly Airport Limousine” bus to the terminal, where we were subjected to security by professionals. Upon entering one of the RCCs, I was directed to the other location because it was closer to my gate. Both were nearing full capacity.
NRT-ICN UA837 N120UA
This is the 2nd of two almost full flights to ICN inside of an hour. This World Cup thing must be a gold mine for these two countries. My first time in 15A made me appreciate the 747-400 even more. Forget seat costs and fuel savings, bring these birds back from the desert! Size does matter! A nice sunset flight and a filling Sobe noodle dinner puts me right to sleep for the remainder of the flight. I awake just before final approach. The captain makes a carrier landing on the still-new runway at ICN, and apologizes after parking. He must be as impressed as I was with the new airport. Everyone makes a mad dash, trying to beat the crowd at immigration, which did not take as long as the walk to reach the immigration area. My priority-tagged bags were already on the carousel when I got to baggage claim.
Happy to see me?
Everyone from immigration officers to customs agents were in a jovial mood, and I soon find out why. There were periods of extremely loud cheering just outside the secure area in arrivals, and I thought to myself, “are they that happy that I’ve arrived?” Turns out World Cup fever is in full swing as the hosting Korean team is playing its first game against an opponent in the group, Poland. As I exchange currency, the entire airport erupts in cheering so loud it rivals the cowbells in Sacramento during the NBA playoffs. The Korean team had just scored their first goal against Poland. As I found out later, practically the whole of Korea was cheering! The plasma TVs at the airport shows the game, the active-matrix flat screen on the bus was showing the game, security and check-in counter folks at the hotel were watching the game, even the elevator leading to my upgraded room had a TV screen showing the game! I’m not much of a soccer guy, but its hard not to be caught in all the frenzy in such an electrified atmosphere.
GMP-TAE OZ8301 HL7588
Another early morning wake-up call, if you haven't figured it out by now, I'm NOT a morning person. Check-out from the Grand Hilton was quick and I walk past a gaggle of security people before hopping into the waiting cab. Enter the airport grounds, we wait in a queue as police check each private vehicle, using mirrors to check the bottom and looking into the trunk, we are waved through because we’re in a taxi. Kimpo’s (now called Gimpo) former international terminals have been converted to domestic terminals serving KE and OZ. The agent at check-in asks if there are delicate items in the bags and I say yes. She asks what it is and I say it’s a laptop computer. Wrong answer. She says, “I’m sorry sir, notebook PCs are not permitted in checked luggage.” There’s no line at security and I walk through without getting wanded. Lots of time before boarding and there’s plenty of plasma TVs showing last night’s game. 15 minutes before flight they make an announcement for boarding. What was an empty area seconds ago is now swamped with people. Boarding is somewhat of a controlled chaos; its amazing to watch a planeload of people board and settle into their seats in less than 15 minutes. Then again, hardly anyone brought anything larger than a handbag onboard. Just about everyone was reading newspapers and nobody paid attention to the safety video. Departure was on time and cruise for the 35 minute flight was at 15,000 ft. The flight attendants served a small cup of drink to everyone and picked up all the trash just in time for final approach. No photography allowed at Daegu airport, which is a military base. A total of 5 bags came out of the baggage carrousel including both of mine.
[This message has been edited by Indurain (edited 06-19-2002).]
On-again, off-again…
A technical fire flares up in Korea, I’m summoned to put it out. They book me on the red-eye while we try to resolve things remotely. I make calls to rearrange personal commitments. The fire is out, everyone is happy, and my trip is canceled. Friday before the Chicago Do, fire flares up again, and I need to be out there ASAP. This being the time and place for World Cup, the best tickets corporate travel can hand me are on Korean Air. For those of you not familiar with who I am, well, my status in life changed rather dramatically in the last year, and I am no longer willing to take big gambles on my life like flying on an airline distinguished as one of the world’s most dangerous. I make a few calls and finally secure a flight out on United, the Monday after the Do. Now I need to repack for 2 weeks instead of 2 days.
Why did I do this again?
Honeybaby drives me to LAX bright and early Saturday. I enter Terminal 7 tugging 2 rollaboard suitcases and 2 laptops, semiconscious of the fact that I’m not as young as I used to be and can longer afford to stay up late doing laundry and repacking for a changed trip. I swipe my card in the “Easy” machine to check in. It asks me where I’m going and it takes me a while to find the letters “O” “R” and “D” on the touch-screen kepboard. The “Easy” machine thinks for a moment and tells me that I’m too ugly for a machine upgrade and it must be handled by an equally ugly human. I manage to flag down a human, who typed and typed and typed then asked where I’m going and what’s my name and did I pack my bags and did anyone give me their valuables and how will I support my upgrade. I finally get the boarding pass and ask about the secret elite security line. It must really be secret because she said it doesn’t exist. It turned out to be okay because the longest line was only 3 deep.
I enter the 1K center to ticket the new itinerary. Keep in mind now, I’m opting out of a Y-fare on Korean Air paid for by the company in favor of an equivalent on UA out of my own pocket (to be reimbursed later), and I’m making two extra connections. The agent in the 1K center, who is not a regular nor anyone I recognized, was not impressed with my attempt to give them business and maintain her employment. She coldly processes my seat change requests without telling me what new seats I got, coldly took my credit card and charged the 4-figure Y-fare, and bluntly tells me there are no upgrades available and I’m waitlisted on everything. She then hands me the blue-jacketed itinerary, which I later discovered is actually a paper ticket. I think I walked out of there a whole foot shorter than when I entered.
LAX-ORD UA54 N212UA
The flight boards and departs on time despite being quite full. This is my first time on a 2-class 777, and I’m not impressed. The crew, on the other hand, was excellent. I received a pre-departure drink, a burrito breakfast tray, and drink refills throughout the 3 hour flight. There was a movie on the screens but I listened to Channel 9 instead. We arrived several minutes early. My 2 bags came out last.
The windy Do
I took the Blue EL and followed AnnaS’ directions to my $47 room at the Hyatt. There’s plenty of trip reports and pictures from the big Do, so I’ll just concentrate on some of my experiences. The weather on Saturday was warmer than its been in California, and I worked up quite a sweat walking to the hotel. I also tried to walk to the main event, but Yahoo is no AnnaS when it comes to giving directions, and they sent me to S. Franklin instead of North, and it took me almost an hour to find the restaurant. After Sunday brunch, where I found some of Chicago’s highest-dwelling spiders on the 95th floor of the Hancock, I walked over to the Sears Tower for a visit. Upon returning to the hotel, I was able to enjoy a fine meal thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Belle, and watched the Lakers put the Kings to bed before I do the same myself.
This is why I stay United
Since I’m still waitlisted for all upgrades, I thought I’d make a last-ditch effort before giving up for good. I called the secret number and spoke with the secret elite agent about my itinerary. She pulled up the record and remarked, “what a mess!” Apparently the reason I’ve not cleared a thing is I’m not on the priority list. Why a 1K agent at the 1K center would not put a 1K customer on the priority list is beyond me. She proceeded to process all upgrades, and now only SEA-NRT would not clear, because there’s only 1 seat left. Now comes the above-and-beyond part. She checked status and fare-paid for everyone on the waitlists, and I had the highest status and highest fare paid. She then contacted inventory management, who agreed that I should be upgraded with those qualifications. 8 hours before my trip, all segments are upgraded. Good airline or bad, this effort was one in a million!
Time to go!
An obvious indication of having too great a time is oversleeping the next day. I completely ignored the 5AM wake-up call, and bolted up when the “Easy” update message arrived on my phone at 6:30AM. The cab driver says 20-40 minutes, but we arrived at the terminal just shy of 8AM. I thought I’m going to miss the flight for sure. I was wrong. There was no waiting at the business class check-in. The agent was very quick, and attached my SWU to the SEA-NRT portion of the boarding pass. Security was 2 deep, and also very quick. I must say, the funky tunnel looks even funkier when you’re in a rush and sleep-deprived.
ORD-SEA UA755 N226UA
This is a 3-class aircraft. I settle in and dial up Channel 9 – nothing. I flip through all the channels, and only 9 and 0 are filled with silence. I ask an FA and he says the captain made it clear there will be no Channel 9 on this flight. Bummer. We taxi slowly and in a round-about manner as rain beats down on the wing – the captain is hiding something, we must have been hit with a ground hold. Sure enough, a 15-minute ATC west-bound ground hold turns out to be a 1 hour delay arriving SEA. My original 2-hour connection had been cut in half. I express my worry to the working FA and the deadheading FA sitting next to me. They assure me this is the aircraft continuing to NRT. Don’t they need 2 hours to turn the plane? I’m still feeling uneasy.
Sleepy in Seattle
I dash out the gate to check the monitors – 875 is 4 gates away. Had a few minutes to spare upon reaching the gate, so I called Honeybaby before entering the 1K center. Who do I see as I open the door but the famous Trish! Wow! I introduce myself, and she checked the status of my flight briefly. This really made my day. I bought a shotglass in one of the shops before heading back to the gate for boarding.
SEA-NRT UA875 N218UA
My first transpacific flight on a two-engine aircraft is about to get underway. I flagged an FA to ask if they take meal choices from the back or from the front, and she replies, “actually, we’re supposed to take it in order of your status.” YES! As we taxi, an FA is already hopping around taking meal choices. I had Obento as usual, sipped on an unknown wine, and watched a couple of movies before taking a nap. Before long, the “seato belto” sign came on and we landed on the old runway at the New Tokyo International. NRT now has 2 runways, but still not enough gates. We parked at remote area on the tarmac and took a “Friendly Airport Limousine” bus to the terminal, where we were subjected to security by professionals. Upon entering one of the RCCs, I was directed to the other location because it was closer to my gate. Both were nearing full capacity.
NRT-ICN UA837 N120UA
This is the 2nd of two almost full flights to ICN inside of an hour. This World Cup thing must be a gold mine for these two countries. My first time in 15A made me appreciate the 747-400 even more. Forget seat costs and fuel savings, bring these birds back from the desert! Size does matter! A nice sunset flight and a filling Sobe noodle dinner puts me right to sleep for the remainder of the flight. I awake just before final approach. The captain makes a carrier landing on the still-new runway at ICN, and apologizes after parking. He must be as impressed as I was with the new airport. Everyone makes a mad dash, trying to beat the crowd at immigration, which did not take as long as the walk to reach the immigration area. My priority-tagged bags were already on the carousel when I got to baggage claim.
Happy to see me?
Everyone from immigration officers to customs agents were in a jovial mood, and I soon find out why. There were periods of extremely loud cheering just outside the secure area in arrivals, and I thought to myself, “are they that happy that I’ve arrived?” Turns out World Cup fever is in full swing as the hosting Korean team is playing its first game against an opponent in the group, Poland. As I exchange currency, the entire airport erupts in cheering so loud it rivals the cowbells in Sacramento during the NBA playoffs. The Korean team had just scored their first goal against Poland. As I found out later, practically the whole of Korea was cheering! The plasma TVs at the airport shows the game, the active-matrix flat screen on the bus was showing the game, security and check-in counter folks at the hotel were watching the game, even the elevator leading to my upgraded room had a TV screen showing the game! I’m not much of a soccer guy, but its hard not to be caught in all the frenzy in such an electrified atmosphere.
GMP-TAE OZ8301 HL7588
Another early morning wake-up call, if you haven't figured it out by now, I'm NOT a morning person. Check-out from the Grand Hilton was quick and I walk past a gaggle of security people before hopping into the waiting cab. Enter the airport grounds, we wait in a queue as police check each private vehicle, using mirrors to check the bottom and looking into the trunk, we are waved through because we’re in a taxi. Kimpo’s (now called Gimpo) former international terminals have been converted to domestic terminals serving KE and OZ. The agent at check-in asks if there are delicate items in the bags and I say yes. She asks what it is and I say it’s a laptop computer. Wrong answer. She says, “I’m sorry sir, notebook PCs are not permitted in checked luggage.” There’s no line at security and I walk through without getting wanded. Lots of time before boarding and there’s plenty of plasma TVs showing last night’s game. 15 minutes before flight they make an announcement for boarding. What was an empty area seconds ago is now swamped with people. Boarding is somewhat of a controlled chaos; its amazing to watch a planeload of people board and settle into their seats in less than 15 minutes. Then again, hardly anyone brought anything larger than a handbag onboard. Just about everyone was reading newspapers and nobody paid attention to the safety video. Departure was on time and cruise for the 35 minute flight was at 15,000 ft. The flight attendants served a small cup of drink to everyone and picked up all the trash just in time for final approach. No photography allowed at Daegu airport, which is a military base. A total of 5 bags came out of the baggage carrousel including both of mine.
[This message has been edited by Indurain (edited 06-19-2002).]