UNITED959
Sep 29, 02, 10:38 am
In typical last minute fashion, a friend informed me he’d be in Las Vegas for the weekend. I was pretty certain I would not go as a 3-day advance purchase on UA usually means $1,000+, at best. I found a Friday-Saturday fare for $410. Not bad for making the reservation with less than 24 hours to departure.
September 27, 2002
UA 717
ORD – LAS
B757-200; Seat 6D
Scheduled Departure: 8:25 a.m.
Wheels Up: 9:01 a.m.
Lots of a.m. O’Hare traffic. With SIN having been my most recent trip, sure did miss the behemoth 744s and 777s. Upgrade to F was with 500s, and it reminded me to book an int’l aircraft whenever possible. Not that the ’57 is a bad plane, but the recline/footrest in C, airshow, and psyche’s contentment of being on a “big plane” makes it worthwhile.
LAS is a great destination, but its nature attracts many once-a-year travelers. During the climb, FAs had to remind two passengers to remain seated. If I had that power, my announcement would be something more like, “Hey you in the red shirt, you can’t be standing.”
Meal, as usual, was a fruit plate or bistro eggs. Order was not taken according to status. I really enjoy those eggs for some reason, especially out of ORD. (More about that later.) The movie was some Sandra Bullock flick—-nice to look at her, plot left little to be desired. The bumpy touchdown was at 10:07 a.m., but waiting for a gate to open delayed us some 15-20 minutes. Bag carousel took FOREVER to start spinning—-I think it’s a Las Vegas mandate to force anxiously awaiting passengers into pumping ca$h into the adjacent slot machines. Once the red light and buzzer sounded, my bag was #2.
Vegas was good. I don’t know why that little city amazes me so much. I can watch the Bellagio water show all day. I am also a little poorer now, due to greedy (and inebriated http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif) bets at the roulette tables. The bright side is that there was a Playboy Playmate search in town (at the Palms), and having a resident/friend provided free entry via “back door,” avoiding the 300+ person line (no exaggeration).
September 28, 2002
UA 1224
LAS – ORD
B757-200; Seat 4C
Scheduled Departure: 9:43 a.m.
Wheels Up: 10:10 a.m.
What a quick trip. Check in went well—-I took the gamble on using the 500s to upgrade vs. HK49, and I did have luck in this case. The 500s are nice, but I hate the level of uncertainty, especially being only Premier right now (but that’s about to change). The very seniorCSR was extremely friendly, and despite my childish 23 y/o face, she was happy to chat with me and placed a priority sticker on my bag without my asking. (A rare occurrence when you’re a ‘younger’ F pax.) Vegas security is thorough (at least it appears to be), but does not have a priority line. So even though I don’t fly Southworst, I still have to wait in their line. Breakfast was at Ruby’s—-although I was hoping it’d have the same menu as the Redondo Beach location. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif During the boarding process, a couple in front of me had dyed purple/bluish hair, tight retro jeans with darker shirts, shoes, etc., and facial piercings—-not too shocking they got the surprise check. They were not traveling in F, but both had gold BPs. I think they were a bit offended, and I’m certain they knew their non-traditional appearance was the reason for being selected. Once on board, I played musical seats twice due to scattered couples. I noticed around row 2 that there was clear plastic tubing duct taped to the light/ac/attendant call panel leading over to the window. The source was inside the overhead bin, and a doubled-up piece of tape spaced the bin door to prevent crimping the tube. Having never seen this, I was somewhat confused. Did the O2 in that seat not work correctly? How do they pick who gets the “bad O2 seat?” Later on, I discovered the gentleman in that seat required O2 for health purposes. Very reassuring because I began to wonder if UA was seriously considering maintenance cutbacks.
Plane pushed back and I heard on Channel 9 we needed a mechanic. Odd, since we were being pushed away, but this was due to an incoming 737, or “guppy” as our captain referred to it, needing our spot. Maintenance problem was that the left engine would not start automatically, so a mechanic needed to override it manually. (Is there a pull cord like my lawn mower?) http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif After a third try, the “normal” way, the engine started up, not even needing the mechanic. Perhaps a few vulgarities and pounding the dash works in airplanes too? Wheels up from LAS at 10:10—-no takeoff line whatsoever.
Movie was some Hugh Grant creation—no thanks. Meal...three guesses...I got the eggs again. But in reference to my earlier comment, they were not as good as those on flights ex ORD. Has anybody noticed a difference between ORD’s bistro eggs and those of other airports?
The purser shook hands with all F passengers prior to landing, and service was excellent, to say the least. I was asked if I wanted a beverage at least 6 times on the flight, and both F FAs roamed the aisle very frequently.
[This message has been edited by UNITED959 (edited 09-29-2002).]
September 27, 2002
UA 717
ORD – LAS
B757-200; Seat 6D
Scheduled Departure: 8:25 a.m.
Wheels Up: 9:01 a.m.
Lots of a.m. O’Hare traffic. With SIN having been my most recent trip, sure did miss the behemoth 744s and 777s. Upgrade to F was with 500s, and it reminded me to book an int’l aircraft whenever possible. Not that the ’57 is a bad plane, but the recline/footrest in C, airshow, and psyche’s contentment of being on a “big plane” makes it worthwhile.
LAS is a great destination, but its nature attracts many once-a-year travelers. During the climb, FAs had to remind two passengers to remain seated. If I had that power, my announcement would be something more like, “Hey you in the red shirt, you can’t be standing.”
Meal, as usual, was a fruit plate or bistro eggs. Order was not taken according to status. I really enjoy those eggs for some reason, especially out of ORD. (More about that later.) The movie was some Sandra Bullock flick—-nice to look at her, plot left little to be desired. The bumpy touchdown was at 10:07 a.m., but waiting for a gate to open delayed us some 15-20 minutes. Bag carousel took FOREVER to start spinning—-I think it’s a Las Vegas mandate to force anxiously awaiting passengers into pumping ca$h into the adjacent slot machines. Once the red light and buzzer sounded, my bag was #2.
Vegas was good. I don’t know why that little city amazes me so much. I can watch the Bellagio water show all day. I am also a little poorer now, due to greedy (and inebriated http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif) bets at the roulette tables. The bright side is that there was a Playboy Playmate search in town (at the Palms), and having a resident/friend provided free entry via “back door,” avoiding the 300+ person line (no exaggeration).
September 28, 2002
UA 1224
LAS – ORD
B757-200; Seat 4C
Scheduled Departure: 9:43 a.m.
Wheels Up: 10:10 a.m.
What a quick trip. Check in went well—-I took the gamble on using the 500s to upgrade vs. HK49, and I did have luck in this case. The 500s are nice, but I hate the level of uncertainty, especially being only Premier right now (but that’s about to change). The very seniorCSR was extremely friendly, and despite my childish 23 y/o face, she was happy to chat with me and placed a priority sticker on my bag without my asking. (A rare occurrence when you’re a ‘younger’ F pax.) Vegas security is thorough (at least it appears to be), but does not have a priority line. So even though I don’t fly Southworst, I still have to wait in their line. Breakfast was at Ruby’s—-although I was hoping it’d have the same menu as the Redondo Beach location. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif During the boarding process, a couple in front of me had dyed purple/bluish hair, tight retro jeans with darker shirts, shoes, etc., and facial piercings—-not too shocking they got the surprise check. They were not traveling in F, but both had gold BPs. I think they were a bit offended, and I’m certain they knew their non-traditional appearance was the reason for being selected. Once on board, I played musical seats twice due to scattered couples. I noticed around row 2 that there was clear plastic tubing duct taped to the light/ac/attendant call panel leading over to the window. The source was inside the overhead bin, and a doubled-up piece of tape spaced the bin door to prevent crimping the tube. Having never seen this, I was somewhat confused. Did the O2 in that seat not work correctly? How do they pick who gets the “bad O2 seat?” Later on, I discovered the gentleman in that seat required O2 for health purposes. Very reassuring because I began to wonder if UA was seriously considering maintenance cutbacks.
Plane pushed back and I heard on Channel 9 we needed a mechanic. Odd, since we were being pushed away, but this was due to an incoming 737, or “guppy” as our captain referred to it, needing our spot. Maintenance problem was that the left engine would not start automatically, so a mechanic needed to override it manually. (Is there a pull cord like my lawn mower?) http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif After a third try, the “normal” way, the engine started up, not even needing the mechanic. Perhaps a few vulgarities and pounding the dash works in airplanes too? Wheels up from LAS at 10:10—-no takeoff line whatsoever.
Movie was some Hugh Grant creation—no thanks. Meal...three guesses...I got the eggs again. But in reference to my earlier comment, they were not as good as those on flights ex ORD. Has anybody noticed a difference between ORD’s bistro eggs and those of other airports?
The purser shook hands with all F passengers prior to landing, and service was excellent, to say the least. I was asked if I wanted a beverage at least 6 times on the flight, and both F FAs roamed the aisle very frequently.
[This message has been edited by UNITED959 (edited 09-29-2002).]