dknn
Mar 19, 03, 10:38 am
This is my first trip report.
After spending a week in California apartment searching for my friend and then unpacking it was time to fly back to Norfolk. I initially flew to EVV to my friend’s hometown and from there drove cross-country to San Diego. I was surprised at how fast the drive went (3 days) and actually enjoyed the ride, except for the muffler that busted somewhere in Missouri.
03/17- US6246 operated by United (SAN-DEN), A320
Seat: 9E
I was excited about this segment because I have not flown on United since middle school and I wanted to experience the new marketing relationship between United and US Airways.
The 40-minute drive to the airport was quick and relatively traffic-free at 4:30am. Upon arrival into the terminal, the lines for United were pretty long and stretched past the EasyCheck-in kiosks. I looked for the first class line/premier and that had about 10 people in it. The 1k line was empty so I decided to use that and caught plenty of dirty stares in the process. I handed the agent my Chairman’s card and ID and she asked me if this was equivalent to 1K status. After informing her that it was, she politely processed my check-in. She commented on my itinerary and how it would require two luggage tags per bag. The whole process lasted 3 minutes.
Security was a breeze and I was ready to check out the RCC. The club did not open until 5:30 and I had 15 minutes to kill. I was flipping through my boarding passes and noticed my requested economy plus seat 8F was 12A. I had called the Chairman’s Liaison after March 1 to secure a seat in the E+ section of coach and assigned 8F. Guess they still have kinks to work out. I asked the gate agent for a new seat and was issued 9E, the last seat in E+.
About 5 minutes before 5:30 a line had formed outside the RCC. I showed the agent my US Club card, ID, and boarding pass and was greeted with a smile. After 10 minutes of exploring, I grabbed an apple juice and proceeded to leave. Before exiting, I asked one of the agents if she could change my seat assignment on a later segment. In order for her to do this, she said she had to pull my original seat assignment for the entire itinerary and reassign the seats. In this process, I lost 1D for my last segment and the segment I wanted changed was not available. This process was new to the agent and she was equally confused to why I lost 1D. I called the liaison after this ordeal and the agent on the phone confirmed I was still in 1D and to speak with a US agent in DEN.
The flight was full in First and had about 10 open seats in coach. The flight attendants made announcements for passengers to store their luggage where they are seated, as this was a full flight. I found the attendants to be curt. I noticed the flight attendants on US would try to rearrange luggage to close the bin, but on this flight the attendant would yell, “Whoever luggage this belongs to needs to move it because the bin won’t close” as she walked down the aisle repeating this. The E+ seat was reasonably spacious and service consisted of a drink of my choice (water) and a breakfast mix that included strawberry chips. The mix was a refreshing change from the ordinary pretzels that US serves in coach. The attendant came through twice to offer the snacks. I’m not sure if it was “Bring your daughter to work day” but the attendant had a girl around 7 years old follow her through the cabin with a plastic bag to collect trash. It was nice to have IFE on a relatively short segment. Upon landing in DEN, the agent made it a point to make sure we checked around our seat to ensure we do not leave anything behind. In fact she said it was her “mission as a FA” that no one leaves anything behind.
I headed toward the RCC East and showed the agent my card where she asked me, “Honey, how old are you?” After telling her, I was my way up to the RCC. The place was crowded and after 10 minutes I left. I walked to the other end of the terminal and checked out the other RCC. This time the agent asked if the card belong to my father, after telling her no, she commented on my youthful appearance. The club was the same set up as the other and I soon left to ride the train to terminal C.
US156 (DEN-PHL), A321
Seat: 4A
Boarding commenced about 20 minutes prior to departure. I decided not to consult with the agent about my seat assignment because the line at the gate was pretty deep with a group of high schoolers heading to Italy. I was the first to board and waited patiently in 4A for the rest of the plane to board. About 15 minutes into the process, first class had about 5 open seats and the gentleman in 3D asked the FA if his friend in row 29 could sit next to him. Of course the agent shot him down and told him to ask the gate agent. Another 10 minutes passed and 2 teenagers and 1 chaperone were seated in first as coach was sold out. I wondered if any preferreds were still in steerage? In the meantime, the FA managed to offer pre-boarding drinks and I had a bloody Mary. He later came through before take off to take our drink orders.
The flight attendant started the IFE system, but I forgot the name of the movie (the preview reminded me of Dead Poet Society. The movie kept fast-forwarding and after 2 minutes, the FA’s said they were having technical difficulties and shut down the system. They later had to go through coach to refund $5 to those that bought the headphones.
Service was pretty slow with 1 FA serving 26 passengers in first class. His service procedure confused me as he went through the cabin first with the snack basket and then followed through with beverage service. I figured since a snack basket was passed there was not going to be a meal for this 3 hour flight. After 20 minutes, the FA started to bring out lunch that consisted of a roast beef and cheese sandwich, potato salad, and 2 small chocolate bars. Again, he went through the cabin with a snack basket. The FA was not attentive and requests from passengers were met with evil looks. After collecting the tray of food I requested another coke and a bottle of Jack Daniels. He brings a can of warm coke without ice and turned around quickly to remove more trays. I quickly pressed the call button as he darted into the galley. He comes back and asked what I wanted to which I replied a cup of ice and Jack Daniels. The FA comes back with a cup of ice that is a fourth full with melted water. I then had to remind him of the Jack and finally after taking him 5 minutes to understand what I wanted, I had my Jack and Coke. With that I placed my headphone on and listened to my mp3’s as I dosed off until we started descending. We arrived into PHL 20 minutes late. The FA requested those that did not have a connection to stay seated as many were trying to make connections, including me.
I made a beeline to the US Club. The agent gave me a suspicious look as I showed her my ID and pass, which I’m used to. I used the restroom and left. I had about 35 minutes before my next flight and wanted to check out the RCC in PHL. I had no problems entering the RCC and did a quick walk through before leaving for the gate. The gate area was empty and no one was at the door. I proceeded down the jetway and told the flight attendants that no one was there to collect my boarding pass. The attendant said I was not allowed to be on the plane and escorted me off back to the gate. During the walk, she told me I should have known better especially since 9/11. The FA tells the gate agent no one collected my boarding pass and with that, the GA takes my pass and now I’m following the FA back onto the plane.
US 450 (PHL-DCA), A320
Seat: 4F
Someone was seating in my seat of 4A and they were a couple so I offered to sit in the woman’s original seat, 4F. Turn to find out her seat was 3F, and the gentleman seated in 4F moved to 3F. This seemed to annoy my seatmate in 4D as she made a snide comment about playing musical chairs. The pilot and FA stressed about the rules of flying into DCA and not to stand up, blah, divert, blah, delay, blah……….
Service was surprisingly good for such a short flight (20mins). It consisted of a pre-flight beverage, in-flight beverage and a snack basket run. The FA informed that passenger in 3C as soon as she hears the 3 dings that she had to collect her beverage. No sooner after telling the passenger that, the dings went off and the passenger chugged the beer with the prowlness of a frat guy.
After deplaning, I headed towards the Club where I had 1.5 hours before my next flight. I asked the agent to correct my seating assignment which seemed like a chore for her to do. She asked me who seated me in the exit row and how I was able to do this before the day of departure. I informed her that Preferreds are able to secure exit-row seating ahead of time. I walked away with my 1D boarding pass in hand. I stayed in the club for about 45 minutes before heading out into the terminal. Boarding wasn’t for another 30 minutes as I sat around people watching.
US 3110 (DCA-ORF), Dash-8
Seat: 1D
All 13 passengers cramped into a bus that drove us out to the plane. Again, there was a warning about flying from DCA and not the stand up for the first 30 minutes and our flight time was 40 minutes. Service was efficient with the FA taking drink orders on the ground. I was impressed by the speed at which she did the beverage service, as she did not need to use the cart. She also saved time by giving the entire can of soda to the passengers. I dosed off and woke up as the landing gear was released. It was a foggy night and we landed further down the runway than usual with hard braking at the end.
I was the first of the plane and met my mother in the terminal. I was not expecting my luggage to make it with the short connection time in PHL. As I approached the carousel, I was delighted because it usually takes a while for baggage to come out in ORF and my luggage was there.
As much as I like flying, I do not think I will ever do 4 segments in one day.
[This message has been edited by dknn (edited 03-19-2003).]
After spending a week in California apartment searching for my friend and then unpacking it was time to fly back to Norfolk. I initially flew to EVV to my friend’s hometown and from there drove cross-country to San Diego. I was surprised at how fast the drive went (3 days) and actually enjoyed the ride, except for the muffler that busted somewhere in Missouri.
03/17- US6246 operated by United (SAN-DEN), A320
Seat: 9E
I was excited about this segment because I have not flown on United since middle school and I wanted to experience the new marketing relationship between United and US Airways.
The 40-minute drive to the airport was quick and relatively traffic-free at 4:30am. Upon arrival into the terminal, the lines for United were pretty long and stretched past the EasyCheck-in kiosks. I looked for the first class line/premier and that had about 10 people in it. The 1k line was empty so I decided to use that and caught plenty of dirty stares in the process. I handed the agent my Chairman’s card and ID and she asked me if this was equivalent to 1K status. After informing her that it was, she politely processed my check-in. She commented on my itinerary and how it would require two luggage tags per bag. The whole process lasted 3 minutes.
Security was a breeze and I was ready to check out the RCC. The club did not open until 5:30 and I had 15 minutes to kill. I was flipping through my boarding passes and noticed my requested economy plus seat 8F was 12A. I had called the Chairman’s Liaison after March 1 to secure a seat in the E+ section of coach and assigned 8F. Guess they still have kinks to work out. I asked the gate agent for a new seat and was issued 9E, the last seat in E+.
About 5 minutes before 5:30 a line had formed outside the RCC. I showed the agent my US Club card, ID, and boarding pass and was greeted with a smile. After 10 minutes of exploring, I grabbed an apple juice and proceeded to leave. Before exiting, I asked one of the agents if she could change my seat assignment on a later segment. In order for her to do this, she said she had to pull my original seat assignment for the entire itinerary and reassign the seats. In this process, I lost 1D for my last segment and the segment I wanted changed was not available. This process was new to the agent and she was equally confused to why I lost 1D. I called the liaison after this ordeal and the agent on the phone confirmed I was still in 1D and to speak with a US agent in DEN.
The flight was full in First and had about 10 open seats in coach. The flight attendants made announcements for passengers to store their luggage where they are seated, as this was a full flight. I found the attendants to be curt. I noticed the flight attendants on US would try to rearrange luggage to close the bin, but on this flight the attendant would yell, “Whoever luggage this belongs to needs to move it because the bin won’t close” as she walked down the aisle repeating this. The E+ seat was reasonably spacious and service consisted of a drink of my choice (water) and a breakfast mix that included strawberry chips. The mix was a refreshing change from the ordinary pretzels that US serves in coach. The attendant came through twice to offer the snacks. I’m not sure if it was “Bring your daughter to work day” but the attendant had a girl around 7 years old follow her through the cabin with a plastic bag to collect trash. It was nice to have IFE on a relatively short segment. Upon landing in DEN, the agent made it a point to make sure we checked around our seat to ensure we do not leave anything behind. In fact she said it was her “mission as a FA” that no one leaves anything behind.
I headed toward the RCC East and showed the agent my card where she asked me, “Honey, how old are you?” After telling her, I was my way up to the RCC. The place was crowded and after 10 minutes I left. I walked to the other end of the terminal and checked out the other RCC. This time the agent asked if the card belong to my father, after telling her no, she commented on my youthful appearance. The club was the same set up as the other and I soon left to ride the train to terminal C.
US156 (DEN-PHL), A321
Seat: 4A
Boarding commenced about 20 minutes prior to departure. I decided not to consult with the agent about my seat assignment because the line at the gate was pretty deep with a group of high schoolers heading to Italy. I was the first to board and waited patiently in 4A for the rest of the plane to board. About 15 minutes into the process, first class had about 5 open seats and the gentleman in 3D asked the FA if his friend in row 29 could sit next to him. Of course the agent shot him down and told him to ask the gate agent. Another 10 minutes passed and 2 teenagers and 1 chaperone were seated in first as coach was sold out. I wondered if any preferreds were still in steerage? In the meantime, the FA managed to offer pre-boarding drinks and I had a bloody Mary. He later came through before take off to take our drink orders.
The flight attendant started the IFE system, but I forgot the name of the movie (the preview reminded me of Dead Poet Society. The movie kept fast-forwarding and after 2 minutes, the FA’s said they were having technical difficulties and shut down the system. They later had to go through coach to refund $5 to those that bought the headphones.
Service was pretty slow with 1 FA serving 26 passengers in first class. His service procedure confused me as he went through the cabin first with the snack basket and then followed through with beverage service. I figured since a snack basket was passed there was not going to be a meal for this 3 hour flight. After 20 minutes, the FA started to bring out lunch that consisted of a roast beef and cheese sandwich, potato salad, and 2 small chocolate bars. Again, he went through the cabin with a snack basket. The FA was not attentive and requests from passengers were met with evil looks. After collecting the tray of food I requested another coke and a bottle of Jack Daniels. He brings a can of warm coke without ice and turned around quickly to remove more trays. I quickly pressed the call button as he darted into the galley. He comes back and asked what I wanted to which I replied a cup of ice and Jack Daniels. The FA comes back with a cup of ice that is a fourth full with melted water. I then had to remind him of the Jack and finally after taking him 5 minutes to understand what I wanted, I had my Jack and Coke. With that I placed my headphone on and listened to my mp3’s as I dosed off until we started descending. We arrived into PHL 20 minutes late. The FA requested those that did not have a connection to stay seated as many were trying to make connections, including me.
I made a beeline to the US Club. The agent gave me a suspicious look as I showed her my ID and pass, which I’m used to. I used the restroom and left. I had about 35 minutes before my next flight and wanted to check out the RCC in PHL. I had no problems entering the RCC and did a quick walk through before leaving for the gate. The gate area was empty and no one was at the door. I proceeded down the jetway and told the flight attendants that no one was there to collect my boarding pass. The attendant said I was not allowed to be on the plane and escorted me off back to the gate. During the walk, she told me I should have known better especially since 9/11. The FA tells the gate agent no one collected my boarding pass and with that, the GA takes my pass and now I’m following the FA back onto the plane.
US 450 (PHL-DCA), A320
Seat: 4F
Someone was seating in my seat of 4A and they were a couple so I offered to sit in the woman’s original seat, 4F. Turn to find out her seat was 3F, and the gentleman seated in 4F moved to 3F. This seemed to annoy my seatmate in 4D as she made a snide comment about playing musical chairs. The pilot and FA stressed about the rules of flying into DCA and not to stand up, blah, divert, blah, delay, blah……….
Service was surprisingly good for such a short flight (20mins). It consisted of a pre-flight beverage, in-flight beverage and a snack basket run. The FA informed that passenger in 3C as soon as she hears the 3 dings that she had to collect her beverage. No sooner after telling the passenger that, the dings went off and the passenger chugged the beer with the prowlness of a frat guy.
After deplaning, I headed towards the Club where I had 1.5 hours before my next flight. I asked the agent to correct my seating assignment which seemed like a chore for her to do. She asked me who seated me in the exit row and how I was able to do this before the day of departure. I informed her that Preferreds are able to secure exit-row seating ahead of time. I walked away with my 1D boarding pass in hand. I stayed in the club for about 45 minutes before heading out into the terminal. Boarding wasn’t for another 30 minutes as I sat around people watching.
US 3110 (DCA-ORF), Dash-8
Seat: 1D
All 13 passengers cramped into a bus that drove us out to the plane. Again, there was a warning about flying from DCA and not the stand up for the first 30 minutes and our flight time was 40 minutes. Service was efficient with the FA taking drink orders on the ground. I was impressed by the speed at which she did the beverage service, as she did not need to use the cart. She also saved time by giving the entire can of soda to the passengers. I dosed off and woke up as the landing gear was released. It was a foggy night and we landed further down the runway than usual with hard braking at the end.
I was the first of the plane and met my mother in the terminal. I was not expecting my luggage to make it with the short connection time in PHL. As I approached the carousel, I was delighted because it usually takes a while for baggage to come out in ORF and my luggage was there.
As much as I like flying, I do not think I will ever do 4 segments in one day.
[This message has been edited by dknn (edited 03-19-2003).]