jcooke
Mar 7, 04, 9:57 am
Today was a day of firsts: First true mileage run, first time flying from BUF, first time flying UA.
I came across a post on FT for a $78 BWI-BUF fare and found that it could originate in BUF as well so I decided to make it happen for fun.
Expedia was showing a couple $78 fares of which one was UA and one was US. I was contemplating taking the US fare but the UA fare allowed for more connex and a more "challenge" for routing. The routing for the UA fare was:
ROUTING 510 *** TRAVEL MUST BE VIA WAS ***
510 FROM-TO BUF-UA-ROC-UA-BOS/PIT/PHL-UA-
WAS-UA-NYC-UA-WAS-UA-BOS/PHL/PIT-UA-
BWI*
FROM-TO BUF-UA-ROC-UA-PIT/PHL/BOS-UA-
WAS-UA-NYC-UA-WAS-UA-PHL/PIT/BOS-UA-
BWI*
so this fare guaranteed a minimum of 6 segments with a maximum of 8 as I needed to transit WAS no matter what. I tried and tried but I couldn't fit 8 segments into one day so I settled on 6...shucks. The resulting routing was BUF-IAD-PIT-BWI-PHL-IAD-BUF leaving 6:25AM and returning 10:25PM.
Since I live in ROC and BUF is about an hour away I knew I was going to have to get up at an ungodly hour. I took Saturday night easy and hung out with one of my friends that had just got back from a fun set of flights. I finally crashed at around 1:30 and planned to get up around 4. My alarm went off at 3:50 and I drug myself out of bed, showered up, and proceeded to get into the car for the hour drive to BUF.
I arrived at BUF and was surprised to see how big it was. I'm used to ROC and PHL and I guess I just underestimated the size of BUF but it was pretty decent sized. I goto the UA ticket counter and check in for all of my segments. The counter agent was like "Whoa, you trying to collect segments?" when he saw all my BP's printing out and I just said "yeah, can't beat this dirt cheap fare"; He just chuckled and said have a nice day.
And the day begins.
United Express flt 7831 (Operated by Atlantic Coast Airlines)
BUF-IAD
Dep Gate 12
Arr Gate A6
Canadair CRJ-200 (N674UE)
Departs: 0625(s) 0633(a)
Arrives: 0731(a)
I was originally assigned 7A but decided to pick 1A after the seats were released at the 24 hour mark. Boarding commenced right around 6AM and the flight was totally full. I waited until the last moment to board but I realized this wasn't the smartest thing - no overhead space. Fortunately I found room for my laptop in the next bin back.
After on a short taxi we were cleared for immediate departure on runway 23 and took off like a rocket. Once climbing above the clouds I was presented with an absolutely beautiful orange sunrise on a bright blue sky.
What they say about the CRJ-200's and the window seats is definitely true - they are tight seats! One of the FT forums mentioned that the CRJ's curvature makes a difference for the window seats but I didn't think it would make a difference. It does.
There was a very slight bit of turbulence for the majority of the flight but nothing to be annoyed about. Once the plane leveled out the f/a came around with the snack/beverage service which consisted of a breakfast bar and a small bottle of water. The beverage cart was stocked with a few other beverages but she wasn't offering anything else unless someone asked.
The rest of the flight was uneventful and relaxing which I had no problem with as I was still waking up. We landed on runway 23 and taxied to gate A6. As I'm used to flying from ROC and PHL on US I wasn't used to the shared gate structure and seeing 6 planes using the same gate. (I now understand why everyone *****es about the UX issues @ ORD).
I had about a little over an hour to kill before my flight to PIT so I walked around and checked out IAD a little bit. I found this restaurant called Ranch1 that was serving breakfast wraps so I decided to try two of them and thought they were pretty darn good.
United Express flt 7876 (Operated by Atlantic Coast Airlines)
IAD-PIT
Dep Gate A6
Arr Gate unknown
BAe Jetstream 41 (N309UE)
Departs: 0905(s) 0922(a)
Arrives: 1014(s) 1008(a)
Jetstream 41 was a new plane to add to my list of flown and I decided to pick seat 2A as I didn't have any type of seatmap to go on except I knew it was 1-2 seating.
I didn't have to go far at all for this flight as it was departing from the same gate area that my BUF-IAD flight had arrived at. The plane started boarding right around 830 and i hopped on the plane early as I wanted to make sure I had a place to stow my laptop bag. To my unfortunate luck, THERE IS NO OVERHEAD BINS on a Jetstream. Hilarious. The f/a takes my bag and offers to stow it in one of the plane's storage bins; I take her up on it as I'm NOT checking my laptop. I sit into my seat and realize that it doesn't recline, its darn cramped and I'm not going to get any sleep on this flight.
After pushing back from the gate we hop in line for takeoff on runway 23 and take off into the sky. The flight once again offered snack/beverage service consisting of apple breakfast bars, water, and other assorted drinks. Once beverage service was completed I tried to get comfortable and I finally managed to kinda find a comfortable position. Not too long after that we were descending down to Pittsburgh. We landed on runway 28L and had a short taxi over to the United gates.
My next flight into BWI is on US Airways and doesn't depart until 1:15P so I have some time to kill. I set up shop at the food court across from B40 (incidentally where US1080 departs from) and connected my laptop up to the wireless so I could post my trip report updates.
I walked around for a while in PIT and checked out the SkyMall which wasn't bad at all. By that time boarding was about to happen for my only first class segment of the trip. (Note to self: make next MR on all mainline jets http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif)
US Airways flt 1080
PIT-BWI
Boeing 737-300 (unknown)
Departs: 1315(s) 1303(a)
Arrives: 1417(s) 1358(a)
I was confirmed in 1A and I knew there was a lot of space still available for the F cabin so I looked to see if there was anyone that could be worthy for an upgrade. I didn't find any servicemen that needed a treat, all the cute females there were taken, so I decided to just fly solo - no big deal.
The rain started to come down fairly well and I said to myself "there goes the beautiful day" but what did I really care - I was inside on a plane! <IMG SRC="http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif">
We departed on time and takeoff brought us up above the rainclouds and into the sunny sky. As we descended towards BWI the clouds were breaking up and it looked like a beautiful day in BWI!
The landing was smooth and brought us to the gate.
US Airways Express flt 3994 (Operated by Allegheny Airlines)
BWI-PHL
Dep Gate D44
Arr Gate F20
Dash-8 (unknown)
Departs: 1455(s) 1450(a)
Arrives: 1545(s) 1522(a)
I had about 90 minutes for the 3:50 PHL flight but I wanted to check in at my gate before I wandered around. I found out that there was an earlier 2:55 flight into PHL leaving from the same gate. I called up one of my friends from PHL and wanted to see if they wanted to come visit me in PHL as I had some time to kill and maybe some more if a miracle standby could happen for this 2:55 flight. They were like sure so I went up to the GA and asked if there was any way that I could get on the 2:55 rather than the 3:50. She checked and at first and started to say "well we're supposed to charge $25 but...i'll see what I can do, just check in with me closer to boarding". About 2:30 she calls me up to the gate and hands me a new boarding pass for the 2:55 and I was very happy - it's these types of things that make employees shine.
I wasn't going to argue or make any types of waves for seat changes as my new seat assignment was 6C. I was just happy to get on the earlier flight.
The flight itself was fairly smooth with a couple bumps. It had been a while since I've been on a Dash-8 and wasn't too upset to be back on one again.
The landing into PHL was smooth although it seemed that we landed on a different runway than one of the usuals. I think I could be wrong, but I believe that we passed the F terminal on the LEFT during landing which was rather strange.
Nevertheless, the plane pulled into F20 and we deplaned. I took the shuttle over to C16 and walked outside of security to meet up with my friend.
Since i had some time to kill we went over to one of the restaurants outside of D terminal and had an early dinner and did some talking & spotting from the rocking chairs between D&E. That made the time go by pretty fast and before I knew it boarding time was approaching.
United Express flt 7875 (Operated by Atlantic Coast Airlines)
PHL-IAD
Dep Gate D9
Arr Gate A4
CRJ-200 (unknown)
Departs: 1900(s) 1928(a)
Arrives: 2005(s) 2018(a)
This was more/less the start of the return trip as there was such a short turnaround in BWI. I cleared security again in less than 30 seconds at the D terminal checkpoint and proceeded down to the hammerhead for gate D9. I must say that the "hammerhead" on D is fairly nice - wide open, all new gates and seating, and a bar there as well. Boarding commenced right around the scheduled boarding time and people started to trickle out to the plane. Once again I was seated in 1A and make the smart move of boarding first so that I could secure overhead storage in row 1. The flight started to fill up pretty good but we were sitting there for a fairly long time. Two people would show, we would continue to wait. This continued for about 5 more passengers until finally the last two were boarded. We pushed back from the gate and proceeded into the nightly parade called departure taxi @ PHL.
About 15 minutes later we were barreling down 27L and finally on our way to IAD. I fell asleep somewhere shortly after takeoff and woke up a couple times in flight due to turbulence. It was a darn bumpy ride back into IAD and I looked out to see billions of raindrops flying past my window. Great, the cold front that was at PIT is now at IAD. The approach into IAD was bumpy, dark, and LONG. We finally landed about 45 minutes past schedule.
United Express flt 7832 (Operated by Atlantic Coast Airlines)
IAD-BUF
Dep Gate A2
Arr Gate 12
CRJ-200 (unknown)
Departs: 2120(s) 2221(a)
Arrives: 2236(s) 2314(a)
It was time to go home. The UX gates were pretty darn busy due to flights being delayed, mx, and the cold front that had just passed through. When I had arrived in IAD the flight status had showed on time but there were people all around grumbling about a flight being delayed so I decided to check and indeed ours was. Our plane that was going to take us to BUF was coming from GSO and apparently the cold front shut GSO down for a bit due to some serious high winds.
Eventually our flight came in and they did a semi-quick turnaround. Once again I had 1A and was glad that I had the extra legroom as it was time to catch some shuteye. After we boarded 49/50 (almost a bump opp) we taxied out and took off into the bumpy sky.
I dont remember much after takeoff. I woke up to the sound of the landing gear being extended for approach. After landing on runway 23 we deplaned onto the tarmac and walked back up into the terminal.
While waiting for the parking shuttle i saw someone who had a FT luggage tag and I found out it was wharvey. We introduced ourselves and shared our weekend run stories. A short ride to my car and I was headed back to ROC for some much needed sleep.
Overall it was a good experience for a bunch of firsts. The United Express experience (really wouldn't call it a UA experience as it was all UX) was decent. The UX planes weren't too too bad except for the Jetstream which was just plain uncomfortable. I've gained a newfound respect for the UX people at IAD and ORD with the shared gating.
Overall: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif
-JC
[This message has been edited by jcooke (edited Mar 08, 2004).]
I came across a post on FT for a $78 BWI-BUF fare and found that it could originate in BUF as well so I decided to make it happen for fun.
Expedia was showing a couple $78 fares of which one was UA and one was US. I was contemplating taking the US fare but the UA fare allowed for more connex and a more "challenge" for routing. The routing for the UA fare was:
ROUTING 510 *** TRAVEL MUST BE VIA WAS ***
510 FROM-TO BUF-UA-ROC-UA-BOS/PIT/PHL-UA-
WAS-UA-NYC-UA-WAS-UA-BOS/PHL/PIT-UA-
BWI*
FROM-TO BUF-UA-ROC-UA-PIT/PHL/BOS-UA-
WAS-UA-NYC-UA-WAS-UA-PHL/PIT/BOS-UA-
BWI*
so this fare guaranteed a minimum of 6 segments with a maximum of 8 as I needed to transit WAS no matter what. I tried and tried but I couldn't fit 8 segments into one day so I settled on 6...shucks. The resulting routing was BUF-IAD-PIT-BWI-PHL-IAD-BUF leaving 6:25AM and returning 10:25PM.
Since I live in ROC and BUF is about an hour away I knew I was going to have to get up at an ungodly hour. I took Saturday night easy and hung out with one of my friends that had just got back from a fun set of flights. I finally crashed at around 1:30 and planned to get up around 4. My alarm went off at 3:50 and I drug myself out of bed, showered up, and proceeded to get into the car for the hour drive to BUF.
I arrived at BUF and was surprised to see how big it was. I'm used to ROC and PHL and I guess I just underestimated the size of BUF but it was pretty decent sized. I goto the UA ticket counter and check in for all of my segments. The counter agent was like "Whoa, you trying to collect segments?" when he saw all my BP's printing out and I just said "yeah, can't beat this dirt cheap fare"; He just chuckled and said have a nice day.
And the day begins.
United Express flt 7831 (Operated by Atlantic Coast Airlines)
BUF-IAD
Dep Gate 12
Arr Gate A6
Canadair CRJ-200 (N674UE)
Departs: 0625(s) 0633(a)
Arrives: 0731(a)
I was originally assigned 7A but decided to pick 1A after the seats were released at the 24 hour mark. Boarding commenced right around 6AM and the flight was totally full. I waited until the last moment to board but I realized this wasn't the smartest thing - no overhead space. Fortunately I found room for my laptop in the next bin back.
After on a short taxi we were cleared for immediate departure on runway 23 and took off like a rocket. Once climbing above the clouds I was presented with an absolutely beautiful orange sunrise on a bright blue sky.
What they say about the CRJ-200's and the window seats is definitely true - they are tight seats! One of the FT forums mentioned that the CRJ's curvature makes a difference for the window seats but I didn't think it would make a difference. It does.
There was a very slight bit of turbulence for the majority of the flight but nothing to be annoyed about. Once the plane leveled out the f/a came around with the snack/beverage service which consisted of a breakfast bar and a small bottle of water. The beverage cart was stocked with a few other beverages but she wasn't offering anything else unless someone asked.
The rest of the flight was uneventful and relaxing which I had no problem with as I was still waking up. We landed on runway 23 and taxied to gate A6. As I'm used to flying from ROC and PHL on US I wasn't used to the shared gate structure and seeing 6 planes using the same gate. (I now understand why everyone *****es about the UX issues @ ORD).
I had about a little over an hour to kill before my flight to PIT so I walked around and checked out IAD a little bit. I found this restaurant called Ranch1 that was serving breakfast wraps so I decided to try two of them and thought they were pretty darn good.
United Express flt 7876 (Operated by Atlantic Coast Airlines)
IAD-PIT
Dep Gate A6
Arr Gate unknown
BAe Jetstream 41 (N309UE)
Departs: 0905(s) 0922(a)
Arrives: 1014(s) 1008(a)
Jetstream 41 was a new plane to add to my list of flown and I decided to pick seat 2A as I didn't have any type of seatmap to go on except I knew it was 1-2 seating.
I didn't have to go far at all for this flight as it was departing from the same gate area that my BUF-IAD flight had arrived at. The plane started boarding right around 830 and i hopped on the plane early as I wanted to make sure I had a place to stow my laptop bag. To my unfortunate luck, THERE IS NO OVERHEAD BINS on a Jetstream. Hilarious. The f/a takes my bag and offers to stow it in one of the plane's storage bins; I take her up on it as I'm NOT checking my laptop. I sit into my seat and realize that it doesn't recline, its darn cramped and I'm not going to get any sleep on this flight.
After pushing back from the gate we hop in line for takeoff on runway 23 and take off into the sky. The flight once again offered snack/beverage service consisting of apple breakfast bars, water, and other assorted drinks. Once beverage service was completed I tried to get comfortable and I finally managed to kinda find a comfortable position. Not too long after that we were descending down to Pittsburgh. We landed on runway 28L and had a short taxi over to the United gates.
My next flight into BWI is on US Airways and doesn't depart until 1:15P so I have some time to kill. I set up shop at the food court across from B40 (incidentally where US1080 departs from) and connected my laptop up to the wireless so I could post my trip report updates.
I walked around for a while in PIT and checked out the SkyMall which wasn't bad at all. By that time boarding was about to happen for my only first class segment of the trip. (Note to self: make next MR on all mainline jets http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif)
US Airways flt 1080
PIT-BWI
Boeing 737-300 (unknown)
Departs: 1315(s) 1303(a)
Arrives: 1417(s) 1358(a)
I was confirmed in 1A and I knew there was a lot of space still available for the F cabin so I looked to see if there was anyone that could be worthy for an upgrade. I didn't find any servicemen that needed a treat, all the cute females there were taken, so I decided to just fly solo - no big deal.
The rain started to come down fairly well and I said to myself "there goes the beautiful day" but what did I really care - I was inside on a plane! <IMG SRC="http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif">
We departed on time and takeoff brought us up above the rainclouds and into the sunny sky. As we descended towards BWI the clouds were breaking up and it looked like a beautiful day in BWI!
The landing was smooth and brought us to the gate.
US Airways Express flt 3994 (Operated by Allegheny Airlines)
BWI-PHL
Dep Gate D44
Arr Gate F20
Dash-8 (unknown)
Departs: 1455(s) 1450(a)
Arrives: 1545(s) 1522(a)
I had about 90 minutes for the 3:50 PHL flight but I wanted to check in at my gate before I wandered around. I found out that there was an earlier 2:55 flight into PHL leaving from the same gate. I called up one of my friends from PHL and wanted to see if they wanted to come visit me in PHL as I had some time to kill and maybe some more if a miracle standby could happen for this 2:55 flight. They were like sure so I went up to the GA and asked if there was any way that I could get on the 2:55 rather than the 3:50. She checked and at first and started to say "well we're supposed to charge $25 but...i'll see what I can do, just check in with me closer to boarding". About 2:30 she calls me up to the gate and hands me a new boarding pass for the 2:55 and I was very happy - it's these types of things that make employees shine.
I wasn't going to argue or make any types of waves for seat changes as my new seat assignment was 6C. I was just happy to get on the earlier flight.
The flight itself was fairly smooth with a couple bumps. It had been a while since I've been on a Dash-8 and wasn't too upset to be back on one again.
The landing into PHL was smooth although it seemed that we landed on a different runway than one of the usuals. I think I could be wrong, but I believe that we passed the F terminal on the LEFT during landing which was rather strange.
Nevertheless, the plane pulled into F20 and we deplaned. I took the shuttle over to C16 and walked outside of security to meet up with my friend.
Since i had some time to kill we went over to one of the restaurants outside of D terminal and had an early dinner and did some talking & spotting from the rocking chairs between D&E. That made the time go by pretty fast and before I knew it boarding time was approaching.
United Express flt 7875 (Operated by Atlantic Coast Airlines)
PHL-IAD
Dep Gate D9
Arr Gate A4
CRJ-200 (unknown)
Departs: 1900(s) 1928(a)
Arrives: 2005(s) 2018(a)
This was more/less the start of the return trip as there was such a short turnaround in BWI. I cleared security again in less than 30 seconds at the D terminal checkpoint and proceeded down to the hammerhead for gate D9. I must say that the "hammerhead" on D is fairly nice - wide open, all new gates and seating, and a bar there as well. Boarding commenced right around the scheduled boarding time and people started to trickle out to the plane. Once again I was seated in 1A and make the smart move of boarding first so that I could secure overhead storage in row 1. The flight started to fill up pretty good but we were sitting there for a fairly long time. Two people would show, we would continue to wait. This continued for about 5 more passengers until finally the last two were boarded. We pushed back from the gate and proceeded into the nightly parade called departure taxi @ PHL.
About 15 minutes later we were barreling down 27L and finally on our way to IAD. I fell asleep somewhere shortly after takeoff and woke up a couple times in flight due to turbulence. It was a darn bumpy ride back into IAD and I looked out to see billions of raindrops flying past my window. Great, the cold front that was at PIT is now at IAD. The approach into IAD was bumpy, dark, and LONG. We finally landed about 45 minutes past schedule.
United Express flt 7832 (Operated by Atlantic Coast Airlines)
IAD-BUF
Dep Gate A2
Arr Gate 12
CRJ-200 (unknown)
Departs: 2120(s) 2221(a)
Arrives: 2236(s) 2314(a)
It was time to go home. The UX gates were pretty darn busy due to flights being delayed, mx, and the cold front that had just passed through. When I had arrived in IAD the flight status had showed on time but there were people all around grumbling about a flight being delayed so I decided to check and indeed ours was. Our plane that was going to take us to BUF was coming from GSO and apparently the cold front shut GSO down for a bit due to some serious high winds.
Eventually our flight came in and they did a semi-quick turnaround. Once again I had 1A and was glad that I had the extra legroom as it was time to catch some shuteye. After we boarded 49/50 (almost a bump opp) we taxied out and took off into the bumpy sky.
I dont remember much after takeoff. I woke up to the sound of the landing gear being extended for approach. After landing on runway 23 we deplaned onto the tarmac and walked back up into the terminal.
While waiting for the parking shuttle i saw someone who had a FT luggage tag and I found out it was wharvey. We introduced ourselves and shared our weekend run stories. A short ride to my car and I was headed back to ROC for some much needed sleep.
Overall it was a good experience for a bunch of firsts. The United Express experience (really wouldn't call it a UA experience as it was all UX) was decent. The UX planes weren't too too bad except for the Jetstream which was just plain uncomfortable. I've gained a newfound respect for the UX people at IAD and ORD with the shared gating.
Overall: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif
-JC
[This message has been edited by jcooke (edited Mar 08, 2004).]