l'etoile
Nov 10, 04, 11:40 am
Some of you know that after my 13 mileage runs from SJC to JAX over about five weeks a few years ago, I vowed not to do anymore. Well, when UA dangles SWUs and double EQMs in front of me, it's a case of never say never.
So Monday night I found myself flying OAK-LAX-JFK with the return from JFK scheduled for departure just 50 minutes later. Problems surfaced when my LAX-JFK was delayed by 55 minutes. My departing flight was now scheduled to close the doors about 15 minutes before my flight would arrive. Darn!
I called UA in advance and was protected on the flight that would leave two hours later, but I was really hoping beyond hope that it wouldn't come to that.
At LAX, I was talking to the agent and she saw my itinerary and said, "Oh, are you on a mileage run?" Like other "runners," it had typically been my MO to avoid agents during runs. In the past, they seemed to find us a nuisance, scammers and, well, a little odd. That attitude seems to have changed perhaps due to UA's need for cash. All the agents I've been meeting lately tend to understand instantly what I'm doing, appreciate that I'm willing to pay to fly for no "real" reason and even pay an extra fee to do it (the $150 for the EQM promo).
We both thought it didn't look good for making the return - it's kind of tough to catch a flight that's left before yours arrives, but it was worth trying. She told me the JFK flight will depart from gate 7, but that we don't have a scheduled gate yet for the arriving flight.
I figure since this flight is leaving so late, surely the captain will apologize for the delay and say he's going to try to make up time in the air. He doesn't. In fact, this flight was about 15 minutes longer than each of my flights to New York in the past few weeks.
Anyway, after an uneventful flight, the FO comes over the PA at 6:20 and says we'll be landing about 6:45 and it will be another 5 minutes to the gate. That would be precisely the time the doors should close on my departing flight. Then there's another five or so for the jetway to meet us. I stare at my watch the whole time hoping he's overestimated the times - he hasn't; he's underestimated and we land about 6:48. I figure I'm toast and that I'll miss the flight by only a couple of minutes.
As we're going into gate 10, I notice gate 7 has an Air Canada or something else and gate 9 has a UA that all the service personnel are moving away from. That's my plane! And I'm going to sit here and watch as the jetway pulls away. Drats!
But I'm not giving up ... I make a mad dash to the front (not tough from row 5 w/no bags) and as soon as the door gets halfway open, I slip out under it and run down the jetway. For some reason (maybe because I haven't slept) I'm still thinking I need to run to gate 7, despite that I just saw it at 9. As I dash into the airport and head right, one of the agents closing out the JFK-LAX flight says, "You look like you're running to catch the LAX flight." I nod yes. He says, "Sheri?" I say, yes, how'd you know (I'm not very awake, as mentioned). "We're waiting for you. Your plane's here." D'oh. I mumble something about gate 7 and thank them profusely. The door closes just after I get on and the purser says, "I remember you from last week," and writes my name on the manifest. I'm sooooo happy!
I figure I easily spent less than a minute in the airport at JFK - just enough time to run the 20 paces or so from gate 10 to 9. It was pretty crazy and had to be some sort of record - definitely my personal best. No one else had even come out of the jetway from my arriving flight by the time I entered the jetway for my departing one.
I can't find what time UA says the official arrival time was for flight 14, but departure for 15 was 6:57 p.m. I'm suspecting 14 officially arrived at precisely the same time or within a minute.
Thanks to the fab agents at LAX and JFK for making my trip to NYC a real whirlwind.
So Monday night I found myself flying OAK-LAX-JFK with the return from JFK scheduled for departure just 50 minutes later. Problems surfaced when my LAX-JFK was delayed by 55 minutes. My departing flight was now scheduled to close the doors about 15 minutes before my flight would arrive. Darn!
I called UA in advance and was protected on the flight that would leave two hours later, but I was really hoping beyond hope that it wouldn't come to that.
At LAX, I was talking to the agent and she saw my itinerary and said, "Oh, are you on a mileage run?" Like other "runners," it had typically been my MO to avoid agents during runs. In the past, they seemed to find us a nuisance, scammers and, well, a little odd. That attitude seems to have changed perhaps due to UA's need for cash. All the agents I've been meeting lately tend to understand instantly what I'm doing, appreciate that I'm willing to pay to fly for no "real" reason and even pay an extra fee to do it (the $150 for the EQM promo).
We both thought it didn't look good for making the return - it's kind of tough to catch a flight that's left before yours arrives, but it was worth trying. She told me the JFK flight will depart from gate 7, but that we don't have a scheduled gate yet for the arriving flight.
I figure since this flight is leaving so late, surely the captain will apologize for the delay and say he's going to try to make up time in the air. He doesn't. In fact, this flight was about 15 minutes longer than each of my flights to New York in the past few weeks.
Anyway, after an uneventful flight, the FO comes over the PA at 6:20 and says we'll be landing about 6:45 and it will be another 5 minutes to the gate. That would be precisely the time the doors should close on my departing flight. Then there's another five or so for the jetway to meet us. I stare at my watch the whole time hoping he's overestimated the times - he hasn't; he's underestimated and we land about 6:48. I figure I'm toast and that I'll miss the flight by only a couple of minutes.
As we're going into gate 10, I notice gate 7 has an Air Canada or something else and gate 9 has a UA that all the service personnel are moving away from. That's my plane! And I'm going to sit here and watch as the jetway pulls away. Drats!
But I'm not giving up ... I make a mad dash to the front (not tough from row 5 w/no bags) and as soon as the door gets halfway open, I slip out under it and run down the jetway. For some reason (maybe because I haven't slept) I'm still thinking I need to run to gate 7, despite that I just saw it at 9. As I dash into the airport and head right, one of the agents closing out the JFK-LAX flight says, "You look like you're running to catch the LAX flight." I nod yes. He says, "Sheri?" I say, yes, how'd you know (I'm not very awake, as mentioned). "We're waiting for you. Your plane's here." D'oh. I mumble something about gate 7 and thank them profusely. The door closes just after I get on and the purser says, "I remember you from last week," and writes my name on the manifest. I'm sooooo happy!
I figure I easily spent less than a minute in the airport at JFK - just enough time to run the 20 paces or so from gate 10 to 9. It was pretty crazy and had to be some sort of record - definitely my personal best. No one else had even come out of the jetway from my arriving flight by the time I entered the jetway for my departing one.
I can't find what time UA says the official arrival time was for flight 14, but departure for 15 was 6:57 p.m. I'm suspecting 14 officially arrived at precisely the same time or within a minute.
Thanks to the fab agents at LAX and JFK for making my trip to NYC a real whirlwind.