Trip Reports - Skyteam Lounges During a UA MR LAX & Beyond

Please enjoy my chronology of lounge visits and other minutia posted in near-real-time as I journey from Las Vegas - San Juan and back on 9 different flights this weekend. Our story begins hours before the flights start.

6:30am May 18, 2007
I call BMI to enquire (UK spelling) why I can't sign up for a Diamond Club membership via the website. I am already an email subscriber and this prevents me from completing the registring. The lovely India based agent does not quite understand my request, but eventually succeeds in signing me up. I then complete UA OLCI but leave my UA Premier number in there so I can retain E+ seating.

5:16pm May 18, 2007 UA 1639 LAS-LAX A320 Ted (rar1) seat 3F
I arrived at the gate 20 minutes before scheduled departure and approached the GA. I first asked for a BP reprint then had her change my FF# to my BMI number. I notice the FAs pointing customer names on the manifest to the Captain. As the door is closing, they reopen it and David Hassellhoff himself hops onboard into seat 9A & 9C. The flight goes smoothly until about 12,000 feet above ONT. All of a sudden, the plane shaked violently pivoting towards the right three times. I hear the captain ask ATC if we are following a heavy. ATC responds in the affirmative and immediately lowers our speed to 210 knots from 250 knots. The rest of the ride through the LA valley was uneventful. We cruise up to gate 71A and Ted snuggles into bed. The walk from Terminal 7 is uneventful with the windows on both sides of the terminal and lasts 5 minutes.

6:30pm May May 18, 2007 Continental President's Club LAX T6
I flash the matron my temporary WorldClub card and welcome letter. She warmly welcomes me to the club and invites me to enjoy the complimentary cocktails. I ask the matron how the American Eagle shuttle runs to which she responds 9pm - plenty of time for me to visit the DL/NW/AS clubs :)
There is a spread of Atkins Advantage Bars on the counter, so I gleefully grab 2 bars. The club is relatively standard with nice views of the DL gates and comfortable leather chairs. Food selection is better than expected with both Monterrey Jack and Cheddar Cheese present alongside several varieties of potato/corn chips, peanuts, pretzels, crackers, as well as long italian breadsticks. The bartender is friendly and makes me a tasty dry gin martini. The onions in the martini taste great, but were minute. I ate both cheese packs as well as the italian breadsticks and poached some snacks for my foodless UA flight, received a few phone calls, typed this post, and headed over to gate 62a for the AE shuttle. Next stop is the Terminal 2!

7:30pm - 8:15pm May May 18, 2007 Bus ride from CO T6 -> AE Terminal -> T2
I waited by the CO bus gate 62 for just over 10 minutes before approaching the counter to ask about the shuttle. The GA pointed at a gentleman walking over and said that was the driver. I waited just over 15 minutes for the bus that runs every 10 minutes. There was only 1 other pax onboard. I made the mistake of telling the bus driver that my utlimate destination was NWA. Only after offering to show him my membership card did he let me board. The trip over to the AA midfield terminal took just over 5 minutes. Once I arrived at the AA terminal, we waited 15 minutes for our bus to arrive so that we could board. It should be noted that the AE terminal signage is not clear and the agents are a bit too direct. I was also annoyed, even though some of you may chuckle reading these words from me, that the AAgent found it a good time to talk on her cell phone while directing traffic to the appropriate busses. First stop on my bus was Terminal 3, which was then followed by Terminal 2. I exited the bus and proceeded up the elevator to the main floor. I then walked towards the center of the terminal and caught the elevator to the VIP lounge level. It was then that I realized that while US & UA would not welcome me in their arms on this trip, I was a *G on a *A itinerary. I had read nice things online about the Air New Zealand Koru Club and decided to check it out.

8:15pm May 18, 2007 Air New Zealand Club LAX Terminal 2
Upon entry to the club, I presented my UA BP & my US CP *G card. After a bit of explaining, the matron appologized that she could not announce my UA flight to me. I smiled and entered. The club is medium sized, but full of seating, food, and beverages. The Virgin flight was about to board, so there were a large quantity of Brits alongside the New Zealanders and Americans. Food was excelent! I ate a Chicken Panini, Shitake Mushroom Soup, Pita with Choomoos (Humus in English), Brie and Blue Cheeses, and salad. I enjoyed my diet coke and champagne immensely. My dessert consisted of an oversized ramekin of fresh sliced grapes, pineapple, cantaloupe, watermelon, and grapers. Free wired and wireless internet was available. While this was a spectacular stop, time is flying and I still want to visit the NWA World Club and AC Maple Leaf Lounge. Stay tuned for the next post from the MLL 20 feet away!

Wirelessly posted (probably driving while typing: BlackBerry8830/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

9:00pm May 18, 2007 Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge LAX T2

Its becoming clear that I am having too much fun getting intoxicated during my lounge tour. I entered the ac lounge by presented my ua bp and us cp card without issue. The matron couldn't read the expiration date on my us card, so I told it to her. I grabbed some cheddar and baybel cheese alongside chocolate milano and green tea. I had a pleasant drunken conversation with a french-canadian who wished he was from new jersey, an anerican working for a danish company, and a scottish woman. They rightfully accused me of being a mileage junkie and a lush when I told them my route for the weekend. I was having a blast, but wanted to scope out the nwa club.
9:15 May 18, 2007 NWA WorldClub LAX T2
I briefly flashed my temporary membership card at the matron and was waived right in. The nwa world club definitely felt dated in comparison to the other clubs at lax. They did offer string cheese in addition to the standard cheddar and monterrey jack cheese normally offered in a world club. The layout of the club is in the letter l which was interesting, but the overall club felt lacking. On my next trip to lax, I plan to spend my time in the as club which looked amazing from the bus.
9:45-10:00 walking from t2 to t6
Walking around lax is not too bad. I watched a police officer run a stop sign trap and ticket someone, but there really is nothing else to report. The walk along the ground level is easy.

Wirelessly posted (probably driving while typing: BlackBerry8830/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

10:30pm May 18, 2007 12A 757-200 domestic non-ps scheduled departure actual 1105. I volunteered at the gate. The ga was very grateful for a volunteer. Unfortunately, she paged me 10 min later to inform me that I was not needed. I pushed through the gate lice and boarded. There was a lady next to me who asked if I could switch seats to a middle seat- I refused as I need the window wall to keep my back from hurting. Ultimately the aisle pax moved for her. The good-friendly staff and air check voucher. The bad-flight delayed due to faulty exit door, f upgrade did not clear, headset port inoperable.

Wirelessly posted (probably driving while typing: BlackBerry8830/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

8:04am May 19, 2007 UAL RCC opposite gate 19 - my arrival gate. I flashed my *G US card and my bp for my US flight PHL-SJU in F. The matron double checks my bps and card then let's me in. The bos club is a decent medium sized ua club. Breakfast selections were sparse by ua standards (no yogurt) but the fresh grapes were ok. There was a good selection of PEPSI products, so I washed the grapes down with some cherry diet pepsi. I guess BOS has not converted over to coke yet.

Wirelessly posted (probably driving while typing: BlackBerry8830/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

May 18, 2007 8:20am-8:50am failed trip to BOS NWA WorldClub. As a new member of the worldclub, I failed to read the fine print that nwa requires 24 hour notice to use the club for a meeting. As such, I had a nice walk outside in the light rain on the way to the nwa terminal there. The nwa ta informed me that there was a club outside security in the c gates. So, I walked through the garage, pressed the help call button at the elevators, and bused it back to c.

8:50am - 9:15am CO Presidents Club BOS

The club is small - about 1/2 the size of the ua rcc. Food was non-existant, but the bar was staffed. As I did not sleep well during my redeye, I decided to hold off drinking until my flight.

UA 468 BOS-IAD 752 overwater domestic config Seat 3D scheduled departure 9:43am, actual TBD
I approached the gate 20 minutes before boarding after a quick TSA check. The flight was slightly delayed due to a mx issue. UA HAL called, but there was dead silence on the line. Immediately afterwards, Orbitz female-HAL called to tell me our flight was delayed to 10:15am. I informed my seatmate of the delay. In a psychic moment, the captain came on the pa and announced an issue with the #2 thrust reverser. He anticipated departure by 15 minutes past the hour just as I predicted.

Look for this post to be updated upon landing in iad.

"The onions in the martini taste great"The onions magically trasform a Martini into a Gibson FYI :D
Thanks for the trip report.

Your lounge run in lax reminds me of myself 10 years ago:cool:. Your ability to go from t6 to t2 without going through security is pure genius. The koru lounge is the best lounge in lax bar none with 2nd being aa flagship lounge. Sfo is quite nice too for lounges as you have the nicest ua first lounge,co,dl,nwa lounge outside security.