duckhook503
Mar 30, 08, 3:22 pm
Having just returned with Mrs. Duckhook from holiday, I wondered if our strictly economy class trip might be of interest to some of the readers of these pages. Written as it is by someone who has no experience of a business class seat, and has certainly never seen the inside of an airport lounge. All our trip was taken with Continental, and our miles credited to our Delta A/cs.
We left home on Tuesday 11th. March. Drove to Shannon, where we stayed overnight at The Bunratty Shannon Shamrock €19.00!!! A bargain earlier posted on the Hotel Deals section of this site. What a superb start. Decent hotel, comfortable bed, and a good bar, and only a 15 minute drive to the airport.
Checked in with Continental for CO 25 in the morning. We only had hand luggage so the absolute minimum of fuss, check in staff very pleasant as always. I had managed to book good seats on line. Whether I was actually entitled to them I'm not sure. Elite, Non Elite, Partners, is all a bit of a mystery to me.
About 7 hours across to Newark, a very tasty Beef or Lasagna lunch and a reasonably leisurely transfer to CO 2077 down to Savannah. Our first experience of 'Gate Checking' hand luggage. What a very simple idea! Also our first experience of flying on an Embraer. Very pleasant. Having read many threads on this site, I know they are not widely loved. However we found it perfectly comfortable for our 2 1/2 hour hop.
As we were only in Savannah for 2 nights, and had a 6.15am departure, we had decided on a hotel close to the airport, and had booked The Days Inn Savannah Airport. Absolutely fine. Courtesy bus from the airport. Comfortable room, and a lovely waterside bar for a glass or two in the evenings. Savannah for those of you that don't know is a delightful city. Lots to do and plenty of interest. The hop on and off all day tour bus is a terrific bargain, with knowledgeable guides, ( I think they work pretty much from a prepared script ) But that certainly does not detract from the enjoyment. We were fascinated by the arrangements being made for the St. Patrick's Day Parade. Green fountains in the parks, in fact green just about everywhere. They certainly don't push he boat out to the same extent here in Ireland.
We were a little concerned to find that the first bus from the hotel was at 5.00am, when our flight was at 6.15am. We were even more concerned when the driver was 10 minutes late for work! Needn't have worried, made our flight to Houston Co 2628 with plenty to spare. Another very comfortable flight, with the added advantage of the most spectacular flashes of lightening away on the left hand side. Always seems strange to me, looking down on a thunder storm.
Our change at Houston, offered us the first possibility of something into the kitty for our next trip. CO 1. to Honolulu was overbooked by 4. Would we like to fly via Seattle, arriving 4 1/2 late and pocket $400 each? Yes we would certainly help out with that. Unfortunately they were not able to re-arrange our onward hop to Maui. CO 1. gave us a rare chance to play with a seat back TV. A handset in the side of the seat variety. Very enjoyable. Certainly passed the time very easily.
A short hop to Maui, and 4 wonderful days relaxing, watching whales, drinking beer, and generally being lazy. We stayed at The Old Lahaina House. If you are looking for a beach resort with all the bells and whistles, probably not for you. However for us a property with 5 letting rooms, small pool in the walled garden, no room service, and perfect peace a ten minute stroll along the beach to Lahaina Harbour, for under $100 per night it was perfect. I would urge any like minded souls to find Hecocks bar and restaurant 505 Front Street Lahaina. Full of characters. Smoking allowed at the bar during happy hour, until about 6.30. Also the next door property organizes a Luau every night on the beach. A great view of it can be had from the same bar.
Due to bad weather somewhere on the mainland, our flight back on CO 2 was delayed sufficiently for us to miss our onward flight to Orlando. It was while on this flight the thought struck me. Why can the same airline produce a perfectly acceptable meal between Ireland and Newark, when between Houston and Honolulu, we had quite the worst pizza I have ever tried to eat, (and I'm not fussy) and on the way back a Chicken Burger that was so bad even I couldn't manage it.
We were placed on a 'Standby list' for the next available flight from Houston to Orlando. and were squeezed onto the next flight by a gate agent who could not have been more helpful. 6 days in Orlando. We have been going for years, it feels like a second home, I will not elaborate, as I'm sure anything that could be written about Orlando has been done already.
On Wednesday 26th. March we flew back to Newark on CO 1526. Also overbooked. I have posted the details of this in the Continental Forum. Suffice to say that for some reason lost on me, the gate agents preferred to IDB passengers than give a reasonable compensation to VDB us. Most odd.
The flight home on CO 24, gave us our second version of seat back TVs. The touch screen version. I'm not so sure about this. Trying to get a couple of hours sleep, with somebody playing a particularly vigorous game of Space Invaders, or whatever the modern equivalent is on the back of your seat is less than pleasant. I cant quite convince myself that this is a great idea.
So we duly arrived home having flown some 17500 miles in Economy over the course of our 2 weeks. Enjoyed every mile.
I have one question.
Why is it impossible to get anything that has even a passing resemblance to coffee on an aircraft. Any aircraft.
Best Wishes to all.
We left home on Tuesday 11th. March. Drove to Shannon, where we stayed overnight at The Bunratty Shannon Shamrock €19.00!!! A bargain earlier posted on the Hotel Deals section of this site. What a superb start. Decent hotel, comfortable bed, and a good bar, and only a 15 minute drive to the airport.
Checked in with Continental for CO 25 in the morning. We only had hand luggage so the absolute minimum of fuss, check in staff very pleasant as always. I had managed to book good seats on line. Whether I was actually entitled to them I'm not sure. Elite, Non Elite, Partners, is all a bit of a mystery to me.
About 7 hours across to Newark, a very tasty Beef or Lasagna lunch and a reasonably leisurely transfer to CO 2077 down to Savannah. Our first experience of 'Gate Checking' hand luggage. What a very simple idea! Also our first experience of flying on an Embraer. Very pleasant. Having read many threads on this site, I know they are not widely loved. However we found it perfectly comfortable for our 2 1/2 hour hop.
As we were only in Savannah for 2 nights, and had a 6.15am departure, we had decided on a hotel close to the airport, and had booked The Days Inn Savannah Airport. Absolutely fine. Courtesy bus from the airport. Comfortable room, and a lovely waterside bar for a glass or two in the evenings. Savannah for those of you that don't know is a delightful city. Lots to do and plenty of interest. The hop on and off all day tour bus is a terrific bargain, with knowledgeable guides, ( I think they work pretty much from a prepared script ) But that certainly does not detract from the enjoyment. We were fascinated by the arrangements being made for the St. Patrick's Day Parade. Green fountains in the parks, in fact green just about everywhere. They certainly don't push he boat out to the same extent here in Ireland.
We were a little concerned to find that the first bus from the hotel was at 5.00am, when our flight was at 6.15am. We were even more concerned when the driver was 10 minutes late for work! Needn't have worried, made our flight to Houston Co 2628 with plenty to spare. Another very comfortable flight, with the added advantage of the most spectacular flashes of lightening away on the left hand side. Always seems strange to me, looking down on a thunder storm.
Our change at Houston, offered us the first possibility of something into the kitty for our next trip. CO 1. to Honolulu was overbooked by 4. Would we like to fly via Seattle, arriving 4 1/2 late and pocket $400 each? Yes we would certainly help out with that. Unfortunately they were not able to re-arrange our onward hop to Maui. CO 1. gave us a rare chance to play with a seat back TV. A handset in the side of the seat variety. Very enjoyable. Certainly passed the time very easily.
A short hop to Maui, and 4 wonderful days relaxing, watching whales, drinking beer, and generally being lazy. We stayed at The Old Lahaina House. If you are looking for a beach resort with all the bells and whistles, probably not for you. However for us a property with 5 letting rooms, small pool in the walled garden, no room service, and perfect peace a ten minute stroll along the beach to Lahaina Harbour, for under $100 per night it was perfect. I would urge any like minded souls to find Hecocks bar and restaurant 505 Front Street Lahaina. Full of characters. Smoking allowed at the bar during happy hour, until about 6.30. Also the next door property organizes a Luau every night on the beach. A great view of it can be had from the same bar.
Due to bad weather somewhere on the mainland, our flight back on CO 2 was delayed sufficiently for us to miss our onward flight to Orlando. It was while on this flight the thought struck me. Why can the same airline produce a perfectly acceptable meal between Ireland and Newark, when between Houston and Honolulu, we had quite the worst pizza I have ever tried to eat, (and I'm not fussy) and on the way back a Chicken Burger that was so bad even I couldn't manage it.
We were placed on a 'Standby list' for the next available flight from Houston to Orlando. and were squeezed onto the next flight by a gate agent who could not have been more helpful. 6 days in Orlando. We have been going for years, it feels like a second home, I will not elaborate, as I'm sure anything that could be written about Orlando has been done already.
On Wednesday 26th. March we flew back to Newark on CO 1526. Also overbooked. I have posted the details of this in the Continental Forum. Suffice to say that for some reason lost on me, the gate agents preferred to IDB passengers than give a reasonable compensation to VDB us. Most odd.
The flight home on CO 24, gave us our second version of seat back TVs. The touch screen version. I'm not so sure about this. Trying to get a couple of hours sleep, with somebody playing a particularly vigorous game of Space Invaders, or whatever the modern equivalent is on the back of your seat is less than pleasant. I cant quite convince myself that this is a great idea.
So we duly arrived home having flown some 17500 miles in Economy over the course of our 2 weeks. Enjoyed every mile.
I have one question.
Why is it impossible to get anything that has even a passing resemblance to coffee on an aircraft. Any aircraft.
Best Wishes to all.