BillScann
Apr 4, 09, 12:09 pm
Mt Redoubt's ongoing volcanic activity (http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Redoubt.php) will likely continue to make air travel to-and-from Alaska a challenge, but that shouldn't stop you from traveling to the Great Land.
As no one is as-of-yet willing to take one for the team (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2570682.ece) (the author included) and quench Redoubt's anger, here are some tips to make your Alaska adventure less troublesome. While some of these tips may seem forehead-slappingly obvious, we all occasionally overlook the obvious.
1. Avoid Booking Redeye flights. Ash does not appear on radar, meaning that pilots can fly so long as they can visually see the ash clouds. Many day flights departed out of NotQuiteConvicTed Stevens during the recent volcanic activity, whereas most nighttime departures were cancelled. Until Redoubt settles down, daytime air travel is a safer, more reliable bet.
2. Fly Alaska Airlines. Alaska flies more than a score of flights to the Lower 48 a day, whereas all of the other air carriers have no more than a couple of flights. This means that your chances of getting Outside (or back home) within a reasonable time on any airline other than Alaska Airlines during Acts of God, are slim to none. Delta, for example, will not protect you on another carrier (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta-skymiles/935558-delta-rescinds-volcano-protection.html), leaving you to sit for days without any assistance whatsoever.
3. Always know where your towel is. All the froody people know just how important this is.
4. Before you leave for the airport, check the status (http://www.alaskaair.com/airport/flightstatus/FlightStatus.aspx) of your flight.
5. Track the current state (http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Redoubt.php) of Mt. Redoubt. While an aviation color code of 'Red' is weather geek shorthand for Not Good, check the National Weather Service's volcanic ash forecas (http://pafc.arh.noaa.gov/volcano.php)t page, updated about an hour after each eruption, to make sure it's Really Not Good.
An eruption, even one where the aviation color code goes to red, doesn't necessarily mean that flights will be affected. Winds can and will will blow the ash away from Anchorage, burying Bethelians, Nomers and Homertonians in a heap of ash while leaving flights between Anchorage and Seattle unaffected.
Therefore, check the National Weather Service's volcanic ash forecast (http://pafc.arh.noaa.gov/volcano.php), updated about an hour after each eruption. The graphic model at the bottom shows the predicted ash cloud movement based on forecasted winds aloft..
6. Is Anchorage International Airport functioning within normal parameters? This table courtesy of Flightaware (http://flightaware.com/live/airport/PANC) will keep you informed. Hint: A white-colored gap on the Operations/Hour chart is not a good thing. Alaska Airlines' Irregular Operations (http://www.alaskaair.com/as/www2/flights/Irregular-Operations.asp) information is also a reasonable place to check, albeit not as timely as FlyerTalk.
7. The Cell Phone Is Your Friend. In the event of a cancellation due to Redoubt, call the airline's reservation desk and get yourself rebooked. If you're making a connection to a flight heading to Alaska, call as your plane is taxiing. Hint: Don't have a conniption (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conniptions) if you're booked on a flight two days out.
8. Alaska Has More Than One Airport. We're a big state: we have lots of airports. While Mt. Redoubt has played havoc with operations at Anchorage International Airport, Fairbanks (and Juneau) have remained open for the most part. Hint: You can drive (http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=Fairbanks&1s=AK&1z=99701&2a=5227+Old+Seward+Hwy&2z=99518) or take the train (http://www.akrr.com/) from Fairbanks to Anchorage.
9. Do Not Head Into The Light. If you're in Seattle when flights are disrupted due to Mt. Redoubt, Alaska Airlines will shut down all of their customer service counters inside the terminal. You will be told to go outside the terminal and see a ticketing agent. They do this so as to make it easier for the police to escort one from the premises should one get bolshevik with the airline staff because one has just been told the next flight they can get you on is in two days and no, they won't put you up in a hotel or give you a food voucher because it's weather, darnit.
To recap, Alaska Airlines wants you a) out of the terminal; and b) standing in a very, very long line at the ticketing desk outside security.
Whatever you do, do not leave the terminal. You have been warned.
If you leave the terminal you will have a very difficult time flying standby as, err, you will not be able to get past security without jumping through hoops.
Assuming you are scheduled to fly to Anchorage, check the departure board to see if there are any flights to Fairbanks. If so, then get thyself on the standby list. From Fairbanks it's a 45 minute flight/6 hour drive/12 hour train trip into Anchorage.
You can also get to the Boardroom (http://www.alaskaair.com/www2/flights/boardroom/boardroom.asp) if you're inside the terminal. Not a member? Pay the $30 for a day pass and get yourself some help getting onto a flight from the experts who work there. No lines! It's waay better than the alternatives that await you outside at the ticketing counter.
10. Be Last To Board. Volcanoes do not follow any fixed schedule. An eruption can quickly cause a flight disruption, so joining the gate lice (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travelbuzz/484825-rant-gate-lice.html)and storming the aircraft may result in a long, unprofitable sit on a flight to nowhere.
11. Whatever Can Go Wrong, Etc., Etc., . Accept that there is a percentage chance greater than zero that there will be volcano-related difficulties with your air travel; and proceed accordingly. Bring a change of underwear, assuming you wear them. Bring sufficient toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste, deoderant, etc.) so as to not make those around you projectile vomit, all the while bearing in mind TSA's War on Flying Toilet Terror Laboratories (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/17/flying_toilet_terror_labs/).
12. Book a Hotel Room In Advance. And by 'hotel', that also encompasses calling a friend in Seattle and reserving his/her couch. You can typically cancel a hotel reservation by 6PM the Day Of (make sure this is true of the hotel with which you plan to book), so save yourself some money, time and worry by making a booking with a hotel/friend beforehand.
13. Connect To The Proper Tube. The Series of Tubes can be useful in getting up-to-date information. Twitter, a tube typically full of 140-character dross, has been marginally redeemed by the Twitter Tubes pneumatically pumped by the Alaska Volcano Observatory (http://twitter.com/alaska_avo) and Alaska Airlines (http://twitter.com/alaskaair), respectively. Enable "device updates" to receive text message alerts. And remember, it's on the Internet, so it must be true.
...w/tks to ANC, Beckoa, Duckouttahere, Jackal, and United757 and for their contributions...
__________________________________________________ _____________
((I'd like this to be worthy of Stickydom: please add your advice and I'll add them to this post)
As no one is as-of-yet willing to take one for the team (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2570682.ece) (the author included) and quench Redoubt's anger, here are some tips to make your Alaska adventure less troublesome. While some of these tips may seem forehead-slappingly obvious, we all occasionally overlook the obvious.
1. Avoid Booking Redeye flights. Ash does not appear on radar, meaning that pilots can fly so long as they can visually see the ash clouds. Many day flights departed out of NotQuiteConvicTed Stevens during the recent volcanic activity, whereas most nighttime departures were cancelled. Until Redoubt settles down, daytime air travel is a safer, more reliable bet.
2. Fly Alaska Airlines. Alaska flies more than a score of flights to the Lower 48 a day, whereas all of the other air carriers have no more than a couple of flights. This means that your chances of getting Outside (or back home) within a reasonable time on any airline other than Alaska Airlines during Acts of God, are slim to none. Delta, for example, will not protect you on another carrier (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta-skymiles/935558-delta-rescinds-volcano-protection.html), leaving you to sit for days without any assistance whatsoever.
3. Always know where your towel is. All the froody people know just how important this is.
4. Before you leave for the airport, check the status (http://www.alaskaair.com/airport/flightstatus/FlightStatus.aspx) of your flight.
5. Track the current state (http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Redoubt.php) of Mt. Redoubt. While an aviation color code of 'Red' is weather geek shorthand for Not Good, check the National Weather Service's volcanic ash forecas (http://pafc.arh.noaa.gov/volcano.php)t page, updated about an hour after each eruption, to make sure it's Really Not Good.
An eruption, even one where the aviation color code goes to red, doesn't necessarily mean that flights will be affected. Winds can and will will blow the ash away from Anchorage, burying Bethelians, Nomers and Homertonians in a heap of ash while leaving flights between Anchorage and Seattle unaffected.
Therefore, check the National Weather Service's volcanic ash forecast (http://pafc.arh.noaa.gov/volcano.php), updated about an hour after each eruption. The graphic model at the bottom shows the predicted ash cloud movement based on forecasted winds aloft..
6. Is Anchorage International Airport functioning within normal parameters? This table courtesy of Flightaware (http://flightaware.com/live/airport/PANC) will keep you informed. Hint: A white-colored gap on the Operations/Hour chart is not a good thing. Alaska Airlines' Irregular Operations (http://www.alaskaair.com/as/www2/flights/Irregular-Operations.asp) information is also a reasonable place to check, albeit not as timely as FlyerTalk.
7. The Cell Phone Is Your Friend. In the event of a cancellation due to Redoubt, call the airline's reservation desk and get yourself rebooked. If you're making a connection to a flight heading to Alaska, call as your plane is taxiing. Hint: Don't have a conniption (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conniptions) if you're booked on a flight two days out.
8. Alaska Has More Than One Airport. We're a big state: we have lots of airports. While Mt. Redoubt has played havoc with operations at Anchorage International Airport, Fairbanks (and Juneau) have remained open for the most part. Hint: You can drive (http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=Fairbanks&1s=AK&1z=99701&2a=5227+Old+Seward+Hwy&2z=99518) or take the train (http://www.akrr.com/) from Fairbanks to Anchorage.
9. Do Not Head Into The Light. If you're in Seattle when flights are disrupted due to Mt. Redoubt, Alaska Airlines will shut down all of their customer service counters inside the terminal. You will be told to go outside the terminal and see a ticketing agent. They do this so as to make it easier for the police to escort one from the premises should one get bolshevik with the airline staff because one has just been told the next flight they can get you on is in two days and no, they won't put you up in a hotel or give you a food voucher because it's weather, darnit.
To recap, Alaska Airlines wants you a) out of the terminal; and b) standing in a very, very long line at the ticketing desk outside security.
Whatever you do, do not leave the terminal. You have been warned.
If you leave the terminal you will have a very difficult time flying standby as, err, you will not be able to get past security without jumping through hoops.
Assuming you are scheduled to fly to Anchorage, check the departure board to see if there are any flights to Fairbanks. If so, then get thyself on the standby list. From Fairbanks it's a 45 minute flight/6 hour drive/12 hour train trip into Anchorage.
You can also get to the Boardroom (http://www.alaskaair.com/www2/flights/boardroom/boardroom.asp) if you're inside the terminal. Not a member? Pay the $30 for a day pass and get yourself some help getting onto a flight from the experts who work there. No lines! It's waay better than the alternatives that await you outside at the ticketing counter.
10. Be Last To Board. Volcanoes do not follow any fixed schedule. An eruption can quickly cause a flight disruption, so joining the gate lice (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travelbuzz/484825-rant-gate-lice.html)and storming the aircraft may result in a long, unprofitable sit on a flight to nowhere.
11. Whatever Can Go Wrong, Etc., Etc., . Accept that there is a percentage chance greater than zero that there will be volcano-related difficulties with your air travel; and proceed accordingly. Bring a change of underwear, assuming you wear them. Bring sufficient toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste, deoderant, etc.) so as to not make those around you projectile vomit, all the while bearing in mind TSA's War on Flying Toilet Terror Laboratories (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/17/flying_toilet_terror_labs/).
12. Book a Hotel Room In Advance. And by 'hotel', that also encompasses calling a friend in Seattle and reserving his/her couch. You can typically cancel a hotel reservation by 6PM the Day Of (make sure this is true of the hotel with which you plan to book), so save yourself some money, time and worry by making a booking with a hotel/friend beforehand.
13. Connect To The Proper Tube. The Series of Tubes can be useful in getting up-to-date information. Twitter, a tube typically full of 140-character dross, has been marginally redeemed by the Twitter Tubes pneumatically pumped by the Alaska Volcano Observatory (http://twitter.com/alaska_avo) and Alaska Airlines (http://twitter.com/alaskaair), respectively. Enable "device updates" to receive text message alerts. And remember, it's on the Internet, so it must be true.
...w/tks to ANC, Beckoa, Duckouttahere, Jackal, and United757 and for their contributions...
__________________________________________________ _____________
((I'd like this to be worthy of Stickydom: please add your advice and I'll add them to this post)