SFnFlaGuy

This is a trip report on my first, and most likely last, same day return Mileage Run.

If it weren’t for my mistake of crediting my trips to NW WorldPerks instead of CO OnePass in January and February of this year, I wouldn’t have had to do this trip. Oh well, I digress. I shopped online and found this SFO-PIT same day return for $200. So I decided to have a go at it.

My routing is as follows:
SFO-MSP and MSP-EWR on NW.

Then EWR-PIT-EWR-SFO on CO.

All the flights occur on 5/31/2003.

SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL SFO

I get to the airport around 1030pm. Parked the car at long term parking and got to the ticket counter at 1045pm. There weren’t that many people using the kiosk so I decided to try it even though my last segment, EWR-PIT, was on CO.

I inserted my card and the check in went smoothly. I was already upgraded to seat 2D for both SFO-MSP and MSP-EWR. The kiosk just stated that it can’t print my BP for the CO Express flight. (That’s fine, I’ll just check in at the CO Pres Club.)

However, I was quite distressed to see that the SFO-MSP flight was running an hour late! (Which will leave me with around 10 minutes connection time in MSP.) I asked the agent about options and she was able to re-route me on a NW Airlink Mesaba Flight directly from MSP to PIT. Surprisingly, she placed me in First Class on this flight! They actually had First Class! And to add to that, they also had lunch service on it! What a surprise.

I then head off to the Pres Club which unfortunately closes at 1230am. So, at 1215am I left to go to the gate.

Before I left though, I asked the agent to check me in for my PIT-EWR-SFO flight if it was possible. She was able to do so and even placed me on the FC Upgrade Standby list for EWR-SFO! I was all set.

NW Flt 362 SFO-MSP
Dep time: 1245AM delayed to 130AM
Aircraft: A319
Seat: 2D First Class

Slept the whole way. Flight was good. No pre-departure drinks since, I’m assuming, they were on a rush to get us out of there.

MINNEAPOLIS INTERNATIONAL MSP

We arrived in MSP shortly before 7am. I got off the plane and realized that, the next time I do this or even if I do this run, I’ll have them leave me on my tight connection. With no bags, I could’ve easily made my connecting EWR flight.
So now I’m in MSP for three hours. I decided to spend this at the WorldClub by the C-Gates.

I had some muffins and tomato juice and hooked up my laptop to check email and surf the web for an hour or so. The rest of the time I just took a little nap and watched the planes takeoff and land from my comfy seat at the WorldClub. (I LOVE watching planes, I’m quite happy that this club had a very good airside view of the runway.)

NW Airlink Mesaba Flt 3420 MSP-PIT
Dep Time: 1030am
Aircraft: Avro ARJ RJ-85
Seat: 2D First Class Lunch Flt.

After my layover there, I proceeded to the Mesaba NW Airlink Gate for my EWR-PIT flight. Upon getting to the gate, I observed that there were four teenagers, around 15-16yrs, traveling as UM’s. The mother was there to drop them off. They were taking lots of pictures in front of the gate, by the window in front of the plane, etc. I thought that it was sweet since, I’m assuming, that this must be a treat for them to travel on an airplane. They were all nice and giggly. (A little too loud…but that’s ok. Hopefully they’ll settle down once onboard.)

We then board the aircraft. Once I’m settled into 2D, I’m pleasantly surprised that the legroom was quite generous. The seats were similar to the ones on the NW DC9 fleet which were a good size. The FA asked what I would like to drink and I just asked for a glass of water which he promptly gave me.

Before I knew it, the doors were closed, but, the FA apparently moved up the UM’s from coach to the row behind me as a goodwill gesture for our infrequent flyers. At first I thought that it was very nice of him to do this for them. But almost immediately, they started playing with the footrests and tray tables thus causing my seat back to feel like someone was kicking it. They were also fairly loud and giggly.

After a few minutes of this, I politely turned around and said in a very calm voice with an English accent “Would you mind settling down a bit?”…Sorry I usually don’t speak with an English accent only when I’m stressed out. I usually don’t have an accent. Well after that, they settled down a little but not completely. As long as I didn’t feel my seat back being kicked, that was fine with me.

We then taxied off, and the FA never came back to get my glass of water! So I just held it until we were at cruise altitude.

For Lunch, we had a choice of anti-pasto plate with bread cheese and some meats or a chicken/cheese sub. I opted for the sub since I didn’t know exactly what was in the anti pasto plate.

The tray was served all at once. It had a small bowl of fruit, grapes/1strawberry/pineapple, and the turkey sub with mayo, and a slice of the standard NW Chocolate Cake. (This one had Three layers of chocolate cake/mousse.)

It was ok. Sub was a bit too much bread and not enough meat. I loved the cucumber slices/tomato/lettuce they served with it though.

Before I knew it we were in PIT.

Fortunately, we arrived just a couple of gates away from the CO Express flight that I was taking back home.

CO Flt 2358 PIT-EWR
Dep Time : 3:00pm
Aircraft: Embraer RJ-145
Seat: 12A Exit Coach Class

This is my very first flight on a CO ExpressJet. Cabin is fairly compact as I hit my head on the ceiling upon boarding. Seat 12A was good with ample legroom.

Everyone was boarded over 20 mins before departure but we left around 10 minutes late as they scrambled to find space for the luggage on the aircraft. They stated that there were a lot of international passengers so we got “bulked” out. (Not because of the weight but just the size of the luggage.) They went through and stuffed the “gate checked” bags throughout the cabin and closets. After that was finally done, we were on our way.

Flight was ok, a little bumpy. PIT weather was overcast and some rain…and so was EWR.

Only beverage/pretzel service on this flight.

NEWARK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT EWR

I was quite happy to be in Newark on time. My day of flying is almost over. I quickly headed off to the monitors to see where the SFO flight was leaving from. Luckily, it was leaving from gate 74 which is right next to the Pres Club.

I went to gate 74 and asked the agent about my waitlist status for the upgrade. She stated that it was too early to tell. I asked her if it was even worth waiting, she just replied “It’s too early to tell.” Oh well, that was that, guess no 3 hour EUA for me. (So odd though, it was showing A9D9F0…oh well, I might as well just be prepared to fly Coach on this one.)

CO Flight 248 EWR-SFO
Dep Time: 530PM
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Seat: 6F then upgraded in Cabin to seat 2B First Class Dinner Flight.

I got to the gate just in time for boarding. I was going to ask the agents about my upgrade but they were too busy helping other passengers. Besides there were other people there asking to be put on the list then. So, with my “T” class ticket, I decided to forgo asking and just get on board since, most likely, I won’t clear anyways.

When I handed my BP to the agent, I just asked for them to let me know if it would clear even if I had boarded already, she then replied “Yes, we’ll let you know. It’s just too early right now to see if you’d clear.” (I took that as a “No” you won’t clear.)

Oh well, I’m just happy to be heading back home. I got to my seat 6F, which I like on this a/c since it has good legroom and is close to the bathroom. Then a couple took the seats right next to me. The guy said jokingly, “See, we can breathe the air FC people breathe!” he was quite funny.

Before I knew it, the other guy gate agent went to our row and said “Mr. SfnFlaGuy? Do you have your BP? (I was like in shock that it cleared!), I gave it to him and then he gave me my new BP for seat 2B in First Class! (Which, incidentally is my favorite FC seat on this aircraft!) I then excused myself from the couple seating right next to me. The guy then said, “Are you coming back?” I just said, “I’m just moving up front.” He then said “Good for you!”

Once in my seat, the F/A promptly asked for my drink order. I just had plain, no-ice, water. Once we were done, they collected all the glasses and we were on our way.

They tried to start the safety video. However, only pink psychedelic imagery appeared on the screen and they had to do a manual presentation for us.

After the demonstration, they passed out the menus for the in-flight dinner:

To Begin

Warm roasted nuts served with your preferred cocktail beverage

Appetizer

Lump crabmeat topped with shrimp, accompanied by cocktail sauce.

Salad

Boston and Romaine Lettuce with Roma tomatoes, English cucumbers, orange, chopped walnuts and a kalamata olive.
Offered with your choice of Cabernet Sauvignon vinaigrette or Parmesan peppercorn dressing.

Freshly baked sourdough bread and assorted rolls with butter.

Main Courses

Asparagus with Veal—Green asparagus with hollandaise sauce accompanied by grilled veal medallions with morel mushroom sauce and parslied potatoes

Breast of Duck—roasted breast of duck accented by balsamic cherry sauce, offered with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and sautéed baby spinach medley of baby vegetables including bok choy, corn, okra, carrots and yellow sunburst squash.

Seared Salmon—complemented by shellfish sauce, served over a three-grain mix of rice, orzo and lentils with carrots, onion and roasted red tomato, topped with grilled green asparagus and cherry tomatoes.

Pasta Bowl—Tricolor penne pasta enhanced by puttanesca sauce with grilled red bell pepper, artichoke hearts and Kalamata olives. Freshly grated Parmesan cheese will be offered with your pasta.

Dessert—Vanilla Ice Cream offered with your choice of toppings.

Freshly brewed Timothy’s Custom roasted Milano Blend Coffee, Timothy’s Verona Blend Decaffeinated Coffee, Tea with your choice of milk or lemon.

Inflight

Once in the air, I was surprised that they closed the curtains between FC and coach! Not that it was a big deal but it was nice to have since I haven’t flown on a flight that used these in a long time. (On NW, they actually removed them completely!)

Another pleasant surprise was that they started the service with a hot towel service! (One thing that NW also got rid of.)

The flight attendant then started making the rounds of asking each passenger of their dinner choices. She was very pleasant and asked us each by name. Since I was in 2B, our row was the second ones to be asked. She asked “ Mr. SfnFlaGuy, did I say that right?” I then corrected the pronunciation a little bit and she repeated it the right way “Mr. SfnFlaGuy, what would you like for dinner?” I then opted for the Salmon and the vinaigrette dressing for the salad. (I've had the duck before and that was good. But I wanted to try something else this time. You know...variety is a GOOD thing! I couldn't eat veal after seeing a documentary film on how veal was made....poor calves! I wouldn't even try the tri color pasta bowl....it's just screaming CARBS! right at me! )

After that was done, they placed the white linens on the tray tables and they distributed little ramekins of very warm nuts! (Couple of things that I don’t see on my NW flights anymore.)
The appetizer was good. Nice shrimp with a lump of crab meat on top. Salad was also very good. Loved the walnuts as it added some texture to the salad. The F/A’s came around with a nice basket over VERY warm rolls. I opted for the wheat and then a pretzel roll. The wheat was much better.

The Salmon was very good! Good sauce and I loved the rice and roasted tomatoes/asparagus! Very nice and juicy/tender! Just right!

Dessert was Excellent! Loved the sundaes! I told her to put a little bit of everything on it. So it had some caramel nougats, hot fudge, some type of nuts, strawberry sauce with some strawberries too!, whipped cream and a cherry on top!

During dinner, they showed the movie “Daredevil” which was a very disappointing, un-entertaining movie. Oh well, at least we get a movie! None of this would be on NW!

Afterwards though, they made up for it since they showed the sitcom “Third Rock From the Sun” which I liked a lot and it was quite funny.

Afterwards, I worked on my TurboKick Transcript and took a nap afterwards. The F/A’s were very attentive. My water glass was always full. They asked if I wanted anything more on a regular basis. At one time I had a full glass of sweetened iced tea, hot tea, and water all at the same time!

I felt kinda awkward since I was used to asking the F/A’s for some water or other item during these transcons. But, since they were so good, I didn’t have to ask for anything! They asked/or refilled my drink before I had the chance to have to ask for it!

Before you knew it, we arrived in SF ahead of schedule. It was a great end to a very long day of flying!

I’m quite lucky to have been upgraded on all the First Class equipped flight on this Mileage Run!

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SFnFlaGuy



[This message has been edited by SFnFlaGuy (edited 06-02-2003).]

keithguy

I agree. If flying soley for miles, it's definitely better to leave tight/busted connections until you get to the connecting airport. There are lots of factors that may still allow you to catch the original connecting flight (connecting flight is also delayed/held, incoming flight gets in earlier than expected, etc). Also, the staff at the connecting airport would be more able to accomodate the misconnect (like interling to another carrier, issuing hotel/meal vouchers, etc).

RevvedUp

Does anyone else find this hilarious?

Great report!

fly co to see the yanks

i would have messed up the pronunciation, also. too many consonants.

SFnFlaGuy

I know....I know....since this is the first time I did a quick turnaround, it was quite hard to switch to a "Mileage Run I have no checked bags" mindset instead of the "regular trip and I'm travelling with checked bags" mindset. Oh well, if ever, and I highly doubt it, I do something like this again, I'll know better than to panic due to a tight connection.

Thanks! I know that this is a bit wierd...oh well that makes me unique I guess!

Hehe Yup, SFnFlaGuy is a very unique name.

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SFnFlaGuy