Alaska Thanksgiving weekend EWR-SEA-LAX-SEA-EWR in F
Nov 30, 2003, 10:23 pm
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Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: New York
Posts: 7,348
Alaska Thanksgiving weekend EWR-SEA-LAX-SEA-EWR in F
Dear folks,
Here is the worst day for traveling – Thanksgiving. As part of my plan to pursue for 100,000 AS miles, I decide to fly AS back to LAX via SEA. Cost of ticket is $545RT… Well I was able to confirm three out of four AS segments. The train into Newark station began from an early ride on NJ Transit. There were many passengers heading to EWR this morning for sure – twice more than the usual load. The check in counters for the airlines are not too crazy but I guess it was still early. I got my boarding pass from the elite check in desks since all the kiosks were occupied. The TSA was apparently in sugar high… screaming and yelling – “Shoes off… belt off… laptop out of bag… jacket off…Move on faster…” Can you give us a break, since it is 6am? Do you really need to yell that loud? Stripping takes a while… Well, I went to the President’s Club, which was surprisingly quiet and lots of seats around. I guess most business travelers must be not working or it is still too early. Well I had a muffin and an OJ and took a while to collect myself.
November 26, 2003
AS 11 EWR-SEA Lv0830 Arr1127 Boeing 737-700 N612AS
Boarding gate was A27 as usual and it was pretty crowded, but everything was in orderly function. Water bottles and a copy of WSJ were placed in the console with extra copies in the entrance for those lucky Y passengers. The flight went out with 12F and 108Y (full), and we pushed back five minutes late due to cargo loading situations. Takeoff line was not busy at all and we took off from Runway 22R at 8:48am.
The F/As were doing their “preparations” for the next thirty to forty minutes, and then the first class F/A finally came out to take beverage and entrée order for breakfast. Then the banging action began in the galley. I flew over 100 AS flights till date and had to yet to encounter so many banging in the galley – slammed on every cart doors and it was definitely not a pleasant duty for her. Well here is my menu transcript (I guess it is safe to assume that printed menus had become historic in Alaska Airlines):
Fruit appetizer – 1/2 papaya, 1/2 mango, 2 strawberries, & kiwi, accompanied by a warmed cinnamon roll
Entrée choices of
Egg Souffle with Canadian bacon and Parmesan pressed potatoes
Or
Roasted Mushroom Omelet topped with salsa, herbs & seasoned chicken sausages, and potatoes
A nice entrée – I had both main courses before and did not have a preference. But I felt like having mushrooms this morning, so I chose it.
Dig E players were passed out next and I went to sleep due the banging began in the galley for the afternoon snack service. Today it was a new snack plate for me -- Rolled turkey cheese rolls with Brie and red peppers, Cucumber salad and chopped vegetable and onion dips, Hawaiian crackers, and bags of mixed nuts. It was pretty good and filling – almost too much. Descent soon began at 1:50pm EST, and we passed by the Boeing field with a nice view of the recently arrived BA concord G-BOAG and it was interesting to see the first Boeing 747 and Concord sharing the same field. We landed on R/W16L at 11:23am and parked at gate D9 shortly.
AS 524 SEA-LAX Lv1312 Arr1542 McDonnell Douglas MD-80 N973AS
Well, I went to the board room because it was obviously crowded in the terminal. The BR was slightly better and I got a nice window seat in the second floor with a view of the tarmac area and the Runways. I did not venture out until boarding time for AS 524. Our aircraft came in from Las Vegas early, so boarding began right on time at 12:40pm. A very different flight from the last leg – our F/A, Kimberly, was much more friendlier. Once again the overhead compartment was filled quickly due to the small bins on these few MD-80s and I was forced to gate check my carry-on, but fortunately, it was the special first class tag that I can claim the bag at the jet way! No problem! Water bottles were pre-placed in the console and door was closed on time at 1:12pm. We pushed back few minutes later and headed back to Runway 16L. We lifted off at 1:25pm and flying time was a quick hour and fifty-five minutes with a cruising attitude of 33,000ft.
Service was professional and lunch order was taken according to our MVP status. Drink service began with two bags of old-fashioned peanuts and then more refills before the main entrée. It was a choice of Chicken Salad (cubed chicken, marinated mushrooms, tomatoes & cucumbers) with vinaigrette and warmed roll or Ham & Cheese in Kaiser roll with roasted tomato soup, Ghiradelli’s Mint Chocolate Square. I had the sandwich, which was nice, and I wonder if the hot soup will be available next time when I flew this flight. Y class got a sandwich as usual, but it will not happen next week. The rest of the flight went by quickly. Descent began at 2:55pm and we landed on Runway 24R at 3:20pm, and parked at gate 31A eight minutes later. I went to the departure level and met my sister. It was a nice ride back to PV.
Thanksgiving was the same old affair in my PV family. The highlight of the trip was a comment made by one of my uncles. He refused to let his grandson (6 years old) to kiss him because this will turn him gay. Sometimes you wonder!
November 30, 2003
AS 475 LAX-SEA Lv0930 Arr1216 McDonnell Douglas MD-80 N967AS
Well time for the return trip, things seem to be under control. Traffic into LAX at 7am was not too bad – sure, there were congestions traveling from terminal one to three, but nothing unusual. Alaska has redone the kiosks arrangement at LAX and was much more logical, and there were self-served stations at the curbside. I upgraded my SEA-EWR flight with no problem, but stuck at 3D (the options were 3C or 1D). Well, security line was not too overwhelming and the wait was relatively mild. There was no screaming and yelling by the TSA agents and the travelers were not too amateur. I went to the board room and sat next to the window overlooking Runway 24 – not too exciting at these early hours. I saw a UA’s Boeing 747-400 landed and a couple HP, WN, and AS planes. I saw QF’s Boeing 747-400ER (VH-OEE) towing towards the maintenance area (Melbourne flight) and saw a pair of Air Tahiti Nui landing within two hours and parking side by side (F-OSEA at gate 121 and F-OJGF at gate 120).
This morning, it was a “looking for volunteer” day with Boise (N605QX) and Eugene and Portland overbooked – this applied to Sea-tac as well (OAK and LAX and LAS and PHX)… The aircraft was towed in late, so boarding did not start till 9:08am. The flight went out 100% full as expected and the overhead bin situation was pretty bad especially on these MD-80s with the narrow bins (maybe AS should use the money saved by catering to install some new larger bins on these MD-80s or find a decent replacement for MD-80s). Water bottles were placed in the console and F class went out full as well. Door was closed early a minute late and pushed back simultaneously with an AS’ Boeing 737-900 (N307AS) and Boise flight. Flying time was a quick two hours and we climbed up to 31,000ft. There was no wait in the queue for Runway 24L and we took off at 9:41am following the company’s 737-900 (307) in front of us.
Well as of today, first class still got our continental breakfast plate with a nice selection of cantaloupes, strawberries, kiwi and orange with a decent-sized walnut blueberry muffin loaf. Everything was served at once with the beverage and I went to sleep after the snack service. (Y got only beverage as usual). Then we encountered some moderate chops – it was pretty nasty but I was too tired to be concerned with – I just sleep and sleep – took down the time when the seat belt sign was turned back on. We landed on Runway 34L at 11:41am and headed to gate D6.
AS 14 SEA-EWR Lv1400 Arr2158 Boeing 737-700 N629AS
Seattle was a bit more orderly than Wednesday. Walk to the departure screens and my flight was departing on time, and my aircraft would arrive early from Orange County this afternoon. However, I noted that the Boston flight (623) was delayed till noon and the DCA flight was delayed till 3:15pm. Not a good day for transcon travels… I went to the board room and logged in the computer for a while. It was nice afternoon and watched both UA and NW planes taking off for Narita and the arrival of EVA Air’s Boeing 747-400 Combi (original livery).
Boarding began at 1:15pm at D8 and the overhead bin situation was pretty bad. The flight attendants were very enthusiastic and helpful in digging up more overhead bin spaces. The flight went out 12F and 108Y. Door closed early at 1:53pm and pushed back at 1:56pm. Following a company’s MD-80 (N964AS), we took off from Runway 34R at 2:06pm. Flying time was a quick four hours due to strong tail wind with the typical routing to south of Spokane, Idaho, Billings, MT, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and into New York State. We cruised at 37,000feet.
I don’t think I need to say more about the service – here is the dinner transcript –
Mixed Mesclun greens topped with mozzarella cheese, roasted sun-dried tomato slices and pine nuts topped with Italian herb vinaigrette dressing and bread loaves – white, olive, and rye
A typical salad – I don’t like it!
Entrées
Seared King Alaskan Salmon topped with white sauce, summer pepper medley, & red bliss mashed potatoes
Or
Beef fillet topped with demi glace sauce, accompanied by sugar snap peas, and potatoes casserole
Overbooked beef… but no choice when it came to my row…
Dessert
New York Style Cheesecake topped with chocolate sauce
Dig E players passed out next and I watched both Simpsons and Dharma & Greg. Mixed nuts were served prior to arrival and hot towels were passed out. Descent began at 5:33pm and it was a beautiful night in New York city. We landed on Runway 22L at 9:10pm EST. We parked at gate A27. Well it was a fair trip and welcome back to the paper month… nasty month! Well next report will be on the few final segments on AS and QX before the deadline for 100,000miles.
Carfield
Here is the worst day for traveling – Thanksgiving. As part of my plan to pursue for 100,000 AS miles, I decide to fly AS back to LAX via SEA. Cost of ticket is $545RT… Well I was able to confirm three out of four AS segments. The train into Newark station began from an early ride on NJ Transit. There were many passengers heading to EWR this morning for sure – twice more than the usual load. The check in counters for the airlines are not too crazy but I guess it was still early. I got my boarding pass from the elite check in desks since all the kiosks were occupied. The TSA was apparently in sugar high… screaming and yelling – “Shoes off… belt off… laptop out of bag… jacket off…Move on faster…” Can you give us a break, since it is 6am? Do you really need to yell that loud? Stripping takes a while… Well, I went to the President’s Club, which was surprisingly quiet and lots of seats around. I guess most business travelers must be not working or it is still too early. Well I had a muffin and an OJ and took a while to collect myself.
November 26, 2003
AS 11 EWR-SEA Lv0830 Arr1127 Boeing 737-700 N612AS
Boarding gate was A27 as usual and it was pretty crowded, but everything was in orderly function. Water bottles and a copy of WSJ were placed in the console with extra copies in the entrance for those lucky Y passengers. The flight went out with 12F and 108Y (full), and we pushed back five minutes late due to cargo loading situations. Takeoff line was not busy at all and we took off from Runway 22R at 8:48am.
The F/As were doing their “preparations” for the next thirty to forty minutes, and then the first class F/A finally came out to take beverage and entrée order for breakfast. Then the banging action began in the galley. I flew over 100 AS flights till date and had to yet to encounter so many banging in the galley – slammed on every cart doors and it was definitely not a pleasant duty for her. Well here is my menu transcript (I guess it is safe to assume that printed menus had become historic in Alaska Airlines):
Fruit appetizer – 1/2 papaya, 1/2 mango, 2 strawberries, & kiwi, accompanied by a warmed cinnamon roll
Entrée choices of
Egg Souffle with Canadian bacon and Parmesan pressed potatoes
Or
Roasted Mushroom Omelet topped with salsa, herbs & seasoned chicken sausages, and potatoes
A nice entrée – I had both main courses before and did not have a preference. But I felt like having mushrooms this morning, so I chose it.
Dig E players were passed out next and I went to sleep due the banging began in the galley for the afternoon snack service. Today it was a new snack plate for me -- Rolled turkey cheese rolls with Brie and red peppers, Cucumber salad and chopped vegetable and onion dips, Hawaiian crackers, and bags of mixed nuts. It was pretty good and filling – almost too much. Descent soon began at 1:50pm EST, and we passed by the Boeing field with a nice view of the recently arrived BA concord G-BOAG and it was interesting to see the first Boeing 747 and Concord sharing the same field. We landed on R/W16L at 11:23am and parked at gate D9 shortly.
AS 524 SEA-LAX Lv1312 Arr1542 McDonnell Douglas MD-80 N973AS
Well, I went to the board room because it was obviously crowded in the terminal. The BR was slightly better and I got a nice window seat in the second floor with a view of the tarmac area and the Runways. I did not venture out until boarding time for AS 524. Our aircraft came in from Las Vegas early, so boarding began right on time at 12:40pm. A very different flight from the last leg – our F/A, Kimberly, was much more friendlier. Once again the overhead compartment was filled quickly due to the small bins on these few MD-80s and I was forced to gate check my carry-on, but fortunately, it was the special first class tag that I can claim the bag at the jet way! No problem! Water bottles were pre-placed in the console and door was closed on time at 1:12pm. We pushed back few minutes later and headed back to Runway 16L. We lifted off at 1:25pm and flying time was a quick hour and fifty-five minutes with a cruising attitude of 33,000ft.
Service was professional and lunch order was taken according to our MVP status. Drink service began with two bags of old-fashioned peanuts and then more refills before the main entrée. It was a choice of Chicken Salad (cubed chicken, marinated mushrooms, tomatoes & cucumbers) with vinaigrette and warmed roll or Ham & Cheese in Kaiser roll with roasted tomato soup, Ghiradelli’s Mint Chocolate Square. I had the sandwich, which was nice, and I wonder if the hot soup will be available next time when I flew this flight. Y class got a sandwich as usual, but it will not happen next week. The rest of the flight went by quickly. Descent began at 2:55pm and we landed on Runway 24R at 3:20pm, and parked at gate 31A eight minutes later. I went to the departure level and met my sister. It was a nice ride back to PV.
Thanksgiving was the same old affair in my PV family. The highlight of the trip was a comment made by one of my uncles. He refused to let his grandson (6 years old) to kiss him because this will turn him gay. Sometimes you wonder!
November 30, 2003
AS 475 LAX-SEA Lv0930 Arr1216 McDonnell Douglas MD-80 N967AS
Well time for the return trip, things seem to be under control. Traffic into LAX at 7am was not too bad – sure, there were congestions traveling from terminal one to three, but nothing unusual. Alaska has redone the kiosks arrangement at LAX and was much more logical, and there were self-served stations at the curbside. I upgraded my SEA-EWR flight with no problem, but stuck at 3D (the options were 3C or 1D). Well, security line was not too overwhelming and the wait was relatively mild. There was no screaming and yelling by the TSA agents and the travelers were not too amateur. I went to the board room and sat next to the window overlooking Runway 24 – not too exciting at these early hours. I saw a UA’s Boeing 747-400 landed and a couple HP, WN, and AS planes. I saw QF’s Boeing 747-400ER (VH-OEE) towing towards the maintenance area (Melbourne flight) and saw a pair of Air Tahiti Nui landing within two hours and parking side by side (F-OSEA at gate 121 and F-OJGF at gate 120).
This morning, it was a “looking for volunteer” day with Boise (N605QX) and Eugene and Portland overbooked – this applied to Sea-tac as well (OAK and LAX and LAS and PHX)… The aircraft was towed in late, so boarding did not start till 9:08am. The flight went out 100% full as expected and the overhead bin situation was pretty bad especially on these MD-80s with the narrow bins (maybe AS should use the money saved by catering to install some new larger bins on these MD-80s or find a decent replacement for MD-80s). Water bottles were placed in the console and F class went out full as well. Door was closed early a minute late and pushed back simultaneously with an AS’ Boeing 737-900 (N307AS) and Boise flight. Flying time was a quick two hours and we climbed up to 31,000ft. There was no wait in the queue for Runway 24L and we took off at 9:41am following the company’s 737-900 (307) in front of us.
Well as of today, first class still got our continental breakfast plate with a nice selection of cantaloupes, strawberries, kiwi and orange with a decent-sized walnut blueberry muffin loaf. Everything was served at once with the beverage and I went to sleep after the snack service. (Y got only beverage as usual). Then we encountered some moderate chops – it was pretty nasty but I was too tired to be concerned with – I just sleep and sleep – took down the time when the seat belt sign was turned back on. We landed on Runway 34L at 11:41am and headed to gate D6.
AS 14 SEA-EWR Lv1400 Arr2158 Boeing 737-700 N629AS
Seattle was a bit more orderly than Wednesday. Walk to the departure screens and my flight was departing on time, and my aircraft would arrive early from Orange County this afternoon. However, I noted that the Boston flight (623) was delayed till noon and the DCA flight was delayed till 3:15pm. Not a good day for transcon travels… I went to the board room and logged in the computer for a while. It was nice afternoon and watched both UA and NW planes taking off for Narita and the arrival of EVA Air’s Boeing 747-400 Combi (original livery).
Boarding began at 1:15pm at D8 and the overhead bin situation was pretty bad. The flight attendants were very enthusiastic and helpful in digging up more overhead bin spaces. The flight went out 12F and 108Y. Door closed early at 1:53pm and pushed back at 1:56pm. Following a company’s MD-80 (N964AS), we took off from Runway 34R at 2:06pm. Flying time was a quick four hours due to strong tail wind with the typical routing to south of Spokane, Idaho, Billings, MT, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and into New York State. We cruised at 37,000feet.
I don’t think I need to say more about the service – here is the dinner transcript –
Mixed Mesclun greens topped with mozzarella cheese, roasted sun-dried tomato slices and pine nuts topped with Italian herb vinaigrette dressing and bread loaves – white, olive, and rye
A typical salad – I don’t like it!
Entrées
Seared King Alaskan Salmon topped with white sauce, summer pepper medley, & red bliss mashed potatoes
Or
Beef fillet topped with demi glace sauce, accompanied by sugar snap peas, and potatoes casserole
Overbooked beef… but no choice when it came to my row…
Dessert
New York Style Cheesecake topped with chocolate sauce
Dig E players passed out next and I watched both Simpsons and Dharma & Greg. Mixed nuts were served prior to arrival and hot towels were passed out. Descent began at 5:33pm and it was a beautiful night in New York city. We landed on Runway 22L at 9:10pm EST. We parked at gate A27. Well it was a fair trip and welcome back to the paper month… nasty month! Well next report will be on the few final segments on AS and QX before the deadline for 100,000miles.
Carfield
