Seat 2A

“Wow! You’re certainly taking the long way today. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather take the nonstop? We’ve got one leaving at the same time.”

I expect to hear variations on this question a lot over the next few days. After all, who in their right mind would willingly spend 8 ½ hours aboard three separate flights between Boise and Seattle when the nonstop will get you there in a mere hour and a half?

Honestly now – which routing would you rather fly between Boise and Seattle?

This routing?
HORIZON 2300 BOI-GEG 855a-859a
HORIZON 2353 GEG-PDX 1138a-1245p
HORIZON 2194 PDX-SEA 330p-422p

Or this one?
HORIZON 2391 BOI-SEA 855a-930a

Once I finally get to Seattle, I’ll then have a further 3 ½ hour layover before departing for Reno at 8:03pm. Total travel time from Boise to Reno: 12 hours, 43 minutes.

Alright now, you’d better grab a stiff drink and sit down for this one: I’ll be flying the long route back and forth between Boise and Reno for nine out of the next ten days. Has ol’ Seat 2A finally lost his marbles? Or has he got a plan…

Why on earth would I subject myself to ten days of this madness? Oh, the usual reasons. I need the miles. I like to fly. Above all, I need the miles for future trips. Trips that won’t be Mileage Runs. Trips where I’ll get to stay and enjoy the destination for awhile. I’m almost embarrassed to report that at present my Alaska Mileage Plan account balance is scraping the barrel at less than 3000 miles. It’s time to make some deposits.

As a person of only modest means, if it weren’t for Mileage Runs I wouldn’t be able to travel nearly as much as most of you jet setters out there at FlyerTalk. Then again, my style of Mileage Runs have represented quite a bit of travel in their own right:


EP's MILEAGE RUN ~ AN AAMERICAN ODYSSEY

THE GREAT AUTUMN MILEAGE RUN OF 2002

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: 23 flights and 19790 miles around America and Alaska

A Weekend Jaunt with Northwest DEN-LEX-DEN


For this trip, I’ve purchased six separate tickets, investing a little over $1000.00. In return, I will earn almost 200,000 award miles, the equivalent of ten roundtrip tickets between Fairbanks and anywhere else Alaska flies in the Lower 48. It won’t be as easy as it sounds, however. Read on…

** ***** **

This Fall, Alaska Airlines launched a new promotion called The 10 Million Mile Giveaway. It offers a chance for 100 lucky Mileage Plan members to win 100,000 award miles. You get entered in the drawing every time you fly or purchase a ticket at alaskaair.com. In addition, Alaska also makes it possible for anyone to go out and earn the 100,000 miles by flying at least 35 segments. Actually, you can earn some pretty impressive mileage even if you don’t fly all 35 segments. Check it out:

Fly 5 flights, get a 5000 mile bonus
Fly 10 flights, get a 10000 mile bonus
Fly 15 flights, get a 15000 mile bonus
Fly 25 flights, get a 25000 mile bonus
Fly 35 flights, get a 45000 mile bonus

Each bonus is in addition to whatever you earned at the level before, so after 15 flights, you’d get a total bonus of 30000 miles. And, add it up, after 35 flights, you’d get a total bonus of 100000 miles. Pretty cool, huh? And generous, too!

I don’t put much stock in winning stuff. I’ve never won anything of value except for some tickets to a Denver Nuggets basketball game by correctly identifying Hitler as the man who first promoted the idea of the Volkswagon. Unless you’re a diehard basketball fan, any value associated with seeing the Nuggets play is debatable at best.

Now earning something on the other hand ~ That I can count on because then luck and fate are replaced by my skill and tenacity, two attributes which have served me well in planning my travels. I set right to work perusing Alaska and Horizon’s fares via Travelocity’s Dream Map and Expedia’s Fare Calendar. I prefer the Fare Calendar because for me it’s faster. I’m quite familiar with the Alaska/Horizon route structure and their city pairs in so far as fare offerings, so the Fare Calendar allows me to select just Alaska fares and, using the back button to reload, I can breeze through numerous city pairs far more efficiently and thoroughly than with the Dream Map. The Dream Map doesn’t show every city you can get to out of say Boise for under $150.00, but I still check it out first just because every once in awhile it’ll surprise me with a good deal on the first try or even on rare occasions a deal that might not be available on Expedia. The other thing I like about Expedia is that it gives you the permissible routings for most domestic fares.

It’s worth noting that the whole process of exploring potential fares and routings, checking rules and verifying class availability via itn.com took me about three hours. Even if I found a great fare with a good routing on my first try, I’d still check out the other possibilities just to be certain that the first fare I’d seen was indeed the best option. The bottom line is – the entire process of creating a decent Mileage Run takes time, especially checking dates and class availability.

When booking Mileage Runs, I look for fares that allow me the maximum possible mileage accrual for the lowest possible cost. For this trip however, I was looking for fares that allowed me the most possible connections, regardless of mileage. I found a number of good fares that were less expensive than what I ultimately purchased. They all required a Saturday night stay, however. Had I lived in California or the Pacific Northwest, I could have taken a number of short, weekend trips and accomplished my goals for considerably less money. In the end, I settled for a fare from Boise to Reno that required only a one night stay and, including all taxes, came out to $155.00 roundtrip. The following routing was possible: BOI-GEG-PDX-SEA-RNO and back the same way. That makes eight segments per roundtrip. I bought four of them, though on two of them there was no morning or evening flight available in the right direction between GEG and BOI so I had to fly BOI-PDX nonstop. Total segments so far: 30. Okay now – how do I get to Boise? I live in Fairbanks, Alaska.

I cashed in 15,000 miles and took a 50% discount on a roundtrip from Fairbanks down to Las Vegas. That came out to $293.00 and I was able to upgrade all segments in advance. Most if not all of Alaska’s fares for travel out of Alaska allow a stopover in either Seattle or Portland going and coming. I took a stopover in Seattle and then bought a roundtrip between Seattle and Boise. That added an additional $121.00. Here are the roundtrip routings:

Fairbanks to Las Vegas: FAI-SEA-PDX-LAS-PDX-SEA-ANC-FAI = 7 segments
Seattle to Boise: SEA-PDX-GEG-BOI-LWS-PDX-SEA = 6 segments
Boise to Reno: BOI-GEG-PDX-SEA-RNO-SEA-PDX-GEG-BOI = 8 segments
Boise to Reno: BOI-GEG-PDX-SEA-RNO-SEA-PDX-GEG-BOI = 8 segments
Boise to Reno: BOI-GEG-PDX-SEA-RNO-SEA-PDX-BOI = 7 segments
Boise to Reno: BOI-PDX-SEA-RNO-SEA-PDX-GEG-BOI = 7 segments

So, in summary, I fly from Fairbanks to Seattle on the Las Vegas ticket, take a stopover in Seattle, fly to Boise, do the four roundtrips between Boise and Reno, then fly back to Seattle and continue on down to Las Vegas before finally returning straight back to Fairbanks. Total segments: 43.

No doubt, some of you must be asking why I’ve booked 43 segments when I only needed 35. It’s November. Weather is fickle in the Cascade Mountains this time of year. Snow, heavy rains, fog – all of them are real possibilities. Flights could get cancelled or delayed so spending $155.00 for an 8 flight buffer made good sense. It could cost me a lot more to make up any lost flights later.

** ***** **

I suppose one could call this trip a Segment Run as well as a Mileage Run. Consider if you will: I’m flying 43 flights a total of 16,240 actual air miles. When you factor in the minimum 500 mile credit per segment, this total increases to 24,480 status miles. As an MVP Gold in Alaska’s Mileage Plan, I’ll also get a 100% bonus on all of these flights for a total of 48,960 credited miles.

Okay then, let’s talk finances. I’ve paid out a total of $1037.00 for all of the tickets involved in this trip. So, if we plug all these numbers into the Formula For a Worthy Mileage Run (total cost divided by mileage earned), we come up with 0.0423 cents per status mile and 0.0212 cents per earned mile. As Mileage Runs go, this itinerary would not be a very productive one. I don’t know about you, but I like to keep my costs per earned mile at right about 1 cent. Preferably less.

However, when you factor in the 100,000 bonus miles I’ll be getting from Alaska’s 10 Million Mile Giveaway promotion, that cost per earned mile figure begins to look a lot more attractive. And then, because all of these flights take me over 75,000 revenue miles flown on Alaska and its partners this year, I’ll also get the MVP Gold Threshold Bonus of 50,000 miles. Total miles to be earned: 198,960!

Alrighty then, lets run those numbers through the Formula For A Worthy Mileage Run now. $1037.00 spent divided by 198,960 miles earned. Hmmm . . . $0.0052 cents per mile earned. Hey Now! We’ve got a winner here!

** ***** **

My primary goal in completing Alaska’s 35 flight challenge was to do it as inexpensively as possible. Given that I had to fly down from Alaska to do this trip, I am satisfied with the overall cost. Still, it sure would have been nice if I could have incorporated a little more variety in destinations.

This is not going to be an easy trip. The days are going to be long and the routings and destinations increasingly monotonous by their repetition. Really, the overall toll will be more mental than physical. It’ll be interesting to see how I’m holding up physically and mentally throughout. Who knows – when this is all over, I may never want to do another Mileage Run again.

Given the overall itinerary and the fact that the majority of these flights will be in Coach with no real meal service, writing a halfway interesting Trip Report may be the biggest challenge of all. Truth be known, I am writing this report mainly to give me something to do during my long layovers and many nights spent in airports. Call me a bit selfish in that regard if you like, but I warned you all back in May that my immediate future looked decidedly bleak in so far as more exotic travels go. Still, you said you wanted the reports anyway. So really, you all have only yourselves to blame for this report. How’s that for twisted logic?! Seriously though, thanks for your support and positive responses for my past reports. Here’s hoping you’ll enjoy this one as well.


WARNING: This Trip Report involves numerous flights in Economy Class aboard propeller aircraft along with graphic descriptions of good places to sleep and eat in select airports. Of course, the author makes no apologies for any of this and advises any readers who feel themselves to be above such things to avert their eyes and move on to what would be for them a more acceptable Trip Report.


04 November
FAI-ANC 829a-925a ALASKA 737-4Q8 N783AS First Class 260 :44
ANC-SEA 1010a-241p ALASKA 737-4Q8 N783AS First Class 1450 3:01
SEA-GEG 400p-456p ALASKA 737-490 N706AS First Class 220 :36
GEG-BOI 625p-828p HORIZON DHC-8-400 N411QX Coach Class 290 :49

After a thorough search amongst friends and acquaintances around the Fairbanks area, I could only find one person willing (or able) to drive me from my cabin out to the Fairbanks airport at 7:00am. Unfortunately, he drove a taxi at that hour of day and $20.00 later (I got a flat rate), I was dropped off in front of the Alaska Airlines counter at Fairbanks International.

Counter activity was light at this early hour, which was good because a cancelled flight in my itinerary coupled with trying to issue a single bag tag from two separate reservations resulted in my tying up the sole agent working the MVP line for a good ten minutes. The cancelled flight also lent further weight to my decision to purchase that 8 flight buffer ticket. Finally, my boarding passes were issued and off I trundled through TSA country to Gate 3 and my waiting 737-400. N783AS. Hey! Wasn’t I just on this plane last week? By golly I was, dang it! Flying ANC-SEA on my way down to Illinois, Florida and Utah. (Yes it’s true! I don’t write Trip Reports on all my travels…) Mind you, ship 783 is a perfectly good flying machine. However, the aircraft I’m really looking to fly aboard are N708AS, N764AS and N795AS. These are the only 737-400s in Alaska’s considerable fleet of the type that I have not yet flown. As for ship 783, this was my sixth flight aboard it, three of those flights coming this year alone.

It was a pretty cloudy trip down to Anchor Town and only the tops of the Alaska Range pierced the cloud cover. However, descending into Anchorage the skies cleared a bit and we were treated to a pretty sunrise over the Chugatch Mountains east of the city. It also created a beautiful gold reflection off the waters of the Cook Inlet. Gorgeous!

We had a full load down to the Emerald City and our First Class flight attendant wasted no time in getting drink and luncheon orders taken. Here are the luncheon offerings:

LUNCHEON

New York Steak Sandwich
Served with Au Jus and Cucumber Salad

Chef’s Salad
Garnished with turkey, ham, cheddar cheese and egg

Dessert
Ghirardelli Chocolate Square

*** ***** ***

Meanwhile, back in Steerage, the assembled masses were offered a:

Turkey, Pastrami and Cheese Sandwich
Accompanied by a Pasta Salad and a Harvest Bar

I spent plenty of time back in Coach last week, winging about the country on American Airlines. While I love AA’s laptop power ports and extra legroom, their meal service in Coach is nothing to write home about. Alaska’s sandwich basket is far more substantial that AA’s Bistro Bag.

Back to the present however, I ordered the New York Steak Sandwich and a glass of water. Normally, I avoid Alaska’s luncheon sandwiches because I’ve found them to be mostly bread with only a little meat. This steak sandwich however was pretty good, especially with the addition of some Grey Poupon mustard, packets of which I always have handy in my daypack. Still, overall Alaska’s luncheons are the weakest link in their highly regarded First Class meal service. The addition of a soup or salad and a proper dessert would do wonders in sprucing up an otherwise basic repast.

My CRJ-700 down to Portland had been cancelled for some reason. It was a beautiful autumn day in Seattle so I can only imagine it must have been for mechanical reasons. As such, rather than fly Seattle – Portland – Spokane, I hopped aboard Alaska’s nonstop 737-400, which deposited me at Spokane’s Geiger Field some 36 minutes later. It’s worth noting that on a clear day, the short flight between Seattle and Spokane offers some spectacular scenery. We flew right over the heart of the Cascade Range and I got excellent views of Glacier Peak and the Alpine Lakes region. For any of you hikers out there, that’s a great walk along the Pacific Crest Trail through the Alpine Lakes between I-90’s Snoqualmie Pass and US 2’s Stevens Pass. Just do it in the middle of the week if you can so you avoid the crowds of weekend warriors.

On to Boise aboard Horizon Air’s DeHavilland Dash-8-400, otherwise known amongst Horizon staff and regulars as the “Q-400”. While I’ve logged quite a few flights aboard Horizons smaller DHC-8–200s, this was my first ever flight aboard the stretched version. What can I say? It’s just a longer –200 and otherwise a generally pleasant airplane to fly in as props go. Certainly it’s better than the Embraer 120s flown by United Express, Horizon’s chief competitor. Service was beverage only and did not include the complimentary local microbrews I’ve enjoyed so much on the Seattle – Portland shuttles.

We arrived in Boise at 8:30pm. After claiming my backpack, I went upstairs, got a bite to eat at the bar/restaurant there, then scoped out the airport for a decent place to bed down for the night.

The Boise Airport is in the middle of a rather substantial renovation. The main terminal area is quite nice however, featuring a large open rotunda. On the floor beneath it is a tiled compass style map of the Pacific Northwest highlighting the state of Idaho. I found a partially completed Business Center with plenty of large work stations and wall plugs. It was also carpeted and well lit. I took up residence at one of the work stations and brought this report up to date. Round about 10:30pm, an airport police officer dropped by on his nightly rounds. I explained that I was flying out early the next morning and asked if the deserted Business Center might be an acceptable place to sleep for the night. He assured me that it would be no problem so long as I was up and off the floor before it got busy. I promised him that I’d be up by 7:00am but did not tell him that I’d be back in two nights, then again two nights later, and then again three nights later.

Now I understand that many of you would never sleep in an airport if you could possibly avoid it. For many people, it’s just a matter of personal pride – they’d be embarrassed to be seen lying on a floor and sleeping in a public place. Me on the other hand, well, I could give a big hoo hah about what anybody thinks of me if they see me lying on a floor in an airport. I’ll likely never see them again anyway. I’m not proud (at least not in that regard) and in the big picture there are far worse transgressions in life than sleeping in public. Like vanity and excessive pride or ego. The fact is I’d much rather be staying in a hotel or hostel but I simply can’t afford it. At least, not every night.

I’m always amazed at how many people, when circumstances conspire to have them sleeping in an airport, try to sleep in a chair. That’s no way to sleep! I’ve got a Thermarest pad that I inflate for a nice soft but firm sleeping surface. I also bring a pillow in my backpack, along with my sleeping bag which I just throw over me like a big quilt. Then I’ve got my eye shades left over from flights in BA’s First Class. So, while those poor folks in the chairs are sleeping fitfully at best, constantly waking and trying to reposition themselves into something marginally more comfortable, I’m snoozin’ like Rumplestiltskin. Plus, I’ve just saved a nice chunk of change. The cheapest airport hotel I could find in Boise was about $45.00 a night including taxes. Multiply that by four nights and you’ve got enough for an LAX to Tampa ticket on Northwest or a single night in some Starwood properties.


05 November
BOI-GEG 855a-859a HORIZON DHC-8-400 N411QX Coach Class 290 :51
GEG-PDX 1138a-1245p HORIZON DHC-8-400 N400QX Coach Class 280 :56
PDX-SEA 330p-422p HORIZON DHC-8-200 N358PH Coach Class 130 :32
SEA-RNO 803p-938p ALASKA DC-9-80 N969AS First Class 560 1:18

My alarm went off at 7:00am (5:00am Alaska time). It’s a good thing I bring that little clock because I get so comfortable that I could easily oversleep otherwise. Indeed, I have on a couple of occasions.

After getting cleaned and changed in a deserted restroom off the baggage claim area, I checked my pack through to Portland. The reason I didn’t check it all the way through to Reno was that the odds of it confusing some baggage handler increase substantially with four flights rather than two. I was scheduled for an almost three hour layover in Portland so I’d have plenty of time to claim it and recheck it there. Unfortunately, the counter agent was unable to get her computer to generate a bag tag for only the first two flights, so we had to go with a hand written one. The only drawback to the handwritten tags is that they have no barcode, an effective tool in tracking your bag should it ever become lost. With only one connection in Spokane, that seemed unlikely.

Breakfast was an Egg McMuffin and a cup of coffee. Besides McDonalds, there’s also a Subway outlet on the concourse so I’ll try their breakfast sandwich next time. I’m quite happy to see these fast food outlets showing up in airports if only because most of the standard airport restaurants have been gouging passengers with high food prices for years. Last week, at a bar/restaurant on SeaTac’s C Concourse, I checked out a menu that wanted $7.99 for a plate of scrambled eggs, two strips of bacon and a muffin. Coffee was $2.49! Throw in a couple bucks for a tip and you’ve just spent $12.00 on breakfast! By contrast, my Egg McMuffin and a large cup of coffee cost me $3.29.

One couldn’t have asked for a nicer day to fly, particularly around the beautiful Pacific Northwest. After a take off roll of only 17 seconds, we were airborne and climbing north towards Spokane. Flight time was announced as 53 minutes, cruising at 25,000 feet. It was nice to be flying at a lower altitude because the scenery is quite nice along the BOI-GEG route. Those of us on the left hand side of the plane were treated to great views of the Snake River and in particular Hell’s Canyon, the deepest in America. Beyond, the Blue Mountains looked quite white, cloaked in a mantle of fresh snow from last week’s storms. Coffee and Quaker Oats Breakfast Bars made the rounds and the kid behind me asked for and received two of them. We flew right over Lewiston before approaching Spokane from the West and touching down after a flight of just 51 minutes. Given the quality of the day and the scenery, I wished this flight could’ve been longer – something I rarely wish for on propeller driven aircraft.

I had a two hour layover in Spokane and was thankful for the existence of a Business Center complete with phones and big work areas. Give me a desk, a few pens and some paper and I could easily have all I needed to survive a ten year stint in a monastery. Honestly though, between working up plans for a house I’m planning to build, dealing with the 20 or so airline postcards I’ve begun to sell on ebay each week, and keeping up with correspondence at home and abroad, I’ve got plenty to keep me busy. Then there’s my ancient laptop upon which I tap out all these boring Trip Reports whilst listening to music from a library of over 400 songs. And there are books. And newspapers. And phones. And daydreaming. So no, I don’t mind all the two and three hour layovers that I’ll have over the next ten days. They will be time well and enjoyably spent.

The flight into Portland followed the Columbia River – nothing particularly spectacular from the air but quite pretty down in the Gorge. Approaching PDX from the east, I had a great view of Mt. Hood out my port side window while across the aisle I could look out the opposite window and clearly see Mt. St. Helens. Ain’t flying great?!!

With almost three hours to burn in Portland, I met my old friend and fellow FTer The Breeze for lunch. She’s hasn’t posted more than once or twice but she checks in now and then on the United site along with some of the Travel Forum sites.

I had an almost four hour layover in Seattle, so I took the 174 bus up to Larry’s Market where I bought some hot sauce (all the better to doctor up some of that bland airport food) and whipped up a good coffee blend for my morning addiction. I discovered Larry’s Markets about fifteen years ago and have been a fan of them ever since. Besides offering most of the usual stuff you’ll find in most any national chain supermarket, they also offer a nice variety of gourmet products not commonly seen elsewhere. I particularly enjoy their deli and salad bar section so after finishing my shopping, I put together a nice salad and some chicken for my dinner. I arrived back at SeaTac with plenty of time to spare and, after a couple of ice cold MacTarnahans on the flight down to Reno, I was ready for a good nights rest.

I hadn’t been in the Reno airport since 1986. It’s had a bit of a makeover since then and the results looked nice. It’s not a large sprawling airport like Las Vegas, and for that I was thankful. If you must spend the night in an airport, you could hardly do worse than Las Vegas with it’s constant announcements and, worst of all, nonstop noise from the huge collection of slot machines placed throughout the terminal. Add to that the fact that Vegas has many flights departing after midnight for east coast destinations and you’ve got an airport that’s extremely noisy and busy late into the night. I was prepared to get a hotel if Reno’s airport were anything like LAS. Thankfully it wasn’t. There are no late night departures and the last flight in arrives right around midnight. I found an exceptionally quiet, dark and deserted waiting area just beyond car rental counters and got myself a good seven hours of undisturbed sleep. It would have been more, too, but I like to be up by 7:00am just to clear the area. Since at most airports flights aren’t arriving prior to 7:00am, I’m rarely if ever in anyone’s way.


06 November
RNO-SEA 1100a-1251p ALASKA DC-9-80 N968AS First Class 560 1:23
SEA-PDX 200p-249p HORIZON DHC-8-200 N356PH Coach Class 130 :34
PDX-BOI 517p-718p HORIZON CRJ-700 N612QX Coach Class 340 :47

The Reno airport has a great little food court featuring a full service bar/restaurant, a McDonalds, a deli and a Mexican food place called Munchitos. Everything except the deli serves breakfast. I went with Munchitos. They offer these fantastic breakfast burritos that are freshly created on the spot, come with delicious potatoes and did not require the addition of any of my special hot sauce. There’s also an omelet station that will whip you up a three egg omelet employing your choice from a variety of meats and vegetables for only $6.95. The price includes potatoes and bread.

My seatmate up to Seattle this morning was a hydroelectric engineer who had worked on projects all over the world. We chatted about his travels, including his dramatic arrival and departure via helicopter from Kenya, where because of a tendency amongst the rebels to shoot at most anything that flies, the helicopter had to maintain an extremely high altitude, out of range of the bullets, then make a near vertical drop right into the fenced in and guarded compound. He’d also done some work in Chile and Peru and we reminisced a bit over some of the beautiful countryside outside of Santiago, specifically the drive across the Andes to Mendoza.

SeaTac has showers available at the airport barbershop. They’re not cheap though, going for the stratospheric price of $7.50! For that amount, you ought to get something akin to the Pharo-Hansrohe Body Jet Hydrotherapy Shower, such as that found at the Molton-Brown Spa in British Airways’ Terminal Four at Heathrow. Although I do a good job of keeping presentable with my early morning sponge baths, they certainly can’t replace a good hot shower every couple of days. Unfortunately, the SeaTac barbershop was closed, indeed boarded off due to airport renovations. Alas, I would have to get by another day. I’ve yet to ever receive any complaints from any of my seatmates though.

Once again, the Northwest was being influenced by a high pressure system, so the skies were beautifully clear and blue. Unfortunately, an inversion had settled over Seattle and the normally pretty view of the Olympic Mountains across the Puget Sound was today sodden with smog. I’d never seen it so bad! In any event, I sure enjoyed my window seat down to Portland. I’ve driven that I-5 corridor so often that I practically have it memorized. Even so, I always enjoy the perspective one gets from twenty some odd thousand feet overhead, particularly over lands which I’m familiar with. Sometimes you get to see some things that you could never see from the road. Like hey! I didn’t know those lakes were out there behind Kalama!

As mid size airports go, Portland International may be my favorite. I love the little shopping arcade in the central terminal, especially the Powell’s Book Store which also offers a decent selection of used books for cheapskates like me. Then there’s the Food Court. To my tastes at least, there is no finer airport food court in the land with the possible exception of the one at the junction of American’s H and K Concourses at Chicago’s O’Hare. At PDX, one can choose from the following restaurants:

Portland Brewing Co. Ale and Pizza Pub – Excellent beer, pizza and ESPN
Panda Express Chinese Food – Fast affordable Chinese food
Coffee People – Great coffee and pastries
Wendy’s – Great inexpensive salads and the finest fast food hamburger out there
Macheesmo Mouse – High quality, low fat Mexican cuisine
Creative Croissants – Excellent full service deli

I’d been looking forward to one of Macheesmo Mouse’s killer chicken, vegie and black bean burritos and was disappointed to see that they were closed, hopefully just for remodeling. Instead, I settled for Peppered Chicken and Mushrooms over rice at Panda Express. The seating area offered great views of the ramp action between the C and D Concourses. Notable by their absence were all the Delta MD-11s you used to see out at the end of the D Concourse. Aside from freighters, the biggest thing flying out of PDX these days is Delta’s 767-300.

After lunch, I spent a pleasant hour in the Alaska Boardroom before heading over to the A Concourse for my Horizon flight into Spokane. In Spokane, I had only a twenty five minute connection to the Boise flight. The TV monitor showed the Spokane flight operating seven minutes late but I wasn’t overly concerned. By the time I arrived at the gate however, the departure time had been pushed back another twenty minutes. Uh oh. The gate agent was on top of it however and had already switched me and my backpack over to the nonstop CRJ, leaving for Boise just 30 minutes later. Well done! However, my 8 flight slush fund was now down to 6 flights.


07 November
BOI-GEG 855a-859a HORIZON DHC-8-400 N413QX Coach Class 290 :50
GEG-PDX 1138a-1245p HORIZON DHC-8-400 N400QX Coach Class 280 :56
PDX-SEA 330p-422p HORIZON DHC-8-200 N360PH Coach Class 130 :32
SEA-RNO 803p-938p ALASKA DC-9-80 N977AS First Class 560 1:20

I was going to go down on the C Concourse and check out Subway’s omelet sandwich for breakfast, but instead opted for the healthier fruit cup at the main terminal’s Outpost Café. I can always visit that Subway outlet another time – like the day after tomorrow!

I must say, I quite like these big Dash 8-400s or Q-400s in Horizon lingo. Compared to most other big regional prop jets like the ATR-72 or SAAB 2000, I think they’re not only more spacious but also quieter. In Horizon’s configuration, the best seat to get is 1B. It’s got the best legroom on the plane and since the galley is at the rear of the cabin, you won’t be in the FA’s way if you stretch your legs out fully. Second best seats on this airplane would be anything else in row 1. I enjoyed a couple of cups of coffee, a biscotti and the scenery on the 54 minute flight up to Spokane.

Spokane is one of a handful of US airports that have confused travelers and airline ticket agents for years with its three letter city code. Most anyone with an eighth grade education can figure out that SEA is Seattle, RNO is Reno, MIA is Miami and MKE is Milwaukee. Marginally more difficult are cities like ORF (Norfolk), SAT (San Antonio) or EWR (Newark). But then there are places like TYS (Tyson Field in Knoxville, TN), SDF (Standiford Field in Louisville, KY) BDL (Bradley Field in Hartford, CT) and perhaps most famously, ORD (Orchard Place Field – now O’Hare in Chicago, IL). So, what’s the story behind Spokane’s designation as GEG?

Back in 1941, the Department of the Defense purchased the area then known as "Sunset Field" from Spokane County for a World War II B-17 and C-47 training facility. Following the acquisition, they renamed the facility Geiger Field in honor of Major Harold C. Geiger, a pioneer in Army aviation and ballooning. The airport designation became GEG. In 1946, a portion of the airfield was designated a municipal airport, and commercial airline operations were moved from the old Felts Field to Geiger Field. In 1960, the facility was renamed Spokane International Airport, though the GEG designation remains.

On my layover in Portland today, I ate at Creative Croissants. I had the Santa Fe Chicken sandwich with a small side salad. Interestingly, despite the name of the establishment, it cost 50 cents extra to have it on a croissant. I chose the multi-grain and the sandwich was delicious! Highly recommended!

Dash 8-200 “City of Medford” did the honors up to Seattle this afternoon. All 37 seats were filled, resulting in a long take off roll comparable to that of an empty 707. Cruising altitude was 23,000 feet and I had a cold cup of Tri-Motor Pale Ale in my hand within 10 minutes of take off.

Horizon enjoys a well earned reputation for excellent inflight service and this flight, though only 32 minutes long, proved a good example of why. Our flight attendant wasted no time in getting all 37 of us fed and “watered” with bags of pretzels and a variety of beverages, including complimentary beer and wine. Each month, Horizon features a different local ale or wines from around its system. This months choices were Tri-Motor Amber Ale from Lang Creek Brewery in Marion, Montana and a trio of wines from Washington’s Covey Creek Winery.

Another nice aspect of Horizon’s service is their plane side check of carry on baggage, or “A La Cart” service.

My 8:03pm departure was the last flight of the night between Seattle to Reno. It was Friday night and the plane was packed with a lively crowd looking to have a little fun and hopefully make a little money over the weekend. I signed up to volunteer my seat but unfortunately was just a bit too late. Had I headed down to the gate an hour beforehand, I would very likely have been in possession of a free ticket anywhere in the Alaska/Horizon system. Alas.


08 November
RNO-SEA 700a-852a ALASKA DC-9-80 N961AS First Class 560 1:19
SEA-PDX 330p-412p HORIZON CRJ-700 N604QX Coach Class 130 :29
PDX-BOI 517p-718p HORIZON CRJ-700 N604QX Coach Class 340 :48

I’ve been looking forward to this day in a big way. I get to stay in a hotel tonight!! Thanks to Priceline, I’ve got a room at the Red Lion Park Center Suites in downtown Boise for just $39.91, all in. Such a deal!

In the meantime, I awoke from my comfortable slumber on the floor of Reno’s airport at 6:00am. It was cool, dark and quiet at this early hour and I was sorely tempted to readjust my pillow and grab another hour of sleep. I wasn’t scheduled to leave until 11:00am but if I could get on Alaska’s 7:00am departure up to Seattle, I’d have plenty of time to catch a bus into the city, grab a shower at the Green Tortoise Hostel, do some laundry up in the U-District and get back to SeaTac in time for my 3:30pm departure to Portland.

In a city like Reno where the nightlife carries on well into the wee hours and beyond, early Saturday morning departures aren’t very popular. As such, I had no problem getting a seat on the 7:00am to Seattle. Three hours later, I was enjoying a nice hot shower at the Tortoise. By 1:00pm, I had clean cloths, a new CD, a new book and a full stomach courtesy of Anaya’s Thai Restaurant on the Ave. in Seattle’s University District. By 2:15p I was back at SeaTac. In all, an enjoyable and productive day, so far.

In Portland, I headed over to Alaska’s Boardroom where I met with fellow FlyerTalker and ace Trip Reporter Carfield. He had started the day in New York and was on his way to San Jose. I’ve certainly enjoyed Carfield’s many reports and comments, and it was good to finally meet him in person. Unfortunately, we only had about twenty minutes to chat as both of us had planes to catch. Devotees of Carfield’s detailed Trip Reports will be pleased to know that he is hardly resting on his laurels. He’s got plenty of upcoming trips planned, including an around the world itinerary on One World carriers. And of course, after this current round of travels on Alaska and Horizon Air, he’ll have another 150,000 miles or so to play around with. I’ll look forward to the reports.

Horizon’s CRJ-700 over to Boise delivered a short and otherwise unremarkable flight save for an excellent viewing of the lunar eclipse, for which I had a front row seat (1A).


09 November
BOI-PDX 100p-111p HORIZON CRJ-700 N612QX Coach Class 340 :53
PDX-SEA 400p-452p HORIZON DHC-8-200 N361PH Coach Class 130 :32
SEA-RNO 803p-938p ALASKA 737-400 N778AS First Class 560 1:16

I was enjoying my complimentary continental breakfast and getting into ESPN’s Sunday morning NFL previews when the power went out. * ! ? ! * Sigh… After it became apparent that it wasn’t likely to come on again any time soon, I trudged back to my room, packed and caught the shuttle back to the airport where the power was on and indeed had never been interrupted.

It was cloudy with a light rain in Boise. As our CRJ broke through the cloud layer and sunshine suddenly flooded the cabin, I reflected on how special flight really is. In this fast paced world we live in, most people can’t imagine actually enjoying sitting in an airplane. They’re too focused on their destination. When are we gonna get there?! Relax and enjoy the moment. Take a look out the window. Enjoy the peace and quiet relative to the world below. For me, just looking out the window reaffirms everything I enjoy about flying. To then have this wonderful window on the world whilst sat in a comfortable reclining seat, while friendly people offer me free food and drink… well, it is indeed one of life’s great pleasures.

Horizon Air has distinguished most of its Dash 8-200 fleet with the names of cities in the Horizon system. It’s a nice touch that unfortunately does not extend to the rest of the fleet. N361PH, otherwise known as “The Great City of Sun Valley”, whisked us up to the city of Seattle in a mere 32 minutes. The load was light and there were plenty of beer and pretzels for all!

I’m getting to be pretty well known amongst the staff working Alaska’s SeaTac and Portland Boardrooms. I have, after all, been a regular visitor every day for the past six days, not to mention my visits last week on my way back from Las Vegas. Of course the question has come up – what am I doing? Shuttle diplomacy? Face to face negotiations? I just smile and say yep, I’ve got a busy couple of weeks ahead, after which I’ll be grounded for a whole month. Oh, I’ve mentioned that I’m also trying to pick up a few extra segments too, but beyond that I don’t go into much detail. I reckon it’s just assumed that I’m trying to maintain my MVP Gold status.

Truth be known, I don’t really like to advertise these Mileage/Segment runs. Look at what happened at Sutter’s Mill! I figure the less people that know about this kind of activity, the better. Of course, I make an exception amongst you like minded FlyerTalkers, as I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. Despite the reality being that very few people have the time or inclination to undertake such lengthy ventures as my typical mileage runs, there’s no guarantee airline management types in a position to someday affect such practices would see it the same way. People talk. The word gets spread. The less knowledge and chatter amongst airline employees about the few of us that do these extensive segment or mileage runs, the better.

As for 2004 MVP Gold, I earned that back in June.

After a quick flight down to Reno, I put in some work on this report, finished off my third book of the trip so far, and got a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow is a day off from flying. I’ve got a nice car rented and am heading off into the Sierras to visit some old friends high above Sierra City, California.


11 November
RNO-SEA 1100a-1251p ALASKA DC-9-80 N934AS First Class 560 1:30
SEA-PDX 230p-322p HORIZON DHC-8-200 N351PH Coach Class 130 :31
PDX-GEG 457p-600p HORIZON DHC-8-400 N409QX Coach Class 280 :49
GEG-BOI 625p-828p HORIZON DHC-8-400 N408QX Coach Class 290 :45

Clear blue skies and bright early morning sunshine accompanied me as I descended through the Sierra Nevada’s abundant groves of pine, cedar and oak trees to the dry, comparatively desolate lowlands that surround Reno. From the time I was a kid growing up in Colorado, I’ve always felt a pang of regret whenever I come down out of the mountains. It’s the same feeling I used to get at the end of a great roller coaster ride. Is it over? I want to go again! Manmade monuments, entertainment and culture are all well and good but life just seems so much more vital up in the mountains. I’ve always liked the Chinese poet Li Bai’s way of putting it…

QUESTION AND ANSWER

You ask me:

Why do I live
On this green mountain?

I smile
No answer

My heart serene

On flowing water
Peach blow
Quietly going
Far away

This is another earth
Another sky

No likeness
To that human world below

** *** **

Right. Where was I? Why, in Seat 1A aboard Alaska’s northbound MD-80 up to Seattle. I must’ve dozed off shortly after gazing out on Mts. Lassen and Shasta and trying to determine where the Sierras ended and the Cascades began? Shasta and Lassen are the southernmost volcanoes in the Cascade range but the Sierras are like right there just to the south.

In any event, we were descending through broken clouds way out west of Bremerton, over by Union. I could clearly make out the Hood Canal. This was certainly not the usual approach into SeaTac! It sure was pretty though. We made the big turn up by Northgate Mall and made short work of the remaining twenty five miles into SeaTac. Flying past Boeing Field, I could very clearly see the British Airways Concorde parked prominently in front of its new home at the Museum of Flight.

There’s not much to say that I haven’t already said about my flights down to Portland, over to Spokane and on to Boise. They were your basic standard issue Horizon Air flights, offering the finest inflight service by a regional airline anywhere in America. Over the course of the day, I downed a couple of cups of Starbucks Holiday Blend coffee and enjoyed three bags of Horizon’s Deluxe Nut Mix, which I might add put other airlines’ similar snacks to shame. Of course, I also washed them down with a couple of glasses of complimentary Tri Motor Pale Ale.

I was looking forward to dinner in Boise but the kitchen at the Outpost Cafe in the main terminal was closed when I arrived. Something about closing early on Veteran’s Day. As such, dinner was three bags of Alaska’s mixed nuts and a bottle of water.

I have flown twenty four flights so far. I’m actually feeling pretty good, all things considered. That day off yesterday was a huge rejuvenator and of course having access to the Alaska Boardrooms has been equally important, considering the length of my layovers in Seattle and Portland. Tomorrow, I begin my final round trip to Reno.


12 November
BOI-GEG 855a-859a HORIZON DHC-8-400 N408QX Coach Class 290 :56
GEG-PDX 1138a-1245p HORIZON DHC-8-400 N402QX Coach Class 280 :53
PDX-SEA 200p-252p HORIZON DHC-8-200 N354PH Coach Class 130 :32
SEA-RNO 803p-938p ALASKA DC-9-80 N969AS First Class 560 1:15

After last night’s meager dinner rations, I was well and truly famished when I awoke this morning. So, after checking in I headed straightaway to the Subway restaurant out on the C Concourse. Although Subway is primarily a sandwich shop, the one here in the Boise airport offers a full omelet breakfast, either on the plate or as an omelet sandwich. The omelets were even cooked in an omelet pan, with the ingredients sautéed beforehand. I opted for the sandwich version, which was actually pretty good, then headed off to Spokane.

Worthy of note today were two of my seatmates. On the flight into Portland, my seatmate slept through most of the flight, snoring moderately as he went. What stood out about him was his long sideburns – the type that went out of style back in the seventies amongst pretty much everyone but long haul truckers. Who knows? Maybe he was a trucker.

On the short flight between Portland and Seattle, my seatmate was a woman of about fifty with a face like a gargoyle and the personality to match. She smelled strongly of cigarettes and was reading some National Enquirer type tabloid. The front page had a big photo of a rather cadaverous looking Michael Jackson and the headline screamed out: Is Michael Jackson Dying? Interestingly, after she’d finished her perusal of such earth shaking matters, she then pulled out a bible. While her choice of reading material was mildly amusing, where she stood out was in her rude treatment of the Flight Attendant. She tried her best to ignore him throughout the flight.

I thought the flight attendant did a fine job offering snacks, drinks, and even refills on both. However, he was also an overtly effeminate young man. I couldn't help but be amused by some of his mannerisms and facial expressions, especially when dealing with my seatmate. When he first came by with snacks and drinks, he asked her two or three times if she wanted anything. No response. He even waved a bag of Horizon’s delicious nut mix inches from her face. Still she wouldn’t acknowledge him. It wasn’t until I said “It looks as if she’s oblivious to the world” that she finally glanced up, took the nut mix and declined the drinks with a shake of her head. When he later came around offering seconds, she totally ignored him which elicited an hysterical facial expression after which he dismissed her with a flick of the wrist. It was priceless! Still, as a fellow human being, I really felt badly for this guy. He didn’t deserve that kind of treatment. As I was leaving the aircraft, I took a moment to apologize for seatmate’s behavior, told him he’d done a great job and wished him well. My good deed for the day, and a worthy one at that.

I’d managed to get on an earlier flight into Seattle which left me with an almost five hour layover. I’d advised friends in advance of this possibility and so was able to meet them for dinner and drinks in town before returning to my airborne ways.

After being dropped off at SeaTac, I watched as the TV monitors showed an on time departure for my flight into Reno. I was sitting in the Boardroom and could clearly see the gate. Twenty five minutes before scheduled departure time, there was still no aircraft parked in it. I decided to walk on down to the gate anyway and when I arrived, there was still no aircraft. No big deal. Delays happen. By now, it was fifteen minutes prior to scheduled departure and I asked the gate agent if we had a new departure time. The gate lounge was fairly crowded and the aircraft was nowhere in sight. She informed me the airplane was being towed into the gate and that we’d still be leaving on time. Even if the plane were in sight, baggage had yet to be loaded, catering had to be attended to, and the passengers had yet to be boarded. An on time departure? Yeah, right.

I’m not one to go and argue on things like this. Instead I snorted derisively and gave her the old arched eyebrow of disbelief. Truth be known, I said something like “Hah! This I gotta see…” and wandered off to a bank of nearby phones. Still, as one who’s logged almost three million miles on over 3100 flights, I find it annoying when it’s obvious an on time departure is out of the question, yet airline personnel pleasantly insist otherwise. Just tell me the truth. We don’t know right now. The plane’s being towed to the gate as we speak and once it gets here we’re going to try to get loaded and on our way as soon as possible. So please don’t wander too far from the gate area. Fair enough.

As it was, the aircraft wasn’t parked at the gate until five minutes after departure time, and we didn’t push back for another 40 minutes after that.


13 November
RNO-SEA 700a-851a ALASKA DC-9-80 N969AS First Class 560 1:29
SEA-PDX 230p-322p HORIZON DHC-8-200 N347PH Coach Class 130 :32
PDX-GEG 457p-600p HORIZON DHC-8-400 N408QX Coach Class 280 :53
GEG-BOI 625p-828p HORIZON DHC-8-400 N400QX Coach Class 290 :51

Once again, I managed to successfully stand by for a seat, albeit a First Class seat, on the 7:00am departure up to Seattle. As we began our descent just past Portland, the captain pointed out the beautiful view of Mts. Hood, Adams, St. Helens and Rainier off to our right. In the distance, I could also see Glacier Peak and Mt. Baker. What a gorgeous day! Anyone who was on this flight would have to agree that when it isn’t raining, Seattle truly is one of the world’s most beautiful cities. Elliot Bay glistened in the morning sun as we passed overhead flying north. A large ferry slowly approached the city from Bremerton. We then made the big turn over the U District and were treated to a spectacular view of downtown Seattle as we made our final approach into SeaTac.

Arrival time was 8:45am, and since my onward flight to Portland wasn’t scheduled to depart until 2:30pm, I had plenty of time to hop a bus up to the University District for a couple hours. I found a couple of good used books at Twice Told Tales (I need books in the same way I need food. As it is, I go through a book every couple of days on a trip like this.) but failed in my continuing search for the Mill Pond Press postcard depicting Dean Morrissey’s beautiful painting “Sleeper Flight”. I’ve been looking for that card over two years now. I do a lot of artwork with pens, stickers and stamps on my postcards and that particular card was a wonderful vehicle for my style of art. I had the delicious vegetarian buffet at Flowers Restaurant on the corner of 43rd and University before catching the bus back to SeaTac.

Three flights later, we made an on time arrival in Boise. This will be my fourth and final night sleeping in the Boise airport. I’ve now completed all four of my Boise-Reno roundtrips and have only three more segments to go until I’ve earned my 100,000 bonus miles. So far, Alaska’s been posting them quickly and accurately at alaskaair.com. Tomorrow night I’ll have a nice bed in Seattle. The next night I’ll be in a motel in either Needles, California, Flagstaff, Arizona, Mesquite, Nevada or Kanab, Utah. How’s that for variety?


14 November
BOI-LWS 850a-850a HORIZON DHC-8-200 N354PH Coach Class 200 :43
LWS-PDX 910a-1155a HORIZON DHC-8-200 N354PH Coach Class 270
PDX-SEA 130p-218p HORIZON CRJ-700 N601QX Coach Class 130 :33

I have had incredibly good fortune with the weather so far. As a result, I’ve experienced only one cancellation and one delay, neither of which appeared to be weather related. As an added bonus, I’ve been treated to generally clear views out my window, not only from cruising altitude but also after takeoff and on approach, two of the best times to take in the scenic grandeur of the Pacific Northwest and its two largest cities.

My first flight today takes me into Lewiston, Idaho. Just prior to boarding, an announcement was made in the gate area that Lewiston was fogged in and that we might divert to the alternate airport, Seattle. Seattle? Alternate? What about Spokane or Pullman? In any event, the decision would be made as we approached LWS, so boarding proceeded on time.

I hadn’t flown into Lewiston since 1980. Back then, I was aboard a bright yellow DC-9-30 in the service of Hughes Airwest. And, get this - That flight was a five stop direct flight (no change of planes) from Seattle to Denver with stops in Spokane, Lewiston, Boise, Pocatello and Idaho Falls.

Lewiston is 200 miles and a 43 minute flight from Boise. Service consisted of the usual array of morning beverages along with the large Quaker Oatmeal Breakfast Bar. Mind you, this is no little Nature Valley Granola Bar. It’s a pretty good sized mass of oats, honey and nuts that Quaker says is the equivalent of eating a serving of oatmeal, but without the messy preparation or dishes to clean up afterwards. Two weeks ago I was flying American on a 3 hour 40 minute flight between Seattle and Chicago. All we received was a Bistro Bag containing a much smaller granola bar and a little tub of yogurt.

It was a pretty flight into Lewiston, cruising at 18,000 feet. The lower elevation gave us great views of the surrounding mountains and I watched with interest as we passed over a number of houses and ranches that were literally miles from their nearest neighbor. Thankfully, landing conditions had improved to meet the minimum requirements, though you could’ve fooled me as we descended through the fog towards the airport out there somewhere. Suddenly, there was the perimeter fence, the runway threshold, and then the runway. Interestingly, a Miami Air 737-800 was poised near the head of the head of the runway, awaiting our arrival. I can only imagine it must have been a charter for one of the local college teams.

Lewiston’s airport didn’t appear to be any bigger today than it was twenty three years ago. I find it interesting though how many cities similar to Lewiston in size have lost jet service over the years. Here in the Northwest, I’ve flown DC-9s, 727s or 737s through cities like Klamath Falls, Medford, Pasco, Kalispell and Butte just to name a few. These days, most of these airports don't even see regional jets.

In Portland, I had lunch at Capers Café, located just past the security checkpoint for Concourses A,B and C. They’ve got an excellent variety of soups, sandwiches, salads and pastries. Why, there’s even quiche! I had the turkey, cream cheese and cranberry sandwich before heading down to gate B3 for my 35th and final segment in this segment marathon.

33 minutes later, our CRJ-700 landed smoothly in Seattle and I headed into town to join friends for a night of good times and good food.

Overall, the 35 flights and 8 nights spent in airports were a lot easier than I’d expected. Again, having access to Alaska’s Boardrooms was a huge help, as well as planning that day off in Reno the middle of the trip. Alaska’s Mileage Plan has been great, posting both the flights and the bonus miles quickly and efficiently. And, who knows – I may just accrue even more mileage as each of those 35 segments flown offers another opportunity to win an additional 100,000 miles. We’ll see. . .

Next up: The Threshold Bonus


15 November
SEA-PDX 1000a-1049a HORIZON DHC-8-200 N367PH Coach Class 130
PDX-LAS 1239p-242p ALASKA 737-400 N771AS First Class 760 * Lunch

I awoke to a gray and murky day in the Pacific Northwest. Rain fell lightly as I walked out to Horizon’s Dash 8-200 “City of Klamath Falls”. As we taxied away from the terminal, I noticed the Northwest 747-200 that has been remotely parked just across the runways from the main terminal. It’s been there all week and yet Northwest does have a maintenance facility here at SeaTac. I wonder what’s up?

The weather wasn’t any better down south, so it sure was nice to climb out of Portland aboard Alaska’s 737-400 and get my sunshine fix as we broke through the cloud cover blanketing most of western America. Flight time was declared at 1:56, cruising at 35,000 feet. Drink orders were taken and all four people in row 1 ordered Bloody Marys. My seatmate at 2B ordered one as well. My turn now. Ah, what the heck! Bloody Mary, please.

Our flight attendant offered the following choices for lunch:

Grilled Chicken Sandwich
Accented with marinated red onions and accompanied by a curried rice salad

Tomato and Mozzarella Plate
Marinated tomato slices are presented with chunks of Mozzarella cheese

I chose the grilled chicken sandwich and was not disappointed, particularly as I quite like Alaska’s curried rice salad. I absolutely must have that recipe! As for the tomato and Mozzarella plate, I thought it would have made a good side salad for the chicken sandwich. Dessert was the ubiquitous Ghirardelli chocolate square.

Interestingly, the clouds cleared abruptly just west of Las Vegas. We got a great view of the Las Vegas Strip and McCarran Field as we circled around from the south, then made our approach from the east onto runway 25R, once the longest civilian runway in the United States at 12,636 feet. Of course, the question now begs to be asked and answered:

Which airport has the longest civilian runway in America?

At present, that honor goes to Denver’s DIA which just opened a 16,000 foot runway.

I collected my backpack and headed over to Alamo, where a brand new (330 miles on the odometer) Chevy Impala awaited me for a 1700 mile road trip into the heart of the American West.


20 November
LAS-PDX 1220p-236p ALASKA 737-400 N769AS First Class 760 * Lunch
PDX-SEA 330p-422p HORIZON DHC-8-200 N356PH Coach Class 130
SEA-ANC 530p-807p ALASKA 737-400 N760AS First Class 1450 * Dinner
ANC-FAI 1058p-1153p ALASKA 737-900 N303AS First Class 260

I’ve had a wonderful five days, driving my usual business/pleasure circuit through southern Utah, northern Arizona, Durango, Denver and Glenwood Springs, Colorado, then on across central Utah and back down to Las Vegas. During my travels, I encountered rain, snow, sleet and lots of sunshine. A jack-knifed truck delayed me considerably on Wolf Creek Pass and sleet and black ice were my constant companions through South Park to the top of Kenosha Pass. In Denver, I caught Phil Lesh and Friends at the Fillmore, then headed west into the Rockies with two British hitch hikers who were headed to Glenwood Springs, then on to Brisbane, Australia.

Normally, I stay with friends in the small town of Springdale, Utah – gateway to Zion National Park. However, my friends have only recently relocated to Homestead, Florida where new jobs await them at Biscayne National Park. As such, I spent last night at the Oasis Casino and Resort in Mesquite, Nevada. I discovered the Oasis a couple of years ago when the power went out one evening in southwest Utah and the subsequent loss of air conditioning forced me to take drastic measures, ultimately relocating in Mesquite, a rapidly growing desert community about 80 miles east of Las Vegas. Although I have no interest in gambling, the Oasis offers large and comfortable rooms starting at just $21.99 Sunday through Thursday. And, their Sports Bar has a 12 foot wide big screen TV, dollar beers and 25 cent hotdogs during NFL football games. Unfortunately there was no football on, but I still had a pleasant evening drinking $2.00 Budweisers while watching the day’s sporting highlights on ESPN’s Sports Center.

Sunshine and temperatures in the low seventies were the order of the day for southern Nevada. Meanwhile, up in Fairbanks the high reached 20 degrees yesterday. It was accompanied by light snow. Still, humble though my cabin may be, home is where the heart is and I’ve been looking forward to getting back to it for the past week now.

After taking advantage of the 24 Hour Slot Player’s Special Breakfast (2 eggs, toast, potatoes and bacon for $2.49), I sped off down I-15 toward Las Vegas and the final four flights of this trip. I had a First Class lunch and dinner to look forward to, along with another flight on a Horizon Air Dash 8! It was all I could do to keep my speed under 80 mph!

Approaching Las Vegas from the east on I-15, you get an excellent view of the runways at Nellis Air Force Base along with a complete panorama of downtown Las Vegas. It would be interesting to see this view at night. At present however, what held my attention was all the airborne activity over Las Vegas. From Nellis, a pair of F-16s and an A-10 Thunderbolt maneuvered gracefully over the base. Over downtown Las Vegas, a blimp sat silently suspended. In the distance, the distinctive tail of a 727 climbed out of McCarran Field while a 757 made its final approach. I looked around for a helicopter or perhaps a guy in a lawn chair tethered to a flock of helium balloons but saw nothing else. Still, it was quite a busy day in the skies above Sin City.

Thank God for the new First Class/Elite line at LAS! The maze like lanes at the security checkpoint were totally full, meaning a wait of at least 15-20 minutes. I was positively ecstatic to discover the new First Class line and three minutes later was on my way down to Alaska’s new departure gates at A7 and A8. 737-400 N769AS awaited Portland bound passengers and boarding was underway as I arrived. Unfortunately, I’ve not even seen much less been assigned the three Alaska 737-400s which I have not yet flown. Oh well. I did however see the following interesting aircraft:

Mexicana 757 in the retro 1960s jet livery, previously worn only by their Comet IV
America West 757 “Ohio”
Air Transat L-1011
AVIACSA 737-200

The beautiful L-1011 is becoming an increasingly rare sight in North America these days. Only ATA and Air Transat operate passenger services with it, while I believe only Fine Air flies it in a cargo capacity. Likewise, 737-200s are also rare birds. In America, Alaska still flies a few Combis and I believe America West, Southwest and Hooters Air still operate a few. Does Delta still fly any? In Canada, Air North and Canadian North still operate them while south of the border Mexico’s AVIACA flies one or two. Beyond that, you’ve gotta head down to Central and South America where old jetliners never die, they just get repainted.

Flight time was announced at 1:59. From my window seat at 1A, I enjoyed excellent views of Death Valley and the distant Sierra Nevadas as we made our way up to our cruising altitude of 31,000 feet. Drinks and a light lunch followed soon after. Here are the entrée selections:

Roast Beef and Havarti Cheese Sandwich
Offered on Painini bread and served with an orzo and vegetable salad

Asian Chicken Salad
A delicious combination of garden greens, button mushrooms, baby Roma tomatoes, sliced cucumbers and diced chicken, enhanced with Oriental Sesame Dressing


Back in Steerage, the offerings were somewhat more Spartan – Chips and Salsa.

I chose the chicken salad and was not disappointed. It was excellent! Coffee and Baileys closed out this meal as we cruised past beautiful Mt. Shasta and entered Oregon airspace. Soon after, we were descending over the surprisingly snow covered neighborhoods east of PDX. We made a nice landing and I headed over to the Boardroom to check email and make a couple of quick calls.

Except for the fact that out Flight Attendant looked like Julia Roberts, my Horizon Air flight up to Seattle was non-eventful.

As usual, I was amongst the last to board the flight up to Anchorage. And, as usual, all of the overhead container bins in the immediate vicinity of Seat 1F were full. I got my day pack stored somewhere back in Coach and settled into my seat while our lovely flight attendant, who looked like Maria Bello, took my jacket and my dinner order:

DINNER

To Begin
A selection of mixed spring greens complimented with tomatoes, jicama and olives. Offered with Caesar Dressing

Entrees

Marinated Turkey Tenderloin
Topped with braised red onions and chili BBQ sauce.
Served with steamed rice with green onions and roasted sweet potatoes with herbs

Thai Prawns
Tender prawns in a creamy cilantro sauce, served atop a bed of rice. Accompanied by braised bok choy

** *** **

Dessert
Carrot Cake


Hmm… tough choice. That BBQ sauce atop the turkey tastes strange plus turkey is not a meat that withstands the aircraft oven experience well. And the prawns – you hardly get any! I decided to take quality over quantity and ordered the prawns. I’ve also heard this same dish described as curried prawns. Either way, tonight’s portion was typically small, offering only four lonely shrimp and a rather bland sauce atop a small pile of steamed rice. The highlight of the meal was the carrot cake. Delicious!

It was snowing lightly as we arrived in Anchorage, but the cool air sure felt good as I walked up the jetway. Three hours later, we touched down lightly in Fairbanks where the Aurora Borealis and 27 degrees were the order of the night. After 16 days, 41 flights and 15820 miles flown, it’s good to be home.

Live2Fly

Awesome trip and great report as usual!

Wish I had your stamina.

Simon

freeupgrade

WOW - Congratulations!!

I got exhausted just reading it.

Enjoy the well deserved miles!!

DEK

Very enjoyable report!

Thank you!

ss278

You never cease to amaze and inspire. Keep 'em coming!

EIPremier

With the look of your itinerary, one would wonder if you're a compulsive gambler with a wayward sense of direction!

RDY3238

Excellent as usual.

goback

Well written Seat2A! Very few correspondents could turn a mileage run into such a great trip report.
After spending the last two years in the US I never got the chance to fly Alaska nor Horizon, despite efforts to the contrary.

Ocean1971

Don't forget runway 13R/31L at JFK at 14,572 feet and the new one at DEN which I believe is even longer.

Seat 2A

I'd originally done a little search on Google to find this information, entering something like "longest runway US". Part of the beauty of an aviation savvy community like FlyerTalk is that there's generally always someone out there who knows about things like this for sure. So in the interests of truthful and accurate reporting, thanks for the update, Ocean1971! I shall amend this report accordingly.

By the way, DIA has indeed opened their new runway. It's 16,000 feet long and as such is the longest commercial precision-instrument runway in North America. Read all anout it here.

Also, thanks to now PHX based CMK10 for pointing out that America West still operate a few 737-200s. Also add Canadian North and Hooters Air to this list.

haveric

As always -- your reports make me jealous -- where will you be spending your miles, Seat 2A?

Mwenenzi

Superb report as ever

3 hours research to get the 200,000 miles is a mighty fine effort. The 200,000 miles --> another trip to Tassie ?

Surprised you could camp overnight in the airports. Would have thought security concerns would have you kicked out

alexwuk

Thank you, as always Elton, for this wonderful read. It's never anything but a real pleasure to read, and they, withour fail, make my day!

As a quick note - LH serve PDX daily from FRA with a A340-300 (A bit bigger than a 763).

Regards,
Alex

FlyingFinn

Bravo. The master has done it again.

This is great stuff.

NoWindowSeat

All has been said above, just fabulous stuff!