UALboy

PROLOGUE

I have been enjoying all the trip reports on this forum and I have decided that it is time for me to contribute. I planned on taking a lot of pictures when flying premium cabins for this trip. However, as you read on, you will find out why there are a lack of pictures...

So, BH (better half) and I usually lack approximately 13k miles to make 1K status with UA towards the end of the year. So, it's time to do a MR to Europe! BH's only rule on mileage runs is that we have to at least spend half a day there to check out stuff. So, I just look around and see whether there are any good upgradeable fares and most importantly, upgradeable seats. This is what I came up with:

Day 1 LAX IAD (UA 212, departs 10:10pm)
Day 2 IAD LHR (UA 922, departs at 9am, arrives at 9pm)
Day 3 LHR STR (LH, departs at 8am)
Day 4 STR LHR (LH, departs at 7am)
LHR IAD (UA 923, 3.5 hours layover in LHR)
IAD LAX (UA 967, 2.5 hours layover in IAD)

This was purchased months in advance on a W fare with upgrades confirmed both ways with SWUs and we were all set to go.

Day 1
LOS ANGELES to CHICAGO O'HARE (wait... I thought you were going thru IAD. Well... That was the plan...)
UA128
B763
Departure Time: 11:00pm
Arrival Time: 04:45 am (+1)
Seats 23C/D (ECONOMY MINUS) & 5E/6H (DOMESTIC FIRST)

I got a EasyUpdate message at 6:30pm the day of flight saying that my LAX IAD flight was canceled. I called UA reservation right away and they put us on LAX ORD (red eye) and then ORD IAD (the first leg of UA 922). Upgrading to First class looked okay for the moment, as First class was not completely full. ORD IAD was upgraded right the way.

We went to the airport via Flyaway Bus as BH and I do not believe in driving in LA (we public transportation it... I know we are probably the only 10 people in LA who do that). We had the luck of running into a fellow FTer and we chatted our way to LAX. He wished us luck on our cancellation and he was off to his MR on NW.

There was a 3-minute wait at the check in line. The check-in lady was very good at fixing my ticket and she was very friendly. But, it did take a long time to get us the boarding passes, as UA had protected us on many different flights by then. So, we used the time to mock the "okay to board" announcement (if you fly out of LAX red eyes frequently, you definitely would have heard of the secondary doc check for SYD/MEL pax). After 35 minutes of her typing on the computer, we got our boarding passes and we were off to security. However, the ORD IAD flight was going to be swapped to Ted. So, boo!!! First downgrade of the night. Security was a breeze and we were in RCC 5 minutes later.

The lounge was quite full because of the SYD departure. But, we managed to get 2 seats together. Since I did not have dinner, I ate some sun chips, a cinnamon granola bar, a martini (yes, it is considered food) and 2 olives. Then, it was time to head to gate.

The boarding area was a mess as we were boarding right next to the SYD flight. I enquired about my upgrade chances and was told to wait at the gate and not board. Our names were called right before boarding started (we secured the last 2 seats) but we were not seated next to each other. We were alright with it because I probably would spend the rest of the flight chatting in the galley (of course quietly so that I wouldn't disturb fellow pax) and BH would be asleep in 2 seconds anyways.

Boarding was late as the crew arrived late. I noticed that Countess Vaughn was settling into 1F (although BH thinks that the 1F is too skinny to be Countess Vaughn. But, she was in Celebrity Fit Club on VH1. So, who knows?). After settling into my seat, I realized that the lady who boarded before me had seat 4C, which does not exist in a domestic B763. (uh-oh! Do I smell a downgrade or what?)

Of course, a few minutes later, the GA showed up with a Y boarding pass and a 100-dollar voucher for BH and I. We collected our belongings and headed to the back, only to find out that a college friend of mine was going to be our seat-mate for the next 3.5 hours! What a small world! We chatted a little and then shut up and closed our eyes for the remainder of the flight. I was quite alright with the downgrade because the flight was operated by a B763. So, it is not like the F seats were that nice anyways. Plus, all I really would be missing was the fruit/cheese plate and I could make my peace with that. (Can't you tell that I was talking myself into accepting the reality? haha)

Finally, at 11:20pm, we pushed back from the gate. (20 minutes late) Then, channel 9 informed us that because of the weather (WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT THERE WAS WEATHER IN LA!!!! at least not in September) So, we had to taxi around the airport to go to the a different runway for take off. I was starting to get really nervous, as my 1:15 connection time was shrinking away. At 11:45, we were #2 for takeoff when I heard on Channel 9, "Tower. This is United 128, if we don't take off in the next 3 to 4 minutes, we will have to go back to the gate for more fuel" WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?! I could not believe it. I had enough drama for one night already. One cancellation, two downgrades and now a refuel?! There would be no hope for us to get to ORD in time to catch our IAD flight if we were to getting more fuel. However, the ATC guy was very understanding and got us in air in 2:30 minutes. (But, let me tell you... it was the longest 2:30 minutes ever!)

After a quick G&T (which I paid for with those expiring drink coupons), I went to the back to chat with the FAs. They were all very nice and friendly. After they found out that I was downgraded, they offered me free drinks for the remainder of the flight. Since it looked like I would make my connection after all (I know... I know... what an excuse), I decided to take them up on their offer and 4 of those little bottles of Gins later...

We landed in ORD and after a short taxi, we were off at gate C12 at 5:30am. Since I am a firm believer of Murphy's Law, I figured that the departure gate will be something like B3, meaning that I would have to dash through the ORD-o-so-famous psychedelic tunnel like a crazy person. But, I was lucky that day and our flight was leaving from a few gates away.

Day 2-3
CHICAGO O'HARE to WASHINGTON DULLES
UA922
A320 (TEDDY!!! EW!!!)
Departure Time: 06:00am
Arrival Time: 08:45 am
Seats 7D/F (ECONOMY PLUS)

Boarding for the red carpet was called and soon enough, we were on our way. It was just a regular Ted flight. Nothing stellar. We had chosen 7D&F in hopes that the middle seat would be blocked. And, indeed, it was. So, BH and I had the 3 seats all to ourselves. The DEN based FAs are quite cheerful for a 6:00am flight and we had a very fun quick chat after the drink service. They also did multiple coffee runs throughout the cabin during the 82-minute flight. BH yet again slept the whole flight. Our FA also informed us that we would be arriving at C9 and the LHR flight would be departing from C12. The flight landed on time into IAD. After a few minutes of taxiing, we were at the gate.

WASHINGTON DULLES to LONDON HEATHROW
UA922
B763
Departure Time: 09:30am
Arrival Time: 09:55 pm
Seats 9E/F (BUSINESS. FINALLY!!!)

Boarding was already well underway for economy pax when we reached the gate, so we stepped up to the red carpet. The GA immediately halted the boarding process for Y and let a few of us on the red carpet board. BH got super embarrassed by the glares from the people in the other queue. But the red carpet was certainly very nice and it probably took us 90 seconds to get from plane to plane.

The day flight between IAD and LHR was operated by a B763 and we had seats 9EF so that we would not be super close to the galley. But, we would get served almost right away, as they serve from back to front in the C cabin of a B763.

Once we settled into our seats, we were offered a welcome drink, BH took an orange juice while I took some sparkling wine (does the glass look like it is a bit bigger than the ones that they had before?). The amenity kit and noise-cancelling headsets were already in the seat pocket. While waiting for the rest of the passengers, I realized that I had already finished my first glass of sparkling wine. A second glass was brought over upon request. FA came around to the cabin to distribute menus after pushback. C-cabin today was about 2/3 full.

The trip certainly started looking up from that point on. Here is the breakfast menu:

to begin
Your choice of yogurt and breakfast breads served with:

Southwestern-style egg blintz with pomodoro sauce
Black Forest Ham

Apple-filled pancakes with maple cream
Black Forest Ham

Euporean deli plate with Black Forest ham, turkey, Genoa salami, Swiss and Brie cheese

At that moment, I realized that I had consumed for the past 15 hours wee a bag of sun chips, a granola bar, a martini, 2 olives, 4 G&Ts, a small bag of United coach snacks, 2 cups of coffee and 2 glasses of sparkling wine. So, I was very much in need of some real food. Soon after take off, the crew turned on the entertainment system. It actually caught me by surprise because I was used to it being turned on way into flight. 2 glasses of ice water were brought over and the drinks orders were taken. I, of course, stuck with champagne, while BH got some Bloody Mary. The FA brought the rest of the can in a wine glass; it is certainly classier than just bringing the rest in a can. Here is a qusetion tho. In my memory, the drinks always come from the beverage cart by our seat instead of straight from the galley, is it a new thing in C? If so, a + for UA.

The fruits, yogurt and crossiant were brought over very soon. All were quite tasty, especially the crossiant, as I am used to the leathery crunchy United-signature-C-class-crossiant. I think the crew heated them just right. After we wolved down all those tasties, the plates were cleared away and the eggs were brought over for me, while BH had the pancakes. The eggs were quite soft and delicious. The pancakes were allegedly good too.

Water refill was made constantly thoughtout the flight. I think the crew was just bored sitting there and doing nothing so they kept coming around the cabin to refill water and beverages. Certainly a very nice touch. Watched Shrek 3, listened to some music and chatted with the FAs and the flight flew by in no time.

At 2.5 hours prior to arrival, FAs started to come around with nuts and cocktails for people who were awake (and really everybody was because it was a day flight). To my surprise, we were almost out of Jack Daniel's too. I have never been on a Jack Daniel's flight (I have seen champagne/gin/vodka flights before).

2 hours before arrival, dinner was served. Here is the menu (in short, the usual, mystery beef, mystery seafood/chicken, pasta with tomato sauce):

prior to arrival

TSweet crab salad on fresh bok choy
Organic yuzu-miso viagrette

Fresh seasonal greens
Buttermilk ranch or balsamic Dijon vinaigrette

main course

TThai barbecue braised boneless beef short ribs
Yukon gold potato puree, sauteed baby bok choy and caramelized pearl onions

Citrus-roasted chicken with warm mango relish
Israeli couscous and corn and green peas

Pasta rotollo
Egg, tomato and spinach pasta filled with ricotta, mozzarella and Romano cheeses and spinach with marinara sauce

dessert

International cheese selection
Kerrygold Vintage Cheddar, Port-Salut

Ice cream


T Items designed especially for United Airlines by Charlie Trotter

The crab appetizer was quite lovely. BH actually wanted to have a big plate of it and call it the entree. The salad was alright. But, I truly wish that they give me a small plate of salad and big plate of crab because it was simply divine (I just have to say it again). Bread (only offered once for the entire meal service) was offered at this time.

I have once heard that if you dislike something, you have to at least try it twice before writing it off. Now, we have a thread on the UA board about how much we loathe the Charlie Trotter menu. But, I decided to take one for FT-UA-board and add a data point. The beef from the CT menu came out to be quite delicious. It was very tender and properly spiced. I did noticed the brown theme he had going on there. However, I do have to say that it did not taste very Thai at all. BH thought the pasta was average. I tasted it and I felt like an average cook like any of us could have made that at home.

By then, I was quite stuffed (especially since it was not that long ago that we had breakfast). However, the FA came around and tried to push both the ice cream and cheese on us. We only took the ice cream with a glass of port and she poured me almost a full glass. After the dinner service, the FAs came around the cabin and prepared us for a smooth landing onto LHR.

LONDON

We landed into Heathrow a bit after 9pm. Since we arrived super early, BAA, of course, had no gates for us. So, we sat around for 30 minutes for a gate. But, I think we still managed to arrive 20 minutes early or so. After a brisk walk to an empty immigration hall, we opted to save our fast track pass and went to the riff-raff queue. We were processed within 2 minutes and we were on our way to the Central Bus Station to catch our free bus (285, among a few others) to LHR Marriott. The bus is certainly much better than the Hotel Hoppa. So, thank you FT for the tip!

Again, thanks to the advice of FT, we scored a room there for 70 bucks on priceline (90-ish all in). The room was very nice and we napped and chatted for a bit. Soon enough, it was time to leave for our STR flight. Again, we took the free bus to LHR and arrived at T2 probably 15 minutes after we had left the hotel. The Sevisair check-in lady for LH took quite a while to produce all our boarding passes. But, she actually got all our boarding passes all the way to LA for the next day! SWEET!

Security was quite short and we were in the LH lounge by 6am (55 minutes after we left our room). The lounge was quite empty and we then realized that we had a long time to kill before our flight (i guess we have reserved too much time for a Sunday in LHR). I used the next 2 hours to drink a whole bottle of yummy German sparkling wine and ate probably 5000-calories worth of those tasty LH potato chips. The food selection was cereal/fruits/nuts/chips/candies. The usual spread in LH lounge. The sofa was super slippery so it was a bit uncomfortable. Of course, BH managed to once again sleep a bit there.

Our aircraft came in a bit behind schedule. So, what happened was the following (08:55 departure time):
8:15 left the lounge to amble around T2's shops. Had way too much fun with the fragrance store
8:25 Smelled like a mixture of every fun fragrance they had in the duty free shop
8:30 Hmm... Have visited every single freaking store in the terminal
8:35 LH 4781 - Please wait ?!
8:40 Back to LH lounge to enquire about the status of flight. Was informed that the flight was coming from the runway and we would be boarding shortly.
8:45 LH 4781 - Go to Gate 2
8:48 LH 4781 - Boarding at Gate 2. Left lounge
8:51 LH 4781 - Last Call at Gate 2. At gate
9:00 We walked onto the aircraft.

Again, the classic 15 minutes going from "please wait" to "last call" in LHR.

LONDON HEATHROW to STUTTGART
LH4781
B737
Departure Time: 08:55am
Arrival Time: 10:25am
Seat 7C/D (Economy Regular)

The flight was quite smooth and probably 1/2 empty. They assigned us 2 seats across the aisle, with the middle seat blocked. BH again slept the whole flight while I woke up for the LH butter-on-cheese-on-ham-on-butter sandwich. (yum!) The chocolate bar offered was flavoured with banana. I would not have had a problem with it if I had read the label carefully. So, it was a shock when that weird synthetic banana taste rushed in. I actually started liking it with the second bite and it paired very well with the Lufthansa-coffee. (see, the trying-everything-twice rule) Soon enough, we landed at STR, got bussed 20 yards to the immigration. We were off to our fun day in STR!!! BEER! SAUSAGES!!! HERE WE COME!!!

Day4
NIGHTMARE IN STUTTGART AIRPORT!!!

Since we had received our boarding passes the day before, we showed up at the airport at 5:30. The checkin queue was a nightmare and we were congratulating ourselves on being able to go directly to the security line. We were in the interim lounge in LH in no time. (They are currently remodeling the lounge and check-in area) After a quick pretzel and some beverages, I went up to the lounge lady and enquired about how long it would take us to clear immigration for our flight to LHR. She then informed us that our flight was CANCELLED (NOT AGAIN!!!) and we had to fly Germanwings to STN instead. WHAT?! I had a connection flight to catch. We went to the ticketing counter and were offered the following options:

1) Fly on Germanwings to STN and will have 3.5 hours to get to LHR for our UA flights in C.
2) Fly LX thru ZRH in Y (A343 for ZRH LAX)
3) Fly LH thru FRA in Y (B747 for FRA LAX)

Alright. In panic, I remember that choice 3 sucks because I would be in B747 in LH Y. Choice 1 sounded kinda impossible. National Express would be too slow for us to make it to our flight. A combination of STN/LHR express and sweating the immigration line could work but we would have to play that perfectly for us to have a chance to make it. So, choice 2 was left and we took it. In retrospect, we might have been okay with choice 1. Choice 3 could have been okay too because they might have rebooked me in full Y on LH and we could have gotten myself upgraded with my UA miles. But coulda woulda shoulda...

During the ticketing process, the guy who was standing in front of me was the Olympic gold medalist for pole vault, Tim Mack. (second celebrity spotting!!!)

We then had to go back to check in at the counter. Then, we cleared security again and sat in the lounge for the next few hours. I managed to empty another bottle sparkling wine and BH stuck with diet coke all morning. We went to the gate 5 minutes before boarding, cleared immigration, and asked the GA to see whether we could get the BH's boarding pass for the ZRH LAX flight. They managed to get us seated together on a very full flight. So it seemed like everything was going to be okay after all. We hopped on the bus and were driven to our little plane.



STUTTGART TO ZUERICH
LX1177
Bae Avro 100
Seat 21A/B

The flight itself was not particularly interesting. We did get a nice piece of milk chocolate (YUM!) and a glass of water. The purser came back to talk to our seatmate who had a 15-minute connection (because our flight was delayed by a little bit) in ZRH and she kept telling the pax that it was so STUPID to book that ticket. I could not believe that a FA could call a pax stupid, at least not to her face, TWICE!

ZUERICH

Upon arriving at ZRH, we were told that our gate would be a bus gate. After the plane was pulled to the position, impatient people had already stood up and started collecting their belongings. However, the captain informed us that they made a real gate available to us. That was certainly good news to us as our LAX flight would be departing in 60 minutes. So, everyone had to be seated and another 30 seconds later, we pulled into our gate.

Dashing off the gate, we walked in a brisk pace to the train that would take us to the E gate. The train itself was quite an interesting ride, with very traditional Swiss music and mooo sounds piping into the compartment.

Once we got off the train, we ran to the security check area for gates E16-37. There was quite a long line to the security checkpoint with 45 minutes to go. There was a fast track line for F/C pax. However, when I enquired whether we could use that line as *Gs, the line guard told me sternly that we were not allowed to use the line as *G. However, she saw that our flight was departing very soon. So, she let us use it anyway. Thanking her for her generosity, we drank the last bit of water from our water bottle and cleared security within 3 minutes.

The gate area was a madhouse. All US citizens need to fill out a form to supply them with their US address. That was quite surprising as I thought the non-US citizens are the ones that have to go through this formality. For non-US citizens, the information was entered directly into a laptop instead. We were allowed to use the C boarding lane as *Gs. We then made our way to almost the back of the plane.

ZUERICH TO LOS ANGELES
LX 40
A343
Seat 41D/E (Economy Regular)

The flight was completely full. Here comes my third celebrity spotting. We were actually sitting next to Russell Mael of Sparks. After boarding was completed, the safety video was shown and we were on our way. There was quite a wait for takeoff. However, the stuffy cabin was very conducive to sleeping. I did not wake up until they were serving cocktails and a snack. Hot dinner was offered soon after. Since we were in Y, I decided that the offering won't be exciting enough for pictures. (sorry!) Our choices were super chessy pasta or saffron rice with creamy chicken. A small salad and caramel pudding were offered in the same tray. The food was actually quite good. The drink cart has made 3/4 trips too.

After dinner service, I started getting sleepy, probably because of the 2 Tylenol PM that I had during dinner and also the 2 bottles of champagne and 2 minis of vodka that I have comsumed. I was asleep for 7 hours. After that, BH and I chatted and played some computer games. Then, it was time for the pre-arrival snack. We were horrified when we saw the pizza being brought for us because we had the "vegetable pizza with ketchup sauce" on Thai during our last trip and that was atrocius. This time, the crust was a bit hard. But, it was alright. The meal was served quite early though (with 2.5 hours to go). Eventually, we landed at LAX, had to wait 30 minutes for a gate and then another hour to go thru immigration for non-US citizens.

EPILOGUE

This has been quite an adventure. We lived on airplane and lounge food pretty much for the whole trip. We only paid for one lunch and a late night beer while we were in Stuttgart. We definitely enjoyed each other's company.

I spent an hour calling UA/LH about my situation. The treatment that I received from UA was fantastic. The MP people credited my flights as if I flew my original itinerary right away after I have explained my situation.

I also spoke to the 1K-Customer Service line and they offered me 400 dollars voucher per person for the LAX IAD cancellation. Now, I am just waiting to hear back from LH and see whether they will give me the 250 Euro for the STR LHR cancellation.

So, I guess this trip is almost paying for itself already. I honestly don't know whether I would prefer getting some extra cash or not having to deal with all the hassle. But, at the end of the day, it was still a really fun trip and we are already looking back at this trip and laughing about our misfortune.

skye1

Thanks for the report.
Any details on the day in Stuttgart?
It's not a bad MR destination, nor a bad long-weekend or vacation destination at all....what worked/didn't work for you there?? Recco's??

Does UA/LH utilize codeshares on Deutsch-Bahn/German Rail from, say, Frankfurt or another city they fly to??

For AA flyers, it's a HECK of a lot better way of getting into Stuttgart than going thru Heathrow and to STR, but not sure if that's an option for the UA/LH crowd or not. If so, it's well worth checking into, since MRs to Stuttgart don't have to be that much of a trying adventure, get a heck of a lot more miles, and yep, Stuttgart is often underestimated in terms of a cool town to hang out in.

Again, not sure of the "UA"/Star Alliance version of a flight into Europe/Germany followed by codeshares on German rail, but if it's an option, I'd suggest looking at it next time.

J-M

Did you get your upgrade vouchers back? DL doesn't have upgrade vouchers like UA, but I know that they always refund the mileage upgrades if you get downgraded for whatever reason. Does UA do the same?

UALboy

For the outbound, since we still got to upgrade a portion of our trip, the voucher was taken. However, for the inbound, the voucher was promptly returned.