My End of Year Push to 1K (34K EQMs in 1 Month)
Dec 10, 2012, 11:11 pm
#16
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: LAS - I'm All In!
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, Marriott PP
Posts: 3,639
****
Flight #16: EWR-LAS, UA 333, A-320, N466UA, Ch9
Scheduled: 714a-1006a Actual: 717a-1016a. Flight on-time, upgraded when I got rebooked
Flown Miles: 2227 EQMs Running Total: 84232 Delta to 1K: 15768
I am now sitting in the LAS UC club typing this before a mileage run tonight to PHL. Actually, that is what the paid fare is to but I have zero intention of flying to PHL. I will get into that when I review those flights. Since I only have a few minutes here before the flight boards I will provide a quick update from the flight on Saturday morning. After getting to Newark at about 6 I was through security and at the club within the next 15 minutes. Flight boarded quick and efficiently on this pretty lightly loaded (65%) flight to Vegas. I was upgraded when I was rebooked and in a window (not my preference). However, since I woke up feeling sick (throat hurt, runny nose, slight cough) I actually ended up sleeping the whole flight except for breakfast.
After a pretty quick taxi out and being airborne a little after 730 we headed west into horrible winter headwinds. Overall flight time was 5h33m. Meal choices were total cereal or eggs with sausage and potato “slop” (don’t know what else to call it). Both were served with choice of croissant or cinnamon roll and fruit plate with yogurt.
As I said I wasn’t feeling well so I slept for 4.5 hours of the flight – that was nice. After getting back home by 11am I was fighting this bug the next 3 days. I am now back in the airport at about 85% (no longer hacking up a lung, just a little runny nose) as I try to get through this mileage run without getting too much sicker before my Saturday run.
Dec 11, 2012, 5:07 am
#17
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: LAS - I'm All In!
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, Marriott PP
Posts: 3,639
Flight #17: LAS-EWR, UA 581, 757-200, N504UA, Ch9
Scheduled: 1044p-625a Actual: 1040p-613a. Flight on-time, upgraded 3.5 days out
Flown Miles: 2227 EQMs Running Total: 86459 Delta to 1K: 13541
So after the short weekend, I was back out to Newark to start another mileage run. In fact that is where I am sitting now typing this up (Big EWR UC). This flight ended up being a very short 4h9m (compared to the 5h33m westbound Saturday morning) but still long enough to get some decent rest. When I was in the Vegas UC before this flight I had the agent SDC me from LAS-EWR-PHL-IAD-DEN-LAS to LAS-EWR-IAH-DEN-LAS (EWR-IAH on int’l 767-400). Ironically, if you look at about every flight today they are wide open with the exception of my stupid 1230p IAD-DEN flight (packed 757-300). I did this for a few reasons: 1) Get off regional jets in the NE corridor; 2) Have a shot at open middles/upgrades on the DEN mid-con flight and; 3) Get out of the northeast as soon as possible. (As you can see I’m still stinging a bit from the missed connection on Friday) As it turns out a simple SDC changing EWR-PHL-IAD-DEN (3 legs) to EWR-IAH-DEN (2 legs) took the agent almost 25 minutes, having to reissue the ticket multiple times. It’s interesting to note that my fare was a LAS-PHL fare and I did not need to keep PHL in my routing when I SDCed this trip.
As I said, the flight was quick and uneventful. There was a bit of chop about 45 minutes east of Vegas on the flight but that settled down after about 15 minutes. Nothing to really report about the flight other than it was another packed redeye out of Vegas. Remember that I mentioned that Vegas was losing a decent amount of it’s redeyes in this winter season; well, tonight there wasn’t even an IAH 1am redeye, just this EWR flight and the 1130p CLE Airbus. I guess that is smart by UA to only fly 2 full redeyes this time of year. Interestingly enough, by the end of January, mid-week, they are back to 2x IAH redeyes. Actually the schedule cutbacks impacted this mileage run for me in the fact that I had a 6300 EQM SLC run booked as early as March and due to the fact that every LAS-LAX/SFO late flight was cut from the schedule, leaving me with a 6 hour connection to the IAH redeye, I just cancelled the flight. When I finally rebooked it I booked this quick PHL MR instead (same dates).
While I have about 40 minutes before my next flight, I guess this would be a great time to talk about CPM and my criteria for booking mileage runs. I am generally very picky about my runs and have a pretty firm under 4.0 cent/eqm criterion. There are some things that would drive up that number and allow me to book other flights, but I am basically looking to get 6000+ EQMs in one shot (24 hours, redeye out, back the next evening) for under $240. This generally involves a LAS-SFO/LAX 7pm flight connecting to the ORD/CLE/IAD/EWR redeye and then flying down to FL. Coming back it is generally harder to book the 4-6p transcon so I normally end up just flying FL-IAD/CLE-LAS.
At times, having vouchers can actually dictate the need to book a more expensive flight. End of year constraints can dictate having to book more expensive flights (my BOS mileage run last Friday was $310 before a $100 voucher). Earlier in the year I am a lot more picky about flying mainline flights on bigger planes to increase my upgrade chances, but later in the year those luxuries have to be forgotten. In addition, the SLC trip ends up on a decent amount of larger RJs, but when you are flying almost 7000 EQMs for under $180 it is also tough to be picky. (Though in my defense when I originally booked the SLC trips the IAH-SLC legs were all 737s, they got schedule changed to RJ145s).
Well, it looks like I’m already upgraded on the IAH-DEN leg (there are like 5 people seated in E+ at this time). After grabbing an aisle seat and my new boarding pass from the lounge agent, I discovered that the DEN-LAS flight is oversold by 8 right now. I had him add me to the volunteer list. Seeing as that is the last flight of the day DEN-LAS (again schedule cutbacks), I will start researching alternate flight options that get me home prior to the midnight flights via SFO/LAX before my EWR departure.
Scheduled: 1044p-625a Actual: 1040p-613a. Flight on-time, upgraded 3.5 days out
Flown Miles: 2227 EQMs Running Total: 86459 Delta to 1K: 13541
So after the short weekend, I was back out to Newark to start another mileage run. In fact that is where I am sitting now typing this up (Big EWR UC). This flight ended up being a very short 4h9m (compared to the 5h33m westbound Saturday morning) but still long enough to get some decent rest. When I was in the Vegas UC before this flight I had the agent SDC me from LAS-EWR-PHL-IAD-DEN-LAS to LAS-EWR-IAH-DEN-LAS (EWR-IAH on int’l 767-400). Ironically, if you look at about every flight today they are wide open with the exception of my stupid 1230p IAD-DEN flight (packed 757-300). I did this for a few reasons: 1) Get off regional jets in the NE corridor; 2) Have a shot at open middles/upgrades on the DEN mid-con flight and; 3) Get out of the northeast as soon as possible. (As you can see I’m still stinging a bit from the missed connection on Friday) As it turns out a simple SDC changing EWR-PHL-IAD-DEN (3 legs) to EWR-IAH-DEN (2 legs) took the agent almost 25 minutes, having to reissue the ticket multiple times. It’s interesting to note that my fare was a LAS-PHL fare and I did not need to keep PHL in my routing when I SDCed this trip.
As I said, the flight was quick and uneventful. There was a bit of chop about 45 minutes east of Vegas on the flight but that settled down after about 15 minutes. Nothing to really report about the flight other than it was another packed redeye out of Vegas. Remember that I mentioned that Vegas was losing a decent amount of it’s redeyes in this winter season; well, tonight there wasn’t even an IAH 1am redeye, just this EWR flight and the 1130p CLE Airbus. I guess that is smart by UA to only fly 2 full redeyes this time of year. Interestingly enough, by the end of January, mid-week, they are back to 2x IAH redeyes. Actually the schedule cutbacks impacted this mileage run for me in the fact that I had a 6300 EQM SLC run booked as early as March and due to the fact that every LAS-LAX/SFO late flight was cut from the schedule, leaving me with a 6 hour connection to the IAH redeye, I just cancelled the flight. When I finally rebooked it I booked this quick PHL MR instead (same dates).
While I have about 40 minutes before my next flight, I guess this would be a great time to talk about CPM and my criteria for booking mileage runs. I am generally very picky about my runs and have a pretty firm under 4.0 cent/eqm criterion. There are some things that would drive up that number and allow me to book other flights, but I am basically looking to get 6000+ EQMs in one shot (24 hours, redeye out, back the next evening) for under $240. This generally involves a LAS-SFO/LAX 7pm flight connecting to the ORD/CLE/IAD/EWR redeye and then flying down to FL. Coming back it is generally harder to book the 4-6p transcon so I normally end up just flying FL-IAD/CLE-LAS.
At times, having vouchers can actually dictate the need to book a more expensive flight. End of year constraints can dictate having to book more expensive flights (my BOS mileage run last Friday was $310 before a $100 voucher). Earlier in the year I am a lot more picky about flying mainline flights on bigger planes to increase my upgrade chances, but later in the year those luxuries have to be forgotten. In addition, the SLC trip ends up on a decent amount of larger RJs, but when you are flying almost 7000 EQMs for under $180 it is also tough to be picky. (Though in my defense when I originally booked the SLC trips the IAH-SLC legs were all 737s, they got schedule changed to RJ145s).
Well, it looks like I’m already upgraded on the IAH-DEN leg (there are like 5 people seated in E+ at this time). After grabbing an aisle seat and my new boarding pass from the lounge agent, I discovered that the DEN-LAS flight is oversold by 8 right now. I had him add me to the volunteer list. Seeing as that is the last flight of the day DEN-LAS (again schedule cutbacks), I will start researching alternate flight options that get me home prior to the midnight flights via SFO/LAX before my EWR departure.
Dec 12, 2012, 11:04 am
#18
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: LAS - I'm All In!
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, Marriott PP
Posts: 3,639
Flight #18: EWR-IAH, UA 1591, 767-400, N76054, Ch9 ^
Scheduled: 0800a-1056a Actual: 0800a-1058a. Flight on-time, not upgrade (~#10 on list)
Flown Miles: 1400 EQMs Running Total: 87859 Delta to 1K: 12141
After changing my flight I ended up on this int’l configured 767. Flight was about 50% full with an empty middle in every row and basically no one in the last 4 rows of the airplane. I actually think this was supposed to be a 787 and was subbed for this bigger aircraft. As I suspected, I ended up with no one next to me in the last row of E+. This flight was very comfortable in E+ with AVOD. I was very impressed with this aircraft in economy. The only bad thing I can say about it was that there were no individual air vents. I am one that likes to always have the air vent blowing on me even if I need to have a blanket on.
I ended up watching a couple movies to pass the time and we arrived in IAH right on-time. On the descent into IAH I still had my headphones in and when I switched to the inflight map I discovered that Ch9 was on. I’m glad I stumbled onto it especially since there was no mention of it anywhere. I’m happy to see that Ch9 is being migrated over to pmCO aircraft.
The landing in IAH was a bit sketchy. I think the right tire hit first, then the left hit pretty hard. After a bounce, both tires hit again and there was a bit of jerking back and forth before the nose gear hit. After a long roll out the pilot eventually had to hit the brakes very hard to get it slowed. Not my worst landing by an means, but it was just odd because I always remember landings on wide bodies normally being super smooth.
Flight #19: IAH-DEN, UA 1119, 737-800, N12238, Ch9 n/a
Scheduled: 1149a-148p Actual: 1233p-157p. Flight on-time, upgrade
Flown Miles: 862 EQMs Running Total: 88721 Delta to 1K: 11279
After a quick visit to the club to have a hot tea I headed to the gate to board out slightly delayed flight. Turns out we were waiting for the crew from an inbound DEN flight that was due in at 1141a. Out departure time was delayed until 1200p and we began boarding at 1140a. They actually brought on other FAs to secure the plane and begin boarding and then the actual FAs arrived at about 1155a. Turns out we waited for paperwork for a little while and maybe even the captain to arrive. We ended up shutting the door and pushing back from the gate about 40 minutes late. After a quick taxi out we were airborne in the next 15 minutes.
Lunch was served on this flight and was a choice of either a shrimp salad or cheeseburger. Both were served with a fruit salad and a tortilla chicken style soup. I choose the cheeseburger and it was average at best. After lunch and a couple of reruns of Law and Order SVU we touched down and arrived in Denver a couple minutes late.
Flight #20: DEN-LAS, UA 1198, 737-900, N37419, Ch9 n/a
Scheduled: 318p-418p Actual: 317p-404p. Flight on-time, missed upgrade (#1 on list)
Flown Miles: 629 EQMs Running Total: 89350 Delta to 1K: 10650
Knowing this flight was oversold I made a quick stop at the United Club and got to the gate about 55 minutes before departure. After talking with the gate agent and letting her know I was willing to take a different flight she informed me that only flight available was the next day. After prompting her about the 336p via SFO she found the flights and protected me on them (due to the possible quick timeframe between the bump and me needing to be on the SFO bound flight). After getting protected I asked her about the compensation for a 5 hour delay. She said it was $200. I asked if the $200 was the same for the possible overnight that they were originally offering and she said “yes”. I let her know I wasn’t happy with that amount especially if she wouldn’t confirm me into first class on the DEN-SFO and SFO-LAS flight. She said the computer wouldn’t let her confirm me in F on the flight and that $200 was all it was offering. I hung out before boarding and let her know we would talk if they ended up needing me. Turns out they got no other volunteers for $200 that would have been a 18 hour overnight prior to boarding.
As boarding started it turned out they didn’t need me. I was wishing they did because I would have had them IDB people if all they were offering was 200 bucks. That is unsat. As I recall a 4-6 hour delay under old United used to be $400 automatically.
After boarding, I quickly settled into my seat. The door closed on-time and after a quick taxi out we were airborne for the 1h30m flight back to Vegas. As usual, this was an uneventful flight and we landed and taxied in quickly for an early arrival.
Scheduled: 0800a-1056a Actual: 0800a-1058a. Flight on-time, not upgrade (~#10 on list)
Flown Miles: 1400 EQMs Running Total: 87859 Delta to 1K: 12141
After changing my flight I ended up on this int’l configured 767. Flight was about 50% full with an empty middle in every row and basically no one in the last 4 rows of the airplane. I actually think this was supposed to be a 787 and was subbed for this bigger aircraft. As I suspected, I ended up with no one next to me in the last row of E+. This flight was very comfortable in E+ with AVOD. I was very impressed with this aircraft in economy. The only bad thing I can say about it was that there were no individual air vents. I am one that likes to always have the air vent blowing on me even if I need to have a blanket on.
I ended up watching a couple movies to pass the time and we arrived in IAH right on-time. On the descent into IAH I still had my headphones in and when I switched to the inflight map I discovered that Ch9 was on. I’m glad I stumbled onto it especially since there was no mention of it anywhere. I’m happy to see that Ch9 is being migrated over to pmCO aircraft.
The landing in IAH was a bit sketchy. I think the right tire hit first, then the left hit pretty hard. After a bounce, both tires hit again and there was a bit of jerking back and forth before the nose gear hit. After a long roll out the pilot eventually had to hit the brakes very hard to get it slowed. Not my worst landing by an means, but it was just odd because I always remember landings on wide bodies normally being super smooth.
Flight #19: IAH-DEN, UA 1119, 737-800, N12238, Ch9 n/a
Scheduled: 1149a-148p Actual: 1233p-157p. Flight on-time, upgrade
Flown Miles: 862 EQMs Running Total: 88721 Delta to 1K: 11279
After a quick visit to the club to have a hot tea I headed to the gate to board out slightly delayed flight. Turns out we were waiting for the crew from an inbound DEN flight that was due in at 1141a. Out departure time was delayed until 1200p and we began boarding at 1140a. They actually brought on other FAs to secure the plane and begin boarding and then the actual FAs arrived at about 1155a. Turns out we waited for paperwork for a little while and maybe even the captain to arrive. We ended up shutting the door and pushing back from the gate about 40 minutes late. After a quick taxi out we were airborne in the next 15 minutes.
Lunch was served on this flight and was a choice of either a shrimp salad or cheeseburger. Both were served with a fruit salad and a tortilla chicken style soup. I choose the cheeseburger and it was average at best. After lunch and a couple of reruns of Law and Order SVU we touched down and arrived in Denver a couple minutes late.
Flight #20: DEN-LAS, UA 1198, 737-900, N37419, Ch9 n/a
Scheduled: 318p-418p Actual: 317p-404p. Flight on-time, missed upgrade (#1 on list)
Flown Miles: 629 EQMs Running Total: 89350 Delta to 1K: 10650
Knowing this flight was oversold I made a quick stop at the United Club and got to the gate about 55 minutes before departure. After talking with the gate agent and letting her know I was willing to take a different flight she informed me that only flight available was the next day. After prompting her about the 336p via SFO she found the flights and protected me on them (due to the possible quick timeframe between the bump and me needing to be on the SFO bound flight). After getting protected I asked her about the compensation for a 5 hour delay. She said it was $200. I asked if the $200 was the same for the possible overnight that they were originally offering and she said “yes”. I let her know I wasn’t happy with that amount especially if she wouldn’t confirm me into first class on the DEN-SFO and SFO-LAS flight. She said the computer wouldn’t let her confirm me in F on the flight and that $200 was all it was offering. I hung out before boarding and let her know we would talk if they ended up needing me. Turns out they got no other volunteers for $200 that would have been a 18 hour overnight prior to boarding.
As boarding started it turned out they didn’t need me. I was wishing they did because I would have had them IDB people if all they were offering was 200 bucks. That is unsat. As I recall a 4-6 hour delay under old United used to be $400 automatically.
After boarding, I quickly settled into my seat. The door closed on-time and after a quick taxi out we were airborne for the 1h30m flight back to Vegas. As usual, this was an uneventful flight and we landed and taxied in quickly for an early arrival.
Dec 14, 2012, 8:18 am
#20
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: LAS - I'm All In!
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, Marriott PP
Posts: 3,639
While it is tough to argue about knocking it out in one shot, for me, I would rather have the shot at upgrades and breaking it up for a few weekends. Also, would have your premium Economy fare applied to 29K EQMs on United?
Dec 14, 2012, 8:45 am
#21
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: Paid F
Posts: 238
Not counting my BWI work trip or my NC vacation trip at the end of the year, my 4 runs will cost about $900 and get 24Kish EQMs. My actual out of pocket is only $460 due to voucher use.
While it is tough to argue about knocking it out in one shot, for me, I would rather have the shot at upgrades and breaking it up for a few weekends. Also, would have your premium Economy fare applied to 29K EQMs on United?
While it is tough to argue about knocking it out in one shot, for me, I would rather have the shot at upgrades and breaking it up for a few weekends. Also, would have your premium Economy fare applied to 29K EQMs on United?
Dec 15, 2012, 5:18 am
#22
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: LAS - I'm All In!
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, Marriott PP
Posts: 3,639
JW76, what days of the week or time of year do they fly that LAX-BKK non-stop flight? I am having problems finding it on the schedule.
*****
Flight #21: LAS-IAH, UA 1417, 737-900, N71411, Ch9 n/a
Scheduled: 1250a-535a Actual: 1247a-523a. Flight on-time, upgraded at ~3.5 day mark
Flown Miles: 1222 EQMs Running Total: 90572 Delta to 1K: 9428
Side note: this is the same aircraft that I flew on the ORD-BOS flight on Tuesday and this flight puts me within 10K EQMs of 1K.
I again sit in the C gates lounge at IAH as I type this update coming off the obnoxiously short 2h18m, flight time, “red eye”. Prior to going to the airport I took a 3.5 hour nap, setting 3 alarms to make sure I would get up. I woke up at about 1130p and was dressed and out of the house for the airport by 1140p. Again, it’s a blessing I live so close to the airport. After parking, clearing security, riding the tram to the D gates and the short walk to gate D50 I arrived in the gate area while they were boarding group #5. They must have started boarding early because it was only 1210a when I got to the gate area. I guess old pmCO habits die hard (boarding 737s 45 minutes prior to departure).
After quickly settling into the row 4 aisle seat and having a sleeping aid (scotch on the rocks), I was pretty much asleep by the time we took off at 1a. The next thing I knew we were landing in IAH and pulling into the gate 10 minutes early.
On this run I probably won’t have another update for a while. This is another SLC run. My routing this time is LAS-IAH-SLC-ORD-SFO-LAS. The IAH-SLC is a RJ145 where I have row 12. The SLC-ORD flight is an RJ170 where I am not upgraded yet and the other legs are all 737s where I am upgraded. My layover in IAH is almost 4 hours, whereas all my other layovers are pretty reasonable. The total cost of this flight was ~$170.
*****
Flight #21: LAS-IAH, UA 1417, 737-900, N71411, Ch9 n/a
Scheduled: 1250a-535a Actual: 1247a-523a. Flight on-time, upgraded at ~3.5 day mark
Flown Miles: 1222 EQMs Running Total: 90572 Delta to 1K: 9428
Side note: this is the same aircraft that I flew on the ORD-BOS flight on Tuesday and this flight puts me within 10K EQMs of 1K.
I again sit in the C gates lounge at IAH as I type this update coming off the obnoxiously short 2h18m, flight time, “red eye”. Prior to going to the airport I took a 3.5 hour nap, setting 3 alarms to make sure I would get up. I woke up at about 1130p and was dressed and out of the house for the airport by 1140p. Again, it’s a blessing I live so close to the airport. After parking, clearing security, riding the tram to the D gates and the short walk to gate D50 I arrived in the gate area while they were boarding group #5. They must have started boarding early because it was only 1210a when I got to the gate area. I guess old pmCO habits die hard (boarding 737s 45 minutes prior to departure).
After quickly settling into the row 4 aisle seat and having a sleeping aid (scotch on the rocks), I was pretty much asleep by the time we took off at 1a. The next thing I knew we were landing in IAH and pulling into the gate 10 minutes early.
On this run I probably won’t have another update for a while. This is another SLC run. My routing this time is LAS-IAH-SLC-ORD-SFO-LAS. The IAH-SLC is a RJ145 where I have row 12. The SLC-ORD flight is an RJ170 where I am not upgraded yet and the other legs are all 737s where I am upgraded. My layover in IAH is almost 4 hours, whereas all my other layovers are pretty reasonable. The total cost of this flight was ~$170.
Dec 15, 2012, 9:55 am
#23
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: LAS - I'm All In!
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, Marriott PP
Posts: 3,639
Flight #21.5: IAH-SLC, UA 4148, ERJ-145, Ch9 n/a
Scheduled: 931a-1200p Actual: Flight late, mechanical
Flown Miles: 0 EQMs Running Total: 90572 Delta to 1K: 9428
So I board the SLC flight and we push back a few minutes late. Engines wind up and we taxi to a holding pad area right by the B gates. After 5 minutes the pilot comes back on and says they have to return to the gate for maintenance because when they started the engines the fuel pump wasn’t working correctly. That sounds pretty serious to me and was likely to blow my connection. After returning to the gate I quickly checked the other flight options to ORD so I could make my SFO connection. I also looked at other options out of SLC and all of them looked very grim. The 6pm to SFO was full and then flight to Denver was okay, but the DEN-LAS 7p flight looked full as well (not to mention on a CR7 for some reason). After weighing my options I decided that original routing credit was going to be in my future and let the FA know that I wanted to get off the aircraft in IAH. The good news is with the door open I don’t think he can stop me but he just had to call and get an agent to meet me and walk me out.
I quickly got rebooked onto UA10 to ORD leaving IAH at about 1140a. I didn’t really have time to look at other options other than getting to Chicago for my SFO flight. With the weather that ORD had this morning it is probably just better to not risk it and try to over route to ORD. Plus I don’t think I actually need to do it because this should be an easy ORC. The ORD flight is currently delayed about a half an hour but my SFO flight doesn’t leave until 620p. I was even able to grab seat 20C, which looks like it might not have anyone next to it. We will see. I’ll check in from ORD on the flip side of my lunchtime flight. Anyone have much luck with ORC on the new UA lately?
Scheduled: 931a-1200p Actual: Flight late, mechanical
Flown Miles: 0 EQMs Running Total: 90572 Delta to 1K: 9428
So I board the SLC flight and we push back a few minutes late. Engines wind up and we taxi to a holding pad area right by the B gates. After 5 minutes the pilot comes back on and says they have to return to the gate for maintenance because when they started the engines the fuel pump wasn’t working correctly. That sounds pretty serious to me and was likely to blow my connection. After returning to the gate I quickly checked the other flight options to ORD so I could make my SFO connection. I also looked at other options out of SLC and all of them looked very grim. The 6pm to SFO was full and then flight to Denver was okay, but the DEN-LAS 7p flight looked full as well (not to mention on a CR7 for some reason). After weighing my options I decided that original routing credit was going to be in my future and let the FA know that I wanted to get off the aircraft in IAH. The good news is with the door open I don’t think he can stop me but he just had to call and get an agent to meet me and walk me out.
I quickly got rebooked onto UA10 to ORD leaving IAH at about 1140a. I didn’t really have time to look at other options other than getting to Chicago for my SFO flight. With the weather that ORD had this morning it is probably just better to not risk it and try to over route to ORD. Plus I don’t think I actually need to do it because this should be an easy ORC. The ORD flight is currently delayed about a half an hour but my SFO flight doesn’t leave until 620p. I was even able to grab seat 20C, which looks like it might not have anyone next to it. We will see. I’ll check in from ORD on the flip side of my lunchtime flight. Anyone have much luck with ORC on the new UA lately?
Dec 15, 2012, 2:18 pm
#24
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: LAS - I'm All In!
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, Marriott PP
Posts: 3,639
Flight #22: IAH-ORD, UA 10, 737-700, N25705, Ch9 n/a
Scheduled: 1137a-220p Actual: 1138a-228p. Flight on-time, upgraded at gate
Flown Miles: 925 EQMs ORC Total: 1195+1245=2440 ORC Running total: 93012 Delta to 1K: 6988
So the service desk must have rebooked me into full Y because I was at the top of the upgrade list when I got to the gate. Upon scanning my boarding pass I received seat 3A. After quickly settling in we quickly pushed back. Upon taxi we ended up in the penalty box with about a 20-25 minute delay before wheels up). After takeoff I took a quick nap before lunch was served. Lunch was the same options as my IAH-DEN lunch flight from Tuesday.
I watched a great episode of Restaurant: Impossible where Robert Irvine was in Joplin, MO working with the Boys and Girls club that helped everyone in the area during the 2011 tornado. Not much else to report from the flight other than the fact that a FA was, again, on board to get the flight boarded while we must have been waiting for connecting crew. I don’t know if this is normal for pmCO staff at IAH but I give this ^ ^.
I have another ugly long 4 hour layover in ORD before my SFO flight. Kinda sad that I have only flown like 2100 miles since I left my house over 12 hour ago. I hope that ORC works or I am going to be very very upset.
Scheduled: 1137a-220p Actual: 1138a-228p. Flight on-time, upgraded at gate
Flown Miles: 925 EQMs ORC Total: 1195+1245=2440 ORC Running total: 93012 Delta to 1K: 6988
So the service desk must have rebooked me into full Y because I was at the top of the upgrade list when I got to the gate. Upon scanning my boarding pass I received seat 3A. After quickly settling in we quickly pushed back. Upon taxi we ended up in the penalty box with about a 20-25 minute delay before wheels up). After takeoff I took a quick nap before lunch was served. Lunch was the same options as my IAH-DEN lunch flight from Tuesday.
I watched a great episode of Restaurant: Impossible where Robert Irvine was in Joplin, MO working with the Boys and Girls club that helped everyone in the area during the 2011 tornado. Not much else to report from the flight other than the fact that a FA was, again, on board to get the flight boarded while we must have been waiting for connecting crew. I don’t know if this is normal for pmCO staff at IAH but I give this ^ ^.
I have another ugly long 4 hour layover in ORD before my SFO flight. Kinda sad that I have only flown like 2100 miles since I left my house over 12 hour ago. I hope that ORC works or I am going to be very very upset.
Last edited by trekwars2000; Dec 15, 2012 at 4:10 pm Reason: Flight 22 not 21.
Dec 15, 2012, 3:52 pm
#25
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: TUS and any place close to a lav
Programs: UA 1.6MM
Posts: 5,423
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thai-...o-protest.html
trekwars2000 thanks for writing your reports! They're a real fun read!
I've done MR's before, but never any as complex as what you're writing about. Mine have usually been BOS-SFO-LAX/DEN/ORD-BOS day-trips.
Dec 15, 2012, 8:51 pm
#26
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: Paid F
Posts: 238
Too bad ... The LAX-BKK flight was a great way to get a ton of miles quick. The flight connects in ICN now. No idea if they have Premium Economy anymore on the new planes.
Dec 16, 2012, 12:13 pm
#27
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: LAS - I'm All In!
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, Marriott PP
Posts: 3,639
Flight #23: ORD-SFO, UA 40, 737-900, N38454, Ch9 n/a
Scheduled: 620p-906p Actual: 631p-914p. Flight on-time, upgraded 2.5 days prior
Flown Miles: 1845 EQMs ORC Running total: 94857 Delta to 1K: 5143
After a brutal 4 hour layover I finally boarded my flight to SFO. During the layover I visited 3 United Clubs and walked the complete C and B concourse twice (to try to wake up). I quickly settled into my aisle First seat and a nice lady sat down next to me. I noticed her adding up numbers on her phone calculator to include adding 2419 and then subtracting her overall total from 50000 or 1000000. After we pushed back I asked her if she was on a mileage run. She reluctantly said “yes” and asked me how I knew. I told her I was also on a run and that by adding 2419 I presumed she was on the SFO-IAD redeye back to the east coast and only a mileage runner would fly ORD-SFO and turn to the redeye
. Normally I don’t talk to my seatmate but we talked for about an hour, until dinner was served.
The choices for dinner were a pasta dish or steak. I ordered the steak and it was served with a sauce, mashed potatoes and steamed carrots and broccoli. On the side was a salad and a roll. The steak actually wasn’t too bad (read: not overcooked). Ironically, with how tired I was during the layover I couldn’t get to sleep for a nap until we were descending into SFO. Instead I had some scotchs and watched reruns of Chopped which switching back and forth to college basketball games.
This ORD-SFO flight actually went out with 2 empty seat in F. That was really odd. After we took off the FAs moved two non-reving pilots into the open seats. Also on this flight my stupid air nozzle barely worked. Because of this, on 3 occasions I had to ask the FAs to turn the temperature in the cabin down.
Since we were flying west bound and took off a bit late we arrived at the gate a few minute late (but still on-time inside the 15 minute allowance). We pulled into gate 76A, which felt odd because that used to be the express gate area. I quickly went to the United Club while waiting for my 1030p back to Vegas.
Flight #24: SFO-LAS, UA 1733, 737-900, N37462, Ch9 n/a
Scheduled: 1030p-1207a Actual: 1032p-1147p. Flight on-time, upgraded 3 days
Flown Miles: 500 EQMs ORC Running total: 95357 Delta to 1K: 4643
Thankfully this was a quicker layover. As with the other late short flights back into Vegas I don’t remember too much from this. The F cabin went out with 8 open seats. The pilot mentioned the plane was 13 days old. It definitely felt new. One problem I am noticing with the 737-900s though is that in F the tray tables don’t always go back into their arm rest. On the previous flight my seatmate’s didn’t fully go in and I noticed in seats 1E, 3A and 4F they also had the same problem. Seems like a design flaw, especially if this plane was only 13 days old.
Also, due to the newness of the plane (I assume), it didn’t have DirectTV. It did, however, have E+ in the back. So it looks like they are being delivered with E+ but not LiveTV. I’m not sure if the plan is to put LiveTV on them but I would prefer the drop down monitors like pmUA.
The pilot originally quoted a flight time of 1h20m. I knew there was no way this was going to happen. The longest it really takes is about 1h7m but we ended up arriving in a quick 57m when we were given a generous routing through Edwards AFB airspace and didn’t have to fly the downwind leg very far east of the airport.
Well, I will let everyone know how my ORC goes. This is my last flight until our RDU trip at the end of the year (from LAX), expect another update then.
Scheduled: 620p-906p Actual: 631p-914p. Flight on-time, upgraded 2.5 days prior
Flown Miles: 1845 EQMs ORC Running total: 94857 Delta to 1K: 5143
After a brutal 4 hour layover I finally boarded my flight to SFO. During the layover I visited 3 United Clubs and walked the complete C and B concourse twice (to try to wake up). I quickly settled into my aisle First seat and a nice lady sat down next to me. I noticed her adding up numbers on her phone calculator to include adding 2419 and then subtracting her overall total from 50000 or 1000000. After we pushed back I asked her if she was on a mileage run. She reluctantly said “yes” and asked me how I knew. I told her I was also on a run and that by adding 2419 I presumed she was on the SFO-IAD redeye back to the east coast and only a mileage runner would fly ORD-SFO and turn to the redeye
. Normally I don’t talk to my seatmate but we talked for about an hour, until dinner was served. The choices for dinner were a pasta dish or steak. I ordered the steak and it was served with a sauce, mashed potatoes and steamed carrots and broccoli. On the side was a salad and a roll. The steak actually wasn’t too bad (read: not overcooked). Ironically, with how tired I was during the layover I couldn’t get to sleep for a nap until we were descending into SFO. Instead I had some scotchs and watched reruns of Chopped which switching back and forth to college basketball games.
This ORD-SFO flight actually went out with 2 empty seat in F. That was really odd. After we took off the FAs moved two non-reving pilots into the open seats. Also on this flight my stupid air nozzle barely worked. Because of this, on 3 occasions I had to ask the FAs to turn the temperature in the cabin down.
Since we were flying west bound and took off a bit late we arrived at the gate a few minute late (but still on-time inside the 15 minute allowance). We pulled into gate 76A, which felt odd because that used to be the express gate area. I quickly went to the United Club while waiting for my 1030p back to Vegas.
Flight #24: SFO-LAS, UA 1733, 737-900, N37462, Ch9 n/a
Scheduled: 1030p-1207a Actual: 1032p-1147p. Flight on-time, upgraded 3 days
Flown Miles: 500 EQMs ORC Running total: 95357 Delta to 1K: 4643
Thankfully this was a quicker layover. As with the other late short flights back into Vegas I don’t remember too much from this. The F cabin went out with 8 open seats. The pilot mentioned the plane was 13 days old. It definitely felt new. One problem I am noticing with the 737-900s though is that in F the tray tables don’t always go back into their arm rest. On the previous flight my seatmate’s didn’t fully go in and I noticed in seats 1E, 3A and 4F they also had the same problem. Seems like a design flaw, especially if this plane was only 13 days old.
Also, due to the newness of the plane (I assume), it didn’t have DirectTV. It did, however, have E+ in the back. So it looks like they are being delivered with E+ but not LiveTV. I’m not sure if the plan is to put LiveTV on them but I would prefer the drop down monitors like pmUA.
The pilot originally quoted a flight time of 1h20m. I knew there was no way this was going to happen. The longest it really takes is about 1h7m but we ended up arriving in a quick 57m when we were given a generous routing through Edwards AFB airspace and didn’t have to fly the downwind leg very far east of the airport.
Well, I will let everyone know how my ORC goes. This is my last flight until our RDU trip at the end of the year (from LAX), expect another update then.
Last edited by trekwars2000; Dec 16, 2012 at 12:20 pm
Dec 16, 2012, 12:30 pm
#28
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: LAS - I'm All In!
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, Marriott PP
Posts: 3,639
The LAX-BKK non-stops were discontinued earlier this year.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thai-...o-protest.html
trekwars2000 thanks for writing your reports! They're a real fun read!
I've done MR's before, but never any as complex as what you're writing about. Mine have usually been BOS-SFO-LAX/DEN/ORD-BOS day-trips.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thai-...o-protest.html
trekwars2000 thanks for writing your reports! They're a real fun read!
I've done MR's before, but never any as complex as what you're writing about. Mine have usually been BOS-SFO-LAX/DEN/ORD-BOS day-trips.
Dec 28, 2012, 12:51 pm
#29
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: LAS - I'm All In!
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, Marriott PP
Posts: 3,639
Flight #25: LAX-CLE, UA 1252, 737-800, N14214, Ch9 n/a
Scheduled: 648a-218p Actual: 647a-208p. Flight on-time, upgraded via RPU/GPU 5 days prior
Flown Miles: 2053 EQMs ORC Running total: 97410 Delta to 1K: 2590
I now sit with my wife at the CLE United club waiting for our connecting flight to RDU. I hope that everyone had a great holiday break and is going to have a good new year. As mentioned previously, we are on the way to Chapel Hill to watch the UNLV basketball game at the Dean Smith Center at UNC. As UNLV season ticket holders we wanted to go to this game as soon as it was scheduled (tentatively) 3 years ago. I am glad we pulled the trigger to go. Going to this game also means I didn’t have to do another mileage run to get 1K.
So the reason we left from LAX was because we were at my wife’s parents house down in Orange County. They actually live about 15 minutes from SNA but the price to fly SNA-RDU vs LAX-RDU was about $150 more. In addition, when we decided that we wanted to stay until Sunday afternoon (and not come back after the game Saturday), I realized that I could route us back to LAX via IAD on the 530p int’l 777 flight. However, quickly after booking the flight and applying miles for 2 upgrades to C I noticed that the mileage upgrade didn’t look good. Add the fact that the RDU-IAD-LAX flights booked into U class (that’s higher than H and maybe 1 below M) and I wasn’t too happy about spending so much money for a flight and being stuck in Y. After looking at the buy up to F (not just C), the difference was not that much, so I confirmed my wife and I into A class for the extra amount and grabbed 2 of the last 3 seats in the F cabin. I have my fingers crossed that no issues cause us to miss that int’l 777 flight from IAD.
That said, we also get a EQM bonus now for the A class flights so I should easily make 1K. I am still awaiting ORC from the stupid IAH-SLC-ORD flights. When I emailed 1kvoice 3 days after the flight they said ORC wouldn’t be an issue. When I asked why I hadn’t seen anything show up at the 5 day point, they said that they have to 5 days before they can post ORC and I needed to wait until Friday (7 days after the flight). I sent a follow up email that Friday and haven’t heard anything back. I’m sure the Xmas break doesn’t help but I just want to get the EQMs/RDMs for that.
But on to the flight... As I said, we were flying out of LAX. I have actually transitted LAX many times for connections but only actually flown out of there once. The previous time was a day trip to SFO so I just parked my car at the airport parking garage (for an arm and a leg). After researching parking options and seeing “The Parking Spot” 25% off coupon in the Hemispheres magazine I decided to park there. That will make the 3 days of parking be about $35, which is just about what on-airport LAS parking costs… I digress…
So we left my in-laws house at a little after 4a and arrived at the parking garage at 5a. After a quick shuttle ride we were dropped off at Terminal 7. For those, like me, that might be looking for the first class check-in and security – it is not in Terminal 7. We walked back to T6 to get checked in and up the gates to security. Going to T6 wasn’t a big deal as that is the club I prefer. By about 535a we were settled into a couple of seats and having a quick breakfast bite and hot tea prior to the flight.
We headed over to gate 70A for an on-time boarding and push back. After quickly getting airborne we were served drinks of our choice. Since it is never too early for a scotch I had a double and my wife had a bloody Mary. For breakfast we had the 2 predictable choices, both choosing the eggs with potato mixture and inedible sausage. After breakfast and a little sleep juice (see: scotch, above) we both pretty much slept for the remainder of the flight.
After an on-time arrival into CLE we quickly headed to the lounge. We ended up with a pretty long layover because I figured LAX-CLE was going to be the easiest upgraded (though still not “easy”). Luckily a nice FTer gifted us a couple of upgrades to ensure that we were upgraded. Thanks again!
I will likely update this from the Courtyard Chapel Hill. I’m hoping for multiple pics with players and coaches on the UNLV team b/c it’s the team hotel
.
Scheduled: 648a-218p Actual: 647a-208p. Flight on-time, upgraded via RPU/GPU 5 days prior
Flown Miles: 2053 EQMs ORC Running total: 97410 Delta to 1K: 2590
I now sit with my wife at the CLE United club waiting for our connecting flight to RDU. I hope that everyone had a great holiday break and is going to have a good new year. As mentioned previously, we are on the way to Chapel Hill to watch the UNLV basketball game at the Dean Smith Center at UNC. As UNLV season ticket holders we wanted to go to this game as soon as it was scheduled (tentatively) 3 years ago. I am glad we pulled the trigger to go. Going to this game also means I didn’t have to do another mileage run to get 1K.
So the reason we left from LAX was because we were at my wife’s parents house down in Orange County. They actually live about 15 minutes from SNA but the price to fly SNA-RDU vs LAX-RDU was about $150 more. In addition, when we decided that we wanted to stay until Sunday afternoon (and not come back after the game Saturday), I realized that I could route us back to LAX via IAD on the 530p int’l 777 flight. However, quickly after booking the flight and applying miles for 2 upgrades to C I noticed that the mileage upgrade didn’t look good. Add the fact that the RDU-IAD-LAX flights booked into U class (that’s higher than H and maybe 1 below M) and I wasn’t too happy about spending so much money for a flight and being stuck in Y. After looking at the buy up to F (not just C), the difference was not that much, so I confirmed my wife and I into A class for the extra amount and grabbed 2 of the last 3 seats in the F cabin. I have my fingers crossed that no issues cause us to miss that int’l 777 flight from IAD.
That said, we also get a EQM bonus now for the A class flights so I should easily make 1K. I am still awaiting ORC from the stupid IAH-SLC-ORD flights. When I emailed 1kvoice 3 days after the flight they said ORC wouldn’t be an issue. When I asked why I hadn’t seen anything show up at the 5 day point, they said that they have to 5 days before they can post ORC and I needed to wait until Friday (7 days after the flight). I sent a follow up email that Friday and haven’t heard anything back. I’m sure the Xmas break doesn’t help but I just want to get the EQMs/RDMs for that.
But on to the flight... As I said, we were flying out of LAX. I have actually transitted LAX many times for connections but only actually flown out of there once. The previous time was a day trip to SFO so I just parked my car at the airport parking garage (for an arm and a leg). After researching parking options and seeing “The Parking Spot” 25% off coupon in the Hemispheres magazine I decided to park there. That will make the 3 days of parking be about $35, which is just about what on-airport LAS parking costs… I digress…
So we left my in-laws house at a little after 4a and arrived at the parking garage at 5a. After a quick shuttle ride we were dropped off at Terminal 7. For those, like me, that might be looking for the first class check-in and security – it is not in Terminal 7. We walked back to T6 to get checked in and up the gates to security. Going to T6 wasn’t a big deal as that is the club I prefer. By about 535a we were settled into a couple of seats and having a quick breakfast bite and hot tea prior to the flight.
We headed over to gate 70A for an on-time boarding and push back. After quickly getting airborne we were served drinks of our choice. Since it is never too early for a scotch I had a double and my wife had a bloody Mary. For breakfast we had the 2 predictable choices, both choosing the eggs with potato mixture and inedible sausage. After breakfast and a little sleep juice (see: scotch, above) we both pretty much slept for the remainder of the flight.
After an on-time arrival into CLE we quickly headed to the lounge. We ended up with a pretty long layover because I figured LAX-CLE was going to be the easiest upgraded (though still not “easy”). Luckily a nice FTer gifted us a couple of upgrades to ensure that we were upgraded. Thanks again!
I will likely update this from the Courtyard Chapel Hill. I’m hoping for multiple pics with players and coaches on the UNLV team b/c it’s the team hotel
.
