johna

United's $166 e-fare provided a perfect opportunity to visit my parents 90 miles west of Denver, to see their new house (a "modular," which I had seen delivered in two sections and craned onto the foundation this past February - what an approach to building!). "Perfect" because the e-fare limitation (Saturday to Monday or Tuesday) is about the amount of time I wanted to spend…and the relatively empty flights make upgrading easier (success both directions!).

outbound UA 1924 SFO to DEN: Pretty uneventful. Decided to try Sam Choy's seared tuna sandwich - not bad, but couldn't they have put it on something more interesting than crustless white bread? And I wish the FA had mentioned "…with a slice of prosciutto," since I try to avoid pork and shellfish for religious reasons. Oh, well, once the treyf arrives unexpected, I figure that if it's a "sin" to eat it, it's even more of a sin to waste it.

Avis: The agent suggests that my three-cylinder subcompact will get me into the mountains (over a 12,000 foot pass), but I might feel more secure with a mid-size for $5/day more. OK…but he puts it on the bill as a "one-way/misc." $15 item. So a wasted trip to the counter when I notice it on the van back to the airport. Why not simply put in the corrected rate? Oh - and I was able to use two rental car coupons, so my 2 days 3 hour rental "only" came to $115 (those darned airport fees and taxes!).

Renting a car saved my parents a 4- or 5-hour round trip to get me and again to drop me off. I don't begrudge the money (although it would have been nice if they'd offered to split the cost), but not even a thank you. "We would have come get you…" argggh

return UA 547 DEN to SFO: My niece (Spokane) had been visiting my parents, so I timed my return to match her flight home. But I let her check in by herself (good practice!), and I think the ticket person was at first appalled that somebody had apparently just dropped off this 14-year-old to fend for herself. Gradually he realized that Uncle John was watching out for her (next in line, but I let others go ahead as other counters became available). This must have impressed (or relieved!) him, because he asked for my upgrade coupons and then handed them back to me, saying "This one's on United." Of course, when he gave me my boarding pass I gave him one of United's "employee recognition" coupons, "for helping my niece with her check-in" (knew better than to say "for the free upgrade"!).

Got to her gate, but there's been a gate change. Check the monitor, and it shows her flight will be (at least) an hour late. All this since we checked in! But my flight's on time. My niece says I should leave (I've already made sure she has my Denver brother's phone number for an emergency), and we called my sister who also says "Go catch your own plane." In the meantime, there's been another gate change on her flight…to one over ½-mile from mine (those Denver piers are long!). So I get her to McDonalds (hers was supposed to be a dinner flight), make sure she knows where her gate is and that she can ask any United gate agent if she has a problem, and I head off to business class on a 777.

My flight is just fine. Dinner is boring (not even a choice of entrée? Oh well, it's still better than coach). And the seats are great - would be wonderful for a long flight (such as November's upcoming flight to Bangkok…in coach, drat!). Got chatting with my seatmate during dinner, and it turns out he is often in Thailand (and even has a condo there), so I picked up some tips for my trip. And disembarking ("debouching" - great word!) we got to see the new first class seats - wonder when I'll get a chance to try them!

I called Spokane to make sure my niece had gotten in OK, admitting to my brother-in-law that I usually disdain people who check like that. He laughed, and responded "See, you're beginning to think like a parent!" I'll take that as a compliment!!

All in all a good trip, with some interesting experiences.