June's USA/Canada adventure
Jun 16, 2001, 1:35 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: New York
Posts: 7,340
June's USA/Canada adventure
Hi Everyone,
Carfield is back from a trip around the US. My friend, Joe, has a great time and the flights are always all on time and there is no baggage problem at all. United is the primary carrier and we used certificates for the upgrades. We also flew American Eagle, Alaska, Air Canada, and National Airlines.
June 2, 2001
UA 10 LAX-JFK Lv0700 Arr1510
Boeing 767-200 N602UA
The check in went by quickly and the Boeing 767-200 was the same ancient kinds used by United. The J class seats were pretty uncomfortable, but the F/As service was excellent. The menu was pretty sad because the breakfast service was the same as my trip in April. The choices were fruit or Bistro eggs again. The only different was that the fruit plate was very sad. It had five kinds of fruits - tasteless blueberries, sour raspberries, sour oranges, sour pineapples, and decent melons. It came with a red raspberry yogurt and Wheaties and milk. Three kinds of breads were offered - banana nut muffins, croissants, and sesame bagels. The breakfast was pretty disappointing.
The flight left the gate on time and we took off from Runway 24L at 7:17am. The flying time was four hours and forty-five minutes. I did not listen if Channel 9 was available. I chose to talk with friend instead. As we all know, June is the Julia Robert's month on United. The movie, "Mystic Pizza," and a short feature on the making of Julia's movie were shown. Since we did not sleep the night before, we took a long nap and woke up just in time for the snack service. One tray affair -
Gourmet Deli plate (F class got the same plate as well)
Smoked salmon, shrimp (non-existence), five-spice roasted tenderloin, marinated breast of chicken, herbed Provencal salami, Sage blue and goat cheese with grilled shiitake mushrooms
Mrs. Field's Milk Chocolate Chip cookie
Two breadsticks - plain and onion, and lavosh crackers came with the meal as well.
Surprisingly, the descent began early and JFK looked pretty quiet this Saturday afternoon. We landed at Runway 13L at 4:04pm. We quickly parked at gate 3 and the bags came off quickly. One of the best things about the Premium transcon flights is the quick delivery of bags.
June 6, 2001
AA 5020 BUF-JFK Lv1455 Arr1640
Saab340B N904AE
My first flight with the Saab340 turboprop began with an efficient check in process at Buffalo Airport. The airport is small but very pleasant. The windows are large and make the terminal bright and roomy. We had lunch at a pasta place on the food court after passing the security. The airport was quite busy at noon time with Midway CRJ, Northwest's DC9, Continental EMJ and Boeing 737's flights, UA's Boeing 727, and Southwest's Boeing 737 flight. Then it became quiet a bit. The boarding began at gate 9 at 2:37pm and everyone was seated immediately. The whole process was efficient. We seated at 2BC, exit row. I highly don't recommend the bulkhead window for anyone. The legroom was tight and the door blocked most of your legroom. I was surprised to see the F/A manually retracting the stairs and closing the door separately. Flying time was an hour and nineteen minutes. We took off at 3:02pm and climbed to 17,000ft. Then the F/A rolled out the beverage trolley and served us a quick beverage service with a pack of Rold Gold's pretzels. My friend was not impressed with the pretzels and the F/A gave us a full can. The descent began at 3:50pm and we landed at 4:26pm on Runway 31R. But the trip ended with a long wait for parking space and a thirty minutes wait for bags. The AA terminal was a hellish place and there was no assistant with the bags. We had a hard time finding the correct carousel that our bags would come out. The agents were not sure themselves and our flight number was not shown on the carousel. The San Juan flight confused us even more.
June 7, 2001
AA 5171 JFK-BOS Lv1220 Arr1325
Embraer EMB-135 Regional Jet N717AE
Another first for me… my frist EMB regional jet flight began with a late arrival at the airport. The traffic was awful. Fortunately the check in agent was very kind and we got 2A and 3A. The EMB jet was very nice and a nice change from the Saab340B flight the previous day. The windows are larger than the CRJ and the cabin was a bit taller. AA used the new Y class seats featured on the mainline jets with the headrest and a nice lumbar support. I really enjoy this flight. The took off was loud but the noise level was similar to your typical mainline flights. The F/A played the safety demo through a CD player and took care of two elderly ladies seating behind us. The flying time was only 44 minutes today and we climbed at 17,000ft after our takeoof at 12:40pm from Runway 22R.
Another beverage service and a pack of nicer Rold Gold's original mix were served during the short flight. We got full cans. Boston was busy this afternoon and we landed at 1:24pm on Runway 22L. A terrific flight with a smooth transfer to the main terminal and the bags arrived quickly.
June 8, 2001
AC 805 BOS-YYZ Lv1530 Arr1720
Airbus A319-100 C-GARJ (Fleet# 212)
Terminal E was hellish because of the constructions going on. The AC line was long because there were the Halifax and Montreal flights departing within 30 minutes from our YYZ flight. Fortunately, the Star Gold line was short and we got the seats on the third rows of Y class. However, the agent failed to attach the priority tags to my bags. Our plane got in late but there was no announcement during the whole time. We boarded five minutes prior to our schedule takeoff time, and we did not push back till 3:52pm. Fortunately, the traffic at Boston was not too bad this afternoon. AC seemed to be a bit different from the last BOS-YYZ I took with them. There were four F/As stationed on the A319s and newspapers were offered to the passengers on the front section of Y class. They ran out quickly. There was the Sky Map show on the flight, but the CBC news was only shown on random flights. For J class, they had a hot towel service and had a hot snack service. For Y class, there was a light lunch service.
We took off at 4:10pm from Runway 9 and the snack service began immediately at 4:21pm. The sandwich boxes are larger now, and two mini sandwiches were featured - Cheddar and Ham on a French roll, and pastrami and Swiss on a soft roll. A fun sized Musketeer bar and a coleslaw salad were also featured. The snack was pretty nice and there was one single beverage service. No full can was offered but the F/As were efficient in serving the whole cabin. Flying time was one hour and fifteen minutes and we climbed to 35,000ft. After the snack service, I suddenly found an urge to use the lavatory. I was caught in a bad situation. I was at 14B and the Y class beverage trolley was only ˝ way done. The meals were already delivered in J class and the curtain between J and Y was opened. What should I do? Since my stomach was hurting and the J class lavatory was closer, I decided to use the toilet up front. I passed the purser and he did not say anything. Since there was no announcement concerning the use of lavatory in J class and the curtains were wide opened, I thought it was just like another shuttle flight and I could just use the closest lavatory. Guess what happened next! When I left the bathroom, the J class F/A returned from the aft cabin and was collecting the trays from J class passenger. Since the J class trolley was small and there was enough room for me to pass by, I just walked through her and went to my seat. As I was passing her, she suddenly told me rudely that I was not supposed to use the J class bathroom. Then I told her that Y class was still serving beverage and I could not pass the trolley. Then she replied, "I was using the trolley too." Then I just gave her a shocking look and decided to not argue with her. Of course, I was more than happy to have a discussion with her concerning this matter. If you did not want traffic in the J class cabin, what was so difficult about closing the curtain? Strangely the curtain was left on the return flight, too. If AC treats these transborder flights as shuttle flights, there is no reason on making a big fuss about passengers on the front Y cabin using the front lavatory. I don't think I am being unfair here. If the F/As closed the curtains, I would not use the J class lavatory. Also, I could not believe that F/As decided to make a big fuss about it. I could not believe that the flight attendant really wanted to start a fight here. I hope she understood that I was not your typical Chinese passenger, who would ignore this event. I would pursue this matter with Air Canada. To me, it was another example on the decline of service on AC. The merger seemed to allow AC to be arrogant and to treat its passengers as dirt. My flight was full both ways and I was not surprised to see such bad service. When I disembarked, I did not give my usual smile and farewell to her. I just got her name, Marie, and a letter would be sent to AC. Of course, AC has an awful customer relation department and after the farewell to CP's Boeing 744 trip next month, I will stay away from AC on all possible occasions. Am I being unfair here? I felt so sad that AC cannot stop this downhill slope. The rest of the F/As were kind and efficient, but it took one bad apple to ruin the flight.
The rest of the flight went by quickly and we landed on Runway 6R at 5:23pm. We parked at Gate 99 quickly.
June 10, 2001
AC 714 YYZ-LGA Lv1400 Arr1521
Airbus A319-100 C-GBIM
I arrived at the airport forty five minutes late due to traffic and our lateness. Anyway, we ran to the check in counters and the signs were pretty confusing. A new change on the transborder section is that AC moves the priority lines away from the economy class lines. Fortunately, I found the line quickly and no one was in front of us. The agent was very nice and did not make rude comments about the lateness. She just printed out the boarding pass and gave us the forms. We ran to the immigration and custom immediately and fortunately, there was no line. It took a bit longer for Joe to pass immigration because he had only the tourist visa. We just ran to our gate, and guess what, our aircraft had just arrived at the gate. Of course, there was no announcement about possible delays and the departure monitor did not say anything. It would not nicer if they told us that the flight was late, so we did not need to run around and I did not need to use my asthma pumps after security.
Boarding did not begin till 1:47pm and we were sitting on 23A & B. We pushed about twenty minutes late and we took off from Runway 23 at 2:36pm. The pilot told us that our flying time was just fifty-six minutes. Then the F/As passed out headsets and they showed an episode of CBC News. But there was no newspaper service. As both AC and the OAG guide indicates that it was a snack flight, I expected another sandwich box and chose not to buy a sandwich at the airport (we already had a little bit of dim sum before we rushed to the airport). However the service was limited to a glass of your choice of beverage and a choice of Old York's original potato chips, Natural Temptation's chocolate chip cookie, and pretzels presented in a basket. Don't trust the AC timetable and OAG guide too much! The flight went by quickly and we landed on Runway 22 at 3:32pm. We parked at gate A7 and found that LGA's AC terminal featured some free magazines.
UA 1717 LGA-IAD Lv1735 Arr1858
Airbus A320-200 N451UA with new seats and new color scheme
The agent was very pleasant and addressed us with our last names. He printed out our boarding passes and carefully explained the location of the gate, C12. Our bags were labeled with the orange first class tag and we were checked through to LAX. Strangely, our flight arrived early from IAD and the boarding began at 5:29pm. The load was light and the F/A gave us a pre-takeoff beverage. Channel 9 was available today. We pushed back a minute early and took off from Runway 31 at 5:43pm. Flying time was a quick forty-five minutes, and we climbed to 20,000ft. The service consisted of beverage and summer harvest mix. We began descent very soon and landed on R/W1R at 6:29pm. We parked at gate C24.
UA 963 IAD-LAX Lv1935 Arr2152
Airbus A320-200 N448UA
The boarding gate was very crowded and the load was almost full. F class was full as usual with three 1Ks. The F/A was super excellent today and we were given a pre-takeoff beverage. We pushed back just on time and took off from Runway 19R at 7:55pm. A bit of head wind this afternoon… The flying time was four hours and forty-seven minutes, and our cruising attitude was 35,000ft. Shortly after the seat belt turned off at 8:17pm, we were given cold mixed nuts and our choices of beverage. The F/As passed out menus and my menu was specially marked with a note telling me to label my entrée choice on the menu. Unfortunately, when I passed her my menu, she already ran out of the lamb. (Only 2 were loaded.) She recommended the beef then. Anyway, the menu was labeled as 6/01 and the cookie had disappeared. Here was the menu transcript:
To Begin
Lobster tail and smoked salmon with Champagne vegetable slaw
Dill mayonnaise and fresh lemon
I can't believe my eyes when I see this appetiser. The lobster tail was not bad and the smoked salmon was nice.
Windy City Salad with Kalamata olives and Parmesan cheese
Balsamic Vinaigrette or blue cheese dressing
The salad basically had some mesclun greens and endives. It was pretty nice. United is in the process of introducing some fancy names for its salads.
Main Courses
Tenderloin of beef with green peppercorn sauce
Garlic mashed potatoes and haricots vert with bell peppers
Spinach and ricotta cheese stuffed chicken with tarragon cream sauce
Potatoes au gratin and stir-fried vegetables
Lamb en croute with a roasted garlic demi-glace
Cheese grits and steamed baby spinach
Dessert
Ice cream sundae
Ben and Jerry's Vanilla and Strawberry ice cream
Hot fudge sauce, wafer and whipped cream
The F/A continued to serve us drinks throughout the rest of the flight. Entertainment tonight was Julia Robert's Eric Brockovich and NBC In flight with "Friends." I slept a bit and then watched the NBC program. The pilot updated us on the Laker vs Sixers score and made the sport broadcast available on Channel 9. There was no more cookie service but the F/As passed us hot towels after we began our descent. I found out how F/As made the hot towels. They simply poured hot water over the towels. I could not believe that it was that simple. It was not like SQ. UA really has no excuse for not provided a few more HT service. We landed on Runway 25L at 9:42pm. We parked at gate 66 and it was a faraway gate. United switches its terminal 6 baggage policy again. All flights arriving at T6, except international flights and Chicago and Denver flight, will have their bags arrived at terminal 6. United broke my personal longest wait for bag record. It took forty-two minutes for the first bag to show up, since we parked at the gate. There was no excuse here.
N7 318 LAX-LAS Lv2345 Arr0050
Boeing 757-200 N506NA
My friend Joe was tempted to kill me for putting him on so many flights in one day. Fortunately, all the flights were on time, considering we passed through some of the busiest airports on the eastern corridor. We slowly walked towards terminal six for our check in to Las Vegas. The load was very light with only 50 passengers. I did not upgrade us to first class. The F class service was not special anymore. Everyone got their own rows on this short thirty-nine minutes to LAS. The inbound flight arrived early and the boarding commenced at 11:30pm. We pushed back early and took off from Runway 25R at 00:04am.
The aircraft was in bad shapes. There were TV monitors and audio controls, but N7 no longer featured movies. The bathrooms were falling apart on the mid cabin. The plane was ancient and I was thankful for the short flight. The inflight service consisted of drinks and nuts. I got two bottles of water because I like the bottle designs. Anyway, we began our descent soon. Not much turbulence into LAS! We landed on Runway 25L at 00:46am. We parked at D4 and the bags came out quickly.
June 12, 2001 LAS-SEA Lv0923 Arr1159
Boeing 737-900 N305AS
We were leaving the heat for the chill on the "sleepless" city in the Northwest. I was happy to see the 305 Boeing 737-900 since I flew its delivery flight. The check-in lines were long and everyone was checking in bags. They were also handling both the Portland and Seattle flight in the same time. The agent was very cheerful and we headed off to Gate A24 for our early flight to Seattle.
Boarding began early since we anticipated strong head winds on the flight to SEA. We pushed back early and took off from Runway 19L at 9:30am. Flying time was two hours and nineteen minutes and our cruising attitude was 39,000ft. The flight was very smooth and unlike other AS planes, four F/As were featured on this new plane. The second F/A helped out the purser for the drink and meal service on F. Then she helped out the Y cabin with the beverage service. Only beverage service was featured in Y class and we got a fruit plate (five slices of cantaloupes and blueberries) with fair scone in first class. Then the generous passenger at 2C passed out Krispy Crčme' donuts to everyone in F. He was carrying a whole bag of it. It was my first Krispy Crčme's donut and was delicious - better than Dunkin Donuts. I hope AS can serve them in the future.
Then I chatted with the F/A about the new plane. She told us that they had some teething problems on the first week. On the third day of the operation, a flight was delayed for ten hours because they needed a part. I guess it was normal to see such problems. Fortunately, they would be solved soon. Then the Seattle weather turned bad and we were on hold. We landed on Runway 16R at 12:11pm. Then we had a wonderful trip in Seattle. The Locks Cruise was wonderful especially we had a cute pilot and tour guide, John. Ha Ha…
June 13, 2001
AS 608 SEA-LAS Lv1644 Arr1910
Boeing 737-400 N763AS
Another typical day at Seattle… We took the gray line express back to Seattle and the check in agent decided to be rude today. I did not want to go into details. It was just a minor thing, unlike my AC experience. The agent was not in a good mood. Anyway, the inbound flight from Los Angeles arrived on time and boarding began at 4:25pm. The door was closed almost on time but pushed back at 4:48pm. We took off from Runway 16L at 5pm and Mary Joe, our purser, immediately began the beverage and snack service. The snack was a choice of turkey, brie, & sun-dried red peppers on olive baguette with pasta salad, or marinated grilled chicken breast with a wild rice salad & warmed roll. The dessert was a Seattle's hazelnut chocolate. Joe and I both have the turkey sandwiches, but the portion continued to be quite small.
The flying time was only an hour and forty-nine minutes, and the flight went by quickly and we landed on Runway 1L at 6:52pm. We parked at gate A24 again and then our nightmare began. While we were walking towards the baggage claim, I checked the departure monitor for our connecting flight to LAX from LAS. N7 357 was delayed till 12:40am but the inbound flight from Dallas Ft Worth would arrive on time at 8:15pm. Well, I did not know what to know, but waiting for five hours was not an option. Then we picked up our bags on the AS baggage claim and headed towards the National check in area.
Original
N7 357 LAS-LAX Lv2140 Arr2245
Boeing 757-200 Unknown
The check in area was rather deserted with only two lines and each agent was checking in one passenger. When the agent proceeded with the check in, she did not even know about the delays. I asked her to confirm the delays and she found out that the flight arrived on time from DFW, but was not sure about the delays about the LAX flight. Finally, she found out that there was an aircraft change and the aircraft operating N7 19 would operate the flight to LAX. Then I asked her what my option was, because I did not want to wait for another five hours. She told me that she would find out. Unfortunately, I bought a bulk ticket from travelocity.com, so her supervisor told her that I could only wait. How about any meal coupons? No… she told me to head off to the gate. A snack bar would be set up but no dinner coupon. How about upgrading my fare to a full fare one, so I could fly another airline? Her supervisor told me that they could not do it. I did not know about ticketing, but I AM MORE THAN HAPPY TO PAY FOR THE DIFFERENCE. Then the supervisor told me that he could not change that fare to a full fare one. Since the delay was less than three hours, they did not need to give me any compensation. I was very mad as of that point. Waiting for five hours was not too bad, if National could send me to its lounge or give me a dinner coupon. The only thing that National would do was to set up a snack bar at its gate… possibly at 9pm. I kept my cool and asked about the price for a full fare ticket. It was $93 oneway, so I just called United 1K desk. They still had seats, so I told the agents to give me the boarding passes and head off to the United desk and see if I can still catch the 8:20pm flight. Fortunately, the agent was very helpful at United and rush to finish the ticketing for the last flight from LAS to LAX. They printed out the boarding passes and tagged my bags. We were rushed to the gate, since LAS was huge. On my way towards the D gate, I called National's reservation line. I did not have time to head back towards the check in area of National and give them the boarding passes. I wanted to notify them that I would not be flying its flight tonight. They did not need to look for me. But the reservation agent told me that she could not do much. She kept on telling me that I could turn in the boarding passes for points. Then I repeated my wish to notify the N7 staffs at LAS that I could not go. I asked if it would help if I turned in the boarding passes at LAX. She said, "no." How about giving me a number that I could call at Las Vegas office? "No." She kept on telling me that she could not do anything. Then I just told her, "I am trying to be nice here even though National is the airline who delays its flight for no particular reason. So I am still being kind here. If National can't help out itself, I will just board my flight now and forget about your airline. Don't blame me for not showing up!" I don't think I am demanding too much here. Just upgrade me a full fare ticket and I will pay the differences. I just want to get back to LA. I still can't believe that it won't even give me a meal coupon or give me a phone card. for the three hours delay. I highly do not recommend National to anyone because the airline delays its flight way too often (so many examples before) and its check in agents are prohibited to make any decision, excepting checking you in and reading your instructions from the computer. The agent was not rude so I did not yell at her. I just kept my cool and made my way to United. National just lost a valuable passenger.
UA 2544 LAS-LAX Lv2020 Arr2140
Boeing 737-500 N957UA with normal United's configuration (Y+)
Since the load was light, boarding was done within ten minutes. The door was closed on time and we took off from Runway 7R at 8:30pm. The service was a beverage and no snack is available. Since this a/c is non-shuttle, the mid-cabin F/A used the trolley for beverage. The aft F/A used the tray. The F class F/A helped out with the beverage cart after she was done with F class. We leveled off at 28,000ft and we landed on R/W25R at 9:12pm. We parked at gate 80 and the bags came out a bit earlier than my previous experience. The F/As were kind and the flight was on time. What an unusual United Shuttle flight! I told Joe that he was a lucky fellow. He is flying the CX's Spirit of Hong Kong flight back to HK now.
Sorry for the long report! I hope you will enjoy reading it!
Carfield
Carfield is back from a trip around the US. My friend, Joe, has a great time and the flights are always all on time and there is no baggage problem at all. United is the primary carrier and we used certificates for the upgrades. We also flew American Eagle, Alaska, Air Canada, and National Airlines.
June 2, 2001
UA 10 LAX-JFK Lv0700 Arr1510
Boeing 767-200 N602UA
The check in went by quickly and the Boeing 767-200 was the same ancient kinds used by United. The J class seats were pretty uncomfortable, but the F/As service was excellent. The menu was pretty sad because the breakfast service was the same as my trip in April. The choices were fruit or Bistro eggs again. The only different was that the fruit plate was very sad. It had five kinds of fruits - tasteless blueberries, sour raspberries, sour oranges, sour pineapples, and decent melons. It came with a red raspberry yogurt and Wheaties and milk. Three kinds of breads were offered - banana nut muffins, croissants, and sesame bagels. The breakfast was pretty disappointing.
The flight left the gate on time and we took off from Runway 24L at 7:17am. The flying time was four hours and forty-five minutes. I did not listen if Channel 9 was available. I chose to talk with friend instead. As we all know, June is the Julia Robert's month on United. The movie, "Mystic Pizza," and a short feature on the making of Julia's movie were shown. Since we did not sleep the night before, we took a long nap and woke up just in time for the snack service. One tray affair -
Gourmet Deli plate (F class got the same plate as well)
Smoked salmon, shrimp (non-existence), five-spice roasted tenderloin, marinated breast of chicken, herbed Provencal salami, Sage blue and goat cheese with grilled shiitake mushrooms
Mrs. Field's Milk Chocolate Chip cookie
Two breadsticks - plain and onion, and lavosh crackers came with the meal as well.
Surprisingly, the descent began early and JFK looked pretty quiet this Saturday afternoon. We landed at Runway 13L at 4:04pm. We quickly parked at gate 3 and the bags came off quickly. One of the best things about the Premium transcon flights is the quick delivery of bags.
June 6, 2001
AA 5020 BUF-JFK Lv1455 Arr1640
Saab340B N904AE
My first flight with the Saab340 turboprop began with an efficient check in process at Buffalo Airport. The airport is small but very pleasant. The windows are large and make the terminal bright and roomy. We had lunch at a pasta place on the food court after passing the security. The airport was quite busy at noon time with Midway CRJ, Northwest's DC9, Continental EMJ and Boeing 737's flights, UA's Boeing 727, and Southwest's Boeing 737 flight. Then it became quiet a bit. The boarding began at gate 9 at 2:37pm and everyone was seated immediately. The whole process was efficient. We seated at 2BC, exit row. I highly don't recommend the bulkhead window for anyone. The legroom was tight and the door blocked most of your legroom. I was surprised to see the F/A manually retracting the stairs and closing the door separately. Flying time was an hour and nineteen minutes. We took off at 3:02pm and climbed to 17,000ft. Then the F/A rolled out the beverage trolley and served us a quick beverage service with a pack of Rold Gold's pretzels. My friend was not impressed with the pretzels and the F/A gave us a full can. The descent began at 3:50pm and we landed at 4:26pm on Runway 31R. But the trip ended with a long wait for parking space and a thirty minutes wait for bags. The AA terminal was a hellish place and there was no assistant with the bags. We had a hard time finding the correct carousel that our bags would come out. The agents were not sure themselves and our flight number was not shown on the carousel. The San Juan flight confused us even more.
June 7, 2001
AA 5171 JFK-BOS Lv1220 Arr1325
Embraer EMB-135 Regional Jet N717AE
Another first for me… my frist EMB regional jet flight began with a late arrival at the airport. The traffic was awful. Fortunately the check in agent was very kind and we got 2A and 3A. The EMB jet was very nice and a nice change from the Saab340B flight the previous day. The windows are larger than the CRJ and the cabin was a bit taller. AA used the new Y class seats featured on the mainline jets with the headrest and a nice lumbar support. I really enjoy this flight. The took off was loud but the noise level was similar to your typical mainline flights. The F/A played the safety demo through a CD player and took care of two elderly ladies seating behind us. The flying time was only 44 minutes today and we climbed at 17,000ft after our takeoof at 12:40pm from Runway 22R.
Another beverage service and a pack of nicer Rold Gold's original mix were served during the short flight. We got full cans. Boston was busy this afternoon and we landed at 1:24pm on Runway 22L. A terrific flight with a smooth transfer to the main terminal and the bags arrived quickly.
June 8, 2001
AC 805 BOS-YYZ Lv1530 Arr1720
Airbus A319-100 C-GARJ (Fleet# 212)
Terminal E was hellish because of the constructions going on. The AC line was long because there were the Halifax and Montreal flights departing within 30 minutes from our YYZ flight. Fortunately, the Star Gold line was short and we got the seats on the third rows of Y class. However, the agent failed to attach the priority tags to my bags. Our plane got in late but there was no announcement during the whole time. We boarded five minutes prior to our schedule takeoff time, and we did not push back till 3:52pm. Fortunately, the traffic at Boston was not too bad this afternoon. AC seemed to be a bit different from the last BOS-YYZ I took with them. There were four F/As stationed on the A319s and newspapers were offered to the passengers on the front section of Y class. They ran out quickly. There was the Sky Map show on the flight, but the CBC news was only shown on random flights. For J class, they had a hot towel service and had a hot snack service. For Y class, there was a light lunch service.
We took off at 4:10pm from Runway 9 and the snack service began immediately at 4:21pm. The sandwich boxes are larger now, and two mini sandwiches were featured - Cheddar and Ham on a French roll, and pastrami and Swiss on a soft roll. A fun sized Musketeer bar and a coleslaw salad were also featured. The snack was pretty nice and there was one single beverage service. No full can was offered but the F/As were efficient in serving the whole cabin. Flying time was one hour and fifteen minutes and we climbed to 35,000ft. After the snack service, I suddenly found an urge to use the lavatory. I was caught in a bad situation. I was at 14B and the Y class beverage trolley was only ˝ way done. The meals were already delivered in J class and the curtain between J and Y was opened. What should I do? Since my stomach was hurting and the J class lavatory was closer, I decided to use the toilet up front. I passed the purser and he did not say anything. Since there was no announcement concerning the use of lavatory in J class and the curtains were wide opened, I thought it was just like another shuttle flight and I could just use the closest lavatory. Guess what happened next! When I left the bathroom, the J class F/A returned from the aft cabin and was collecting the trays from J class passenger. Since the J class trolley was small and there was enough room for me to pass by, I just walked through her and went to my seat. As I was passing her, she suddenly told me rudely that I was not supposed to use the J class bathroom. Then I told her that Y class was still serving beverage and I could not pass the trolley. Then she replied, "I was using the trolley too." Then I just gave her a shocking look and decided to not argue with her. Of course, I was more than happy to have a discussion with her concerning this matter. If you did not want traffic in the J class cabin, what was so difficult about closing the curtain? Strangely the curtain was left on the return flight, too. If AC treats these transborder flights as shuttle flights, there is no reason on making a big fuss about passengers on the front Y cabin using the front lavatory. I don't think I am being unfair here. If the F/As closed the curtains, I would not use the J class lavatory. Also, I could not believe that F/As decided to make a big fuss about it. I could not believe that the flight attendant really wanted to start a fight here. I hope she understood that I was not your typical Chinese passenger, who would ignore this event. I would pursue this matter with Air Canada. To me, it was another example on the decline of service on AC. The merger seemed to allow AC to be arrogant and to treat its passengers as dirt. My flight was full both ways and I was not surprised to see such bad service. When I disembarked, I did not give my usual smile and farewell to her. I just got her name, Marie, and a letter would be sent to AC. Of course, AC has an awful customer relation department and after the farewell to CP's Boeing 744 trip next month, I will stay away from AC on all possible occasions. Am I being unfair here? I felt so sad that AC cannot stop this downhill slope. The rest of the F/As were kind and efficient, but it took one bad apple to ruin the flight.
The rest of the flight went by quickly and we landed on Runway 6R at 5:23pm. We parked at Gate 99 quickly.
June 10, 2001
AC 714 YYZ-LGA Lv1400 Arr1521
Airbus A319-100 C-GBIM
I arrived at the airport forty five minutes late due to traffic and our lateness. Anyway, we ran to the check in counters and the signs were pretty confusing. A new change on the transborder section is that AC moves the priority lines away from the economy class lines. Fortunately, I found the line quickly and no one was in front of us. The agent was very nice and did not make rude comments about the lateness. She just printed out the boarding pass and gave us the forms. We ran to the immigration and custom immediately and fortunately, there was no line. It took a bit longer for Joe to pass immigration because he had only the tourist visa. We just ran to our gate, and guess what, our aircraft had just arrived at the gate. Of course, there was no announcement about possible delays and the departure monitor did not say anything. It would not nicer if they told us that the flight was late, so we did not need to run around and I did not need to use my asthma pumps after security.
Boarding did not begin till 1:47pm and we were sitting on 23A & B. We pushed about twenty minutes late and we took off from Runway 23 at 2:36pm. The pilot told us that our flying time was just fifty-six minutes. Then the F/As passed out headsets and they showed an episode of CBC News. But there was no newspaper service. As both AC and the OAG guide indicates that it was a snack flight, I expected another sandwich box and chose not to buy a sandwich at the airport (we already had a little bit of dim sum before we rushed to the airport). However the service was limited to a glass of your choice of beverage and a choice of Old York's original potato chips, Natural Temptation's chocolate chip cookie, and pretzels presented in a basket. Don't trust the AC timetable and OAG guide too much! The flight went by quickly and we landed on Runway 22 at 3:32pm. We parked at gate A7 and found that LGA's AC terminal featured some free magazines.
UA 1717 LGA-IAD Lv1735 Arr1858
Airbus A320-200 N451UA with new seats and new color scheme
The agent was very pleasant and addressed us with our last names. He printed out our boarding passes and carefully explained the location of the gate, C12. Our bags were labeled with the orange first class tag and we were checked through to LAX. Strangely, our flight arrived early from IAD and the boarding began at 5:29pm. The load was light and the F/A gave us a pre-takeoff beverage. Channel 9 was available today. We pushed back a minute early and took off from Runway 31 at 5:43pm. Flying time was a quick forty-five minutes, and we climbed to 20,000ft. The service consisted of beverage and summer harvest mix. We began descent very soon and landed on R/W1R at 6:29pm. We parked at gate C24.
UA 963 IAD-LAX Lv1935 Arr2152
Airbus A320-200 N448UA
The boarding gate was very crowded and the load was almost full. F class was full as usual with three 1Ks. The F/A was super excellent today and we were given a pre-takeoff beverage. We pushed back just on time and took off from Runway 19R at 7:55pm. A bit of head wind this afternoon… The flying time was four hours and forty-seven minutes, and our cruising attitude was 35,000ft. Shortly after the seat belt turned off at 8:17pm, we were given cold mixed nuts and our choices of beverage. The F/As passed out menus and my menu was specially marked with a note telling me to label my entrée choice on the menu. Unfortunately, when I passed her my menu, she already ran out of the lamb. (Only 2 were loaded.) She recommended the beef then. Anyway, the menu was labeled as 6/01 and the cookie had disappeared. Here was the menu transcript:
To Begin
Lobster tail and smoked salmon with Champagne vegetable slaw
Dill mayonnaise and fresh lemon
I can't believe my eyes when I see this appetiser. The lobster tail was not bad and the smoked salmon was nice.
Windy City Salad with Kalamata olives and Parmesan cheese
Balsamic Vinaigrette or blue cheese dressing
The salad basically had some mesclun greens and endives. It was pretty nice. United is in the process of introducing some fancy names for its salads.
Main Courses
Tenderloin of beef with green peppercorn sauce
Garlic mashed potatoes and haricots vert with bell peppers
Spinach and ricotta cheese stuffed chicken with tarragon cream sauce
Potatoes au gratin and stir-fried vegetables
Lamb en croute with a roasted garlic demi-glace
Cheese grits and steamed baby spinach
Dessert
Ice cream sundae
Ben and Jerry's Vanilla and Strawberry ice cream
Hot fudge sauce, wafer and whipped cream
The F/A continued to serve us drinks throughout the rest of the flight. Entertainment tonight was Julia Robert's Eric Brockovich and NBC In flight with "Friends." I slept a bit and then watched the NBC program. The pilot updated us on the Laker vs Sixers score and made the sport broadcast available on Channel 9. There was no more cookie service but the F/As passed us hot towels after we began our descent. I found out how F/As made the hot towels. They simply poured hot water over the towels. I could not believe that it was that simple. It was not like SQ. UA really has no excuse for not provided a few more HT service. We landed on Runway 25L at 9:42pm. We parked at gate 66 and it was a faraway gate. United switches its terminal 6 baggage policy again. All flights arriving at T6, except international flights and Chicago and Denver flight, will have their bags arrived at terminal 6. United broke my personal longest wait for bag record. It took forty-two minutes for the first bag to show up, since we parked at the gate. There was no excuse here.
N7 318 LAX-LAS Lv2345 Arr0050
Boeing 757-200 N506NA
My friend Joe was tempted to kill me for putting him on so many flights in one day. Fortunately, all the flights were on time, considering we passed through some of the busiest airports on the eastern corridor. We slowly walked towards terminal six for our check in to Las Vegas. The load was very light with only 50 passengers. I did not upgrade us to first class. The F class service was not special anymore. Everyone got their own rows on this short thirty-nine minutes to LAS. The inbound flight arrived early and the boarding commenced at 11:30pm. We pushed back early and took off from Runway 25R at 00:04am.
The aircraft was in bad shapes. There were TV monitors and audio controls, but N7 no longer featured movies. The bathrooms were falling apart on the mid cabin. The plane was ancient and I was thankful for the short flight. The inflight service consisted of drinks and nuts. I got two bottles of water because I like the bottle designs. Anyway, we began our descent soon. Not much turbulence into LAS! We landed on Runway 25L at 00:46am. We parked at D4 and the bags came out quickly.
June 12, 2001 LAS-SEA Lv0923 Arr1159
Boeing 737-900 N305AS
We were leaving the heat for the chill on the "sleepless" city in the Northwest. I was happy to see the 305 Boeing 737-900 since I flew its delivery flight. The check-in lines were long and everyone was checking in bags. They were also handling both the Portland and Seattle flight in the same time. The agent was very cheerful and we headed off to Gate A24 for our early flight to Seattle.
Boarding began early since we anticipated strong head winds on the flight to SEA. We pushed back early and took off from Runway 19L at 9:30am. Flying time was two hours and nineteen minutes and our cruising attitude was 39,000ft. The flight was very smooth and unlike other AS planes, four F/As were featured on this new plane. The second F/A helped out the purser for the drink and meal service on F. Then she helped out the Y cabin with the beverage service. Only beverage service was featured in Y class and we got a fruit plate (five slices of cantaloupes and blueberries) with fair scone in first class. Then the generous passenger at 2C passed out Krispy Crčme' donuts to everyone in F. He was carrying a whole bag of it. It was my first Krispy Crčme's donut and was delicious - better than Dunkin Donuts. I hope AS can serve them in the future.
Then I chatted with the F/A about the new plane. She told us that they had some teething problems on the first week. On the third day of the operation, a flight was delayed for ten hours because they needed a part. I guess it was normal to see such problems. Fortunately, they would be solved soon. Then the Seattle weather turned bad and we were on hold. We landed on Runway 16R at 12:11pm. Then we had a wonderful trip in Seattle. The Locks Cruise was wonderful especially we had a cute pilot and tour guide, John. Ha Ha…
June 13, 2001
AS 608 SEA-LAS Lv1644 Arr1910
Boeing 737-400 N763AS
Another typical day at Seattle… We took the gray line express back to Seattle and the check in agent decided to be rude today. I did not want to go into details. It was just a minor thing, unlike my AC experience. The agent was not in a good mood. Anyway, the inbound flight from Los Angeles arrived on time and boarding began at 4:25pm. The door was closed almost on time but pushed back at 4:48pm. We took off from Runway 16L at 5pm and Mary Joe, our purser, immediately began the beverage and snack service. The snack was a choice of turkey, brie, & sun-dried red peppers on olive baguette with pasta salad, or marinated grilled chicken breast with a wild rice salad & warmed roll. The dessert was a Seattle's hazelnut chocolate. Joe and I both have the turkey sandwiches, but the portion continued to be quite small.
The flying time was only an hour and forty-nine minutes, and the flight went by quickly and we landed on Runway 1L at 6:52pm. We parked at gate A24 again and then our nightmare began. While we were walking towards the baggage claim, I checked the departure monitor for our connecting flight to LAX from LAS. N7 357 was delayed till 12:40am but the inbound flight from Dallas Ft Worth would arrive on time at 8:15pm. Well, I did not know what to know, but waiting for five hours was not an option. Then we picked up our bags on the AS baggage claim and headed towards the National check in area.
Original
N7 357 LAS-LAX Lv2140 Arr2245
Boeing 757-200 Unknown
The check in area was rather deserted with only two lines and each agent was checking in one passenger. When the agent proceeded with the check in, she did not even know about the delays. I asked her to confirm the delays and she found out that the flight arrived on time from DFW, but was not sure about the delays about the LAX flight. Finally, she found out that there was an aircraft change and the aircraft operating N7 19 would operate the flight to LAX. Then I asked her what my option was, because I did not want to wait for another five hours. She told me that she would find out. Unfortunately, I bought a bulk ticket from travelocity.com, so her supervisor told her that I could only wait. How about any meal coupons? No… she told me to head off to the gate. A snack bar would be set up but no dinner coupon. How about upgrading my fare to a full fare one, so I could fly another airline? Her supervisor told me that they could not do it. I did not know about ticketing, but I AM MORE THAN HAPPY TO PAY FOR THE DIFFERENCE. Then the supervisor told me that he could not change that fare to a full fare one. Since the delay was less than three hours, they did not need to give me any compensation. I was very mad as of that point. Waiting for five hours was not too bad, if National could send me to its lounge or give me a dinner coupon. The only thing that National would do was to set up a snack bar at its gate… possibly at 9pm. I kept my cool and asked about the price for a full fare ticket. It was $93 oneway, so I just called United 1K desk. They still had seats, so I told the agents to give me the boarding passes and head off to the United desk and see if I can still catch the 8:20pm flight. Fortunately, the agent was very helpful at United and rush to finish the ticketing for the last flight from LAS to LAX. They printed out the boarding passes and tagged my bags. We were rushed to the gate, since LAS was huge. On my way towards the D gate, I called National's reservation line. I did not have time to head back towards the check in area of National and give them the boarding passes. I wanted to notify them that I would not be flying its flight tonight. They did not need to look for me. But the reservation agent told me that she could not do much. She kept on telling me that I could turn in the boarding passes for points. Then I repeated my wish to notify the N7 staffs at LAS that I could not go. I asked if it would help if I turned in the boarding passes at LAX. She said, "no." How about giving me a number that I could call at Las Vegas office? "No." She kept on telling me that she could not do anything. Then I just told her, "I am trying to be nice here even though National is the airline who delays its flight for no particular reason. So I am still being kind here. If National can't help out itself, I will just board my flight now and forget about your airline. Don't blame me for not showing up!" I don't think I am demanding too much here. Just upgrade me a full fare ticket and I will pay the differences. I just want to get back to LA. I still can't believe that it won't even give me a meal coupon or give me a phone card. for the three hours delay. I highly do not recommend National to anyone because the airline delays its flight way too often (so many examples before) and its check in agents are prohibited to make any decision, excepting checking you in and reading your instructions from the computer. The agent was not rude so I did not yell at her. I just kept my cool and made my way to United. National just lost a valuable passenger.
UA 2544 LAS-LAX Lv2020 Arr2140
Boeing 737-500 N957UA with normal United's configuration (Y+)
Since the load was light, boarding was done within ten minutes. The door was closed on time and we took off from Runway 7R at 8:30pm. The service was a beverage and no snack is available. Since this a/c is non-shuttle, the mid-cabin F/A used the trolley for beverage. The aft F/A used the tray. The F class F/A helped out with the beverage cart after she was done with F class. We leveled off at 28,000ft and we landed on R/W25R at 9:12pm. We parked at gate 80 and the bags came out a bit earlier than my previous experience. The F/As were kind and the flight was on time. What an unusual United Shuttle flight! I told Joe that he was a lucky fellow. He is flying the CX's Spirit of Hong Kong flight back to HK now.
Sorry for the long report! I hope you will enjoy reading it!
Carfield
Jun 16, 2001, 2:47 am
#2
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: HKG
Programs: AA 3MM EXP, SQ Solitaire, LH SEN, CX DM, Hyatt CC, Marriott LT Titanium
Posts: 3,177
Excellent report as usual Carfield. What class were you flying on these flights? It seems you were on a mixture of Y and F right? Also, I'm curious for the type of tickets you bought here. Were they all seperate tickets or one single ticket for all these flights?
Terence
Terence
Jun 18, 2001, 5:23 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada
Programs: AC 75K, Hertz President’s Circle, Accor Gold, Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 10,067
The forward lavatory on AC is for J class and J class only. If you pay for J then you get to use the forward lavatory. It is really quite simple. Announcements are made to this effect prior to takeoff. I don't often fly J but respect the above policy. I also don't understand why people walk their small children through J class on their travels through the cabin.
Jun 18, 2001, 8:45 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: New York
Posts: 7,340
Thanks for the responses!
tfung... the tickets were bought separatedly.
LAX-NYC-LAX, BOS-YYZ-LGA, BUF-JFK, JFK-BOS, LAS-SEA-lAS, LAX-LAS-LAX. It is possibly easier to buy a UA Shuttle LAX-LAS-SEA-LAX, but I don't feel like flying the two hours SEA-SFO shuttle flight.
Concerning AC J class, I understand that policy and respect it as well, but on a short flight and a small a/c like the Airbuses, there is no reason for preventing passengers in the forward Y cabin to use the J lavatory. Y class has service going on and blocks the aft lavatories. Also, the F/As should have closed the divider curtain if they want to enforce this rule. On United's shuttle flights or short haul flights, the F/As let the forward Y folks to use the F lavatory because it is easier to serve the F cabin and no trolley is used. It really interrupts service when passengers in the front walk back and forth in the Y cabin. On longer flights, it is understandable and there is more time for the service to go on. If you want to enforce the rule on your 56 minutes LGA-YYZ flight, please spend five seconds to close the curtain. That is simply common sense. Indeed on my LAX-YVR A320 flight earlier this year, the curtain was closed and no Y class pax came up and use the J lav. I am just mad at the F/A's attitude and argumentative tone. Unfortunately since the monopoly takes place, more AC F/As have these rude attitudes. I hope I was just unfortunate enough to meet all those bad apples on my AC flights.
Carfield
tfung... the tickets were bought separatedly.
LAX-NYC-LAX, BOS-YYZ-LGA, BUF-JFK, JFK-BOS, LAS-SEA-lAS, LAX-LAS-LAX. It is possibly easier to buy a UA Shuttle LAX-LAS-SEA-LAX, but I don't feel like flying the two hours SEA-SFO shuttle flight.
Concerning AC J class, I understand that policy and respect it as well, but on a short flight and a small a/c like the Airbuses, there is no reason for preventing passengers in the forward Y cabin to use the J lavatory. Y class has service going on and blocks the aft lavatories. Also, the F/As should have closed the divider curtain if they want to enforce this rule. On United's shuttle flights or short haul flights, the F/As let the forward Y folks to use the F lavatory because it is easier to serve the F cabin and no trolley is used. It really interrupts service when passengers in the front walk back and forth in the Y cabin. On longer flights, it is understandable and there is more time for the service to go on. If you want to enforce the rule on your 56 minutes LGA-YYZ flight, please spend five seconds to close the curtain. That is simply common sense. Indeed on my LAX-YVR A320 flight earlier this year, the curtain was closed and no Y class pax came up and use the J lav. I am just mad at the F/A's attitude and argumentative tone. Unfortunately since the monopoly takes place, more AC F/As have these rude attitudes. I hope I was just unfortunate enough to meet all those bad apples on my AC flights.
Carfield
Jun 19, 2001, 12:26 am
#5
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Dubai
Programs: Emirates Gold, Etihad Gold, Flying Blue Silver
Posts: 184
Carfield I agree with you. On a SFO-MCO transcon I needed to use the lavatory but the trolley was blocking the aisle and I was seated in the second row of economy. The very nice first class flight attendant told me that I could use the First class lavatory. The flight attendants should be a bit flexible when events like this take place.