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Trip, Hotel and Restaurant Report: JFK-SFO-JFK

Trip, Hotel and Restaurant Report: JFK-SFO-JFK

Old Aug 16, 2001, 10:09 am
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Trip, Hotel and Restaurant Report: JFK-SFO-JFK

Saturday, August 11, 2001

The sole purpose of this trip was to get the 4000 miles I need to qualify for AAdvantage Gold status this year and is the first time Ive ever embarked on a status or mileage run. After I take a trip to Italy via London in October, Ill have the miles I need. This was my first trip in economy in a while, and I was not really looking forward to it. Actually, it turned-out to be a nice flight.

American Airlines Flight 16
JFK-SFO
Boeing 767-200

I was up at 6:00 AM and out of the house by 7:30 AM for my hour-long drive to my grandmothers house in Bayside, Queens. My plan was to park my car at her house and then take a car service to JFK, which is no more than a 20-minute drive. The drive down was smooth and my ride to JFK was waiting for me. The driver was a pleasant-enough chap and the ride passed quickly. Actually, it passed too quickly as I was at JFK by 8:45 AM for my 11:00 AM flight. I always leave myself a lot of extra time, which is nicve when problems arise. However, when they dont, I am left with too much time on my hands.

The flight was scheduled to depart from Terminal 9 and that was where I was dropped off. It seemed pretty busy, but not as busy as I was expecting for a Saturday morning in August. Nevertheless, I opted to purchase a one-day pass to the Admirals Club and checked-in there, which was effortless.

The Terminal 9 AC is pretty nice and I enjoyed a pleasant two hours waiting for my flight. They had a selection of fresh bagles and blueberry muffins for the taking. I grabbed a copy of the Economist and just generally relaxed after my trip to JFK.

The flight boarded from gate 43 on time and the process was ostensibly done by the group method. After group 1 boarded, however, the agents gave-up on the groups and everyone pretty much pushed aboard. Needing to store a fairly large bag, I went into New York Mode and got on the plane to find plenty of available bin space. The plane was a domestically configured 767, with four rows of business class and the old brown first class seats. The business class seat pitch did not look too generous and I was happy that I didnt blow 15,000 miles to upgrade on this segment as I had thought about.

I took my seat in 29J and was impressed with the legroom. It was nothing too generous, but far, far better than other airlines. My less than pleasant seatmate arrived and I was relieved to see that she would fit into the seat with room to spare. The 767-200 pushed about 5 minutes early at 10:55 AM, but due to some ATC problem, we did not begin our take-off roll from 4L until 12:30 PM! The good thing was that this delay resulted in free headsets, so all was not lost. I passed this time by reading some of the old National Geographic magazines that I missed while in England, particularly a three article series on the travels of Marco Polo, which I thought was appropriate reading for this trip.

The cabin service started soon after take-off with drinks. This being my first domestic U.S. flight in over a year, I was reminded that not all flights involve free alcohol. This was really not a big deal, as I did not plan on drinking. I just had a Diet Coke with lime, but had to specifically ask for the whole can. This was not the case on a flight from LGW-RDU-LGW that I took with American in April. Maybe full cans are a perk for international flights, but I got my can, albeit with a rude look from the F/A, so I was happy. It was served with a small bag of honey roasted peanuts. Lunch followed and was a choice of penne in tomato sauce or chicken and rice. I had the chicken and was actually pleasantly surprised. The chicken was a big piece for an airline meal and the rice was done in a tomato sauce and hence was moist. The meal came with a bread roll, a side salad (lettuce from a bag) and a piece of coconut cake. Unlike my LGW-RDU-LGW flight, there was no cheese and cracker packet; but otherwise, the meal was the same.

I was not planning on watching the movie, which was entitled The Basket, but since the headphones were free, I gave it a try. It was nothing special, but somewhat entertaining. The Eye on American piece featured an episode of the King of Queens and a 60 Minutes piece on a tough female NY Supreme Court (NYs trial level court) judge. After this, I returned to my National Geographics and soon we were landing in SFO, which provided a nice view of the city and the bay as we descended. The gate was close to the runway and I was off the plane and in a taxi 10 minutes after landing.

Next, the Grand Hyatt at Union Square and a night on the town . . .


PresRDC is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2001, 12:52 pm
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Nice report. I am waiting for the next installment now. How was your stay at the Hyatt ?
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Old Aug 16, 2001, 1:15 pm
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Definitely waiting for a report on the "Grand" Hyatt on Union Square. Stayed here two years on UA certs. + an upgrade to RC - the view was pretty good, the room needed a decorator (and a bulldozer).

I really like the bar on the top floor of this hotel. Visitors should go there for the incredible views and the nice bartenders.
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Old Aug 18, 2001, 9:13 pm
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The taxi ride to downtown San Francisco was quick, but at $27.00, rather expensive. I guess its the price for convenience until American cities get smart and run convenient rail services from the city center to the airport (including, dare I dream, a central city check-in option).

The Grand Hyatt at Union Square

I was originally going to stay at the Clarion Airport Hotel, but then I realized that I was going to be getting into SFO at about 2:30 PM and would have half a day and an evening to spend before my return flight. So, I decided to change to a center city hotel. The Grand Hyatt had a weekend rate of $169/night, which I thought was a good deal, so I booked it.

I was greeted by a doorman who offered to take my bag, but since I could manage it I declined. I probably should have tipped him for opening the door of the taxi, but I didnt have any singles on me, so I didnt. Check-in was smooth and my room was ready. I gave the receptionist my AA #. I was on the 8th floor in a king size, non-smoking room, which is what I requested. It was nicely appointed, but the dcor was a little dark, but for the bedspread. The bathroom featured a T.V., which is always novel, but it did not work so well. Oh well. Basically, a pretty typical, nice hotel room.

After getting settled, I went for a walk around the city. I headed down Sutton to Embarcedo, where I caught a street car (not to be confused with a cable car) to Pier 39/Fishermans Wharf. I walked around there for a while, but it was too crowded for my tastes. I did take some time to get a view of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. I also saw the mass of sea lions basking in the cool afternoon sun. Soon, I needed to head back so I could shower and change for the evening. I was planning on taking a cable car on the Mason/Powell line back to my hotel (or near it), but the line was too long, so I decided to walk it. From this experience I concluded: 1) San Francisco is not hilly, but rather mountanous; 2) the residents do not take long walks up the hills; 3) anyone doing this walk everyday would have calves of steel; and 4) I am an idiot for attempting this walk.

The next morning, I had breakfast in the Hyatts Grandviews Restaurant. While the buffet was pricy ($18.50), iot was good and the views were fantastic. I spent an enjoyable hour there, but then it was time to head to the airport for the trip back.
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Old Aug 18, 2001, 10:23 pm
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SF is actually one of my favorite cities on the west coast. Many diverse and interesting neighborhoods, all blanketed by the feel of San Francisco. Fisherman's wharf is interesting in its own right, but I too try to avoid it. It is fun to people watch a little.

They are in the process of extending BART to SFO, but it isn't something that is going to happen overnight. I seem to remember 2003, but it might be scheduled before that. In the meantime, go upstairs and straight out, and you will see the blue shuttles. Only about 10 bucks or so, but they take a few minutes more.
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Old Aug 20, 2001, 6:18 pm
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by PresRDC:
I grabbed a copy of the Economist and just generally relaxed after my trip to JFK. </font>
"Why do Americans think the Economist is a good magazine? It sucks."

http://www.andrewsullivan.com/text/h...tml?11,culture
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Old Aug 24, 2001, 4:22 pm
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We took the bus from the airport to the Bart station (current end point). Bus was $1.10 and Bart was $2.25 to SF. We were staying at a timeshare exchange - the Inn at the Opera. Actually very nice - a bargain after hearing you pay $169 for one night!

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