January 18, 2010
Alaska Airlines Portland – Boston 725a – 337p 737-800 Economy Class
Delta Airlines Boston – Orlando DC-9-80 650p – 1018p First Class
Despite starting my trip to Orlando with a flight on Alaska Airlines to Boston, this ticket was issued by Delta. As such, despite my MVP Gold status, I was unable to even be considered for an upgrade on the Alaska flight until checking in on the day of travel. Fair enough. It’s worth noting however that Golds can still reserve exit row seats at time of purchase, so upgrade or not I was still sitting pretty.
Alas, when I arrived at the gate, I noted that I was number 5 on the upgrade list. Not gonna happen today, I guess. As such, I headed down the concourse and purchased a delicious breakfast burrito. I returned to the gate just as an announcement was made saying that due to snow in Boston, the ATC had placed us on a weather related hold and set a new departure time of 9:40am. Thankfully I had a three hour and fifteen minute layover scheduled, so I wasn’t overly concerned. The Boardroom across the hall provided hot coffee and internet access during the two hour delay.
By the time we finally took to the air, it was 10:10am, with arrival time in Boston projected at 6:08pm, just 42 minutes before my connecting flight to Orlando. If weather’s been a problem in Boston all day, that connecting flight may be delayed as well. Hopefully not. Thankfully, Delta and Alaska operate out of the same terminal and there’s a Crown Room on premises should there be any delays.
There weren’t. We landed in Boston right on time per the revised schedule and I made my way down to gate 13 where my Orlando flight was showing a 7:00pm departure, only 10 minutes late. Based upon the small amount of snow on the ground, I suspect the problems earlier today were probably due to visibility.
This will be my 227th flight on Delta. For a Medallion member that probably doesn’t sound like much and indeed it wouldn’t be if Delta were my preferred hometown airline. Back when I lived in Colorado and banked my miles in United’s Mileage Plus, I logged 1,176 flights on United not counting flights with TED and United Express for a total of 1,233,540 miles. Now that I live in Alaska and do my banking at Alaska’s Mileage Plan, I’ve logged 808 flights on Alaska totaling 733,740 miles. Before the year is out, I’ll have logged an additional 60+ flights with Alaska.
Out of all those flights aboard Delta, only five have come aboard MD-80s. Most have come aboard 727s and DC-8-61s, the latter having been sold off to air freight operators before many FlyerTalkers could even spell DC-8. This trip will include four flights on Delta MD-80s plus one more on American. I’m looking forward to them all.
Why try to schedule flights on MD-80s? Judging from many of the posts I’ve seen at FlyerTalk, many of you can’t stand this airplane. For me, it’s not so much that I like the MD-80 as it is that I’ve never had any complaints about it. I like the 2-3 seating arrangement and the rear mounted engines make for a fairly quiet cabin, particularly in First Class. Add to this the fact that MD-80s will soon be gone from North American skies and I want to get as many flights on them as reasonably possible.
The load was light for tonight’s flight down to Orlando and I got a chance to chat a bit with the agent working the flight. We started out with my asking how the boarding scheme worked if one were Gold with a partner airline and finished with him asking about when to come to Alaska. As a surprise parting gift, I got an upgrade to the half full First Class cabin. Sweet!
It’s hard to get the registration number off the aircraft when you can’t see it from either the gate lounge or the jetway. Some airlines, like Alaska, have the FAA airworthiness certificate posted just above the door as you enter. With American’s MD-80s, I always look out the little windows at the end of the jetway, on your right just before you enter the airplane. Down low on the fuselage is American’s fleet number for the aircraft. Later, I can go online and match that up with the correct N-number. Tonight, neither of those options was available so I used a third lesser known option. On the inside of the aircraft door is a small metal plate with the aircraft manufacture’s serial number stamped into it. Tonight’s number: 53267. Later, I can match that up at airfleets.net.
It was announced at the gate that there would be no pre-departure drink service in First Class so that we could expedite our late departure. Bottled water was available at each seat however and, after a short delay waiting for catering to finish up, we pushed back, taxied out and took off into the cold night sky.
A window seat on the right side is the place to sit on this flight. Despite the earlier bad weather, the skies had cleared nicely and as we flew down the Eastern seaboard the view of the various cities large and small was quite pretty.
Twenty minutes into the flight, hot towels were presented and a flight attendant stopped by to take my dinner order. I was offered a choice of Mandarin Chicken Salad or a Turkey Panini Sandwich and I opted for the sandwich. And to drink? Hmm… I’ll have a glass of Woodford Reserve on the rocks, please. For a domestic flight, I must say that Delta offers an admirable array of spirits. Consider from the following:
Bacardi Rum
Canadian Club Reserve Whiskey
Dewars Scotch
Glenlivet Single Malt Scotch Whiskey
Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey
Skyy Vodka
Tanqueray Gin
Tequila
Woodford Reserve Small Batch Bourbon
For a US airline, on a domestic flight, this is a very nice selection.
DL BOS-MCO DINNER: Turkey Sandwich
My turkey sandwich was delivered promptly, accompanied by a bag of potato chips, sliced tomatoes, a small fruit plate and a large cookie. Not bad at all by today’s standards. Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but look back to the late seventies and early eighties when I flew the Boston-Orlando route a number of times, mostly aboard Eastern Airlines L-1011s. Lunch or dinner was usually a steak with a double stuffed potato. And that was in coach!
We landed on a beautiful clear night in Orlando and I made my way downstairs to the ground transit level where a couple of years ago I’d discovered a dark and quiet lounge that serves as a gathering point for charter flight passengers. There were neither music nor security announcements down there, so I slept quite nicely indeed.
January 19, 2010
Northwest Airlines Orlando – Detroit 940a – 1231p 757-300 Economy Class
Northwest Airlines Detroit – Los Angeles 330p – 545p A320-200 Economy Class
Alaska Airlines Los Angeles – Portland 900p – 1124p 737-800 First Class
Delta’s Sky Club in Orlando is one of the more attractive airline lounges that I have ever visited. The ornate ceiling and walls are very tastefully done in warm earth tones of peach and almond while spacious seating areas are arranged under a long glass canopy that adorns one side of the lounge. I helped myself to coffee and orange juice from the bar before relocating to a comfy chair under the glass for the remainder of my visit.
Orlando Sky Club Entrance Area
Orlando Sky Club Seating
Orlando Sky Club Window Seating
Boeing’s 757-300 could hardly be described as one of the world’s most beautiful airliners – the attractive symmetry of the -200 model was thrown totally askew by the 23 foot fuselage extension of the -300. Still, if any paint job could bring out the best in this ungainly looking machine, Delta’s new livery does so quite nicely. Check it out
HERE.
Flight time up to Detroit was a short two hours and twelve minutes, most of which I spent answering questions about Alaska from my seatmates, a couple of Yoopers from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula who’d always wanted to go to Alaska. I’m sure when they do get to Alaska they’ll have a great time there because they sounded like folks who liked to get the most out of life. They’d recently each bought motorcycles to tour the US on, had tried parasailing and spelunking and were on their way home from a trip to Florida during which they’d swum with manatees. My advice to anyone thinking of going to Alaska, much less anywhere else: Don’t get caught up with planning. Unless you’re wanting to stay at some places which are difficult to find accommodation at, just show up and figure it out as you go. I think this adds a sense of adventure otherwise missing when you’ve got everything planned out.
My three hour layover in Detroit allowed me to get caught up with this trip report. I can and often do write more about a domestic flight in coach between Los Angeles and Portland than some trip reporters write about their First Class flight overseas. Depending upon your point of view, this can be either a blessing or a curse. Thankfully, for any of you finding the going a bit tedious about now, the Internet offers a lot of alternative reading.
While riding the Sky Link train down the length of the terminal to gate A74, it was nice to see that the bulk of North Central’s DC-9-50 fleet lives on with many of them being repainted in Delta’s new livery. This would certainly suggest that Delta plans to keep these airplanes around for while despite the fact that many of them are approaching 30 years old. Sadly, but perhaps understandably, I’ve yet to see any of the older DC-9-30s wearing the new colors. I did however spot N8928E, an ex-Eastern DC-9-30 I’d last flown in 1978 between Greensboro and Miami. Many planes younger than that have long since met the welder’s torch.
By contrast, Airbus A320 N367NW was one of the younger aircraft in Northwest’s fleet, having joined the airline in April of 1999. I found it interesting that this flight also represented only the 125th time I’d flown aboard any member of the narrow bodied Airbus family, my first flight having come aboard a Northwest A320 in April of 1993. By contrast, my first flight aboard a 737-800 came in December of 2001 and I’ve since logged 147 flights just on that derivative.
Following a smooth flight across the country, our descent into LAX was fairly bumpy due to a Pacific storm that had been pounding the region for a couple of days. Unfortunately for Southern Californians, the worst is yet to come. I headed over to Delta’s Sky Club for a quick shower and a glass of bourbon before making my way over to Terminal 3 where a tureen of Chicken and Wild Rice soup awaited in Alaska’s Boardroom.
Alaska also makes its LAX Boardroom available to Premium Class passengers flying aboard V Australia. There were two of the Australian 777-300s parked at T-3 and they both must have been full up front because I dare say that on this evening non-Australian speaking passengers were a distinct minority in the Boardroom. For the Aussie’s sake, I was pleased to see that the Boardroom has Sierra Nevada Pale Ale on tap. Australians certainly do like their beer and many of the Aussie’s I’ve met have a poor opinion of our American beer. That’s little wonder considering that for the most part, the only American beers I’ve seen sold down in Australia are Budweiser and Miller. Nowadays America has hundreds if not thousands of quality microbreweries putting out some very fine beers indeed, in some cases world class stuff. I sincerely hope any and all foreigners visiting our fair shores and pubs will get ample opportunity to quaff a few pints of anything other than Budweiser and Miller.
In my quest to fly each and every jet in Alaska’s fleet, you can imagine the anticipation as I approach the gate to see which aircraft awaits. And you can imagine my disappointment to see ship 548 doing the honors for tonight’s service up to Portland. I just flew this plane yesterday morning from Portland to Boston! Since then, it apparently flew back to Portland and overnighted there before flying down to Los Angeles and Mexico City and back to LAX today. Interestingly, even before yesterday’s flight to Boston, I have logged more miles (19,460) aboard this particular jet than any other jet in Alaska’s fleet.
Despite the late departure time of 9:00pm, Alaska served a very nice snack in First Class. It was three warmed pot stickers accompanied by a pile of shredded lettuce and Sesame Oriental dressing. This is indeed a rare case where Alaska’s meal service has improved compared to years past. Just a few years ago, we would have been served anything from a big bowl of mixed nuts to a cheese or hummus plate or worse, the dreaded snack basket. Thank you Alaska Airlines for such a nice offering.
AS LAX-PDX SNACK: Pot Stickers with side salad
Upon arrival in Portland, I checked the TV monitor to see which gate my 6:55am flight down to LA tomorrow morning would be departing from. Oh no! Gate C2, the one I just came in on, meaning yet another flight on ship 548!
January 20, 2010
Alaska Airlines Portland – Los Angeles 737-800 655a – 913a Coach Class
Northwest Airlines Los Angeles – Detroit A320-200 1100a – 628p Economy Class
Northwest Airlines Detroit – Tampa A319-100 830p – 1119p Economy Class
The TV monitor was wrong! Ship 548 is headed down to Phoenix this morning and I am flying down to LAX aboard hitherto unflown ship 520! The flight was packed, so I took my seat in 6D and watched as the First Class passengers dined on what was described as a sundried tomato quiche. Just one row behind them, I munched on a bacon, egg and avocado breakfast burrito and sipped hot coffee whilst perusing a colorful copy of USA Today. It’s been said that if it’s in USA Today,
it must be true!
Due to the stormy weather affecting southern California, we made our approach into LAX from out over the Pacific. I can’t remember the last time I’ve done that. And now, to make my way over to Terminal 5 for my flight to Detroit.
Tired of having to head outside the terminal, catch a bus over to T5 and then pass back through security again, I went and bought myself a totally refundable ticket on this evening’s American Eagle flight to San Jose. Now I could ride the shuttle bus over to the American Eagle Terminal and connect over to T5. In addition, because the American Eagle ticket I’d purchased allowed changes without penalty, I could rebook and use it again tomorrow night. I am one clever guy…
As I made my way over to Gate 39 from whence the American Eagle shuttle bus departs, I was surprised at the size of the assembled crowd. Normally you might find two or three people waiting but today there were about 20 gathered. I overheard heard a couple of guys in front of me saying they hoped the bus would get them over to the Delta terminal in time. I was tempted to say something but the gate agent arrived and announced that only passengers traveling on American, American Eagle, Delta or Northwest could board the bus. Really! Perhaps NW, DL and AS decided to pitch in some money towards the operation of this bus service but whatever the case, this is great news for those of us making intra-terminal connections with these airlines. I called American and immediately cancelled my flight to San Jose.
I’ve mentioned in previous trip reports that one of the great benefits of riding the bus between terminals is that you’re right out there on the tarmac as giant airliners taxi less than 100 feet away. Today we were treated to close up views of a United 747, an Air Tahiti Nui A340 and best of all, an enormous Qantas A380. The huge Airbus was being escorted by two LA Airport Police cars with their lights flashing. The sight elicited some major oohs and aahs from the crowd as well as a couple of interesting comments.
“Why are the police cars following that airplane?”
“It’s probably being stopped for taxiing too fast.”
“This is a notorious speed trap right here.” I added.
Then the lady next to me declared “I’ll bet Arnold Schwarzenegger is on that plane!” to which I asked “Why? Did the Governor go to Australia?”
And she said: “He’s from there.” Whaaat?
“No he’s not! He’s from Austria!”
“He is? Are you sure?”
“Yep. Otherwise, his famous ‘All be bock’ line from the Terminator movie would be ‘Oy’ll be bahk, Mite!”
Flight time to Detroit was projected at a quick 3hrs 52min. I logged it as 4hrs and in reality we landed after 4hrs 03min. On flights of that length, Delta offers some enhanced onboard food options in addition to its usual snack items. Today I purchased the Asian Shrimp Noodle Salad for $8.00. This is a great meal, much better than the flimsy wrap which seemed to disintegrate as I ate it the last time I ordered one. The salad comes with a good sized portion of vermicelli noodles topped with four good sized shrimp and a nice variety of vegetables such as snow peas, red onions, green and red peppers and zucchini strips. The Asian Sesame dressing is delicious and a lemon wedge is included for additional zest.
Delta’s $8.00 Shrimp and Noodle Salad
In Detroit I asked a couple of gate agents if they knew anything yet about the new upgrade policy for MVP Golds from partner Alaska Airlines. I was informed that it will involve certificates but as of yet there was no set date for its implementation. Until then, MVP Golds get priority seating and they may also use the Breezeway lane and board with Medallions in Zone 2.
We enjoyed a quick flight down to Tampa with a light load. I moved out of the full exit row and grabbed an equally spacious seat in the deserted bulkhead row. As we landed in Tampa at 10:55pm, it occurred to me that as this day was ending, tomorrow at this time I’d still be an hour away from the departure of my last flight of the night up to Portland.
January 21, 2010
Northwest Airlines Tampa – Detroit 1130a – 222p A320-200 First Class
Northwest Airlines Detroit – Los Angeles 330p – 545p A320-200 Economy Class
Alaska Airlines Los Angeles – Portland 900p – 1124p 737-800 First Class
I always feel better about flying west. West is home. West is adventure. In the afternoon and evening, flying west is flying into the warm glow of the setting sun. Flying west excites and invigorates me. This is particularly true today because once I arrive in Portland, I’ve got the next three days off. I’ve rented a car and am headed for the Oregon coast. One night in Seaside, then down the coast to Bandon to enjoy seafood, billiards, beer and football with old friends from Denali.
The late morning departure up to Detroit was so lightly loaded that the gate agent saw fit to upgrade me to First Class. Truth be known, I was chatting with him about the old DC-9 next door while getting reassigned to the bulkhead row. It so happened he was familiar with the fact that Alaska MVP Golds used to get complimentary upgrades on Northwest and given the light load, he tossed me a freebie. I thanked him and sped down the empty jetway to seat 1D where a pre-departure Bloody Mary awaited.
Luncheon was a choice of a Turkey Sandwich or Mandarin Chicken Salad, the same as I was offered three nights ago on my flight from Boston to Orlando. This time I selected the chicken salad. It was served with Grissini bread sticks, a large cookie and a fruit plate. I ate everything but the cookie and overall found this meal quite satisfying.
DL TPA-DTW LUNCH: Mandarin Chicken Salad
Had I been offered these choices thirty years ago, I would likely have been a bit disappointed. The standards for First Class catering, not to mention the budget, were considerably higher.
In August of 1978, I used a joint fare to fly from Atlanta to Denver using Eastern Airlines to Dallas, then Continental from Dallas to Denver connecting in Albuquerque. Since I’d booked First Class, I scheduled my flights so that I would get a full meal service on each one. After all, First Class just isn’t as entertaining unless you got that First Class meal service. I can sit around in a comfy chair at home anytime.
The one hour and forty minute flight from Atlanta to Dallas was operated by one of Eastern’s attractive two tone blue and white DC-9-30 Whisperjets. The First Class seats were upholstered in a colorful blue paisley pattern of a style far too extravagant for today’s conservative cabin interiors. Though the seats were a bit narrower than those found on the 727s, they were thickly padded and were very comfortable. Leather was unheard of! For lunch I enjoyed a plate of Trout Almandine, served hot with veggies and starch. On the one and a half hour flight up to Albuquerque aboard Continental’s beautiful 727-200, I was served a sirloin steak that had to be a good 8-10 ounces. It looked like a restaurant steak, not the little 3” square things you see now, even on some international First Class services. The one hour flight from Albuquerque up to Denver offered a dinner in First Class and a snack in coach. We were served a hot breaded chicken breast entrée, but it was presented in a smaller dish like a coach meal. Today, none of these flights would rate any more than a bag of pretzels.
In Detroit, a man who was a thru-passenger to LA got himself removed from the flight for being a contentious jerk on the inbound flight as well as in the gate lounge. I was getting my seat changed to a now unoccupied bulkhead seat when he strode up to the podium and lambasted the other gate agent for not announcing that our flight would be slightly delayed. An announcement had been made – I’d heard it – but he wouldn’t budge from his contention. Finally, he wandered off and stood scowling by the Breezeway sign. Later, he overheard the same gate agent as she was on the phone talking with the crew onboard the airplane. She acknowledged over the phone that they’d start boarding soon. He immediately headed for the locked jetway door. When he was informed that boarding was not yet taking place, he said “I clearly heard her announce that it was.” No sir, she was speaking on the phone. He continued to argue for awhile before resuming his pout. One of the gate agents then indicated to the other that this guy had some comments in his PNR detailing his behavior. The agent then went onboard and returned a couple moments later with a carryon bag. Finally, when boarding for First Class passengers was announced, the jerk headed straight for the jetway and was directed to wait for an agent on the other side of the podium. With his bag. I never saw him board. Being an airline employee in a public contact position is hard enough these days without having to put up with guys like this. Let him ride the bus to LA.
Southern California has been under assault from Mother Nature all week as one storm after another has inundated the LA Basin and surrounding mountains with excessive rainfall. Once these storms are done with California, they continue east. This afternoon’s flight encountered strong headwinds and high clouds most of the way out to LA resulting in a flight time of 5 hours. As ever, I had a good book to read and a report to write.
On the 9:00pm flight up to Portland, a number of passengers commented favorably on the new pot stickers snack. One of the flight attendants mentioned that they’d been a real hit since they were introduced and how nice it was to serve food that people didn’t complain about. I’ll drink (and eat) to that! Here’s hoping that Alaska continues to surprise us favorably in this regard.