Seat 2A

March 6, 2010
San Francisco – Chicago - London
American Airlines Economy Class
McDonnell-Douglas DC-9-80 N9677W
Boeing 777-200 N783AN

Veteran readers of my reports may be wondering why I’m not traveling in Business or First Class for the “long” journey over to London and back. Believe me when I tell you that I gave it some serious thought. There are however a number of reasons that made spending the extra money or miles on premium class accommodations to London unattractive to me.

First, I’ve found that for me at least the best way to beat jetlag when traveling eastbound to Europe is to depart the US on the latest possible flight. Most flights to Europe typically depart the East Coast at about 7:00pm and arrive at their European destinations only seven or so hours later, or the equivalent of about 2:00am Eastern time. At that time, I’m feeling ready to go to bed. If my travel originated further to the west, the equivalent time is even earlier and so I’m not all that tired but I soon will be. Meanwhile at my European destination it’s 7:00am or later and the day is just starting. Because I wasn’t tired enough to sleep on the flight over to Europe, my first day or two are ruined dealing with the effects of jetlag. This is true regardless of what class I’m travelling in because even if there were a bed available on that 6:00pm departure, I’m not going to be tired enough to use it.

While some people attempt to counter the effects of jetlag by resorting to chemically enhanced sleep on the eastbound journey, I prefer to depart the US as late as possible, preferably after 10:00pm. In this way I’m that much closer to being naturally tired and thus that much more likely to get more sleep on the way over.

So, how does this apply to Premium Class travel for those short flights across the Atlantic? Like I said, the whole idea is to get as much sleep on the way over as possible. I don’t normally eat at 10:00pm or later, and I certainly don’t want to do so on a plane even if I am in First Class. Food energizes me and thus is counterproductive to immediate sleep. As much as I would enjoy partaking of a big First Class meal over to Europe, experience has taught me that a good night’s rest when traveling across five or six time zones is more important than a comfy seat and a big meal. Experience has also taught me that I can get a decent enough rest in an Economy Class seat for a lot less money or miles.

All of the above logic notwithstanding, I still looked into flying over to Europe in Business Class aboard Air France because it would allow me a chance to log my first ever flight aboard an A380 on the Paris to New York return trip. I also looked into flying over via KLM because I’d never flown on them before. So, in an attempt to get a preview of coming attractions, I went over to Skytrax and checked out numerous reviews of each carrier’s inflight service. Unfortunately, in both airlines’ cases, the reviews were for the most part tepid. On Air France in particular, many Classé d’Affaires travelers reported that the overall service was lackluster, be it food or the attentiveness and politeness of the Flight Attendants.

As one who sees food and overall cabin service as the primary benefits of a premium class ticket, I just couldn’t see handing over an additional 60,000 miles for a product that a multitude of reviews suggested I’d likely be disappointed in. As for flying the A380, I’ll be happy to wait until I redeem the miles for a First Class ticket on Qantas. Based upon Skytrax reviews as well as a few FlyerTalk trip reports, the odds appear to be much higher that I’ll enjoy a quality service on Qantas.

Per Alaska’s Mileage Plan, I was able to book round trip travel from Alaska to London for just 40,000 miles – the off-season saver award on American Airlines. Business Class redemptions ranged from 90,000 on Delta to 125,000 on British Airways. Another reason why Economy Class was an easy choice for me was because it’s hard to justify spending the additional equivalent of two domestic roundtrips from Alaska to anywhere in the US or Canada in exchange for Business Class comfort and service.


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How convenient that one can now take BART trains direct to San Francisco International Airport. Doing so afforded us the opportunity to sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast and then ride out to the airport about 11:00am. My nephew has only flown maybe a dozen times in his entire life, so I booked him on United’s 2:00pm 777 departure back to Denver. I couldn’t get him an upgrade, but I did finagle a window seat just behind the wing. We parted mid-terminal with a hug and the possibility of doing it all again sometime.

If you don’t like crowds, Saturdays can be great days to fly. Because there were so few travelers about, both check-in and security were well staffed with agents who might as well have been waiting just for me. Soon I was boarding my 108th unique MD-80 of American Airlines and settling in for the three and a half hour flight to Chicago. At 1850 miles in length, this flight from San Francisco to Chicago just may be the longest MD-80 flight in the world. It’s certainly the longest in North America.

With the closure of Delta’s Sky Club on Concourse L, there were no nearby lounges where I could spend my two and a half hour layover in Chicago, so I bought a sandwich at the food court and put in a couple of hours on this report. Anyone who’s actually written as opposed to photographed a lengthy trip report knows that down times like layovers are amongst the best times to catch up on writing your reports. Speaking only for myself, I will say it takes a fair degree of discipline to keep at it because once you start falling too far behind in reporting on a long trip, it’s all too easy to just bag it, as we’ve unfortunately seen from numerous unfinished incremental or installment reports posted here.

Boarding for flight 98 to London began at 9:45pm. Judging by the crowd in the gate lounge, I’d say the plane was only about 70% full. This was my first time flying aboard an American Airlines jet outfitted with the new Business Class cabin, which I walked through on my way to the rear of the airplane. The bland grayish beige Business Class seats and pods look impressive in the publicity photos, but I thought the whole cabin looked rather cramped and crowded when filled to capacity as it was for tonight’s flight.

I was seated in the first row of Economy, in seat 20A. With the bulkhead a good two and a half feet forward from the edge of my seat, I’d say the seats in row 20 offer the most space of any Economy Class seats on the entire airplane.

A prepackaged set of pillow, blanket and earphones had been placed at each economy seat. Flight attendants did a nice job of bustling about the cabin helping people get situated and soon we were closed up, belted in and headed for the runway. The captain gave us a nice welcome aboard with a thorough breakdown of our proposed route and altitudes. Flight time was estimated at seven hours and twenty-eight minutes.

Once we’d reached our initial cruising altitude of 33,000 feet, the crew wasted no time in getting the dinner service started. Chicken or lasagna were tonight’s choices and my seatmate chose the lasagna. It smelled delicious and had it been an earlier flight, I would have been happy to join him. Instead, I did something I don’t believe I’ve ever done before – certainly not on a seven and a half hour flight. I passed on both the meal and a drink. I had a bottle of water, a good book and a tablet of melatonin which combined to have me sleeping fairly well through the last six hours of the flight. If a breakfast snack were offered, I knew nothing of it because I slept through it.

Though I hate to miss a good airline meal, I accomplished my primary goal of getting enough sleep to get me through the rest of the day. Once I cleared immigration and customs at Heathrow, all I had to do was make my way out to London’s Euston Station. The fastest and most expensive way would be to take the Heathrow Express train to King’s Cross and then take a taxi the rest of the way. Budget travelers such as myself can take the underground with a single transfer at Green Park to the Victoria Line which will deliver you right to Euston station. Let’s head out there now.


March 7, 2010
London, England to Inverness, Scotland
Scot Rail’s Caledonian Sleeper
First Class Car J Room 5
8:55pm – 8:30am

If you’re heading north out of London by train, Euston Station is where you’ll likely need to go. With only fifteen track platforms, it’s not a classically large station but it certainly is a busy place with plenty of people hustling to and from trains that leave or arrive about every 5-10 minutes.



Euston Station Departures


I arrived at 5:00pm, leaving me about a four hour wait until my 8:55pm departure to Inverness. Thanks to my First Class accommodations aboard this evening’s Caledonian Sleeper, I was allowed access to Virgin Train’s First Class Lounge. Although this lounge offered nowhere near the amenities of Virgin’s Clubhouse Lounges found in airports, it did provide peace and quiet relative to the station commons, a comfortable seat and a complimentary wi-fi connection. Coffee, juices and light snacks were also complimentary while beer and spirits were available at very reasonable prices. At the rear of the lounge were four shower suites, so I availed myself of a one before strolling out to Track 15 at about 8:30pm.

The Caledonian Sleeper is operated by Scottish Rail and, as the name implies, it is the night train offering primarily sleeping accommodations in the form of one or two bed compartments. Seats are also available, but the train is made up primarily of sleeping compartments. If you want to save a bit of money and share a compartment with someone, you’d book a standard sleeper which sleeps two. If you want private accommodations, you’d book a First Class sleeper. All of the compartments have an upper and lower berth with the only difference between Standard and First Class compartments being that the upper berth isn’t lowered.

From the outside, the Caledonian Sleeper is a very handsome train. Its aerodynamic cars are painted a deep blue offset by red and white trim.



The Caledonian Sleeper


An attendant met me at the entrance to my car and showed me to my room. After explaining the room features along with the location of the toilets and the lounge/restaurant car, he took my breakfast order. I was offered a choice between a hot bacon roll or a bowl of cold cereal. I chose the bacon roll and was told it would be delivered to my room at 7:30am, one hour before our scheduled arrival in Inverness.

Aside from a comfortable bed, my favorite feature of the Caledonian Sleeper is its lounge car. It was conveniently located one car up from my sleeper, so I wasted no time in heading up there to check it out. Red carpet, leather sofas and warm lighting invited passengers to make themselves comfortable with a light meal and a drink or two before turning in for the night.



The Caledonian Sleeper Lounge Car


Although the train was still in the station for another twenty minutes, food and beverage service was available so I took a seat at a table and ordered a cold can of McEwan’s Export while perusing the menu choices. Hmm… Haggis Neeps and Tatties with Red Currant and Whiskey Sauce. Maybe another time. I opted for a plate of Chicken Curry served with Basmati Rice and Naan Bread. The price was certainly right – just £4.50, or about $7.00 USD and the curry was decent though I would have preferred it a wee bit hotter.



Dinner in the Lounge Car


By the time my plate was cleared, we were rolling through the London suburbs at an impressive clip, about 60-70mph. The ride was surprisingly smooth so I decided to linger over another beer and watch for awhile as we flew past the bright lights of buildings, railroad crossings and automobiles. Finally though, the rigors of the day’s travels caught up with me and so it was time for bed. After brushing my teeth with the bottled water provided in the room, I managed about twenty minutes of reading before falling asleep to the gentle rhythm of the rails.



A good night’s sleep up to Scotland


Breakfast arrived at 7:20am. It was presented on a single tray bearing a warm prepackaged Bacon Panini, a small tub of yogurt, a bottle of orange juice, a couple of shortbread cookies and a pot of hot water with all the accoutrements for a hot cup of coffee or tea.



ScotRail Breakfast


Rather than eat in bed, I carried my tray up to the lounge car and enjoyed the beautiful hills and dales of Northern Scotland through the multiple picture windows. As we pulled into Inverness Station three minutes early, I was doubly thankful for the clear skies and abundant sunshine. My connecting train journey up to Kyle of Lochalsh has been described as amongst the most scenic in all of Great Britain.


March 8, 2010
Inverness, Scotland to Kyle of Lochalsh r/t
Scottish Rail Economy Class
11:00am – 5:20pm

I’d booked a room at one of Inverness’ many B&Bs for just £30.00 ($45.00) and since it was located only a ten minute walk from the train station, I decided to head up there and drop my pack off. Getting to my B&B involved a long climb up the multi-tiered Market Brae steps, but utilizing them made for a much shorter journey than I’d have encountered had I stuck to the main streets. I spent a half hour chatting with my amiable host Cherry, a luxury she could afford on this bright crisp morning since she had only just today opened for business again after a three week vacation. I was her first guest back and the only guest booked for tonight.

Back at the station, I took note of a sign indicating the name of Inverness Station as printed in Scottish-Gaelic: Stèisean-Rèile Inbhir Nis.

The track platform opened about fifteen minutes prior to our 11:00am departure. The train serving Kyle of Lochalsh consisted of just two self propelled cars. I heard the “driver” come out and start them up. It sounded just like a diesel truck and looked like one too as a small amount of black smoke shot out of the rear exhaust. Accommodations were spartan – an all Economy Class configuration with most of the non-reclining seats set facing each other with a small table between them.

At precisely 11:00am we accelerated smoothly out of the station. There were no whistles or last calls to board. The train is scheduled to depart at 11:00am. You’d better be on it!

The City of Inverness certainly enjoys a pretty setting on the banks of Loch Ness, but the scenery only got better and better as we rolled north and then west out of the city. If ever there were a time to let my photos tell the tale, it’s now:












We arrived at Kyle of Lochalsh right on time at 1:25pm.



The train sitting at Kyle of Lochalsh station


The return trip wasn’t scheduled to depart until 2:35pm so I had plenty of time to walk into town for a look around. The town itself is really quite small, maybe a block and a half worth of businesses including a hotel and a couple of restaurants. I stopped at one for a quick lunch before heading back down to the station for the return journey.











All told, this six hour journey is as pretty a train ride as I’ve ever been on. I’ll definitely have to return someday to ride the trains over to Wick and Fort William. As well, I’d like to return to Kyle of Lochalsh and spend a couple of days just hanging out in town. I like small towns.

Back in Inverness, I got plenty of exercise climbing up and down the Market Brae steps whilst heading to, then from and then back again to my B&B. Dinner was a decent burger washed down with two pints of surprisingly cold and tasty Tennant’s Lager. I slept well that night on a big bed under a warm duvet in a cold house.


March 9, 2010
Inverness - Belfast
flyBE Economy Class
DeHavilland DHC-8-400 G-JEDT
11:30am – 12:30pm

Following a fine Scottish breakfast of eggs, sausage, bacon, beans, tomato, potatoes and toast, I hoisted my pack, bid adieu to my hosts and headed back down the Market Brae steps to Falcon Square. There I caught a double-decker city transit bus out to the airport for just £3.20.

The Inverness Airport is located about 7 miles outside of Inverness. Though small, it offers enough amenities to make any visit there reasonably enjoyable. Check in was swiftly accomplished, but the security check took quite a bit longer. Unfortunately, my daypack had attracted the attention of the staff and shortly two of them were swarming over its contents. Aha! There’s the problem ~ a potentially deadly eyeglass repair kit! That little screwdriver in there could make a nifty weapon. Interestingly, I was allowed to keep a sewing repair kit with a number of sharp needles.

Despite its diminutive size, Inverness International does have a Servisair Lounge located just off the gate lounge. This lounge is one of over 450 accessible via Priority Pass and although boarding was only twenty minutes away, I decided to check it out. Though small, it offered comfortable seating, complimentary wi-fi internet access and an impressive service island sporting a nice variety of beverages and packaged snacks. I had just enough time to down a quick cup of coffee and fire off a couple of emails before grabbing a bag of peanuts and heading out to board my flight.

Waiting on the ramp was one of flyBE’s attractive blue and white liveried DeHavilland Dash 8-400s. I asked one of the ramp personnel if I might pause to take a photo but was informed that no pictures were allowed on the ramp. Really? Just like Burundi.

Beyond that gang, if you’ve been on one Dash 8, you’ve been on a thousand. The aircraft was designed as a commuter plane and the seating is pretty much the same in all of them. As for the service, well, flyBE is a low cost carrier and so whatever it is you desire inflight, be it a soda or a cup of coffee, it’s going to cost you. Flight time to Belfast was predicted to be just 43 minutes so I decided to wait for lunch with my friends in Belfast who were known to keep their fridge well stocked with cans of Bass and Guinness. We landed after just 42 minutes aloft, though baggage collection took an additional thirty-five minutes.


March 11, 2010
Belfast - London
Aer Lingus Economy Class
Airbus A320-200 EI-DEH
7:20am – 8:50am

I’ve wanted to fly Aer Lingus ever since I first saw one of their beautiful green 707s parked at JFK back in the early 1970s. On my first visit to Ireland back in 1999, I looked into flying Aer Lingus from London to Belfast. Unfortunately their prices were prohibitively expensive, almost four times as much as it cost to fly Easy Jet out of Luton. This time when I checked, I was even more shocked at the price! The Aer Lingus website indicated a fare of just £0.00 between BFS and LHR! My eyes were bugging out like Marty Feldman’s as I quickly booked a space on the 7:20am departure.

Eh? Wot’s this?! Suddenly the fare had jumped to £23.00. Ah… taxes. Well, fair enough then – it’s still a very good deal. But wait! Would I be checking baggage? Yep, one piece under 20Kg. That’ll be another £11.00. And what about advance seat selection? The website indicated that it was possible to do this at the airport at no charge but then it wouldn’t let me out of the seat selection process until I’d selected a seat. Apparently, if Aer Lingus is going to give their seats away, the least you could do is select one, albeit enforced at a cost of £2.00. Then there was the £2.00 fee for using my credit card to pay for it all, as if I had a much of a choice when using their website. By the time I’d added up all these extra fees, that “free” seat on Aer Lingus ended up costing $60.78 USD. Still, not a bad price for the right to fly my 137th airline but jeez, I sure had to jump through some hoops to get it. Welcome to modern day air travel.

After two marvelous days in Belfast highlighted by good friends, good food, good beer, good fun and a 4-0 Manchester United victory over AC Milan in the UEFA Championship Tournament,



Carrickfergus Castle



Castle Stairs



Little girl meets castle soldier



I awoke at the gawd awful hour of 5:15am – made especially heinous because I’d stayed up quite late the night before to watch most of the soccer game – and was dropped off at Belfast International at 6:00am. My Aer Lingus flight to Heathrow was scheduled to depart at 7:20am and so I figured I’d have plenty of time to visit the local Servisair Lounge.

Alas, once again the folks at the security checkpoint had other ideas. Who knows what attracted them to my pack this time but I was subsequently subjected to an inspection of each and every item in my day pack, an inspection so thorough that it crossed into the realm of ridiculous. When I say “each and every” item, I mean exactly that. Everything from ear plugs to car keys to toothbrush to reading material was inspected and individually swabbed for explosive residue. This even included items as innocuous as each and every pen and pencil, mustard packet and thumb drive along with even my hair brush. Removing all of these items (and more) out of each pocket, inspecting each one and then swabbing each one for explosive residue took quite a long time and by the time I’d finally put everything back together there were just ten minutes left until boarding.



Sunrise at Belfast International


Once onboard, the bleeding of my wallet continued when I shelled out £2.20 for a cup of instant coffee. I sure wish I’d have been able to fly aboard that Aer Lingus 707 of old with its Golden Shamrock Service, because the current version of Aer Lingus is little more than a low cost carrier now. Unfortunately, I suspect that’s what they’ve had to become in order to remain competitive, much less alive against the likes of Ryanair and Easy Jet.


March 11, 2010
London - Boston
American Economy Class
Boeing 767-300 N381AN
12:15pm – 2:15pm

It’s a long walk through labyrinthine passageways from Heathrow’s Terminal 1 to Terminal 3. After checking in for American’s 12:15pm departure to Boston, I was faced with an equally long walk out to American’s gates located way down at the very end of one of Terminal 3’s concourses.

I’ve flown between London and the US to or from SEA, SFO, LAX, PHX, ORD, MIA, IAD, and EWR. Why not BOS? Not only was this a new route for me but it is also the shortest crossing of the Atlantic that American offers. At just 3,250 miles with a westbound flight time of under seven hours, it would allow me a good three hour layover in Boston before connecting to Alaska Airlines’ nonstop flight to Seattle.

After checking in, I was faced with almost two and a half hours until my flight was scheduled to depart. Thankfully my Priority Pass membership allowed me a choice of two T3 lounges – the Servisair Lounge or Kuwait Airways’ Oasis Lounge. The Servisair Lounge is the larger and better equipped of the two, but it was almost completely full when I arrived. I did an about face and headed over to the Oasis Lounge just down the hall. The amenities were quite basic for a premium class lounge – just some cookies, chips, muffins and non-alcoholic beverages. I was the only visitor for a good 40 minutes before another couple and their child arrived.

At the gate, I managed to trade my limited recline window seat for a spacious bulkhead seat in row 10 on the winglet equipped 767. As an added bonus there was no one sat next to me so I was able to spread out quite nicely. Take off was accomplished in just 32 seconds and soon afterwards we were climbing above the cloud layer into the bright sunny realm of the upper troposphere.

Luncheon was a choice of Chicken with rice or Pasta with spinach. I chose the chicken but after seeing the full dish of tasty looking pasta being eaten across the aisle, I had some misgivings. My chicken entrée was smaller than some appetizers I’ve had in International First Class. It was tasty enough though, washed down as it were with a glass of wine.



Economy Class luncheon between LHR-BOS on American

Given that I’d only managed perhaps four hours of sleep the night before, I had no problem adding to that total with an after lunch siesta. When I awoke the Sky map indicated we were 38,003’ over snowy New Brunswick, cruising along at 478 mph. With just an hour and ten minutes left in the flight, the flight attendants were getting ready to feed us again. Mmmmm… pizza. In a box. Nothing but cheese with chewy crust though. Maybe not so mmmmm…

We landed in Boston to the same conditions we’d left behind in London. Cold wind and rain. Would Seattle be any better? Unlikely this time of year. I cleared customs as if there were no customs and relocated to Continental’s Presidents Club in Terminal A.


March 11, 2010
Boston - Seattle
Alaska Airlines Economy Class
Boeing 737-800 N593AS
6:15pm – 9:25pm

Thanks to my Gold status with Alaska, I’d pre-booked an aisle seat on the bulkhead in row 6. Alaska’s 737-800s don’t have a solid bulkhead between First Class and Coach, only a small curtain that hangs down to the top of the First Class seat backs in row four. The legroom in row 6 is comparable to an exit row seat, but you get served first and don’t have to be responsible if the plane needs to be evacuated.

Dinner was one of Alaska’s excellent $6.00 hamburgers and, after a flight time of five hours and thirty minutes, we touched down on a rainy night in Seattle and taxied in to a gate on the North Satellite. I collected my pack and retired for the night in my secret spot, where I slept undisturbed until 4:45am the next morning.


March 12, 2010
Seattle – Anchorage - Fairbanks
Alaska Airlines Economy Class
Boeing 737-800 N546AS
Boeing 737-400 N713AS
6:00am – 11:07am

Although I had a confirmed seat aboard a flight departing at 8:55pm that evening, I was anxious to get back home where a myriad of tasks and chores awaited me before my upcoming trip to Africa. Unfortunately all of the saver award seats for travel this day to Fairbanks and Anchorage had long since been taken. Worse, many of the flights were showing completely full, even oversold. Something about spring break.

I figured my best chance to get out of Seattle early would be to get started early, so I presented myself at Alaska’s check-in counter at 5:00am and hoped for the best. And darned if I didn’t get lucky! I was given a confirmed seat on the 6:00am to Anchorage, with a connecting flight on to Fairbanks that would get me in at 11:00am. Perfect!

And now for a milestone update. Any of you who’ve consistently read my trip reports know that after having flown over 4000 flights almost 4 million miles, I’ve managed to pass a good number of milestones related to mileage flown or flights flown on particular aircraft or routes. What constitutes a milestone? A good even number that ends in 0 such as 100 or 250.

I am aware of my “milestones” because I’ve kept a detailed log of my flights since I was very young. My first log was a fairly simple document, listing flights by origin, destination, airline, aircraft type, mileage flown and length of flight. As the total number of flights increased, my log became more detailed. I began to calculate total flights, miles and hours flown per airline and per aircraft type as of each flight. I also started keeping track of aircraft registration numbers.

By the time I turned twenty-one I had well over 400 flights to my credit. I went down to an aircraft supply store in Denver and purchased a Senior Pilot Master Log. This log was designed for pilots rather than passengers but I was able to easily convert the various columns to my needs. With so many columns and way too much spare time on my hands, I began to calculate even more data per flight. Over the years I added such eclectic statistics as flights and miles flown per aircraft type by airline (i.e. while I may have flown upon 639 Boeing 727-200s, how many of those flights were upon Braniff 727-200s), how many flights per specific aircraft (i.e. how many flights were upon Braniff 727-200 N408BN), or how many times I’d flown a given route and the total unduplicated route mileage per airline and in total. The more I flew, the more fascinating the numbers became.

Today’s milestone is related to how many times I’ve flown the route between Seattle and Anchorage. This flight is my 250th time flying the SEA-ANC route. Out of my almost 4 million total miles flown, 362,500 of them have come on this route. To celebrate my “lofty” accomplishment, I splurged for a scrambled egg breakfast and a coffee with Baileys. As ever, my celebrations are quiet, understated affairs. I know of very few people that would have the slightest interest in some of the statistics I keep and only a hand full of them are on FlyerTalk. As a result, no announcements were made and nobody asked for my autograph after the flight.