March 01, 2013
Alaska Airlines Fairbanks – Seattle 450p – 927p 737-800 Economy Class
Everyone knows the old adage about March weather: In like a lion, out like a lamb. Or vice versa. Today I’d say we were somewhere in between. Truth be known, the last few days of February have been just wonderful – sunny and warm with temperatures in the twenties during the day and just below zero at night. As mid-winter goes in Alaska’s Interior, it just doesn’t get much better than that. Today was cloudy and warm – in the high teens – with snow flurries. It wasn’t really either lion or lamb like. It was just nice. I found myself wishing I could stick around a week longer. Oh well – at least I have a round trip ticket. It’s always a good feeling when leaving Alaska to know that I’ve got a ticket back home and that I’ll be returning soon.
I was thankful that some last minute award seats had become available on the 4:50pm nonstop to Seattle. Spring break is just around the corner and already flights Outside are filling rapidly. My original schedule had me flying from Fairbanks down to Seattle via Juneau. I didn’t mind the Juneau connection so much but I wasn’t overly enamored of the 6:00am departure time. I probably would have gone down and camped out at Fairbanks International the night before but now I got to sleep in and take a leisurely day before catching a ride out to the airport with my neighbor.
Waiting at the gate was N531AS, one of ten Alaska 737-800s that I’d not yet flown. That makes 52 flown out of a fleet of 61, and with 36 more flights aboard Alaska -800s coming up in the next couple of months, I’d like to think I can pick up two or three more by summer. By then I’ll also have logged just over 450,000 miles on 737-800s. The most I’ve ever logged on a single aircraft type is just over 474000 miles aboard the 727-200, and that took 32 years to accomplish. I should eclipse that total on the 737-800 sometime next year. My first flight on an -800 was less than twelve years ago.
I’ll add 1530 miles to that total on this three hour and thirteen minute flight down to Seattle. As I settled in for the ride, an announcement was made informing us that the hot meal option for this afternoon’s flight was the Angus Cheeseburger. Well dang! If I’d known that I wouldn’t have stopped off at Subway for a foot long sandwich earlier this afternoon. I really like those burgers and at $6.00 each including chips they’re very attractively priced. Oh well. At least I could take some solace in the fact that my Subway Club sans Mayonnaise and Dressing was a healthier meal than the burger.
It was a nice clear evening as we made our approach into Seattle Tacoma International Airport. Landing softly, we taxied briskly to our slot at D3, conveniently located just up the concourse from the entrance to the train that serves the North Satellite and C Concourse. The purpose of my visit to those locales was to scope them out in hopes of finding a decent place to sleep airside. I’ve got a couple of early morning departures on this run and if I don’t have to deal with security in the morning, I’ll have that much more time to sleep in.
Nice, dark and quiet is what I’m looking for and the North Satellite offered some absolutely perfect places to crash behind the large podiums of some gate lounges that wouldn’t see their first flight until after 8:00am. Unfortunately, the Satellite closes down at around midnight and doesn’t reopen until 4:00am. Sigh… On to the C Concourse. Aside from the fact that Alaska’s got some late night arrivals and early morning departures out of the C, the cleaners wouldn’t get started in there until after 1:00am. Not good. Alright then, how about the D Concourse? Old and narrow, the gate areas are shallow and/or brightly lit. Additionally, there was music playing in there that I didn’t hear around the N or C gates.
My spot on the land side of security is so much better than anything airside that I guess I’ll just try to get to bed a bit earlier most nights. On this particular run, I’ll be spending seven nights on the floor at SeaTac. Returning to my favorite little nook in the airport, I set up camp, got a good start reading my latest novel and managed to pick up about five hours of undisturbed sleep.
March 02, 2013
United Airlines Seattle – San Francisco 729a – 943a 757-200 First Class
United Airlines San Francisco – Austin 1055a – 424p A319-100 Economy Class
Alaska Airlines Austin – Seattle 630p – 855p 737-800 First Class
The idea behind Premium Lanes at security checkpoints is to speed First Class and Elite travelers through a bit faster. It is a perk that’s been well earned and is well appreciated by all of us who qualify. That said however, there’s hardly any point in having Premium Lanes if the TSA isn’t going to provide a dedicated ID checker. Today at both the D/N and C gate checkpoints, the TSA had two agents checking lines of everyday coach passengers and one agent split between coach and premium passengers. Needless to say the coach lines were moving much faster.
This certainly isn’t the first time I have seen this set up and to me at least, it is just incredibly stupid and shortsighted by the TSA. To suggest that they’re doing it out of spite towards the rich “fat cats” in First Class would be giving them too much credit. They’re not that smart. But enough complaining. I’ll drop them a line about it along with copies to Alaska and United Airlines and hope for the best - hope most definitely being the operative word.
On a more positive note, I’ve managed to get upgraded on the very first leg of my challenge – a 680 mile flight down to San Francisco. A bit of research over at United.com revealed that the only sustenance First Class passengers could expect to receive aboard this one hour and fifty minute flight would be a “made from scratch” blueberry scone. Were this a British scone with proper clotted cream and preserves, I might have gotten excited but since its basically just a small pastry, I made a point of stopping in at the United Club where a bowl of cereal and a tub of yogurt awaited.
It’s been awhile since I’ve flown aboard a 757. I used to fly them all the time to the tune of 293 flights totaling 380,460 miles aboard United, Northwest and American. Now that I’ll be logging a few more flights aboard United, I ought to be able to push that total up over 400,000 fairly easily.
My last flight on a United 757 was way back in January of 2002. United had recently installed some new First Class seats, upholstered in attractive dark blue patterned cloth covers. What I remember most about those seats is that they were really soft and comfortable! The airplane I flew on this morning was freshly painted in its fourth livery since being delivered new to the airline in 1992. The seats had been re-upholstered in dark blue leather just like every other airline in America except American. I sure do miss those colorful cloth seats from the sixties and seventies. The cabins looked a lot warmer and I personally felt the seats really were softer and more comfortable. Perhaps it’s telling that most of the world’s finest airlines don’t use leather on their First Class suite seats.
As one who logs most of his mileage aboard Alaska Airlines, I was totally taken aback when a flight attendant stopped by to ask if she could bring me anything to drink before takeoff. All Alaska ever offers is water, as if we were changing sides in a tennis match rather than flying in First Class. Soon I was sipping from a cup of nice hot coffee as the last of the passengers boarded, the doors were closed and we pushed back from the gate.
Flight time to San Francisco was announced as one hour and fifty minutes. Service consisted of the aforementioned blueberry scones, doled out in small paper sacks. They were about half the size of the ones you see at Starbucks and given that the Seattle – San Francisco route sees First Class competition from Alaska and Virgin America, I’m surprised United wasn’t offering something a wee bit more substantial. Even Alaska offers a bowl of cereal topped with strawberry slices up front.
My connecting flight to Austin was conveniently parked right next door to us at gate 89. Unfortunately the United Club was not so conveniently located, especially given the short one hour connecting time which realistically allowed just thirty minutes or so before boarding. Instead I stopped off at a deli just up the concourse and purchased a turkey sandwich with all the trimmings for just under $10.00. That's a pretty good deal by SFO standards, an airport which has some of the highest priced eateries in the nation.
United was using an A319 for this midday flight down to Austin. In United’s configuration this plane offers only eight First Class seats, all of which were taken as of last night. My Economy Plus aisle seat at row 11 was quite comfortable though. United markets the heck out of the up to 5” of extra legroom and that’s worth a lot to be sure; but I also give credit to United for providing a nicely padded, comfortable seat.
The flight itself passed quickly. Three hours will do that when you’ve got a good book, a good sandwich and a trip report to keep you occupied. I found it interesting though that this airplane had no Wi-Fi. Neither did the 757 I flew on earlier in the day. American, Delta and Alaska have had Wi-Fi practically fleet wide for some time now. Amongst main line aircraft, only Delta’s DC-9-50s and Alaska’s 737-400 Combis aren’t equipped. Personally, I can live just fine without inflight Wi-Fi but I don’t know how many others feel that way. United’s website indicates that Wi-Fi is being installed in the rest of the fleet at the rate of 25 planes per month.
At Austin I stopped in for a visit to American’s Admirals Club. I love the size and layout of this club. There’s a small but comfortable seating area with big windows overlooking the concourse below. Lighting is a combination of natural light from the windows and the warm glow cast by tableside lamps. Off to one side of the lounge is an attractive bar lounge with seating at both the bar and tables. I was going to order a beer until I saw that the complimentary selections were limited to Budweiser and Miller products. No thanks.
Admirals Club Bar at Austin
The reason for my trip down to Austin today was so that I could practically guarantee that I’d be in First Class for this flight on Alaska. For a guy who does as much flying around in coach as I do, no doubt some of you must be wondering why this flight in particular for that First Class upgrade?
In May of 1976, I logged my very first flight on Alaska aboard a red and gold liveried 727-100 that, fittingly, delivered me up to Alaska for the very first time. Today, almost thirty-seven years later, I’ll be logging my one millionth mile aboard Alaska. Because that total is tallied from both revenue and non-revenue (award) based mileage, I wasn’t expecting any ceremony or other tangible forms of recognition from Alaska Airlines. I just think it’s kind of neat to actually know when something like this happens. These days, lots of people have flown a million miles either in total or on a specific airline, but I imagine only a tiny percentage of them actually knew when they crossed that monumental barrier. Alaska is the second airline upon which I’ve logged a million miles – the first being United back in 1997. In any event, I sent a letter to the Alaska’s corporate headquarters thanking them for the flights and the memories along with a printout from my Excel based log showing all of the 1080 flights it took to accomplish the feat.
Based upon the total mileage I’d accrued on Alaska prior to today, I estimate I became an Alaska million miler about two hours into the flight, cruising high over northwestern Colorado. Alaska doesn’t serve Champagne onboard, so I silently hoisted a nicely chilled glass of Jack Daniels on the rocks to commemorate the event. I didn’t tell seatmate because he was sick – coughing every couple of minutes and generally not looking well at all. Indeed, I gave some serious consideration to moving back to an open seat in coach and if this flight hadn’t carried the significance that it did, I might well have done just that. When we landed in Seattle, I downed a few eyedroppers worth of Echinacea with Goldenseal; then started in on a regimen of water and Cold-Eze.
Although I spent tonight in the airport, I had tomorrow free which worked out perfectly for a night in a hotel. Hotwire was offering a one day $20.00 off promotion, so I booked a room at a Ramada Limited in nearby Tukwila for just $34.00. After checking in, I quickly showered and then caught a bus over to Bellevue for the final day of the annual WinterGrass Festival.