A few adventures flying home LAX-DEN on Saturday:
I was scheduled for a 4 p.m. LAX-DEN on Friday, but I used same-day change. Since I had sprung for P class months earlier, I had quite a few choices, all in C and F. Chose LAX-SFO-DEN at 8:20 on Saturday morning, with a C seat on UA223 SFO-DEN on a 777. I was delighted to receive an upgrade message on Saturday morning. Sweet - seat 2A in Global First!
Sadly, SFO was under flow control that day and UA1761 LAX-SFO was delayed, then delayed more by a mechanical problem. I had a good backup, though, as UA750 LAX-DEN at 10:45 a.m. was also a 777. I got 6J in business, but wound up number four on the CPU list. UA1761 arrived at 11:49 a.m. (SFO-DEN was at 11:05 a.m.) and I would have misconnected, so I made the right choice.
Many, many upgrades at the gate. The agents seemed stressed out - at one point, the agent said over the PA: "If you are waiting for an upgrade, please don't approach the counter; board and we will come and get you at your seat and move you up . . . so either board or stay out."
It was a fun flight - only 1:38 in the air with a great tail wind. The crew hustled and served us our lunch (no choice in C, but the chicken wrap with onion soup was tasty) quickly. I miss widebodies from DEN to the West Coast.