Background
“Another mile or two to Frisco
Two hundred gallons from LA
The engine’s stomping like a disco
We oughta dump her in the bay”
- Diesel – “Sausalito Summer Nights”
I’d like to introduce you to the cast for this two man show:
That’s me on the right. You probably know me as the guy who takes trains with his Father. But, there’s one other person I like traveling with even more. On the right is my brother James. He’s 13 months younger than me which means he’s been my best and most loyal friend for longer than I can remember. We are partners in crime, allies in war and peace and have more in common than you’d think possible. As it is, he lives in Maryland with his wife (who’s equally wonderful, I might add) so we don’t get to see each other as much as we’d like. Therefore, we’ve made it a yearly tradition to take a trip where we combine fun flying with city exploration and a baseball game. The last few years we’ve scheduled it for the second weekend in May which works out great for me as that’s when I finish my law school semester and I need the trip (and the drinks!) more than I can explain. This year we decided to return to the reality of San Francisco.
James isn’t a FTer (though he lurks) but he knows the credit card game better than any man I know, bloggers included. Therefore, it’s a joy to plan trips with him. We decided back in November if we were flying across the country to do it right and we booked a UA P-Fare from BWI to SFO. On the way back we found AA Saver F space from SJC to BWI. I tacked on positioning flights (mixing in a fair amount of craziness, but I’m the kind of guy who believes More Flights + More Miles = More Fun) and we played the waiting game. Of course we were hit by schedule changes which included United deciding that there didn’t need to be an evening BWI-LAX flight. As James had to finish work and drive to BWI from the Eastern Shore, we needed an evening flight but we wanted it to stay “fun”. Therefore, at his suggestion, we called United and were rebooked BWI-IAH with an overnight there before flying IAH-SFO on the 787. Now that’s what I call making the best of things! The final plan was:
Friday May 8, 2015
US GSO-CLT (F)
US CLT-DCA (F)
Amtrak ALX-BWI (Business)
UA BWI-IAH (F)
Saturday May 9, 2015
UA IAH-SFO (F)
Sunday May 10, 2015
AA SJC-ORD (F)
AA ORD-BWI (F)
Monday May 11, 2015
Amtrak BWI-WAS (Coach)
UA DCA-EWR (Y)
UA EWR-IAD (Y)
UA IAD-GSO (Y)
Greensboro, NC
My Thursday actually started in Tampa. I’d flown down the night before on the inaugural Allegiant RDU-PIE flight (which was great, incidentally). Two United flights later and I was back at RDU. I headed home, emptied out one bag and packed two others. Then, armed only with a can of Coke Zero and my Waze App, I drove the 67 miles down I-40 to GSO. When I have early flights from here, I prefer to make the drive the night before, especially as there are usually reasonably priced hotels by the airport.
The Holiday Inn GSO was $91 and very close to the airport and also right off I-40, so basically all I was looking for. Check-In was an incredibly pleasant experience as I had a friendly agent who managed to walk the fine line between being polite and friendly, but also handling the experience quickly.
The hotel was actually very impressive for a domestic, out by the airport, Holiday Inn. The pool area had a fire pit, there was a restaurant which did room service, a nice business center in the lobby and a feeling of a well maintained hotel. My only issues were that the desk chair had peeling leather coming off it and that the bathroom was tiny, so much so that if you sat on the toilet and you’re broad shouldered like me, you felt stuck. The important thing is, it got the job done and I got a restful few hours of sleep before heading out to catch my flight.
US 5277 GSO-CLT 0715-0807 CRJ-900
It was a beautiful, North Carolina Spring Morning and I was very excited to be awake and sipping my crappy hotel room coffee on my way to GSO.
A quick nostalgic note about GSO. I grew up outside New York City but my Father’s parents lived in Winston-Salem. Once or twice a year we’d fly US Air from LGA-GSO to see them. Ever since then, I’ve always loved this little airport. The check-in area you see above has been renovated since I was a kid and looks different unfortunately.
But the gate area looks almost identical to how it did when I was 8 years old. Now THAT makes me happy!
While waiting for my flight, I heard the agents announce the flight was oversold. Being me, I literally ran to the desk (no hyperbole). When the agent heard I was flying to DCA via CLT, she was ecstatic as US had seats on a GSO-DCA nonstop leaving a little after 9 AM. I waited and watched as the jetway door was closed. I was at the service desk negotiating with a second agent (I wanted GSO-CLT-BWI as that was my final destination anyway) when the first agent realized there was still an empty seat. I’ve never come so close to a bump only to lose it, they’d even started printing the documents. Instead, I got to board the plane and watch the person they’d upgraded into my seat be downgraded back to coach while the entire F cabin looked at me like I was the biggest S.O.B. in the Tarheel State.
I even boarded too late for the PDB
I will also note that this plane is one of the new Mesa CR9s being delivered to AA. It has four rows of F instead of 3 and was also under 5 months old.
No worries about a long taxi or a line to takeoff here. Amusingly enough, despite being an 83 mile flight, we still spent 31 minutes in the air, not enough for a drink in the back though.
I got one of each snack basket item to show you guys what was in it…yes that’s the reason.
An easy flight with an on time arrival and all that was left was the wait for my gate checked bag, which thankfully didn’t take long.
US 1722 CLT-DCA 0940-1105 A-319
CLT is an easy airport to use though it’s not what I’d call a great airport. Especially on days like today which involved a walk from E20 to C3.
N561NN resting after bringing me and 80-some-odd others in from GSO
As you can see, CLT was wall to wall with travelers, many of whom I suspect are traveling home at the end of the Spring Semester.
Gate C3, a “lovely” place to while away the minutes. I was definitely wishing someone, anyone, could have guested me into the lounge.
At least I had a great vantage point of this beautifully painted A-319 arriving! While waiting I tried to ask a couple questions of the gate agents but they were incredibly rude and unhelpful. I overheard Agent A mention the flight was oversold so I asked Agent B if they’d need volunteers. She unhelpfully snapped at me “it’s NOT oversold”. I said “well the other agent indicated it was” and I got the eyeroll of the decade. I also mentioned being number one on the upgrade list and asked if it looked like anyone would misconnect but I received little in the way of a helpful answer. I ended up just boarding with Y and heading back to 10A.
At least I had great legroom.
Nice nostalgia here.
A few minutes before the door shut, the more unhelpful of the two agents came and found me and asked me to come up to First Class. Do you believe in miracles? YES! The most battlefield of battlefield upgrades! The F/A even asked if I wanted a drink. You bet your ... I do! The only downside to this was I lost out on a window but meh, give me the better seat and the free booze.
Speaking of which, to the F/As who give you a double when you’ve only asked for a cocktail…you the real MVP
I got myself in the right mood for the trip too. Great flight I might add, early arrival, friendly crew who served with a smile and who offered refills. I may have arrived into DCA a little tipsier than I expected to but hey, when you’re a low tier elite, you drink for free when you can, right?
Washington D.C.
DCA is under renovations in the gate areas which means a lot of restaurants are closed. Thankfully, the only place I wanted to go to was outside security anyhow.
One of the best airport restaurants in the country, even if it is a chain.
Kind of pricy though. A cup of clam chowder, crab meat Caesar salad and a cup of coffee were $31 pre-tip.
Instead of heading into DC to Union Station, which requires a change of trains, I took the Yellow line two stops south to King Street Station.
Literally across the street is the Alexandria, VA Amtrak Station. Only a limited number of Northeast Regional trains stop here, but there was one perfectly suited for my needs. Annoyingly, in true Amtrak fashion, it was delayed a few minutes when I got to the station and became progressively more delayed as I waited. Oh well, at least the station had Wifi.
I wanted to walk across the street and check out the George Washington Masonic Temple, but the agents refused to watch my bags for me.
Having little other use for them, I used one of my Select Upgrade Coupons to upgrade to Business Class. Sadly, I only got the empty seat next to me until Washington and the train was thereafter too crowded to go back to the Café car to get my free drink, oh well.
Speaking of Washington, we had a half hour layover here where the engine is switched from a Diesel-Electric to an Electric one. It’s a fun process to watch.
Twenty minutes later we were at BWI and after a short bus ride, I got to the terminal where I played the waiting game until James showed up.
I don’t like that wording, how about “next time if you want, you could try online check-in”?
After James’s arrival we went through security into the “lovely” gate area and from there to the actually lovely Airspace Lounge.
This former United Club is one of the US lounges the Amex Platinum gets access to. They have free soda, coffee and tea as well as some nibbles. Each person gets a $7 food and beverage credit ($14 for us obviously).
It covered this little meat plate and a Sierra Nevada (in keeping with the theme of the trip) with 50 cents to spare! I was glad the lounge was there as due to weather in Chicago and some issues with Cleveland Center, our inbound aircraft was delayed over an hour.
A beautifully over optimistic departure time by United, we ended up about 90 minutes delayed. Which I might add was just enough of a delay that we would have misconnected in Houston if we’d tried to fly the evening IAH-SFO flight.
Quick rant if I may Group 1 is too big. Combining First Class, Global Services 1Ks and Premier Platinums meant having to stand at the end of long lines like this. AA has First/EXP and DL has First/Diamond. I think United should go to Group 1 of First/GS then Group 2 of 1K/Platinum, then Group 3 of Gold/Silver/CC (Currently Group 2 is Gold/Silver/CC).
Boarding was rushed due to the delay, but I was quite happy that didn’t stop our f/a from providing the entire F cabin with a full pre-departure beverage (are you listening, American?).
Today was an absolutely beautiful evening to be flying.
Drinks were brought around (look! Whole cashews!) and meal orders were taken. The flight attendant asked each passenger what their first choice would be of the two options of Jambalaya or soup and a cold Asian chicken noodle salad. Sadly, my brother and I (no status and Premier Silver respectively) were the only losers in the cabin as the f/a came back to us and said she had run out of our first choice (the jambalaya). I mentioned that I thought paid First were supposed to get priority but it turned out it’s given to GS and 1Ks now (she showed me the manifest so I can’t complain). Oh well.
Dinner was actually pretty tasty (especially when I added my BOYT (Bring Your Own Tabasco!) but frankly, this is a lunch, not a dinner. Cold meals do not equal dinner.
There was nostalgia though.
Dessert was also kind of lame. I will give points to the flight attendant though, the flight was very bumpy and she still brought me a cup of coffee.
The rest of the flight passed quickly and very pleasantly. I’m used to traveling alone so flying with James meant for a nice 2.5 hours of conversation. We also would like to apologize to anyone if we were louder than we should have been, between tiredness and a few scotches, things were a little TOO funny to us.
Houston
I’d booked us at the Houston Marriott North as it came up when I searched “IAH” and they had a shuttle. Annoyingly, the shuttle ran on the half hour so we ended up deciding sleep was worth paying for and we split a $33 cab.
Though not an airport hotel per se, it was actually a very nice property. I was worried when I arrived as the lobby was mobbed by airline crews and a youth basketball tournament, but soundproofing was excellent and we were not disturbed. The room was also quite nice (though the pyramid shaped soap less so) and we had a nice six hours of sleep. It ended up being an extra half hour when we woke up and saw our IAH-SFO flight would also be delayed, ugh.