Seat 2A

March 23, 2015
Alaska Airlines Fairbanks to Seattle 535p – 1010p 737-800 Coach Class

There’s a lot of time involved in researching and putting together a trip of this size. It’s an activity I find exciting and yet relaxing at the same time. Early on in the process I create an itinerary that gets reviewed and refined and reviewed again on an almost daily basis. It’s all part of the anticipation process which is itself considerable in the days and weeks leading up to departure day.

Why is it then that whenever The Big Day finally arrives, I always have a pang of regret at leaving? It’s Alaska. I love this place and I love the rhythm of my life here. The land, the people, the culture – it’s home. Not just physically, but spiritually. I felt it when I first arrived as a young backpacker back in 1976 and over the years that bond has only grown stronger. Over the years I’ve found that it’s a lot easier to make plans to leave Alaska than it is to actually leave. A part of me never wants to leave, as if there’s a hidden fear that for some reason I might not return. I won’t say I can’t wait to get back because if there’s any solace to be taken from departing this time of year, it’s that I’ll miss the muddy, sloppy days of Spring Break-Up. As always though, it’s comforting to know that I have a roundtrip ticket.

My old pal Jack D did the honors in delivering me to the airport today. Jack works a two week on – two week off schedule driving big rigs up on the North Slope and while he’s gone I let him park in the open space under a big spruce tree outside my cabin. We’ve been delivering each other back and forth to Fairbanks International all year long with the tradeoff being either the favor of a ride to the airport or lunch at one of Fairbanks’ many fine Thai restaurants - or its one really good Mexican restaurant.

As usual, Alaska wasn’t gonna make it easy to leave. After a short week long cold snap at the beginning of the month, spring finally sprung about ten days ago with abundant sunshine and daily highs in the 40s and 50s. The ice has melted off the major roadways and with an additional seven minutes of sunlight gained each day the promise of spring and summer is almost tangible.

Today dawned sunny and clear, just perfect for me to get an early start on a long list of last minute chores that needed to get done. After all, this isn’t some two week ditty that I’m leaving on. It’s a six week 58000 mile TRIP with a capital T. I won’t bore you with all the pre-trip details – many of you have probably been through this yourselves. What I find amazing is that I started in on these chores a week ago in the hope that today might be more relaxing and yet here we are and I’m running around town like a man possessed. I’m pretty good though when I get focused and get my butt in gear – fifth gear as it were! As such I managed to move smoothly around town checking off each and every item on my To Do list before arriving home at 4:00pm with just enough time to heat up a kettle of water on the stove and grab a quick shower before Jack arrived to take me to the airport.

It is so nice to live in a town small enough that one need not arrive at the airport any more than an hour before departure. With no bags to check, I often arrive closer to 45 minutes out, then head straight through TSA Pre✓™ and on to the gate. Such was the case today. Ryan Bingham would’ve been proud of me.

It’s hard to believe that back in the days when airlines received government subsidies for providing service to smaller cities, Fairbanks was served by jets from Alaska, Northwest, Pan American and Wien Air Alaska – all at the same time. Post deregulation saw additional service from Delta, Frontier, Markair, Reno Air, United and Western. These days Alaska Airlines is the dominant carrier with about a dozen mostly daily flights. It’s joined by Ravn Alaska with a handful of Dash 8s to Anchorage and Barrow and Delta with a single daily nonstop to Seattle. When summer arrives we’ll see additional seasonal service, but this time of year things are pretty quiet out at FAI.

Taking off to the west, I watched as we soared into the clear blue skies above Fairbanks. It was a nice clear day and the views of the Tanana River and Chena Ridge were impressive. It’ll be exactly seven weeks until I return here in early May. In the interim I’ll have logged 47000 mostly premium class miles aboard eight airlines, ridden over 10000 miles aboard seven Amtrak streamliners and driven a further 2800 miles through some of the world’s prettiest landscapes. There’s no doubt about it: This is going to be a great trip!

Service started with a Bloody Mary accompanied by my own bag of Blue Diamond Jalapeño flavored almonds. Life is too short to suffer pretzel based snack mix regardless of what class of service you’re sat in. The hot dinner option on southbound flights this month was Alaska’s Louisiana Jambalaya, a dish featuring pork sausage, chicken, rice and Cajun spices. It’s not a bad meal as coach BOB meals go, but as ever the caterers were a bit light on the spices for my tastes. This I effectively remedied with two packets of Louisiana Hot Sauce gleaned from my last visit to Schlotsky’s Deli on Denver International’s A Concourse.




Alaska’s Louisiana Jambalaya Bowl


I should mention here that millions of miles of travel aboard all manner of conveyances all over the world have taught me the benefit of carrying along my own cache of spices. I like flavorful food, and my personal interpretation of flavorful tends to run on the hot and spicy side. Unfortunately, many people don’t share my tastes and so the caterers prepare their meals accordingly. For their part, the airlines either don’t provide any spices or the ones they do provide are of poor quality, such as basic bright yellow mustard better suited to a ballpark frank than a proper turkey sandwich.

The three hour flight passed quickly. Seatmate was an elderly lady who purchased Alaska’s new Digi-Player, watched a bit of a movie and then dozed off for the remainder of the flight. She looked so peaceful sleeping there that it seemed almost criminal when the flight attendant had to awaken her to reclaim the Digi-Player. As for me - I polished off dinner, updated my flight log and then finished reading the Fairbanks News Miner as well as the April edition of Airways Magazine.

Now I could go back and find out exactly how many nights I’ve spent over the years sleeping in Seattle’s airport, but I suspect that’s more information that most of you need or want. Suffice it to say that I’ve spent well over one hundred nights in this fine facility and it remains by far my favorite airport to overnight in. Tonight I set up camp in my usual spot and – after an hour or so of reading David Baldacci’s latest thriller – slept comfortably atop my Thermarest Pad until 7:30am.


March 24, 2015
Bolt Bus Seattle to Bellingham 100p – 300p
Alaska Airlines Seattle to San Francisco 620p – 928p 737-800 First Class

As was mentioned in the first part of this report, this trip has undergone many changes since the original concept of a week of driving around South Africa. One of the first changes was that instead of flying directly to South Africa via Cathay Pacific or British Airways, I decided to use an Alaska/American Airlines First Class award from Fairbanks down to Santiago with a stopover in San Francisco. From there I’d make my way over to South Africa via a United Business Class award. So - everything looked good to go until a couple of weeks ago when an Alaska Fast Dash Sale went and offered Bellingham to Honolulu flights for just $149.00 each way. Anybody here remember Marty Feldman? From the old Mel Brooks films? Well that’s the way my eyes looked when presented with such a great fare and the prospect of routing via Hawaii. So I got to thinking…

Hmm… I’m already paying $155.00 for a one way ticket from Seattle to Kansas City in May… I wonder if I could start this South America award from Hawaii instead of Alaska? A quick call to Alaska’s Partner Desk confirmed that I could, with no additional mileage redemption. Right on! Well then, perhaps I could use a one way saver award from Fairbanks to Kansas City with a stopover in Seattle. From there I could find my way up to Bellingham and take advantage of that $149.00 fare to Hawaii and get a $6.00 refund in the process. Sure, I’ll be using an additional 12500 miles for that award to Kansas City but I’ll get some of that mileage back because of the longer flight to Honolulu (2710 miles vs. 1490 miles =1230miles longer = 2770 more total miles earned than the SEA-MCI flight). Additionally, I’ll log my first ever flight out of Bellingham plus get a First Class seat to and from Hawaii. Another call was made to Alaska’s partner desk to confirm it all up and voila! Here we are, waking up at SeaTac looking forward to a First Class seat to the Islands this evening.

Now then, how do I get up to Bellingham?

A bit of internet research quickly revealed a shuttle offering a straight shot from Seattle directly to the Bellingham Airport for just $37.00. Call me a penny pincher if you will but I thought that seemed a tad expensive. How about Amtrak? Train fare came to $21.00 but as the Amtrak station was about tem miles from the airport, I’d have to add on $2.00 for the city bus to get me closer and then another $10.00 or so for the taxi the rest of the way to the airport. Jeesh! I might as well take the shuttle! What about Greyhound? Oh yeah! $9.00 one way! Still, they dropped off at the same place as Amtrak and not only that but their bus didn’t arrive into Bellingham until 4:30pm – less than two hours before flight time. When you add in the time required for the city bus and taxi combo, I felt that was cutting it a bit closer than I’d like. You know, I love a good hunt though and like a bulldog on a sock, I kept at it until lo and behold – what should I come across but a link to the BoltBus. Their one way rate was the same as Greyhound’s but on a bus that was Wi-Fi equipped with more legroom. Best of all, it dropped off at the Cordata Transit Center – just three miles and a $10.00 taxi ride from the airport. Book it, Danno!

Although I’d seen BoltBus’ bright red and black busses before, I was unaware they operated any farther north than Seattle. I was aware that they offered a premium class product – at least by American bus standards. That translates to an extra inch and a half of seat pitch with Wi-Fi and 120-volt power outlets at most seats. The seats themselves are leather and come with armrests, footrests, seat belts and cup holders. Overall it’s a nice product that helps make bus travel across this big broad land of ours just a bit more bearable.

BoltBus’ sole Seattle stop is conveniently located just around the corner from the International District Station serving Seattle’s busses and light rail. It’s just one block off China Town though from what I could see it appeared that the Koreans had the area closest to the station pretty well under their control. While drooling over pictures of nicely presented Korean food posted in the window at one restaurant, I found myself wishing that I hadn’t had breakfast up in the University District just a couple hours earlier.

Beyond that, there’s not much to say about the ride other than we left on time, we arrived on time, the seat was comfortable and the driver was very polite and informative. As inexpensive inter-city transportation of any stripe goes, that’s about as good as it gets. Well done, BoltBus!

A ten minute cab ride later, I was dropped off at Bellingham International Airport. This would be the first time I’d ever flown out of BLI, making it my 300th airport. That’s a lot of airports to be flown into or out of and while there probably ought to be some kind of an award for reaching this milestone, the most I’ll probably ever get is a wary look and a quick change of subject.

The wary look is pretty much the same response I’ve gottern when people have asked how long I’ll be in Hawaii.
“Oh, just overnight” I reply.
“Whaaaat? You’re gonna fly all the way over there and just stay one night?”
“Yep.”
“Where’re you going to stay?”
“In the airport.”

This usually elicits the full wide eyed look of open mouthed astonishment, soon to be replaced by the dawning realization that they just might be dealing with someone whose elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top . Try to keep him calm… don’t make any sudden moves…

But look, here’s the deal: As everyone here already knows I actually enjoy flying and this particular run to Hawaii is all about two things – acquiring a nice chunk of mileage for a good price and checking out Alaska’s First Class service to Hawaii which prior to this trip I’d never experienced. Other than that I’ve made over 40 trips to Hawaii since 1976, spent a combined total of about three months in the islands, and don’t really feel at all put out that I won’t be spending any time there on this trip. After all, we’re talking Honolulu here, not the remote and beautiful shores of Molokai. We’re also talking 2015 vs. 1980.

I am so thankful that I got to spend most of my time in Hawaii 30-40 years ago when it was a lot more relaxed and just plain more civilized. Now it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if a statement like that might be cause some of our 25 to 40 year old readers to write me off as some stuffy old fart who’s stuck in the old days. That’s fine – demagoguery doesn’t suit me well anyways - but let’s just say that I’ve been there back then - they haven’t - and when it comes to overall quality of life, from my perspective at least there simply is no comparison. That said, when it comes to what’s left of Polynesian paradises these days, where I’d really like to spend a week or two is in the Marquesas Islands or the Gambiers – far away from the maddening crush of overpriced tourism that is Hawaii today.

So getting back to the here and now, here I am sitting in the Bellingham airport bar savoring a tasty Elysian IPA whilst awaiting the call to board. My plane is parked just outside on the tarmac and my – doesn’t she look inviting in the setting sun! I love flying off into the sunset and this flight – with a 6:20pm departure – couldn’t be better timed. The load was light – I’d say we were only about half full – and so boarding wasn’t announced until about 30 minutes out. There are no jetways at BLI so I made sure to keep my camera out and available as I strode across the tarmac and up into my waiting 737-800. It was a beautiful spring evening and the airplane looked most alluring in the setting sun.




Your steed awaits


I love a half full airplane! Back in the 1970s the average load factor was 58% plus or minus a few single digit percentage points depending on the time of year. That meant that more often than not you were going to have the middle seat empty. When I had my yearlong First Class pass on United back in 1985/86, it was not at all uncommon to see empty seats in First Class, including aboard flights to Hawaii. Tonight there were two empty seats up front and one of them was next to me. By today’s standards in U.S. airline First Class, that is true luxury!

No sooner had I stowed my carry-on bag than a flight attendant approached and asked if I’d like my jacket hung. Shortly thereafter another showed up with a tray of Mai Tais and Guava Juice Cocktails. Oooo… Mai Tai please! I love Mai Tais, even if they should come with a shot of insulin. And no, I’m not diabetic but if I were to drink as many of those fruity tropical concoctions as I’d like to I’d probably be at serious risk of developing that insidious malady.




Pre-Departure Mai Tai


Given our light load, boarding proceeded apace which allowed us to button ‘er up and get our bird up in the air ten minutes earlier than scheduled. Following a 31 second takeoff roll, we did just that. I had relocated over to the empty window seat just prior to departure and enjoyed a pretty view of the San Juan Islands as we climbed away from Bellingham.




San Juan Islands at Dusk


This was my first flight to Hawaii with Alaska Airlines and consequently my first flight across the Pacific aboard a 737. I’ve logged over 100 flights into or out of Honolulu from either the U.S. mainland or a variety of South Pacific locations. Of those flights, only five – including this one - have been aboard narrow bodied airplanes. The other four were aboard Northwest 757-300s back in 2006. Now while the 737 has proven to be a reliable and efficient aircraft for ETOPS operations over to Hawaii, somehow it just feels better to be flying to Hawaii in a larger airplane – in much the same way that it feels better to be delivered to your wedding in a limousine as opposed to a Ford Fusion.

But hey, who’s complaining? Here I am sitting in the lap of what passes for luxury aboard U.S. domestic flights these days, sipping on my second Mai Tai whilst tapping away at this trip report on a fully charged computer. The menu for tonight’s dinner service was just delivered moments ago. Let’s have a look, shall we?




Sunset over the Pacific
A nice view to accompany my dinner deliberations


DINNER
Bellingham to Honolulu

Appetizer
Warm Potato Salad served atop Fresh Baby Spinach
Accented with Green Onion and Beecher’s Flagship Crumbles
Warm Hawaiian Sweet Roll

Choice of Entrees

Trident Alaska Cod with Black Bean Sauce
Presented with Steamed Calrose Rice and Yu Choy

Or

Kalbi Beef Ribs in a Korean Barbecue Sauce
Served with Wasabi Mashed Potatoes and Bok Choy with Sesame Seeds


Dessert
Chuckanut Ginger Pear Cheesecake


Cod again! I swear, Alaska Airlines must have gone out and bought Trident Seafood, or at the very least hedged on cod production for the next five years! It’s not so much that I dislike cod as it is that I’m starting to dislike it after having had it served so regularly over the past two years on Alaska. Enough already! Thankfully I’m lodged here in 2D where the odds against being stuck with cod on tonight’s flight are decisively in my favor.

Brad, the flight attendant serving the forward cabin this evening, did a superb job in every aspect of the service. He delivered our drinks in a timely fashion, patiently explained the menu options to one and all, and generally did his best to provide a gracious service. He clearly took pride in and enjoyed his work and it really showed. Guys like Brad go a long way toward diminishing the sting of the many cutbacks inflicted upon Alaska’s once fine inflight product of years past.

Interestingly, because there are no inflight catering facilities in Bellingham, this flight is catered out of Las Vegas from whence the aircraft originated earlier this afternoon. Unfortunately, tonight’s meal was cheapened by some shoddy work from those caterers.

It started with the appetizer. Unfortunately the caterers had neglected to provide any dressing and so what was described on the menu as a warm potato salad atop baby spinach was in reality a few small wedges of boiled potatoes atop a pile of full grown spinach leaves, or at the very least late stage adolescent leaves. I emptied my salt and pepper packets onto the potatoes and made the best of it. The accompanying “Warm Hawaiian Sweet Roll” was a 10¢ white bread dinner roll served cabin temperature.




Potato Salad served atop Fresh Baby Spinach


The Kalbi Beef Ribs looked decent enough on the plate though the texture of the meat had me wondering if it might be something other than beef ribs. Given the shortcomings already exhibited by the Las Vegas based caterers, I thought it possible that the meat may have come from a locally sourced animal that was smaller and tougher than a cow, such as a javelina or a coyote. The portion size was decent though, and the meat was cooked just shy of medium well. What little I could taste of barbecue flavor suggested that it had been applied with an atomizer rather than a brush.




Kalbi Beef Ribs in a Korean Barbecue Sauce


Brad apologized that the ginger pear flavored cheesecake was not as advertised, nor was it made by Bellingham based Chuckanut Cheesecake Co. It tasted more like butterscotch to me though overall I thought it was pretty good. It was accompanied by plump red raspberries and with the addition of coffee and Baileys it became downright decadent.




Butterscotch Cheesecake with Raspberries


As six hour flights go, this one passed by fairly quickly. I put in a bit of work on this report, took a couple of laps to the back of the plane and had fun chatting with Brad about aviation in general. Like me, he was a subscriber to Airways Magazine and we compared thoughts on the new format and checked out the latest issue which I just happened to have along with me.

It was a nice clear night as we made our approach into Honolulu. I moved over to the window seat and took in the view as we flew low along the shore off Honolulu. Our landing was out on the reef runway and resulted in about a ten minute taxi into the gate but also allowed me that much more time to check out some of the airliners in town. Alas, the quality of plane watching at HNL has diminished considerably with the advent of longer range jetliners. It used to be that all of the Asian and South Pacific carriers stopped in here for fuel. Late night arrivals would include all manner of 747 classics and DC-10s from the likes of Qantas, Pan Am, CP Air, Air New Zealand, Philippine, Air Pacific, Continental and Singapore. Two of my favorite sightings from back then were a pair of Boeing 707s wearing the colorful liveries of South Pacific Island Airways and Samoa Airlines. DC-8-62s from Hawaiian Air and Pacific East Airlines were also cause for excitement.

With tomorrow’s flight to Oakland not scheduled to depart until 2:10pm, I would love to have gotten a hotel for the night. Unfortunately the least expensive airport hotel was over $150.00 per night! Were I to have headed into Waikiki I could have gotten a room for about $90 but then I’d also have to add on another $30.00 for the roundtrip hotel shuttle since the city busses will not allow any carry-on bags that won’t fit under the seat. The privacy of four walls and a bed is just not worth that much to me when I’ve got a perfectly good airport floor to sleep on.

Most of Honolulu’s airport is open air and there are limitations on where you can sleep. I discussed my situation with an airport security guard and then spent a good half hour walking around the main part of the terminal reconnoitering my options. My main criteria were finding a place that was out of sight and out of the light. The last time I slept in this airport was back in the seventies and there were lots of places that fit the bill. Post 911 security protocols have eliminated most of the dark areas but eventually I found a secluded patch of linoleum floor behind a money exchange kiosk and set up camp for the night.

I was a bit concerned that it might be too warm for a northern guy like me to sleep comfortably but the air cooled off nicely and by the time 1am rolled around I was glad that I had brought my big wool blanket along.


March 25, 2015
Alaska Airlines Honolulu to Oakland 210p – 1028p 737-800 First Class

Amazingly, I slept undisturbed until 7:30am. That’s 10:30am Pacific time, so I really caught up on lost sleep! I quickly broke camp and made my way to a deserted restroom on the lower level where I washed up and changed into a light cotton Hawaiian print shirt that I picked up at a thrift shop in Fairbanks, Alaska of all places.

Proceeding outside, I then caught a free shuttle over to the Honolulu Airport Hotel and took a table poolside at the Willoughby Restaurant where a delicious breakfast of Eggs Benedict and a copy of that morning’s Honolulu Advertiser brought me up to speed on the past day’s events.

Arriving back to the airport at 11:30, I cleared the agriculture and security checks and then headed down the concourse to the Delta Sky Club. Air conditioning, veggies and dip, a good internet connection, more air conditioning, a Bloody Mary – Ah…

Imagine then my continuing delight upon discovering that this afternoon’s flight to Oakland was assigned gate 13, just a short stroll across the concourse from the Sky Club.

Life is good – even if I get to spend only a few hours in Hawaii this time. Taking solace in the fact that I’ll be back here in the fall, I gathered my gear and joined the crowd awaiting the call to board the shiny blue and white jetliner with the lei adorned Eskimo on the tail. Unlike yesterday’s half-full flight from Bellingham, every seat was taken aboard this Oakland bound 737-800. Boarding was the usual chaotic affair with a big glut of First Class, 75Ks and Golds all surging through a tangled assortment of children, shopping bags and colorfully clad gate crashers as we struggled toward the narrow hallway leading to the jetway.

Once the initial crush of humanity had settled in, our First Class flight attendant made the rounds with a tray of Champagne and Papaya Juice Mimosas. They were deliciously chilled and really took the edge off the heat and general craziness of the boarding process.

We were twenty minutes into the flight when menus were delivered and drink orders taken. A Bloody Mary for seatmate and the same for me, thanks. Seatmate was involved in the bounty hunting business and currently was working with Dawg The Bounty Hunter while he and his team were filming in Hawaii. We had fun chatting about some of the more amusing people her team had brought to justice before finally turning our attention to the menus for tonight’s dinner service.

Hmm… these offerings look pretty good… What d’ya think? The Thai chicken or the pork chop?


DINNER
Honolulu to Oakland

Appetizer
Duck Spring Roll with Hoisin Sauce
Warm Hawaiian Sweet Roll

Choice of Entrees

Thai Barbecue Chicken
Curry Fried Rice
Sautéed Mixed Vegetables

Apple Glazed Pork Chop with Macadamia Nuts
Roasted Red Potatoes
Broccoli
Grilled Yellow and Red Peppers

Dessert
Hawaiian Bread Pudding


Although the drink orders were taken expeditiously, the rest of the service continued at a glacial pace. This was surprising because for the most part the flight was very smooth. We were 55 minutes into the flight before our drinks finally arrived. At least the mixed nuts were warm!

The spring roll appetizer was surprisingly large – especially by Alaska Airlines standards. It was also quite good, though both seatmate and I agreed that a bit more Hoisin sauce would have been nice – especially had it been presented in a small bowl for dipping.




Duck Spring Roll with Hoisin Sauce


So far as I know, the term “Piece de resistance” is generally reserved for the final course - dessert. Still, in both presentation and taste the Apple Glazed Pork Chop with Macadamia Nuts that we were served this evening was as attractive and tempting as any dessert I’ve ever been presented. Indeed, that pork chop just might qualify as the best main course I’ve ever been served on Alaska. Moist and flavorful with lots of Macadamia nut crumbles, it was a real masterpiece. Here’s hoping it goes undetected by Alaska’s ever so thrifty bean counters because it’s a decently sized portion and with all those macadamia nuts it’s got to be one of the more expensive entrées offered by Alaska. On the other hand, if word gets out that Alaska’s serving meals this good out of Honolulu, maybe they’ll start attracting a few more full fare F revenue customers on their flights out of Honolulu. Maybe…




Apple Glazed Pork Chop with Macadamia Nuts


Oh yeah, dessert – it was also very good. For me at least the key factor in a good bread pudding is that it’s moist. A very close second is that it’s also flavorful. Alaska scored well on both counts. The only downer was the accompanying coffee.




Hawaiian Bread Pudding


Once again I had asked for coffee and Bailey’s but this time it was presented on the cool side of tepid. How is it that last night I get a flight attendant who manages to serve us drinks and meals in a timely manner as well as present me not one but two piping hot coffees with Bailey’s while tonight I get a laggardly service and a luke warm cup of coffee? Based upon almost 5 million miles worth of flying – over one point three million of which have come aboard Alaska Airlines – my flight attendant tonight would appear to have been a slacker. It’s really unfortunate that people like this slip through the cracks because they ultimately besmirch the fine work of all those good people who do put forth the effort to provide a quality service. I wondered how his fellow flight attendants feel about inferior effort like this when they see it. Do any of them ever counsel guys like this to step up their game? I suppose I’m also guilty to some extent because I’m generally not one to write in a complaint about stuff like this unless it’s particularly egregious. That said, I can’t help but wonder how often Alaska follows up on customer complaints about the quality of a given individual’s service. Given how finicky and unrealistic some passengers can be when it comes to service, I suspect the airline takes many of these reports with a large grain of salt.

The remainder of the flight passed quickly. Pushed along by a stiff 60 knot tailwind, we cruised into Oakland twenty minutes early. Unfortunately Alaska’s gate is at the very end of a rather long concourse but I took a small measure of consolation when considering the exercise benefits. I hiked on down to the airport entrance where an old friend was waiting with his new Toyota Tacoma pick-up.


March 26, 2015
Alaska Airlines Oakland to Seattle 110p – 312p 737-900 Coach Class

Well it was a quick layover, but I got to sleep in an actual bed and was treated to a delicious fruit smoothie in the morning. Additionally, we’ll be getting together in a couple of weeks at the Dark Star Orchestra’s concert down in Paso Robles. More on that later though…

I was dropped off at BART’s Fremont station and – due to an electrical malfunction up by Hayward – barely made it to the Oakland Airport in time for my 1:10pm departure to Seattle. On a positive note – kind of – BART trains now go directly to the Oakland airport terminal. Unfortunately, the new connector train between the Oakland Coliseum and the Airport moves at the speed of a children’s amusement park ride and so my journey to the airport was a little slower than I’d anticipated. The old van service was probably 3-4 minutes faster.

Anyone here remember that old 70s Van McCoy disco hit “The Hustle!”? Whaaaat? Only five of youse?! Well that tune was reverberating about my head as I hustled my way on down the concourse to gate 14. My reward for arriving on time was ship 403, a shiny new 737-990ER that I’d not yet flown upon.

Some of you may recall that I log my flights. Part of that process includes noting the aircraft registrations. Well after having flown upon a good number of different aircraft from the same airline, it’s only natural that one might be curious as to how many of that airline’s aircraft one has actually flown. At least for me it is. It’s downright exhilarating to find out that I’ve finally flown every DC-10 in Continental’s fleet or every DC-8-71 in both Delta’s and United’s fleets. In Alaska’s case I’ve flown just about every aircraft in their fleet – all of the 737-400s, all the -700s and all but three of the -800s. There was a time that I’d flown all twelve of Alaska’s 737-900s but then they started taking delivery of their new -900ERs. Now I’ve flown 25 out of the total fleet of 35 737-900s. Collect them all, I say!

This flight was sold out and my flight attendant expressed surprise at finding a 75K way back in row 31. That’s how the cookie crumbles sometimes though. At least I had an aisle seat. Things improved considerably for me when upon arrival in Seattle I was able to cancel my reservation aboard the midnight flight to Chicago and rebook aboard a flight departing the next morning at the much more civilized hour of 8:30am. As such, I promptly booked myself a room at the Comfort Inn & Suites, thereby adding an additional 500 miles to my Amtrak Guest Rewards account.


March 27, 2015
Alaska Airlines Seattle to Chicago 830a – 227p 737-900 First Class
Amtrak Chicago to Indianapolis 550p – 1010p Hoosier State Coach Class

Woo-Hoo! Check off yet another 737-900 from the list of Alaska jets yet to be flown. I took my seat in 4D, gratefully accepted a cup of piping hot coffee and settled in for this three hour and twenty-two minute flight to the Windy City.

Seattle to Chicago rates Mid-con catering from Alaska which on this day translated to a plate of scrambled eggs with chicken link sausage and grits. A small cherry tomato half accented the scrambled eggs. Missing was any form of breakfast bread. Apparently it’s not catered as part of the mid-con breakfast service, so remind me to bring along a bagel or a biscuit next time I’m flying this route in the morning.




Alaska’s MidCon Scrambled Eggs Breakfast


Plates were cleared and a fresh cup of coffee was delivered. Seatmate was wrapped up in his movie and due to cloud cover there was nothing to see out my window. What better time to put in some work on a lengthy trip report than when cruising high above “Fly Over” country? Especially when it’s cloudy. Let’s do it!

Having authored seventy-two of these things – and some pretty long ones at that – I can tell you on good authority that one of the most important ingredients to a successful trip report writing campaign is diligence. Take advantage of those times when there’s nothing better to do and get to work on that report! In my case I’ve got a bit of an advantage in that I actually like to write. Not everyone does. I look at some of the reports posted here on FlyerTalk and sometimes it takes only a few paragraphs before I’m left with the overwhelming suspicion that all the author really wants to do is show off that they were flying First Class on XYZ Airlines. That’s not to say that most readers here are necessarily put off by a motive so simplistic a and self-serving but, if the primary passion in writing an accounting of your flight is “Look at me!” rather than a sincere appreciation for experiencing and describing the myriad vicissitudes of international standard premium class service, it really shows up in the quality of the writing and/or the photographs. At least to me it does.

Another nasty side effect of not fully committing to the task of trip reporting is that the author starts off full of vim and vigor but then slowly fades as the actual act of writing and reporting become more and more of an unwelcome chore. But then really, how many guys especially ever really sit down and write anything more intensive than a grocery list these days? Some of us do, sure, but a lot more of us don’t. Especially when it’s about something that carries as much geek stigma as describing your First Class service or transcribing a menu. At this point a lot of these folks will just muddle through the rest of the report or worse – not even bother to finish it.

Therein lies the strategy behind my approach to trip reporting. Today is April 2nd. As I sit here writing this while speeding across the arid plains of West Texas, none of you are even aware that I’m writing this report. That being the case, in the unlikely event of a loss of cabin pressure or if for whatever other reason I might decide to bag this report, none of you would ever be any the wiser. Truth be known, I have scuttled two or three domestic reports that just didn’t feel like they were translating nicely into a trip report. But again, because they weren’t incremental, nobody was left disappointed.

Of course by submitting my reports all at once I lose out on all those ego boosting “Atta boy” comments that come with an incremental report, but then most of those comments say little more than “Really loving your report so far! Can’t wait ‘til the next installment!”. Don’t get me wrong here - the fact that anyone would feel moved enough by my style of writing and/or reporting to actually take the time to write a comment of any type is very much appreciated but for me at least the most treasured comments come from those who have actually committed to reading most or all of my report and – after all that - still feel it was worthy of a comment.

(Author's Note: As to the above four paragraphs which were written back when I was still current - I leave them in there solely for entertainment value given that this report wasn't finally completed until seven months after the last flight was flown.)

* * * --- * * *

Drink glasses were collected and trip reports put on hold as we descended through a cold and clear Illinois sky to a smooth touchdown on one of O’Hare’s more distant runways. Following a good ten minute taxi into our gate at L-8, I commenced the long journey up the length of the concourse to the main terminal, then downstairs and halfway across the building to the escalator down to the people mover walkway that took us under the arrivals road and ended at the CTA’s O’Hare terminus, itself located across the street from the O’Hare Hilton. It’s maybe a half mile walk.

There are quite a few people who for any number of reasons (too much baggage, discomfort with using public transit, etc.) will pay $28.00 or more to go into downtown Chicago via taxi or limousine. To each their own I reckon but for just $5.00 and 45 minutes of my time the CTA train delivered me to within two blocks of Chicago’s Union Station. The money saved went toward purchasing an electric heating pad and a nice burrito in the Union Station food court.

Amtrak’s Hoosier State is essentially a reserved seat commuter train operating between Chicago and Indianapolis. Aside from a comfortable reclining seat, there were no dining or beverage services available on board. For the short three hour ride down to Lafayette it was just fine, leaving on time and arriving into Lafayette ten minutes early.