Here I Go Again
I had one week of work in Houston before I was heading to Hong Kong. With my schedule, any time I can spend at home is precious. Having a solid week at home is nearly unheard of for me. Heck, even having more two consecutive full days at home is rare. Just a year or two ago, I thought spending this much time on the road would be a blast. Now that I’m a little older, I’m starting value the time I can spend at home more and more. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy traveling and love my job, but the daily grind wears on me a lot more than it used to.
The things I miss while on the road are kind of funny. Of course, I miss spending time with my family, friends, and my dogs. But it’s the little things. Like cooking. Many of the towns I frequent for work aren’t exactly culinary hotspots. So I do live off the usual collection of road litter quite a bit. It’s definitely not the tastiest nor healthiest lifestyle. Even when I do get to go to places with a better selection of restaurants, eating out gets tiring. So when I get home, I actually prefer to cook. This go around, I tried my hand at making sushi. While this was my first attempt making it, I thought it turned out pretty well for the most part.
The week passed far too quickly. Fortunately, my employer allows me to work from home, which helps maximize my limited time at home. It was quite nice to not have to unpack and immediately repack, but when Saturday rolled around it was time for me drag my trusty roll aboard out and pack again. Though, packing for vacation is far more fun than packing for work.
Just before I retired for the evening, I did a quick check of the United app to see if there were any interesting Same Day Confirm options, which I can take advantage of at no charge thanks to my Premier Gold status. And there was. My current itinerary had me departing Houston at midmorning and then connecting in San Francisco for Hong Kong. One of the Same Day Confirm options would take from Houston to San Francisco, via Denver, before connecting to the same flight to Hong Kong. I have never flown from either the Houston to Denver or Denver to San Francisco routes before. While tempting, it wasn’t enough for me to wake up nearly four hours earlier for. What sealed the deal for me was that the Houston to Denver leg was operated by one of United’s new Boeing 787-9s. I had flown the shorter -8 variant of the 787 earlier in the year, but I haven’t flown on the stretched -9. I also figured, with 48 Business Class seats (sold as First Class on domestic flights), I have a much better short at an upgrade. My original Houston to San Francisco flight was already sold out in First Class several days prior. So I made the change. My sister was my ride to the airport. When I told her of my earlier departure time, she mumbled something to the effect of “you’re a effing idiot”. But she was a good sport and dropped me off at the airport at the unpleasant hour of 6 AM.
I was unable to obtain mobile boarding passes for my new itinerary through the app, and the kiosk wasn’t in the mood to deal with me either. Luckily, there was a United rep nearby so I flagged her down and explained the situation. After tapping away for a few minutes, she raised her brow and said she would have to call the help desk, which is never a good sign. It took nearly 20 minutes, but the agent was finally able to print my boarding passes and tag my bag all the way to Hong Kong.
It was then off to security. The line was already quite long when I arrived at the terminal, and by the time I got my boarding passes it stretched the length of the terminal. There was no Precheck or even a Premier Access line available. I stayed in line for a minute or so, but it didn’t move a flipping inch.
By this time, I only had 15 minutes before boarding began. Rather than just standing there, I decided to double back to Terminal C where hopefully the security lines would be shorter. A few other people had the same idea and followed me to the interterminal train. Though the line was also long at Terminal C, there was a Pre Check lane and Premier Access lane open, so I was through in a matter of minutes. Had I waited in the Terminal E line, I’m sure I would still be waiting now.
United Airlines 1030
Houston Intercontinental to Denver
Depart: 7:25 AM
Arrive: 8:58 AM
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9
Seat: 4D (First Class)
It was a hike back to Terminal E, but I made it to the gate just before Group 3 was invited to board. I boarded and took my surprisingly comfortable Economy Plus seat. Just a few minutes later, the gate agent came and gave me a boarding pass for 1D, which I had no complaints about. But when I got to the front of the plane, 1D was already taken. However, 4D was open, so I just setup shop there after conferring with a flight attendant for a moment. The cabin was already full when I got there, so here are a couple of shots of the Business Class seat from my earlier United 787-8 flight. The seats are identical on both variants.
The only difference between the seats on United’s -8 and -9 787s is that the IFE controller on the -9 is touchscreen.
Waiting at my seat was a pillow, blanket, and set of headphones.
The seat itself was very comfortable and well padded. I’d even venture to say it is even more comfortable for sitting than the Cirrus Business Class seats on American’s 777-300ER, if you overlook the aisle access issues for the window seat occupant on United’s configuration.
Take off was smooth and quiet, and service started with hot towels a few minutes after we climbed through 10,000 feet. One of my pet peeves about American is the crappy little gauze pads they pass off as hot towels, even in international business class. Even United uses real towels in domestic First Class.
I started off breakfast with coffee and orange juice. I love a good a cup of black coffee. But a good cup of coffee this most certainly is not. I really had doctor it with a metric crap ton of sugar and creamer to make it somewhat passable.
Breakfast options were the same as my last ten breakfast flights with United. It was either scrambled eggs with sausage, asparagus, and potatoes or cereal. My first choice was the cereal. But as a lowly Gold on an upgrade, I was the low man on the totem pole as United prioritizes meal choices upfront by status. So I got the eggs, which were of the Holiday Inn Express reconstituted egg variety. At least the sausage, asparagus, and fruit were good.
I chose a croissant from the breadbasket, which was fine though it lacked flakiness one would expect from a croissant.
Service throughout meal service was fine, though not particularly friendly or attentive. Though it’s been nearly 6 years since the merger was announced and 4 years since it closed, the crew on this flight made it clears on several occasions they were a proud Continental crew. I’m not sure what they were so proud about. Service was fine during the meal service, but the flight attendants pulled a disappearing act afterwards. By virtue of living in Houston, I’ve flown Continental a number of times over the years. I’ve never been overly impressed, nor disappointed. That said, there are many people in Houston that still hold Continental on a very high pedestal. And there are quite a few over in the Mileage Plus forum that hold premerger United high regard as well. I have encountered good and bad crews from both sides of the aisle. In other words, it is like the US airline industry as a whole consistently inconsistent.
We parked at the gate in Denver a few minutes early. I had a little over an hour before my flight San Francisco, so I decided check out the nearby United Club. It was very “meh” at best. The lounge was pretty small and unimpressive, considering it was a hub location. Food offerings were still breakfast and included pastries, oatmeal, and cereals. However, many of the items were in need of replenishing and there were crumbs and spills everywhere, including on the buffet. At least the view was pretty nice, which I enjoyed while sipping another cup of coffee.
United Airlines 268
Denver to San Francisco
Depart: 10:03 AM
Arrive: 11:48 AM
Aircraft: Boeing 757-200
Seat: 14A (Economy Plus)
I left the United Club just a few minutes before boarding was scheduled to begin as my flight to San Francisco was slated to depart from a gate just below the club. For some unknown reason, United insists on boarding all mainline flights 45 minutes prior to scheduled departure time. Just about all other airlines in the US boards at 30 minute before departure. I can’t recall a single United flight the past few years that actually departed early.
Knowing Denver to San Francisco is a very elite heavy route, I didn’t expect an upgrade on this segment. My expectations were on point as I ended up number 39 on the upgrade list. Operating this flight was a Boeing 757-200, which is a nice departure from the monotony of yet another 737 or member of A320 family and it is also one of my favorite commercial aircraft.
I love old aircraft interiors. Why? Because they don’t have those crappy paper thin slimline seats, and therefore have sufficient padding. Thanks to my status, I was able to select an extra legroom Economy Plus seat for free which made for a comfortable ride.
We pushed back a couple of minutes late, but I didn’t mind as I had a rather nice view of the surrounding mountains and the tarmac, including the beautiful 787-9 that brought me from Houston.
We hit quite a few bumps on climb out, as is typical when crossing any mountain range. The ride did eventually smooth out.
With an early start that morning, I was pretty tired and conked out for most of the flight. The gentle thump of the main landing gear locking in down position woke me up just a minute or two from landing in San Francisco. After another short taxi, we parked at the gate in San Francisco. I have flown out of San Francisco quite a bit over the last couple of years. But usually I’m flying from the excellent Terminal 2, which I maintain is the best terminal in the United States. Since I was flying United, we arrived at Terminal 3, which isn’t bad either. One of the best features of Terminal 3 is the airside walkway to the International Terminal which negates the need to reclear security, which can be a pain at the International Terminal at peak hours.
The walkway conveniently dumped me right in from the United Club, where a line snaked out into the terminal. I glanced toward the security checkpoint and decided that the United Club line wasn’t so bad after all in comparison. What was pretty bad was the interior of the United Club. There were dirty plates stacked on every table and crumbs everywhere. And lounge was packed to the gills. The lounge staff was hard at work, but they just couldn’t keep up with the volume of passengers. With several Star Alliance transpacific flights leaving within the next hour or two, it was expected the lounge would be busy. Shame on United for not adequately staffing the lounge during a period of known high volume. I tried looking for a free seat, but I gave up after a couple of minutes. Roughing in the terminal was a far better idea as I only had about 20 minutes before boarding began at this point.
United Airlines 869
San Francisco to Hong Kong
Depart: 1:30 PM
Arrive: 8:05 PM
Aircraft: Boeing 747-400
Seat: 24H (Economy Plus)
I didn’t realize that this particular leg was operated by a 747-400 when I booked my ticket. Nevertheless, I was quite happy to snag another flight on the original jumbo jet. United’s 747-400s have a rather vintage feel to them in economy, eschewing individual IFE screens for overhead displays. Fortunately, I had a fully charged MacBook Air and iPad loaded with plenty of content, so I was set entertainment wise for this over 15 hour flight.
My Premier Gold status allowed me to select an extra legroom Economy Plus aisle seat free of charge in advance, even on my el cheapo fare. When I booked this ticket three weeks before departure, the seat map showed the flight being wide open in economy. In fact, I was the only person in this row when I selected my seat. Knowing the seat map isn’t the most accurate indicator of the flight load, I checked Expert Flyer and confirmed this flight was indeed wide open. Fast forward to check in, the flight was still showing wide open though someone had selected the window seat, dashing my dream of having the entire row to myself. Sure enough, Mr. Window Seat shows up midway through boarding. But the seat map still showed the middle seat as open. I refreshed the seat map every other minute during the boarding process, pleading to the man upstairs to keep the seat unoccupied.
The flow of boarding passengers slowed to a trickle, and the seat next to me was still unoccupied. Ok. This is a good sign, but it ain’t over until the boarding door is closed. Ten long minutes later, the boarding door closed and there was still no one next to me. I spiritually fist bumped the man upstairs, and Mr. Window Seat and I exchanged knowing glances. Between the extra leg and elbow room and the well padded old style seat, I felt like I had a better deal than the poor guy who shelled out $6,000 for a seat in the dreaded eight across Business Class cabin.
Scheduled departure time came and went, and we were still parked at the gate. The captain came on the PA a few minutes later and gave the usual welcome aboard, weather, and routing spiel followed by some bad news and good news. The reason for the delay was to take on extra fuel to combat stronger than usual headwinds, which would cause us to arrive in Hong Kong over an hour late. The (really) good news, at least for the avgeeks on board, was that Channel 9 would be turned on after pushback. For those of you unfamiliar with Channel 9, it is a legacy United feature which pipes audio from the aircraft’s radios into the passenger audio system through, of course, channel numero 9. True to his word, Channel 9 was indeed active after the tug began pushing our mammoth aircraft back. This was the first flight in several years I’ve gotten to enjoy Channel 9.
We were finally holding short of runway over 30 minutes after pushing back, as it seemed like the entire early afternoon bank of flights, including a bunch of heavies, was departing at the same time. I had dozed off while we were taxiing, but I jerked awake when I heard the tower controller say, “Lufthansa 454 Super, cleared to land 28 right.” That was followed by the distinctive rumble of engines spooling down and the loud “whoosh” of massive volume of air being displaced a short time later. Unfortunately, Mr. Window Seat had shut the shade, so missed out on a great up close glimpse, and potentially a great picture, of Lufthansa’s Whale Jet landing.
Once the Lufthansa A380 was clear of the runway, we were cleared for take off. After a take off roll of nearing 60 seconds, we were steadily gaining altitude and heading toward vast blue expanses of the Pacific Ocean. I fired up my laptop once we climbed through 10,000 feet. In anticipation of the release of the latest Star Wars trilogy, I purchased the first six movies on iTunes. I figured a nearly 15 hour flight without AVOD would be as good as time as any to get reacquainted with the treasured series.
Lunch was served a little over an hour after take off. The crew was very friendly and efficient, and got everyone fed in short order. As usual, meal options were chicken or noodles. I went with the chicken dish, which was teriyaki chicken and fried rice. It was fine. The salad was fresh, and I really appreciated the roll was warm and soft. Cheese and crackers rounded out the meal tray.
A carton of gelato was offered for dessert, along with a bottle of water.
Overall, the meal was fine, but nothing special. In other words, exactly what I expect to get in economy. The portion was a bit small, but I suppose eating light would probably be the best course of action given the long flight.
Rubbish was cleared promptly after the meal service, and I settled in for the long flight. I alternated between napping and watching Star Wars. By the time I wrapped up Return of the Jedi, it was time for the midflight service. Not too long ago, the bean counters on Whacker Drive decided providing a gratis midflight snack in the back of the bus wasn’t cost effective. The solution was to sell the same snack boxes available on domestic flights in lieu of the midflight snack. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t consider buying a box but I was pretty hungry after the not so filling lunch. So I bit the bullet and bought a box. Interestingly, the flight attendants were apologetic when coming around hawking the snack boxes. I’m sure they bore the brunt of customer dissatisfaction when the change was implemented.
I’m not too crazy about Episodes I through III, so I switched over to the second season of House of Cards for my entertainment needs. The use of the internet as a medium for broadcasting televisions has been a boon, as it allows for content producers to really reach their target audience. As a result, some really great shows have been produced the last couple of years, including the fantastic political thriller House of Cards. I can’t say I was the biggest fan of Kevin Spacey before. However, he really has been fantastic in the role of the ruthless Francis Underwood, and probably half the reason to watch House of Cards.
The second meal was served about 90 minutes before landing. On offer was stir-fried noodles or an omelet. I went with the latter, and it was actually good and tasted like it was made from real eggs. The roll was soft and warm, and the butter melted. I wish I had paid attention before I opened the butter packet as I ended up making a mess. The butter fiasco aside, it was a very good meal all things considered.
Trays were being cleared by the time we reached the top of the decent. While Channel 9 was downright boring cruising over the Pacific, things really heated up once we neared Hong Kong. One thing of note was the number of female voices I heard on the airwaves. All of the approach controllers and tower controller were female, as were the communicating pilots of an Eva Airways and a China Airlines flight. I say this because the aviation industry is still very much a male dominated industry, even in the United States. It’s good to see, or in this case “hear”, women are getting more opportunities in the industry around the world.
We ended up pulling up to the gate a little over an hour late. It was a long walk to the immigration hall which was expected given the hour. But the line moved quickly, as is the norm at Hong Kong, and luggage was already on the belt by the time I cleared immigration.
Overall, I was quite pleased with United. This was the first time I’ve flown them longhaul, in any class, in probably 20 years. The food was actually pretty good, and the service actually friendly. I didn’t appreciate having to pay for the midflight service, but I knew this going in and I was prepared for it. The seat and the rest of the hard product were fine. While some might bemoan the lack of AVOD, I’ll gladly trade that for a more comfortable seat. Overall, I was quite pleased, especially given the price I paid for the ticket.
Last edited by dat4life; Jun 7, 2016 at 9:51 pm