Part 0. AUS - SFO positioning, afternoon in SF, plus bonus train evacuation!
Since I was interested in trying out the VS 787 and was paying for the ticket, I decided to depart from the west coast instead of the east. Not only was the timing better, but the ticket was also cheaper than any of the NYC-area departures (and would also net me a few extra miles through Delta). So, off I go!
I took United’s early morning flight to SFO. This gave me an opportunity to spend an afternoon in the city, plus would give me ample padding in case things started to go south at SFO due to their ongoing storms.
Austin’s Bergstrom International Airport is still one of my favorite airports. I admit that might be because of the hometown bias - but it’s also compact, nice and airy. As far as I know, it’s also the only airport in the US which serves decent breakfast tacos. (Get “Pete’s tacos” from Maudies near the main security checkpoint. You won’t regret it.)
——————————
UA 868 - Austin to San Francisco - Airbus A319
I had some extra miles kicking around in my MileagePlus account so this flight was a one-way reward in economy.
I have literally nothing to report about this flight. It’s United in economy. You can put yourself in my shoes by imagining that time you got really bored in your doctor’s waiting room and you got that chair that’s a bit lumpy. On the plus side, the stroopwafels were good.
Also, doctors don’t give you a nice view of the Sierra Nevada out the window.
——————————
11 hours in San Francisco
SFO is nice as it provides reliable (but expensive) luggage storage. I dropped some bags after landing and hopped on a BART to the city. The day’s forecast was gusty winds and heavy rain throughout the day, so my original plans to explore the Presidio and walk across the Golden Gate Bridge were mostly shot. Little did I know that was going to be the least of my problems…
Dim sum to go at Good Mong Kok Bakery. Highly recommended, you can get away with an enormous lunch for $5.
It really was that grey and rainy.
Five minutes before I got soaked head to toe. Whoops.
Still a couple hours to kill before heading back to SFO, so I parked myself at a cafe and joined the faceless army of MacBook-holders colonizing downtown coffee shops. I also had the pleasure of overhearing one of the most Bay Area conversations ever (“…yes, but what about Bitcoin?”)
——————————
An unexpected train evacuation
I hopped back on the BART downtown and squeezed myself into the throng of commuters. We were making good time towards SFO, until…
*bang*
*crunch*
*emergency brake*
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/articl...e-10849039.php
Oops. Well, looks like I wasn’t getting to the airport early. According to the operator, a tree fell on one of the cabs and smashed through a window. Parts also wedged themselves under the train and meant that, well… the train wasn’t going anywhere soon.
Eventually, power was cut to the train and a solution was devised: operations would back up another train to ours, we would walk through the damaged train to the new one, and it would decouple and shuttle us through the rest of the line.
An orderly evacuation.
All in all, I encountered about a 90 minute delay, which is better than I was expecting when I learned our train was damaged. Props to the operator and BART, they handled the situation as well as anyone could hope.
I arrived at SFO at T-30, but luckily the weather had delayed the inbound aircraft meaning I had arrived at T-90. It's great how that works out some times!