This June, my family had a "split" vacation. I was getting tired of visiting my mother-in-law and father-in-law (e.g., ant infestation and a fleabag untrained dog). My wife doesn't like to fly, and UA was having their Fly Three Fly Free Fly Six Fly First promotion.

I got two coach award tickets on Delta for my wife and four year old to fly to DFW, and the two older kids and I went on a vacation that consisted mostly of flying. The kids like flying as much as I do, so it worked out great.

When I took my wife and four year old to GSP, the kiosk told us to go to the AA counter. Rather than blindly follow the instructions of a machine, I wanted to speak with a Delta agent. She kept trying to get rid of us, saying that AA would get her to DFW hours sooner, but I finally extracted the information I was looking for -- the Delta flight was overbooked, and Delta had "volunteered" them for bumping. I got two vouchers of 200 Delta dollars each but managed to destroy them along with an additional $170 a couple of weeks ago. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...eferrerid=3677

A few days later, we left home at 4:00 PM for our trip. First stop was about three hours later at the Waffle House off I-95 in Beaufort, SC. Mmmmmm delicious. http://www.pbase.com/image/30773039

Next stop was a rest area somewhere in north Florida. http://www.pbase.com/image/30773040

Here I am driving the car while the kids sleep: http://www.pbase.com/image/30773042 Thank goodness for CD's, or I would have gone nuts driving for hours on end at night with no one to talk to.

At 3:30 AM we arrived at Orlando International Airport (I didn't need any of the slack time I built into our schedule). Here are the kids in the terminal: http://www.pbase.com/image/30773044

We took a 757 to ATL (it was a 767 when we booked; Song pulldown?) and ate breakfast at Popeye's: http://www.pbase.com/image/30773045

We waltzed over to concourse C for our flight to TYS: http://www.pbase.com/image/30773047

Yes, I realize that stopping in TYS is not necessary in order to fly from MCO to LAX, but we had all day long to fly there. ATL-TYS is on an ATR-72 turboprop, seen here: http://www.pbase.com/image/30773048 , which is kinda fun and yields a few more SkyMiles and MQM's (and 150% Great Offer mileage bonus for me).

Here's a view from the plane getting closer to TYS: http://www.pbase.com/image/30773052

And the TYS terminal: http://www.pbase.com/image/30773053

We had a 3.5 hour layover, so we walked over to the hotel next door http://www.pbase.com/image/30773058 and ate lunch at Cooper's. It's a decent restaurant. http://www.pbase.com/image/30773056

Next was the CRJ to CVG (unfortunately, you can't backtrack to ATL, so we had to take the uncomfortable plane out of TYS ). View from the bus from concourse C to B: http://www.pbase.com/image/30773062

The next flight was a 757 to SAN. Lucky for us, it was overbooked in coach and still had room in First Class, so the three of us were operationally upgraded. Too bad the kids slept through the whole flight. http://www.pbase.com/image/30773063

Over the desert southwest: http://www.pbase.com/image/30773064

Here we are waiting for the bus to the commuter terminal (it sure seemed cold that day considering it was June): http://www.pbase.com/image/30773065

Here is the American Eagle Saab 340 turboprop (Delta codeshare) headed for LAX: http://www.pbase.com/image/30773069

SAN commuter terminal International First Class departure lounge http://www.pbase.com/image/30773070

We were assigned the last row of the plane (no advanced seat assignments booked this way). Usually the last row is the most fun on a turboprop. Unfortunately, this flight was smooth as glass, so it didn't make any difference. http://www.pbase.com/image/30773073

It was cloudy that day: http://www.pbase.com/image/30773074

This is a view from my seat, which has, by far, the most legroom of any plane on which I have flown. It's like the last row of a city bus, where you are facing forward but there is no seat in front of you, because it's the aisle (no lavatory or anything else in the back). http://www.pbase.com/image/30773076


We walked to the LAX Radisson and spent the night; pretty good deal for $82 plus tax. The next morning we took the shuttle bus to LAX http://www.pbase.com/image/30773104 , which probably took longer than walking, since we sat on the bus for 10 minutes before leaving.


UA promo run (two days). On day 1, we took 7 flights on TED between LAX and LAS. On day 2 we took 5 TED flights.

Except for the last layover, every 50-60 minute layover during these two days involved the same aircraft. We used the same gate (81) at LAX every time except for one flight. In LAS, on the other hand, we used lots of different gates. Why that is I have no idea.

When I bought the tickets for day 1, I chose the first flight and the last flight of the day, and spread the remaining flights evenly over the course of the day. The reason is to avoid misconnecting (i.e., one hour layover but not the same aircraft) by flying standby on an earlier flight whenever possible.

On every flight, I chose row 19 when booking (wide open at that time). I switched between port and starboard for each round trip (i.e., port to LAS, port to LAX, starboard to LAS, starboard to LAX, port to LAS, etc.)

I can't provide a lot of details differentiating each flight because they are all exactly the same except for Channel 9. That is one thing where I wish UA were consistent.

UA1480 LAX-LAS departing 7:00 AM
UA1483 LAS-LAX departing 8:55 AM
UA1484 LAX-LAS departing 10:45 AM; standby two hours earlier and sat in row 26
UA1487 LAS-LAX departing 1:45 PM; standby two hours earlier and sat in row 7 (E+)
UA1488 LAX-LAS departing 3:40 PM; standby two hours earlier and sat in row 7 (E+)
UA1491 LAS-LAX departing 6:34 PM; standby 2.5 hours earlier and sat in row 17
UA1497 LAX-LAS departing 10:10 PM

So, that worked out nicely. Every flight was available for standby, and we ate at In 'N Out burger near LAX in the late afternoon.

Here are the photos: (I don't remember exactly which photo was for which flight, but it doesn't really matter as they're all the same)

Here are the photos:

http://www.pbase.com/image/30773107 TED flight
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773108 TED flight
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773109 TED flight
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773110 TED flight
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773111 TED flight
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773112 (you can see that one was taken from an E+ seat)
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773113 LAS terminal
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773114 LAS kiddie play area
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773115 LAS construction
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773116 what the heck are they building? a hotel?
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773117 same
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773118 LAS kiddie play area
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773119 LAS kiddie play area
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773121 LAX terminal 6 outdoor patio
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773123 night arrival to LAS

We spent the night in the D-gates terminal of LAS. I didn't see any great hotel deals like $35/night at the Excalibur (it was a Monday night, so I don't know what was going on). Besides, we had only 7 hours between flights, and I didn't really want to deal with morning LAS security lines. Sleeping in the airport is free.

http://www.pbase.com/image/30773124 one child awake (for now) and one asleep

We borrowed an airline blanket and pillow from the last flight. If you put a couple of shirts on the floor, lay down on them, lay your head on a pillow, and put the blanket on top of yourself, you have a decent bed.

http://www.pbase.com/image/30773125 next morning
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773126 kiddie play area again
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773128 both days we went from cloudy Los Angeles to sunny Las Vegas
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773129 approaching LAX runway 25L
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773130 approaching LAX runway 25L
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773131 LAX terminal
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773132 UA/Star Alliance 767
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773134 TED at gate 81
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773135 TED at gate 81
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773142 TED flight
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773143 TED flight
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773146 approaching LAX runway 25L
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773147 same
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773148 same
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773149 same
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773150 spoilers extended
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773151 eating at In 'N Out Burger
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773155 view from In 'N Out of planes headed for LAX runway 24R
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773162 walking back to LAX
http://www.pbase.com/image/30773164 took the bus from terminal 1 to 5 since we had time to burn

On the last flight from LAX to LAS (i.e., next to last UA flight overall), we were delayed at the gate for about 45 minutes. At first the pilot didn't tell us very much, but at least he did say that he would provide more details after take-off.

15 minutes after take-off, the pilot did come on the PA to give us details. It turns out a passenger on our flight showed his Swiss Army knife to the crew. Of course, they had to call TSA so they can waste more tax dollars questioning a man who was obviously not a terrorist (hello, would a terrorist show off his weapon?)

Thank goodness the days of evacuating the plane and the whole terminal upon finding one knife are behind us. The pilot ended his announcement with a damn good statement; we need to duplicate him 1000 times and install them in the TSA:

"If you find that you've brought a knife on board, please don't show it to us."