(August 2022 cont.)
8/19/2022 Friday LAX-SFO-LAX
WN2675 LAX-SFO B737 $32.22
WN2641 SFO-LAX B737 $41.22
Leave home 420am
Car Parked 446am
Reach Airport 501am
Flight Departs 556am
Flight Arrives 720am
BART Departs 743am
BART Arrives 1017am
Arrive Class 1032am
Leave Class 329pm
BART Departs 344pm
BART Arrives 430pm
Flight Departs 923pm
Flight Arrives 1040pm
Airport Landside 1049pm
Reach Parking Lot 1127pm
Arrive Home 1201am
This morning I tried to pull the same trick, but ticket counter told me co-terminal changes are not allowed, so I'm stuck on my original 6am LAX-SFO flight.
I like how LCCs make air travel more affordable..
Riding bus to school since I had some extra time, except that the bus stop is so hard to find, almost made you feel they designed it that way to discourage people from riding buses..
Yeah that's the bus stop..
Brunch in downtown SF
Shrimp and grits, very tasty
Dinner with friend in Union City to celebrate the end of my 2 week bootcamp classes which I commuted everyday. I was on the 935pm OAK-LAX flight, since there was minor delay, I called WN and made a SDC for the 905pm SFO-LAX flight, agent helped me grab the last seat.
San Mateo-Hayward Bridge
Why did I SDC to SFO-LAX? Well, the answer is obvious: salt&straw ice-cream!
Rushed to the gate moments before boarding, completely full flight today.
Luckily as "A61" I got exit row window.
Traffic on the 105 at 11pm on a Friday night? Who would've expected that!
Did I mention that friend made another shirt for me? This time it's WN
. Love it!
8/22/2022 Monday LAX-SFO-LAX
WN2675 LAX-SFO B737 $35.22
UA1978 SFO-LAX B739 $18.60
Leave home 404am
Car Parked 428am
Reach Airport 441am
Flight Departs 554am
Flight Arrives 703am
BART Departs 727am
BART Arrives 837am
Arrive Class 900am
Leave Class 554pm
BART Departs 614pm
BART Arrives 732pm
Flight Departs 813pm
Flight Arrives 942pm
Airport Landside 949pm
Reach Parking Lot 1013pm
Arrive Home 1041pm
Still flying WN today, actually I was on the 745am LAX-OAK but I need to reach campus by 9am for our department orientation, the 5am and 6am LAX-OAK were both full, which was insane. Luckily a helpful agent rebooked me on the 6am LAX-SFO, taking the last seat.
Exit row again!
Sunrise
two AS jets with special livery at SFO
BART cancelled my train again.. What a surprise!
Back to school, back to school..
Reached campus right when the event started!
Never say no to feel lunch since I'm a broke college student again
Booked UA basic economy on the 1035pm flight to use my two $25 UA credit as IHG card holder, cleared standby for the 817pm UA1978.
No PTV but no complaints! And I got E+ for free!
Landing LAX, I always keep an eye on the traffic conditions on 110/710/105 and decide which one to use on the way back..
8/23/2022 Tuesday SNA-SFO-SNA
AS3450 SNA-SFO E175 $5.60+5000 AS miles
AS3319 SFO-SNA E175 $5.60+5000 AS miles
Leave home 850am
Car Parked 959am
Reach Airport 1002am
Flight Departs 1110am
Flight Arrives 1242pm
BART Departs 132pm
BART Arrives 240pm
Arrive Class 253pm
Leave Class 332pm
BART Departs 347pm
BART Arrives 636pm
Flight Departs 852pm
Flight Arrives 1015pm
Airport Landside 1018pm
Reach Parking Lot 1020pm
Arrive Home 1057pm
Today was rather a mistake, I decided to go to campus because of an 1hr orientation session which I thought would be useful.. What a disappointment.
Flying out of SNA, so I visited admirals club shortly before boarding.
I didn't get UG since this was a very last minute decision to go to campus, but I'm happy enough to enjoy premium class legroom.
Flying over Palo Alto
Photo shooting in SFO lounge?
Ginger beer as always!
You know school starts when the bus is full.
I didn't realize they have double decker in bay area too.
Since my return flight doesn't depart until 9pm and this event ended like 330pm, I decided to visit Japantown and have some ramen.
Yummy!
Riding 4X daily bus 398 to SFO to save money instead of taking BART..
Barbacoa at SFO lounge again!
AS3319 SFO-SNA back home
8/24/2022 Wednesday LAX-SFO/OAK-LAX
UA581 LAX-SFO A320 $18.60
WN651 OAK-LAX B737 $5.60+1361 WN points
Leave home 416am
Car Parked 441am
Reach Airport 500am
Flight Departs 551am
Flight Arrives 714am
BART Departs 814am
BART Arrives 935am
Arrive Class 950am
Leave Class 157pm
BART Departs 211pm
BART Arrives 307pm
Flight Departs 405pm
Flight Arrives 518pm
Airport Landside 521pm
Reach Parking Lot 557pm
Arrive Home 726pm
I decided to weigh myself before boarding, and let's see how much weight I would gain/lose by the time I graduate as the result of this crazy commute..
Flying UA feels like cheating on AS, but I need to use my $25 travel credit so..
BASIC ECONOMY MINUS!
Arriving SFO
Riding BART to school
First day of official instruction begins, the bus was packed, and it even skipped stops, leaving frustrated students stranded..
None of them got on the bus
Coming back, I made a SDC trying to catch the 355pm OAK-LAX flight since my class ended at 2pm.
Empty flight
Bulkhead aisle again. I love WN.
I don't like the traffic on 105 and costco gas line though..
8/26/2022 Friday LAX-SFO-LAX
AS3342 LAX-SFO E175 $5.60+5000 AS miles
AS3308 SFO-LAX E175 $48.60
Leave home 423am
Car Parked 449am
Reach Airport 514am
Flight Departs 555am
Flight Arrives 726am
BART Departs 817am
BART Arrives 929am
Arrive Class 939am
Leave Class 101pm
BART Departs 107pm
BART Arrives 328pm
Flight Departs 508pm
Flight Arrives 639pm
Airport Landside 645pm
Reach Parking Lot 705pm
Arrive Home 753pm
The renovated gate 64B at LAX T6 is almost ready
Some new chairs and tables at LAX AS lounge to increase capacity
Ginger beer at SFO as always
Friday 8am SFO traffic, so glad I don't have to deal with this
BART going full force on fare enforcement..
They even held the train for 5 minutes to check everyone's ticket, thankfully I wasn't late for class because of that.
Taking transbay bus on the way back when I heard there was a shooting in BART at Lake Merritt.
Honestly I am a bit tired of those offerings since I eat them around 3 times a week, but free food right
a busy Friday afternoon at SFO
AS3308 SFO-LAX
New packaging for Peatos?!
LA wished me a happy weekend with this crazy Friday night traffic..
8/29/2022 Monday LAX-SFO-LAX
AS3342 LAX-SFO E175 $19.85
AS3435 SFO-LAX E175 $5.60+5000 AS miles
Leave home 422am
Car Parked 446am
Reach Airport 507am
Flight Departs 557am
Flight Arrives 739am
BART Departs 820am
BART Arrives 923am
Arrive Class 936am
Leave Class 330pm
BART Departs 344pm
BART Arrives 554pm
Flight Departs 614pm
Flight Arrives 740pm
Airport Landside 753pm
Reach Parking Lot 804pm
Arrive Home 904pm
LAX Shuttle G has some new buses, yet the frequency is still unreliable.
I'm a bit surprised the terminal was this empty, maybe summer peak travel has come to an end?
LAX departure board
Some quick breakfast at LAX AS lounge
I boarded a bit late and this happened, hello is anyone there?
I fell asleep right after seated. When I woke up during final approach into SFO, a chocolate bar was placed on my armrest. What a nice touch!
Flying back home on AS3435
U$C and DTLA
Accident on freeway, so it took me an hour driving back home.
8/31/2022 Wednesday LAX-OAK/SJC-LAX
WN1492 LAX-OAK B737 $5.60+1361 WN points
AS3463 SJC-LAX E175 $5.60+5000 AS miles
Leave home 420am
Car Parked 445am
Reach Airport 455am
Flight Departs 555am
Flight Arrives 716am
BART Departs 739am
BART Arrives 920am
Arrive Class 936am
Leave Class 407pm
BART Departs 423pm
BART Arrives 651pm
Flight Departs 720pm
Flight Arrives 845pm
Airport Landside 847pm
Reach Parking Lot 858pm
Arrive Home 929pm
Last commute of August, at this point I already get used to this lifestyle and it forced me to be more productive and efficient for coursework.
Flying WN to SFO, and made a SDC to OAK by calling reservation agent.
See! Even UA 1K flies WN since OAK is faster! But hey where is my AS 100K brag tag? It's almost like we exist undercover, DYKWIA?! /s
Exit row extra legroom
Watching sunrise on the ground reminds me of those redeye flights to Asia which we land around 5am in ICN/HND/TPE/HKG, who knows when I can fly to Asia and visit those places again..
Vietnamese pork with rice noodle, a quick dinner before going to SJC. This might be the last time flying out from SJC due to AS schedule. In September, AS will restore frequencies on the SFO-LAX route, so I will have 445pm, 7pm, 820pm, and 1030pm four flights to choose from.
A very cool bus stop
First class back home!
Summary:
August 2022
16 trips to school, 32 flights (19 AS, 9 WN, 4 UA), used SDC 27 times.
BART: $138.80
Airport Parking: $102.00
Gas: $186.64
AS Wifi: $39.96
AS: $202.70 (after 20% off from gift cards) PLUS 80000 miles
WN: $229.02 PLUS 7260 points
UA: $42.80 PLUS 5500 miles
Excluding mileage value, cash total: $941.92
This is higher than expected due to WN A list challenge which require 6 revenue tickets and gas price remained high. In Sept, with 50% off on BART, most tickets booked using miles instead of revenue cash tickets, and only 3X weekly commute, the commute cost should drop significantly.
At this point I'm not sure if I am actually a full-time grad student or a full-time frequent flyer that goes to school as a part-time commitment, but so far I'm doing quite well and already made some new friends because everyone was intrigued by my epic commute story. With problem sets, group projects, and midterms approaching, I am confident that I will be able to handle them efficiently. Everyone thought I would've collapsed by the end of week 1 and started looking for housing near campus, but it's been a month and I am still kicking! Thank you for reading this long story for August and see you next month!