September 2022
9/1/2022 Thursday LAX-SFO-LAX
AS3459 LAX-SFO E175 $5.60+5000 AS miles
AS3435 SFO-LAX E175 $5.60+5000 AS miles
Leave home 725am
Car Parked 848am
Reach Airport 910am
Flight Departs 956am
Flight Arrives 1111am
BART Departs 1125am
BART Arrives 1225pm
Arrive Class 105pm
Leave Class 416pm
BART Departs 435pm
BART Arrives 546pm
Flight Departs 638pm
Flight Arrives 805pm
Airport Landside 814pm
Reach Parking Lot 828pm
Arrive Home 908pm
Flying to campus even though I didn't have class that day, just for a group assignment which was due the following day. Oh I hate LAX traffic..
To make it worse, we boarded at gate 64, remote bus gate, located at the east end of the southside runway.
At least first class upgrade after last min SDC..
Udon and Tempura for lunch, very generous portion! Maybe the workers know we are broke college students so he gave everyone more protein..
BART is 50% off for the entire September, which is huge saving (is it?) for my commute.
I was supposed to be on the later flight, and I wasn't sure if I could make the earlier AS3435, so I called AS to put me on standby list for AS3435. Although agent could see my name on standby list, it's not showing on the "awaiting seats" list at the airport, and this has been a known issue for a while. So I rushed to the customer service desk inside SFO and the kind agent manually put me on the actual awaiting seats list. My last name is quite rare, but there was another pax with the same last name on my original later flight, and service desk put that person on the list instead of me! So when gate agent handed me the boarding pass before door closure, I noticed the boarding group on my boarding pass was Group C. As 100K I should always be Group A. So I checked the pax name and it's not me! Then I rushed to customer service desk and this time agent put my actual name on the awaiting seats list and I got the boarding pass with my actual name on it. Imagine the mess if I boarded the plane under that pax's name.. GA didn't even check my ID when giving me the boarding pass because what's the chance of having the same rare last name on a small E175!! Luckily I made it and can reach home sooner, losing my upgrade doesn't matter..
I think it's my first time flying E175 in Coach.. still acceptable for a quick hop.
9/2/2022 Friday LAX-OAK-LAX
WN1492 LAX-OAK B737 $32.22
WN2821 OAK-LAX B737 $41.22
Leave home 421am
Car Parked 447am
Reach Airport 501am
Flight Departs 558am
Flight Arrives 724am
BART Departs 738am
BART Arrives 823am
Arrive Class 932am
Leave Class 327pm
BART Departs 343pm
BART Arrives 432pm
Flight Departs 521pm
Flight Arrives 641pm
Airport Landside 651pm
Reach Parking Lot 751pm
Arrive Home 1204am
Made a SDC, and as "A61" I was lucky enough to get exit row aisle.
Enjoying my ride to OAK
Since I'm broke college student, I always take AC transit 73 to Coliseum BART then hop on BART from there to save the $6.70 OAK BART surcharge..
Coming back, due to labor day weekend, OAK was packed to oblivion..
Full flight. Exit row as "A61". Yes!
Some planespotting after arriving LAX. I wasn't a big fan of WN before I started this commute (only flew them once while in undergrad), but now I fall in love with it because they are so efficient.
After arriving LAX, I met with a friend arriving from DL and we had ayce shabu shabu!
"We have 3 flavors of ice-cream, which one would you like?"
"All of them".
Since it's memorial day weekend, I try to enjoy my weekend instead of doing hw catching up coursework at home all day long.
626 night market. It was decent a couple years back, but now it's getting pricey and literally overpriced.
Yakitori Chicken
Some other food I tried over the weekend, including Taiwanese dumplings
And Malaysian pork rib soup (Bak kut teh)
When you fly too often and FB recommends a new career for you.. no thanks!
9/7/2022 Wednesday LAX-SFO-LAX
AS997 LAX-SFO A320 $38.60
AS3308 SFO-LAX E175 $38.60
Leave home 422am
Car Parked 446am
Reach Airport 507am
Flight Departs 554am
Flight Arrives 724am
BART Departs 821am
BART Arrives 934am
Arrive Class 957am
Leave Class 406pm
BART Departs 410pm
BART Arrives 628pm
Flight Departs 649pm
Flight Arrives 845pm
Airport Landside 848pm
Reach Parking Lot 908pm
Arrive Home 956pm
Well labor day weekend was quick, now back to school again..
Now LAX AS lounge bartender recognizes me, before I even said anything, she would ask "pineapple juice for you"? Yes please!
For the entire September, Wednesday morning 6am flight was upgauged to A320, so more comfortable.
Got my UG after SDC.
On my BART ride to school, a women overdosed next to me. Not responsive at all. So I notified BART PD on the app and they saved her life. Although my train was delayed for 15 min I still made it to class on time.
I secured 100K status for 2023 after this flight!
AS3308 flying back home
Well that's 405 for you, welcome to LA!
Flying over downtown LA
9/8/2022 Thursday LAX-SFO-LAX
AS3342 LAX-SFO E175 $5.60+5000 AS miles
AS3320 SFO-LAX E175 $5.60+5000 AS miles
Leave home 422am
Car Parked 447am
Reach Airport 506am
Flight Departs 548am
Flight Arrives 712am
BART Departs 732am
BART Arrives 840am
Arrive Class 845am
Leave Class 926am
BART Departs 934am
BART Arrives 1011am
Flight Departs 1044am
Flight Arrives 1233pm
Airport Landside 1240pm
Reach Parking Lot 1256pm
Arrive Home 322pm
Well today not necessarily going to school, instead I'm flying to India Consulate in SF for my transit visa appointment since I plan to visit Bangkok this winter break, and AS award ticket on QR to BLR plus a separate BLR-BKK on LCC seemed to be the cheapest option.
Quick breakfast as usual
Boarding from the ramp
Good morning..
Well, the consulate told me they only issue visa 7 days before scheduled departure date, and it's gonna be valid for only 10 days since visa issuance. Then I asked how many days would it take to process the visa application. Staff said 5 business days. Then I asked then how on earth would I get my visa in time? Staff then said yeah you can apply 2 weeks in advance then.. What the.... That's enough harassment and red flag for me. Later in the month I managed to get Zipair new SJC-NRT one-way for $288 (incl. checked bag), and another AS award flight on JL from NRT to BKK. Problem solved.
Since I left the consulate early, I SDC to an earlier flight. Although F cabin was full, I got premium class.
Broken tray table, that's fine..
Even more legroom than first class!
Some Porto's to celebrate my 4 years anniversary of carpool..
9/9/2022 Friday SNA-SFO/SJC-SNA
AS3324 SNA-SFO E175 $5.60+5000 AS miles
WN1435 SJC-SNA B38M $5.60+1361 WN points
Leave home 520am
Car Parked 609am
Reach Airport 612am
Flight Departs 651am
Flight Arrives 819am
BART Departs 838am
BART Arrives 938am
Arrive Class 952am
Leave Class 204pm
BART Departs 229pm
BART Arrives 735pm
Flight Departs 853pm
Flight Arrives 1036pm
Airport Landside 1043pm
Reach Parking Lot 1045pm
Arrive Home 1127pm
Since the 6am LAX-SFO was full, I had to SDC to SNA-SFO instead. At least I can still access Admirals Club at SNA.
Departure board
First class was almost empty. I was the only pax in the 2 seat section of first class until GA assigned 3 non-rev into first class.
It's Friday! What wrong with ice-cream at 5pm right?
Some Peruvian cuisine with friend in Burlingame.
Since I parked my car at SNA, I SDC my WN flight into SNA. Flying SJC-SNA last flight of the day. So I took Caltrain down to SJC. First time riding it and the seat layout was very.. interesting.
A lot of flights to/from was delayed due to weather in socal that day.
First time riding MAX8.. I legitimately started sweating a bit.
We landed SNA safely. I've been trying to avoid MAX8 for a while, but I had to take that flight so I had no other choice. Now I have tried it, it made me a bit more confident flying it again in the future.
9/12/2022 Monday LAX-SFO-LAX
B62704 LAX-SFO A320 $5.60+5000 AS miles (rebooked from delayed AS3342)
AS77 SFO-LAX A21N $5.60+5000 AS miles
Leave home 425am
Car Parked 449am
Reach Airport 511am
Flight Departs 650am
Flight Arrives 805am
BART Departs 824am
BART Arrives 923am
Arrive Class 937am
Leave Class 451pm
BART Departs 513pm
BART Arrives 617pm
Flight Departs 816pm
Flight Arrives 951pm
Airport Landside 953pm
Reach Parking Lot 1010pm
Arrive Home 1040pm
Decorations for
Hispanic Heritage Month at LAX checkin counter
I noticed the aircraft had maintenance issues the night before, but everything showed on-time until I reached LAX.
The flight started rolling delay, and flight status wasn't updated in real-time so res agent told me they couldn't rebook me since it's still showing on-time. So I talked to gate agent, initially they wanted to protect me as standby for the 825am LAX-SFO flight since it was sold out. I said no, I have class at Berkeley at 10am, I have to reach SFO by 9am the latest. One GA asked if I have status, then I said yeah I'm 100K! While this sounds like borderline DYKWIA, I was pushing GA to rebook me on the 7am B62704 politely but firmly.
Gate agent checked with supervisor to see if rebooking on OAL was allowed, moments later I got my printed paper ticket and rushed to T5 boarding gate to checkin with Jetblue agents. I was the only pax that got rebooked, I guess 100K status makes a difference.
Love IFE
Snacks and drinks offered on this 1hr flight
I was supposed to take a nap but IFE is so addictive.. Spent the entire flight playing games..
And my original AS3342 flight eventually took off..
Typical BART.. Everything is falling broken.
Some free food at SFO lounge
They even offer barbacoa
The raft on the safety card is lovely
Arriving LA
Never tired of this landing view
9/13/2022 Tuesday LAX-SFO-LAX
AS3417 LAX-SFO E175 $38.60
AS77 SFO-LAX B739 $38.60
Leave home 815am
Car Parked 945am
Reach Airport 1014am
Flight Departs 1145am
Flight Arrives 115pm
BART Departs 135pm
BART Arrives 239pm
Arrive Class 253pm
Leave Class 557pm
BART Departs 620pm
BART Arrives 720pm
Flight Departs 809pm
Flight Arrives 938pm
Airport Landside 944pm
Reach Parking Lot 956pm
Arrive Home 1024pm
I had to go to campus that day because we started our first capstone project meeting. Prof asked if we would like to meet every Tuesday night or Thursday night in-person and I almost had a heart attack when I saw the email. I planned all my classes to M/W/F only and now I have to fly to campus on Tuesday or Thursday as well? I explained my situation and prof sent me a zoom link. But I wanted to leave a good impression first meeting so I flew there for the first meeting. Another team member didn't have class Tu/Th either and he didn't want to pay for parking for an extra day on campus, so we all agreed to change the meeting to Wednesday night instead. Glad everything worked out in the end.
I hate LA traffic..
Since I had a bit extra time before boarding, I walked to T5 admirals club for better food options.
UG to first class again.
Final approach into SFO
They still haven't fixed the gates yet..
Capstone project meeting ended at 6pm, so the 820pm flight worked best for me. Literally no line for security since it's getting late for day time flights and too early for redeyes.
I guess that's my dinner then..
Upgraded to first class.
This time we turned around USC and flew south along 110. Very rare.
9/14/2022 Wednesday LAX-SFO-LAX
AS997 LAX-SFO A320 $38.60
AS77 SFO-LAX B738 $38.60
Leave home 424am
Car Parked 448am
Reach Airport 507am
Flight Departs 609am
Flight Arrives 727am
BART Departs 826am
BART Arrives 930am
Arrive Class 940am
Leave Class 525pm
BART Departs 546pm
BART Arrives 647pm
Flight Departs 819pm
Flight Arrives 942pm
Airport Landside 944pm
Reach Parking Lot 1004pm
Arrive Home 1034pm
6am flight to SFO as usual
Upgraded to first class after SDC
Coming back flying AS77 since it's mainline aircraft
SFO departure board
Same offerings at SFO lounge
Why are UA signs here..
First class home
Flying over LAX
Seabass on a Thursday noon when I don't have class.
9/16/2022 Friday LAX-SFO-LAX
WN580 LAX-SFO B737 $5.60+2655 WN points
WN598 SFO-LAX B737 $5.60+1361 WN points
Leave home 448am
Car Parked 514am
Reach Airport 531am
Flight Departs 630am
Flight Arrives 742am
BART Departs 809am
BART Arrives 907am
Arrive Class 924am
Leave Class 417pm
BART Departs 510pm
BART Arrives 654pm
Flight Departs 928pm
Flight Arrives 1051pm
Airport Landside 1058pm
Reach Parking Lot 1124pm
Arrive Home 1157pm
Flying WN today
Made SDC since I was on the 535am LAX-OAK flight but my 8am Friday class wouldn't start until the following week. So the 635am SFO flight gave me an extra hour of sleep in bed.
Full flight, got exit row aisle.
Tempura and Udon for brunch
I was supposed to fly OAK-LAS-LAX that afternoon, but due to fatal accident on train tracks, all BART services north of Downtown Oakland was suspended.
It was a Friday, pm peak hours, so lots of confusion and severe service disruption.
As a result, I wouldn't be able to reach OAK on time to catch my flight home via Vegas.
So I called WN and rebooked to the 845pm direct flight out of SFO instead, grabbing the last seat.
The train was packed due to the accident.
I reached SFO early and my flight was also delayed.
Exit row aisle home!
A regular Friday night arrivals at LAX. Love to see travel is back!
I think chase knows I'm getting broke so they started sending me chase offers for junk food... no thanks.
