January 2023

Spring semester! I registered for the TRB (Transportation Research Board) event at DC with cohort, which was technically my first "official/business" trip, so I'm including that here as part of the trip report.

Flying UA redeye to IAD, not the best option but given my SQ miles are expiring, I redeemed an award ticket for 14k miles.



High density 772, we call it slavery ship.. at least I was lucky enough to get a seat that I can stretch my legs..



Arrived at IAD, chaos



Taking the new silver line extension into DC



First time attending TRB, an eye-opening experience







I even went for an interview and ultimately got an offer..



Event ended the following Thursday, see you next year!



I love the new DCA admirals club, probably the best in the system!











Flying DCA-CLT-LAX home, upgraded to lie-flat on a 772, very lucky



Meal service











I asked for an ice-cream, FA told me the catering only loaded 16 of those (like domestic first class configuration), so to avoid argument from passengers they figured it's better not to serve ice-cream, but they did give me one after they dimmed the lights, very nice of them!



Final approach into LAX



A day later, I took another trip to Toronto to visit my friend, AS to EWR, then Porter to YTZ. Friend didn't understand why I flew back to LA then go to east coast again instead of going directly from DC.. Well it's an award ticket so I can't complain..

The new EWR Terminal A, still crap design, there's shuttle from airtrain to the terminal, but no shuttle from terminal to airtrain so I had to walk 15min..



Porter EWR-YTZ



Final approach into YTZ



Niagara Falls











Flying AA back to LA



YYZ-DFW on an A319, zero chance of upgrade of course..



Still got an upgrade on the DFW-LAX leg.



1/17/2023 Tuesday LAX-SFO/OAK-LAX
AS1175 LAX-SFO B39M $5.60+5000 AS miles
WN2158 OAK-LAX B738 $5.60+1102 WN points
Leave home 426am
Car Parked 450am
Reach Airport 512am
Flight Departs 551am
Flight Arrives 729am
BART Departs 735am
BART Arrives 952am
Arrive Class 955am
Leave Class 503pm
BART Departs 515pm
BART Arrives 554pm
Flight Departs 719pm
Flight Arrives 845pm
Airport Landside 851pm
Reach Parking Lot 935pm
Arrive Home 1004pm

Still too early for this..



grabbing some snack from Alaska lounge before boarding



Full flight today



Upgraded to first class



Celebrating a new semester by drinking at 6am..



I don't know why, maybe I love socal too much, never a big fan of norcal/SF in general..



Flying back from Oakland, that airport always gives me an impression of a greyhound station







Exit row back to LA!



1/18/2023 Wednesday LAX-SJC/OAK-LAX
WN1386 LAX-SJC B737 $5.60+1102 WN points
WN2414 OAK-LAX B738 $5.60+1102 WN points
Leave home 435am
Car Parked 458am
Reach Airport 522am
Flight Departs 600am
Flight Arrives 708am
BART Departs 727am
BART Arrives 1012am
Arrive Class 1025am
Leave Class 149pm
BART Departs 311pm
BART Arrives 359pm
Flight Departs 539pm
Flight Arrives 659pm
Airport Landside 702pm
Reach Parking Lot 721pm
Arrive Home 822pm

Flying to SJC since it was the cheapest at the time of booking..



Exit row, so lucky



I don't recommend zipair unless you are really tight on budget and really want to travel far..



Riding Caltrain up north



A very empty flight coming back to LAX



Aircraft MX, so they did a plane swap, gate agent told everyone to line up when the new plane hadn't even pulled in yet..



Exit row!



Of course, dealing with peak hour traffic..



1/20/2023 Friday LAX-OAK-SEA-DFW-ORD
WN2328 LAX-OAK B738 $5.60+1858 WN points
Leave home 623am
Car Parked 659am
Reach Airport 710am
Flight Departs 815am
Flight Arrives 929am
BART Departs 1025am
BART Arrives 1107am
Arrive Class 1158am
Leave Class 332pm
BART Departs 338pm
BART Arrives 652pm
Flight Departs 736pm
Flight Arrives 833am+1
Airport Landside 840am+1
Reach CTA Blue Line 911am+1
Arrive Hotel 1022am+1

Flying LAX-OAK today



Exit row as usual



Friends invited me for hotpot dinner, but I had a leisure trip to ORD that evening, so I grabbed a quite bite before leaving, sad







OAK-SEA, upgraded to first class



light supper















Empty N lounge late night







SEA-DFW, upgraded to first class, brutal midcon redeye.. then connecting to DFW-ORD on AA



Arriving into ORD, AA lost my bag so I had to file a report and went back to ORD to pick it up later than day



Riding CTA blue line to Downtown







I love Pequod's!



It's snowing in Chicago!







ORD-PDX, opted for hobo first class in the back



That drink was STRONG.. knocked me out until final approach into PDX



Riding transit to Downtown Portland for dinner, the city was DEAD.











Pacific Northwest oysters



The best brussels sprouts I've ever had!



Expansion of PDX Alaska lounge, it feels a little bit weird since it's technically part of the terminal common space..



PDX-LAX home, upgraded to first class. Quick weekend getaway..



1/23/2023 Monday LAX-OAK/SFO-LAX
WN2328 LAX-OAK B738 $5.60+1858 WN points
AS1162 SFO-LAX B739 $9.30
Leave home 630am
Car Parked 709am
Reach Airport 725am
Flight Departs 814am
Flight Arrives 930am
BART Departs 956am
BART Arrives 1037am
Arrive Class 1110am
Leave Class 501pm
BART Departs 509pm
BART Arrives 753pm
Flight Departs 841pm
Flight Arrives 1000pm
Airport Landside 1005pm
Reach Parking Lot 1019pm
Arrive Home 1046pm

Monday morning.. still tired from the quick weekend getaway



LAX-OAK on WN



Exit row







#justBARTthings#



not-so-spicy lunch with cohort



New ginger beer in SFO lounge, this one is way too spicy..



Ordered a cucumber mocktail, very refreshing.



Upgraded to first class







The following Tuesday, I was supposed to stay at home, but I did a mileage run to EWR instead..



Breakfast for LAX-EWR







EWR-LAX upgraded to first class as well



EWR-LAX dinner



And my favorite part of the flight, ice-cream!!!