(February 2023 cont.)
2/22/2023 Wednesday LAX-SFO-LAX-EWR-SFO-LAX
AS1049 LAX-SFO B739 $5.60+5000 AS miles
AS1162 SFO-LAX B39M $9.30
Leave home 618am
Car Parked 659am
Reach Airport 737am
Flight Departs 751am
Flight Arrives 920am
BART Departs 1039am
BART Arrives 1137am
Arrive Class 1156am
Leave Class 605pm
BART Departs 610pm
BART Arrives 802pm
Flight Departs 847pm
Flight Arrives 120pm+1
Airport Landside 127pm+1
Reach Parking Lot 146pm+1
Arrive Home 430pm+1
Stuck in premium middle due to last minute same day change.. And I almost missed my flight due to lack of sleep..
I need some margarita to relax..
Flying back from SFO, as part of the milage run
Upgraded on SFO-LAX
Upgraded on LAX-EWR as well
EWR-SFO breakfast
SFO-LAX upgraded to first as well
gonna catch up some sleep after landing..
2/24/2023 Friday LAX-OAK/SFO-LAX
WN2328 LAX-OAK B738 $5.60+1858 WN points
AS1162 SFO-LAX (diverted back to SFO) B39M $0.00
UA5405 SFO-LAX (the following day) E75L $0.00
Leave home 626am
Car Parked 657am
Reach Airport 709am
Flight Departs 822am
Flight Arrives 948am
BART Departs 1015am
BART Arrives 1101am
Arrive Class 1116am
Leave Class 815pm
BART Departs 816pm
BART Arrives 915pm
Flight Departs 1010pm
Flight Arrives 726am+1
Airport Landside 735am+1
Reach Parking Lot 753am+1
Arrive Home 911am+1
It was supposed to be a peaceful Friday..
WN flight departed without any incidents
Then.. coming back to LAX, due to inclement weather in LAX, FAA issued a full ground stop for aircrafts arriving into LAX. I've never seen that in my life.. This aircraft was already delayed, which meant I would miss my LAX-EWR connection, but I decided to take it anyways so I can go home, have some rest, then rebook for the following day..
Well, I was already concerned when I saw other flights on hold pattern
And yes, our flight diverted back to SFO.. Damn it!
the "make-up" flight was also cancelled, probably due to crew time out.
Other flights into LAX also diverted..
I didn't know what was awaiting me when I reached SFO..
Upgraded to first class on the SFO-LAX
what is going on here..
So after diversion, we parked at SFO A gates, no staff there to guide us to D gates to rebook. I already called AS on the plane and rebooked to UA flight the following day. It was a total mess, gladly I knew my way to Terminal 2 so I got there ahead of the crowds. Station manager refused to open the "first class/elite" lane, claiming "everyone is equal" here. I just rolled my eyes. I tried to ask him to rebook on the 6am Delta flight, he claimed it's a weather issue and cannot rebook me on other airlines. Well, if your inbound wasn't delayed then this plane probably could land in LAX before the weather became worse so we had to divert. They tried their best to accommodate pax, but the system already recognize the ticket as "flown" status, so customer service agents have to call AS reservations to reissue the ticket. And guess what, I called AS directly and got connected ahead of CSAs.. Reservations told me they can't rebook on DL because DL won't accept their tickets (it's a known issue), the counter can rebook on DL but they refused to, so I was stuck with my 825am UA flight.
Quiet terminal 3, and of course it's quiet, it's 3am!
I didn't feel safe taking a nap cuz someone might steal my laptop. So instead I worked on some homework.
430am..
I'm glad I knew my way, headed straight to customer service desk to add myself to the standby list. I can't do it on the app since it's a 027 Alaska ticket not a 016 UA ticket.
Walked back to T2 to grab some breakfast..
Luckily I cleared the 6am SFO-LAX!
The weather in LA was still bad, but at least we could land..
The drive back home was insane as well. Once I reached home, I went straight to sleep and woke up 4pm.. I cancelled the rest of the ticket since there's no way I could reach Newark. Also most AS flights to EWR were sold out due to cancellation/delay/rebooking.
Some ramen to recover from this mess..
2/27/2023 Monday LAX-OAK/SFO-LAX-EWR
WN1373 LAX-OAK B738 $5.60+1858 WN points
AS1162 SFO-LAX B739 $9.30
Leave home 538am
Car Parked 611am
Reach Airport 624am
Flight Departs 710am
Flight Arrives 830am
BART Departs 840am
BART Arrives 924am
Arrive Class 940am
Leave Class 605pm
BART Departs 622pm
BART Arrives 732pm
Flight Departs 926pm
Flight Arrives 750am+1
It's raining in Berkeley as well..
Another mileage run
New food option in SFO AS lounge!
SFO-LAX upgraded to first class
LAX-EWR upgraded to first class
2/28/2023 Tuesday EWR-SFO/OAK-LAX
NK1349 OAK-LAX A20N $15.90
Flight Departs 959am
Flight Arrives 141pm
BART Departs 201pm
BART Arrives 313pm
Arrive Class 326pm
Leave Class 614pm
BART Departs 627pm
BART Arrives 720pm
Flight Departs 812pm
Flight Arrives 1022pm
Airport Landside 1027pm
Reach Parking Lot 1103pm
Arrive Home 1135pm
Upon arrival into EWR, we waited 45min for the gate, and as a result I missed my EWR-SFO, they already pushed back and was de-icing the aircraft.
So of course I requested to be rebooked on UA
First time flying 787-10, empty row for myself.
I went to school that day because I had some projects to work on with my team... The cheapest option flying back late night was actually on spirit lol.. The last OAK-LAX WN flight left at 630pm for that day, so my only option would be spirit. I bought the ticket a while ago at LAX T5 counter (since it's cheaper at ticket counter) and requested status match to get the benefits and make this flight less horrible.
Free exit row as a free spirit gold member..
1 free soft drink and 1 free snack as well.. other than waiting 50min for gate assignment upon arrival, this flight was better than my expectation. The cabin was neat, although the seats were a little bit nasty.
Summary:
February 2023
12 trips to school, 22 flights (14 WN, 5 AS, 2 UA, 1 NK), used SDC 16 times.
BART: $50.05
Airport Parking: $36.00
Gas: $142.72
AS: $32.80 (after 20% off from gift cards) PLUS 20000 miles
WN: $72.80 PLUS 21240 points
UA: $19.90
NK: $15.90
Excluding mileage value, cash total: $370.17
First diversion in my life, after 600+ flights I finally experienced it. Apart from that, my commute has been smooth in general. With only 3 more months left, my goal is to reach the finish line, which I know I will. Thanks to the WN fare sale, I booked a lot of cheap tickets using points, so this semester was less hectic than last semester as I could sleep a bit longer to catch the 820am flight to OAK instead of doing the 6am AS flight to SFO like last semester. Thanks for reading!