This is my first trip report on FT, so I'll do the best I can:

Boston, December 22, 4:30AM

After having stayed up all night for my 6:25AM flight, I finally decided it was time to head to Logan to get on board my flight. I was hoping my boyfriend was going to drive me, but he was at work until 1AM and was quite asleep as I was leaving. He started yelling about how it was silly of me to think he'd drive me. We yelled at each other for a while, feelings were hurt, and so on. So, I called a cab company and they were at my apartment within 15 minutes. Not wanting to leave on a trip being mad at each other, we made up and said our goodbyes. We both cried a bit :-P It was quite touching, though you probably had to be there.

The cab ride took only 14 minutes to get to Logan (from Medford). I was at Terminal C by 5:15AM and walked on in with my bag. I could not believe the number of people already there, given the fact that the airport opens at 5AM!

I walked up to the First Class check-in line and handed the woman my ID. She looked up at me and asked how I would be covering the upgrades. Huh? A bit of feedback: I booked a Q class ticket and used 15,000 MP miles per direction to upgrade to First on all my flights. Going over, my BOS-SFO leg cleared but I was still on the waitlist for SFO-KOA. I explained this to her and she still did not get it after a good 15 minutes of explanation. She talked to two other employees and kept saying that there was some glitch as to why my SFO-KOA leg did not clear weeks ago along with my other legs. She said there was nothing she could do and I'd have to wait until I got to SFO to see if anything would happen. She asked if I still wanted to use my miles, and I said yes. I got my F BP for BOS-SFO, my E- BP for SFO-KOA, and a departure management card. I tried to schmooze her to see if I could at least get into E+ for the SFO flight but I guess my schmoozing needs some work.

So I cleared security quickly and was on the way to my gate. It still amazes me to this day the amount of stuff and junk people will bring as a carry-on. People with backpacks packed as if they were going on a 500-mile jungle adventure, people with full-size pillows and blankets, and one guy who seemed like he was carrying enough instruments for a jam band. Me, I had a small mesenger bag with my iPod, a magazine, a book, water, cell phone, dental floss (hate having stuff stuck in my teeth and no way to get it out), and my tickets.

As I got to my gate, boarding had already begun and they were letting 1Ks, 1Ps, First, and UGS on, so I walked right up. Boarding went by relatively smoothly, and we were on our way, about 13 minutes late.

Flight 171 - December 22, 2004
Boston, MA (BOS)
Scheduled departure: 6:25 AM
Actual departure: 6:38 AM
...
Salt Lake City, UT (SLC)
Arrival: 10:00 AM
Actual: 10:04 AM
Departure: 10:20 AM
Actual: 10:30 AM
...
San Francisco, CA (SFO)
Scheduled arrival: 10:03 AM
Actual arrival: 11:22 AM
Reason: Schedule change due to Aircraft Servicing

I was sitting in 3C on this 752 next to some college-aged girl who seemed eager to find out what I was listening to on my iPod. She always seemed to be looking over at the LCD everytime the backlight went on.

Anyway, the flight was pretty uneventful. We got served breakfast (I made the mistake of getting the ommelete - cold, bit on the chewy side, bad ingredients inside. I think it was some non-typical cheese and some type of sausage). That was passed over quickly, and I was eager to land in SFO.

About 3 hours into the flight, the purser comes on and tells us we are diverting to SLC for an unforseen issue. Apparently, the 752 we were on had done the redeye from the West Coast the night before into BOS. The people Logan/United contracts to evacuate the lavatory waste from the airline somehow forgot to do it. Apparently, the 752 has no waste gauge, so the captain had no idea what was happening. Mid-way through the flight, 3 out of the 4 bathrooms stopped working. The captain was fearful the toilets might overflow, casuing a biological hazard on the airplane.

Translation: Too much poo on the plane! We must divert!

So, we land in SLC (the aerial view of SLC looked very boring. No tall buildings, all the buildings were the same color, everything was flat), pull up to a gate, and the people there start evacuating the lavatories and refueling us with about 2,000 lbs. of fuel. The guys in SLC who boarded the plane found all this quite funny.

About 30 minutes later, we're off again to SFO. This last 1.5 hours of the flight was very bumpy until we got over SF Bay.

By the time we landed and I deboarded, it was about 11:25AM local time. My flight to KOA was departing at 11:40AM, and I was worrying I'd miss it and be spending a night in SFO.

I ran to the gate and spoke to one of the GAs. I told her my flight from BOS just landed, and wanted to know if I was cleared into F. She said all of F was checked in. I asked her if she could look again, so I handed her my BP and DM card. She said "Well, there's a *** in First, but not your name." I said people always get my name wrong, so that's probably me. Yet, she refused to say anything more and tore up my DM. Wanting to just get on my flight (I was too tired and had bad omelette in my stomach), I got in line, resigning myself to the fact I'd be stuck in E- (in a WINDOW seat) for 5 hours. As I stuck my BP through their scanner, the thing started beeping all over the place. The woman scanning it took it out and handed it to the woman I just spoke to. Thy looked at it for about 20 seconds, and the woman I was talking to hands me a F BP which was apparently in front of her the whole time. Go figure.

So, I found out I was in 1D, I boarded, got settled, and we left about 10 minutes late.

Flight 37 - December 22, 2004
San Francisco, CA (SFO)
Scheduled departure: 11:40 AM
Actual departure: 11:50 AM
...
Kona, HI (KOA)
Scheduled arrival: 3:10 PM
Actual arrival: 3:11 PM
Reason: Schedule change due to Customer Service

Not much to say about this run. The flight went by relatively quickly. For the first hour or so, we kept running into awful turbulance (enough to make the guy sitting next to me's coffee spill all over the place). The captain told us we were cleared to descened to 32,000, though it seemed like it took him a good 15 minutes to do just that.

Lunch was a salad (with a rather good ranch dressing), stuffed chicken breast with corn flan (interesting looking though quite delicious), vegetables, and Edy's sundae.

There must've been just the right amount of poo on this plane, as we got into KOA about 1 minute later than scheduled, and we didn't have to divert anywhere!

I got off the plane, was struck by just how humid Kona can be (compared to BOS in the winter), and went to the baggage claim. I met my parents, and waited for my bag. And waited. And waited. And waited. Apparently, the "Priority" luggae tag must mean "Please, take mine off last, no really, please."

It took about 25 minutes after landing to get my bag. Nevertheless, it all arrived in one piece, as did I, and I was off to enjoy a couple weeks in warm, sunny Hawaii.

Stay tuned for my return trip KOA-LAX-BOS on January 6/7!