Quokka

I spent another few days visiting Dutch/Unalaska last week. Took some notes in case they're useful for first-timers / Do goers.

First, some on PenAir and the flight over ...

-- If you are connecting to your "Alaska Airlines" flight to DUT operated by PenAir (instead of checking in at ANC), do not be surprised to hear your name announced repeatedly over the public announcement system for the entire ANC airport. Do not worry - this is normal operating procedure. PenAir wants to talk to you about how much you and your carry-ons weigh. You can do so at either the PenAir check in counter or at their "L" gates on the lower level.

-- It's not uncommon for pax seats to be changed at the gate for weight and balance.

-- The overhead compartment on the Saab can handle knapsack sized items at the largest. Larger items are weighed, tagged (with the weight), and gate checked.

-- If there have been any flight disruptions to/from DUT around the time of your trip, or issues with weight or winds, or whatever, checked bags might be offloaded and not travel with their pax. It's not uncommon to hear announcements around the PenAir gate as to whether all bags will or will not make a flight.

-- There's no TSA to deal with between ANC and DUT and vice-versa.

-- If you want a window seat on the Saab, avoid row 2. It doesn't have a window. (It's where the props could throw crap into the window if there were a window there).

-- When you get on the Saab, 1) duck, 2) take the earplugs offered. You'll probably want them. I've noticed some of the PenAir FAs put in ear plugs after they do their service run through the cabin and I've seen a couple put on over the ear type hearing protection even over that.

-- When I fly PenAir, I remember to take sunglasses on board. Some of the Saabs don't have window shades. And it seems the Saabs without window shades are also the aircraft with the seats that don't recline. (Though I haven't been on every aircraft in their fleet to know if that's true across the board).

-- There's a single lav on the Saabs. It's basically a flying portapotty / chemical toilet. No running water, maybe some Purell wipes inside. Plan accordingly for your 3+ hour flight.

-- Last week was the first time the ANC->DUT flight I was on made it all the way to DUT without stopping at King Salmon. Sometimes AKN is a scheduled stop on the way to DUT. Sometimes it gets added as a tech stop if the winds / weight requires it. Sometimes it's where you end up after flying over DUT and it's too crappy to land there at the moment.

-- If you are are a pilot, you might feel part of your body clench up when you appreciate the approach into DUT, especially in IMC.


-- The PenAir flight crews are usually great. If your flight is reasonably close to getting in to DUT on time and they see that you want to take photos of their plane, I've seen them offer to take the photos so you can be in it. Or agree to be in the photo with you. [If the flight was delayed much though, they're usually busy getting it turned around]

Enjoy your flights!

I'll post my notes on DUT / Unalaska itself later.

beckoa

Wirelessly posted (beckoa's BB: Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9810; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.694 Mobile Safari/534.11+)

Toursavers procured at steamdot tonight ^

All set to go!

CDKing

Is there underseat storage on the SAAB? Really don't want to check fragile items. Is back louder than front?

rxgeek

http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Uni...s_SAAB_340.php

CDKing

damn looks like McKinley Chalet doesn't have any more rooms eligible to the tour saver discount. I guess you snooze you lose.

I believe its the RX's, me, and maybe PFBloom + 1. I heard from Seat 2A that wharvey will be up there on the 29th, but have not been able to make contact.
I decided I'm going into the park on Saturday as well if I get there in time (2pm-11pm bus)

jackal

I think they're out on the ocean now between Glacier Bay and Whittier/Seward (not sure which one). They probably dock in the next couple of days so expect to hear a response then, perhaps.

bdschobel

I may need to cancel due to Hurricane Erika. A lot can change, obviously, but right now, it's expected to pass right over my house as a category 1 Monday morning (when I'm supposed to take off). I don't want to leave home in case of damage, which is always possible. And I have to cancel my award ticket 72 hours in advance, so if I bail, it will be no later than tomorrow.

Bruce

Quokka

Except for row 1, there's a minimal amount of space under the seat in front of you where you can choose to put either your feet or a very small item such as something camera case sized or a small (hopefully squishable) knapsack. Since the seats and the seat pitch are small and seats don't recline on some of the aircraft, I've taken to "gate checking" my small carry on for these flights and swaddling delicate items in extra clothing. The "gate check" and claim is actually plane-side.

Some claim back is quieter than front, though I really haven't found much of a difference w.r.t to loudness. It's loud everywhere.

Quokka

PenAir numbers its seats differently and starts with row 1 unlike what seatguru shows for the UA Express Saab340.

On less full flights to/from DUT, row 1 often seems to be blocked for the FA's use.

ANC RED-EYE

both underseat and bin storage is similar to Q400. Well, except that there is overhead storage only on the 2 seat side.

They will ask that you gate check as much as possible. Honestly, the overhead bins were half empty on both of my recent flights because most people bring next to nothing on board and just gate check it (valet check really).

If you have fragile items in something that is not huge, it will fit no problem. Giant (thick) backpacks, and rollaboards are out of the question.

Quokka

I travel with a carry-on bag that fits easily in Alaska/Horizon's Q400 overhead bins. There's no way that bag will fit in the PenAir Saab's overhead bins -- they're smaller than the Q400's. It gets checked plane-side to DUT and back.

CDKing

Ill have to take my camera out of the backpack. I'm renting a $2000 lens so i dont want it to get damaged

beckoa

Hope you're able to make it!

beckoa

More details on Carry-On bags:

http://www.penair.com/fly-with-us/bags-in-cabin

Note, intra-AK on AS coded flights (including DUT) allows 3 checked bags ^

bdschobel

Thanks. The forecast has definitely improved. Erika is now expected to skirt the Florida coast, not making landfall. That's roughly what Hurricane Sandy did in 2012, when my development had serious flooding. Sandy was much bigger but also farther away.

I'm going to wait another 6-8 hours before pulling the plug, but it really looks like I'm going to have to cancel out of concern for what could happen to my home while I'm away. I wish that I could delay the decision longer, but Delta imposes its own 72-hour cancellation deadline that is fast approaching.

This is unfortunate. Obviously, if I do cancel, I'll still pay my share of expenses. Not an issue.

Bruce