Watertown Meetup Thread
 

Wow, everybody's still too busy trying to book tickets, I guess.
Somebody mentioned that perhaps it would be nice to coordinate the FTers travelling to and from LEB/ART/other places on the fare deal (and heck, maybe some are even staying in the area instead of immediately turning around ;) ). I missed out on LEB, but I'll volunteer for ART.

Since these are 19 seat planes to/from PIT, the odds are very good that we will be running into each other! I'm on the following, on Labor Day weekend:

Friday 9/2 #4655 (arrives 10PM)
Saturday 9/3 #4650 (departs 6:30AM) connecting to LAX (US#1)
Sunday 9/4 #54 LAX-PIT, connecting on
Monday 9/5 #4651 (arrives 10:30AM)
#4652 (departs 12:50PM)

Anybody going to be sharing space with me? I'm, regrettably, in coach (didn't find that F deal others discussed), but still should be a great time!

Anyone in May?
 

Am probably doing the run from SFO on 15th and 16th May - out Sunday and back Monday. Have booking, but not sure if I have the time on the Monday (yet).

Am going to LEB on the previous Friday/Saturday!

Aidan

I'm in Watertown on the following days... each from about 4pm to 6:30pm:
April 17th (tomorrow)
April 27th
May 4th
July 21st
July 24th

I'm in on these days:
5/21
6/25
7/16
10/15

04/17 4-6
05/01 4-6
05/20 10:30-12:30
05/22 15:30-17:30

No same day turnarounds from SAN.

We are in ART from 5:30 5/14 to 12:50 5/15. I may have bought the last ticket on this.

5204 EQM for $31.90. Times 2, as my wife is coming also.

Can someone figure the CPM on that for me? :D

Mr. SanDiego1K

June 11 - Ar 5:30pm - Lv June 12 12:40pm

July 10 - Ar 10pm - Lv July 11 - 12:40pm

For anybody who's interested in more information on the Watertown Airport:

http://archives.californiaaviation.o.../msg34226.html

Sounds charming. I'm currently attempting to figure out the best options for killing the 10PM-6AM time slot I've given myself for a layover.

5/26 LAX-PIT-ART dep 11:55 ar 10:30A(5/27)
5/27 ART-PIT-LAX sep 12:50p ar 8:24p
No room needed.
All on US

6/3 LAX-LAS(UA)-PIT-ART dep 8:30a ar 10:00p
6/4 ART-PIT-LAS-LAX(UA) dep 6:30a ar 2:54p

6/17 LAX-PIT-ART dep 11:50a ar 10:00p(hmm last flight out of PIT, maybe not so good)
6/19 ART-PIT-LAX dep 12:50p ar 8:09p
All on US

Just passing thru ...
 

I'll be passing thru on 11/11 and 11/13 ... :)

June 3 SFO-PIT-ART arrive at 10 p.m.

June 5 ART-PIT-ORD-SFO depart 12:50 p.m.

Going to visit my folks in Syracuse!! They're thrilled, plus I bought them a couple RTs to Nashville and BWI.

Windwalker...I'll see you on our puddle jumper from PIT-ART.

I only eeked out one UA segment from ORD-SFO, but it's on a 777!

For folks info, a friend of my wife's lived near ART for a few years... her hubby was stationed at Fort Drum. I emailed her for info for all of us on the ART area... here's her response.

"Yes, there is a lot of hotels in Watertown. Arsenal Road is the Watertown exit and has all kinds of hotels and places to eat, including a mall! That is the ONLY thing in Watertown."

I wonder if this terminal is going to be more like the bus station at BLF or more of a real looking airport like BKW? ;)

I've got one RT booked... weekend at IAH when the Pirates are at Houston, Aug 12-14. Going out of CRW on Fri Aug 12 CRW-PIT-ART then ART-PIT-CLT-IAH (booked in F), reverse on Sunday Aug 14. Got the first flights into ART on the 12th and last ones out on the 14th, so I avoided an overnight there, but I have the 2 hour layovers as they circle the plane around upstate NY. It was nice to get a confirmed F fare (6 segments, 4 in F) for $39.80 RT. That'll never happen again.

Only screwup we've made here is that we should have repeated this a few times to get to CP. ShellNYC pointed this out that the confirmed F fares do 2X EQM's, even on the seg's booked in Y when there's no F. So, we get almost 8K EQM out of this, not almost 4K (plus another 2K for the CRW-INT RT). Hindsight is 20-20. I could still try to book some of the transcons still listed on orbitz... would still take about 6 of them to make CP, as I don't see much more travel the rest of the year.

Mrs hiyo and I ended up with:

5/14 arr 530pm - 5/15 dep 1250pm SAN-PIT-ART-PIT-SAN
9/10 arr 530pm - 9/11 dep 1250pm SAN-PIT-ART-PIT-SAN
9/17 arr 530pm - 9/18 dep 1250pm SAN-PIT-ART-PIT-SAN
10/1 arr 530pm - 10/2 dep 1250pm SAN-PIT-ART-PIT-SAN

1st was booked on US.com, the others on Orbitz.

Will be in ART 5/6-5/7 after getting in early on the 6th from BWI-PIT and then leaving EARLY for PIT-DEN-SAN. Someone told me there is a nice cruise of the Thousand Island area - anyone tried it?

Arrive: Apr 29 10pm, Leave Apr 30 6:40am

I'll also be on same-day turnaround PIT-ART flights on Jul 18 and Jul 21.

Saturday, May 7, 2005
US Airways # 496
Seattle/Tacoma Intl (SEA) to Pittsburgh Int'l Apt. (PIT)
Departure (SEA): May 7, 7:30 AM PDT (morning)
Arrival (PIT): May 7, 2:55 PM EDT (afternoon)

Saturday, May 7, 2005
US Airways # 4653
Operated by: US AIRWAYS EXPRESS-AIR MIDWEST AIRLINES -
Pittsburgh Int'l Apt. (PIT) to Watertown (ART)
Departure (PIT): May 7, 4:00 PM EDT (afternoon)
Arrival (ART): May 7, 5:25 PM EDT (evening)

Sunday, May 8, 2005
US Airways # 4652
Operated by: US AIRWAYS EXPRESS-AIR MIDWEST AIRLINES -
Watertown (ART) to Pittsburgh Int'l Apt. (PIT)
Departure (ART): May 8, 12:50 PM EDT (afternoon)
Arrival (PIT): May 8, 2:20 PM EDT (afternoon)

Sunday, May 8, 2005
US Airways # 7
Pittsburgh Int'l Apt. (PIT) to Seattle/Tacoma Intl (SEA)
Departure (PIT): May 8, 6:00 PM EDT (evening)
Arrival (SEA): May 8, 8:08 PM PDT (evening)

March 23rd and June 16th sfo-pit-art-pit-sfo

10:55P Depart San Francisco-Int'l, CA (SFO)
6:37A Arrive Pittsburgh, PA (PIT) Jun 16

9:00A Depart Pittsburgh, PA (PIT)
10:30A Arrive Watertown (ART) Jun 17

12:50P Depart Watertown (ART)
2:20P Arrive Pittsburgh, PA (PIT) Jun 17

6:15P Depart Pittsburgh, PA (PIT)
8:24P Arrive San Francisco-Int'l, CA (SFO) Jun 17

any1 in at these locations at these times?
ideas on what to do in pittsburgh or watertown? 2hrs in pit, 2hrs in art inbound and 4hrs in pit outbound.

Junkie:

You and I are on the same flights (05.07-08) from SEA! :) Please do say hello!

I am also on the flights the weekend of April 30, Sept 3, and August 21.

yay
 

I think I've lost my mind :D Nice work on whoever found fares from ART-EYW, I had to settle for SAN but don't mind the double transcon miles! 46 hours on airplanes and in airports :eek:

10,702 miles

-----------------
Oct. 20
85
SFO-PIT
Dep. 10:55 PM PDT
Arr. 6:37 AM EDT (Oct 21.)
-----------------
Oct. 21
4651
PIT-ART
Dep. 9:00 AM EDT
Arr. 10:30 AM EDT

4652
ART-PIT
Dep. 12:50 PM EDT
Arr. 2:20 PM EDT

151
PIT-SAN
Dep. 6:15 PM EDT
Arr. 7:59 PM PDT
-----------------
Oct. 22
154
SAN-PIT
Dep. 7:20 AM PDT
Arr. 2:49 PM EDT

4653
PIT-ART
Dep. 4:05 PM EDT
Arr. 5:30 PM EDT
-----------------
Oct 23.

4652
ART-PIT
Dep. 12:50 PM EDT
Arr. 2:20 PM EDT

741
PIT-SFO
Dep. 6:15 PM EDT
Arr. 8:24 PM PDT

I've got 4 trips booked. I was a little late getting into it and so did it the easy way just to & from SEA -- didn't have much time to plan anything :) Too bad I didn't realize that ART was so close to Ottawa or would have booked one for next January when I have to go there. Would have been nice to get 2 round-trips back to back on a weekend but couldn't. Since I'm in Vancouver, Canada, I did most of them on our holiday weekends going Sun-Mon - no saturday-sunday left that I could find. Not quite as good as my SEA-ORD-CLT-ORD-LAX & LAX-ORD-CLT-ORD-SEA trip last fall all on UA metal for a little more money (when I actually had to go SEA-LAX) but I'm not complaining.

Sun May 15 SEA-ORD-PIT-ART dep 11:15pm arr 10:30am (16th)
Mon May 16 ART-PIT-ORD-SEA dep 12:50pm arr 10:09pm
SEA-ORD UA Metal = 1726 x 2 x 100% bonus = 6904 Redeemable
Rest US Metal = 4 x 500min = 2000 Redeemable
Total of 8904 Redeemable (5452 EQM)

Thu Jun 30 SEA-PIT-ART dep 11:00pm arr 10:30am (Jul 1)
Fri Jul 1 ART-PIT-SEA dep 12:50pm arr 8:10pm
All US Metal so only 5238 Redeemable Miles (5238 UA EQM)

Sun Jul 31 SEA-PIT-ART dep 11:00pm arr 10:30am (Aug 1)
Mon Aug 1 ART-PIT-SEA dep 12:50pm arr 8:13pm
All US Metal so only 5238 Redeemable Miles (5238 UA EQM)

Sun Oct 9 SEA-PIT-ART dep 11:00pm arr 10:30am (10th)
Mon Oct 10 ART-PIT-ORD-SEA dep 12:50pm arr 10:02pm
ORD-SEA on UA Metal = 1726 x 100% = 3452 Redeemable
Rest US Metal = 3 x 500min + 2119 = 3618 Reedemable
Total of 7070 Redeemable (5344 EQM)

Grand total of 26450 Redeemable and 21272 United EQM
Not bad for a total of Canadian $ 217.20 (booked via Travelocity.ca) all in
.

I'm stuck in Watertown the following nights:

Sat. Nov. 5
Sat. Feb. 4
and
Jan. 13 to 16, 3 nights
The latter was suppose to be nested with a trip to Las Vegas, but in the few minutes it took to book this, that fare disappeared, so I am stuck in Watertown for 3 nights or have to eat this. What should I expect? 30 below and 200 inches of snow on the ground? Any way at all to make something worthwhile of this place in the dead of winter?
Reserved room at Econolodge for $40 - at least it appears to have a nice indoor pool and steakhouse and Cracker Barrel within walking distance (if i dont get frostbite).

Days Inn has an airport shuttle (per website)
 

I have an overnite in ART on 5/27 and just booked the Days Inn for $63.75. Their website says they have an airport shuttle. I am in Hamburg right now so I haven't called to confirm this. the Econo Lodge was $40 something but said it was full that nite. Figured taxi to and from would eat up most of the difference.

Just called the Days Inn and they do have a shuttle. It runs until 10pm but as the flight gets in at 10pm, they said to call and they would pick up any late arrivees.

Also, Just passing thru on:

5/16 (leaving SBA on 5/15)
5/24
5/26

Unless I'm mistaken, you get your UA 1P 100% bonus on all UA, LH and US flights, so your redeemable miles on your all-US trips will be double.

Sackets Harbor is very close to the airport. The airport is actually west of Watertown. It's an important historical site relating to the War of 1812. In the summer it could be worth a cab ride if one is on a layover.

http://www.sacketsharborny.com/

rbAA, what website did you use to book it?

Is someone going to conslidate all of the information together? Now that this thread is getting longer that would be a great thing to do.

going to Watertown for June 10-12 (SFO-PIT-ART)

my first time in upstate NY :)

Hey everyone,

ART is my local airport as I currently live in Watertown, NY. Lots to do and see up here, if you have time I can show you all around. Alexandria Bay is beautiful this time of years and the boat tours are a must. Plenty to do in Syracuse as well. I missed out on the fare mess-up (still kicking myself about that!) but if anyone wants to see the town, maybe I can show you all the good places to eat, stay, and see.

Let me know!

Basically, yes. ;)

Lots to see in the winter here. Best bet is to head to Syracuse, its only an hour away. Even in Watertown you shouldn't be bored if you look hard enough. We were even named best city in the USA back in the early 1900s. :p

This goes for all of you-let me know if and when you will be here, and hopefully I can work something out so that you won't be bored out of your mind! Trust me, there's lots to see and do!

Definately well worth a visit just for the restaraunts there alone. Very scenic little town, right on the water, with lots of buildings and homes from the early 1800s. Basically, Sackets is where the jet-set of Jefferson County wine and dine.

Thanks for bringing that up!

Sounds great. You have a PM from me.

I arrive on the evening of the 10th. Outbound on the 11th. We'll talk.
See you in PIT.

Dan

Only one trip, Labor day:

11:55P Depart Los Angeles Int'l, CA (LAX)
7:21A Arrive Pittsburgh, PA (PIT) Sep 1 US Airways 54


9:00A Depart Pittsburgh, PA (PIT)
10:30A Arrive Watertown (ART) Sep 2 US Airways Express 4651 operated by AIR MIDWEST AIRLINES


12:50P Depart Watertown (ART)
2:20P Arrive Pittsburgh, PA (PIT) Sep 5 US Airways Express 4652 operated by AIR MIDWEST AIRLINES

6:15P Depart Pittsburgh, PA (PIT)
8:09P Arrive Los Angeles Int'l, CA (LAX) Sep 5 US Airways 45

Would have love F class, as well as creative routing but, couldn't figure it out. Had plenty of time, too. Lots, lots more to learn on Flyertalk.

I was able to book 3 nested trips from BWI to the west via ART. One of the biggest challenges was picking which cities to visit (I guess my trips aren't pure MRs).

Trip #1:
Thursday, July 14
US 1617, Dep. BWI 7:00 a.m., Arr. PIT 7:54 a.m.
US 4651, Dep. PIT 9:00 a.m., Arr. ART 10:30 a.m.

1 night layover in ART at the Econo Lodge ($41/night). I plan on visiting Ottawa while I'm up there (reserved a car with Enterprise).

Friday, July 15
US 4650, Dep. ART 6:30 a.m., Arr. PIT 8:00 a.m.
US 73, Dep. PIT 8:30 a.m., Arr. SFO 10:40 a.m.

Sunday, July 17
US 85, Dep. SFO 10:55 p.m., Arr. PIT 6:30 a.m. (on Monday)

Monday, July 18
US 4651, Dep. PIT 9:00 a.m., Arr. ART 10:30 a.m.
US 4652, Dep. ART 12:50 p.m., Arr. PIT 2:20 p.m.
US 1605, Dep. PIT 4:30 p.m., Arr. BWI 5:30 p.m.

Trip #2:
Friday, September 23
US 1617, Dep. BWI 7:00 a.m., Arr. PIT 7:54 a.m.
US 4651, Dep. PIT 9:00 a.m., Arr. ART 10:30 a.m.
US 4652, Dep. ART 12:50 p.m., Arr. PIT 2:20 p.m.
US 7, Dep. PIT 6:10 p.m., Arr. SEA 8:13 p.m.

Sunday, September 25
US 475, Dep. SEA 11:00 p.m., Arr. PIT 6:21 a.m. (on Monday)

Monday, September 26
US 4651, Dep. PIT 9:00 a.m., Arr. ART 10:30 a.m.
US 4652, Dep. ART 12:50 p.m., Arr. PIT 2:20 p.m.
US 1605, Dep. PIT 4:30 p.m., Arr. BWI 5:30 p.m.

Trip #3:
Thursday, November 3
US 1647, Dep. BWI 6:05 p.m., Arr. PIT 6:59 p.m.
US 4655, Dep. PIT 8:35 p.m., Arr. ART 10:00 p.m.

1 night layover in ART at the Econo Lodge ($41/night).

Friday, November 4
US 4650, Dep. ART 6:30 a.m., Arr. PIT 8:00 a.m.
US 625, Dep. PIT 10:15 a.m., Arr. LAS 11:40 a.m.

Sunday, November 6
US 640, Dep. LAS 11:55 p.m., Arr. PIT 6:58 a.m. (on Monday)
US 4651, Dep. PIT 9:00 a.m., Arr. ART 10:30 a.m.
US 4652, Dep. ART 12:50 p.m., Arr. PIT 2:20 p.m.
US 1605, Dep. PIT 4:30 p.m., Arr. BWI 5:30 p.m.

Is a little less than 4 hours enough time to leave the airport in PIT and go downtown?

In ART:

23 Sept
25 Sept

23 Nov
27 Nov

THanks very much - never flown US air (just Air Canada on *Alliance) and didn't realize this -- too bad they don't count towards 500 milers, but now I'm getting greedy :)

first report
 

Boy, oh, boy B6_Flyer, wish we could have seen this post earlier.
JAXPax and I did the scenic tour of the ART airport today.
Here are important things to know:

Arriving:
1) The seats on the propeller jet are fairly comfortable, as long as you are in row 4 or forward.
2) The temperature controls seemed a little erratic. Went from hot & stuffy to a little chilly.

Airport:
1) the airport is really in the middle of nowhere. And there is nothing to do.
2) The airport has a couple of vending machines.

Outside the airport:
1) The nearest convenience store is just 2 miles down the road.
2) The staff at the airport have a folder of restaurants, of which only a couple deliver. We tried the Chinese restaurant. Delivery was fairly quick. They told us 40 minutes to deliver, and I think it came in 20.
3)There is a bird poop splattered picnic table right in front of the terminal. You might want to bring a plastic tablecloth with you. And booze.
4) There used to be a Thrifty rental counter at the airport until about a month ago. Supposedly some other company will be taking that over, but noone knows yet which company.
5) The only hotel which will pick you up is the Days Inn. And they have a Denny's next door, and advertise "a separate lounge".
6) The airport staff say there are taxi services, but they probably will gouge you. No prices were mentioned.

Leaving
1) The TSA staff were very, very thorough. Maybe cause they don't have so many people to practice upon. Or maybe because of the proximity to the border. Either way, I was wanded and patted down more intensely than at any other airport.

JAXPax I'm sure will want to post his pics.

Crap, one of my trips has a brief stay at the Econo lodge. Anyone who uses the cabs, lets compare prices. They'll never expect us to be organized! I'll try for the Days Inn for the others.

Trip 1 - Jun 05 - Jun 06 (in at 10pm, out at 6am. yuck! hope we don't hit any elk on the way to the airport)

Trip 2 - Jun 12 - Jun 13 (in at 10pm, out at 6am)

Trip 3 - Aug 11 - Aug 15 (SFO-ART-SFO nested with 4)

Trip 4 - Aug 12 - Aug 14 (ART-SEA-ART nested w/ 3)

hmmm. cedric thinks I might be able to borrow the hose out front to shower if I choose to jog in from downtown.

I've posted a few pictures on one of the other threads on the topic:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...=422433&page=5

All in all, an interesting trip and everything ran surprisingly smoothly given six segments in one day through a variety of airports with turboprops and Mesa/Air Midwest involved.

The B1900D is quite fun.... small enough for people in opposite ends of the plane to carry on loud conversations before the engine starts (as SeeYa can attest about the husband/wife the first officer split up).
It seems they had the heat on the entire flight (especially the ART-PIT leg) but it came out at floor level. Meanwhile, there are gaspers/air vents in the armrest that were blowing freezing cold air.

I'm glad that there were two of us there in the same boat. I'm not sure doing the Watertown shuffle alone would be quite as entertaining.

Are there even an X-ray machine and walk-through metal detector at Watertown, or is everything done by hand?