Greetings fellow tortured flyers!
I'm stuck here in SJC awaiting my replacement
flight from SJC->LAX and then on to IAD.
They cancelled my shuttle because of weather(!?!?!?) which I totally don't understand 'cause it's clear as the eye can
see here....

I'm going to be here from the time of this
posting until my flight(hopefully) leaves
at 17:00. I'll be in the United wing. If you're there and spot a guy w/ bushy hair in
a Driz-A-Bone tapping away at a Libretto
laptop and Ricochet, drop by and say hi.

BTW, I'm waitlisted for a 1st-class seat
on the LAX->IAD redeye. If there's any hints
you guys can provide about getting that
upgrade to be free instead of having to
use vouchers, I'm all ears....

Talk to you soon...it's gonna be a long day

JD

Sometimes the problem is the weather at the destination, although some of these weather or flight equipment cancellations are suspicious. On my last shuttle trip from LAX to SFO I arrived at the airport well in time and asked to be put on an earlier flight, which they did, and then they cancelled the flight due to equipment problems so I ended up on my original flight. Better safe than sorry though.

Can't give you any tips on free upgrades although recently I was pleasantly surprised when I took a tip from my fellow frequent flyertalker gurus and got a free upgrade at SFO when the agent did not ask me for an upgrade cert. The other legs of my journey were all on Shuttle flights where I get a free upgrade so this was the first trip where I got a completely complimentary upgrade for the entire trip.

Ummmm...no...
I just called my boss down @ our LA office and he just gave a "sunny'n'clear" weather
report as well. I have a feeling it's probably something like the 737 that was going to fly into SJC is stuck somewhere like
Denver(having lots of problems today @ DIA)
or something....

JD

Okay, well I made it okay to LAX...snow and
sleet @ IAD according to my Dad(possibly right @the airport itself as the folks live
only about 10 minutes away) and the arrivals
board is none too comforting, listing flights
that were supposed to get in around 19:30 and
now listing them as pulling in ~ 23:30 or later.

Remind me to stay put or go to some place more sensible like Hawaii next year...The
last time I went anywhere to Xmas, I got
stuck in SEA for 2 days owing to a freak ice storm. This was on the middle of a holiday IAD->ORD->SEA->SFO->IAD tour to
see various friends and family.
Seattle is so unprepared to deal with even
the slightest amount of snow that my friends
couldn't even drive back to pick me up after
the airport closed.

Oh well....thanks for letting me spout off
here folks...it's a good time-killer.

Jetdillo, sure is taking you a long time to get from N. CA (SJC is San Jose I assume) to S. CA. My sympathies for you. Hope you have a good time in LA.

Oops just noticed you were going to IAD, which I dont know what airport that is. But have a good time anyway!

Ricechex: IAD is Washington Dulles

Denoument:
I got there and back(SJC->LAX->IAD R/T) in one piece.
I tried turning on the 'dillo charm(read look harried and pitiful) but they wouldn't let me
get by on my tale of woe and only 4 vouchers
@ LAX so I told them to use miles. I just checked my account and they had my flight registered, but they hadn't subtracted the
miles, so somebody might have given me a
X-mas present anyways.

4B in a 757 was just the trick to chill me out and get me there w/out feeling completely
like roadkill. They fed and juiced us pretty
much all night, so that was good.

'Twas a VERY packed flight, mostly I suspect
w/ refugees from earlier flights that had been delayed or cancelled. From looking at
the various monitors and working with various
reservations people to just GET there, I would have to say that 12/23 was just a BAD day to have a hub @ DIA.

One interesting thing was that they boarded
us not at the nose door, but at the door
right behind 1st. It's been a while since I've been on a 757 so I don't remember if
thats normal or not. Most of my travels in the past year or two has been on 7{4|6|7}7s or Airbuses.

Going back was just as interesting.
On the IAD->LAX leg, the plane was an older DC-10 in the white-orange-red-blue livery. I was back in coach and it was cramped. I've been spoiled by '67s and Airbuses, so I'd forgotten how cramped older coach seats were. This was also a very packed flight. Penne
pasta &breadsticks for lunch. Nothing to
write home about + or -.
Namedropping/Fameaux Spotting note:
Master P's(rapper,contemporary of the late
Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur) bodyguard was sitting not right next to me, but across the aisle. We ended up chatting about physical vs. electronic security in the forward galley area for most of the flight.

Coming in to SJC from LAX, we got to be the one to close down VFR operations to 30R after
bailing on our approach w/ about 500 ft to
go. It was REALLY thick and didn't show any
holes until I'd say below 1K feet.
After we waved off, I heard SJC Tower call to
the plane behind us "Southwest niner 47 turn right 240, climb and maintain 4000 to join the pattern while we fire up IFR on 12L. We've had another wave-off from a United '37 so we're going to close down visuals to active 30."

Kudos to the cockpit crew of UA 2630 who had
the skills and sense to make the right choice
and get us in safely,albeit late.
Thanks everybody!

Whew and welcome home! I'm addicted to the cockpit channel but there are times when we hear things that maybe we shouldn't! Seems like we take the skills of the crew for granted sometimes, eh? Good show and thanks for giving us the denouement!

Boarding through the middle door is common practice with 757's for Delta, I don't about United though ...

It really speeds things up I think, especially unloading.

Yes, at least at IAD/ORD/SFO the practice is to baord 57s aft of the 1st class cabin. It is also nice if you are in 1st because it makes it easier for the purser to get 1st class drinks pre-flight (and makes for fewer elbow bumps from folks passing by).

But my FAVORITE boarding procedure is on widebodies when there is separate ramp for 1st and C class...

I've alsop been listening in a few times when we've had go-arounds (once at IAD for "traffic still on the runway" and twice at ORD for "possible wind shear") and it ALWAYS makes me feel better to listen in, know what's going on and hear the mechanical calm in the pilot's voice as he calls for the go-round (it always seems to me that the ATCs get more excited about it than the pilots do!)

boarding on the 1st vs the 2d door is a factor of how the airport and gate is designed--some gates have limited articulation and can use only one or the other.

On my last United 757 flight a few days ago, we entered through the first door in ORD and exited through the 2nd door in SEA. Since we were severely delayed in departure, no first class preflight beverages were served but I didnt mind as I enjoyed watching the flight attendants reprimand coach passengers trying to leave their luggage in the overhead bins up front before heading towards steerage.