Wanderings of a 14 Year Old
 

Having thought about writing about my past travels I finally am getting around to it. This is going to be a seemingly random collection of my journeys, and as a disclaimer none of these tickets in premium cabins were paid tickets.
Hope you enjoy,
hndflyer

My Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/85355498@N02/sets
My Flightmemory: http://my.flightmemory.com/hndflyer

After deciding to attend a hockey camp at Cornell the next step was getting there, and for the first time that would require flying alone. After much deliberation I settled on a 37,500 mile itinerary with the SMF-EWR in economy plus and the EWR-SFO in first. I planned on getting to SMF 1.5 hours early, but since it was an early morning departure it only took 10 minutes from being dropped off to sitting at the gate with a mocha.
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IMG_0184 by hndflyer, on Flickr
CRJ 700 ready for the jaunt to LAX

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IMG_0186 by hndflyer, on Flickr
Quick cockpit picture

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IMG_0187 by hndflyer, on Flickr

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IMG_0188 by hndflyer, on Flickr
Seat 3A legroom

After a quick and early flight I had enough time to grab a subway in LAX on the way to the LAX-EWR leg. Miraculously I had the only 2 empty seats on the flight next to me, giving me my very own row in Economy Plus, something I used to break my personal best of 2 hours of sleep on a flight, which is an accomplishment because I have gone a 11 hour AKL-HKG 8 hour layover and 4 hour HKG-HND without sleeping a lick ;).
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IMG_0194 by hndflyer, on Flickr
737-800 to EWR

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IMG_0203 by hndflyer, on Flickr
Post Takeoff pic

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IMG_0204 by hndflyer, on Flickr
UA keeping it classy

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IMG_0207 by hndflyer, on Flickr
My Row

After a pleasant week in New York and Ithaca it was time to return and considering it was 8am Newark was a zoo, but being dropped off by a family member with global service has its perks ;). After fighting through hordes of gate lice I finally made it onboard the 737-800 with direct tv.

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IMG_0270 by hndflyer, on Flickr
Seat 1A with the same legroom as a CRJ-700 in economy plus

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IMG_0271 by hndflyer, on Flickr
PTV

As soon as boarding was finished the purser came through to take meal orders and offer a PDB.

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IMG_0274 by hndflyer, on Flickr

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IMG_0282 by hndflyer, on Flickr

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IMG_0276 by hndflyer, on Flickr

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IMG_0280 by hndflyer, on Flickr
Menu

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IMG_0283 by hndflyer, on Flickr
PDB

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IMG_0287 by hndflyer, on Flickr
Nice sunrise after a long takeoff roll, we must of used 3/4ths of the runway.

As soon as we reached 10,000 ft the FA’s sprung into action and came through with hot towels and offered a drink.

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IMG_0290 by hndflyer, on Flickr
Towel

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IMG_0291 by hndflyer, on Flickr
Apple juice

About 15 minutes later fruit and yogurt was served with offerings from a bread basket following.

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IMG_0294 by hndflyer, on Flickr
First Tray

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IMG_0297 by hndflyer, on Flickr
Cinnamon bun

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IMG_0298 by hndflyer, on Flickr
French toast with turkey sausage, quite good but it was a little cold

As we began our descent into SFO chips and chocolates were passed out, but considering it was a 6 hour flight it would've been nicer to have a snack in the middle too.

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IMG_0307 by hndflyer, on Flickr
Pre-arrival goddies

IAD-DTW-PHX

For spring break we decided to go to Phoenix and the Grand Canyon, so using 25,000 united miles we booked IAD-DTW-PHX in F on United Express and US Airways. Since we were leaving IAD at 8:10am on the first saturday of spring break Mom and Dad decided that 1 hour early would be enough, ignoring my 2 hour recommendation, and sure enough as we pulled up to the airport at 7:00 the check-in was a mess, with the 1K line wrapping around the the corner. After lucking out by being selected as some of the 15 to go to the global services counter we made it to the front at 7:28 but the check-in agent wouldn't check our bags, however thankfully they were just small enough to be carried on. So after dashing through the airport we made it to the gate just in time for the final call, and walked aboard our CRJ-700 to DTW. Being a hour and a half flight we were served a PDB and bag of “premium snack mix.” Thankfully we arrived early at DTW and made it to our connection in time to gate check our suitcases. After a very civil boarding we were on our A319 to Phoenix.

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IMG_3131 by hndflyer, on Flickr
PDB napkins without ads!

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IMG_3135 by hndflyer, on Flickr
PDB

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IMG_3134 by hndflyer, on Flickr
Nuts served with PDB

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IMG_3127 by hndflyer, on Flickr

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IMG_3129 by hndflyer, on Flickr
Legroom

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IMG_3130 by hndflyer, on Flickr
Pillow and blanket on a afternoon mid-con

After takeoff the purser who was the best I’ve ever flown with came through offering a choice of pasta with tomato sauce or BBQ chicken. About 30 minutes later the meal arrived with another round of drink service.

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IMG_3133 by hndflyer, on Flickr
Hot Towel

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IMG_3136 by hndflyer, on Flickr
Meal
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IMG_3138 by hndflyer, on Flickr
Cheese appetizer

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IMG_3137 by hndflyer, on Flickr
Well flavored but dry chicken with delicious sweet potato mash

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IMG_3140 by hndflyer, on Flickr
Warm bread roll

After the meal was cleared the FA came through offering a carrot cake dessert which I passed on. Now on to the purser who not only was young and energetic but spent the whole flight refilling drinks or helping with the Y service, not once did he pull a united and sit down and gossip. After a few chops we landed on-time at Phoenix-Sky Harbour International Airport and got our bags and entered the city.