themapelligroup

Very nice report! Thank you very much for sharing.

dat4life

Homeward Bound

By Thursday afternoon, my project for the training course was completed, and my grueling training course had come to a close. That called for a night of celebrating, which ended up somewhere in Addams Morgan at a place karaoke. I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of video of me on stage with the microphone. We’re all probably better off that way.

The next morning was a bit of crock, with a few guest speakers trying to get their two cents in prior to releasing all of the attendees. As I bade farewell to my friends on the way out, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sadness. This training course was the last of the core training required by my company. Any future trips to DC would be few and far in between. I have always loved Washington DC, but have grown even fonder of this beautiful, historical, and vibrant city over the last few years. I will certainly miss our regular dalliances.

The reason I was in such a hurry to leave work was in hopes to Houston earlier. I had been on the road in some fashion or another for 10 weeks straight at that point, and I was scheduled to be on road for two more weeks. Admittedly some of the damage is self-inflicted, a fact the lady friend holds over my head on regular basis. With her mentioning something about creating accounts on eHarmony and OK Cupid, it was probably best I get down there as soon as possible. My originally booked itinerary had me flying DCA-JFK-IAH, arriving at IAH just before 8PM. I had chose this routing for a few extra EQMs, which I ended up not needing. Not surprisingly, there was no same day change space available. Barring a miracle, I was stuck.

My cab ride to Reagan was a harrowing experience. As we turned on to George Washington Parkway, my cab driver spots a fellow cabbie who was also headed to Reagan, and decides race his buddy to the airport. Let just say we had more then a few near misses. Throwing a few bills at the driver, I stumble out of the cab happy to be alive. I inquired with the agent who checked my bags if there was any flight I could possibly change to. My inquiry was met with a resounding no, even before the agent tapped away at his keyboard. Fair enough, I’ll just check at the Admirals Club. Could an AAngel pull off a miracle today?

There was space available on a couple of DCA-DFW flights, but there only DFW-IAH flight I could be confirmed on would only put me there 30 minutes earlier. Not worth $75. My fate sealed, I headed to the business center to get some work done, pausing occasionally to admire the views outside.





Since I forgone breakfast in favor of more sleep, I had intended on grabbing a sandwich at the Admirals Club, but unfortunately they were out of everything as their shipment did not arrive as expected. No big deal. I just headed to Potbelly’s and grabbed a sandwich and a bottle of water there. I went to the gate area to enjoy my sandwich while watching a CRJ-700 being readied for my flight to JFK.



American Airlines 3230 (Operated by American Eagle)
Washington Reagan (DCA) – New York Kennedy (JFK)
Depart: 12:55 PM
Arrive: 2:15 PM
Aircraft: Bombardier CRJ-700
Seat: 3A (First Class)

Here on FT, pillows are a bit of a hot button issue. Don’t believe me? Google “pillows flyertalk” and see how many threads pop up. These days, it’s rare to find a pillow in domestic First Class short of transcon routes on any carrier. Imagine my surprise when I boarded my AMERICAN EAGLE flight, from DCA to JFK no less, and find a decent sized pillow neatly placed on my seat.



Apparently, this was an aberration as I haven’t seen them on any of my Eagle or American mainline flights since. Nevertheless, I put the pillow and blanket to good use that day and nearly immediately fell asleep. By the time I woke up, the FA had already completed a round of drinks. Noticing I woke up, I was immediately offered a package of ironically named “premium snack mix” and asked for my beverage of choice. Still a bit hungover, I decided to stick with water. Which was refilled several times before landing. Despite the overcast skies, views on approach were quite nice.









While the number of interesting aircraft to spot at DFW and IAH has increased over the past few years, numbers at both airports can’t approach that of a true international airport like New York’s John Fitzgerald Kennedy International Airport.


So…doing another system upgrade anytime soon?






Welcome to oneworld



After deplaning, I headed straight to the Concourse C Admirals Club. The club was very crowded from the bank of afternoon departures and delayed flights due to weather somewhere. Despite the crowd, I was able to find an empty seat without much issue. I was hoping to put some work into this report, but alas work calls. With my focus on my training the last few weeks, I neglected a lot of my regular duties. I caught up with a lot of that work backlog, before taking a walk around the terminal prior to boarding.




Ready for the A321

While I noticed the Courtyard NFL Passing Challenge at O’Hare last weekend, I didn’t have time to stop and give it a whirl. I couldn’t quite complete the passing challenge, though it was fun trying. Some might question the wisdom of featuring Tom Brady in New York…

dat4life

My flight to Houston was departing out of gate 40, which was a short walk from the Admirals Club. I got there just as the gate agent announced a few minutes to boarding announcement, which she ended with the quip, “Passports are not needed to enter the state of Texas.” Methinks she’s spent a little too much time with Rick Perry…

American Airlines 211
New York Kennedy (JFK) - Houston Bush Intercontinental (IAH)
Depart: 5:00 PM
Arrive: 7:55 PM
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Seat: 4A (First Class)

Our aircraft today was the lovely 4 month old N927NN, which still had a very strong new plane smell. Not surprisingly, it was equipped with the Boeing Sky Interior. There was a bit of commotion while boarding as 3F accidentally took up residence in 5F. 3F’s confusion was understandable as all of American’s 738s and MD-80s begin with row 3 in First Class. That was settled pretty quickly, as was boarding which wrapped up within 15 minutes of beginning due to the light load in both cabins. In fact, everyone upfront had an empty seat next to him or her, a rarity these days. Now with the boarding completed so quickly, you would think that PDB service upfront would be open bar. But nope, the FAs chatted amongst themselves and threw together a tray of water and OJ after the cabin door was closed. Not a good sign for the rest of the flight.

Pushback was delayed due to a company 767-300 stuck behind, as explained by our captain during his welcome aboard announcement. However, that was the only intelligible part of the announcement. The rest of it might as well been made by Charlie Brown’s teacher. I wouldn’t have known the difference.

As expected taxiing out to the runway took a solid 30 minutes. Even if electronic devices were allowed to be used during all phases of flight that day, I still would have perfectly content enjoying the steady stream of interesting traffic parading outside the window.







Given the light road and very new engines, our Boeing 737-800 practically leaped off the ground after a very short take off roll. One thing of interest I noticed during climb out was an old airport with its runways converted to use as city streets.



Most of us here on FT fly enough to know the routine as well as employees, and in some cases like this one better. The routine for all of AA’s non-breakfast mid con flights with meals is:

- Hot Towels
- Warm mixed nuts with drink of choice
- Refills
- Meals
- Dessert (Basic Plus Flights)
- Mints before landing

Apparently, our FA didn’t get the memo. I was able to get a solid hour of work done after we climbed through 10,000 feet before there was any sign of service. Even then, there were no hot towels offered. Just straight into the warm lukewarm nut service. Since I was officially off the clock at that point and recovered from the previous evenings festivities, I figured a gin & tonic would be a perfect accompaniment.



Even on some of my shorter meal flights (like on my ORD-DCA snack flight a few weeks back), most FAs even offer a round of refills before distributing entrees. On longer mid-con flights like this 1,417 mile journey, most FAs individually offer second helpings of nuts and refills before clearing ramekins and distributing entrees often times by hand. No such luck tonight, despite the very light load. Just a few minutes after nuts and drinks were offered, the meal cart rolled down the aisle.

Since my upgrade had cleared at exactly 100 hours, I had more than enough time to preorder my entrée on line. Choices for tonight are:

Seared Breast of Chicken
Stuffed with spinach and cheese, complimented by Emmental potatoes au gratin and buttered haricots verts

Sacchetti Pasta
With Alfredo sauce and sun dried tomatoes coulis

Both choices sounded really good, and were new entrees in the rotation. I preordered the chicken, which was not acknowledged by our flight attendant. But I got my choice anyways, probably due to the light load. While water, white wine, or red wine was offered with the meal, at no point was an offer made to refresh my cocktail.
Choice of sourdough or wheat rolls was offered.

American offers two types of First Class dinner service on its mid con flights, basic and basic plus. Basic plus adds a cocktail shrimp appetizer and a choice of ice cream or a cheese plate for dessert. This upgraded service is offered on longer mid con flights and select routes such as DFW-LAX/SNA. With reports on the AA meal thread of the discontinuation of basic plus on DFW-LAX, I was curious to see what was on offer tonight. I was very to pleased to see the basic plus set up on my tray.



To put it bluntly, service sucked but at least the food was excellent. The salad was crisp and fresh, though a little boring compared to some of the other AA salads I had this year. It’s hard to screw up the cocktail shrimp. The chicken, stuffed with a generous helping of cheese and spinach, was moist and delicious. The potatoes au gratin was cheesy and good, though the green beans were a bit rubbery. My entrée was served nice and hot, in contrast to my cold roll. But it was soft enough to eat.

It took forever for my tray to be cleared. When it finally was, the FA asked if I would care for some ice cream. Not particularly fancying ice cream at that moment, I ask for a fruit and cheese plate instead. I was told that they weren’t loaded. Fair enough, I can live with ice cream. Served rock hard, I enjoyed the generous scoop of chocolate ice cream after it melted down a bit. The beautiful sunset outside was a nice accompaniment to dessert.





After my ice cream dish was cleared sometime later, I went to lavatory only to notice that there were a couple fruit and cheese plates sitting in the galley. Not cool, but it’s water under the bridge now. As expected, the FAs disappeared after meal service only reappearing during final descent. I was completely satisfied after getting a glass of water on my way back from the galley. The gentlemen seated in 4E eventually realized that this was a self service flight, and made a couple of trips to the galley to have his drink refreshed.
This was by far the worse AA flight I’ve ever been on. And it was an aberration, because since then my cabin crews have been good to great. Still though, I felt it warranted some attention so I made my first complaint to AA since I’ve begun flying with them. They gave my 5,000 miles as compensation. A penny for my thoughts I suppose. At the end of the day, I got home on time in one piece, my bags made the flight with me, and I had a delicious meal to boot. So I got exactly what I paid for.

dat4life

Thanks for reading, themapelligroup. Still a few more sections to come!

dat4life

Tap the Rockies

The weekend passed far too quickly, and soon I found myself back in the familiar daze of airports, hotels, and strange meeting rooms. Since no one really cares about a 1 hour IAH-DFW, let’s pick up at when I deplaned at DFW. Fortunately, my flight from Houston arrived very near the C23 Admirals Club and my flight to Denver was departing out of the C Terminal as well. I had sprained my knee trying to catch a pop fly in a pickup game of softball the day before, so I wasn’t too keen walking long distances. Getting injured doing what used to be routine seems to be more and more common since I turned 25 a few short years ago, further reinforcing my theory of it’s all down after the big two five.

There was a bit of a wait as the lounge dragon was denying access to a couple who had thought their DFW-LGA First Class ticket was good enough for lounge access. Soon enough I was relaxing in the pleasant and spacious club. Since I had overslept, my girlfriend hastily dropped me off at the airport just 45 minutes before departure thus I had missed out on breakfast. So I grabbed some yogurt covered pretzels and a latte from the Nescafe machine. That would tide me over until lunch on board.







I left the club a few minutes earlier than usual, to allow my gimpy ol self some extra time to make it to the gate, C4. The gate area was abuzz with activity when I got there, with gate lice starting to amass in the boarding lanes and the gate agents calling processing standbys and last minute upgrades. Luckily for me, my upgrade cleared at the EXP window so no gate angst for me today. Down on the tarmac, the rampers and caterers were busy readying the Mad Dog that would be taking us 641 miles northwest to Denver.



While most passengers dislike the aging MD-80 series, it’s one of my favorite narrow bodies in American’s fleet. Seats on the MD-80s are generally better padded than those on the 737s, and the 2-3 configuration in coach makes spending time behind the curtain much more pleasant. No IFE? No problem for me at least. I’m generally catching up on work or reading on most flights anyways. I’ll admit after my first flight on a MD-80, I absolutely hated it because I was seated right in front of the noisy engines. After I figured how to consistently sit in front of the wing, I realized it’s a fairly quiet and pleasant ride.

American Airlines 379
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) – Denver (DEN)
Depart: 11:40 AM
Arrive: 12:40 PM
Aircraft: McDonnell Douglas DC-9-83
Seat: 5F (First Class)

The flight was absolutely packed to gills in both cabins. I was actually the first one to board as one of the friendly gate agents noticed my knee brace and brought me in front of the line. As I settled into my seat, the gentleman seated in 5B came in and was having a heated conversation via his cell phone. Apparently the person he was talking to “spit in his face” and that person is going to “pay for it one way or another.” I’m glad I’m not the person on the other end of that call. Fortunately, things quieted down after he hung up.

In sharp contrast to the FA on my JFK-IAH flight the previous week, this FA was absolutely fantastic. Open bar PDB service was offered despite boarding late, and the FA repeatedly swam against the flood of boarding passengers to make and serve drinks. As we pushed back, she greeted everyone by name and either took meal orders or confirmed pre-orders, only sitting down just before we taxied into position on the runway. Our departure runway that day was Runway 31. Since 2009, I’ve averaged about 60 flights in and out of DFW each year. As far as I can remember, each of those flights departed or landed on either the 17/35 or 18/36 runways. Therefore, this is likely the first time I’ve ever been on this particular runway.

After a brief hold, the brakes were released and we were airborne after a length take off roll. It was a beautiful, clear, and sunny day which meant nice views of the suburbs of Colleyville and Trophy Club as well as Grapevine Lake for those looking out of the window.



The smell of nuts being warm wafted through the cabin signaling the commencement of inflight service. Soon enough, the FA began distributing ramekins of warm nuts along with each passenger’s beverage of choice. Instead of my usual G&T, I had ordered a Bloody Mary to enjoy with my warm nuts. Refills were offered just T. Boone Pickens’ wind farms and the red dirt of Oklahoma came into view.



Entrees were delivered soon after. Since this flight was a snack flight, a choice of two cold options was offered. Today’s options were curry chicken wrap or the salmon salad, the same as my ORD-DCA flight a few weeks ago. Since I had the chicken curry wrap last time, I preordered the salmon salad. It was a rather a good sized portion of salmon on a bed of greens with diced mangos, which went well with the slightly sweet Asian Sesame dressing. Despite the somewhat strange color of the salmon, it was pretty tasty.



A choice of chocolate chip or cranberry oatmeal cookies were offered for dessert, which I declined. Service didn’t stop after the cookie plates were collected, as our FA kept topping off drinks well into our decent. I made sure to give her an AAplause certificate on the way out. We pulled into the gate just a few minutes later than scheduled. It was a bit of a hike to baggage claim, but it gave me a chance to admire the attractive main terminal of Denver International Airport.



Bags hit the belt just as I got to baggage claimed. Priority tags worked as my bag was the first to hit the belt. Woot! Am I living a semi charmed life or what?

My string of good timing continued as my coworker, whom I’m good friends with, called me to let me know he had arrived. Since he is an avid biker, he elected to drive up from Dallas so he could take his bike along without much extra expense. Instead of getting another rental car, I opted to be a good corporate steward and ride with him. We spent the 70 miles between DIA and Fort Collins catching up as we hadn’t crossed paths in quite a while. We headed straight to our hotel, the Marriott Fort Collins.



Since most of our work travel takes us to small towns, we were quite pleased to have a full service hotel so we could take full advantage of our respective Gold and Platinum statuses. Interestingly, my coworker who is Gold got an upgrade to a suite, while I, as a Platinum, got assigned a standard room on the club floor. However I had a nice view of the mountains view, so I’d say I came out ahead. The Marriott Fort Collins is an older property, but has been recently renovated and the rooms were updated to standard comfortable Marriott fare.







The hotel had a small but very pleasant club lounge. The offerings were very good for a North American property. Breakfast included scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, oatmeal, as well as an assortment of pastries, toast, and fruit. The evening spread included one hot dish, which included pasta, roast pork, and jambalaya during my stay, in addition to soup, cold cuts, cheese, vegetables, and dessert. It was all quite tasty. I had an opportunity to chat with the head chef of the hotel one evening. In his words, the club lounge offerings before he came were pure crap and he was absolutely appalled by it. He takes pride in everything he does, and revamped the offerings to what they are now. And it certainly showed. I also ate at the hotel restaurant a couple of times over the course of my stay. While pricey, the food was quite good especially for hotel food. If there’s one thing anyone must try on the menu, it’s the green chili pork gravy. The slow heat of chili and flavorful chunks of pork went very well with a buttermilk biscuit.

Overall, it was a very nice two week stay. While the facilities were quite nice for the most part, what set the hotel was their great staff. They were all very friendly, attentive, and genuinely caring. I would definitely not hesitate to return to the hotel the next time I’m in Fort Collins.

I had originally planned to rent a car and make the 6 hour drive to Mount Rushmore over the weekend. Then came the government shutdown, which closed down all national parks. But that was a moot point, as the first large snow storm of the season was forecasted to dump up to three feet of snow in the Black Hills. That forecast would have made even the most experienced winter weather driver pause, let alone this lifelong southern boy. Fortunately, I was in Fort Collins. I’m sure I could find plenty to do with the nearby university, mountains, and the breweries. Oh yeah! The breweries.

Due to the multitude of breweries in located in the area, many people refer to this area of Colorado as the Napa Valley of beer. Eager to find out first hand if the area lives it up to it’s reputation, my friend and I rounded up a couple more of our coworkers and headed out immediately after work on Friday to the Left Hand Brewing Company brewery, located less than an hour away in Longmont.







The bar area was moderately busy when we got there. However, we made good use of our time at Left Hand, having several delicious flights of beer apiece. Every beer we tried was very good, but the one beer we all agreed was the best was the Milk Stout. It was deliciously smooth and just slightly sweet. My friend and I both picked up a 6 pack a piece before leaving. Fortunately, Left Hand began distributing in Texas earlier in 2013, and I located a bar that sells it in Dallas. Now I can get my fix any time I want.

Time flies with good beer and good people, and before we knew it last call came. We headed back to the hotel, where we headed to the bar in the lobby. It was teeming with activity as the hotel was hosting a magic convention that weekend. Needless to say there were a bunch interesting characters, with whom we had rather interesting conversations on the mechanics of tricks illusions over multiple schooners of 90 Schilling. We finally retired for the night after closing down the bar a little after midnight.

dat4life

Despite the late night, I was up and at ‘em at 7AM. I did have a massive headache, which was cured with a lot of coffee, eggs, and biscuits with aforementioned delicious green chili pork gravy. Since Rocky Mountain National Park was closed and the Estes Park area was still recovering from the floods the week before, the plan for today was to head up the Poudre Canyon Highway to find a trail to hike. While my knee wasn’t feeling 100 percent, I did not want to squander a chance to spend some time in the mountains.

We hit the road around 9AM, after meeting up with my other coworkers who were staying at the nearby Homewood Suites. It took about 30 minutes to reach the Poudre Canyon Highway, and just a few miles down the road we lost cell phone signal competely. Ordinarily, I would flip out because I hate being disconnected from the grid. But that provided the perfect setting to enjoy the natural beauty: without distraction. While I had left my crappy little point and shoot camera, my friend had brought his excellent Canon along, which was perfect for capturing our adventure today. He was kind enough to let me share some of his handiwork with y’all.



Our first only hiking trail we attempted was reached a little after an hour of driving. We had company in the form of ecology students from Colorado State University. They seemed rather engrossed in their work, so we pressed on and were rewarded with this nice view.



On our way down, we stumbled onto this patch of cactus. I found that rather interesting because I didn’t think cactus were native to the area. Regardless, it seemed to hold just fine in the colder climate.



Next, I saw something that really that really made my blood boil. We had stumbled onto someone’s old campsite complete with many shotgun shells strewn about and a partially destroyed book. Is it really that hard to clean up after yourself?



The trail was rather short, and we were back to car in less than an hour. The Poudre Canyon Highway begins at approximately 5,000 feet of elevation and slowly winds up the mountain. At approximately 8,000 feet, we began to see the effects of the snow storm of the day before. At 10,000 feet, there was at least a foot of soft white powder. Between the snow, trees, and mountain peaks, the entire drive was literally post card perfect. In fact the snow even made an outhouse photogenic.


First sign of snow








Photogenic outhouse




Winter wonderland

We drove for about three hours (due to a couple of photo op stops) after leaving the trail. The entire ride was nearly silent as we were mesmerized by the beautiful scenery, only punctuated by one of my coworkers, who had worked in Denver for a number of years, murmuring “why the hell did I move.” That’s a fantastic question.

After we cleared the mountain range, we were fast approaching the town of Walden. My coworker who had lived in Denver had been through the town a number of times and recommended a local eatery, the Moose Creek Café, as a good place for lunch. It was just like many small town restaurants in Texas, except there for the liberal use of antlers in the décor. I chuckled as the menu listed “Rocky Mountain Oysters” as the specialty item. A friend of mine back home, told me I had to try them. I didn’t realize he was pulling my leg until I Googled it. I am of Chinese decent, so I’ve eaten a lot weird crap. But bull testicles… I have to draw the line there.

The other local delicacy on the menu was an elk cheese burger. It was perfectly edible, though definitely not great. But it was something I couldn’t easily get back home, so it was a good choice. After lunch, we took a stroll down the town’s main street which was all of two blocks.





The ride back to Fort Collins was a bit quicker as we didn’t stop to take pictures. We stopped at our respective hotels before meeting up again at the Funk Werks brewery for a few flights of beer. Funk Werks specialized in Belgian saissons, blondes and ales. It was another tasty choice, though the crisp beers were probably better suited for the summer drinking than in the fall



Our coworkers called it a night at just past 7PM, while my friend and I hit up some of the bars near Colorado State University. It was good time, and a perfect way to cap off a long but fun day.

On Sunday Funday, we did our duty as Americans and sat our butts down, on a bar stool in this case, and watched football. My beloved Saints were taking on the Chicago Bears at 11AM, so I headed out myself to Buffalo Wild Wings to catch the game as my coworkers were dragging. While I usually dislike going to chains, BWWs is consistent and has NFL Sunday Ticket on many screens, guaranteeing I will be able to watch the game of my choice. Cold beer, a beautiful cool sunny day, wings, Saints football, and the mountains in the background… Life is good. After the Saints had the victory at hand, I closed my tab and headed to in beautiful downtown Fort Collins to meet the rest of the gang at the Cooper Smith Brewery to drink more beer and watch the Denver Broncos take on the Dallas Cowboys.



After I nursed a couple of Cooper Smith’s excellent October Fest brew, I got adventurous and decided to try their Green Chili Beer. When I ordered, the bartender asked if I wanted a tall or a 8 ounce glass. Of course I wanted a tall. The bartender followed up with, “Are you sure?” (In hindsight, that should have been my first clue a tall was a bad idea.) Of course I am. Ok… It was delicious, and I could feel the green chili’s trademark slow heat building on my taste buds. However, my stomach felt like it was on fire after I downed half of the glass. So what did I do next? Finish the rest of the glass, of course. #Horribleidea. I could probably replicate the way my stomach was feeling that day by swallowing gasoline washed down by lit match. Needless to say that was my last beer of the day.



After the Broncos took a seemingly commanding 35-20 lead, my dejected Cowboys fan coworkers decided to head across the street to try another brewery. Which didn’t have a TV. What kind of bovine feces is this? It’s 2013, after all. So I kept an eye on the game for us on my iPhone, while the guys grabbed flights for themselves. While it good, it certainly wasn’t memorable as none of us remember the name of the place. But here’s a picture of the flight anyways.



I got caught up with our conversation, and didn’t check my phone again until the guys finished up their flights. Holy crap! The Cowboys came roaring back and just scored a touchdown to narrow the gap to 41-38. So we hurried back to Coopersmith to catch the fourth quarter of what turned out to be an exciting shootout. The Cowboys fell heartbreakingly short at the end with the final score of 51-48 in favor of the Broncos. My coworkers were quite dejected. I’m not going to lie… I did take some pleasure in their disappointment, as it’s a great day whenever the Cowboys lose. With the wind knocked out of their sails and work early the next morning, we called it a day.

Buried in work, the week flew by and it was Thursday before we knew it. With a travel day on Friday, we decided to head out to another brewery Thursday evening. As we had really enjoyed their 90 Schilling brew, we hit up the Odell Brewery.





Odell Specializes in IPAs, which I was excited about because I like hoppy beers. Unfortunately, most of the beers were way too hoppy even for my tastes. All of the beers we tried that night were certainly better any of the mainstream swill, though the bar is set pretty low in that regard. Since Odell closes at 6, we took the party to The Mayor of Old Town for some more delicious local brews and a tasty dinner. It was perfect way to end what was the most fun assignment of my young career.

Seat 2A

Nice report! As a native Coloradoan, I felt like I was back home riding er- reading along with you as you made your way through the Rockies and a few tasty pints. Ft. Collins is a great town for a cold beer. I usually make it over to Washington's for a beer and a burger at least twice a year - which is sayin' something since I live in Alaska. Thanks again for this report!

dat4life

Thanks, Seat 2A! Fort Collins is heaven for any beer lover. While I've been skiing in Colorado a number of times, going into the mountains like that is a completely different experience. The naturual beauty was out of this world amazing. In fact, it's made me want to go back to Alaska even more...and stay more than 4 hours of course!

Like you, I prefer to post my reports all at once. But with work this year, it's been impossible to do so. I still have a few more sections to post. I hope you enjoy those as well.

dat4life

The Long Way to Beantown

It’s not often I’m sad about leaving a work assignment, but I certainly was this time. With beautiful surroundings, very friendly people, and great beer, Fort Collins is a fantastic place to be and perhaps a great place to live. Had I been less ethically inclined, I would have applied for one of the open positions our client was hiring for. But I am what I am, so it was time to Boston for a weekend of football and mileage running.

The flight from Denver to Dallas was uneventful, so let’s pick up after our arrival in Dallas. Since quite a few of my coworkers were on the same flight as me, I waited until they deplaned to say good bye before heading to the Terminal A Admirals Club. I made use of the exercise room for a quick workout and then showered before hopping on the Sky Link to Terminal D, where my flight was departing from. It’s a good thing I left when I did, because the gate agents decided to board the flight 45 minutes prior to departure instead of the stated 30 minutes. Despite starting boarding early, we didn’t pushback a minute before the scheduled departure time of 7PM.

American Airlines 2253
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) – Boston (BOS)
Depart: 7:00 PM
Arrive: 11:30 PM
Aircraft: Boeing 757-200
Seat: 6B (First Class)

I was pleased to see that another refurbished 757 would be operating this flight, which meant seats that actually recline and wifi.



I had originally chosen seat 5F, but just as I settled my seatmate arrived and asked if I wouldn’t mind switching with his partner who was seated in 6B. Their upgrades didn’t clear until T-3 so they weren’t able get seats together. I generally prefer window seats, but since it would be dark soon it really wouldn’t make too big of a difference. So I agreed to the switch after the boarding line dies down. As I waited, I heard a dog barking. I looked outside to see a travel crate sitting on top of the baggage loading cart. This went on for a few minutes, before a ramper came over and calmed the dog down. With all of negative stories on airlines mishandling animals, it was good to see an airline employee take the initiative and add a more humane touch.



Take off was powerful as to be expected on a 757. As I’ve mentioned previously, I absolutely love the 757 for many reasons. It wasn’t until that flight I realized how noisy they were. I suppose all that power comes at the expense of noise and a high rate of fuel burn, compared to the 757’s younger competitors. Still though, many airlines who have or are in the process of replacing their 757s have found none of the newer airliners can truly replace the payload, range, and special mission capability (Hot and high conditions, short runway, etc.) of the Boeing 757.

The feature film tonight was Disney’s Planes. Naturally as an Av Geek, I actually wanted to see it. It was fairly well done for the most part. Though I couldn’t help but think that the plot was almost exactly the same as Disney’s Cars, which I had the pleasure of seeing no less than half a dozen times thanks to my younger siblings. I did find it rather amusing that I was watching Planes on a plane.



Dinner service started with the wonderful tradition of warm nuts and a gin and tonic. As these were delivered, the FA took entrée orders. The choices were the same as my JFK-IAH flight a few weeks earlier. While I had really enjoyed the stuffed chicken on that flight, I decided to give the pasta a whirl as it was part of a new series of pasta dishes created by Chef Stefano Secchi of Ferrari’s Italian Chop House in Grapevine for the domestic First Class entrée rotation.


[i]Sacchetti pasta with Alfredo sauce and sun dried tomatoes coulis[i]

While it the dish seemed to be a victim of being overheated in the oven, it was very tasty and worlds better than the old stuffed shells in tomato sauce or the cheese tortellini. I passed on ice cream and the cheese plate, and spent the remainder of the flight starting this trip report. We arrived in Boston right on time, and I set out finding a spot for me to accomplish another “first”: spend the night at the airport.

As I mentioned in the introduction, I had planned to go watch the Saints take on the Patriots and enjoy the rest of the weekend sightseeing around the Boston area. Unfortunately, just about every property close to the airport and in downtown Boston was either sold out or outrageously priced on Friday and Saturday night. I was able to find a room at the Doubletree Boston Downtown on points for Sunday night which partially solved my problem. So I decided to go on a mileage run to San Francisco, and take the red eye back to Boston from LAX on Saturday night. As for Friday night, I was arriving close to midnight, and my flight the next morning left at 5:45. It would be beyond stupid to pay a few hundred bucks for 4 hours of sleep. The prudent choice here would be just to hang out at the airport.

I had wanted to stay in the secure area, but roving TSA agents had asked me to leave as they were closing up for the night. Fair enough. I ended finding a quiet corner just past baggage claim to setup camp for the night.



I really just had 4.5 hours to kill as check in counters and security open at 4AM. Not long after I arrived, a patrolling state trooper dropped by to talk to me. He just asked me to make sure I kept my belongings close to me if I fell asleep, as there has been a rash of thefts from the homeless who roamed around the airport and wished me a good night. Try as I might, I couldn’t sleep. So I just watched a couple episodes of Breaking Bad on my iPad. Before I knew it, it was time to head to check in counters.

There was a couple in front of me in the First Class line already. After they were helped, I was called up by the agent who eyed me suspiciously. I don’t blame her. I was an unshaven and bedraggled mess, since I was waiting until I got to the Admirals Club to shower. But her demeanor changed once she pulled up my reservation. She even wished me pleasant mileage running with a laugh, as she handed me my boarding passes. When I walked away from the counter, I reached for my iPhone which is usually in my right pocket. It wasn’t there. I then instinctively checked all my all my other pockets. Nothing. At that point, I was panicking. I hurried to nearby a bench and rifled through EVERY compartment of my laptop bag. Nada. Crap.

I hastily retraced my steps to no avail. It was gone. While expensive, I really didn’t care about the phone itself. That could be replaced. I was more concerned about my contact list and other data I had saved on it. It’s the curse and the blessing of the smart phone era. Stupidly, I had just gotten the phone a few weeks before and I hadn’t downloaded the “Find my iPhone” app yet. Ugh. I went back and talked to the agent who had checked me in. She offered to let me call my phone from their landline, but there was no answer and I couldn’t hear any stray rings in the check in area. Strike two. At least I still had my wallet, so I went ahead and cleared security.

The Admirals Club didn’t open until 4:45, so I had a 10 minute wait before I could get in. While waiting in line to be checked in, I decided to make one last ditch effort to find my phone. I told my sob story to AAngel who checked me into the club, and she immediately took action making a couple of calls to lost and found. No one picked up. So she tried to call my phone from the landline, and again there was no answer. Out of options, she offered to contact the state police so they could come take a report and hopefully someone would turn it in. She urged me to enjoy the club in the meantime, and she would page me when the police got there. So I went ahead and took a shower.

Clean and in fresh clothes, I felt like a new person. The police hadn’t arrived yet, so I went to the front of the club to meet them. As luck with have it, the same state trooper I had encountered last night was the officer sent to take the report. Just as we began talking, the AAngel who helped me burst out of the club, and told me someone had found my phone and turned it in to my departure gate.

I could have hugged her at that moment, but chose to instead thank her profusely and walked briskly to my gate. The state trooper accompanied me to the gate just in case it wasn’t my phone. I walked straight up to the podium and told the agent I was the moron who lost my phone. She laughed and took it out of the drawer. And there it was! Just to be safe, she asked my for my ID which she matched to my electronic AAdvantage card on my phone. Apparently, a couple of rampers had noticed my phone on the bench where I had spent the night. In a stroke of dumb luck, I didn’t put a passcode on my phone after I bought it a few weeks ago. So they were able to access my AA app where they found my reservation, and turned it to the gate agent who was working my flight. The agent then looked up my info and made a call to the Admirals Club after she saw I was a member. Wow. Unfortunately, the rampers had already left the area. I had wanted to thank them in person. I did later send a nice tweet to AA for all of those involved in this little incident, so hopefully my message of gratitude was passed along to them.

I shook hands with and thanked the state trooper, and I went to board my flight. As soon as sat down, I feel asleep and didn’t wake up until we landed at JFK. Pulling the all nighter really took a toll on me, and to be honest I really don’t remember much about this entire day. So my narratives for the rest of this section are going to be rather brief. I’m sure there’s a reader or two out there cheering this development.



That was the first thing I saw after I deplaned. With the merger now closed, all of moaning and groaning is now moot. I have heard some great things about how US Airways treats their elites, and now with US Airways allegedly adopting American’s meal standards I’m more optimistic about the merger than I was a few weeks ago. That said, I’m pretty sure that’s what a lot of premerger United fliers said back in 2011.

With a 40 minute connection, I was glad to see that my San Francisco flight was departing just across the hallway. A delay of an hour was announced at the instant I arrived at the gate, so I availed myself to the nearby Concourse C Admirals Club for some much needed coffee and to get away from the very crowded gate area.



I headed back down to the gate 30 minutes later, and waited another 10 minutes before boarding began.

American Airlines 59
New York Kennedy (JFK) – San Francisco (SFO)
Depart: 8:41 AM (Delayed)
Arrive: 12:01 AM
Aircraft: Boeing 767-300ER
Seat: 3J (First Class)

I used a System Wide Upgrade to confirm the upgrade on this flight because First Class already looked full when I booked one month out. I figured since it was an internationally configured plane it was worth it for a 6 hour flight. It’s a good thing I did because I ended up sleeping most of the flight.

I fell asleep not long after I boarded and woke up as the FAs were distributing the Samsung Galaxy tablets and Bose headsets. A round of drinks soon followed. I had preordered the breakfast panini, which was delivered by the friendly FA working my aisle. I watched an episode of The Big Bang Theory while eating breakfast. It wasn’t my favorite AA breakfast, but it was certainly edible.



After I finished eating, I put my seat into (angled) lie flat mode, covered myself with the nice quilted blanket provided, and fell asleep almost immediately. I woke up once when the mid-flight cheese plates were distributed but passed on them. The smell of cookies baking, which signaled about an hour before landing, woke me up for good.



Between the cloud layers and the marine layer, views were few and far in between but I was able to get a decent glimpse of the beautiful California coastline through breaks in the clouds.



We touched down on Runway 28R about an hour late, passing by a duo of United 747-400s parked at the maintenance ramp during our rollout.



With about 6 hours to kill, I had intended to take a shuttle to the airport Marriott for a nice run along the bay. But I was still pretty tired so I scrapped that plan and headed to the Admirals Club, which I grew very fond of during my DFW-SFO MRs last year. It’s a very nicely appointed facility with a fantastic staff. I was warmly welcomed by the AAngel working the podium. I immediately requested a shower to freshen up. After that, I found an empty set of chairs and got some studying done. Later, I watched a little of the fourth quarter of the Red River Rivalry game as the University of Texas Longhorns pulled a surprising upset over the Oklahoma University Sooners.


SFO Admirals Club

After a couple of hours in the Admirals Club, I left in search of a place to eat. There are some fantastic eating options in Terminal 2. My favorite is Andale because of their excellent fresh juices and their delicious veggie quesadillas. But I had my fill of Mexican food of late, so I headed to the International Terminal for something more interesting. The Fung Lum Chinese Food stand peaked my interest. It’s been quite awhile since I’ve had Chinese food. I ordered a wonton noodle soup. It was nicely presented; however, it was very bland.



I headed back to Terminal 2 afterwards to catch the first of two flights which would take me back to Boston. Since I either slept or studied on both those flights, let’s pick up this report the next morning in Boston where my red eye from LAX pulled into the same gate I departed from a little under 24 hours prior.

As soon as we landed, I called the hotel to see if they had a spare room so I could check in. They didn’t, so I headed to Admirals Club to shower and grab a little breakfast. The first person I saw when I entered the club was the AAngel who had helped me the day before. She greeted with a bemused smile and asked if I lost my cell phone again. I got a kick out of that and responded by giving her a well deserved AAplause certificate, which she was very appreciative of. After showering, I ordered a mediocre breakfast sandwich accompanied by a latte.

The club itself was on the small side, but it was a very nice facility with great views of the tarmac. Tarmac views that morning were greatly enhanced with rising sun as a back drop.











I was pretty sure of the reason behind the American flag flying over the jet bridge in the last picture. A quick Google search confirmed my hunch. It was the jet bridge American 11 used on the fateful day of September 11, 2001. May those victims rest in peace.

dat4life

Who Dat!

After I left the Admirals Club, I caught the Silver Line bus to South Station and then walked the 1 mile to my hotel. It was a beautiful, cool, and crisp fall morning. Perfect weather for a little stroll.

The Doubletree Downtown Boston is located on edge of Chinatown, and right next to Tufts Medical Center. Since they told me earlier there were no rooms available, I wanted to drop off my luggage and go sightseeing. Well not so fast. The hotel did have one room available, but it was a small double bed room in the back corner. The agent warned me it definitely wasn’t as nice as the room I had reserved. Since I was by myself and it was only for one night, I didn’t see what the harm was. For my troubles, the agent gave me an extra breakfast voucher for use that day. None too shabby. How bad could it be, right?






Welcome gift.

Well…I definitely had better. It was not worth the $300 rack rate or the 50,000 HHonors points I spent on it. Given the circumstances, it was perhaps the best alternative. Good thing I was flying solo this weekend, or I might as well set up an eHarmony account for myself. The room was clean enough, just not particularly well appointed. The bed was saggy and lumpy at the same time. But I was so tired I didn’t care. I ended up taking a nap and woke up just in time to get ready and head out for the game. So much for sightseeing.

On my way out, I cashed in my breakfast voucher at the Starbucks in the lobby for an Americano and a pastry. The walk back to South Station was very pleasant. In conjunction with the Massachusetts Transit Authority, the New England Patriots run a train between a couple of stations in the Boston area to Gillette Stadium for Patriot home games. The cost of the train is just $15 round trip, a relative bargain considering the cost and time it takes to drive to the stadium. Judging by the large crowd clad in colors of both teams at the station, there were plenty of takers. The high demand was also reflected in the number of cars of the train, which definitely reached the double digits.



While the car was crowded when we left South Station, things got even cozier after we made two additional stops. I was seated next to a Saints fan who didn’t even have a ticket to the game. She was hoping to get one from a scalper after arriving at the stadium. Good luck with that. To make matters worse for her, she brought her purse along, which is now a prohibited item after the NFL implemented additional asinine security measures this season. We made it to Gillette Stadium about an hour and a half after leaving South Station. There was no announcement, just people hopping off the train. Ok. I can roll with this. There was about an half a mile walk to the stadium from the train station.





As I approached the stadium, I approached a cluster of fans clad in black and gold chanting, “Who Dat? Who dat? Who dat say gonna beat dem Saints!” Ah music to any Saints fans’ ears. The origin of the phrase “Who dat” can be traced to the vaudeville acts of the 1930s. It became a rallying chant for Saints fans during the 1980s, but not particularly well known nationally as the Saints teams in era, to put it bluntly, sucked. It wasn’t until the Saints achieved sustained success late the last decade that the “Who dat” chant became known on a national level.

Real Saints fans are fiercely loyal to the bitter end. And in the early years of the franchise it was very bitter indeed. In fact, the Saints did not have their first winning season until 22 years after their inception. It took another 22 years before they finally reached football’s pinnacle winning their first Super Bowl title in 2010. Of course with success comes the inevitable flood of bandwagon fans. This became especially evident in a disappointing 2012 season, but the team seemed to have rebounded nicely so far.

Interestingly, I find that fans that fans who attend away games to be the true loyal fans. You really have to be a hardcore fan to travel over a thousand miles to watch a football game...or a FTer. But I digress. Today was no exception, as the Who Dat nation was well represented in the crowd of Gillette Stadium.




Warm ups


Crowd waiting to get in.

The stadium itself was a very nice facility, with excellent sight lines throughout including in my nosebleed seat.



In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, the Patriots Cheerleaders were clad in pink throughout the game. Interestingly, the Patriots Cheerleading squad was pretty small, having less members than my high school cheerleading squad. Most NFL teams literally have 4 times the number of cheerleaders working each home game.


Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the entire Patriots Cheerleading Squad.


Pats Honor Guard

Even the players are in on supporting Breast Cancer Awareness month, wearing special pink colored gear as well.


Pregame Tebowing




Coin Toss

The Patriots won the toss, and elected to receive. Tom Brady moved the Patriot offense efficiently down the field on the opening drive and drew first blood on a 35 yard field goal.





Later in the first quarter, Saints Quarterback Drew Brees drove the Saints offense down the field and capped it off the drive with 3 yard touchdown pass to Travaris Cadet, giving the Saints a 7-3 advantage and Cadet the first touchdown of his young career. Unfortunately, it was the Saints only lead of the game until the late in the final quarter. The Patriots really took control of the game after that, with Running Back Steven Ridley, who played collegiately at LSU, gashing the Saints defense throughout the first half and scored two touchdowns, which gave the Patriots a commanding 17-7 lead at halftime.

Ugh. At least the Patriots fans I was seated by were cordial and very knowledgeable about football in general, which made for good conversation. Unfortunately, there was a drunken Patriots fan two rows in front of us making everyone in our section miserable. His girlfriend tried to control him, but try as she might he was still unbearably obnoxious. While I complete empathized with his passion for his team, it shouldn’t come at the expense of making everyone around him, including fellow Patriots fans, miserable.

The Saints got the ball back first in second half, and began mounting a rally. The score was evened at 17, after a 3 yard touchdown run by Running Back Khiry Robinson. It was the first career score for the undrafted rookie from West Texas A&M. The Patriots once again took the lead on two field goals, and held a 23-17 advantage with 8:34 left in the game. After the Saints got the ball back at their own 19 yard line, Drew Brees and company got to work and began methodically working their way down the field.





On third down and twenty yards to go from the Patriots’ 34 yard line, Drew Brees takes the shotgun snap and lofts a perfect arcing pass to wide receiver Kenny Stills who made a great juggling catch in the end zone. TOUCHDOWN! The Saints take the lead with 3:29 remaining in the game!


Go ahead score.

Now would the Saints defense hold? Well, on the Patriots first play from scrimmage Saints Cornerback and native New Orleanian Keenan Allen intercepts a Tom Brady pass! Unfortunately, the Saints offense couldn’t score a touchdown to ice the game, but they did force the Patriots to use all three of their timeouts and scored a field goal to widen the lead to 27-23. On the Patriots next drive they turned it over on downs, sending Pats fans to the exits! Game over, right? So I went started heading down amongst the Patriot fans to greet team as they went into the locker room. On the way, I heard more than one Patriots fan say how Tom Brady just didn’t have it anymore. Boy, were they wrong.

As I got closer to club level, I started hearing scattered screams of euphoria and saw Patriots fans scrambling back to their seats. By the time I reached the ground level, old washed up Tom Brady had Patriots on the Saints’ frigging 17 yard line. Apparently the Saints offense couldn’t get one bloody first down to ice the game, handed the ball to one of if not the greatest clutch quarterbacks in NFL history with 1:13 left on the clock. I watched the jumbotron helplessly, as Brady went for the kill shot, throwing a perfect touchdown pass to win the game for the Patriots with 5 seconds left in the game. I must have looked completely shocked in the middle of the bedlam, as security guard came up to me and said, ”You look like you need a hug”, and proceeded to do just that.

Oh boy. It would be a long ride back on the Patriot train.

While I am absolutely disappointed in the outcome, I did feel that $175 I paid for the ticket was money well spent. This is very likely to be the last matchup between two of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. Furthermore, it pitted one of best defensive minds of this era and one of the best coaches in NFL history against one of the best offensive minds of this era. The game certainly lived up to the hype, and I’m very fortunate to have witnessed it firsthand.

kniesel

Great report bro! Have no interest in American handball, but makes me almost wants to go to a game. (Real men don't need padding.)

dat4life

Haha. Touche Thanks again for reading, kneisel! The last couple of sections will be up shortly.

dat4life

Homeward Bound 2

Exhausted, I woke up around 10AM on the morning following the game. Even the crappy mattress couldn’t stop me from getting a decent night’s sleep, though my back paid for it in the following weeks. I hurriedly got dressed to make use of the hotel’s nice breakfast buffet before it closed. The buffet was complimentary thanks to my HHonors Gold status. Afterwards, I went on a short run in the surrounding area. Burning off a few calories was a good idea, since I spent the entire weekend sitting, eating, drinking, or sleeping.







After I got back to hotel, I showered, tossed a few last minute items into my bag, and checked out. It was a warmer than the day before, but the now familiar trek back to South Station was still very pleasant. While the Silver Line bus from Boston Logan Airport was free, a ticket was needed for the return trip which cost a very reasonable $5. My run of good timing continued as the bus reached the platform just as I got there. Just 30 minutes after I left the hotel, I hopped off the bus at Terminal B.

Since I already had mobile boarding passes, I skipped the check in counter. Even though I’m EXP and I opted in for TSA Pre-Check, my eligibility to use to the Pre-Check lane has only been about 50 percent. My experience that day was even more strange, as my BOS-JFK boarding pass didn’t have the Pre-Check logo but my JFK-IAH boarding pass did. How can I be Pre-Check eligible for just one flight but not the other when both flights are on the same itinerary? I tried using my JFK-IAH boarding pass to access the Pre-Check lane, but the line dragon wouldn’t budge. Fair enough. At least I could use the priority line… Not so fast there.

There was a group of contract workers (they weren’t in AA uniforms) standing next to the beginning of the security lines. After the line dragon waved me through, all five of them came running and yelling at me because they thought my carry on was too big. For the record, carry on is a 21 inch Samsonite spinner which admittedly is just under the maximum permitted height of 22 inches. It wasn’t over stuffed. I even brought this very bag, packed with the exact same contents, through the same checkpoint just 2 days before without any issues. It even fits without the use of brute force in the small 767 bins. Yeah, I had a checked bag tag on it from when I went to Denver, but that was because I had liquids then. I didn’t have any now. Of course, they forced me to place it in a nearby bag sizer which we all know does not accurately represent any modern overhead bins. I should probably note while I was annoyed, I was polite throughout the conversation and at no point did I raise my voice or belittle any of the employees in any shape or form. What happened next shocked me to say the least.

Instead of just telling me to head to the check in counter, the leader of this group berated me for being inconsiderate to other passengers and I should be ashamed for that. He then proceeds to say I shouldn’t be so cheap and just pay like everyone else.

Oh hell no. That crossed a line. I’m far from being a DYKWIA type, and I hope this report and the others I have written reflects that I’m extremely grateful for everything I’ve been able to experience the last few years. I have, on rare occasions, experienced bad service or rude employees but never felt the need to officially complain, except for the incident on my JFK-IAH flight detailed earlier in this report. Having said that, that gentleman’s attitude and actions really ticked me off. I understand he was probably frustrated dealing with rude customers day in and day out, but that’s not an excuse to take it out on me.

I responded, “I am already very considerate of my fellow passengers by bringing a carryon with dimensions within the limits published on American’s website, therefore I have nothing to be ashamed of.” Pointing at my EXP bag tag, I continued, “Since I spend a lot of money on American, I don’t have to pay the checked bag fee either way. I hardly think that makes me ‘cheap’.” At that moment, a family of four walked by with seriously overstuffed carry ons. I motioned to them and said, “If you’re so concerned about people being inconsiderate and cheap, maybe you should talk to them. Now all FOUR of those bags are really way too big.” He fell silent and stared at the ground as I walked away.

Had he just asked me nicely to check my bag, I wouldn’t be happy but I would have done so without complaint.
I suppose my tit for tat retort maybe considered immature on some level, but there was absolutely no way I could have walked away without responding after being talked down to like that. While I was in college, I worked a customer facing position for three years. I can’t imagine treating a customer like that, and not be subject to serious disciplinary action.

The check-in counters were just a short walk away. There was no one in the First Class line, so the agent beckoned me to come forward as soon I got there. When I told him I just needed to check a bag, he was surprised and asked if I had liquids. If not, I could carry that on. Oh boy. So I told him my story. He shook his head when I finished, and said that I’m not the only person who complained about this issue. Not wanting another confrontation, I went ahead and checked my bag anyways. A supervisor happened to walk by as the agent tagged my bag, so he flagged her down and gave her the Cliff Notes version of my story. The supervisor apologized profusely and promised to look into it. She was genuinely concerned, so I really didn’t feel the need to escalate the issue any further. I thanked her, and I was on my way.

This time around, I made it past the carry on enforcers with no issue. In fact they all looked away when I approached, causing me to chuckle a bit. A couple of Saints fans followed were behind me in the security line, so we had a good chat while we waited for the ID checker. After clearing security, I headed straight to my gate, B33, since it was just 10 minutes until boarding began. Despite passing through the gate several times over that past few days, that was the first time I noticed the very cool retro American logo on the wall.





American Airlines 168
Boston (BOS) - New York Kennedy (JFK)
Depart: 3:00 PM
Arrive: 4:25 PM
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Seat: 5F (First Class)

Around mid 2013, American changed their boarding/deplaning music from generic elevator music to a selection of piano ballad/instrumental versions of contemporary music. The September mix featured instrumentals of Green Day’s Boulevard of Broken Dreams and Imagine Dragon’s Radioactive. Pretty good in my humble opinion. When I boarded the 737-800 that day, I noticed a familiar beat playing over the PA, but I couldn’t quite place my finger on what song it was. As I sat down, it hit me. It was Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines. The “song” was quite catchy when it was first released, but it has since been way overplayed and is now just annoying. Of course then came “MTV’s” Video Music Awards. I can’t hear the song without thinking of giant teddy bears and Miley… I think I’ve been scarred for life.

Despite the full flight, boarding wrapped up quickly and we pushed back a couple of minutes early. Taxi to active runway was quick, and we were soon climbing into the crystal clear sky. I enjoyed a beautiful view of the Boston skyline as out pilots made a climbing turn toward the south. Unfortunately, this flight took place a little under a month before small non-transmitting electronic devices were allowed for use during all phases of flight. I didn’t want to risk using my camera, as my seatmate had complained to the FA that 5B was still using a Kindle after the cabin door was closed. Of course, certain rules didn’t apply for her as she made a trip to lavatory well before we climbed through 10,000 feet.

Service on this short 39 minute flying time flight consisted of a beverage run and a package of “premium” snack mix. I did plan on studying during this flight, but I ended up being distracted by the nice views of the coastline.





We landed early, but had a lengthy taxi to reach our assigned gate. That meant plenty of opportunities to see aircraft of airlines that I don’t usually encounter! There was certainly some exotic traffic moving around JFK that day.











Not long after we passed the Saudi Arabian Airlines 777, we came to an abrupt stop. From vantage point in my window seat, I was able to see the wingtip of an A330 in front of us and a long line of aircraft behind us. A few minutes later, the captain explained the situation over PA. The Delta A330 in front of was being towed to a gate, but the tow truck had broken down. Because of where it had broken down (just past an intersection) there was no way we could go around them. I did have a tight connection of 35 minutes, but our early arrival bought me a few extra minutes. Plus I also knew, that my flight to Houston was leaving from the gate just across from our arrival gate.

However, the minutes ticked by and pretty soon my connection was down to less than 30 minutes. Our captain, to his credit kept us informed throughout. Delta, in their infinite wisdom, decided to send a maintenance crew to try to repair the broken down equipment instead of another tow truck to move it out the way. Just when I was about to call the EXP desk to discuss alternative routings, I saw the A330 being moved out of the way and we began moving again. We ended up making it to the gate at 4:40, which gave me 20 minutes to connect.

When I reached the connecting gate, they hadn’t even begun boarding yet. While no reason was given, I suspect it was due to the light load factor. The loads have been so light since the commencement of this route in mid 2013 that it is being canceled in January 2014. I’ll certainly miss it. In addition to being an easy elite upgrade, the timing of the flight was nearly perfect for those who are working or have meetings in Manhattan.

American Airlines 211
New York Kennedy (JFK) - Houston Bush Intercontinental (IAH)
Depart: 5:00 PM
Arrive: 7:55 PM
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Seat: 4A (First Class)

The last time I flew this route, service was absolutely terrible. When I was warmly greeted by a smiling FA as soon as stepped on board, I knew this flight would significantly better. It turned out to be a complete 180 from what I experienced a little over two week prior.

As soon as I sat down, the FA came over and asked me if wanted something to drink. Not just water or orange juice. Anything. I ordered a Bloody Mary, which was promptly delivered despite coach boarding now in full swing. The FA didn’t just do this for me, she did for every First Class passenger. Granted the load in front of the curtain was very light (9/16), but the only time I’ve experienced PDB service like this was when I flew on Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines in First Class last year.
Although the gate agents began boarding late, the cabin door was closed on time. Given the light load, nearly everyone in First Class had a rare empty seat next to them. Taxi out to Runway 13L took about 20 minutes, which I suppose is relatively short since we were at JFK. While taxiing, we passed by a British Airways 747-400 arriving from London and a departing Cathay Pacific Cargo 747-8i Freighter. Despite being on an older aircraft this time, take off was still powerful likely due to the light load.







Service began not long after climbed through 10,000 feet, when our excellent FA came around greeting each passenger by name, distributing hot towels, and taking drink orders. When she greeted me and the gentleman seated in 5A, she thanked us for our continued loyalty which was a very nice touch.

A few minutes later, drinks and ramekins of warm nuts were hand delivered from the galley. I decided to keep with tradition and ordered a gin and tonic. In addition to a premixed cocktail, the FA also gave an extra mini of gin just in case I wanted a stiffer drink. Some on this board might consider any type of bottle or can in a premium cabin tacky. I personally don’t think it’s a big deal given how small those cocktail glasses are; although I’d prefer that I don’t see cans or bottles in the cabin. In this case, I thought it was excellent proactive service as often ice often melts too quickly watering down the drink too much for my liking.



After every passenger was served their drink of choice and nuts, the FA came around taking dinner orders. Dinner was a choice of grilled chicken with brocolini or a pasta dish. While my upgrade cleared 100 hours out, I had forgotten to preorder. With the light load and a FEBO favorable seat, I was able to get my first choice, the chicken. Prior to entrees being delivered, refills of warm nuts and drinks were offered. In another display of excellent personallized service, those who turned down a second serving of nuts were served their entrees first, while the others enjoyed their second helping of nuts. After my drink was refreshed, my entrée tray was delivered.



The chicken was very good, and the polenta and brocolini not over cooked. As far as mid-con dinner salads go, this rendition was the most interesting I’ve encountered with chopped almonds and dried cranberries. It was good as well. For dessert, I was offered both the cookies and cream ice cream and cheese plate as there were extras due to the light load. Since the FA from two weeks ago hoarded the loaded cheese plates for the crew consumption, I decided to extract a measure of revenge and took both. I enjoyed them while admiring the setting sun.







Even after dessert dishes were cleared, the FA didn’t disappear. She roamed the cabin constantly offering refills.
Mints were offered prior to landing, and each passenger was thanked by name at that time as well. I made sure to give her an AApplause certificate while deplaning. While I know the light load is a contributed significantly to the level of service provided, the FA’s welcoming attitude, friendly demeanor, and work ethic would have made even a full flight very pleasant.

I’ve been on quite a few excellent American domestic flights over the years, but this one was certainly the best. It’s also proof that US flagged carriers can provide service comparable to that of top foreign carriers. Now if only they can somehow ensure this type of service is provided consistently…

Well…I was back in the Lone Star State for awhile. I would spend the rest of the week teleworking from Houston. Afterwards, I would be heading back to Dallas for a few weeks before heading out on my last major adventure of the year.

dat4life

Westward Ho!: AA J JFK-LAX

My last adventure of 2013 came about through a comedy of errors. In January, I had planned and booked a trip to Asia, with a stopover in NYC on the outbound with the intention of visiting a friend. However, plans with my friend fell through in March, as he and his wife decided to book a cruise on the weekend I was scheduled to be in town. No big deal. Having been to NYC on a number of occasions, I wasn’t too keen on doing the touristy stuff there again. So I fired up aa.com and looked for other places to go. I eventually settled on another “geek trip”. This time it was to Seattle. The purpose of this trip simple: take the Boeing factory tour and visit the History of Flight Museum. Unfortunately, I ended canceling my Asia trip due to some family issues. But since my Seattle ticket was non-refundable and I had already applied System Wide Upgrades, I decided to burn some SkyMilesPesos to position to New York to pick up the trip.

With all of the premium cabin travel I’ve doing over the last few years, it’s easy to forget how nice I have it. So a flight here and there in regular coach is nice reality check. Believe me, the two flights I had in Delta’s coach cabin really jolted me back down to earth. While I was fortunate to have an empty seat next to me on the outbound, I wasn’t so lucky on the return. I did really enjoy the availability of complimentary delicious Biscoff cookies in coach.





Other than that, my flight to LaGuardia really wasn’t much to write home about. As soon as I deplaned, I headed to NYC Airporter Attendant to secure passage to JFK for just $13. The very nicely appointed bus arrived a few minutes later, and I soon found myself in front of JFK’s Terminal 8.


Where are the Men in Black?


LAN Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner

American has a partitioned off Premium Check In area at JFK for First, Business, and elite passengers. While not as nice as the new Flagship Check In, it is does add a little to the exclusiveness of the premium travel experience. There is an agent at the entrance asking passengers if they’re flying First or Business Class, but there are no other controls are far as I can tell.



A friendly agent greeted me as soon as I arrived and began to process my check in, but did a double take when she saw that I was headed to Seattle via LAX. After confirming that this was correct, she banged away at her keyboard for a solid minute and then offered to put me on the non-stop JFK-SEA flight without charge, but I politely declined. Why so you ask? Yes for the miles, but I had other reasons I wanted to stick to my original route as well. By virtue of living in the middle of the US my entire life, I don’t get to fly this route very often. So I was pleased to be able to do so again and squeeze in one last flight on the venerable Boeing 767-200ER, which has toiled on this route for a couple of decades now. This would very likely be my last flight on this variant of the 767 as they will be phased out in favor of the new A321.

The only other terminals at JFK I’ve flown out of are Delta’s Terminal 2 and the old Terminal 4, both of which are complete dumps. In contrast to those, American’s Terminal 8 is nice, modern, and airy. Just past security on the wall to left, there is a nice display showcasing the evolution of American’s logo. Despite the recent rebranding efforts, the new logo has not been added to the display yet. Which is surprising given it is JFK, after all.





I headed to the Concourse B Admirals Club, where a friendly AAngel welcomed me in. Overall, I think this club is a lot nicer and usually less crowded than the one in Concourse C. Today was no exception, though it did start to get crowded just before I left. I found an empty quartet of chairs to settle in and was able to get a couple of hours of studying in.









With about 45 minutes to go before my flight, I packed up and headed for the terminal because the lounge was starting fill up. Either way, I might as well stretch my legs before the 6 hour flight. My flight was departing from Gate 8, which was just a short walk away from the lounge.


My ride to LAX

First Class was invited to board around 30 minute prior to stated departure. The gate agent then added that the TSA was there to do secondary security check, so all passengers should have their IDs ready. There were a few TSOs waiting in the middle of the jet bridge. I approached one, but she told me she didn’t see my ID because I used a mobile boarding pass. So what’s the point of this procedure then?

American Airlines 133
New York (JFK) – Los Angeles (LAX)
Depart: 3:35 PM
Arrive: 7:05 PM
Aircraft: Boeing 767-200ER
Seat: 7A (Business Class)

When most people think of the JFK-LAX route, they imagine a premium cabin chock full of celebrities. From a realistic point of view, the premium cabins are probably half occupied by award tickets and upgraders (like myself), with the rest of the cabin composed of business travelers and a celebrity or two sprinkled here and there. But why let facts get in the way of a fantasy, right? In fact, I was really hoping to be seated next to the gorgeous Jennifer Lawrence, spend the next 6 hours sweeping her off her feet with my wit and charm, and then live happily ever after. Unfortunately, it was painfully obvious my fantasy would not remotely come to fruition as my seatmate was already there by the time I boarded. And he ain’t no J Law.

But in a strange way, he did make me think of Ms. Lawrence as he resembled the guy who helped prepare her character, Katniss Everdeen, for the games in the first Hunger Games movie. Anyways, he was friendly enough guy saying hello to me when I got to my seat. We actually made small talk for a bit while other passengers were still boarding. The fact he was heading home to Los Angeles, and spent the most of flight working on his Mac Book Pro a ridiculous privacy screen, further bolstered my theory that he was a Hollywood type.

As boarding wound down, the friendly FA working my aisle came around a tray of “champagne”, water, and orange juice. I chose the “champagne”, which was surprisingly drinkable. The FAs came back a little while later to distributing dinner menus. Just after the boarding door closed announcement was made, the captain made his welcome aboard announcement and pretty much read off every navigational fix on our flight plan.

We pushed back a few minutes later than scheduled. Taxi time was even longer as the winds around the airport had shifted, and the decision to turn the airport around was made midway through our taxi. We ended doubling back to the other side of the airport before taking off toward the south, and passed over Philadelphia before setting a more southwesterly course.

About 45 minutes after take off, Samsung Galaxy Tablets and Bose head sets were distributed. After that, the FAs came around with the taking drink orders. I had celebrated my birthday the weekend before with friends. Needless to say, my liver could probably use a break. So I stuck ordered a Coke which was delivered with warm mixed nuts. Dinner orders were taken soon after. Let’s take a look at that menu, shall we?

Dinner

Starter

Prosciutto and Parmesan Cheese
With cantaloupe puree

Salad

Seasonal greens with fresh vegetables offered with mozzarella, cherry tomato and basil salad

With your choice of sour cream and herb dressing or premium extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Assorted gourmet breads will be served with your meal

Entrees

Grilled Fillet of Beef
Served with Foyot sauce, chive celery root potato puree and basil haricots verts

Cheese Tortellini
With Romano sauce

Dessert

Traditional Ice Cream Sundae
Ben & Jerry's vanilla ice cream with you choice of hot fudge, butterscotch or seasonal berry toppings, whipped cream and pecans

Gourmet Cheese Plate
An assortment of fine cheeses with garnishes

Light Refreshment

Fresh Seasonal Fruit

Cookies
Freshly baked on board

Wine List

Sparkling Wine
Valdo Prosecco Brut, Veneto

White Wine
Ardenwood Chardonnay, California
The Climber Sauvignon Blanc, Mendocino

Red Wine
Round Hill Cabernet Sauvignon, California
Viansa Vino Rosso, Sonoma Valley

Not long after the orders were taken, tablecloths were setup for each passenger. The appetizer and salad setup were delivered not long after. A choice of pretzel bread or sourdough rolls was offered. Of course I chose the delicious pretzel bread. The salad was very fresh, and the mozzarella cheese balls went well with the balsamic vinaigrette dressing. The prosciutto was moist but I didn’t finish it because I’m not a big fan of the flavor.



While American’s chicken entrees are consistently good, I haven’t had the same with their cow based brethren. In my experience, American’s steak have either been overcooked, bland, of a poor quality cut, or a combination there of. The steak placed in front of me that night looked nice, but would it taste nice? I was in for a very pleasant surprise. The steak was cooked to a beautiful medium rare, and was of a good quality cut. I was in heaven after the first bite. The meat was very nicely seasoned, and enjoyed every bite of it. It was definitely the best steak I’ve ever eaten in the air. The mashed potatoes were a bit bland, but nothing a little salt and pepper couldn’t fix. The green beans were rubbery but edible. But I seriously question the culinary prowess of whoever thought that half an onion would make a good side. The sunset, visible outside of the window, provided a nice back drop to my very nice meal.




Perfect medium rare. Sorry for the blurry picture!



After trays were cleared, the sundae cart was wheeled down the aisle. I had mine made with hot fudge, a touch of caramel, and topped with pecans. “Would you like whipped cream and cherry on top?” the FA asked. Well, I gotta save calories somewhere, right? I probably don’t need to go describe how delicious the sundae was. A bottle of water was distributed at that time as well. My seatmate declined both.



I studied for the rest of the flight. Although they were very attentive during the meal service, the FAs were sparsely seen for the rest of the flight. Fruit cups and cookies were offered prior to landing. Still stuffed from dinner, I declined both. Soon we were descending into the LA basin. ATC did a fine job throughout the flight setting us up on perfect straight in approach to Runway 25R without any major course corrections toward the end of the flight. We touched down smoothly and made the quick taxi to Gate 49.

I spent about an hour at the Admirals Club before taking the shuttle to the terminal Alaska uses. I was fortunate enough to have an empty middle seat, which made the 2 hour flight to Seattle much more pleasant. The flight up to Seattle was uneventful up until landing. I’ve logged over 400,000 miles in my short life, but never have I experienced such low cloud ceiling. I couldn’t catch even a glimpse of the ground until less than a minute before we landed. While I had complete faith in our flight crew, it was a little nerve wracking even for an experienced flyer like me.

Checked bags hit belt well within Alaska’s 20 minute guarantee, and I was soon in a shuttle bound for the Sea-Tac’s nice new consolidated rental facility. With Hertz devaluing their reward points, I decided to use the last of mine for a nice premium car for the weekend. A mobile alert informed me that I was assigned to a 2013 Ford Taurus. In the past, I would have probably requested another car, but Ford has really stepped up their game recently and I was eager to see how much they had improved. I was not disappointed. The Taurus was a really well appointed car with pretty decent driving dynamics for its side.


My excellent rental. (Picture taken later)

After checking out with the lot attendant, I headed straight to my home for the next couple of nights, the Fairfield Sea-Tac. Despite arriving just after midnight, the front desk clerk was as cheery as a sunny day. After taking care of the business end of things, she informed me that I had upgraded to the honeymoon suite on the account of my Platinum status. Those words didn’t quite register in my tired state. Had I been a little more lucid I would have realized immediately that honeymoon suites don’t quite go hand in hand with Fairfields. This is what I walked into:





I sent those pictures to my girlfriend the next morning. She replied with just one word: no. Sadly, I didn’t have time during my stay to make use of the Jacuzzi.

The room was standard older Fairfield fare, but was pretty clean. The bed was comfortable enough, especially compared to the bed the Doubletree Downtown Boston. Overall, I was pretty satisfied with the property especially given the el cheapo AAA rate of $70 per night. Plus, it gave me enough nights to put me over the top for Marriott’s Fall Mega Bonus.

dat4life

Geeking Out…Again

My alarm jolted me awake at 6:30 the next morning after just 5 unsatisfying hours of sleep. I had wanted to get an early jump on the day to beat the crowds and traffic. My plan for the day was to head up to Boeing’s Everett Plant at Paine Field to take Boeing Factory Tour, head back down to Renton to visit the History of Flight Museum, and hopefully have enough time to visit Pike Place Market. After making myself halfway presentable and grabbing a light breakfast downstairs, I headed north up I-5 toward Everett. A few miles later, I passed by Boeing’s Renton factory, where I would headed later that day. The weather was actually pretty nice with just scattered clouds, a stark contrast to what I expected to find in Seattle this time of year. Unfortunately, Mother Nature must have read my thoughts as heavy cloud cover began rolling in not long after I passed downtown Seattle. Less than an hour later, I pulled into the parking lot of visitor’s center of Boeing’s Everett Factory.







The aforementioned Renton facility was Boeing’s original production facility; however, it was too small to handle the production of the world’s first widebody aircraft, the 747. Therefore construction on a new facility specifically designed to handle the assembly of the huge jet began in 1966. At that time it was the world’s largest building by volume, a title it still retains after additions were made for the production of the 767, 777, and the 787. While I knew this ahead of time, the building was a still an impressive sight to behold.



Tickets for the factory tour are $18 if purchased ahead of time online, and $20 dollars for a walk up ticket. I had pre-purchased a ticket for the first tour of day at 9AM. All electronic devices, especially cameras and cell phones, are not allowed to be taken on the tour. There are lockers for rent at the visitor’s center, which I took advantage off. While I wasn’t happy about the rule, I suppose it was necessary to prevent corporate espionage.

Prior to commencing the tour, we were ushered to an auditorium where we watched a couple of short promotional videos. Paying to watch advertisements… Classy. But it certainly did get better.

The first stop on tour was the 747 assembly line, which was also unfortunately the saddest stop. It took up the largest area of building, compared to the 777 and 787 assembly lines. Yet it was the emptiest. There were many platforms used to assemble the cockpit section of the 747, but all but two were empty. Moving on to the final body joint portion of the line, there were three airframes nearing completion. Two of those airframes were freighter variants of the 747. The third was a passenger variant, destined to serve in Lufthansa’s colors. I suppose none of this is really surprising as Lufthansa and Korean Air are the only major airlines to order the passenger variant of the 747-8i, a fact my tour guide and I lamented on. That said, the slow sales of the 747-8i and the A380 compared to their twin engine brethren are reflective of the global trend toward more fuel efficient aircraft.

The next stop was the 777 assembly line, which appeared to be significantly more active judging by the number of airframes in various states of completion. In the fore front of the assembly line are a 777-200LR bound for Qatar Airways and a 777-300ER ordered by Cathay Pacific. Both aircraft have been completed and are just awaiting seat installation before they head to the paint hanger. The 787 line was the smallest and least interesting of the three assembly lines, as most of manufacturing is done elsewhere. Only the final assembly occurs in Everett. The only noteworthy to report from the 787 line is the control room used to monitor all of the subcontractors who manufacture components of the Dreamliner. Talk about big brother looking over your shoulder…

While I did enjoy the tour, I don’t think I’ll be compelled to do it again. It was very interesting for the most part, but it wasn’t quite the in depth behind the scene look I was hoping for. I was expecting a tour similar to what Petrus’ experienced and chronicled in an excellent report last year. Now that I have reread it, it seems that group was granted special access during the event. Nevertheless, it was good experience and something any av geek should experience at least once.

After I finished the tour, I headed up to the observation deck for a better view of the flight line and of the massive Dreamlifter parked next door. The flight line was comprised nearly entirely of Dreamliners, and few 777 and 747-8i freighters. Also visible on the flight line was the first prototype of the 787-9, which was located nearly directly in front of the paint hanger. I really wish I had brought my good camera along, but this will have to do.












Paint hanger, and the prototype 787-9 on left









Afterwards, I headed back south on I-5 toward Renton. The Renton Factory is still in use today churning out those 737s as fast they can; however, no tours are offered of the facility. The reason I was headed there was to visit the History of Flight Museum, which is located right next to the Renton Factory. When I pulled into the museum parking lot, I noticed it was adjacent to what looked to be Boeing’s facility used for defense projects. One of more interesting aircraft I spotted was the 757 modified to test the avionics used in the F-22 Raptor. I went over to snap a picture, which earned me a chat with a Boeing Security Guard. He actually very nicely told me that I could look all I wanted, but they would appreciate if I didn’t taking pictures. Fair enough. But when I got into the museum, there was an observation deck which gave me the exact same view of what I wanted to take a picture on the ground level. Go figure.


The Forbidden Picture

Since I’ve seen most of the aircraft on exhibit elsewhere, here a few pictures of the more rare and/or interesting ones.




McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawk in Blue Angel Colors


Alaska Airlines DC-3


United Ford Tri Motor

The Red Barn building is actually one of the original facilities used by William Boeing in the early days of the Boeing Airplane Company. It was located somewhere else before it was shipped by barge to its current location and restored. Pretty cool


The Red Barn Exhibit: Old Boeing Factory