LGA-ORD-ZHR-ORD-LGA
Mar 29, 1999, 5:12 pm
#1
Original Member
Original Poster
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Long Island, NY
Posts: 1,664
LGA-ORD-ZHR-ORD-LGA
Just back from vacation, its time to share our (my girlfriend's and my) adventure of travelling to Zurich (where, unfortunately, we did not get to meet Rudi)
Lets start at the beginning -- from when I first purchasedour tickets. The tickets were purchsed in January. I spent an hour on the phone with an American agent finding a flight that had business class upgrade-ability. Since AA only flys to Zurich once a day from Chicago, we flew from LGA-ORD- ZRH.
Finally finding a flight with an upgrade seat available, Ann gets her confirmed seats in business. I, on the other hand, get waitlisted. Knowing that Ann got the last business class seat meant that I was first on the waiting list. Platinum, first on the list, I should have a good shot at upgrading. They upgraded my domestic flights immediately -- LGA to ORD and ORD to LGA. I was waitlisted for the international flights.
Every other day, from the January purchase date until the day of departure, I called AA to find out if my upgrade came though. Finally, two hours before flight time -- bingo, upgrade confirmed.
I got to the airport at 12:30pm for a 2pm departure to ORD. Ann arrived at 1:10pm. I told the agent that the trip destination was a surprise for Ann (and boy, was she surprised) and the agent made sure she never revealed the ultimate destination to Ann.
3/24/99 - 1:20pm -- upgrades certificates processed, business class seats in hand, we proceed to the gate area in LGA. Lo and behold, there was a line at secutiry. A LONG line. The AA wing of the terminal was shut down due to a security breach.
1:40pm, still on line, AA wing still being cleared (i.e. people pulled off planes, Admirals club cleared, dogs coming in.) Our connection in ORD is 4:30pm (only flight from ORD-ZHR). Hmmm, I wonder what I should do. I am ensured by security that the flights wont leave with out us (of course they cant -- the pilots are in line with us). However, no insurance that we will make our connection. Hmmm, back to check-in.
1:42 -- Go to first available agent. SHe looks at the tickets, punches into the computer, looks at me and tells me we may not make our connection. "No sh*t, Sherlock," I think to myself. "What can we do?" I say outloud. The original agent comes over to see what the problem is. She takes over and saves the day. She confirms Ann and I on the 2pm United flight to ORD. "Go get Ann" she says. Off I go and get Ann off the line. Ann's comment "You sure you want me to leave the line?" No wanting a stampeed to the checkin area, I give her the "Get off the line, lets go -- I will explain later" look.
1:48pm -- Agent is still writing out ticket (we had e-tickets). She finished and says "RUN." Off we go - like OJ through the crowd. "Excuse me -- Trying to make a connection" I hollar as this not so small guy and Ann go tearing though LGA to United (always polite -- but there are some RUDE people in the airport that would just not move).
1:55 pm -- arrive at Gate C-11 (the LAST gate in the United wing). They have not even started boarding yet -- but we get our seats. We are still not sure about our Luggage.
2:20 -- flight takes off (unfortunately in coach -- but for a 1-1/2 hour trip, not so bad).
3:25pm -- Arrive in ORD. Walk to Admiral's Club, check messages and find that our luggage may not make it -- our original flight lands at 4:15 and our departure was 4:30. There were no guarnatees.
4:30 -- ORD-ZRH flight takes off. Nothing too exciting. Newly remodled 767-200. Nice, comfortable seats. Meal seleciton was great as was the wine.
8:00 am -- arrive in Zurich. What an easy airport. Though passport control in a matter of minutes. Goto luggage claim hoping that our bags made it. 10 minutes later -- the bags made it!
We get our rental car from National. Nice car. Seems like Emerald Club service did not transmit all informaiton -- takes a while to get the paperwork processed -- but nothingn terrible.
Trip is great. We now know that "Zoll" is Customs/Passport Control in German and not "toll" and that you should not go though the Zoll offering the agent 10 CHF as opposed to your passport. Also, Ann had a new passport that confused the border agents. We finally made it to where we wanted to go.
Interesting note -- the B&B we stayed at did not require a credit card or deposit to hold the room. They also did not need a credit card when we checked in -- just "pay us after breakfast tomorrow morning."
Marriott Zurich Hotel -- advertised as a 5 star hotel. I have stayed in better Marriots. Nice lobby and interiors, but rooms left a bit to be desired. Older furniture and hard bed. Tried to upgrade but was told no even before I pulled out my upgrade certificate. Oh well. Was told that we were put in a nice room with a nice view -- but they failed to mention the fact that we were on the highway side of the hotel and it could be noisy at night.
3/28 -- return ro US. Return rental car -- took a while -- no scan the bar code, print the receipt and go. It took a bit longer.
Check-in at American -- piece of cake. Business class lounge offering was lame. They did not direct me to the BA loungue (oneworld saphire traveller -- entitled to use the BA loungue) -- but the shared Business Class loungue. Never will use that again.
Flight back was on an older 767-200. Nothing too exciting to report. Great service as usual.
Arrive in ORD -- passport control took forever. Bags service was fine.
Transfer to flight to LGA. Nothing exciting on the flight. Bags take forever in LGA.
Overall a great trip (sans meeting Rudi).
--Jim
Lets start at the beginning -- from when I first purchasedour tickets. The tickets were purchsed in January. I spent an hour on the phone with an American agent finding a flight that had business class upgrade-ability. Since AA only flys to Zurich once a day from Chicago, we flew from LGA-ORD- ZRH.
Finally finding a flight with an upgrade seat available, Ann gets her confirmed seats in business. I, on the other hand, get waitlisted. Knowing that Ann got the last business class seat meant that I was first on the waiting list. Platinum, first on the list, I should have a good shot at upgrading. They upgraded my domestic flights immediately -- LGA to ORD and ORD to LGA. I was waitlisted for the international flights.
Every other day, from the January purchase date until the day of departure, I called AA to find out if my upgrade came though. Finally, two hours before flight time -- bingo, upgrade confirmed.
I got to the airport at 12:30pm for a 2pm departure to ORD. Ann arrived at 1:10pm. I told the agent that the trip destination was a surprise for Ann (and boy, was she surprised) and the agent made sure she never revealed the ultimate destination to Ann.
3/24/99 - 1:20pm -- upgrades certificates processed, business class seats in hand, we proceed to the gate area in LGA. Lo and behold, there was a line at secutiry. A LONG line. The AA wing of the terminal was shut down due to a security breach.
1:40pm, still on line, AA wing still being cleared (i.e. people pulled off planes, Admirals club cleared, dogs coming in.) Our connection in ORD is 4:30pm (only flight from ORD-ZHR). Hmmm, I wonder what I should do. I am ensured by security that the flights wont leave with out us (of course they cant -- the pilots are in line with us). However, no insurance that we will make our connection. Hmmm, back to check-in.
1:42 -- Go to first available agent. SHe looks at the tickets, punches into the computer, looks at me and tells me we may not make our connection. "No sh*t, Sherlock," I think to myself. "What can we do?" I say outloud. The original agent comes over to see what the problem is. She takes over and saves the day. She confirms Ann and I on the 2pm United flight to ORD. "Go get Ann" she says. Off I go and get Ann off the line. Ann's comment "You sure you want me to leave the line?" No wanting a stampeed to the checkin area, I give her the "Get off the line, lets go -- I will explain later" look.
1:48pm -- Agent is still writing out ticket (we had e-tickets). She finished and says "RUN." Off we go - like OJ through the crowd. "Excuse me -- Trying to make a connection" I hollar as this not so small guy and Ann go tearing though LGA to United (always polite -- but there are some RUDE people in the airport that would just not move).
1:55 pm -- arrive at Gate C-11 (the LAST gate in the United wing). They have not even started boarding yet -- but we get our seats. We are still not sure about our Luggage.
2:20 -- flight takes off (unfortunately in coach -- but for a 1-1/2 hour trip, not so bad).
3:25pm -- Arrive in ORD. Walk to Admiral's Club, check messages and find that our luggage may not make it -- our original flight lands at 4:15 and our departure was 4:30. There were no guarnatees.
4:30 -- ORD-ZRH flight takes off. Nothing too exciting. Newly remodled 767-200. Nice, comfortable seats. Meal seleciton was great as was the wine.
8:00 am -- arrive in Zurich. What an easy airport. Though passport control in a matter of minutes. Goto luggage claim hoping that our bags made it. 10 minutes later -- the bags made it!
We get our rental car from National. Nice car. Seems like Emerald Club service did not transmit all informaiton -- takes a while to get the paperwork processed -- but nothingn terrible.
Trip is great. We now know that "Zoll" is Customs/Passport Control in German and not "toll" and that you should not go though the Zoll offering the agent 10 CHF as opposed to your passport. Also, Ann had a new passport that confused the border agents. We finally made it to where we wanted to go.
Interesting note -- the B&B we stayed at did not require a credit card or deposit to hold the room. They also did not need a credit card when we checked in -- just "pay us after breakfast tomorrow morning."
Marriott Zurich Hotel -- advertised as a 5 star hotel. I have stayed in better Marriots. Nice lobby and interiors, but rooms left a bit to be desired. Older furniture and hard bed. Tried to upgrade but was told no even before I pulled out my upgrade certificate. Oh well. Was told that we were put in a nice room with a nice view -- but they failed to mention the fact that we were on the highway side of the hotel and it could be noisy at night.
3/28 -- return ro US. Return rental car -- took a while -- no scan the bar code, print the receipt and go. It took a bit longer.
Check-in at American -- piece of cake. Business class lounge offering was lame. They did not direct me to the BA loungue (oneworld saphire traveller -- entitled to use the BA loungue) -- but the shared Business Class loungue. Never will use that again.
Flight back was on an older 767-200. Nothing too exciting to report. Great service as usual.
Arrive in ORD -- passport control took forever. Bags service was fine.
Transfer to flight to LGA. Nothing exciting on the flight. Bags take forever in LGA.
Overall a great trip (sans meeting Rudi).
--Jim
Mar 29, 1999, 7:44 pm
#2
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: America Central
Programs: CO Gold, AA Gold, HH Diamond, IC Plat Ambassador
Posts: 936
Great report. So was Ann surprised?
Hope you got the name of the AA agent at LGA -- people like that need raises/promotions -- or maybe Swiss chocolates?
Welcome home and thanks for sharing...
Hope you got the name of the AA agent at LGA -- people like that need raises/promotions -- or maybe Swiss chocolates?
Welcome home and thanks for sharing...
Mar 30, 1999, 7:49 am
#3
Original Member
Original Poster
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Long Island, NY
Posts: 1,664
Yes -- Ann was surprised. And a bit winded by the time we got to United.
On the flight from LGA-ORD, I called a buddy of mine in Dallas (works for AA) and asked him to call Lisa and let her know that we made our flight and to compliment her. I also gave her a "You're Someone Special" that AA gives flyers to reward AA employees.
I am going to search her out the next time I am in LGA (which wont be for a while) to thank her in person -- but the Swiss chocolates will be long gone by then! <G>
--Jim
On the flight from LGA-ORD, I called a buddy of mine in Dallas (works for AA) and asked him to call Lisa and let her know that we made our flight and to compliment her. I also gave her a "You're Someone Special" that AA gives flyers to reward AA employees.
I am going to search her out the next time I am in LGA (which wont be for a while) to thank her in person -- but the Swiss chocolates will be long gone by then! <G>
--Jim
