BOS-SFO-SEA-IAD-BOS
Jul 3, 1999, 9:33 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 1999
Location: Manhattan
Programs: 40 46'N 73 57'W; AA Gold; CO Silver
Posts: 381
BOS-SFO-SEA-IAD-BOS
Let's see how this is received; Never posted a trip report before
6/24 (Wed.) UA 169 BOS-SFO 7:00A-10:20A
Pleasantly surprised to find the 767 essentially empty- maybe 40 people in coach Had some UA rep (non-FA) with a clipboard ask me before door closure if everything was fine (must be the Premier Zone or 1K status); that was nice.
1st time I saw the 767's with the personal screens in coach; eventually, most people had the maps on. It's really cool seeing some geographic formation below outside, then seeing the name of it on the screen. They tried to twist the plane so we could see Yosemite's Half Dome, then SFO ATC took us on a wind-ing vector right as we did it. Amusing watching everyone standing in the aisles looking out the right windows sigh in disappointment.
With coach empty I went to the back and slept most of the flight since I (as usual) got no sleep the night before preparing for the trip.
IN SAN FRANCISCO AREA
I think a lot of people don't know about the 1K work area near Gate 81 at SFO; the people are really nice and know you by name, and it's usually empty.
So I had a wedding to attend post-business, and was supposed to fly into SJC and pick up a convertible (nice rate, $193 for 3 days). When my plans changed to SFO, I called for a new reservation and it was $400 something. Well, screw you, National Car Rental, I rented a car from SFO-SJC for $50.
Note to SFO/City of SF- The new rental car facility SUCKS!!! Took 30 minutes from gate to car to facility departure. Way too long! Darn buses go on the highway, wind around the exit ramps, then you have to walk past the entire counter facilities, up elevators too small for everyone's luggage, then drive down from the stratosphere just to leave the garage.
6/27 (Sun.) UA 2128 SFO-SEA
Wedding in Mendocino went fabulously by the way. Rental car return is another adventure, with a long line at curbside to check you out of the car, a longer line at the counter (bad gamble), the usual snail's pace of the bus to the terminal, UA's terminal being the last at SFO on entrance. May have taken 40 minutes this time.
Shuttle flights operating on time! Got to feel lucky on this day. Flight was uneventful; the approach into SEA is nice as they turn around over the bay, pass downtown Seattle and land going south. UA's slots in the satellite terminal are a little annoying with the underground train, but any airport where you don't have to take a bus to reach the rental cars is good
Have to love Seattle this time of year when it doesn't get dark until 9:30 or 10:00P
6/28 (Mon.) UA 1232 SEA-IAD red-eye
So I have a confirmed upgrade but call and find out that the flight is barely half full. So I think, OK, I'll give up the 1st class seat for a whole row in coach to sleep.
Get to airport. Flight's delayed an hour. There's nothing in the UA satellite terminal. Wonderful. Flight's full now. WHAT!?!? All these weather delays in Washington caused flight cancellations so they merged some Chicago flight into my Dulles flight. OK, let's try 1st class again. Wait list. Never happens. Kind of a bummer
Get on the plane; flight's not really full, no one is sitting next to me. More disinformation....
Kind of annoying waking up to the sun blazing through the windows in your eyes. Mental note- Get a seat on the right side for red-eyes.
6/29 Tue. UA 1988 IAD-BOS
Missed the original 6:30A flight due to the SEA delay. 7:30A plane is supposedly empty, until some UScAir flight is cancelled, and this plane fills up. Ugh. And Dulles-Boston capacity is supposed to be bulging with the UA/US wars.
It's a 90-minute flight, and they don't serve anything but a drink (not even trail mix or mustard pretzels or whatever). We may love IAD for the 2x miles, but the UA terminal sucks. Nothing but Burger King/McDonald's; nothing open at 7AM. I'm starving by arrival time in Boston. We arrive 20 min. late thanks to normal Boston air traffic.
This was a surprisingly subpar performance by UA overall. I love UA and don't want my perception of its rep harmed by more of these.
6/24 (Wed.) UA 169 BOS-SFO 7:00A-10:20A
Pleasantly surprised to find the 767 essentially empty- maybe 40 people in coach Had some UA rep (non-FA) with a clipboard ask me before door closure if everything was fine (must be the Premier Zone or 1K status); that was nice.
1st time I saw the 767's with the personal screens in coach; eventually, most people had the maps on. It's really cool seeing some geographic formation below outside, then seeing the name of it on the screen. They tried to twist the plane so we could see Yosemite's Half Dome, then SFO ATC took us on a wind-ing vector right as we did it. Amusing watching everyone standing in the aisles looking out the right windows sigh in disappointment.
With coach empty I went to the back and slept most of the flight since I (as usual) got no sleep the night before preparing for the trip.
IN SAN FRANCISCO AREA
I think a lot of people don't know about the 1K work area near Gate 81 at SFO; the people are really nice and know you by name, and it's usually empty.
So I had a wedding to attend post-business, and was supposed to fly into SJC and pick up a convertible (nice rate, $193 for 3 days). When my plans changed to SFO, I called for a new reservation and it was $400 something. Well, screw you, National Car Rental, I rented a car from SFO-SJC for $50.
Note to SFO/City of SF- The new rental car facility SUCKS!!! Took 30 minutes from gate to car to facility departure. Way too long! Darn buses go on the highway, wind around the exit ramps, then you have to walk past the entire counter facilities, up elevators too small for everyone's luggage, then drive down from the stratosphere just to leave the garage.
6/27 (Sun.) UA 2128 SFO-SEA
Wedding in Mendocino went fabulously by the way. Rental car return is another adventure, with a long line at curbside to check you out of the car, a longer line at the counter (bad gamble), the usual snail's pace of the bus to the terminal, UA's terminal being the last at SFO on entrance. May have taken 40 minutes this time.
Shuttle flights operating on time! Got to feel lucky on this day. Flight was uneventful; the approach into SEA is nice as they turn around over the bay, pass downtown Seattle and land going south. UA's slots in the satellite terminal are a little annoying with the underground train, but any airport where you don't have to take a bus to reach the rental cars is good
Have to love Seattle this time of year when it doesn't get dark until 9:30 or 10:00P
6/28 (Mon.) UA 1232 SEA-IAD red-eye
So I have a confirmed upgrade but call and find out that the flight is barely half full. So I think, OK, I'll give up the 1st class seat for a whole row in coach to sleep.
Get to airport. Flight's delayed an hour. There's nothing in the UA satellite terminal. Wonderful. Flight's full now. WHAT!?!? All these weather delays in Washington caused flight cancellations so they merged some Chicago flight into my Dulles flight. OK, let's try 1st class again. Wait list. Never happens. Kind of a bummer
Get on the plane; flight's not really full, no one is sitting next to me. More disinformation....
Kind of annoying waking up to the sun blazing through the windows in your eyes. Mental note- Get a seat on the right side for red-eyes.
6/29 Tue. UA 1988 IAD-BOS
Missed the original 6:30A flight due to the SEA delay. 7:30A plane is supposedly empty, until some UScAir flight is cancelled, and this plane fills up. Ugh. And Dulles-Boston capacity is supposed to be bulging with the UA/US wars.
It's a 90-minute flight, and they don't serve anything but a drink (not even trail mix or mustard pretzels or whatever). We may love IAD for the 2x miles, but the UA terminal sucks. Nothing but Burger King/McDonald's; nothing open at 7AM. I'm starving by arrival time in Boston. We arrive 20 min. late thanks to normal Boston air traffic.
This was a surprisingly subpar performance by UA overall. I love UA and don't want my perception of its rep harmed by more of these.
Jul 3, 1999, 10:28 pm
#2
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Million Miler (mostly earned on CO)
Posts: 2,599
The rotten rental car situation at SFO is (with any luck) temporary and should end when the airport train system is completed, in winter 2001.
Given the amount of construction that's been going on at SFO the past few years, I think the airport's done a good job at not inconveniencing travellers too badly so far, although from the comments I've seen here, rental car is a definite exception to the overall situation. Personally, I've flown into and out of SFO at least 100 times in the last three years with scarcely a construction-related glitch. (There have been the usual weather related delays, but that's another story!)
The scope of the airport project is huge and includes building an around-airport train, a new international terminal, rerouting freeway exits and on-ramps, and extending the BART system into SFO. There is the possibility of a new runway configuration, too, although environmentalists are fighting it because it will involve filling the Bay. They are doing all this work while keeping SFO fully functional. So far, the project's in time and within budget.
BTW there's an interesting web site with info about SFO's Master plan for airport expansion: http://www.sfoairport.com/mastplan.htm
Given the amount of construction that's been going on at SFO the past few years, I think the airport's done a good job at not inconveniencing travellers too badly so far, although from the comments I've seen here, rental car is a definite exception to the overall situation. Personally, I've flown into and out of SFO at least 100 times in the last three years with scarcely a construction-related glitch. (There have been the usual weather related delays, but that's another story!)
The scope of the airport project is huge and includes building an around-airport train, a new international terminal, rerouting freeway exits and on-ramps, and extending the BART system into SFO. There is the possibility of a new runway configuration, too, although environmentalists are fighting it because it will involve filling the Bay. They are doing all this work while keeping SFO fully functional. So far, the project's in time and within budget.
BTW there's an interesting web site with info about SFO's Master plan for airport expansion: http://www.sfoairport.com/mastplan.htm