CHA-ATL-ORD-ATL-CHA
Jul 11, 1999, 9:43 pm
#1
Original Member
Original Poster
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Chattanooga, TN, USA**US Airways Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,338
CHA-ATL-ORD-ATL-CHA
Yep, another back-of-the-bus, quirk-filled trip report from silverpie...
Leg 1: CHA-ATL on Express Shuttle
(It's a van company, running from Eastgate mall in Chattanooga to ATL and BNA--they're at www.theexpressshuttle.com .) For the first time, they ran the bus down, having too many people to use a regular van--not a good experience, but it got there on time.
Hartsfield Airport
The bigboss from Cincy was running on crisis mode, and I had to review an appraisal (not to mention reviewing the review) while I was there. Luckily, I was flying AA and had my Salon Empress card on hand (yes, CP has me down as a francophone). Access to something like the Admiral's Club is wonderful if you need to be working in a quiet environment, but for just escaping the general noise level, I actually prefer airport chapels.
Leg 2: ATL-ORD on AA
You'd think a flight between the world's two busiest airports (by # of passengers, they're way ahead of the next few) would be on a plane of some size, eh? Not quite. It's an F-100, smallest thing this side of RJ's and props. I have the window, with an empty aisle next to me (2-3 seating), which makes no sense on a fairly full flight until I realize that I'm right in front of the exit row! Bistro-bag service (I'd hit the Chick-fil-A a bit earlier, so only ate the cookies--PEPPERIDGE FARM!), and arrive early (!) for the limo out to Lisle. I was uncertain if the priority bag-handling that CP gives Empress members extended to AA--quite possibly so, as my bag was third out, even beating me to the carousel!
Hickory Ridge Conference Center
Not a hotel you'd stay at unless you actually had a meeting there. $165 a night, and even with all meals included, you get a fairly basic room, smaller than at your average Days Inn. The recliners are excellent, though, and the wake-up call includes a brief weather report.
Seminar was pretty unproductive, packing a day's worth of material into two days. Luckily, we wrap up early, and watch the soccer game on the limo back.
O'Hare Airport
Line at AA isn't too long, so I go ahead and check in (the checkable bag is now much heavier, no thanks to our seminar binder), and find a TV with the game on (was in a bar next to McDonald's and Gino's East in terminal L). Several heart attacks later, the bar finally erupts in cheers when Briana Scurry makes what proved to be the decisive save, and again when Brandi Chastain puts home the winning goal.
Rush to the el, hoping to get a chance to try a pizza from the original Uno--no such luck, and too long a line at Due also. (Not to mention half the streets blocked off for the grand opeining of ESPN Zone...) I would have had time if the game had ended at regulation...
This flight has no meal service at all (luckily, I hit McDonald's beforehand), but I do have that western window at night, and also (since this one--a "Boeing" Super80--wasn't full) was able to move back from the pre-exit row to the exit row.
On arrival, find AA has its own baggage claim room at Hartsfield (as does United, the two main users of the T-gates). Right convenient... bag falls out mid-sequence, so chalk the third-out at ORD up to luck.
The line at the hotel to check in was literally out the door, and not moving. And everyone in line seemed to have a DL boarding pass. I eventually figured out that the storms in DFW had stranded passengers at ATL, and they sent them *all* to my hotel (the same one their F/A's stay in). And the hotel had *one* desk clerk to deal with the crunch.
Oversleep the next morning, of course, and then head out to Fadó in Buckhead to watch some Gaelic football. Read the paper while waiting (the satellite feed is down), and find some horrible news ( http://www.accessatlanta.com/news/19...11/kitten.html ). I hope the Lord turns those cementheaded punklets (no relation to our Punki, I'm reasonably certain) around--but if He doesn't, I hope there's a special place in Hell waiting for them, where they will eternally be devoured by a thousand hungry cats...
They finally get the feed running in time for the hurling match, and the honor of the feline race is again upheld as Kilkenny crush Offaly for the Leinster championship.
A tour of the malls later, it's time to head home, with the added annoyance of a monsoon between me and the MARTA--and a desk clerk who assumes I'm going there in a car...
Leg 4: ATL-CHA on Express Shuttle
Routine trip home, in a van this time
.
All in all, the first of the recent series of trips that A can definitely say I'd rather not have taken.
Random observations:
The podium for the AA flight to Brussels had a Belgian flag on it. A definite help for non-anglophone travelers.
AA is not exactly treating CP as a full partner. Not only did they not announce the CP codeshare # on either of my flights (which did have them), but on one flight that really was operated by Canadian, the podium showed only the AA codeshare #, not the real one! They're just about thinking of them as an extension of American Eagle...
[This message has been edited by silverpie (edited 07-11-1999).]
[This message has been edited by silverpie (edited 07-11-1999).]
Leg 1: CHA-ATL on Express Shuttle
(It's a van company, running from Eastgate mall in Chattanooga to ATL and BNA--they're at www.theexpressshuttle.com .) For the first time, they ran the bus down, having too many people to use a regular van--not a good experience, but it got there on time.
Hartsfield Airport
The bigboss from Cincy was running on crisis mode, and I had to review an appraisal (not to mention reviewing the review) while I was there. Luckily, I was flying AA and had my Salon Empress card on hand (yes, CP has me down as a francophone). Access to something like the Admiral's Club is wonderful if you need to be working in a quiet environment, but for just escaping the general noise level, I actually prefer airport chapels.
Leg 2: ATL-ORD on AA
You'd think a flight between the world's two busiest airports (by # of passengers, they're way ahead of the next few) would be on a plane of some size, eh? Not quite. It's an F-100, smallest thing this side of RJ's and props. I have the window, with an empty aisle next to me (2-3 seating), which makes no sense on a fairly full flight until I realize that I'm right in front of the exit row! Bistro-bag service (I'd hit the Chick-fil-A a bit earlier, so only ate the cookies--PEPPERIDGE FARM!), and arrive early (!) for the limo out to Lisle. I was uncertain if the priority bag-handling that CP gives Empress members extended to AA--quite possibly so, as my bag was third out, even beating me to the carousel!
Hickory Ridge Conference Center
Not a hotel you'd stay at unless you actually had a meeting there. $165 a night, and even with all meals included, you get a fairly basic room, smaller than at your average Days Inn. The recliners are excellent, though, and the wake-up call includes a brief weather report.
Seminar was pretty unproductive, packing a day's worth of material into two days. Luckily, we wrap up early, and watch the soccer game on the limo back.
O'Hare Airport
Line at AA isn't too long, so I go ahead and check in (the checkable bag is now much heavier, no thanks to our seminar binder), and find a TV with the game on (was in a bar next to McDonald's and Gino's East in terminal L). Several heart attacks later, the bar finally erupts in cheers when Briana Scurry makes what proved to be the decisive save, and again when Brandi Chastain puts home the winning goal.
Rush to the el, hoping to get a chance to try a pizza from the original Uno--no such luck, and too long a line at Due also. (Not to mention half the streets blocked off for the grand opeining of ESPN Zone...) I would have had time if the game had ended at regulation...
This flight has no meal service at all (luckily, I hit McDonald's beforehand), but I do have that western window at night, and also (since this one--a "Boeing" Super80--wasn't full) was able to move back from the pre-exit row to the exit row.
On arrival, find AA has its own baggage claim room at Hartsfield (as does United, the two main users of the T-gates). Right convenient... bag falls out mid-sequence, so chalk the third-out at ORD up to luck.
The line at the hotel to check in was literally out the door, and not moving. And everyone in line seemed to have a DL boarding pass. I eventually figured out that the storms in DFW had stranded passengers at ATL, and they sent them *all* to my hotel (the same one their F/A's stay in). And the hotel had *one* desk clerk to deal with the crunch.
Oversleep the next morning, of course, and then head out to Fadó in Buckhead to watch some Gaelic football. Read the paper while waiting (the satellite feed is down), and find some horrible news ( http://www.accessatlanta.com/news/19...11/kitten.html ). I hope the Lord turns those cementheaded punklets (no relation to our Punki, I'm reasonably certain) around--but if He doesn't, I hope there's a special place in Hell waiting for them, where they will eternally be devoured by a thousand hungry cats...
They finally get the feed running in time for the hurling match, and the honor of the feline race is again upheld as Kilkenny crush Offaly for the Leinster championship.
A tour of the malls later, it's time to head home, with the added annoyance of a monsoon between me and the MARTA--and a desk clerk who assumes I'm going there in a car...
Leg 4: ATL-CHA on Express Shuttle
Routine trip home, in a van this time
.All in all, the first of the recent series of trips that A can definitely say I'd rather not have taken.
Random observations:
The podium for the AA flight to Brussels had a Belgian flag on it. A definite help for non-anglophone travelers.
AA is not exactly treating CP as a full partner. Not only did they not announce the CP codeshare # on either of my flights (which did have them), but on one flight that really was operated by Canadian, the podium showed only the AA codeshare #, not the real one! They're just about thinking of them as an extension of American Eagle...
[This message has been edited by silverpie (edited 07-11-1999).]
[This message has been edited by silverpie (edited 07-11-1999).]
