Redeye Weekend in Toronto
Apr 8, 2000 | 1:37 pm
#1
Original Poster
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Kirkland, WA
Posts: 6,932
Redeye Weekend in Toronto
I love LA. I love LA. I love LA.
This first part has nothing to do with flying or even trips, but I just had to tell. Thursday night Hunnybear, Lockergnome, Mooseclock and I took advantage of some VIP press tickets that Lockergnome (being a VIP) had wangled to a charity party at the Paramount studios. We met up as Internet World was closing for the day and found the press prowl bus to take us to the party. We climbed in and sipped some champagne as we were entertained by a singing mounted bass, but were soon told that the bus we were on wasnt going to do anything but sit there for a couple hours. So we headed around the corner to a caravan of exotic limos. No one was going to the Paramount until 7, which was odd because the party started at 7 and it was going to take a half-hour to get there in traffic. So we piled into a super-stretch Explorer and drove six blocks to the Wilshire Grand to the party there, which was sponsored by 29 companies that wanted the press to take note of their products. They seemed, however, to be turning away more press than they let in despite everyone having perfectly good press credentials from the show. Since this wasnt the hot party anyway, we just pooh-poohed them and walked back to the convention center, where we took a bus to Paramount.
The entire back lot was filled with bars and buffets nestled among the building facades. Corbin Bernson from LA Law walked past and I started scrutinizing faces to see who was a movie or TV star. Then Hunnybear and I found the VIP room where the 1992 Dom Perignon was flowing like water. The place was packed with stars, a few of whom I recognized: Red Buttons, whos famous for being famous; Angie Everhart, the redheaded supermodel; Kelly Hu, of TVs Martial Law; and 18-year-old Thora Birch from American Beauty. I just had to exchange words with Thora just so I could say I did. She was writing something on the back of an ad for 1-800-FLOWERS, so I seized the opportunity. I hereby reproduce, in its entirety, the complete exchange between us:
QL (laughing): Trying to win some free flowers?
TB (sneering and walking away): Yeah.
I think I was getting somewhere with Thora, but unfortunately I didnt have time to cement the relationship as I needed to follow Hunnybear, who had a firm grip on my left ear and was walking briskly in the other direction.
After that, staying at the party much longer would have been an anticlimax, so we hopped in a stretch Hummer and headed back to the Convention Center. As the driver made a complicated series of maneuvers to turn around in the Paramount parking lot, Hunnybear pointed out that the Hummer should just be driving over the other cars, not bothering to steer around them. The Hummer limo was more of a cool idea than a comfortable drive, as someone had inadvertently forgotten to install shock absorbers. Nevertheless we arrived back at the Convention Center in one piece (each) and made it safely home.
Are my eyes red!
A scrumptious farewell dinner at U-Zen in West LA, graciously hosted by Lockergnome, preceded our first red-eye out of LA. We took a cab from the Marina ($12 including tip) to LAX, where despite there being about a dozen agents and about the same number of customers, no one was staffing the first class/1K line. We waited 10 minutes, then finally Pamela, the agent who was supposed to be doing secondary screening, saw our predicament and waved us over. She was very nice and checked us right through to Chicago and Toronto.
United has two red-eye flights from LAX to ORD leaving within four minutes of each other. We took the DC-10 because I have fond memories of that plane and we prefer widebodies. But man, this beast was decrepit. Something was wrong with the HVAC system because it was at least 100 degrees in there as we sat on the ground. I had forgotten how small the overhead bins were and how little the seats recline. Our usually favorite seats, 1C and D, turned out not to be the best for sleeping because of proximity to the movie screen and galley. Nevertheless, after a superb preflight drink service in which they refilled our water glasses twice, I promptly turned on channel 4 and fell asleep to the romantic easy listening. I think there was a snack, but I have no idea what it was as the next thing I knew the captain was making the landing announcement!
We docked at the far end of the C terminal and the connection was at the farthest possible gate, F5. So we walked through the magic tunnel and decided to rest in the halfway-point Red Carpet Club. I handed our tickets to the agent there who scrutinized them, typed something into her computer, then finally said, oh, youre going to Toronto. Were allowed into the RCC based on being Star Alliance Gold and traveling internationally (although several pieces of Star Alliance collateral do not specify that the travel must be international to merit use of the lounge). Im also a member, but I wanted to see if she would let us in based on that and she finally did. Everybody in there was snoozing.
We made it to F5 and boarded on time, but the catering crew still had the galley door open right across from our seats 1A and B and blowing an icy wind through the cabin. Sahara on one flight, Arctic on the next. Finally they finished and we settled down to the strains of smashing ice. We had a preflight drink service and a quick flight. We both passed on the choice of bagel or muffin and we touched down 15 minutes ahead of schedule in Toronto. We then sat on the ground for 26 minutes while they cleared our gate. Customs and immigration were a breeze. We had reserved a Hertz economy car through www.biztravel.com for the ridiculously cheap price of $25/day Canadian! Unfortunately biztravel didnt tell them what flight we were arriving on (no way to specify it unless you book a flight too) and our car was waiting at Terminal 3 instead of 2. The clerk made short work of it, though, and before we knew it we were in a new Chevy Malibu headed off to Hunnybears parents house for lunch.
[This message has been edited by QuietLion (edited 04-08-2000).]
This first part has nothing to do with flying or even trips, but I just had to tell. Thursday night Hunnybear, Lockergnome, Mooseclock and I took advantage of some VIP press tickets that Lockergnome (being a VIP) had wangled to a charity party at the Paramount studios. We met up as Internet World was closing for the day and found the press prowl bus to take us to the party. We climbed in and sipped some champagne as we were entertained by a singing mounted bass, but were soon told that the bus we were on wasnt going to do anything but sit there for a couple hours. So we headed around the corner to a caravan of exotic limos. No one was going to the Paramount until 7, which was odd because the party started at 7 and it was going to take a half-hour to get there in traffic. So we piled into a super-stretch Explorer and drove six blocks to the Wilshire Grand to the party there, which was sponsored by 29 companies that wanted the press to take note of their products. They seemed, however, to be turning away more press than they let in despite everyone having perfectly good press credentials from the show. Since this wasnt the hot party anyway, we just pooh-poohed them and walked back to the convention center, where we took a bus to Paramount.
The entire back lot was filled with bars and buffets nestled among the building facades. Corbin Bernson from LA Law walked past and I started scrutinizing faces to see who was a movie or TV star. Then Hunnybear and I found the VIP room where the 1992 Dom Perignon was flowing like water. The place was packed with stars, a few of whom I recognized: Red Buttons, whos famous for being famous; Angie Everhart, the redheaded supermodel; Kelly Hu, of TVs Martial Law; and 18-year-old Thora Birch from American Beauty. I just had to exchange words with Thora just so I could say I did. She was writing something on the back of an ad for 1-800-FLOWERS, so I seized the opportunity. I hereby reproduce, in its entirety, the complete exchange between us:
QL (laughing): Trying to win some free flowers?
TB (sneering and walking away): Yeah.
I think I was getting somewhere with Thora, but unfortunately I didnt have time to cement the relationship as I needed to follow Hunnybear, who had a firm grip on my left ear and was walking briskly in the other direction.
After that, staying at the party much longer would have been an anticlimax, so we hopped in a stretch Hummer and headed back to the Convention Center. As the driver made a complicated series of maneuvers to turn around in the Paramount parking lot, Hunnybear pointed out that the Hummer should just be driving over the other cars, not bothering to steer around them. The Hummer limo was more of a cool idea than a comfortable drive, as someone had inadvertently forgotten to install shock absorbers. Nevertheless we arrived back at the Convention Center in one piece (each) and made it safely home.
Are my eyes red!
A scrumptious farewell dinner at U-Zen in West LA, graciously hosted by Lockergnome, preceded our first red-eye out of LA. We took a cab from the Marina ($12 including tip) to LAX, where despite there being about a dozen agents and about the same number of customers, no one was staffing the first class/1K line. We waited 10 minutes, then finally Pamela, the agent who was supposed to be doing secondary screening, saw our predicament and waved us over. She was very nice and checked us right through to Chicago and Toronto.
United has two red-eye flights from LAX to ORD leaving within four minutes of each other. We took the DC-10 because I have fond memories of that plane and we prefer widebodies. But man, this beast was decrepit. Something was wrong with the HVAC system because it was at least 100 degrees in there as we sat on the ground. I had forgotten how small the overhead bins were and how little the seats recline. Our usually favorite seats, 1C and D, turned out not to be the best for sleeping because of proximity to the movie screen and galley. Nevertheless, after a superb preflight drink service in which they refilled our water glasses twice, I promptly turned on channel 4 and fell asleep to the romantic easy listening. I think there was a snack, but I have no idea what it was as the next thing I knew the captain was making the landing announcement!
We docked at the far end of the C terminal and the connection was at the farthest possible gate, F5. So we walked through the magic tunnel and decided to rest in the halfway-point Red Carpet Club. I handed our tickets to the agent there who scrutinized them, typed something into her computer, then finally said, oh, youre going to Toronto. Were allowed into the RCC based on being Star Alliance Gold and traveling internationally (although several pieces of Star Alliance collateral do not specify that the travel must be international to merit use of the lounge). Im also a member, but I wanted to see if she would let us in based on that and she finally did. Everybody in there was snoozing.
We made it to F5 and boarded on time, but the catering crew still had the galley door open right across from our seats 1A and B and blowing an icy wind through the cabin. Sahara on one flight, Arctic on the next. Finally they finished and we settled down to the strains of smashing ice. We had a preflight drink service and a quick flight. We both passed on the choice of bagel or muffin and we touched down 15 minutes ahead of schedule in Toronto. We then sat on the ground for 26 minutes while they cleared our gate. Customs and immigration were a breeze. We had reserved a Hertz economy car through www.biztravel.com for the ridiculously cheap price of $25/day Canadian! Unfortunately biztravel didnt tell them what flight we were arriving on (no way to specify it unless you book a flight too) and our car was waiting at Terminal 3 instead of 2. The clerk made short work of it, though, and before we knew it we were in a new Chevy Malibu headed off to Hunnybears parents house for lunch.
[This message has been edited by QuietLion (edited 04-08-2000).]
Apr 8, 2000 | 5:47 pm
#2
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 1,778
Great Report! Enjoy your stay in YYZ 
I too had a long wait for a gate at YYZ yesterday afternoon. I was on AC717 LGA-YYZ which arrived at about 16:45. We then had to wait about 20 minutes for our gate (We were 5 minutes early into YYZ). I did notice that gate 97 was blocked off and closed as they are working on the tarmac area around it.
I too had a long wait for a gate at YYZ yesterday afternoon. I was on AC717 LGA-YYZ which arrived at about 16:45. We then had to wait about 20 minutes for our gate (We were 5 minutes early into YYZ). I did notice that gate 97 was blocked off and closed as they are working on the tarmac area around it.
Apr 9, 2000 | 7:27 am
#5
Original Poster
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Kirkland, WA
Posts: 6,932
I just adore an airport view
Toronto has among the most changeable weather in the world. Although the forecast before we left called for 39 degrees and partly cloudy, by the time we finished lunch it was snowing heavily. I dropped Hunnybear off and made my way back to the airport and checked in to the Sheraton Gateway. I had reserved a Click-It Weekend special for the ridiculously low price of $89 Canadian ($1.62 US). I parked right in front of the hotel with huge wet snowflakes sweeping down and around me. No bellman or doorman was in sight (smart guys) so I left the car right in front and carried my bags up the escalator to the lobby.
There were actually two agents manning the SPG desk! I strolled up, got a nice greeting, and was given a room on the Club Level with an airport view as I requested. The non-Heavenly king bed had feather pillows and the room had an OfficeJet in it that could be used as a fax or printer. Club Level is great because there is no charge for local calls unless they exceed 60 minutes, in which case they start cutting off your fingers one segment at a time. Boy did it look crappy outside. I noticed the Canadian Airlines jets with the Air Canada maple leaf painted over the tail design. A knock at the door was a bellman with the vaunted Platinum amenity: a white gift bag with a granola bar, Pringles, a bag of trail mix oddly labeled Youth Mix, bottled water, and a container of Clorets.
After a brief nap I checked out the Club Lounge with it cocktails and hors douvres from five to seven. The spread was pretty nice: fried shrimp, little triangular pastry things, and canaps. It didnt compare to the Ritz-Carlton, but not bad for the price. Dinner was at the secret place with Jonathan and Lippy. I had the Queens filet medium rare and it was marvelous as usual, served with round fries and fried onions. With a round of drinks the tab came to $48 Canadian ($1.62 US) per person before tip. We drove back to Jonathans place and made an effort to have a conversation as we all nodded off from jet lag.
When we returned to the room the second bathrobe I had requested had been delivered and the ice bucket had been filled as part of the turn-down service. I checked my fan mail briefly before we headed off to dreamland.
Toronto has among the most changeable weather in the world. Although the forecast before we left called for 39 degrees and partly cloudy, by the time we finished lunch it was snowing heavily. I dropped Hunnybear off and made my way back to the airport and checked in to the Sheraton Gateway. I had reserved a Click-It Weekend special for the ridiculously low price of $89 Canadian ($1.62 US). I parked right in front of the hotel with huge wet snowflakes sweeping down and around me. No bellman or doorman was in sight (smart guys) so I left the car right in front and carried my bags up the escalator to the lobby.
There were actually two agents manning the SPG desk! I strolled up, got a nice greeting, and was given a room on the Club Level with an airport view as I requested. The non-Heavenly king bed had feather pillows and the room had an OfficeJet in it that could be used as a fax or printer. Club Level is great because there is no charge for local calls unless they exceed 60 minutes, in which case they start cutting off your fingers one segment at a time. Boy did it look crappy outside. I noticed the Canadian Airlines jets with the Air Canada maple leaf painted over the tail design. A knock at the door was a bellman with the vaunted Platinum amenity: a white gift bag with a granola bar, Pringles, a bag of trail mix oddly labeled Youth Mix, bottled water, and a container of Clorets.
After a brief nap I checked out the Club Lounge with it cocktails and hors douvres from five to seven. The spread was pretty nice: fried shrimp, little triangular pastry things, and canaps. It didnt compare to the Ritz-Carlton, but not bad for the price. Dinner was at the secret place with Jonathan and Lippy. I had the Queens filet medium rare and it was marvelous as usual, served with round fries and fried onions. With a round of drinks the tab came to $48 Canadian ($1.62 US) per person before tip. We drove back to Jonathans place and made an effort to have a conversation as we all nodded off from jet lag.
When we returned to the room the second bathrobe I had requested had been delivered and the ice bucket had been filled as part of the turn-down service. I checked my fan mail briefly before we headed off to dreamland.
Apr 9, 2000 | 12:24 pm
#7
Original Poster
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Kirkland, WA
Posts: 6,932
I used to take the nonstop from SEA-YYZ (in the very comfortable coach section of the A319) back before I became addicted to flying first class. We don't prefer Air Canada for several reasons, chief among them that they do not allow United flyers -- even 1Ks -- to upgrade by any means whatsoever. Secondly, I don't get the 100% status bonus on AC, not do those flights count toward the 10K miles I must fly to qualify for upgrade certs. Thirdly, I have to sit through yesterday's news in French on every flight. Finally, if there is a last-minute change of plans on United they will pull out all the stops for me; on AC I'm stuck.
Apr 10, 2000 | 7:21 am
#8
Original Poster
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Kirkland, WA
Posts: 6,932
Vaunted!
True to form, morning came to Toronto in the form of a stunning blue sky. Cold temperatures can be forgiven on days like this, and we did. We used the video checkout and trekked across the tundra to the car, which we used for brunch and errands before returning it later in the afternoon. The Hertz check-in was painless, especially with the great rate we got, but then disaster struck. My flight pager went off. Flight 1425 was delayed 30 minutes. Our tight connection in Chicago was now an impossible connection.
I started to call the UA 1K desk but we saw Hunnybears angel working at the first-class check-in desk so we waited for him to finish. Unfortunately he never did, so we went with an untested agent who tried to get us to take the Air Canada non-stop in coach. I dont think so. Instead, we had him check us in to our scheduled flight and ran through security and customs to try to make the Air Canada flight to Chicago leaving in 10 minutes. We arrived at the gate just as they were paging some passenger who checked in but didnt board (this happens more than usual on Canada-US flights where people are sometimes detained by US immigration) and the agent printed us a couple of boarding passes, said shes take care of the e-tickets later, and told us to run like hell!
Well, it was a short run and we got on the Airbus 319 in seats 15B and C, the exit row. This is one of the most comfortable coach cabins in the air and the hour-and-twenty-minute flight passed uneventfully. Two very polite flight attendants served us a choice of chips, cookie, or raisins followed by a single cup of soft drink. We arrived in Chicago at the farthest possible gate from United, F12, and hiked through the magic tunnel to concourse C where we ensconced ourselves in my least favorite Red Carpet Club for 45 minutes. As usual the staff there did everything they could to annoy me. The greeter refused to give us complimentary drink coupons, quoting a policy I had never heard of that they only give them on outbound international connections. All drinks must be begged for at the bar instead of having a self-service refrigerator. Snacks are always the worst of and RCC: there were exactly six cubes of cheese remaining at 5:45 p.m. when we entered, leaving nothing but breadsticks and cream cheese for the next 45 minutes.
But none of that mattered.
When we approached the jumbo jet parked at gate C18 we realized that not only had we been given the vaunted double upgrade, but that this baby had the First Suites! We strolled down the separate jetway for first and business class, turned left, and found a cabin that looked like the bridge of the starship Enterprise. Our seats, 4E and F, were right in the middle of the cabin. In fact in this configuration there are only two pairs of seats together: ours and 5E and F, and the latter pair are 18 inches apart. We had the only set of honeymoon seats.
Service was attentive throughout the 3.5-hour flight. We watched The Talented Mr. Ripley. Which was scheduled to be on Channel 2 but wasnt loaded until we requested it (I dont think the staff was fully trained in domestic operation of this puppy). They also had an assortment of personal videos. The seat fully reclined into a bed, which we wasted no time in trying out as soon as the wheels lifted. Appetizer was a phenomenal smoked duck with roasted plum. For our entre we both settled on the always-excellent crab cake. Dessert was the Ben & Jerrys sundae. They brought the Mrs. Fields cookie along with the dessert rather than later, which I dont like, but its tough to complain when you get this kind of treatment.
We touched down at gate 68B, the farthest possible gate (amazing how they always keep this one empty), and hailed a taxi home. It was the first time for Hunnybear to get vaunted, and she remarked that we didnt just get vaunted---we got vaulted!
The end.
True to form, morning came to Toronto in the form of a stunning blue sky. Cold temperatures can be forgiven on days like this, and we did. We used the video checkout and trekked across the tundra to the car, which we used for brunch and errands before returning it later in the afternoon. The Hertz check-in was painless, especially with the great rate we got, but then disaster struck. My flight pager went off. Flight 1425 was delayed 30 minutes. Our tight connection in Chicago was now an impossible connection.
I started to call the UA 1K desk but we saw Hunnybears angel working at the first-class check-in desk so we waited for him to finish. Unfortunately he never did, so we went with an untested agent who tried to get us to take the Air Canada non-stop in coach. I dont think so. Instead, we had him check us in to our scheduled flight and ran through security and customs to try to make the Air Canada flight to Chicago leaving in 10 minutes. We arrived at the gate just as they were paging some passenger who checked in but didnt board (this happens more than usual on Canada-US flights where people are sometimes detained by US immigration) and the agent printed us a couple of boarding passes, said shes take care of the e-tickets later, and told us to run like hell!
Well, it was a short run and we got on the Airbus 319 in seats 15B and C, the exit row. This is one of the most comfortable coach cabins in the air and the hour-and-twenty-minute flight passed uneventfully. Two very polite flight attendants served us a choice of chips, cookie, or raisins followed by a single cup of soft drink. We arrived in Chicago at the farthest possible gate from United, F12, and hiked through the magic tunnel to concourse C where we ensconced ourselves in my least favorite Red Carpet Club for 45 minutes. As usual the staff there did everything they could to annoy me. The greeter refused to give us complimentary drink coupons, quoting a policy I had never heard of that they only give them on outbound international connections. All drinks must be begged for at the bar instead of having a self-service refrigerator. Snacks are always the worst of and RCC: there were exactly six cubes of cheese remaining at 5:45 p.m. when we entered, leaving nothing but breadsticks and cream cheese for the next 45 minutes.
But none of that mattered.
When we approached the jumbo jet parked at gate C18 we realized that not only had we been given the vaunted double upgrade, but that this baby had the First Suites! We strolled down the separate jetway for first and business class, turned left, and found a cabin that looked like the bridge of the starship Enterprise. Our seats, 4E and F, were right in the middle of the cabin. In fact in this configuration there are only two pairs of seats together: ours and 5E and F, and the latter pair are 18 inches apart. We had the only set of honeymoon seats.
Service was attentive throughout the 3.5-hour flight. We watched The Talented Mr. Ripley. Which was scheduled to be on Channel 2 but wasnt loaded until we requested it (I dont think the staff was fully trained in domestic operation of this puppy). They also had an assortment of personal videos. The seat fully reclined into a bed, which we wasted no time in trying out as soon as the wheels lifted. Appetizer was a phenomenal smoked duck with roasted plum. For our entre we both settled on the always-excellent crab cake. Dessert was the Ben & Jerrys sundae. They brought the Mrs. Fields cookie along with the dessert rather than later, which I dont like, but its tough to complain when you get this kind of treatment.
We touched down at gate 68B, the farthest possible gate (amazing how they always keep this one empty), and hailed a taxi home. It was the first time for Hunnybear to get vaunted, and she remarked that we didnt just get vaunted---we got vaulted!
The end.