Since I've begun exploring FT, the Trip Report section has been my favorite part. I've had great fun browsing through all the varied travels of my fellow online buddies. I decided to imput an ongoing trip report about my grueling week on the road.

It's been a long day, so please excuse any spelling mistakes.

A Quickie to the Citie
The trip began with a quick day in New York. I'd fly up on an early Continental flight to Newark and hop aboard an Amtrak train to Philadephia, my second destination.

My alarm sounded at the ungodly hour of half-past-four, causing my to roll out of my warm bed. I showered, grabbed my typical breakfast of a bagel with cream cheese, and through some things in a bag. I kissed my sleeping youngest child, who is enjoying the sleeping-in perk of summer, good-bye and hopped into my Grand Cherokee for the 15 minute drive to Tampa International Airport.

I rolled into the Short Term lot at 5:45 and found my favorite parking spot. The airport was a typical mob scene, not uncommon despite the early hour. I took the monorail to Airside A, home of Continental, Northwest, Southwest, and America West (all the wests). The airside was crowded, but I got in line for the Newark-bound Continental flight.

My upgrade cleared in advanced, so I simply presented my photo ID, as though I was renting a car, answered the questions, and took a seat.

Airside A was designed with airline clubs in mind. There are two spaces capable of housing an airline club. Southwest of couse doesn't have one, but I think CO or NW should open a club since the terminal houses a decent amount of CO/NW/HP flights. These spaces have been converted to office space, though.

I found a place by the window on the quiet Northwest side of the concourse, reading the WSJ, looking at a Northwest A320.

The Continental agent called for boarding and I boarded early so I'd have ample space to stow my rollaboard and briefcase. My favoite seat is a bulkhead, which of course lacks underseat storage.

I was among the first to board the MD-80, whose forward galley held the aroma of fresh coffee. I took my favorite seat 1A, threw my bags in the overheads, and settled in. The delightful flight attendant offered my coffee, which I gladly accepted.

I was a little worried about delays due to weather, as my schedule was tight and left little room for delays. Luckily, everything was ontime.

The Douglas "Super"-80 (oh, wait, not on AA, sorry!) quickly loaded to capacity and we pushed back ontime from our gate. We had no wait to take off. The flight attendants even had to rush through the safety briefing! Just another reason I love Tampa...

We took off to the south, which afforded us great views of Tampa Bay. These views remind not only why I love windows but also why I love Tampa...

Breakfast was offered on this morning departure, but I turned it down since I already had my bagel and had to prepare a little for my meeting. I was just happy that my coffee cup was kept filled.

We landed early into Newark, by about ten minutes. We parked at C105 and deplaned. Since we arrived in the heart of rushhour, I elected to use public transportation to get to Manhattan. It was a bit of an effort though: Wait at the terminal for the Airlink Bus, which takes you to the Newark train station. There catch an NJ Transit train into Penn Station. Entire journey took only an hour, but can be painful if you have lots of luggage.

The rest of the day was spent in my meetings, with a quick break for lunch at a nondescript New York deli.

I booked my Amtrak trip over the internet the day before. I planned to go a late-evening Acela Regional in case my meetings ran late. It turns out they didn't, so I showed up at Penn Station and switched my ticket to a 4:00pm Metroliner train. No problem; no $75 charge. All I had to pay was the difference in fare.

My brother-in-law is a high-ranking official with Amtrak, and he sent me a VIP card that gives me access to Amtrak's Metropolitan Lounges. Basically, these are simple lounges for Sleeper customers on overnight trains. I presented my ticket and card, and the friendly agent let me in.

The lounge was very basic, with some comfortable chairs and beverages. Nothing much, but then you don't pay $300 a year to get in.

An agent called us to board, since Metroliner First Class customers can also use the lounge. He took us through a "back-route" to get to the tracks. The train just began boarding when I arrived, so I got on.

One of the benefits of the Metroliner is a reserved seat, meaning there is always one seat for you. I got on early so I got my choice of seats, but we departed a near capacity with people scrambling to get a seat.

The train was a quick and easy to transport around the Northeast. It is probably too slow for DC-Boston, but for quick hops it'll probably beat the airlines. When the airports are suffering delays, it'll again probably beat the airlines.

We arrived right ontime into 30th Street Station. I hailed a cab to the Park Hyatt and checked-in and received my room.

It was an easy day, with both the train and the plane on time. I hope my success can continue.



[This message has been edited by mwilliams (edited 06-05-2000).]

A nice FOUR PAWS UP first effort.

You write like a newswriter, everything broken up into groups...

But just a piece of advice: THE NEXT TIME YOU COEM TO NYC I'll take you to a REAL DELI! LIKE KATZ OR STAGE DOOR OR CARNEGIE!

That's REAL NYC DELI

Or maybe even, if Catman will permit a minor addition, the Second Ave Deli!

Nice, well organized report

And I also vote for a President's/Worldperks Club in TPA. Now that NW has moved to airside A (next to CO), I think it would make good sense.

Great report, gee I never knew about that lounge at Penn Station. I guess they don't let the riff-raff NJ Transit users near the place

well written report look forward to more

thank you - very well done.

yes, I love trip reports too (and learn a lot).

FWIW, the lounge at New York Penn Station is located to the left of the NJ Transit windows.

There are three lounges in the Northeast: New York Penn, Philadelphia 30th Street, and Washington Union Station. There are also two lounges in the Amtrak intercity network: Chicago (Major hub for Amtrak intercity trains) and Portland.

To get in:

• First Class ticket on shorthaul trains (Northeast only).
• Sleeper Car reservation
• VIP card

From Brotherly Love to the Windy City

After checking out from the Park Hyatt, I plowed through my site visit at my company's branch office in Philadelphia.

After completing the visit, my "host" at the Philly office drove me to Philadelphia International Airport. As with many airports, the airport wasn't in the nicest section of the city, but rather in a heavy industrial area.

He dropped me off at the new Terminal B/C combined check-in facility. Formerly the two terminals had separate baggage claims and the ticketing was only in B, but they have since combined baggage claim and ticketing facilities of the two terminals to better serve US Airways/US Airways Express customers.

I checked in at the relatively-new US Airways Club. With the introduction of the new Philadelphia Marketplace, an area of shops and a food court connecting the two US Airways terminals, US Airways opened a single clubroom over the Phila Marketplace, replacing several dispersed between Terminals A B and C. Therefore, the club is quite large. Instead of dividing it into many sections, it is a single large room, with the couches and chairs arranged in clusters. It seems more spacious but can get noisy.

Armed with my First Class boarding pass (Upgraded in advance as Gold Preferred, comp certs collected), I walked around the Marketplace, and "dined" on a Bourbon Chicken dish at an Asian eatery. There was even a Hiemie's Deli, which is an excellent local Philly deli (I've eaten at their main branch many times).

I relaxed at the US Airways Club until my flight's boarding time neared. The aircraft arrived from Montreal a half-hour late, so in turn our departure was as late. The time was never made up, so we were late into O'Hare.

The flight attendants were very friendly. We were served a predeparture beverage as people marched aboard our 737. I, of course, had MY seat 1A.

We took off late as mentioned. Due to our late departure, no meal was offered. Instead, the flight attendant passed around a basket full of snacks, including Milanos and Rold Gold pretzals. Drinks were kept filled the entire flight.

I chatted with the flight attendants in the galley while they were taking a break, and apparently they knew nothing more than we on the US/UA deal. No inside info. Both of them expressed that they didn't want a merger. "We like things the way they are."

When asked about the whole stike business, she responded, "That's behind us now."

We arrived into Chicago, and I opted to stay at the O'Hare Hilton to avoid having to deal with getting into the city at night. It was a nice hotel, but no status with Hilton.

The next morning (today) I checked out of the Hilton, took a cab into the city, met with my client for the day, and took a cab back out to O'Hare.

Sorry for any spelling mistakes.

"As with many airports, the airport wasn't in the nicest section of the city, but rather in a heavy industrial area."

Is that so surprising? I first observed years ago that racetracks, oil tanks, radio towers, and airports all have something in common: Nobody wants to live near any of them.

The result: In many cities, most, if not all, of the above things are located near each other.

Joining the Mile High Club

After my trip to Chicago, I was off to Denver. Despite United offering 777s in the market, I was booked on the 737 (the timing of the 777 flights was poor).

Unfortuantely, my upgrades for this flight did not clear, but they rarely do on these interhub flights. I was booked in the Economy Plus cabin with an empty middle seat, so the flight was barable.

Our flight was close to ontime, but I forget if it was ontime to the minute.

My visit in Denver was to check-up on our site there. So for the two days I was in Denver I was a member of the Mile High Club, the exclusive club of Denver.

Homebound
Friday morning finally brought me back to Tampa. My upgrade cleared on this flight, so I had to give over my 500 mile certs at check-in.

The flight was very full. We pushed back late due to having to wait for a crew. Unfortuantely we only lost time in the air and arrived home 25 minutes behind schedule.

The service was excellent, with an apparently senior team of FAs serving us. They worked hard, and beverages were kept filled during the entire transcon.

Sorry this last segment is abbreviated, but I'm in a rush and I want to get the trip report out. It was a long week, and I'm glad to be home.