UA YVR-LAX connecting with Sea Princess Mexican Riviera Cruise
Feb 25, 2002, 8:38 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Vancouver, Canada (YVR)
Posts: 756
UA YVR-LAX connecting with Sea Princess Mexican Riviera Cruise
In planning our Family Vacation a la Mexican Riviera Cruise I had to secure 3 economy seats YVR-LAX using an AC award booking, not an easy feat for an AC Basic with only 3 months lead time on a busy route. Choices are not usually available, especially for us non-status Bottom Feeders. 
If you’ve been following the AC Forum lately you know that many (not all but definitely some) AC Reservation Agents are customer service “challenged” & my booking was no exception. Given that there was apparently no way of finding three AC award seats anywhere close to my required dates, without splitting up the family & each of us routing through various North American airports ~ not a good idea for the 4 yr old to travel by himself yet ~ I casually asked the AC booking agent if there were any seats on the UA flight instead? “Oh yes, sir, there sure are!” she notes surprisingly & proceeds to make the reservation. [Why the h-e-double-hockey-sticks didn’t she check that option without me having to ask!?!
] So the E-Ticket arrived in due course & we were set, in the back o’ the bus of course.
SCORE: UA 1, AC 0
8Feb02 YVR-LAX UA1051 5:00pm-7:40pm A319
Arrive at YVR with plenty of time to spare (3pm) & join the snake-like UA check-in queue as we can’t use E-Ticket on transborder travel. Besides, I wanted to check out an E+ seat upgrade opportunity given that many AC Defectors are raving about the E+ option compared to AC’s 2-class aircraft configuration. Having missed lunch as I frantically worked up to the last minute then scrambled to p/u son from daycare enroute to the airport I sent Mrs. Dogstar to the food court for some grub to (a) fill my tummy, & (b) take her mind off of the pending travel as she wasn’t coping well with her first post-9/11 flight. I shared the burger & fries with my son as it kept him occupied & out of harms way. Noticed that the neighbouring AC counters weren’t busy at all ~ maybe all of the AC pax were on our UA flight instead!?!
Eventually reaching the counter I casually inquired about an E+ upgrade while my son entertained himself by chatting up Mr. UA Agent. [Nice, friendly distraction, don’t you think? ] “Sure, were seats E+ 4D/E/F okay?” he asks. Duh! I glance at the Mrs, nod a wink, & happily accept our new seats. Thank you Mr. UA Agent.
SCORE: UA 2, AC 0
As YVR has US Customs we made our way to the next line, a shorty this time, and scoped out the friendly-looking Customs Agent, a grandfatherly figure. [Remember our child?] Sure enough, right on cue Dogstar Minor decides to chat up our new neighbours in the queue & the Customs Agent, telling him all about our big trip to “Los Angeles” & cruise to “Mexico”. Mr. Customs Agent chatted right back, taking longer than usual of course given the ongoing dialogue with our son, but we were cleared for US entry nonetheless.
One more set of security lines with the usual x-ray checks & we were “in”, so to speak. Kill some time at the gate area playground then we’re off. Surprised to not hear any “those with children” pre-boarding announcement (normal procedure with UA?) so we had to wait our turn until “those at the back” of the aircraft boarded first. [Remember the E+ upgrade?] Took our seats, settled in, & off we went.
Fairly uneventful flight. Just drinks & packaged “snackies”; no real food despite travelling over the dinner hour. I liked CH9 as I’d heard about it but not experienced it before ~ kind of fun to watch out your neighbouring aircraft on approach when you hear their flight deck discussion to/from air traffic control. Landed about 0.5 hr ahead of schedule & lo-&-behold our bags were some of the first off onto the bag carousel ~ must’ve been the fluorescent FT bag tags! Headed out to the shuttle van area, waited for our SuperShuttle to take us to the Hilton Los Angeles/San Pedro then promptly zipped over to the hotel at supersonic LA warp speed (90+ mph). Man, do they drive fast in LA! [Mr. SuperShuttle didn’t bother charging us for our son as he felt $14US was too much for a sleeping child ~ I tipped him BIG!]
I’m glad we chose the Hilton Los Angeles/San Pedro as it was away from the airport, down in the marina area near the World Cruise Center, & allowed us to leisurely walk along the beach stroll over to the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in the morning while we waited for our cruise ship to start embarkation around noon. This was a nice diversion for our son as he loves fish, especially sharks of course! I highly recommend this hotel option for those cruising in/out of LA, even if you’re doing a Park ‘n Cruise.
A quick hotel shuttle ride over to the cruise ship centre & we were off on our family holiday adventure aboard the Sea Princess…
=== skip ahead to our return to LA ===
16Feb02 LAX-LAX UA1038 12:50pm-3:40pm A319
We finally disembark our hotel-on-water at 9:45am & bee-line it straight to the shuttle van stand directly outside of the cruise terminal. I had pre-reserved our SuperShuttle booking as I didn’t want to chance the tight connection over to LAX given that I’d heard horror stories of 3+ hour line-ups on busy days, which Sat mornings apparently can be. So we hustled in a few more LAX-bound travellers & we set off at LA supersonic speed again, arriving & joining the UA check-in lines by 10:30am.
After determining which lineup we were supposed to be in, the “Domestic, No E-Ticket” one despite the fact that we were going to Canada (definitely not domestic yet) & we had an E-Ticket (couldn’t use kiosks ‘cuz we were not domestic despite being in the domestic line) ~ LAX United really needs to sort out their signage! ~ we patiently snaked along while bribing my son with the ever-familiar “only a few more minutes” mantra. Thankfully it appeared that we had joined the queue before the big rush ‘cuz the line was doubling & tripling behind us in the short 0.5 hour that we were in it.
Once again, upon approaching the check-in agent my son decided to entertain Mr. UA Agent with stories of his big adventure on the previous plane & cruise ship. Mr. UA Agent was very friendly & kindly noted that despite my E+ upgrade request the plane was full. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. We thanked him for checking & proceeded through to security ~ a painless 5 min. line-up ~ & off to the RCC Lounge thanks to the assistance of a fellow FlyerTalker.
Mrs. Dogstar once again seized the moment of the tranquil RCC to gather her pre-flight thoughts & I helped Dogstar Minor sort out his colouring & sticker books, all in an out-of-the-way corner so as to not bother any other lounge guests. Once they were both settled in I asked a UA Res Agent in the RCC to re-confirm the loads on our flight which she promptly & politely did, noting that it was still full.
Hmmm… a quick check of the trusty ol’ Palm Star Alliance Timetable showed a number of alternate non-direct connections so I decided, with Mrs. Dogstar’s approval of course , to put our names on the Volunteer Bump List, which was gratefully accepted by the UA Res Agent. [We are planning a trip to ATL in the summer & thought the freebie tix would come in handy in lieu of a few extra hours of inconvenience this day.] We were first on the Volunteer List so I proceeded to the gate, which, by the way, was in San Francisco I reckon given the distance I had to walk, & introduced myself to Mr. UA Gate Agent. He addressed my personally as I approached, thanked me for volunteering, noted my request for E+ upgrades if space permitted &/or the bumps were not required.
Alas, as the plane filled up Mr. UA Gate Agent called me back over to the counter, thanked me once again for volunteering & said that our seats would not be required due to some last minute no-shows, & promptly handed me new boarding passes for E+ seats 3A/B/C. Woo hoo!
SCORE: UA 3, AC 0
Once again the flight was uneventful. More of the usual drinks & bagged “snackies” ~ I asked for a second snackie bag this time seeing as we hadn’t eaten since before disembarking the ship & my body was going into shock without a recent, regular 6-course meal which it had become accustomed to over the past 7 days ~ & CH9 entertainment. The in-flight video was the same stuff we saw going to LAX. Mrs. Dogstar & Dogstar Minor both caught naps so it was very peaceful for me.
Once again we arrived early (is this a UA trend?) & quickly cleared Customs, somehow managing to stay in front of the pack emerging behind us. The bags, however, seemed to take forever to get to the baggage carousel & the fluorescent FT Priory tags had no positive effect this time. Then again this is YVR & there has never been any rhyme-or-reason to baggage priority tags here in my experience; First, Business, Status, or otherwise.
Grabbed the nearest payphone, called the parking lot to advise of our arrival, wandered out to the curb to catch the parking lot shuttle van, & promptly collected our vehicle ~ 10 min. from baggage p/u to the comforts of the FamilyMobile. Wow, even Mrs. Dogstar was impressed.
FINAL SCORE: UA 3, AC 0
All in all, an excellent experience with UA, my first UA travels in a few years. Kudos UA! You earned our business & potential future loyalty with your “can do” positive attitudes. No grumbling, excuses, or nickel-n-diming upgrade policies, just friendly, polite, & gracious service.
Thank you to all FT’ers with your assistance & suggestions on LAX transport options, attractions, accommodations, & the like over the past few months. It was a real lifesaver & made our family vacation a great success.
Cheers. Dogstar.
[This message has been edited by Dogstar (edited 02-25-2002).]
If you’ve been following the AC Forum lately you know that many (not all but definitely some) AC Reservation Agents are customer service “challenged” & my booking was no exception. Given that there was apparently no way of finding three AC award seats anywhere close to my required dates, without splitting up the family & each of us routing through various North American airports ~ not a good idea for the 4 yr old to travel by himself yet ~ I casually asked the AC booking agent if there were any seats on the UA flight instead? “Oh yes, sir, there sure are!” she notes surprisingly & proceeds to make the reservation. [Why the h-e-double-hockey-sticks didn’t she check that option without me having to ask!?!
] So the E-Ticket arrived in due course & we were set, in the back o’ the bus of course.SCORE: UA 1, AC 0
8Feb02 YVR-LAX UA1051 5:00pm-7:40pm A319
Arrive at YVR with plenty of time to spare (3pm) & join the snake-like UA check-in queue as we can’t use E-Ticket on transborder travel. Besides, I wanted to check out an E+ seat upgrade opportunity given that many AC Defectors are raving about the E+ option compared to AC’s 2-class aircraft configuration. Having missed lunch as I frantically worked up to the last minute then scrambled to p/u son from daycare enroute to the airport I sent Mrs. Dogstar to the food court for some grub to (a) fill my tummy, & (b) take her mind off of the pending travel as she wasn’t coping well with her first post-9/11 flight. I shared the burger & fries with my son as it kept him occupied & out of harms way. Noticed that the neighbouring AC counters weren’t busy at all ~ maybe all of the AC pax were on our UA flight instead!?!
Eventually reaching the counter I casually inquired about an E+ upgrade while my son entertained himself by chatting up Mr. UA Agent. [Nice, friendly distraction, don’t you think?
] “Sure, were seats E+ 4D/E/F okay?” he asks. Duh! I glance at the Mrs, nod a wink, & happily accept our new seats. Thank you Mr. UA Agent.SCORE: UA 2, AC 0
As YVR has US Customs we made our way to the next line, a shorty this time, and scoped out the friendly-looking Customs Agent, a grandfatherly figure. [Remember our child?] Sure enough, right on cue Dogstar Minor decides to chat up our new neighbours in the queue & the Customs Agent, telling him all about our big trip to “Los Angeles” & cruise to “Mexico”. Mr. Customs Agent chatted right back, taking longer than usual of course given the ongoing dialogue with our son, but we were cleared for US entry nonetheless.
One more set of security lines with the usual x-ray checks & we were “in”, so to speak. Kill some time at the gate area playground then we’re off. Surprised to not hear any “those with children” pre-boarding announcement (normal procedure with UA?) so we had to wait our turn until “those at the back” of the aircraft boarded first. [Remember the E+ upgrade?]
Took our seats, settled in, & off we went.Fairly uneventful flight. Just drinks & packaged “snackies”; no real food despite travelling over the dinner hour. I liked CH9 as I’d heard about it but not experienced it before ~ kind of fun to watch out your neighbouring aircraft on approach when you hear their flight deck discussion to/from air traffic control. Landed about 0.5 hr ahead of schedule & lo-&-behold our bags were some of the first off onto the bag carousel ~ must’ve been the fluorescent FT bag tags! Headed out to the shuttle van area, waited for our SuperShuttle to take us to the Hilton Los Angeles/San Pedro then promptly zipped over to the hotel at supersonic LA warp speed (90+ mph). Man, do they drive fast in LA! [Mr. SuperShuttle didn’t bother charging us for our son as he felt $14US was too much for a sleeping child ~ I tipped him BIG!]
I’m glad we chose the Hilton Los Angeles/San Pedro as it was away from the airport, down in the marina area near the World Cruise Center, & allowed us to leisurely walk along the beach stroll over to the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in the morning while we waited for our cruise ship to start embarkation around noon. This was a nice diversion for our son as he loves fish, especially sharks of course! I highly recommend this hotel option for those cruising in/out of LA, even if you’re doing a Park ‘n Cruise.
A quick hotel shuttle ride over to the cruise ship centre & we were off on our family holiday adventure aboard the Sea Princess…
=== skip ahead to our return to LA ===
16Feb02 LAX-LAX UA1038 12:50pm-3:40pm A319
We finally disembark our hotel-on-water at 9:45am & bee-line it straight to the shuttle van stand directly outside of the cruise terminal. I had pre-reserved our SuperShuttle booking as I didn’t want to chance the tight connection over to LAX given that I’d heard horror stories of 3+ hour line-ups on busy days, which Sat mornings apparently can be. So we hustled in a few more LAX-bound travellers & we set off at LA supersonic speed again, arriving & joining the UA check-in lines by 10:30am.
After determining which lineup we were supposed to be in, the “Domestic, No E-Ticket” one despite the fact that we were going to Canada (definitely not domestic yet) & we had an E-Ticket (couldn’t use kiosks ‘cuz we were not domestic despite being in the domestic line) ~ LAX United really needs to sort out their signage! ~ we patiently snaked along while bribing my son with the ever-familiar “only a few more minutes” mantra. Thankfully it appeared that we had joined the queue before the big rush ‘cuz the line was doubling & tripling behind us in the short 0.5 hour that we were in it.
Once again, upon approaching the check-in agent my son decided to entertain Mr. UA Agent with stories of his big adventure on the previous plane & cruise ship. Mr. UA Agent was very friendly & kindly noted that despite my E+ upgrade request the plane was full. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. We thanked him for checking & proceeded through to security ~ a painless 5 min. line-up ~ & off to the RCC Lounge thanks to the assistance of a fellow FlyerTalker.
Mrs. Dogstar once again seized the moment of the tranquil RCC to gather her pre-flight thoughts & I helped Dogstar Minor sort out his colouring & sticker books, all in an out-of-the-way corner so as to not bother any other lounge guests. Once they were both settled in I asked a UA Res Agent in the RCC to re-confirm the loads on our flight which she promptly & politely did, noting that it was still full.
Hmmm… a quick check of the trusty ol’ Palm Star Alliance Timetable showed a number of alternate non-direct connections so I decided, with Mrs. Dogstar’s approval of course
, to put our names on the Volunteer Bump List, which was gratefully accepted by the UA Res Agent. [We are planning a trip to ATL in the summer & thought the freebie tix would come in handy in lieu of a few extra hours of inconvenience this day.] We were first on the Volunteer List so I proceeded to the gate, which, by the way, was in San Francisco I reckon given the distance I had to walk, & introduced myself to Mr. UA Gate Agent. He addressed my personally as I approached, thanked me for volunteering, noted my request for E+ upgrades if space permitted &/or the bumps were not required.Alas, as the plane filled up Mr. UA Gate Agent called me back over to the counter, thanked me once again for volunteering & said that our seats would not be required due to some last minute no-shows, & promptly handed me new boarding passes for E+ seats 3A/B/C. Woo hoo!
SCORE: UA 3, AC 0
Once again the flight was uneventful. More of the usual drinks & bagged “snackies” ~ I asked for a second snackie bag this time seeing as we hadn’t eaten since before disembarking the ship & my body was going into shock without a recent, regular 6-course meal which it had become accustomed to over the past 7 days ~ & CH9 entertainment. The in-flight video was the same stuff we saw going to LAX.
Mrs. Dogstar & Dogstar Minor both caught naps so it was very peaceful for me. Once again we arrived early (is this a UA trend?) & quickly cleared Customs, somehow managing to stay in front of the pack emerging behind us. The bags, however, seemed to take forever to get to the baggage carousel & the fluorescent FT Priory tags had no positive effect this time. Then again this is YVR & there has never been any rhyme-or-reason to baggage priority tags here in my experience; First, Business, Status, or otherwise.
Grabbed the nearest payphone, called the parking lot to advise of our arrival, wandered out to the curb to catch the parking lot shuttle van, & promptly collected our vehicle ~ 10 min. from baggage p/u to the comforts of the FamilyMobile. Wow, even Mrs. Dogstar was impressed.
FINAL SCORE: UA 3, AC 0
All in all, an excellent experience with UA, my first UA travels in a few years. Kudos UA! You earned our business & potential future loyalty with your “can do” positive attitudes. No grumbling, excuses, or nickel-n-diming upgrade policies, just friendly, polite, & gracious service.
Thank you to all FT’ers with your assistance & suggestions on LAX transport options, attractions, accommodations, & the like over the past few months. It was a real lifesaver & made our family vacation a great success.
Cheers. Dogstar.
[This message has been edited by Dogstar (edited 02-25-2002).]
Feb 26, 2002, 7:28 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Vancouver, Canada (YVR)
Posts: 756
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by squeakr:
I'm curious (and I should know the answer) are you able to get E+ because you are *Gold w/ AC?</font>
I'm curious (and I should know the answer) are you able to get E+ because you are *Gold w/ AC?</font>
Feb 26, 2002, 11:02 pm
#5
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Programs: AA PLT, SPG GLD, PC PLT SPIRE
Posts: 4,531
Thanks for the trip report! Glad to see that your UA experience was such a nice one (especially considering traveling with the Mrs. and the youngin').
Any forthcoming details on the cruise?
Any forthcoming details on the cruise?
Feb 27, 2002, 4:46 am
#6
Company Representative - Air Canada
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Canada
Posts: 24,215
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by squeakr:
I'm curious (and I should know the answer) are you able to get E+ because you are *Gold w/ AC? </font>
I'm curious (and I should know the answer) are you able to get E+ because you are *Gold w/ AC? </font>
Thanks for the detailed report Dogstar. Too bad I missed you that day as you were leaving later in the day while I left early!
Feb 27, 2002, 7:45 am
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Vancouver, Canada (YVR)
Posts: 756
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by onedog:
Any forthcoming details on the cruise?</font>
Any forthcoming details on the cruise?</font>
Hmmm...
Feb 27, 2002, 5:18 pm
#8
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Programs: AA PLT, SPG GLD, PC PLT SPIRE
Posts: 4,531
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Dogstar:
Hadn't really thought of it. I suppose I could do up a Cruise Trip Report if there was enough interest. I've poked around in the Cruise Forum from time-to-time & there just isn't much activity over in there so I just assumed (incorrectly maybe) that there's just not enough interest in writing one up.
Hmmm...</font>
Hadn't really thought of it. I suppose I could do up a Cruise Trip Report if there was enough interest. I've poked around in the Cruise Forum from time-to-time & there just isn't much activity over in there so I just assumed (incorrectly maybe) that there's just not enough interest in writing one up.
Hmmm...</font>
Thanks.
Feb 27, 2002, 11:11 pm
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Vancouver, Canada (YVR)
Posts: 756
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by onedog:
Post the cruise report here. I am sure that there would be more than just me who would like to read about your cruise.</font>
Post the cruise report here. I am sure that there would be more than just me who would like to read about your cruise.</font>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Empress:
Go for it Dogstar... always nice to read up something different!</font>
Go for it Dogstar... always nice to read up something different!</font>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by I LOVE EWR:
I visited Vancouver this past summer and was AWESOME!!! My favorite city in the world!! Thanks for the report!!</font>
I visited Vancouver this past summer and was AWESOME!!! My favorite city in the world!! Thanks for the report!!</font>
Feb 28, 2002, 7:30 am
#12
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 466
Dogstar, Vancouver definetly has my vote for the 2010 Winter Olympics. I will probably be there again this winter so I hope to do some skiing. Dogstar where would the different venues be if Vancouver lands the Olympics and when is the IOC going to decide and vote? Maybe I could plan a visit to the city when the announcement is made.
Feb 28, 2002, 9:11 am
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Vancouver, Canada (YVR)
Posts: 756
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by I LOVE EWR:
Dogstar, Vancouver definetly has my vote for the 2010 Winter Olympics ... where would the different venues be if Vancouver lands the Olympics and when is the IOC going to decide and vote?</font>
Dogstar, Vancouver definetly has my vote for the 2010 Winter Olympics ... where would the different venues be if Vancouver lands the Olympics and when is the IOC going to decide and vote?</font>