Austin, TX via UA/AA Basic (oh no!) Y
Jan 21, 2018, 5:10 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 47
Austin, TX via UA/AA Basic (oh no!) Y
Austin, TX via UA/AA Basic (oh no!) Y
Hello everyone and welcome to my third trip report. You may remember me from my other trip reports:
[FIXED] A Birthday Trip to Remember: Calgary via AC/AA in Y/Y+
A 5-Day Cali Jaunt via WN Y
Flying Solo: A Broke College Student Takes the UAE via DL/KL/AF Y
If not, welcome! My name is Jeremy and I’m a freshman at Arizona State University.
Introduction
As is usual for my flights, this one started during a boring class where I found myself staring at the clock…and then cheap flight deals. I discovered $78 round trip flights from Phoenix to Austin in a combination of UA/AA. I let it sit, and asked my parents if they’d like to join. My dad obliged and we bought tickets for $91 RT each for MLK Day weekend, which seemed to have many several good deals this year.
Let’s go!
In this trip report:
I. UA1774 PHX – DEN via Boeing 737-800 in Y
II. UA422 DEN – AUS via Boeing 737-900ER (my first!) in Y
III. Residence Inn by Marriott Austin Downtown/Convention Center
IV. Austin Highlights
V. AA497 AUS – PHX via Airbus A320 in Y
I woke up bleary eyed at the ridiculous hour of 4:00AM (YIKES) and showered and finished packing my personal item—the only luggage we can bring on the plane with a Basic fare. We arrived at the airport Terminal 2 Park and Walk lot (which charges only $7 per day, what a steal).
We stepped into the precheck line (which I have by global entry, and my dad fortunately had by luck) and were through within a minute. We made our way down to the end of the concourse where the Alaska flights board out of and there is typically loads of extra space
We had the fortunate treat of being able to see an entire Alaska Airlines 737-900ER load in just 15 minutes, which was incredible. If only other airlines were capable of that…
We then assembled over at the poor Terminal 2 gates that don’t have nearly enough space or seating for anything.
I. UA1774 PHX – DEN via Boeing 737-800 in Y
United Airlines UA1774
PHX – DEN // Departure Time: 6:47AM
N26208 // Boeing 737-800 // 17.4 years
(I swear I’m not grabbing myself)
We were, fortunately, assigned seats next to one another, a middle and a window. I figured I’d be a good soon and take the middle, which I regretted very quickly.
The man next to me figured it would be acceptable to both push my arm off the armrest and put his legs in my (ridiculously little) legroom. That interrupted my ability to sleep whatsoever.
After some poor sleep and anger with the guy next to me, we landed in bright and sunny Denver.
This is the man that caused my misery for an hour and a half and didn’t seem to care.
We had a short but nice layover in Denver. We had to walk to the other end of the not-too-busy terminal and then we just waited. I enjoy the DEN airport.
I made my dad laugh with a comment about gate lice, which was nice.
II. UA422 DEN – AUS via Boeing 737-900ER in Y
United Airlines UA422
DEN – AUS // Departure Time: 10:37AM
N36469 // Boeing 737-900ER // 4.9 years
All the tops of the backs of the headrests had some strange residue (like fingerprints?) on them.
It was a short, uneventful flight. I had my typical cranapple (served in the most ridiculously small cup) and pretzels.
We quickly made our way out of the airport to the Capital Metro, which provides a $1.25 ride anywhere in the city (or $2.50 for a day pass). We used the metro one other time.
We got off at 4th & Trinity and walked about a block or so to our hotel, which happened to be combined with a Courtyard as well.
III. Residence Inn by Marriott Austin Downtown/Convention Center
The kitchenette went unused during the stay.
The room was functional and comfortable enough I suppose. It definitely got the job done well.
The included breakfast (not included in the Courtyard rate, which happened to be the same during our stay), was far more than a job done well. It was plentiful and truly quite incredible!
IV. Austin Highlights
Our first order of business was to acquire some lunch. We went to “Frank” a gourmet hot dog place that makes their own sausages and has hand-spun shakes, pretzels, and a whole assortment of other goodies.
I HIGHLY recommend this place.
We then made our way over to the State Capitol to explore some of the grounds.
We stopped over at “Friends,” a live music venue on 6th street that fortunately let me in even though I’m not 21. The music was fantastic but too loud (I’m awfully sensitive to loud sounds). We then made our way back to the hotel for a bit of rest before heading out again to Gemelli for dessert.
Gemelli had the absolute best gelato I have ever eaten in my life. It even had the best waffle cone I’ve ever eaten. The gelato was creamy and perfect, not too sweet. They also had some unique flavors (olive oil, anyone?). I stuck with straciatella, salted caramel, and Vietnamese coffee, all of which were to die for.
We found this cool little place on our way back to the hotel.
At this point, we called it a night.
We slept in the next day and grabbed breakfast before heading out to the Capitol again to go inside and tour it.
We then made our way out of downtown and over to the Stevie Ray Vaughn Statue and then Zilker Park (which was massively underwhelming considering the amazing reviews and the “must-see” status of it on most sites).
Yep, this is a must-see!
We went back to the hotel to rest for a bit and then headed out to the 1886 Café and Bakery for a quick meal. Food was good and it had a very café-esque atmosphere. My dad left his credit card here, and fortunately realized it before we left for Phoenix.
I had the hangover burger which was AMAZING.
I also had the chocolate cake which was quite nice.
We went back to Friends for some more music and then back to the hotel for the night.
The next morning we had breakfast and then headed out via the Capital Metro to the Lyndon B Johnson Presidential Library and Museum (I’m on a mission to see them all) which had free admission for MLK Day.
I recommend a visit. It’s a cool place but not as cool as the JFK one! Then we took the Capital Metro back to town and went back to Frank for pretzels, fries, and shakes which was a fantastic farewell.
We then took the Capital Metro back to the amazing, incredible Austin Airport. I’m honestly in love. It’s open with high ceilings, clear signs everywhere, three beautiful security checkpoints with approximate wait times, a check-in area with several beautiful paintings above, plenty of restaurants and seating, clean restrooms. WOW! I will fly to and through Austin whenever possible. The only negative was that the wifi connection was truly awful plus you only get 2 hours free.
We went through the precheck line (which only seemed to exist at one of the three checkpoints) but were held up when one person set off the metal detector and everyone sat there for 5 minutes waiting for someone to come search her manually. Other than that we were through without a hitch.
We headed to the gate where I booked a $116 RT flight for Washington DC for next weekend (yikes I need to stop doing that!), so look out for the report on that within the next couple weeks. Our flight was delayed about 50 minutes because of the ongoing runway work at PHX which currently has one of our three runways closed.
V. AA497 AUS – PHX via Airbus A320 in Y
American Airlines AA497
AUS – PHX // Departure Time: 7:05PM (50 minutes late)
N647AW // Airbus A320 // 20.1 years
The flight was, again, uneventful. Had a much larger cup of Cranapple and some pretzels again. The captain talked quite a bit throughout the flight but he had a soothing, nice voice.
21 can’t come soon enough…
I picked up my car, went back to campus, and fell asleep so I’d get enough sleep before my 9AM! It was a great trip. I look forward to being in Austin again.
Hello everyone and welcome to my third trip report. You may remember me from my other trip reports:
[FIXED] A Birthday Trip to Remember: Calgary via AC/AA in Y/Y+
A 5-Day Cali Jaunt via WN Y
Flying Solo: A Broke College Student Takes the UAE via DL/KL/AF Y
If not, welcome! My name is Jeremy and I’m a freshman at Arizona State University.
Introduction
As is usual for my flights, this one started during a boring class where I found myself staring at the clock…and then cheap flight deals. I discovered $78 round trip flights from Phoenix to Austin in a combination of UA/AA. I let it sit, and asked my parents if they’d like to join. My dad obliged and we bought tickets for $91 RT each for MLK Day weekend, which seemed to have many several good deals this year.
Let’s go!
In this trip report:
I. UA1774 PHX – DEN via Boeing 737-800 in Y
II. UA422 DEN – AUS via Boeing 737-900ER (my first!) in Y
III. Residence Inn by Marriott Austin Downtown/Convention Center
IV. Austin Highlights
V. AA497 AUS – PHX via Airbus A320 in Y
I woke up bleary eyed at the ridiculous hour of 4:00AM (YIKES) and showered and finished packing my personal item—the only luggage we can bring on the plane with a Basic fare. We arrived at the airport Terminal 2 Park and Walk lot (which charges only $7 per day, what a steal).
We stepped into the precheck line (which I have by global entry, and my dad fortunately had by luck) and were through within a minute. We made our way down to the end of the concourse where the Alaska flights board out of and there is typically loads of extra space
We had the fortunate treat of being able to see an entire Alaska Airlines 737-900ER load in just 15 minutes, which was incredible. If only other airlines were capable of that…
We then assembled over at the poor Terminal 2 gates that don’t have nearly enough space or seating for anything.
I. UA1774 PHX – DEN via Boeing 737-800 in Y
United Airlines UA1774
PHX – DEN // Departure Time: 6:47AM
N26208 // Boeing 737-800 // 17.4 years
(I swear I’m not grabbing myself)
We were, fortunately, assigned seats next to one another, a middle and a window. I figured I’d be a good soon and take the middle, which I regretted very quickly.
The man next to me figured it would be acceptable to both push my arm off the armrest and put his legs in my (ridiculously little) legroom. That interrupted my ability to sleep whatsoever.
After some poor sleep and anger with the guy next to me, we landed in bright and sunny Denver.
This is the man that caused my misery for an hour and a half and didn’t seem to care.
We had a short but nice layover in Denver. We had to walk to the other end of the not-too-busy terminal and then we just waited. I enjoy the DEN airport.
I made my dad laugh with a comment about gate lice, which was nice.
II. UA422 DEN – AUS via Boeing 737-900ER in Y
United Airlines UA422
DEN – AUS // Departure Time: 10:37AM
N36469 // Boeing 737-900ER // 4.9 years
All the tops of the backs of the headrests had some strange residue (like fingerprints?) on them.
It was a short, uneventful flight. I had my typical cranapple (served in the most ridiculously small cup) and pretzels.
We quickly made our way out of the airport to the Capital Metro, which provides a $1.25 ride anywhere in the city (or $2.50 for a day pass). We used the metro one other time.
We got off at 4th & Trinity and walked about a block or so to our hotel, which happened to be combined with a Courtyard as well.
III. Residence Inn by Marriott Austin Downtown/Convention Center
The kitchenette went unused during the stay.
The room was functional and comfortable enough I suppose. It definitely got the job done well.
The included breakfast (not included in the Courtyard rate, which happened to be the same during our stay), was far more than a job done well. It was plentiful and truly quite incredible!
IV. Austin Highlights
Our first order of business was to acquire some lunch. We went to “Frank” a gourmet hot dog place that makes their own sausages and has hand-spun shakes, pretzels, and a whole assortment of other goodies.
I HIGHLY recommend this place.
We then made our way over to the State Capitol to explore some of the grounds.
We stopped over at “Friends,” a live music venue on 6th street that fortunately let me in even though I’m not 21. The music was fantastic but too loud (I’m awfully sensitive to loud sounds). We then made our way back to the hotel for a bit of rest before heading out again to Gemelli for dessert.
Gemelli had the absolute best gelato I have ever eaten in my life. It even had the best waffle cone I’ve ever eaten. The gelato was creamy and perfect, not too sweet. They also had some unique flavors (olive oil, anyone?). I stuck with straciatella, salted caramel, and Vietnamese coffee, all of which were to die for.
We found this cool little place on our way back to the hotel.
At this point, we called it a night.
We slept in the next day and grabbed breakfast before heading out to the Capitol again to go inside and tour it.
We then made our way out of downtown and over to the Stevie Ray Vaughn Statue and then Zilker Park (which was massively underwhelming considering the amazing reviews and the “must-see” status of it on most sites).
Yep, this is a must-see!
We went back to the hotel to rest for a bit and then headed out to the 1886 Café and Bakery for a quick meal. Food was good and it had a very café-esque atmosphere. My dad left his credit card here, and fortunately realized it before we left for Phoenix.
I had the hangover burger which was AMAZING.
I also had the chocolate cake which was quite nice.
We went back to Friends for some more music and then back to the hotel for the night.
The next morning we had breakfast and then headed out via the Capital Metro to the Lyndon B Johnson Presidential Library and Museum (I’m on a mission to see them all) which had free admission for MLK Day.
I recommend a visit. It’s a cool place but not as cool as the JFK one! Then we took the Capital Metro back to town and went back to Frank for pretzels, fries, and shakes which was a fantastic farewell.
We then took the Capital Metro back to the amazing, incredible Austin Airport. I’m honestly in love. It’s open with high ceilings, clear signs everywhere, three beautiful security checkpoints with approximate wait times, a check-in area with several beautiful paintings above, plenty of restaurants and seating, clean restrooms. WOW! I will fly to and through Austin whenever possible. The only negative was that the wifi connection was truly awful plus you only get 2 hours free.
We went through the precheck line (which only seemed to exist at one of the three checkpoints) but were held up when one person set off the metal detector and everyone sat there for 5 minutes waiting for someone to come search her manually. Other than that we were through without a hitch.
We headed to the gate where I booked a $116 RT flight for Washington DC for next weekend (yikes I need to stop doing that!), so look out for the report on that within the next couple weeks. Our flight was delayed about 50 minutes because of the ongoing runway work at PHX which currently has one of our three runways closed.
V. AA497 AUS – PHX via Airbus A320 in Y
American Airlines AA497
AUS – PHX // Departure Time: 7:05PM (50 minutes late)
N647AW // Airbus A320 // 20.1 years
The flight was, again, uneventful. Had a much larger cup of Cranapple and some pretzels again. The captain talked quite a bit throughout the flight but he had a soothing, nice voice.
21 can’t come soon enough…
I picked up my car, went back to campus, and fell asleep so I’d get enough sleep before my 9AM! It was a great trip. I look forward to being in Austin again.
Jan 22, 2018, 7:47 pm
#3
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: BTR/MSY
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LTP, Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,258
This caught my eye as I'm currently in Austin for a job interview. Nice report! Hope you get to come back to Austin soon! It's a great city with plenty to do and eat.
