First trip to the US, first trip report in flyertalk
Dec 22, 2019 | 8:27 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: Plovdiv (LBPD/PDV), Bulgaria
Programs: A3*G
Posts: 15
First trip to the US, first trip report in flyertalk
Hello!
I've been very passionate aviation geek for the past years, but now this is my very first day spent around the forum of flyertalk. I think it is a nice community and I decided to join.
I decided to make a quick trip report of my first trip to USA (last month) attaching some videos I made (the first 3 videos I created).
So, back in January.2019 I was offered to go with my cousin to Vegas for some concerts she wanted to attend. I had not planned to go to the US anytime soon, but it sounded like a good idea and I accepted. I made quick research and found out that the best offers for the west coast are with departure point Paris, so in January I bought myself an open-jaw ticket CDG-SFO/LAX-CDG and also added 1 leg with Alaska - SFO-LAS. Booked some rent a cars and because I live in Bulgaria and had to reach Paris somehow 2 months later I realized that the only good option for me is Lufthansa, so I chose them for my flights SOF-CDG rt. In August I added a day trip again with Alaska (due to best price) OAK-SEA-SFO and with total of 11 flights this is how my trip looked like:
LH A32N * SOF - FRA
LH A320 * FRA - CDG
LH A320 * CDG - MUC
LH A388 * MUC - SFO
AS B738 * OAK - SEA
AS A320 * SEA - SFO
AS A320 * SFO - LAS
UA B739 * LAX - SFO
UA B788 * SFO - CDG
LH A320 * CDG - MUC
LH A320 * MUC - SOF
It was not my first time on a long-haul. Actually the flight MUC-SFO is shorter than the longest I've flown, but it was my first trip aboard A380. I was very impressed of the plane. It is really huge and spacious. It is definitely the quitest plane I've flown. After almost 12h hours onboard I felt very nice even a bit sleepy. Lufthansa provided very nice service both on the short and long-haul flights. In my very first video I tried to show what is like flying aboard the giant.
I also have Star Alliance GOLD status, so I visited at least one business lounge on every airport I stopped. I also filmed them and I can say the Lufthansa Senator Lounges at both FRA (Schengen) and MUC (Satellite, Non-Schengen) were the best in my trip.
My first ever video (Lufthansa A380 MUC-SFO):
I was surprised flying on Alaska. Their service is really nice. The legroom can't be compared neighter with most of the airlines in Europe or with United on domestic flights in the US. I was very lucky to see almost all of them. My 3 flights were with 3 different planes:
1. The original Alaska aircraft - Boeing 737
2. The renovated Alaska cabin - Airbus A320
3. The original cabin of Virgin America - Airbus A320
Even with less legroom I think the Virgin America cabin is my favourite. Their IFE is amazing with one of the best interactive maps I've ever seen! Also I liked very much the fact they offer free Wi-Fi onboard and also all the seats are equipped with power outlets.
My 2nd video (Alaska 737 OAK-SEA):
About United: Nice airline, but I was in Basic Economy. They gave me free baggage allowance. I also was able to use their lounges, but had no any choice of seats (I don't complain!). On the long-haul they just never stopped passing through the cabin and offering foods and drinks. For 10h there were THREE meal services: 1st and 3rd with Hot meal and the 2nd was mid-flight snack. There was plenty of drinks also. The cabin crew was amazing. When they asked me for my nationality and they found out I am Bulgarian, they immediately told me "Thank you for inventing the Yogurt!" I was surprised they know something about such a small country.
Because of the very strong jetstream we flew with almost 1200 km/h at some point. We cross all the USA from California to Maine (entering Canada for a while) and then we cross the ocean for even less time.
Unfortunatelty I couldn't visit the famous Star Alliance Lounge at Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX because my flight was domestic, so we departed from Terminal 7. Instead of this I was at the Club Lounge at T7 which was OK.
In SFO - the Club Lounge at International terminal (G) was not good. There were very limited food selection and it was smaller than I expected.
My 3rd video (United 787 SFO-CDG):
If it is interesting for you I also could share my experience as a tourist in USA. I visited San Francisco, Seattle, Oakland, Las Vegas, Los Angeles (and around) and also went to Hover Dam.
Thank you!
I've been very passionate aviation geek for the past years, but now this is my very first day spent around the forum of flyertalk. I think it is a nice community and I decided to join.
I decided to make a quick trip report of my first trip to USA (last month) attaching some videos I made (the first 3 videos I created).
So, back in January.2019 I was offered to go with my cousin to Vegas for some concerts she wanted to attend. I had not planned to go to the US anytime soon, but it sounded like a good idea and I accepted. I made quick research and found out that the best offers for the west coast are with departure point Paris, so in January I bought myself an open-jaw ticket CDG-SFO/LAX-CDG and also added 1 leg with Alaska - SFO-LAS. Booked some rent a cars and because I live in Bulgaria and had to reach Paris somehow 2 months later I realized that the only good option for me is Lufthansa, so I chose them for my flights SOF-CDG rt. In August I added a day trip again with Alaska (due to best price) OAK-SEA-SFO and with total of 11 flights this is how my trip looked like:
LH A32N * SOF - FRA
LH A320 * FRA - CDG
LH A320 * CDG - MUC
LH A388 * MUC - SFO
AS B738 * OAK - SEA
AS A320 * SEA - SFO
AS A320 * SFO - LAS
UA B739 * LAX - SFO
UA B788 * SFO - CDG
LH A320 * CDG - MUC
LH A320 * MUC - SOF
It was not my first time on a long-haul. Actually the flight MUC-SFO is shorter than the longest I've flown, but it was my first trip aboard A380. I was very impressed of the plane. It is really huge and spacious. It is definitely the quitest plane I've flown. After almost 12h hours onboard I felt very nice even a bit sleepy. Lufthansa provided very nice service both on the short and long-haul flights. In my very first video I tried to show what is like flying aboard the giant.
I also have Star Alliance GOLD status, so I visited at least one business lounge on every airport I stopped. I also filmed them and I can say the Lufthansa Senator Lounges at both FRA (Schengen) and MUC (Satellite, Non-Schengen) were the best in my trip.
My first ever video (Lufthansa A380 MUC-SFO):
I was surprised flying on Alaska. Their service is really nice. The legroom can't be compared neighter with most of the airlines in Europe or with United on domestic flights in the US. I was very lucky to see almost all of them. My 3 flights were with 3 different planes:
1. The original Alaska aircraft - Boeing 737
2. The renovated Alaska cabin - Airbus A320
3. The original cabin of Virgin America - Airbus A320
Even with less legroom I think the Virgin America cabin is my favourite. Their IFE is amazing with one of the best interactive maps I've ever seen! Also I liked very much the fact they offer free Wi-Fi onboard and also all the seats are equipped with power outlets.
My 2nd video (Alaska 737 OAK-SEA):
About United: Nice airline, but I was in Basic Economy. They gave me free baggage allowance. I also was able to use their lounges, but had no any choice of seats (I don't complain!). On the long-haul they just never stopped passing through the cabin and offering foods and drinks. For 10h there were THREE meal services: 1st and 3rd with Hot meal and the 2nd was mid-flight snack. There was plenty of drinks also. The cabin crew was amazing. When they asked me for my nationality and they found out I am Bulgarian, they immediately told me "Thank you for inventing the Yogurt!" I was surprised they know something about such a small country.
Because of the very strong jetstream we flew with almost 1200 km/h at some point. We cross all the USA from California to Maine (entering Canada for a while) and then we cross the ocean for even less time.
Unfortunatelty I couldn't visit the famous Star Alliance Lounge at Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX because my flight was domestic, so we departed from Terminal 7. Instead of this I was at the Club Lounge at T7 which was OK.
In SFO - the Club Lounge at International terminal (G) was not good. There were very limited food selection and it was smaller than I expected.
My 3rd video (United 787 SFO-CDG):
If it is interesting for you I also could share my experience as a tourist in USA. I visited San Francisco, Seattle, Oakland, Las Vegas, Los Angeles (and around) and also went to Hover Dam.
Thank you!
Last edited by Stoyan; Dec 22, 2019 at 8:34 am
Dec 22, 2019 | 1:56 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2008
Location: San Francisco
Programs: GM on VX, UA, AA, HA, AS, SY; Budget Fastbreak; GM with hotels; Waymo; Honda crv; iOS
Posts: 36,661
Great TR - I’m curious about your tourism and will look forward to more pictures and words about your visit.
which concerts in Las Vegas??????
which concerts in Las Vegas??????
Dec 23, 2019 | 3:40 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: Plovdiv (LBPD/PDV), Bulgaria
Programs: A3*G
Posts: 15
I am glad you liked it.
I am from Plovdiv (Important city in Bulgaria, but the airport has only one scheduled flight to STN).
My cousin attended the concert of Lady Gaga. I am not her fan so I spent the days of the concerts around the casinos of Vegas. Hanging around 3 days (10 hours each) brang me total +$50
About USA:
Here in Europe the 90%+ of the movies we watch are american. So for my all life I've been watching movies filmed in the US and because of this was very interesting for me to visit the country. At every single minute I saw something different than Europe so it was good aedventure for me. Actually I am planning to go to the US again in May.2020.
I will try to write my impressions day by day:
DAYS 1, 3, 4
We spent them in San Francisco and around the Bay Area. Our hotel was near Oakland Airport, because of the prices. The first day we used bart to go to SF, but the 3rd and 4th days we rent a car. For a day we could go around the downtown by feet, also we visited the Alcatraz Island. It was very interesting place with audio guides provided. We also enjoyed the view of San Francisco. We visited the Coit Tower, Lombard Street and maybe most of the interesting places around the town. SF is great city! I was surprised how quite are the streets of this megapolis. I really liked almost everything except the downtown - many crazy pepople walked around. Also what I didn't like were the prices. It is really expensive. Much more expensive than Vegas, LA and even than Scandinavia.
Our 3rd day we spent driving around: Golden Gate bridge, The park, Presidio, Twin peaks...
On the 4th day we went around the bay area. We spent hours of driving around Big Bassin Redwood park down to Santa Cruz. Also we stopped at Stanford University for a lunch and passed through Palo Alto.
I really didn't like Oakland - it is like a ghetto.
DAY 2:
We flew OAK-SEA-SFO just for a day. When we landed at SFO we took a car for the next 2 days in Bay Area.
Seattle was very nice. Very clean, we never saw any crime-looking people. It was cheaper place than Bay Area and it looked more like european city. We went to the observation deck of the highest skyscrapper there. We also walked about 10km around the town. Spent total of 8-9 hours and then went back to SeaTac.
DAYS 5, 6, 7 and 8:
We spent them around Vegas and also for a day we drove around Arizona + Hover Dam.
I really enjoyed Las Vegas. It is very nice place. I don't go to casinos very often when I am in BG - 2, 3times per year with 10 EUR budget each time, but in Vegas it is really enjoyable spening all the day in casinos because this is the main attraction of the city. I would definitely go there again!
Also there was bulgarian restaurant there which saved my stomach because I think the amreican food is not suitable for europeans. We slept at 3* - 4* hotels but the breakfast was more basic than in any guest house in Europe. For my stay in America I had been eating mostly in Subway, some pizza and this bulgarian restaurant I mention. The 2 interesting facts about "BG Bistro" restaurant in Vegas were: 1.It was the best BG restaurant I've tried, even better than Bulgaria; 2.The manager was famous bulgarian lady who was in the prison for killing her husband during BDSM - Anita Meizer.
DAYS 9 and 10:
We drove from LV to LA half day. Then we visited Santa Monica, Hollywood, Downtown LA, Beverly Hills.
I didn't like this place. Hollywood su..... Dirty and crowded place. The downtown LA looked like preffered place for homeless people. The only place in the area I liked was Beverly and actually i liked the streets and the houses. Also as I expected even in the weekend the traffic jams were huge, so I would definitely skip LA in the future.
I am from Plovdiv (Important city in Bulgaria, but the airport has only one scheduled flight to STN).
My cousin attended the concert of Lady Gaga. I am not her fan so I spent the days of the concerts around the casinos of Vegas. Hanging around 3 days (10 hours each) brang me total +$50
About USA:
Here in Europe the 90%+ of the movies we watch are american. So for my all life I've been watching movies filmed in the US and because of this was very interesting for me to visit the country. At every single minute I saw something different than Europe so it was good aedventure for me. Actually I am planning to go to the US again in May.2020.
I will try to write my impressions day by day:
DAYS 1, 3, 4
We spent them in San Francisco and around the Bay Area. Our hotel was near Oakland Airport, because of the prices. The first day we used bart to go to SF, but the 3rd and 4th days we rent a car. For a day we could go around the downtown by feet, also we visited the Alcatraz Island. It was very interesting place with audio guides provided. We also enjoyed the view of San Francisco. We visited the Coit Tower, Lombard Street and maybe most of the interesting places around the town. SF is great city! I was surprised how quite are the streets of this megapolis. I really liked almost everything except the downtown - many crazy pepople walked around. Also what I didn't like were the prices. It is really expensive. Much more expensive than Vegas, LA and even than Scandinavia.
Our 3rd day we spent driving around: Golden Gate bridge, The park, Presidio, Twin peaks...
On the 4th day we went around the bay area. We spent hours of driving around Big Bassin Redwood park down to Santa Cruz. Also we stopped at Stanford University for a lunch and passed through Palo Alto.
I really didn't like Oakland - it is like a ghetto.
DAY 2:
We flew OAK-SEA-SFO just for a day. When we landed at SFO we took a car for the next 2 days in Bay Area.
Seattle was very nice. Very clean, we never saw any crime-looking people. It was cheaper place than Bay Area and it looked more like european city. We went to the observation deck of the highest skyscrapper there. We also walked about 10km around the town. Spent total of 8-9 hours and then went back to SeaTac.
DAYS 5, 6, 7 and 8:
We spent them around Vegas and also for a day we drove around Arizona + Hover Dam.
I really enjoyed Las Vegas. It is very nice place. I don't go to casinos very often when I am in BG - 2, 3times per year with 10 EUR budget each time, but in Vegas it is really enjoyable spening all the day in casinos because this is the main attraction of the city. I would definitely go there again!
Also there was bulgarian restaurant there which saved my stomach because I think the amreican food is not suitable for europeans. We slept at 3* - 4* hotels but the breakfast was more basic than in any guest house in Europe. For my stay in America I had been eating mostly in Subway, some pizza and this bulgarian restaurant I mention. The 2 interesting facts about "BG Bistro" restaurant in Vegas were: 1.It was the best BG restaurant I've tried, even better than Bulgaria; 2.The manager was famous bulgarian lady who was in the prison for killing her husband during BDSM - Anita Meizer.
DAYS 9 and 10:
We drove from LV to LA half day. Then we visited Santa Monica, Hollywood, Downtown LA, Beverly Hills.
I didn't like this place. Hollywood su..... Dirty and crowded place. The downtown LA looked like preffered place for homeless people. The only place in the area I liked was Beverly and actually i liked the streets and the houses. Also as I expected even in the weekend the traffic jams were huge, so I would definitely skip LA in the future.
Dec 23, 2019 | 11:21 am
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2008
Location: San Francisco
Programs: GM on VX, UA, AA, HA, AS, SY; Budget Fastbreak; GM with hotels; Waymo; Honda crv; iOS
Posts: 36,661
Great TR
there is a huge challenge with housing in USA, especially in California and the other 48 states south of Alaska.
glad you enjoyed the Bulgarian restaurant in LA
where did you eat in San Francisco? I love new ideas. And yes - it isn’t cheap for a city.
there is a huge challenge with housing in USA, especially in California and the other 48 states south of Alaska.
glad you enjoyed the Bulgarian restaurant in LA
where did you eat in San Francisco? I love new ideas. And yes - it isn’t cheap for a city.
Dec 24, 2019 | 1:30 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: Plovdiv (LBPD/PDV), Bulgaria
Programs: A3*G
Posts: 15
In San Francisco we ate pizza somewhere near downtown but even the pizza was over $40 per person (Pizza + Coke + Tip). We also tried some foccacias near Golden Gate Bridge. Due to the jetlag we ate only twice a day because the breakfast included in the hotel was like a lunch for my body and I got hungry again about 4pm which was my dinner. Most of the times I preffered Subway in the US because it is my favourite fast food even here in Bulgaria and is relatively cheap in the US - about $10 for footlong.