wakesetter93

I’m off today for what will end up being 6 straight days of travel. Mrs. WS93 and I have planned for a few months to head down to my alma mater for Homecoming as I hadn’t been to a game on campus since 2018 and I was being sworn in as part of a new alumni association committee. We initially investigated flying into Baton Rouge, but the options weren’t great and very expensive. I also had an expiring Delta 2 for 1 cert but even one ticket was over $1200 in Y. Ultimately, we found flights into MSY on WN for $660 total for both of us, more than offsetting the rental car cost, plus it was direct which is a favorite of Mrs. WS93 over anything else.

I managed to book the Homewood Suites by Hilton Baton Rouge for 33,000 HHonors points per night, which was a deal as most hotels were sold out and the cash rate for this property was over $450 per night.

A few weeks after booking our trip to Baton Rouge, I found out that I had to take a last-minute work trip up to Minneapolis for a day, the day before we were due to leave. As I was going to end the year 475 PQP’s short of United Gold, and therefore Star Alliance Gold, I decided to route through Houston on my way to MSP. Unfortunately, my only option to return to AUS in time to unpack/repack and still make my flight to New Orleans was the direct MSP-AUS on DL. Faced with a shortage of 175 PQP’s, I turned to FT where I was told that upgrading a flight counts as well and for a reasonable $199, I was able to upgrade my IAH-MSP leg of the trip which should push me over the threshold.

Thanks for coming along on this trip and I hope you enjoy the Tigers taking on the Ole Miss Rebel Black Bear Land Sharks.

In this Trip Report

• AUS-IAH via UA Y+
• American Express Centurion Lounge: IAH
• IAH-MSP via UA F
• MSP SkyClub (Concourse F/G)
• MSP-AUS via DL Y
• AUS-MSY via WN Y
• Homewood Suites by Hilton Baton Rouge
• Game Weekend in Baton Rouge
• The Club at MSY and MSY-AUS via WN Y

Links to Previous Trip Reports

• A Weekend Getaway in NYC: 72 Hours in the Big Apple
• She Let Me Get Away With This?: A Semi-RTW Honeymoon via UA, QR, EY and AF J
• Better Make it a Double: Bachelor Party on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail
• Silicon Hills: Moving to Austin
• Another Birthday Adventure: Skiing in Park City
• Denver, Tahoe and Points In-between: Mileage Running for 2022 Status
• The Redneck Riviera: A Week in Destin
• On Our Way to See the Tigers Play!: Weekend in Los Angeles
• Especially in Michigan: 48 Hours in the Great Lakes State
• A Semi-International Vacation: Long Weekend in the US Virgin Islands
• Searching for Snow: Skiing in Colorado Again and Again
• Sun, Sand and Surfveza: Christmas in Tulum
• South Texas Road Trip: 36 Hours in the Gulf
• Crisscrossing the EU: Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and Portugal
• On my way to see the TIGERS Play: National Championship Weekend in New Orleans
• Heaven to Hell and Back: Colorado, Chicago, and the Cayman Islands
• Traveling for Turkey: Thanksgiving in Western North Carolina
• Christmas in Europe via AA, BA, and AF

theshaun

Don't see BTR here very often. Looking forward to it.

wakesetter93

Thanks theshaun! Hopefully the Tigers come out with a win over the Rebel Black Bear Land Sharks

wakesetter93

To kick this trip off, I bid adieu to Mrs. WS93 and Gumbo around 2:30p and hopped in the truck to head towards ABIA. Usually, I would take an Uber but, as I was only going to be gone for 24 hours and I was landing back in AUS after midnight, I elected to drive. Traffic was moderate and 20 minutes after leaving home I pulled into the long-term garage. After parking, I made the familiar walk to the terminal and over to the security checkpoint. There were a few people waiting in the CLEAR lane and one guy seemed oblivious to his surroundings and cut in front of me. It’s only one spot so I didn’t really care but the CLEAR agent evidently did, and she asked the customer if he saw me and realized I was in line. After some back and forth between the pax and the agent she asked if he was a CLEAR member which seemed to catch him off guard. He responded with no and a quick glimpse at his AA boarding pass showing Group 8 told me he was a harmless, but confused, traveler. She showed him over to the general boarding lane and with that out of the way I was airside.




After clearing security, I had roughly 15 minutes before boarding so I killed time answering emails at a table near the gate. By the time I got a notification from UA that boarding was ready to begin I made my way next-door to the gate to find they were already on Group 3. Fortunately, boarding was a breeze and my EconomyPlus bulkhead seat still had overhead space for my bag.



SkyWest DBA United Express
UA 5465
AUS (Austin-Bergstrom International – Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport)
Seat: 7D (Economy)
EMB-175 (N152SY)
Scheduled: 4:09p-5:21p
Actual: 4:06p-5:13p

While the legroom on the SkyWest E175’s isn’t anything to write home about, being in the bulkhead was comfortable enough. We buttoned up a few minutes early and taxied out next to an Alaska B737-900ER in the ‘More to Love’ livery.




We took off to the north and made a hard right over the Tesla Texas Gigafactory. After 25 minutes in the air, we overflew IAH before circling around to the land from the east.

Departing AUS


IAH from above

Arriving IAH

Once on the ground, we taxied over to gate A7 where we parked next to another Alaska B737-900ER in the regular livery.

Taxiing IAH


After we disembarked, I made my way over to the Skyway to take me to Terminal D and the American Express Centurion Lounge.

dat4life

Something tells me y'all had a great time yesterday.

wakesetter93

It was a good day! Made it back to Austin late last night, so I'll start cranking out this report.

Geaux Tigers!

wakesetter93

After making my way to the Skyway, I disembarked at Terminal D, made my way through the duty free maze where I found the elevators to the Centurion Lounge in their usual spot, between the Toblerone candy and the Bacardi rum. Once on the mezzanine level I made my way down the sterile hallway to the lounge. Since I had a roughly 2.5 hour layover I was looking forward to having a relaxing space to get some work done


Yes, this way to the lounge


IAH Centurion Lounge

There was a short line of people waiting to be let in and the lounge was near capacity so I was worried that there would be a wait. However, since I was a solo traveler and perfectly fine with sitting at the bar, they promptly welcomed me in and escorted me to an open seat.


The lounge was fairly busy and most of the seating was taken. The IAH Centurion Lounge is rather small and consists of three distinct seating areas. There’s a ‘Calm’ branded quiet area to your right as you enter the lounge. From there, there is an open seating area followed by the bar/dining area in the back of the lounge. There are also restrooms and shower facilities located behind the buffet area.

‘Calm’ area

Seating area


Bar area


Restroom

American Express did a decent job of making the lounge feel light, even though there were no windows or natural light to speak of.

After settling in, I went over to explore the buffet. There wasn’t much to speak of as it seems that the mass of people in the lounge had all just eaten. The food options consisted of some sad looking salads, a tray of white wine chicken, an eggplant and potato stew, broccoli, rice and a carrot and ginger coconut soup. There were also a few pieces of cake and some cookies set out for dessert.

IAH Lounge Buffett




I wasn’t super hungry and so I grabbed a few pieces of the chicken and a cookie and settled in to catch up on some work.


Eventually, I got caught up on most of the things I had to do that night and struck up a conversation with the bartender and my seatmate regarding the game which helped to pass the time. Before long, it was time to head back above ground and over towards Terminal E for my connecting flight to Minneapolis/St. Paul.

All in all, this was a perfectly fine lounge but don’t go out of your way to spend any additional time here.

wakesetter93

My flight to MSP was departing from nearby gate E10. I arrived just as pre-boarding was beginning and, after Global Services and Premier 1K members, I boarded with Group 1.





United Airlines
UA 2078
IAH-MSP (Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport – Minneapolis/St. Paul International)
Seat: 1A(First)
B737-900ER (N37409)
Scheduled: 8:07p-10:52p
Actual: 7:59p-10:45p

Once onboard, I settled into my assigned Seat 1A. The pitch was fairly tight for my 6’2” frame and next time I’ll probably select a seat further back however, my last-minute booking didn’t leave me with many options on this trip.




Boarding was completed early, and we pushed back next to another 737-900, 737 MAX8, and a domestic configured 777-200.



This aircraft had the older IFE screens, and the safety video was screened during our taxi. Despite over 30 flights on UA this year, this was one of the first times I can remember seeing the safety video as their A319/320 fleet still doesn’t have IFE installed.



We were airborne roughly 15 minutes after pushback and we flew to the south before circling back around towards the north.


Departing IAH


The FAs came around with a beverage service before coming back through with the dinner service. I preordered the burger and, as far as airplane burgers go, it was pretty good. It was served with mustard, ketchup, pepper, a roll, and a chocolate chip cookie/brownie. It was also accompanied by what appeared to be sliced tomatoes and something that looked like yogurt, though I wasn’t brave enough to try it.




After dinner I nodded off and woke up as we were on final descent into MSP. We arrived at the gate a few minutes early and, with no checked bags and a seat in front of the curtain, I was curbside 10 minutes later and in my car on the way to my hotel for the night.

theshaun

Short on updates. I guess what they say is true, what happens in Baton Rouge stays in Baton Rouge.

wakesetter93

Apologies on the delays, I've been slammed with work but I should have the next part up in the next day.

Tigers came out of the first CFP rankings at #10 though!

wakesetter93

Now I really have to get after it!

wakesetter93

18 short hours after arriving in Minneapolis, I was back in a car heading to the airport. Unfortunately, our meeting ended at 5:00p and, with only 3x flights a day between MSP-AUS I was going to have plenty of time to kill at the airport while waiting on my 9:35p departure to Austin.

Thanks to some issues with the Delta app saying to check in with an agent at the airport, I first had to get my ticket sorted out. The Sky Priority Lane was relatively empty and in just a few minutes I had a paper boarding pass with a big red ‘DOCS OK’ stamp on it. The DL agent couldn’t see anything wrong, so we’ll chock it up to Delta IT.

MSP Sky Priority check-in

Upon clearing security, I headed for the F/G SkyClub just a short walk from the checkpoint. There was a short line which should have been a sign of things to come. Thankfully it moved quickly, and I was admitted to the lounge 20 minutes after arriving curbside.

Not surprisingly, the lounge was packed but I managed to grab a seat and work for an hour or so. Unfortunately, the lounge has absolutely no views whatsoever, there were windows, but the views were obstructed, and was fairly small and bland. Which was strange given the fact that MSP is one of their major hubs.

MSP SkyClub


Around 7:00p I got hungry and headed over to the buffet to see what they had on offer. The dinner rush had decimated the buffet and it was in need of a wipe down though the staff were hustling to try and keep up. The offerings consisted of two soups and vegetables, a charcuterie tray, bbq beef brisket and baked beans, slider sandwiches and a small salad bar. Near the main bar area there was a small selection of cookies and sweets along with some fruit.

MSP SkyClub buffet








I grabbed a plate and found a seat in the bar area where there was some great people watching on display.

Like this guy

After dinner, I grabbed a drink from the bar and explored the remainder of the lounge which had a coffee and tea station as well as a few snack baskets that were filled with various items during my visit (pretzels, peanuts, Sun Chips).

MSP SkyClub bar

MSP SkyClub drink station

MSP SkyClub snacks

Before long, it was time to make the trek down the length of the F concourse to catch my flight home. All in all, I was surprised by this lounge. Having not seen anything on the lounge in the past, I went in with expectations that it would be a regular SkyClub at a major hub. However, this one has to be at the bottom based on what I’ve seen at ATL, DTW, LAX, JFK, and SLC in the last couple of years. Hopefully it gets an expansion and/or a refresh soon.

theshaun

Haha, ​​​​​wakesetter93 you've got your work cut out for you now!
Never would I expect SFO777 heading for BTR but I'm looking forward to this one too.

TommyD2

Quote: "Hopefully it gets an expansion and/or a refresh soon.."

Nope

It was just remodeled/refreshed in 2020, so I don't expect much to change soon. Biggest change will be a new Sky Club opening soon(?) in the G concourse.

wakesetter93

I know! Hopefully his game is as good as LSU/Ole Miss. Preferably with the same outcome
G club supposed to be the new flagship at MSP?