Cross Country on Amtrak 2-5 Jan 2010 by Trey

When we got to Shelby, Montana, we found that it was a “port” and there were quite a number of tracks and trains and cars. We drove through the town, never seeing an Amtrak sign, but finally finding the station. I parked and went in to get my ticket and find out what I needed to know. The Amtrak agent had that quality of intentionally disregarding you that bordered on surly. She finally gave me my ticket and told me where to go and I went back to the truck to get my stuff. My sister hopped out to use the bathroom before she started back and I found that there was an open router. I checked my email and then Susan and I said goodbye.

The Amtrak agent announced that the train was inbound so I went out to my designated spot to board. While waiting for the train, I chatted with the crew that was boarding at the next spot down. We saw some people run across the tracks to the station and marveled at their stupidity.

When the train came, it was a double-decker, and I was topside. However, when I got to my room, there was already someone in there. I asked her if she was getting off at the next stop. She said no. So I went looking for a conductor to find out where I was going to sleep that night. They finally decided to put me in the crew quarters. They made up one of the rooms for me and there I put my stuff before heading to lunch. I had a nice lunch with a grandmother, her granddaughter, and another older woman. I found out from them that there was going to be a wine and cheese tasting at 3:00 pm. (I think that, outside of the Boston-NYC-DC corridor, Amtrak is the province of retirees, starving artists/students, families, and those who don’t like to fly.) I went to the tasting, tried four wines, tried three cheeses, chatted w/ the girl and the couple who sat with me, and chuckled at my attendant’s description of the cheeses and wines. He didn’t know how to say tannins or what tannins were. I explored a bit of the car and tried to arrange my room to my liking.

I went to dinner and had the spicy meatloaf. The meatloaf was okay, but the sauce was tasty and it made the whole meal quite nice. I got to dinner early, but I wasn’t the first one there. The first was an older woman named Lucy to whom the attendant had taken a liking. She would call her Luuuucy like Ricky Ricardo would say it. The attendant sat me with Lucy and then the woman I had sat with from lunch sat with us as did a girl who was going to Pace (I think), a small liberal arts school. We all had a nice time chatting. The girl and the woman left after they were done, but Lucy and I stayed and chatted some more with the attendant. She had lost her husband a few years earlier and was dating a “prominent citizen” from her town. Eventually we said good night and I went to find my car’s attendant to have my bed made. I found him and he had already prepared my bedding. He just put the two seats down to make the support and then went and got the mattress and laid it down. A roomette is a tight squeeze generally speaking and even more so when the bed is down. But I got ready for bed and slipped under the covers, leaving the blinds open to watch the countryside roll by.

Around 4:00 am I woke up to a crossing bell dinging, being a bit chilly, only the emergency lights working, and the car as quiet as a tomb. I was worried that there had been a change of trains and being a passenger in the crew car, I’d been forgotten. Looking outside, I saw I was in Fargo. I closed the blinds, got dressed, and went looking to see what the situation was. Eventually I heard people stirring, so I knew I wasn’t alone. I found an attendant, but not mine, in the following car. I asked him what was going on. He said that he thought we were “waiting on people,” but the way he said it made me think that he had no clue what was going on. So I asked him for another blanket, went back to my room, got undressed, and back into bed.

Being in the crew quarters, I got to hear a lot of the goings-on, and I eventually heard that they were having trouble with the electrical system. They got it fixed, seemingly, we were off again, and I went back to sleep. I woke up briefly again to the same issue, but I fell back asleep and don’t know where that stop was. I finally woke up to the announcement that the power was out again and that they weren’t going to be able to serve breakfast. Shortly after that, they announced that we were coming into Minneapolis and that they were going to try, once again, to fix the electrical issue, but if they couldn’t we were going to be bused to Chicago. I stayed wrapped up in bed. The blankets were thin, but warm! After a while, they told us to gather our belongings and head into the station. I thought about staying onboard, but decided against it. (I later met a woman who did stay onboard and traveled to Chicago on the train instead of the bus like I did.) I plugged my cell phone up to try and get as much of a charge as I could for the bus trip or possibly getting back on the train.

As it turned out, they put us on buses and they took the people first who were trying to make connections in Chicago, like me. I don’t know how I managed it, but I got a seat to myself on the bus. The driver asked us if we wanted to get something to eat now or later. The loudest of us wanted to go straight to Chicago, but he said he would need to stop to go to the bathroom. (My thought to that was, “Isn’t there a bathroom in the back of the bus?”) He drove about three and a half hours and then stopped at a truck stop for thirty minutes. If we hadn’t stopped, we would have made our connection in Chicago!

The closer we got, the more I checked how close we were, calling Amtrak to get updates. They never knew anything until they knew the train had left w/o us. Once we got to Union Station, I got in line to find out what my options were. The lady behind the counter was pleasant, but not friendly. She put me on train 48, The Lake Shore Limited to NYC and the 8:00 pm Regional to DC. I figured that she would put me in business class on the Regional since I was riding sleeper on the Limited, but I noticed later that she had booked me as coach class. I’d fix that later.

We, the sleeper passengers, were supposed to board at 8:15 pm for the wine and cheese tasting before the 9:00 pm departure. But again, that time came and went w/o an announcement. Finally around 9:00 pm, they announced that there was a problem with the engine that they were working on–it was the cold again. A couple of hours later, they either got it fixed, or they got a new engine, not sure which, but now the dining car wasn’t working and they needed a new dining car.

I called Amtrak (because the attendant working the desk left w/o telling us she was leaving or what the status was) around 12:30 am and the lady I spoke with told me that her computer was saying that we were suppose to leave at 12:30 am. Obviously that wasn’t going to happen. Finally, around 1:15 am, they came to get us. As we were boarding, one of the conductors said that they were still going to have the wine and cheese tasting. I wasn’t feeling especially sleepy, so I went. The guy that was going to give it told me that I could take a plate and a bottle of wine back to my room if I wished. I asked him if there were enough bottles for everyone. He said there weren’t, but he was sure that few were actually going to come to the tasting. So I took a bottle and the cheese, grapes, and crackers back to my room. We pulled out and got about twenty minutes out of the station when, holy mackerel, the engine died. It took awhile, at least an hour, but eventually an engine came along and pushed us back into the station. We sat there for about ten minutes or so when we got a new engine and took off. Originally, we were supposed to get into NYC around 6:00 pm on Monday. After all this, we were going to get into NYC around 5:00 am Tuesday.

We ended up getting into NYC around 3:30 am. The train wasn’t suppose to have served dinner Monday night because we were suppose to get into NYC at 6:00 pm, but since that wasn’t going to happen, they served us dinner. However, they weren’t really ready for it, so there were no vegetables. I ordered a flat iron steak, but got a small piece of a roast. It was tasty and tender, but small and not what I ordered. I also got a double helping of mashed potatoes, I guess because they were out of veggies. My lunch had been nice. I sat with an acting student named Amanda who was half Filipino and half Italian. She and I had a nice chat and a good time. We both got the Angus burger, but she pulled a lot of the breading out of the bun.

When we got into NYC at 3:00 am on Tuesday, I went straight to the Amtrak customer service office. They were waiting for us, but didn’t want to hear my story. They changed my Regional ticket from 8:00 pm Monday night to 4:40 am Tuesday morning and upgraded it to business class. They also gave me a phone number to call and I guess someone on the other end would listen to my story and compensate me. I finally got back into DC around 8:30 am Tuesday morning, around 19 or 20 hours later that I was supposed to get into DC. All in all it was a fun adventure and I would do it again, but not in the winter, unless Amtrak fixes their engines to run in the cold.

Wyndham’s non-rewards, expiration without notification

Wyndham’s non-rewards, expiration without notification

During the holidays, I attempted to log into my Wyndham Rewards account to book a hotel stay and discovered my account had been closed and I had lost 5,500 points, 500 points short of a one-night stay. I contacted Wyndham Rewards and was told that my account had been closed because there had been no activity for 18 months. I was surprised, not at the policy, but because I had never received written or electronic statements or notification of my expiration date.

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LGA-ATL-TRI on Delta Air Lines 3 Jan 2010

Sun 3 Jan 2010
DL 1779 LGA-ATL 11:00 am – 1:58 pm MD-88 Seat 2C First Class
DL 5365 ATL-TRI 3:01 pm – 4:09 pm CRJ Seat 8B Exit

For fear of sounding like a broken record, DL started out 2010 with a near perfect return from the holiday break.

I arrived at LGA over two hours early because I had no idea what kind of security experience I would have.  I had checked in, but couldn’t print and I had a bag to check.  I proceeded to the first/elite check-in to check my bag and get my boarding passes, then went to the first/elite security line and I was completely through in 15 minutes total.  That meant about a hour and a half in the Sky Club.

When I got to the gate, boarding began on time, and there was no additional security screening.  I received the usual pillow, blanket, mini Dasani, coat hanging (yes, the MD-88 had a coat closet in F), and a full pre-departure drink service.  We closed up on time, waited a few minutes to push back due to a plane behind us, headed to the runway and were, get this, SECOND for departure!  How many times do you hear that at LGA?  In-flight services included Gogo Inflight Internet, hot towel service, beverages, lunch (choice of a grilled chicken salad or chicken wrap), and more beverages.  We landed 41 minutes before scheduled arrival and arrived the gate about 10 minutes after landing.

I went to the B25 club, the nice, larger B club, and watched some NFL and had an Atlanta Sweetwater brew.  My connection was four minutes “behind schedule,” according to delta.com.  We boarded about 15 minutes prior to scheduled departure, but did not push back immediately.  The captain announced that he had been notified that there were 22 bags on their way to be loaded and he thought that we’d be happier to be a few minutes late than without our luggage.  They loaded the bags and we took off around 3:25 pm, 20 minutes past our revised departure time.  There was no in-flight service on the 40-minute flight.  And lo and behold, we still arrived a few minutes earlier than our originally scheduled arrival!  So it was a win-win.

JFK-LAS-JFK on Delta 22-24 Dec 2009

Tue 22 Dec 2009
DL 731 JFK-LAS 5:40 PM – 9:17 PM 757-200 Seats 3B and 4A First Class

Thu 24 Dec 2009
DL 728 LAS-JFK 12:05 PM – 8:18 PM 757-200 Seats 3A and 3B First Class

This trip was a mileage run for my boyfriend and I tagged along. We were both upgraded at our respective elite level windows.

Both of these flights went very well in first class.  The outbound aircraft was delayed due to a late-arriving inbound aircraft and a delay in receiving the “performance data uplink” from Atlanta.  We departed about an hour late, but still arrived about 30 minutes early. The return flight departed a few minutes early and arrived nearly 45 minutes early. The outbound aircraft was also an older 757-200, without seatback in-flight entertainment, so the viewing options were limited.

However, both flights offered consistent on-board services.  We received a pre-departure drink service on both flights. Once we were in the air, we received hot towel service, drink service, meal service, and snack basket and repeated drink service the remainder of the flight. Both flights also had Gogo Inflight Internet. My laptop battery died after about three hours on the outbound as the aircraft had no power ports, but I was able to use my iPod Touch the remainder of the flight. The return aircraft had individual power ports, so I was able to use my laptop the entire flight.

The outbound flight meal was dinner and our choices were chicken pomodoro with side veggies, salad, roll, and pie, or vegetarian pasta with yellow tomatoes in a cream sauce, salad, roll, and pie.  The return flight was lunch and the choices were a chicken sandwich, chips, fresh fruit side, and a molasses cookie, or a salad (with grilled chicken, avocado, bacon, blue cheese, and tomato), breadsticks, fresh fruit side, and a molasses cookie.

Delta also has a new cocktail called “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere.”  It’s made with orange juice, cranapple, rum, and a slice of lime.

TRI-ATL-LGA on Delta Air Lines 21 Dec 2009

Mon 21 Dec 2009
DL 5570 TRI-ATL 12:45 pm – 1:58 pm CRJ Seat 8B Exit
DL 1784 ATL-LGA 2:40 pm – 5:06 pm MD-88 Seat 2C First Class

It’s been a while since I wrote a trip report, but that is because the service has been consistent and good.

On my flight from TRI-ATL, we departed on time, perhaps a bit early, and landed early in ATL.  There was no in-flight service and I had no seatmate. When we landed, I discovered my flight to LGA was delayed, but that was to be expected because it was the day after the blizzard in the Northeast.  I passed my time in the B10 Delta Sky Club, where I had the best Bloody Mary of my life, made with the mixer, vodka, three limes, and splashes of Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, and red wine.  Yes, red wine.  Who knew?

I arrived at my gate about 30 minutes before our rescheduled departure and boarded shortly thereafter.  We departed almost exactly an hour late. I was seated beside a very young serviceman returning home from six months of training and service.  He had been rerouted to LGA instead of EWR, after having been trying to get home since the Saturday before. He was thrilled to be finally on a plane headed home.  He was so tired, he slept nearly the whole way.

The flight had Gogo Inflight Internet service, so I spent most of the flight surfing.  On-board service included the snack basket and full beverage service.  We landed just a few minutes late of our originally scheduled arrival, but because of delayed departures from LGA, our gate was not available and we waited almost an hour on the tarmac before arriving at the gate.  Still, I considered myself lucky, given the weekend weather, cancellations, and delays.

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TRI-ATL-LGA-ATL-TRI on Delta 9-11 October 2009

I apologize for not posting this sooner, but this trip was flawless except for two issues:

–On October 9, I was scheduled to fly TRI-CVG-LGA.  Delta contacted me and let me know that I was going to misconnect and offered me an involuntary reroute through ATL.  Well, it ended up that my original flight was NOT delayed, but the flight they rerouted me on WAS delayed.  I misconnected in ATL and was backed up on the last flight out of ATL.  I barely made that last connection due to the delay, and I lost the upgrade on the flight I missed.  I was stuck sitting in 31A window.  The flight did have Gogo Inflight Internet, so I managed to surf the Internet for the duration of that flight.  There was no in-flight service from TRI-ATL and the standard coach snack and beverage service was offered from ATL-LGA.  That flight arrived on time.

–On my return from LGA-ATL, I was upgraded and enjoyed continental breakfast and the standard beverage and snack basket service.  On the flight from ATL-TRI, we were delayed due to a computer glitch that prevented an accurate weight and balance reading, so the pilots ended up having to do it the old-fashioned way, with “pen and paper,” they announced.  There was no in-flight service and we landed about 30-40 minutes late without incident.

Today I checked my Delta SkyMiles account and noticed that I had been proactively awarded 2500 “Customer Relations Bonus Miles” on October 13.  I assume that was due to the involuntary reroute.

LGA-ATL-TRI on Delta 4 Oct 2009

DL 1779 LGA-ATL 1100A-141P 757-200 Seat 5B Aisle First Class
DL 5091 ATL-TRI 303P -409P CRJ-200 Seat 8B Exit Aisle

The flights home were pleasantly uneventful.  I arrived the airport in time to pass through security and visit the Sky Club in LaGuardia before boarding my flight.  We boarded on time, pushed back on time, and departed around 11:30 am.  I was upgraded, so my flight service included beverages and lunch, a choice of a Greek-style salad with grilled chicken or a turkey sandwich.  There was no Gogo Inflight Internet on this plane, so I spent my time reading instead of watching the television short programming on the overhead monitors.  We landed in Atlanta early and I had time again to visit the C37 Sky Club for a quick beverage and computer time.

The second flight boarded and departed on time as well, again with just a short wait to take off.  There was no in-flight service due to the “short duration,” but the flight attendant offered to serve us on an as-needed basis.  Again, we arrived early at TRI.

My impression is that Delta has greatly improved their product and service in the last year, despite the merger with Northwest and related, but expected, glitches.  I hope the improvement continues as Delta is my carrier of choice from TRI.

TRI-ATL-LGA on Delta 1 Oct 2009

DL 5570 TRI-ATL 205P-318P CRJ-200 Seat 3B Aisle
DL 1788 ATL-LGA 440P -709P 757-200 Seat 19D Exit Aisle

The first flight from TRI-ATL was fairly uneventful as usual.  We departed about 25 minutes late and still landed early, but our gate was still occupied, so we had to wait.  The flight attendant announced there would be no beverage service due to the “short duration,” but did pass through the cabin offering coffee or water.  Our delay was due to a late-arriving inbound aircraft and our flight was full due to a previous cancellation.  I offered to take a bump to a later flight, but when the agents looked at my itinerary, they decided it was in my best interest to stay on my original flights.

I had time to visit the A17 Sky Club for about 20 minutes in between flights, where I enjoyed mixed nuts, olives, and an Atlanta Sweetwater brew.

When I arrived my departure gate, boarding had already started and I missed the upgrade by one. However, seat 19D has more legroom than first class, but has a narrower seat due to the tray table in the armrest.

We departed on time and were airborne within 15 minutes of gate departure.  The in-flight service consisted of complimentary snacks and snacks/snack boxes for sale.  I purchased one of the snack boxes to see what it contained and I must say I was impressed: pita chips, hummus, a mini Toblerone, a small chocolate chip granola-type bar, dried apricots, almonds, a wet nap, and mini Delta playing cards!  I also took advantage of the Gogo Inflight Internet, so the time passed quickly.  I also enjoyed talking to the flight attendant who was seated facing me at the exit.  We landed 23 minutes early at LGA.

ORD-DTW-CLT on Northwest 18 Sept 2009 by Bruce

With a 4:10 pm departure, I boarded the Clinton Green line at 2:00 pm. This was a mistake. I thought it would take an hour to get out to ORD. Instead, it took 90 minutes and I spent the last 20 minutes biting my nails. It was a stupid miscalculation, but I blame a week of back-to-back 12 hour days and a mediocre hotel too far from the client’s office for my lack of proper brain function. The Chicago Metra is otherwise pretty good for reaching O’Hare (and I am told also MDW) with a dedicated stop at the end of the Blue line (which goes right in to the downtown Loop). When your reach the airport, there are clear signs and departure/arrival displays that point to underground tunnels and moving sidewalks to take you to the appropriate terminal. Chicago is bidding to host the 2016 Olympics as advertised on signs throughout the city and annoying announcements in the airport. I say “good luck” as there is no way these system could take that kind of peak load.

So I arrived at the top of the TSA queue at 3:30 pm with a 4:10 pm departure. A long and poorly executed line for the five X-ray scanners, I picked the line that suddenly was “bag check” after “bag check”, not that it mattered, as I again didn’t take my liquids and gels out of my rollaboard and it was not captured. E13 is the furthest away from the main concourse, so I was fast walking it and arrived just as the inbound pax were being deplaned. ORD does not have any passenger assist slidewalks in the terminal, which is a sign of this airport’s age. NW turned the plane around incredibly quickly and we still achieved an on time departure. All the signage in O’Hare is still NW, inside and out.

My seat was 14A (the more forward of the two exit rows) on this NW painted DC9-50, which is AB on the left and DEF on the right. My seatmate was a similarly large-sized adult, so we were sharing personal space for the 50 minute flight to Detroit. No beverage service in Y.

We arrived in Detroit 4 minutes late (despite what Flightstats says was 15 minutes early) at gate A4 after a long taxi around the perimeter. A4 is at the tip of the terminal. Idiot that I am, I accepted a 35 minute layover and had to fast walk 3/4ths of DTW’s main terminal, taking a moving sidewalk to the tram and then two moving sidewalks to A57, where I arrived out of breath as the main cabin was being boarded. If this had involved a terminal change, I’d have missed the flight. My rollaboard ended up above row 9, while I took my seat 1D in, again, a DC9-50. There was a blanket, pillow and mini-Dasani at each seat, and while pre-departure drinks were not served, the flight attendants did pick up jackets for hanging.

A ten-minute taxi and we took off into the sunset. The drink carts were deployed and I enjoyed a Mile High Mojito, that was hand shaken in the aisle and poured into a real glass. I watched it being prepared – what a hassle for the flight attendant, who has to open two different mini-bottles plus a can! I did tell her that it was “Perfect.” The fully-loaded snack basket was brought around a few minutes later with a good selection of Sun Chips, candy bars, Fishers peanuts and Biscoffs.

Landing at CLT was well after sunset on 18C and we pulled in to gate A7. There was only a cleaning crew in the A terminal. Surprising for 9:00 PM arrival, the food concessions in the B/C area were crowded with people waiting in line and sitting at tables eating. I only saw about 35 or so more departures scheduled on the boards, so I don’t quite know what these people were doing. The arrivals pick-up area was pretty quiet and I was able to get a taxi within a minute or two.

Summary: I get a new line on my @flightmemory map for ORD-DTW. I was at least upgraded one final time for one segment as CO departs SkyTeam. I’m still not a fan of the DC9/MD-90 aircraft model for narrow seats though the forward of the two exit rows is quite leggy. Clean aircraft, competent crews and a great drink. An A for Northwest.