US Airways: CLT-EWR-CLT 16 Apr-20 Apr 2012 by Bruce

Thanks to my compadre in travel, Bruce, for reviving my blog!

Mon., 16 Apr 2012
US1972 dep CLT 15:10 arr EWR 17:06 (737-400)

Fri., 20 Apr 2012
US1291 dep EWR 13:15 arr CLT 15:09 (737-400)

It’s been five months since I was last on a plane, so I got to the airport extra early to soak up the atmosphere. As is normal at Charlotte, the shuttles from the long term lot bunch up – nothing for ten minutes and then three in a row. I was finally at the terminal at 12:00 where I easily printed a replacement boarding pass at one of the US kiosks. This flight will be credited to Mileage Plus and my Star Gold status meant that it printed with Zone 1.

Security was a breeze with no queue at the B terminal where I used the priority lane even though there was no one waiting in the regular lane. There are still none of the advanced screening devices there, so I emptied my stuff into bins, removed my shoes and belt and pulled my laptop. I did not set off the magnetometer and did not earn any additional screening. The TSOs were friendly.

A 20-minute shoe shine ($5 plus $2 tip) and then I spent two hours in the C/D Club. Free soft drinks and the snacks were good – fruit and a big bowl of pretzels. I liked the individual packs of Milano cookies and grabbed a handful for later.

At the gate (the last one in the C terminal), they were offering $250 vouchers for volunteers. I was tempted, but the next flight wasn’t until 9 PM. Boarding was called right on time with F and then by zone. The gate fleas were not too bad.

Seat 5A in Y is the second row in coach. There was plenty of room in the overhead when I got there but the seat was far from Choice. No premium economy and a tight pitch. A married couple exchanged with a guy across the aisle so that they could have B and C. I did not see any empty seats in the aircraft.

We pushed back on time, were first for takeoff on 36L and there was a beverage service (half can, no lime) that was picked up a half hour later. Decent into Newark was from the north and the landing was good. We were at the gate a few minutes later, which was 14 minutes ahead of schedule. I was out at the taxi stand a few minutes later.

For the return, more of the same. The ID check for the concourse was well backed up, even for priority passengers. That took ten minutes and they pulled a few people forward who were headed to Miami. There was a whole body scanner being used for one of the security lanes, but I bypassed that and went further in where there was not one of those. I did not set off the magnetometer and was not selected for additional screening. Security took about 20 minutes from start to finish.

The concourse where US has its gates is served by an Admirals Club, so I had a sandwich at Phillips Seafood and then waited with the rest of the cattle. Boarding was again F first, then Zone 1. The usual obliviots with Zone 2 and higher were standing in the flow.

Otherwise, the flight was the same. It could well have been the same aircraft as the outbound with the same tight pitch and lack of power or IFE. Smooth flight, half can, and we landed 15 minutes early on runway 23.

Summary: I’m glad I decided to keep my UA status and not return to US. The lack of premium economy, power, and IFE would make this a very uncomfortable flight for anything more than a short trip. There’s no way I could do a transcon in that seat. When we talk about a bus in the sky, this is it. The rest of my flights to Newark on this engagement will be on United metal. Grade: C.

Total Trip Cost: $ 406.10
Actual Airfare: $ 359.07
Actual Miles Flown: 1057
Yield: $ 0.340 per mile
Taxes & Fees: $ 47.03, 11.58% of ticket price

LHR-IAH-XNA 30 Sep to 1 Oct 2011 on Continental by Bruce

At the end of 22 months of European adventures, this is the return of a trip purchased in August. At booking, I was immediately able to choose exit row seats. I checked the seat assignments and schedule a couple of times over the last few weeks – there was no issue.

CO flight 5 is scheduled for an 11:40 departure. That morning, I received Trip Alerts from Continental at midnight, 06:00, 08:30, 09:40 and 11:25 with notifications that the flight was running late due to a delayed inbound aircraft. Rather than sit in an empty apartment, I chose to stick to my schedule and arrived Heathrow at 09:30.

Quick interview to enter the line for a counter agent (“Did you pack these bags yourself?,” etc.). Check-in was normal and the counter agent helpfully assisted with checking my first three suitcases at no charge, thanks to my Gold status. The fourth and fifth suitcases were each $200. All were well under weight but quite full (almost all of it clothing), so an attempt to compress down and leave an empty suitcase would have been fruitless.

Continental’s presence in Terminal 4 dates back to the SkyTeam days and they have an agreement with the SkyTeam lounge (operated by Etihad Airlines). It’s a large lounge on two levels with a capacity for maybe 250 people. Nicely laid out, it’s usually rather quiet. The standard European features – self-service booze, beers, wine and sodas plus coffee machines. Free wi-fi. Hot and cold breakfast items include yogurt, cereal, scrambled eggs, pancakes, baked beans (yep, Brits eat these at breakfast), chicken sausages and bacon. I ate, caught up on some emails and even managed to snooze for an hour in one of the sleep rooms. At 11:30, the lunch items come out and it’s sliced ham and beef pastrami, slivers of cheese and bread rolls.

Boarding started at 13:00 with F. 50 F seats on this 777, so that took a bit. I did see two people turned away. Then elites. As the BP’s are scanned, a brief passport check. A currency interview and random screening (I was not selected) on the jet bridge. I learned that the reason for the delay was a thunderstorm in Houston the previous day – the 777 was diverted to MSY for two hours, starting a chain of lateness that would last for another day.

I took my seat, 16A on this 777-200. The first row in Y, there is a solid bulkhead and the tray tables/video monitors are in the armrests. After boarding completed, we sat in the plane for another 90 minutes while they cleared a mechanical issue: one of the Y toilets was broken. They were unable to fix it, so they sealed it off and we pushed back. Since it happened in the UK, this would be a ‘loo out of order.’

Service in the air was standard and boring – chicken or beef for dinner (served and cleared before we’d even left Ireland air space), no charge for the first drink (I had one of three Heinekens), a few water services, ice cream, pre-arrival sandwich and landing. We arrived at 19:05 (over three hours late) and so I missed my connection.

Immigration was somewhat slow. I don’t understand why people can’t wait in the roped lines and then direct just two or three people in front of each desk. Instead, they line up 8 people deep at each of the desks, which is the most inefficient method possible. The officer, however, was friendly and pleasant. Since my last arrival in the US, I’ve been to England, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands which earned a couple of extra (harmless) questions.

All five of my checked bags were waiting on the carousel with priority tags. I loaded up a trolley and was amazed to clear Customs with this massive stack of stuff and got barely an acknowledgement from the CBP officer as she glanced at my entry form.

At the counter for rebooking, I was first in the elite line where there were 10 people waiting in the economy line. I tried to ignore their evil looks as the counter agent printed out hotel (Hilton Garden Inn) and meal vouchers ($12 dinner, $6 breakfast) because there was a portion of the delay caused by the mechanical. I had missed the last flight of the day, so I was booked on the 10:00 AM and even managed to get 12A. I was thoroughly pleasant and had the agent laughing a couple of times. She said that there had been a couple of very upset people earlier. Before giving over my suitcases, I pulled an outfit for the next day and my dopp kit.

Rather than go straight to the hotel, I used the boarding pass from my missed connection to enter the secure zone (quick security) and went to the Terminal E President’s Club for a beer, some wifi and a short rest.

The hotel was not noteworthy and I was back at the airport at 08:30. At security, I took an opt-out that was professional and 85% thorough. The TSO managed to discover my cheap flip-phone I had forgotten in my pocket that the magnetometer had missed! Up to the Terminal B President’s Club which is now the United Club. All new signage had been replaced overnight. They’d even renamed the wi-fi access point. Same breakfast food items as usual (mini-yogurts, small muffins, bagels and cream cheese).

The flight to XNA was unremarkable – it boarded on time (military personnel called first, then elites). I sat in 12A on this ERJ-145, we pushed back on time, there was a full can drink service, we landed on time, and my five suitcases were almost the only stuff to come on to the carousel. It filled the trunk and back seat of my daughter’s car.

Summary: Irregular operations were handled smoothly and I have no complaints. In flight service was good with a power socket at my seat (that fit both US and UK plugs, maybe others too). The IFE was flawless (Hanna, Fast Five, Source Code and A Fish Called Wanda). It was consistently consistent and completely boring, which is exactly the way it’s supposed to be. Despite sitting in coach, Continental for this trip deserves an A+. The only thing that would have improved my experience would have been an op-up.

Total Trip Cost: $617.05
Actual Airfare: $344.50
Actual Miles Flown: 5272
Yield: $ 0.065 per mile
Taxes & Fees: $272.55, 44.17% of ticket price
Generated by the VanMetric Airfare Info Generator, version 0.11.

Day 8: Travel to West Palm Beach

Day 8 was another travel day, this time from LaGuardia to West Palm Beach on Delta.  The trip was thankfully uneventful, except for a small maintenance delay at the gate. The first officer noticed a small fuel leak, so they ran the engine, and determined the leak was within safe limits, so we departed close to our original departure time and arrived on time. Service in first class on the former Northwest Airbus 319 included beverages, a cold-plate lunch, snack basket, and the option to purchase Gogo inflight internet.

We spent the day at our hotel, the Hilton Singer Island. This was the day of the only negative part of our trip. I became very ill that evening and broke out in a rash from something I ate, most likely the conch chowder I had for dinner, although I don’t know for sure. My boyfriend and I split dinner, which consisted of mahi mahi fish tacos, crab cakes, and the conch chowder, but he didn’t have much of the chowder while I ate most of it.  He did not become ill. Unfortunately, it looks like I will need to be tested for allergies before I eat shellfish again, which is a bummer, because I love all shellfish.

ROA-DTW-JFK-ATL-ROA on Delta 15-17 April 2011

I decided to write this trip report more about the handling of the irregular operations, rather than the in-flight service, because I think Delta responded well to both situations.

I won’t spend time on the Roanoke-Detroit and Atlanta-Roanoke flights except to say that they both boarded by zone, were on time, and were standard Delta Connection CRJ-200 flights, complete with a full beverage and snack service (peanuts, pretzels, or Biscoffs).

When I arrived in Detroit, I visited the main Sky Club in the center of Concourse A.  It has a self-service bar and ample room, as it is a very large club.  It was quite busy the hour or so that I was there.

We boarded the MD-88 for JFK and as we were about to depart, the pilot shut down the engines and performed a “maintenance check.” Then mechanics boarded the flight.  This did not bode well.  About 15-20 minutes later, the pilot asked us to deplane and inquire about alternate flights, because the ground power that starts the plane had experienced a power surge that basically fried the computer system.  As I was waiting to speak to the gate agent, the crew deplaned and announced that we were going to the next gate to board an alternate MD-88.  We quickly boarded and were on our way.  The in-flight service consisted of the usual full beverage and snack basket service.  We only arrived about 45 minutes late.

This morning, Sunday, April 17, I was scheduled to depart JFK at 7:00 am through Detroit.  When my alarm sounded at 4:00 am, I checked my BlackBerry and I had one e-mail and three missed calls from Delta.  My flight had been canceled and I was automatically rebooked for Monday, April 18, which I could not do.  I called Delta and reached a Platinum Medallion agent.  He asked me how close I was to JFK and I said, “I’m close, at an airport hotel.”  He asked if I could make 6:20 am and I said yes, and he rebooked me in full F (first class) and Y (economy) through Atlanta to Roanoke. He finished the call by thanking me for my loyalty and understanding of the situation. I dressed and packed quickly and arrived at JFK Terminal 2 around 5:00 am.  I checked in at a kiosk and there was no line at the Sky Priority security checkpoint.  Delta at JFK does not have the full body scanners yet, thank goodness. I enjoyed a coffee at the iPad/charging station/restaurant located near gate 15.

The flight itself was what I have come to expect from Delta: blankets, pillows, and Dasani at every first class seat, Gogo Inflight Internet for purchase, in-flight entertainment (in-seat, on-demand on today’s 737-800), hot towel service, full beverage service, and continental breakfast (croissant, fresh fruit, cereal, and yogurt).

When I arrived in Atlanta, I enjoyed a couple of the best Bloody Marys I’ve ever had in the C Concourse Sky Club.

Grade = A, in spite of the two irregular operations incidents

XNA-ATL-ORD-CVG-XNA on Delta 7-9 Apr 2011 by Bruce

by Bruce K.

Thu., Apr. 7
DL5083 dep XNA 07:10 arr ATL 09:59
DL1677 dep ATL 10:50 arr ORD 12:00

Planned return:
Fri., Apr 8
DL1977 dep ORD 18:05 arr ATL 21:10
DL5059 dep ATL 22:05 arr XNA 22:57

Actual IRROPS return:
Sat., Apr. 9
DL3225 dep ORD 06:05 arr CVG 08:26
DL6264 dep CVG 09:30 arr XNA 10:22

A last-minute trip for a personal appointment, I would not have chosen this particular itinerary or carrier. I did look online and it was the cheapest fare – AA and UA direct would have been $300 more because it was inside of 24 hours. I was concerned that 51 and 55 minutes might not be enough time to change planes in Atlanta. But it wasn’t up to me – the client travel agency did the booking. At least I was able to credit it to my SkyMiles account, where I have no elite status.

Thursday morning, the taxi to the airport dropped me off at 06:25. XNA is still a sweet little airport with a minimal TSA presence. Magnetometers but no full body scanners. Yet. My stuff and I went through without issue.

Boarding was an “all” call at 06:55 and we pushed back on time. This was a Mesaba-operated CRJ-200 and the seat was a small fit. Beverage service was a half-can and a choice of cookies (Biscoffs), peanuts (dry-roasted) or pretzels. We landed on time in Atlanta and pulled up to our gate at the end of the D terminal. I made it to the gate at A in 15 minutes, which gave me enough time for a coffee.

The O’Hare flight was called on time. One passenger tried to board ahead of his zone and was turned back. My seat was behind the exit row, a window. Another small seat, I really don’t like the MD-88! We pushed back on time, but sat at the end of the taxiway for ten minutes before the Captain announced that we were being held by O’Hare for flow control. He said he was on with the Delta dispatch office to find out if we would go back to the gate or would wait and that it could be as much as 90 minutes. It ended up being 40 minutes of penalty box before we headed to the runway. Arrival was 46 minutes late.

For the return, I dropped off the rental car at O’Hare at 14:30 (the appointment finished earlier than I expected) and the shuttle dropped me off at terminal 2. While eating cheese cubes in a full RCC, my phone rang at 14:53 to inform me that my 18:05 departure was canceled. I called Delta. A pleasant operator (Southern accent) informed me that I had been protected to the soonest available – the next morning. I headed to the gate, but there was no one there. At the nearby SkyClub, where the club angel was able to print a “distressed traveler” coupon and I headed to the Marriott Courtyard.

Saturday morning, 4:00 wake-up call and their shuttle dropped me off at 4:55. A long line of sailors was arriving at the same time to access the USO. All clutching their manila folders and huge duffel bags. And all so young!

Security at Terminal 2 was slow, taking 20 minutes. They switched the line at the last minute, pointing us to the imaging machines. The woman ahead of me opted out and insisted on a private screening. She gathered up her stuff and was led elsewhere. I also opted out, but let them do it there. I was pleasant and smiled so no hassle and no attitude from anyone. The pat down was 90% thorough, narrating what he was doing as he did his thing. I was able to keep an eye on my buckets of stuff on the belt. He did not “meet resistance” and I was cleared.

From this point, everything was standard. Boarding on time by zone, small seat on the CRJ-900 with a wide-hipped seatmate. On time into CVG, where I transited from one end of Terminal B to the other. The gate agent called our flight early, where the 11 of us boarded the CRJ-200. Everyone had a row to themselves. Full can beverage service with peanuts. We landed 20 minutes early into XNA where my taxi driver was waiting for me.

Summary: I was on three different aircraft (2 x CRJ-200, MD-88 and CRJ-900) and all had very small seats, though they were all clean with a noticeable lack of duct tape. Pleasant gate agents and flight attendants. The IRROPS was handled as smoothly as I’ve ever experienced. I was very pleased that the pilot came out of the flight deck to welcome passengers after each of the four flights (where I thanked the ATL-ORD for keeping us updated). Overall grade: B-. I think CO’s planes have bigger seats.

XNA now offers free wi-fi, but ATL, ORD and CVG still do not.

Total Trip Cost: $ 875.47
Actual Airfare: $ 774.58
Actual Miles Flown: 2021
Yield: $ 0.383 per mile
Taxes & Fees: $ 100.89, 11.52% of ticket price

**Beth’s note:  I checked and the CRJ-200 seat width is comparable to those of other domestic carriers that use that aircraft.  However, the MD-88 seats are narrower than those of American.**