I drove down the night before to my parents' house, as they graciously offered to drive me to San Francisco International the next day. I was already upgraded on the way out from SFO to IAD, so that was a plus. A 1K perk is the 100 hour pre-flight upgrade window and I will miss that. 1P's upgrade window is 72 hours...not too shabby, but it's nice to reduce the anticipation time. Unfortunately, I wasn't yet upgraded on my IAD-SFO flight; this means that it'd be a battle at the gate for the few remaining first class seats on Sunday and higher status trumps. I will miss snagging the upgrade at the gate...1K status had come in handy several times before.
As I made my way to the gate, there was a sign saying "Fantasy Flight Gate 82". I wasn't sure what that was about. Then I passed Gate 82 and saw that the destination was "North Pole"! Passengers were dressed up in Santa hats and Fantasy Flight T-shirts. Turned out that every year, United flies the "Fantasy Flight" from various airports to take underprivileged children to the "North Pole", giving them an unforgettable experience! Very cool.
The flight from SFO to IAD was non-eventful; I enjoyed a lunch that started with a cup of warm mixed nuts, followed by a hot chicken ciabatta sandwich with Sun Chips and minestrone soup as accompaniments. Dessert was a fresh baked chocolate chip cookie. The United snack basket isn't as evil as Delta's...no candy bars, just healthy stuff like Sun Chips and bananas. The movie shown was Get Low, but I wasn't listening to the audio. Glancing every so often at the silent picture, the movie seemed interesting and witty. I was too busy listening to my iPhone and playing my favorite game Scramble.
The next plane was a small jet in Terminal A. This "puddlejumper" commuter terminal was located way far away from where I was; I had to walk a long distance on a moving sidewalk, then take a couple of small escalators, then one big escalator down to the air train, take the train over to Terminal A, take a big escalator up, then walk over to the gate. Whew! When I got there, I found that the flight was delayed by an hour! I wouldn't get into Nashville until after midnight. I had booked a room at the Holiday Inn Opryland through Priceline for cheap but I had heard that you arrive after midnight, they could cancel the room. I called them and made sure they weren't going to cancel. Eventually the plane arrived and I was heading to Nashville.
I've never been in Nashville before, so it was a new experience. The airport looked newly remodeled. I'm glad I didn't decide to camp out in the airport (I read one review in sleepinginairports.net) as I believe our flight was the last one in and the whole place seemed to be shut down; security might have kicked me out if I put a sleeping bag down. As I got in after midnight, the hotel shuttle was already out of service, so I had to take a taxi 3.5 miles to the hotel. Check in wasn't a problem, and the room was clean and adequate, stocked with Bath and Body Works toiletries. The pillows were kind of weird lumps of batting, with ribbons around them to make them look hip? They weren't super luxurious but at least the sheets were laundered.
I was on West Coast time, so I had a hard time falling asleep, plus I was worried that I wouldn't wake up in the morning as it was a mere 7 hours before I had to catch the morning shuttle back. I think I got only 4 hours of sleep.
At the airport, I was unfortunate to be selected to go through the x-ray machine aka the millimeter wave scanner. (I didn't wear my Lucky sweatpants...) I entered the chamber and was directed to make a triangle using the forefingers and thumb of both hands touching, and raise my arms 45 degrees up. The chamber moved in a circle around my body and a female TSA employee stared at a monitor to see if I passed or not. I was under the impression that a image of my naked body was getting sent to that screen so I was mortified to see a male TSA employee pass by and look at it too. I did some further research and apparently the person looking at the images is sitting in a different room, out of sight of the scanner to maintain privacy, and sends a signal over to the other monitor indicating pass or fail. I also read that people's images were supposed to be deleted, but some agency had stored them! I hope not. They're installing these machines in airports all over the world, so eventually everyone will get a chance to bare themselves to an anonymous TSA agent.
I get to my gate with plenty of time; however, the plane is slightly late. I only had 50 minutes in IAD to make my connection, so I was doubtful I'd make it. (remember the air train and the long walking?) The cabin door had closed, but we weren't moving. I saw snow flurries coming down and was willing the pilot to take off. Then the captain made an announcement that the plane had to be de-iced. The snow had just started falling lightly, and melting on contact with the ground, but they didn't want to take chances. So we had to wait for the de-icing truck to come and spray fluid on the wings and rudder. This was the first time I've witnessed this, so it was exciting, (plus seeing snowflakes hit the window was cool too) but it was depressing since I knew I'd miss my connection. The guy applying the de-icer was covered in protective gear; however, his mouth was still exposed and the spray was dispersed in the wind and blowing back in his face...mmm...chemicals...
When the jet landed in IAD, my phone had messages from United informing me that due to the delay from Nashville, I was rebooked on a flight going to Denver, then to SFO. I looked at the time of the new flight, and it was just 5 minutes past my original flight! I don't know how the computer figured that I could make that one either. I got to the check-in computer terminal, attempted to check in, and the computer proclaimed that it was too late to check-in. Really, no duh. The computer rebooked me on a later flight to Denver...many hours later. I eventually wouldn't get back to SFO until 7:30pm versus my original 3:30pm. I had no choice but to take the flight. I called my mom to let her know of the delay, and then had lunch at a burger joint called Five Guys, as I heard from my friend Sandy that it was good. It was the greasiest burger and fries I've had in a decade or more! The paper bag that the food was packed in had grease spots all over it. The fries weren't my favorite (I usually enjoy McDonald's-style fries) but the burger was fresh and the bun was tasty.
I made the trek over to the other terminal and hoped that I would clear the upgrade list. I had checked online that there were a couple of first class seats available. I watched as the monitors showed the upgrade status; that there were 4 first class seats available, and 38 people on the waiting list for upgrades. My name was second on the list. Over time, I saw the seats dwindle down to 3, then 2. It was getting closer to boarding time, and then the gate agent said the sweetest thing...my name. :) The first person on the list (a lady) and I got the upgrade! The gate agent said that we were lucky, as the original two people ended up leaving on an earlier flight. Chalk one up for being 1K again...I don't think I would've made it if I wasn't one. I'm gonna miss being 1K next year...
After boarding was finished and the cabin door was closed, I noticed that we weren't pushing back from the gate. After a few minutes, the captain came on the speaker and told us that the ground crew saw hydraulic fluid leaking from one of the wings and called a mechanic to check it out. Yikes! The captain then explained that he does a walk-around of the plane before he boards to do safety checks. But once the plane door closed and the cabin pressurized, the ground crew checks the plane again, and they may find things that weren't present when the cabin was not pressurized. That was interesting to know...though I hoped that things were okay and we wouldn't have to change planes and I'd miss my connection to SFO. I could hear the captain saying things like "if it's spewing fluid all over, we'd need to have someone look at that, but if it's just a few drops, I'm okay with it". Since it was "just a few drops", we were cleared for takeoff. What would you think if you heard a "few drops" of hydraulic fluid was leaking out of the wing? :P Despite this delay, I believed I would make the connection in Denver as the gate was at least in the same concourse.
There was a meal offered on this 3pm flight, but since I had already eaten way over my caloric intake with the burger and fries, I declined the buffalo chicken sandwich. I didn't get very good service from the lady flight attendant...I didn't take the food, but I wasn't offered a beverage! My seatmate took the meal and she gave him something to drink, and asked him again if he wanted something when she picked up the empty plates and completely ignored me. I was annoyed. I didn't have a drink on my tray table to begin with. It wasn't that I was thirsty either as I had a pre-flight beverage and still full from Five Guys, but it's the thought that counts.
The movie on this flight was "Eat Pray Love", starring Julia Roberts; I liked it. Apparently the book is better; I had borrowed it from my cousin Sheri a long time ago and didn't even start it yet! (sorry Sheri! I'll bring it back for Christmas if you want!)
I made it to my DEN-SFO flight with a little bit of breathing room. I saw that I was third on the upgrade list, but only one seat left. I knew there was no way I could clear this flight, so I could leisurely make my way to the restroom and not worry about listening for my name to be called. I assigned myself an aisle exit row seat, which should have been a good consolation, had it not been for this old man. (begin rant) He and his wife boarded at the same time I did, which meant he was a 1K too, also evidenced by the drink tickets he pulled out during the flight. The first indication that I was in for an annoying flight was the fact that I got a glimpse of his wife's boarding pass, which indicated the window seat in the opposite row. I deduced that he was going to tell the rightful person entitled to that seat that he wants his wife to sit there and could s/he please take the other seat? Which exactly happened. Fortunately, the swap was at least 1:1 as it was a left window seat versus a right window seat. But imagine if it wasn't a fair swap? The old guy took the middle seat, and he was tall. The exit row was perfect for such people as they could stretch out their legs. But what did this man do? He opened a newspaper, and sits in reading position, ie. leg across the knee towards me (not his wife!?) and arms wide open taking up both armrests. The only thing missing was a pipe in his mouth. He hit me in the arm while turning pages, as well as kicked me in the shin with his foot without a mention of "sorry" or "excuse me". I was forced to lean into the aisle as he took over my personal space. This man must have thought he was entitled or superior. More evidence of this attitude was when his wife was filling out a word puzzle and he leaned over and told her the answers. All she could say was "Oh, you're right dear..." I was glad when he took out his MacBook Air to watch movies as he had to bring the tray table out and bring his leg back down. When the plane landed, the scenario I built in my head based on the behavior of this man came true: he turned to me and asked if he could get up to access the overhead compartment; of course I said yes. He was standing in my legroom with his crotch pointed at my face, brought down his things (though it didn't hit me in the head as envisioned), and remained standing there. I was wondering if he'd even make me wait in my seat until his wife got out. Amazingly that didn't happen, and I actually was separating him and his wife while deplaning...it must have been terrible. Then we got on the jetway, and despite all the rushing to get the bags off and getting out of the plane, he walked like a snail. (end rant)
My parents picked me up from the airport and I related to them of all the experiences on the mileage run. I had dinner, then drove back home. A long mileage run weekend, but it was eventful (except for the old man). I had yet another flight the following weekend (back-to-back-to-back-to-back flying!), destination Vegas. Yes, again. It had only been one month since Karen's birthday bash, but Expedia.ca offered a deal too good to pass up. Details soon...
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