I checked the Mileage Run Deals forum on flyertalk.com and saw a deal to Kansas City. The price wasn't exceptionally cheap, but I had a 10% off coupon from playing one of United's iPhone games that was going to expire at the end of the year, plus my friend Ed had an expiring $150 voucher that needed to be used...how could I say no? This would be the sixth straight weekend that I had flown on an airplane...Karen's bash, Thanksgiving week, Nashville MR, $175 LV weekend, and now Kansas City. Crazy, I know! I even bailed out on two holiday parties just for this mileage run. Hello, my name is Kat Kong, and I am a mileage run addict.
There was a problem with using the voucher. It was a paper voucher (Type AB, for those interested...sounds like blood), not electronic, so I couldn't use it on united.com. I had to either ticket-by-mail (can't do that last minute) or go to the airport to redeem it. But how do I hold a ticket online so that I could pay it the airport? united.com didn't officially have a hold option anymore and I didn't want to waste time on the phone. I searched through flyertalk's United Airlines forum and pieced together what to do. (email me if you need to know...) I reserved my December 19 flight late in the night on December 17 and had until 11:59pm December 18 to ticket. It was raining cats and dogs on the 18th, plus I had to wait 45 minutes in line to get my flight ticketed, and pay $4 in parking fees! Not sure if I want to do that again unless I happened to already be at the airport.
Since I bought my ticket last-minute, I was on the upgrade waitlist for all of my flights. I had low hopes that I would clear the waitlist as there weren't very many first class seats left, but at least all of my seats were exit row. Early the next morning, I was at the airport trying to print out my boarding pass and the machine said I had to see a United representative. I was worried that my ticket didn't really go through. Turned out I was upgraded. :) When I boarded the plane, I was about to take my window seat in 3D, but apparently a husband and wife were seated in aisle seats 3B and 3C (probably upgraded that morning as well), so the wife asked if I would take her seat in 3B so she could sit next to her husband. Normally I like to have a window seat on early morning flights so I could lean my head against the wall of the plane to keep myself upright and lessen the odds of snoring and drooling over my fellow seatmate. But I relented here, because the first class seats aren't super close to the wall of the plane to begin with, and the seats have built-in adjustable headrests to keep my head within the confines of the seat. It was actually a blessing to move seats, as I got to meet a very nice man in 3A who was (gasp!) a 2-million-miler (2MM) on United. He had been a 1K ever since the program started. You all think I fly a lot, but I'm nowhere near breaking 200K, much less 2M! We spent the 2 hour flight having breakfast and talking about flying, destinations, life in general. He shared some valuable tips with me, which I am very grateful. When we arrived in Denver, he asked if I wanted to go into the Red Carpet Club (RCC) with him. I had 2 hours before my next flight, so I was game! I don't get the privilege of entering United's lounge unless I am traveling internationally. As a 2MM, my new friend had lifetime membership to the RCC and could bring in a guest. So instead of parking myself at the gate and munching on granola bars that I brought, I enjoyed hot cups of tea along with veggie appetizers and Pepperidge Farm cookies. :) His next flight was in 30 minutes, so he didn't stay long, but I stayed until it was time to vulture at the gate, waiting to find out if my upgrade cleared to Kansas City.
When I arrived at the gate 15 minutes before boarding, I checked the monitors for my name. There were around 10 people on the upgrade waiting list, with my name on top and one first class seat remaining. That last person could check in and there would be 0 seats. I wasn't holding my breath; the flight was only an hour and 30 minutes anyway. At 2 minutes before boarding time, the gate agent announced, "If your last name isn't Kong, please board with your original seat assignment." He then called my name a minute later to exchange my exit row seat with...3D! I don't know why I keep getting seat 3D. Ah, I will miss being 1K in 2011, since obviously priority was how I got the last seat in first class, even though I booked my ticket the day before.
The flight to Kansas City was uneventful. I had two hours to kill before the next flight. When I exited the gate area, I was wondering why security people were opening doors to let us out. Then I saw how small this airport was. The gate was right next to the ticketing counters. I had no idea that I had left the "airside" of the airport and had to go through security again, argh! I purchased and ate half of a Subway sandwich for lunch, and drank the water in my water bottle, since I had to go through security again. My next flight on a CRJ-700 (small jet) and though it had a first class cabin, there were only 6 seats and I didn't think I'd clear. It was only 1 hour 30 minutes to Chicago so if I didn't get it, it would be fine. On the monitors, my name was the only one on the upgrade list, and 1 seat remaining. Cool. :) I got seat 1D (since there was no 3D available...) and as I boarded the plane, there was an Asian man sitting in 1D. I remarked, "I see you like to have the window?" He looked perplexed and said, "Oh, is this not my seat?" and I said that it didn't matter and took 1C. Seat changing seemed to be the theme today.
We landed in Chicago into Concourse E. My last flight was in Concourse C and boarding was to begin in less than an hour. United ran a shuttle from E to C, but the line seemed long. As tempting as it was to walk from E to C (didn't seem far on the map), I was glad that I waited in line for the shuttle, as I saw how far it really would've been, and I definitely wouldn't have made it to my gate faster by walking. When I arrived at the gate, I saw my name was already on the cleared list. :) I batted 3 for 3 on a last minute flight, very lucky. Guess what seat I got? 3D! Very peculiar. However, at 8pm, the gate agent announced that there was a sensor malfunction on the plane and mechanics were looking into it, with next update at 9:30pm. Our flight was to have taken off at 8:40pm. It was going to be a long night. At around 9pm, the gate agent announced that they didn't have the parts to fix the sensor, so we had to wait for an incoming plane from Washington DC, which was arriving at 11pm. Ouch. People were totally grumbling. We wouldn't get home until after 2am; I could hear people calling their friends/loved ones picking them up at the airport that they'd be really late. Remember, this was Sunday...I was thinking how tired I would be coming into work on Monday.
I ate the other half of my Subway sandwich for dinner and found an AC outlet to charge up my phone. Finally 11pm came around and we were able to board and take off by 11:45pm. "Second dinner" was a choice of a cold chicken salad or a hot ham and cheese sandwich; I took the sandwich. Here is the one and only picture I took on this run:
I finally got home around 3am, went to bed at 3:30am and woke up at 7am to chair my morning meeting at 9am. I'm sure I looked like a zombie. When I checked my email that morning, I received a note from United apologizing for the mechanical delay and to choose a token of appreciation: $200 off a future flight, 10% off a future flight, or 7000 redeemable miles. I took the $200. That made my flight almost free, yay! So when is the next future flight? There won't be a 7th straight weekend of flying, as I'd be home for Christmas, but I would be flying again for New Year's...to Las Vegas. Yes, AGAIN. This trip was planned many months before. Don't worry, I always find something new to keep myself and readers entertained...stay tuned!
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