United had a promotion where if a 1K member flew 125K miles by the end of the year, s/he would earn two additional SWU's, good for international upgrades worth thousands of dollars. Since I was so close to 125K and had no other flights planned by the deadline, I booked a cheap overnight flight from San Francisco to Tampa with only one stop in each direction (IAD and ORD). This wasn't the first time I did a mileage run alone, but it would be my first solo overnight run.
Since the flight left from SFO (too expensive from SMF), I drove to Sheri's house to crash Friday night. She took me to the airport early Saturday morning. What a great cousin! She had to go running in the morning anyway.
As I had bought the ticket 11 days before departure, I could only find a middle seat in the 5-seat center section of Economy Plus on a Boeing 777. I tried to upgrade my flight to Washington DC with 500-miler coupons but there was no immediate availability. I saw on SeatCounter that there were first class seats available, so it would come down to the day of departure. This is where it helps to check in at T-24...makes a huge difference 99% of the time when upgrades come down to the wire. At departure time, priority for upgrades are given to (1) status, (2) fare class paid, and (3) time checked in. Since I'd be fighting with other 1K's and most probably paid the lowball fare I did, the main differentiation would be time checked in. My efforts paid off. There were a ton of people crowding around the podium and I thought I had heard my name called just as I arrived at the gate. Sure enough, I got a seat: row 1 window bulkhead (not my favorite as I enjoy underseat storage but I'll take it). A couple of guys that I had to go around to get to the desk were remarking, "Wow, you're lucky!" Well, it's not totally about luck as I did everything I could to keep my name high on the upgrade list, but I did wear my Lucky sweatpants. :)
I sat next to the CEO of a company whose name I forgot, who spent the flight time reviewing his son's high school football recordings. His son had been selected to play for a college football team (forgot which college as well). Breakfast was served, which was a disgusting omelette filled with an unrecognizable herbed cheese and not worth photographing. I'd stick with the fruit and yogurt plate next time. I watched a movie but I don't remember the title; it might have been "500 Days of Summer", which was cute but slightly sad.
I had two hours to kill in Washington DC before my flight to Tampa, so I grabbed a foot-long Subway sandwich (priced at $5 even in the airport!) and had half of it as an early supper. My flight to Tampa was non-eventful, and I didn't bother upgrading as I had the exit row all to myself.
I used Priceline to snag a great deal at the Quorum hotel (now called the Wyndham Tampa Westshore) for $40 plus tax. The hotel had a complimentary airport shuttle, which I called for via the hotel information kiosk inside baggage claim. The agent described very clearly where I was to wait for the shuttle, which was very helpful as there were two areas on opposite sides of the terminal where shuttles picked up. The shuttle arrived after 20 minutes and it was full of pilots and flight attendants. They certainly are much different when off-duty with their loud banter and all the jokes/innuendos they threw at each other.
I only used the hotel room for 6 hours of sleep, but I didn't want to sleep in the airport. (though you can...there is a website that tells you the best places to sleep) The hotel room was nice and clean, stocked with Bath and Body Works products in Coconut Lime Verbena, and it was the first time I'd ever seen a make-up remover towelette included.
Since I was leaving very early in the morning (before 6am), normally scheduled shuttle service was not provided, but since shuttle service was included in the hotel amenities, the front desk offered to hire a taxi at no charge to me! I get to the lobby at 5:45am and inquire about the taxi, which hadn't arrived yet. A few minutes later, one of the shuttle guys waves me over. He arrived early to work as he had anticipated a demand for shuttle rides; he was right, and the hotel saved a taxi fare. A shuttle had already taken off carrying a bunch of flight attendants. I got the whole shuttle to myself. The driver shared that flight crews didn't like to share shuttles with other hotel guests when heading to the airport (it was okay when leaving the airport). Maybe the flight crew didn't want to be delayed by stopping from terminal to terminal?
The Tampa airport had a musty sour smell to it, like humidity meets carpeting. I definitely wouldn't have wanted to sleep here if I didn't have to. The 3 hour flight from Tampa to Chicago was uneventful, and I had an exit row seat. I was waitlisted for an upgrade on the flight from Chicago to San Francisco, and I had a very tight connection (40 minutes!) from "landing" to "departure". Landing time doesn't really mean the time you step foot into the terminal, and boarding usually starts 30 minutes before departure, so really I had NO time to get from gate to gate. I was very fortunate that my next flight was only 5 gates down, and did not need to switch terminals! When I arrived there, I saw my name on the TV monitors very high up on the upgrade list with enough seats available to get one. :) This was thanks to Babe, as he was nice enough to wake up Saturday at 7:44am to check me in T-24 Chicago time, as I had no access to online check-in while on airplanes the day before. Sure enough, my name is called and I got a seat in the center section of first class on the 777, which is configured 2-2-2. If I'm traveling alone, I like to sit in the aisles on long hauls for easier bathroom access. What's nice about the center section was that they were pretty much all "aisle" seats and I didn't have to get up for anyone, as opposed to sitting on the left or right sides. The gate agent shared that she didn't know why people wanting aisle seats always end up choosing the left or right sides, versus the center section. Maybe they needed to see out the window?
Another breakfast flight and I stuck with the fruit and yogurt. My seatmate kept to himself so no introductions. The featured movie was "It Might Get Loud", a documentary on three guitarists (Jimmy Page, The Edge, Jack White). I liked the movie a lot, and it was really cool to hear how they made music with guitars and effects in addition to learning their life stories. It's amazing how one guitar can sound like a whole band with the right equipment. It definitely piqued more of my interest in making music. I own a bunch of acoustic electric guitars (owning isn't a measure of proficiency!), but never any pedal effects or other equipment, since I just play rudimentarily for fun. I'll have to try getting some in the future.
Once in San Francisco, I called Sheri to pick me up, and we hung out at her house for a little bit before I drove back home. Solo mileage run complete...it wasn't scary at all. I enjoyed having time to myself completely cut off from the world, though airlines have been experimenting with wi-fi for the past couple of years. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be connected...then I could update this blog in real time. :)
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