Category Archives: air travel

Oh American, You Let Me Down!

Posted on by | 4 Comments

“The World’s Greatest Flyers Fly American” Just ask American!

Yes I’m talking about American Airlines. In recent posts I’ve said how impressed I’ve been with their customer service and friendly manner. My friends who have had ( in their opinion) the misfortune to fly American , have disagreed with me, promising that American will show its true colors and that it won’t be Red, White and Blue.

Well I’m sorry to say that day arrived when I attempted to have a pleasant flight back from Washington DC to Logan Airport in Boston.

Let’s start with the day before check in. All the airlines seem to do that and unless you pay extra when you check in will affect when you get to board, you’re “Zone”, if you will. I usually bite the bullet and pay an upgrade fee to get priority boarding.

Are you Handicapped?

I am not truly handicapped. I don’t have a sticker but I do use a cane if I need to walk a lot because my hip will definitely act up causing painful muscle spasms down to my knee. Experience has shown that as awkward as a cane can be, it does keep me mobile and helps prevent the muscle spasms. Because I’m juggling luggage, a purse (my personal item) and the cane I like to board early.

I checked in right on time on my phone since I was in the middle of the tour. After I returned to my hotel I logged into the American Web site  to purchase a priority upgrade. I was declined. The message was that it would have to be done at the airport. OK, no problem ( I thought).

In Terminal American Assistance

Next morning after a nice breakfast I made my way to the Metro. My stop even turned out to be close to my terminal. I zipped through security and found my gate.  I waited until the gate area had emptied before I approached the attendant with my request for pre-boarding or priority upgrade. To my surprise she first told me she couldn’t help me because it wasn’t her flight!

She must have had 2nd thoughts because she asked for my ticket and tried to enter an upgrade. The computer wouldn’t let her. She told me I would have to go to customer service and pointed out the direction. At least she tried.

I headed over to stand in line there. After several other passengers cut the line I finally reached the customer service attendant who cut me off in mid-sentence. She told me  “they” didn’t handle upgrades anymore and pointed me to a kiosk. I limped over to where she pointed. Out of order. So I went in search of a kiosk that worked.

Once I found one there was no pre-board or priority boarding option. So much for getting help.

I decided to accept my fate, limped back to the gate and with a sigh found a seat.

Once we began boarding I noticed there was no call for soldiers in uniform, no families with children, no one in wheel chairs. In fact zone 3 was boarding before an attendant took a wheelchair person down the sky way!

To Be Continued…

What was going on???? But wait, it’s going to get even worse.

The Metro

Posted on by

The short flight from Boston to Washington, DC was uneventful. The most exciting thing was seeing another plane off to our right, slightly lower than we were. In all the times I’ve flown places I think I’ve only seen another plane out the window like that once before.

Reagan International was exactly the opposite of Logan. It was bustling. Because of the size of the plane my carry-on hadn’t fit in the overhead so I had to check it. I took the camera out but forgot the lap top  was in the front sleeve. I crossed my fingers that it would survive the trip in the “belly of the beast”.

Reagan International seemed more like Boston than Logan! When I exited the jet way I was staring at a Dunkin’ Donuts!

When I left the secured area to go to baggage claim I passed Legal Seafood’s.

I’m happy to report my laptop came through with out a scratch. My bag was about the 5th one off the plane, probably because I checked it at the gate; last on first off.

By now it was after 2 pm so I decided to get lunch at the airport. I didn’t see a lot of choices outside the security checkpoint so I settled on Legal Seafood. Sorry Legal, it wasn’t very good. The service was excellent. My waitress was really sweet and attentive but my meal left a lot to be desired. I ordered the fried shrimp meal ($17.00!) and it was dry and over cooked. I get better fried shrimp at Friendly’s. Not up to the standard I would expect from a Legal Seafood Restaurant!

Meal over I headed for the “Metro”, Washington’s version of the MBTA. It was really easy to get to from the airport. The web site said the tickets started at $2.55/ trip but like the MBTA in Boston, the Metro sell their tickets in an automated machine. I wasn’t able to find a single ticket. They only had day passes for about $14.00/day. That gives you unlimited rides but it’s a far cry from $2.55. They also charge $2.00 for a card. I purchased 3 days and had to add 3 cards. I don’t think I will get my money’s worth but it was still cheaper than the shuttle $27.00 one way or renting a car.

The actual ride was pleasant and efficient. The cars were clean and the stations announced. I had a short walk from the Chinatown Station to my hotel, The Fairfield Inn. All in all a better experience than I usually have on the “T” in Boston.

 

 

On the Road to D.C.

Posted on by | 2 Comments

And I don’t mean the comic books. (DC Comics) There’s nothing funny going on in Washington right now!

But my quick trip has begun. I was up at 6:30 am. I slept on the areo bed last night so that Joe, who is kitty sitting, could have my bed. As I unplugged the seal to let out the air Rocky took a flying leap onto the bed and sunk! Pretty funny. He was quite a confused kitty cat but he got over it. Other than it being cold it was very comfortable. Next time I’ll put a blanket under the sheet or maybe use flannel sheets.

Made it to Braintree by about 8:30 am. The Logan express is a bus to the airport and has a station in Braintree. Parking is $7.00/ day which is much cheaper than parking at the airport. Plus its nice to leave the driving to someone else when navigating Boston. The bus runs on the hour and true to its schedule we were on our way by 9:01. The web site says to allow 45 minutes to get from Braintree to Logan but as it was a Saturday with no traffic. I think we made better time than that.

To my surprise the airport was a ghost town. I was through security in less than 5 minutes and there was no one in the terminal! So after all that rushing around I was seated at table with a muffin by 9:30 am waiting for a flight that didn’t leave until 12 noon. Good thing I brought a book.

In spite of the empty terminal they announced that our flight was a full flight. That could be because we were on a teeny , tiny commuter plane. I upgraded my seat to be sure I got an aisle although it really didn’t matter. The plane was so small that there was no middle seat, just window and aisle on both sides. First class had one seat on each side of the aisle!

At least I got a look at the new paint jobs American Airlines has put on their planes. Pretty nifty!

 

The Third Leg

Posted on by

As I mentioned yesterday, there were 3 legs to my journey to Maui. We almost missed the this connection but American Airlines held our plane for us. I had upgraded my  seat for this leg and it wasn’t a full flight so I had the aisle in a very roomy seat and my row mate had the window. The middle seat was empty.

There was quite a bit of turbulence so the seat belt sign stayed on the whole 6 hours.

Somewhere over the Pacific the pilot came on from the flight deck to announce the Superbowl was 7 to 0 Falcons. Not what I wanted to hear.

I went back to my book and a bit later he announced that the score at halftime was 16 – 0, Falcons. There were a few cheers at that but still pretty subdued. I hung on to hope. After all, Belichick hadn’t gotten them into the locker room yet. No further announcements were made.

bill-belichick

My phone alerts me to the results of the Pat’s games but I’d turned it off on the plane. Putting it in Airplane mode just sucks down the battery.  Flying into Maui at 6:15 Hawaiian time was quite a sight. The sun was setting and the clouds were rimed in pink. I think its the first time I’ve been to Hawaii when I didn’t land in the dark!

As soon as we touched down and the flight crew gave the ok to use cell phones I powered up. The very first alert I got was “Pat’s Win”.

roanaoketimes-vadapt-767-high-0

Brady & Belichick did it again. You have to admit these come from behind wins are pretty amazing. So many teams would have given up; choked.

What a great feeling…I’m landing in one of the most beautiful places on earth at sunset after a last minute connection save and getting news that my team just pulled out a great win.

Baggage claim, Maui

Baggage claim, Maui

I strolled through the open air terminal to baggage claim felling pretty darn good about everything!

 

 

My Superbowl Sunday

Posted on by

I want to thank everyone who reads and follows my posts. You kept your comments positive. I don’t agree with the”trash Talking” world we live in. I was very into sports in high school, even a cheerleader, and the golden rule was always to support our team but treat our opponent’s with respect. Win or lose, be a good sport!

brady-manning

So let me tell you a little about my experience yesterday. There were 3 legs to my journey to Maui. The first leg was Providence RI to Charlotte, NC. There were a lot of Patriots shirts, hats and T’s to show support for the big day.

I didn’t think much about it. In New England we wear sports team jerseys every day. Its just what we do. Anyway once we landed in Charlotte after an on time and very pleasant flight, the flight attendants announced (as a joke, I hope) that they were now “kicking all of the Pat’s Fans off the plane, Go Falcons!” I’m not sure if that was in good taste but I thought it pretty humorous and I didn’t see anyone take it the wrong way. It all depends on how you say things.

american

 

Between the Concourses at Charlotte Airport. Love the rocking chairs

Between the Concourses at Charlotte Airport. Love the rocking chairs

Leg number two was a nail biter. The plane coming in was delayed. They never said why but American Gate attendants did their best to keep us updated and once the plane did arrive they hustled us on board as fast as possible. Apparently quite a few people, myself included, had tight connections. Once on board and sealed up we started to taxi to the run way, then stopped. I bet we sat on the tarmac for 20 minutes or more, at least it seemed that way.

 

The crowd waiting to hear news of our delayed flight

The crowd waiting to hear news of our delayed flight

As if to make up for the delay, our flight crew gave us a travelogue all along the way. “We’re flying over the Mississippi, look now the Rocky mountains are coming up, You can see Santa Fe. There’s Albuquerque to the left. Looks like  plenty of snow for the skiers in the mountains.” The one thing they didn’t say was what time we’d land.

plane-wing

Finally there was Phoenix! The cabin crew asked everyone to let off passengers with connecting flights first. Luckily we landed at Gate 23 and our departing flight to Maui was Gate 24. Same concourse, just “across the way”.

Myself and my fellow passengers to Maui (7 of us) raced to the gate. Our plane was scheduled to leave at 2:45 Mountain time. It was 2:55 when we landed. Many thanks to American Airlines. They held the plane for us!

Now for the cynical side comment…It was probably cheaper to hold the plane than to put 7 of us up for the night and rebook the next day…or option two, ship us to San Francisco and then look for a connecting flight to Maui. In any case, Thanks American! Nice job!