{"id":3530,"date":"2013-03-03T16:15:34","date_gmt":"2013-03-03T23:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/?p=3530"},"modified":"2013-03-04T20:02:07","modified_gmt":"2013-03-05T03:02:07","slug":"trip-report-the-comfy-run-seattle-to-san-francisco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/?p=3530","title":{"rendered":"Trip Report – The Comfy Run: Seattle to San Francisco"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/a>
\nSeattle to San Francisco<\/a>
\nAloft San Francisco Airport
\nSan Francisco to Atlanta
\nAtlanta to Newark
\nFairfield Inn & Suites Newark
\nNewark to Minneapolis
\nMinneapolis to San Francisco
\nSan Francisco to Seattle
\nConclusion<\/p>\n

Friday 1st March 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

After starting work early so I could get out of the airport at a half decent time as I knew that what should only take 10-15 minutes on a good day would easily take an hour in peak hour Friday traffic. \u00a0I left work and low and behold, traffic was actually as bad as expected, If not a bit worse. \u00a0With the time I left work, if I didnt take more than an hour I had been thinking to myself, I could get an earlier flight down to San Fran and afford me an extra hours sleep. \u00a0So I was hoping and praying I could get there in good time.<\/p>\n

I dropped the car off at Wallypark (yes that is the real name) and spent most of my time having to spell my name out to the attendant who was taking my ticket (apparently spelling my name needs to be clearer, R as in Roger didn\u2019t work, R as in rabbit didn\u2019t either, funnily enough he understands the word Robot) and then spend another 5 minutes waiting in a van on my own while he sat there doing nothing. \u00a0Not looking good at coming back here now!<\/p>\n

We made the terminal pretty good and the United check in desks were empty and I mean it. \u00a0There was more staff available than people checking in and it meant that even though I was using a machine at the Star Gold check in desks that I could do it first and get out of there. \u00a0But I went up to someone anyway and enquired about Stand By. \u00a0She told me that I would have to pay to stand by for the earlier flight. \u00a0Well that sucked, and then i said the magic words \u201cEven though I am Star Gold\u201d and showed her my card. \u00a0To which her whole demeanour changed. \u00a0Within seconds I was holding a Standby card (little did I know this could of bit me in the ass later). \u00a0Free stand by with 3 other Star Golds ahead of me and things were looking up!<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Security wasn\u2019t to bad and the priority queue had not a single person in it, so I was through within minutes. \u00a0Get to the machines and dignity dance my way ready when all I jump into the line ahead of a few dawdling people taking their time I get a dirty look from someone who I was actually ahead of in the queue. \u00a0But didn\u2019t phase me. \u00a0As it was my turn I stepped up and then rather than left into the WTMD it was right into the Nudeoscope. \u00a0SeaTac never fails me. \u00a0But this is where my brain must of been left at check in. \u00a0I was still wearing my belt. \u00a0Right before the scanner starts the TSA agent says \u201cAre you wearing a belt?\u201d \u00a0\u201cO SHIT!\u201d \u00a0I pulled it off and he actually held it for me rather than send me back out into the queue again. \u00a0NICE! I guess there are some nice TSA agents out there afterall.<\/p>\n

With Security dealt with and slowly redressing myself I jumped on the train to the N Gates and figured I would make a pit stop by the United Club for a drink and a bit of a snack prior to camping out in the Standby line. \u00a0So that is what I did. \u00a0SeaTac has 2 United Clubs. \u00a0In the B gates you have the lovely old Continental Presidents Club with a bit of a view of the ramp. \u00a0In the N Gates you get \u201cThe Dungeon\u201d. \u00a0The legacy United Club located in the depths of the N Satelitte right next to the train station. \u00a0No windows, no view, just wall after wall. \u00a0But it could be worse, it could be the crammed gate area. \u00a0Not much in the way of snacking (it is a United Club after all) and there was way less than usual as well, which was very dissapointing. \u00a0A coffee, some water, a shortbread and some carrots (I checked the expiry date first after a previous incident of an Avgeek friend) and before I knew it the previously flight was due to begin boarding any time. \u00a0So I headed on up to the gate. \u00a0Presented myself to the desk and was informed to take a seat, if they needed me they would let me know, but that it would be doubtful as they were 100% full.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

I stuck around reading my book in a seat within site of the gate as the flight arrived a bit late, and took \u00a0its time boarding. \u00a0Slowly slowly the gate area emptied. \u00a0Things were not looking good. \u00a0Volunteers were not required, people were being called up for seat assignments and it was still not looking good. \u00a0But I wasn\u2019t worried. \u00a0I had a seat assignment on my flight (and exit row as well) if I didn\u2019t make the flight the plan was to go and find some food for my next flight to waste away the half hour before we boarded.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The gate area was pretty much empty. \u00a0There was 6 of us left. \u00a0I was #4 on the list. \u00a0I headed up to the gate again as the 6 of us were mingling about. \u00a0Then I heard it, \u201cOk who is #3 on the list?\u201d \u00a0A guy presented himself up front, and then it was said \u201cyou just made it, you get the last seat\u201d \u00a0Damn. \u00a0I stuck around a bit longer, hoping and praying someone wouldnt show or that something else would change, I don\u2019t know why though. \u00a0Another girl who was last on the list had been waiting around all day and hadn\u2019t made any of the flights to SFO. \u00a0She was devestated and figured if she didn\u2019t make the next flight, she was stuck as it was the last flight to SFO that night.<\/p>\n

I finally gave in, hoping someone else would give in or just miraculously get booted off. \u00a0I headed off to find some food. \u00a0I went to check out the C gates as I figured that there was a Wolfgang Puck that might have some good food. \u00a0I was wrong, they had good food on the menu but none of it left for takeaway. \u00a0So back over to the N gates to the bagel place that would have double points thanks to a promo and off I went. \u00a0A Garden salad, bagel and a drink in a bag, a scone for something sweet (although not to sweet) and I was set for the flight. \u00a0Boarding by this time was due to begin so I headed over to my gate.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

When I got up to the gate, something wierd on the screens, \u00a0My seat (8A) was showing as free. \u00a0So I asked how accurate that seat map was, and was told it was 100% correct. \u00a0I said to the staff member that then we have a problem because I have 8A and it\u2019s showing as free. \u00a0I gave him my boarding pass (after fishing it out) and he fixed it up. \u00a0Somehow my seat was given up when I went on Standby on the other flight. \u00a0Something stupid obviously. \u00a0I was told boarding should be about another 5 minutes as the flight had just pulled in and I hopped out of the way and watched as he cleared the boarding list (the girl I had been chatting to before got her seat, the last one for the day!)<\/p>\n

United Airlines – UA6426 (Operated by Skywest)<\/strong>
\nSeattle Tacoma to San Francisco<\/strong>
\n2013-2225<\/strong>
\nCanadair CRJ-200 (N935SW)<\/strong>
\nEconomy Class – Seat 8A (Exit Row)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Boarding: 2000 (Gate N11)<\/strong>
\nPush Back: 2017<\/strong>
\nTake Off Roll: 2027 (Runway 16C)<\/strong>
\nTop of Descent: 2150<\/strong>
\nTouch Down: 2215 (Ruwnay 28L)<\/strong>
\nShut Down: 2221 (Gate 35)<\/strong><\/p>\n

They called for Preboards but there weren\u2019t any, or any first class on this aircraft, so Groups 1 & 2 were combined into one and i was about 4th or 5th in line. \u00a0I had a fight in the jetbridge with the baggage handlers about \u201cweight and balance\u201d claims. \u00a0Even though my bag will fit in the overheads they wanted to take it off me because it would be required for \u201cweight reasons.\u201d \u00a0Pfft! I pretty much ignored the guy and walked on with my bag, \u00a0I never heard a complaint or got removed or accosted by security so I figure they were just trying to get everyone to give up their bags.<\/p>\n

The boarding process was pretty quick to but then it is a CRJ so it is not as if there are many people to board. \u00a0During the boarding process the loan flight attendant made a bit of a goof. \u00a0She welcomed us aboard our flight to \u201cLos Angeles\u201d. \u00a0This caused so many people to freak out. \u00a0But she ended up correcting herself and we all calmed down. \u00a0The good thing was that even though it was a full flight, the CRJ is tight but never feels all that packed to me. \u00a0It feels more comfortable than a crammed 737. \u00a0Maybe it was the leg room, maybe it was the small windows (though they are annoying), I don\u2019t know the real reason. \u00a0The biggest thing for me on these flights is some peace and quiet, enough to sit back, maybe do some work or read a book.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

We pushed back 4 minutes late (being mindful the flight arrived 4 mins late, so that is not to bad really) and headed quickly for the 16 take off points. \u00a0About half way along we were informed we were #1 for takeoff and would soon be airborne. \u00a0Good quick taxi tonight. \u00a0Flight time announced as well and the pilot gave their quick walk through while we held at 16L for an arriving jet to touch down. \u00a0If they are landing 16L it means that it is 16C for departures.<\/p>\n

We pulled up to 16C, the pilot gunned the engines and off we went into the night sky, through a cloud bank about 5000ft and that was it. \u00a0Effortless and uneventful. \u00a0\u00a0Isn\u2019t that the way all flights should be? \u00a0I was extremly happy to be cruising along, reading and chilling in some peace while my ipod was waiting a few inches away for the 10000ft mark. \u00a0Once reached, ipod out, headphones on, into my own world I go. \u00a0I pulled out my dinner which would be almost a 3 course affair on this \u201cFirst Class flight\u201d as it had been described to me, cause everyone was in first class tonight ;).<\/p>\n

On tonights menu was a Garden Salad to start:<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

A Roast Beef Bagel for the main course:<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

One slight problem though. \u00a0I may have forgotten to get napkins… and a fork.. Smart move! \u00a0I couldn\u2019t believe how dumb I was. \u00a0Luckily i was intending on eating the Salad without dressing or I would of been up the creek. \u00a0I ended up eating the salad bit by bit as a I read and had my bagel. \u00a0The trash was collected after a drinks run (which I had a club soda in the hopes I would get the whole can… nope). \u00a0The flight by this time was just cruising along, no big hassles. \u00a0I had my scone while finishing a chapter and then once that was all done I did a little bit of work.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

I managed to knock out the introduction to the trip report on the flight and get started on this leg as well by the time we hit descent I had barely realised how close we were to SFO. \u00a0I could see plenty of lights out the window as we descended and I packed all my stuff back up. \u00a0I had been waiting till then to try and get the tail number of the aircraft as it was to dark to see it on the way onboard (though I knew it was ship #935). \u00a0I was told it was N935SW but wasn\u2019t quite sure if that was right, but it was I found out much later.
\nThe flight descended from the north for a big loop around the city, past Oakland, a detour a fair distance south then a right turn onto the final approach. \u00a0When the gear was deployed, dear god was it loud and forcefull. \u00a0I had never felt or heard any gear deployment that bad and I had flown CRJs before. \u00a0Maybe cause I was right above the main gear? \u00a0We touched down smooth and taxiied quickly to Terminal 1 which was handy as I could scope out a path for what was only a few hours away.<\/p>\n

Once at the gate everyone slowly made their way off and I headed towards the door, glad to be up and walking, though the weather was indeed slightly chilly (about the same as when I had left Seattle though). \u00a0As people lined the jetway to await their bag, I slowly strolled out and off I went, towards the hotel shuttles and a very quick nights sleep.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction Seattle to San Francisco Aloft San Francisco Airport San Francisco to Atlanta Atlanta to Newark Fairfield Inn & Suites Newark Newark to Minneapolis Minneapolis to San Francisco San Francisco to Seattle Conclusion Friday 1st March 2013 After starting work early so I could get out of the airport at a half decent time as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,4,8,9,1,18,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventures","category-spotting","category-expat","category-food-drink","category-life-in-general","category-travelling","category-tripreports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p49RU0-UW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3530"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3551,"href":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3530\/revisions\/3551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}