This was actually two seperate round-trips. First I booked LAS-SEA-DCA on Alaska because of a spectacular $146 all-in fare, and then I booked a SAN-LAS round-trip with a layover on both directions. I was able to upgrade all four AS segments, so the flights were quite enjoyable.

2/17/05
SAN-LAS 737-300 WN 1819
Dp 8:25 PM (9:00) Arr 9:35 PM (10:05)

The airport was very busy this Thursday evening, with hordes of people getting a head start on the long weekend. The security line wasn’t bad, but the gate area was especially crowded and noisy due to numerous flight delays (some up to 3 hours while mine was only showing a 25 min delay due to late inbound from OAK). I arrived at my gate at 7:30--just in time to hear them finish clearing standbys for the 7:40 flight (which actually departed at 8:05). The g/a told me all the boarding passes had been given out, so I went to Starbucks to await my scheduled flight, mostly because it was the only place that didn’t stink of burnt greasy pizza. Boarding announcement was made at 8:35, and I took seat 2C.

The flight didn’t end up quite full, which may have helped to diffuse a difficult situation. One of the last to board was a rather portly man, who sat down in 1E. 1F, a tall older fellow, evidently wasn’t going to tolerate any encroachment into his personal space. After 1E refused to move, 1F proceeded to make several uncomplimentary remarks about 1E’s girth. 1F eventually acquiesced and moved back to 3B, but casually left all his belongings sitting on the floor of the bulkhead row (unbelievable!). The no-nonsense F/A asked him to retrieve his belongings so we could leave the gate, to which he bluntly told the F/A that it was her job and not his (she did stow his belongings, but if looks could kill...). After takeoff, the F/A admonished the cranky old man for his insensitive remarks about 1E, and suggested he apologize (unusual to see an F/A talk to pax this way, but I thought she did the right thing). Instead, he spent most of the rest of the flight complaining to his seatmates about being treated like a pre-schooler (maybe because he was acting like one??). Later in the flight, he tried to go to the bathroom while the same F/A was serving drinks. He muttered, “I would go to the bathroom but she’s so fat I can’t get by her” (uncalled for and also untrue). I’m pretty sure she heard this, but fortunately chose to ignore him.

The flight was otherwise uneventful. Unlike on other carriers, there was a full beverage service with two bags of peanuts, and we were even offered refills. We did a long, meandering approach to rainy LAS, and landed about 30 minutes late on runway 1L.

From the airport, I took the shuttle to the MGM Grand, which is the green giant of LAS hotels. The room in the Grand Tower was spotless, quiet, and very spacious. The decor was upscale but fairly understated for LAS (granite-topped desk, beige leather sofa, stainless steel fixtures and marble throughout bathroom). I might add the shower also had terrific water pressure. My room rate included $25 dining cert, two free cocktails, nightclub admittance and 2 for 1 spa entrance (spa was closed). Took the shuttle back to the airport the next morning, and arrived around 7:45 AM.

2/18/05
LAS-SEA AS 669 Seat 2A MD-83 N977AS
Dp 8:52 Arr 11:33

The check-in line was minimal, and I used the kiosk to obtain my boarding pass. There was no line at security and I stopped to look at the Bonanza displays on my way to gate A21. I noticed that the 8:00 PDX flight was held for 10 minutes to accommodate four Japanese, who were escorted to the gate by a guide. They were most likely connecting to the NW PDX-NRT flight.

Our inbound arrived a bit late at 8:31, but the AS agents and Swissport were very efficient in turning around the 100% full flight. It helped that the flight had been return-catered in SEA and there was no crew change. Boarding began at 8:40, and was pretty orderly. Chilled Alaskan was already in place on the seat consoles, as was the case on all four segments. After a few gate checked bags, the door was closed at 9:00. We pushed back one minutes later, and took off at 9:16 from runway 1R. I had a great view of the strip on takeoff, including the new Wynn resort (apparently they are working around the clock to get open by 4/28 ) . Flying time to SEA was two hours and two minutes, with most of it spent at fl 220 in an attempt to avoid turbulence. We had a good view of the Sierras, a relatively large alkaline lake (not sure which one) and later downtown Portland and PDX.

In-flight service today was excellent. The captain pointed out the various sites, speaking with a strong Texas drawl. It feels like AA and AS are getting closer each time I fly. In First Class, we were served by Terry, who was very attentive and had a good sense of humor. He served us a continental breakfast (not to be confused with CO breakfast), which consisted of a fruit plate (pineapple, melon, strawberry), an apple turnover and Psalm 107:1. It was a decent snack, and Terry passed through several times with mustard sesame sticks, which almost everyone declined. I think he wished he had something else to serve us. The rest of the flight was pleasant, especially with the thickly padded leather seats that the MD-80s feature.

We landed in sunny Seattle at 11:18 on 34L and parked at gate D3 ten minutes early at 11:23.

AS 2 SEA-DCA Seat 1D 737-700 N611AS
Dp 1:10 PM (2:23) Ar 8:58 PM (9:48)

I had a long layover in Seattle due to the delay of my connecting flight to DCA. SEA is pretty boring since the new central concourse still isn’t finished. Flights to PHX, SFO and LAX were experiencing ATC delays due to inclement weather (which I believe continued into Saturday). As a result, they had to do some aircraft swaps, and they took our originally scheduled inbound and used it for another flight. Instead, our inbound ended up as flight 1 from DCA, which didn’t arrive until 1:05 PM. We boarded the aircraft and awaited the captain, who was coming from another flight. Once paperwork was complete, we were on our way for the 4 hr 13 minute flight to DCA.

The cabin was clean, and coach had the new leather seats (as did the return aircraft). Our F/A, Scotty, was an amusing fellow. He did the whole pre-flight spiel in a Scottish accent, and then switched to a Star Wars theme for the safety demo (seatmate suggested a Star Trek theme might be more appropriate). After takeoff, Scotty got me a Mac’s Amber Ale along with some pretzels. Digeplayers were then passed out, which contain MP3 music, 10 movies, and a variety of TV shows, cartoons and short segments.

Dinner:

To begin:
Spinach salad accented with diced red bell peppers and mozzarella. Accompanied by a warm French roll (good portion and very fresh) and Psalm 69:30

Entrees:
Chicken breast with sun-dried tomatoes, served with pesto mashed potatoes and broccoli
OR
Beef tri-tip with demi-glaze, served with roasted potatoes and stir-fried vegetables (pretty good)

Dessert:
White-chocolate cheesecake with an Oreo-cookie crust. (delicious)

Prior to arrival:
Warm mixed nuts and beverage of choice

Coach meal options were barbecue chicken sandwich or chicken strip sandwich with Gouda cheese. This sort of service was fine for SEA-LAX, but seems a bit minimal for SEA-DCA.

After the meal, I attempted to watch The Village for about ten minutes, but found the sound wasn’t too good and the movie seemed pretty boring anyway. I switched to the Simpsons, which was the hilarious Lord of the Flies/MUN parody and then I watched the short features on Alaska (both airline and state).

We arrived to the north and quickly parked at gate B32 50 minutes late. I called my hotel, the Courtyard by Marriott, who said they would send over a shuttle “immediately”. 40 minutes and two calls later, it finally showed up. Once I got to the hotel, I had to wait another 15 minutes at check-in. By the time I got to my room it was after 11.

Apart from the arrival experience, the hotel was great. Bed was soft and comfy. The in-room wifi access was free and worked very well. Hotel is over a mile south of Crystal City metro station, but has a shuttle that runs at regular intervals or on demand depending on time of day. I booked through Pline, but I discovered at checkout that they had accidentally charged my MasterCard instead of PL’s. This was soon rectified, and I also got to find out how much they charged Pline ($135.60 for 3 nights versus the $148.33 I paid Pline for the winning bid of $41).

2/21/05
AS 1 DCA-SEA Seat 1A 737-700 N625AS
Dp 8:59 (9:49) Arr 11:45 (12:38 )

Once I found the AS ticket counter (tucked away in a corner), check-in was smooth. I got to the gate in plenty of time, but it was soon evident that our departure would not be as scheduled. At 8:40, the AAgents announced that the aircraft was still at the hangar and they couldn’t get it started. Details were a bit sketchy, but it sounded like the APU was inop and they didn’t have ground power (really?), so they’d have to borrow a ground cart from somebody else (think it was US). I don’t know why they couldn’t just tow the aircraft over and start it at the gate. Anyway, the aircraft eventually taxied over under its own power. We loaded up quickly, and the cabin was once again clean with pillows and blankets in place at each seat.

Engine 1 was started at the gate from the start cart, and then they did a cross bleed start after pushback. It was fun feeling the aircraft gently rock while they powered up with the parking brakes on. We taxied out to runway 36 along the bumpy taxiway and headed straight to the penalty box. After about 7 planes passed us by for takeoff (interspersed with several arrivals), it was finally our turn at 10:10. Weather was overcast with mist and only about two miles visibility.

Our 5 hr 25 min flight today passed by rather quickly with the help of a good meal and attentive service from our f/A Lizette.

Brunch:

To begin;
Ripe pineapple, kiwi and melon, accompanied by a large hunk of blueberry crumb cake and Psalm 9:2
(crumb cake was crumbly but tasty and filling…though I still think the scone with marionberry jam is more appropriate for the DC flight)

Entrees:
Cheese omelet with latkes and two sausage links
OR
Quiche Lorraine with butter sautéed button mushrooms and grilled tomato (all very tasty, although quiche was suspiciously similar to Nancy’s)

Pre-arrival service:
Warm mixed nuts, accompanied by Visa Signature application  
(AS is very dutiful about pitching the B of A credit cards on its flights)

There wasn’t much sightseeing apart, from brief glimpses of Lake Michigan, the Rockies and the usual gorgeous Pac NW scenery on arrival. During the last
2 ½ hours of the flight, I watched Troy, which wasn’t too bad. I thought Brad Pitt and Peter O’Toole gave commendable performances, although I thought Helen was rather underwhelming.

AS 652 SEA-LAS Seat 2A MD-83 N974AS
Dp 1:22 Arr 3:46

Upon arrival in Seattle, I was anxious to get to my connecting gate, as I didn’t want them to give away my seat. I then made the trek from C18 to D5, where I discovered my flight was already in the final stages of boarding some 30 minutes prior to scheduled departure.

The door was closed at 1:15, with a 100% full load of 12 F and 128 Y. We took off from rwy 34R at 1:30. We turned to head southeast for a bit, and there was a great view of the summit of Mt. Rainier off the port side as we passed through 16,000 ft. A few minutes later, folks on the starboard side got a good view of Mt. St. Helens (even a little steam coming out).

Unfortunately, LAS lost its forward cabin meal service on PM flights in December, so I had to make due with harvest mix and Darcia’s rosemary crackers and salsa instead of a hot sandwich or entrée salad. I was feeling a bit groggy, so I had some coffee. It tasted pretty good and the F/A kept refilling my cup, so I was pretty wired by the time we arrived in LAS (on schedule).

I had a 5 hour layover, in LAS, so I decided to head into town to gawk at some of the strip behemoths. Before leaving the airport, I stopped at the common-use kiosks to get an “A” boarding pass for my Southwest flight at 9:05 PM. I must say, the shuttle-area at LAS is a complete mess, and I can only imagine what it must be like at the busiest times of the year. I took the first available shuttle, which meandered through back alleyways (perhaps because Las Vegas Blvd was best traversed by canoe that day) before finally arriving at Caesar’s Palace. I wandered around the “forum” shops for a bit and watched the Atlantis show. I then went to the Bellagio, where the gardens were decorated for Chinese New Year. Next stop was the Imperial Palace, where I had a pass to see the much-vaunted car collection. I then took the monorail back to the MGM Grand (where I had stayed Thurs night), and then a quick cab ride to the airport.

I got to the airport at 7:10 for my scheduled 9:05 PM flight. I had expected horrible security lines, but surprisingly there was no line what-so-ever. I took the tram over to the C gates, and asked about standby for the earlier flight. Normally Southwest requires you to purchase a full fare ticket in order to standby, but the friendly agent said she would make an exception due to the rain. Unfortunately, I did not get on the 8 PM flight (which left at 8:25), so she rolled me on to the list for the 6:45 PM flight (estimated at 8:20, but the plane didn’t even arrive until 8:25).

WN 267 737-700
Dep 6:45 PM (9:03) Arr 7:50 PM (10:05)

The flight delay was never fully explained, but I imagine the lousy weather had something to do with it. Since I was called off the standby list, I was one of the last to board. I ended up taking a middle seat in the exit row. The window seat occupant turned out to be the snuffleupagus, who sneezed and wheezed throughout the entire flight. I'm still trying to shake off the cold... The crew was very apologetic, and the delay didn't matter much to me since I would still arrive at the same time as my original flight. Once in-flight, it was 48 minutes to SAN… surprisingly long for a relatively short distance.

The flight attendants took drink orders on the ground, but the captain told them to remain seated, so there was no in flight service. The flight was actually smoother than my trip over which had full service. We arrived at 10:05 and my originally scheduled flight pulled in directly behind us (I saved an entire two minutes).

Overall, a great trip!