Did not do the upgrade and I think it was a good call.
I’ll save the $$ on a longer flight
3 Likes
Listening to the @Tron and Charlie pod made me think of the worst person in air travel-
I’m a SW gui but the SW #process creates this person you’ll see every now and again-
The “I have B28 but it’s cool this sign says 26-30, that’s a range so I can be at the front of it” gui.
The worst.
11 Likes
My fav SW person is the one who doesn’t know that you have to check in 24 hrs ahead and when they find out… yells at the customer service person at the gate.
6 Likes
I thought after 11 years of knowing my wife I’ve heard all of her stories. But she hit me with. New one that shook me to my core. She said that one time she was flying without me she was going through security and there was a guy going through who was sick. Stomach bug sick. So much so that he was throwing up in a plastic bag while in line. Because he now had a bag of liquid, it had to go through the conveyor belt.
This guy has to have been black listed from every airport by now, right. How do you even think it’s a good idea to show up to a flight like that.
5 Likes
I don’t get it. Why couldn’t he throw it away before going through the checkpoint? Was he planning on taking it with him on the flight? Probably was more than three ounces.
1 Like
Apparently had one bag and needed it in case he continued to throw up through the airport.
Also. First time through Louisville airport. Nice.
Good set up. local flavor shops.
All ready for folks coming in this weekend.
2 Likes
In no way am I saying this is the same situation. I am not flying personally if I am that sick.
However….has happen to me multiple times on trips I have taken with students overseas. You aren’t leaving students somewhere by themselves, and airlines don’t want to rebook a team full of kids, so they tell you to bring them through with gallon zip locks. I brought 100 gallon bags on every trip I took for just this situation. But instantly thrown away after a kid pukes in them. Not taking gaming into them.
(This is all pre covid travel…probably different now)
4 Likes
need to give a shoutout to the lone cafe/bar/restaurant in HSV. Was hungover as shit getting out of there and they delivered a high quality, made-to-order sausage egg & cheese sandwich on a croissant for cheap. First time in a long time I haven’t been gouged on airport food and it was exactly what I needed to survive the flight to DCA sunday morning.
3 Likes
Just here to say that the 787 Dreamliner is my favorite plane now. Flew direct from Milan to Chicago last week (sidebar MXP, bad airport. A cross between a bus stop and a high end mall with some gates attached.)
Long flight after a long week of work. So, was prepared to be uncomfortable. The huge windows make it feel so much more open than any plane I’ve been on. I was in the interior aisle and I could look out the whole flight and see out the windows. Best of both worlds. Makes it feel so much less like a metal tube. Plenty of legroom back in the economy seats too. Highly recommended.
Bonus was getting through customs, having my bag, and being en route home within 30 minutes of touching down at O’hare. I know they aren’t all gonna be like that, but it’s smooth trips like this that make me start dreaming up the next one as soon as I’m home.
7 Likes
Seconded, but for different reasons. I’m a peasant who splurged 5 years ago for a Business ticket from MIA - ORD. It required a stop at DFW, but the DFW-ORD was on the Dreamliner. For someone who doesn’t travel often, the extra $200ish for the ticket was well worth the experience.
Added bonus was that it was Saturday of the Final Four. Airport drinks + flight drinks + arrival drink courtesy of the friend who picked me up made for a long day.
4 Likes
Dreamliner is a fitting name because I flew one on a red eye last month 6 hour flight and I think I was asleep for 5 of those hours. So comfy.
1 Like
Finally back on the message boards after a year of very little golf and way too much work & school. I flew for the first time on a New Years trip to NYC earlier this year and I went through Atlanta, Reagan, and LaGuardia on the way up and on the way back down we connected through Dulles instead of Reagan.
Opinion time: Atlanta is huge and there’s simply not enough time to explore it all. I would love to have a long flight delay and have time to ride the tram and visit every terminal. Reagan is really cool. I love the architecture and food options. LaGuardia was incredible and I will compare every airport I go through to it from now on. Dulles was dull. Very depressing. I’m willing to bet my hometown airport (Birmingham Int.) has more life.
Conclusion: I’m now a full fledged infrastructure fanatic like Randy and TC. I want to visit as many airports as possible and experience the good and bad. I also must admit that I want to fly to Denver solely to experience the alleged “haunted” areas.
3 Likes
I once made an executive decision and upgraded to United Biz Class on a Dreamliner while checking in at Narita. Narita → Denver. Two thumbs up.
The only problem was that I got a window seat and I think the guy next to me slept for the entire 10hr flight. Had to crawl over him a couple of times.
1 Like
Fellow peasant. Have never flown business/first class. Building up my united status to sneak into that upgrade life. However, direct life is the only life for me. Unsung huge perk of living in Chicago, when planning a trip I open up Google flights and the first thing I do is click “nonstop only.”
Glad you enjoyed your flight from Dallas…but cannot imagine upgrading with my own money for a flight that is in the air for less than 2 hours. But splurge away! It was probably a glorious two hours.
Getting upgrades on United flying out of ORD is very difficult. I’ve been 1K for about 10 years and, unless I’m using my plus points, it’s very uncommon for me to get a comped upgrade.
2 Likes
if you really want to, sure. but the summary is - Go to A. See what that is about. And then every other concourse is progressively shittier with less and less food and bev options.
5 Likes
Makes sense. I have no illusions of getting all kinds of comps, especially out of ORD. Is it easier on flights back to Chicago? Or just on flights that don’t involve a hub?
It’s marginally better when going home but, in general, flying in or out of ORD will have a ton of high status people. Next time you are there, watch how many people board when they call the Global Services pre-board. All of those people will clear every time before you. Then, look at the 1K list. There will be a lot and most will not clear. If you are not 1K, you’ve got little to no shot.
Are you going to be flying enough to get 1K? When you get to Plat and then 1K, you’ll get plus points and upgrades requested using points have a pretty high success rate.
1 Like
Fly direct only
Check your bags
Thats it.
3 Likes