Mileage run (third day)
Yet another day of mileage running. This time it is a bit more compressed with a redeye (overnight) flight back from the West Coast to the East Coast. I should be in Minneapolis before 10AM the next morning leaving me enough time to relax and prepare for my return to Germany.
My scheduled flight to Chicago was delayed due to bad weather in the Chicago region. About an hour after we boarded we were allowed to deboard the plane if we promise to be back 20 minutes later. Lots of people rushed out to fix their connection issues. With the ticketing desks flooded with people I turned to the Red Carpet Club where there was no line. Since Minneapolis has a direct Denver flight I jumped on that. Instead of connecting to Denver in Chicago I would simply fly the direct route.
I arrived in Denver just in time to board my flight to Spokane, Washington. Scenery-wise this was the most impressive flight as we left the high plains in the Denver area, crossed the Rocky Mountains which were still covered with snow and eventually made it to the Pacific Northwest region. In Spokane the plane was turned around with an hour and I flew straight back. The crew was changed so they did not give me strange looks for turning around immediately.
Once again I was in Denver, heading upstairs to the lounge for a minute before boarding the next flight. This time I would be flying to San Diego. The flight was long enough to warrant dinner service - yet another steak salad for me. In San Diego I had plenty of time to go landside, change terminals and find out that there is no usable lounge in the US terminal. With free WiFi the situation could have been worse but as the jet lag kicked in I was happy to hear the boarding announcement. I planned on trying out the in-flight WiFi on the way to Charlotte but since I just served the web for two hours I simply slept for most of the flight. The US Airways First Class service has nothing First Class about it thus all I really missed was probably a few runs with the snack basket. Some four hours later I woke up when we approached Charlotte.
With only one flight to bring me home to Minneapolis my mileage runs were coming to an end. I was well rested but simply wanted to shower. I Minneapolis I took the shuttle to the Holiday Inn Express where I've been staying before. I left my bag there and was hoping to get a decent rate for a dayroom (as promised by the night staff). The best they could offer was $139 plus taxes for around five hours. I declined, popped open my laptop and fired up Hotwire hoping to score a cheap deal for the Holiday Inn. After all for the last days I was paying $49 for the very same place through Hotwire. I ended up calling the nearby Comfort Inn which offered me a $59 rate including taxes and allowed me to check in at 10AM. I took a shower and slept for two hours before preparing for my journey home. I thought about going to the Mall of America again or raid the Walmart next door for cheap DVDs and candy but decided to skip those options.
todays tickets on United paper
My scheduled flight to Chicago was delayed due to bad weather in the Chicago region. About an hour after we boarded we were allowed to deboard the plane if we promise to be back 20 minutes later. Lots of people rushed out to fix their connection issues. With the ticketing desks flooded with people I turned to the Red Carpet Club where there was no line. Since Minneapolis has a direct Denver flight I jumped on that. Instead of connecting to Denver in Chicago I would simply fly the direct route.
high plains around Denver
I arrived in Denver just in time to board my flight to Spokane, Washington. Scenery-wise this was the most impressive flight as we left the high plains in the Denver area, crossed the Rocky Mountains which were still covered with snow and eventually made it to the Pacific Northwest region. In Spokane the plane was turned around with an hour and I flew straight back. The crew was changed so they did not give me strange looks for turning around immediately.
hot nuts and Diet Coke with lime
on the way to Spokane
Spokane, Washington
leaving the Rockies behind us
Once again I was in Denver, heading upstairs to the lounge for a minute before boarding the next flight. This time I would be flying to San Diego. The flight was long enough to warrant dinner service - yet another steak salad for me. In San Diego I had plenty of time to go landside, change terminals and find out that there is no usable lounge in the US terminal. With free WiFi the situation could have been worse but as the jet lag kicked in I was happy to hear the boarding announcement. I planned on trying out the in-flight WiFi on the way to Charlotte but since I just served the web for two hours I simply slept for most of the flight. The US Airways First Class service has nothing First Class about it thus all I really missed was probably a few runs with the snack basket. Some four hours later I woke up when we approached Charlotte.
With only one flight to bring me home to Minneapolis my mileage runs were coming to an end. I was well rested but simply wanted to shower. I Minneapolis I took the shuttle to the Holiday Inn Express where I've been staying before. I left my bag there and was hoping to get a decent rate for a dayroom (as promised by the night staff). The best they could offer was $139 plus taxes for around five hours. I declined, popped open my laptop and fired up Hotwire hoping to score a cheap deal for the Holiday Inn. After all for the last days I was paying $49 for the very same place through Hotwire. I ended up calling the nearby Comfort Inn which offered me a $59 rate including taxes and allowed me to check in at 10AM. I took a shower and slept for two hours before preparing for my journey home. I thought about going to the Mall of America again or raid the Walmart next door for cheap DVDs and candy but decided to skip those options.
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