Harbin to Seattle - 7 flights, 5 airlines, OZ award ticket

[seanpodge]

Hello all. I've tried one of these before, but stopped half way through due to laziness, so hopefully I put in a bit more effort this time.

In this case, I'd finally racked up enough Asiana Club points to have a worthwhile J class trip. So I decided to go from China to Seattle return. Here's a map of the route.



The flights were/are as follows:

HRB-PEK 21/9 CA1622 Y
PEK-TPE 22/9 BR715 J
TPE-NRT 23/9 NH824 J
NRT-SEA 23/9 NH178 J
SEA-LAX 5/10 UA6354 Y
LAX-ICN 6/10 OZ203 J
ICN-HRB 7/10 OZ339 J

Overall the flights (excluding HRB-PEK, which was a positioning flight) costed 120,000 points plus taxes (about 500,000 Korean Won).

 

[kamchatsky]

I look forward to your trip report!

Interestingly, for city of Harbin, most non-Chinese would say it as Har-bin, Chinese though would say as Ha-aR-Bin.

 

[seanpodge]

Harbin to Beijing

Flight CA1622
Route HRB-PEK
Time 21:45 - 23:55 (2h10m)
Distance 621 miles
Aircraft Airbus 321 (B-6593)
Cabin Economy
Seat 38A

When I booked the award, I did try to get Harbin as the starting point, but without keeping it under the 120,000 points I had (or booking UA longhaul J :shock. So, I decided to go with Beijing as the starting point of the award and get down there on my own steam. I could have taken the overnight sleeper train down, but in the end decided to go for the plane.

Left my apartment at about 5:45 pm that day and took a bus to get to the airport bus. Overall everything went pretty smoothly and I made it to the airport just before 8. Used one of the self check in machines and allocated myself a seat down the back given that it looked pretty empty down there. Unfortunately I soon realised that there is no bag drop counter so I had to line up in the regular queue anyway. Not too bad in the end since there weren't many people at the airport, with only a few flights on after 8. Security was OK, except that the three men in front of me clearly didn't know the rules about liquids and electronics and were holding up the line. Wish the staff pulled them over to let them know how things work and kept the line moving. Anyway, I was soon through.

Harbin Airport is currently undergoing major expansion works, which one day will even include a rail link to the city (an actual one, not some MEL fantasy link). Overall, even though it's still in the early stages, the airport overall does seem a bit more "polished", for want of a better term. One of the victims, sadly, has been the CA lounge, which while not a great lounge by any stretch of the imagination, was still a decent step up from the public area (unlike the broom closet masquerading as the CZ lounge at HRB). During the renovations, most airlines, including CA have decided to share a new lounge space. Sadly, it seems that alliance status, such as *G which I have won't be enough to get in. So I was left with heading to the gate to wait.

The not quite SIN-esque surrounds of Gate 11

B-6593 coming in to Gate 11 at HRB

A rather modern but full looking A321

Thankfully the incoming plane was on time and we all got on board and took off pretty much on schedule. To my slight disappointment though, the flight was pretty much full, so I didn't get any extra space next to me. Apart from that, there really isn't all that much to report. Given that it was a late flight, no meal was offered and instead, a small bag of nuts along with soft drinks were served. There is no IFE and using electronic devices in flight is banned by the CAAC, so bring a book. I managed to drift off for a while which helped. Upon an on time arrival at PEK, I found my bag on the carousel (recognition of priority tags working well here) and, after weighing up the positives and negatives of taxi vs the bus to my hotel (subway was closed by this point), headed for the taxi rank.

 

[seanpodge]

I look forward to your trip report!

Thanks!

Interestingly, for city of Harbin, most non-Chinese would say it as Har-bin, Chinese though would say as Ha-aR-Bin.

Harbin is not a native Chinese (Mandarin) word. The origins are a bit contentious, but many suggest that it's a Manchu word which means "a place for drying fish nets". The Chinese name is made up of characters that sound like the Manchu name, but have no relation to its Manchu meaning. Therefore in modern Chinese, it is
哈Ha
尔er
滨bin.

Actually, most names for places in ethnic Mongolian, Tibetan and Uighur areas are "translated" in this fashion, as are most foreign countries.

 

[DavidG]

Glad to see they are finally sprucing up the airport as the buildings look quite Soviet-era-style concrete blocks.

Harbin's has the world's largest Ice & Snow Festival, which was the attraction for my wife and I.

We hope to get there again one day.

 

[boomy]

Thanks for taking the time to write this TR.

Looking forward to read about your experience with NH vs OZ, especially on the long haul routes.

 

[love_the_life]

Sounds like this will be an interesting trip - looking forward to reading more. Thanks.

 

[Major]

I would like to visit the Ice and Snow Festival one day.

Your trip looks very interesting

 

[seanpodge]

Thanks for all the kind words above. Now back to the report.

So after walking past the taxi touts in the terminal who miraculously could only speak English, I found the actual rank and took one. Everything was going smoothly until we suddenly hit a bunch of banked up cars on the freeway and had to crawl for 20-30 minutes. Finally discovered that there were roadworks going on that squeezed the freeway from four lanes to one. After that, we did at least have a smooth run to the hotel.

Hotel ibis Beijing Sanyuanqiao

Needing a place to stay overnight, I mainly chose this on price (less than half of the Novotel next door) and its location next to the Sanyuanqiao Airport Express subway station. Check in was quick and painless and after figuring out how the elevators worked, made my way to my room. I'd say it's not particularly luxurious, but it was clean and had a comfortable bed. Wifi also worked well with no messing around with login pages and the like. The bathroom was a slightly strange pod construction, but still did the job.

The room (Pro tip: Take the photo before you sleep in the bed)

The Bathroom pod

The shower in the bathroom pod

With my flight not leaving until 1:45 pm and the food in the lounges at PEK usually being pretty mediocre at best, I decided to pay the Y35 (about $7) for the hotel breakfast buffet. The range on offer wasn't quite overwhelming but it was fine and decent value for the price. There are some shopping malls nearby/across the street if one wanted to thy their luck there, or of course if the Novotel next door lets you pay for their breakfast, it might be an improvement on the ibis effort. I did like the outdoor patio for the ibis breakfast, even though the APEC Blue wasn't in operation when I was there.

Chinese style breakfast

Western style

After breakfast, I had a stroll around the block and found where the subway station is. Also saw the interesting display outside the offices of the Chinese Aviation Industry Group (my rough translation). After that, I went back to my room, finished packing and then checked out. Having pre paid, check out took a matter of seconds, then I went to the subway and took the train to the airport, a much smoother trip than the taxi the night before.

 

[seanpodge]

Beijing to Taipei


Flight BR715
Route PEK-TPE
Time 13:45 - 16:55 (3h10m)
Distance 1072 miles
Aircraft Boeing 777-300ER (B-16723)
Cabin Business (Royal Laurel)
Seat 3A

After arriving at the airport, I headed over to the check in counters, where the lines were moving a little slowly as the staff had to double check PRC passport holder's entry permits. A bit slow, but I guess no one wants to cause a diplomatic incident. When it was my turn, there nearly was a little incident when I was asked to produce evidence of my ESTA that I'd forgotten to print out! Thankfully I had downloaded it to my laptop so after I fired it up, I was able to load it on the screen and get my boarding pass and lounge invitation. The agent offered to send my bag all the way to SEA, but I asked him to only send it to TPE, which he did without fuss.

The border control line was a bit long but did move quickly (amazing what can happen when you actually have staff in those booths, isn't it MEL?!?!) and then a man was checking boarding passes and allowing those in premium cabins to use a dedicated security lane, which sped that part up considerably. After that, I wandered around to see where my gate was and then headed to the CA Lounge.

After being impressed by CA's new PVG lounge, I was hoping that things had improved at PEK since my last visit, but sadly not. At least given that it was lunch time, they had some food on offer, but the main problem is that there wasn't anywhere to eat it at. This is mainly because all the chairs are arranged into pairs or fours, therefore wasting alot of space given that many are traveling solo. If they fixed that part up, it would be a major improvement in itself. The other would be to expand the food area, which is cramped at the best of times.

Everything was running on schedule, so I headed down for boarding about half an hour before and took my seat. The EVA Airlines 777 are in a herringbone 1-2-1 setup with the window seats angled towards the windows. While this plane had EVA's best J product, given that it was a shortish flight, the service was slightly stripped back. The main loss for me was not getting an amenity kit, which on long haul flights is a Samsonite case. Did get a pair of slippers though. On boarding, I was offered a juice or water.

The seats

Glass of juice

Mandatory foot space shot

Overall, the seat was rather comfortable and even at my 1.9 meters was long enough. I didn't test it out in bed mode though. I suspect that it'd be fine for a decent sleep, although the footwell seemed a little narrow. Next came the menus.

The menus, rather pleasingly presented, I think

For those for whom such things matter, the wine list

CONTINUED BELOW DUE TO PIC LIMIT.

 

[seanpodge]

EVA allows you to select a main on their website as part of the booking management. I had already selected the black pork dish. Overall it was a four course meal. In order, I had:

Smoked salmon with feta and cranberries (sorry the pic is a little blurry!) (Bread was also served at this time)

Chicken soup with chestnuts, mushrooms and Chinese dates

Black pork in a sweet and sour sauce with rice and vegetables

Fruit and cake

Overall, the food was delicious. The pork was maybe slightly tough, but nothing worth complaining about. I reckon that the soup was actually the best dish, the flavours really mixing well. Also, having lived up in Harbin for the last three years, anytime one has a chance to eat copious amounts of cheap/free smoked salmon is party time in my books!

Afterwards, I also ordered a cappuccino with two sugars. Was a little surprised when my sugars came like this:

Still, they were kinda cute, but it did take a while for the sugar to dissolve or even come off of the stick. The IFE didn't really have much on it that interested me so I stuck to the iPad and iPhone. A disadvantage of this seat is that the screen needs to be stowed away during take off and landing, so it is very difficult/impossible to watch during these times. There also didn't seem to be bucketloads of storage space in the seat itself, although with everyone having aisle access, this isn't such a major problem, I guess. The FAs handed out Taiwan immigration forms on board and with mine filled in and the flight arriving into TPE on the dot, I soon made my way off the plane and to my next hotel.

 

[snabbu]

Enjoying the ride.

Those BR J seats look similar to CX's?

 

[boomy]

Love Royal Laurel class, one of the best J products IMO.
Very impressive they still offer LGD even for this short route!

 

[seanpodge]

After making my way through immigration and finding my bag, I then had to find the shuttle bus to my hotel. They're perhaps not as clearly signed as they could be at TPE, but after finding a large map on the wall, I did manage to make my way to them in the end, just in time to see my bus roll up in fact.

Novotel Taipei Taoyuan

When the bus arrived, the driver checked that I was going to the right hotel and then put my heavy bags on board for me. After waiting for the scheduled departure, it took only four minutes for us to get to the front door of the hotel. All pretty smooth and efficient, really. Check-in was quickly taken care of and the friendly check in staff member gave me the key to my room. Having told her that I had an early flight the next morning, she suggested that I take the 6:30 shuttle bus and kindly informed me that breakfast began at 5:30. Appropriately, my room was number 744, as it had a great view of Taoyuan airport from the main window.

I was pretty tired and full from the lunch on BR715, so I mainly stuck to my room. The bed was very comfortable and the room fairly spacious. The Wifi also worked well and at a good speed. The quite spacious bathroom (bigger than the one in my own apartment, at least :shock: ) is broken up into 3 parts - toilet, sink and then shower, which is separated from the rest of the room by magic glass.

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Just one of the fine viewing options available at Novotel Taoyuan

The bed

Whenever the fog clears, you'll be able to see the airport

The bathroom

The shower

Breakfast was included in the room rate and so, rather unsure of what the lounge would provide, I decided to avail myself of it. There was a pretty decent variety of things, more than at the ibis (as one would expect since Novotel seems to be a higher status brand). The hot western food was a bit strange though. The usual hash browns were just hot chips, sausages were frankfurt type and a couple of other things were a bit unusual. The little mini pancakes were pretty good though. The Asian style items were a bit more typical, reflecting local knowledge.

Breakfast

A very, ummm, ergonomic chair?

Having washed myself before breakfast, I quickly brushed my teeth and packed my bags then checked out. Once again, this was a smooth process and was completed just in time for me to walk to the front door where the shuttle bus was waiting to take me to my next flight.

 

[seanpodge]

Enjoying the ride.

Thanks!

Those BR J seats look similar to CX's?

Never been on CX, but from the photos I've seen of CX, they do look familiar.

 

[seanpodge]

Taipei to Tokyo

Flight NH824
Route TPE-NRT
Time 08:45 - 13:00 (3h15m)
Distance 1356 miles
Aircraft Boeing 767 (JA610A)
Cabin Business
Seat 8A

So, back at TPE after about 13 hours. After making my way from the bus stop to the check in area, I got my boarding passes for both this flight and the connecting flight to SEA and a little map showing me where the lounges are. Slightly oddly (certainly the first time I'd encountered this), the check in agent recommended that all passengers should watch their bag pass through the scanner at the end of the check in counters before going to security. The idea was let down a little by delays with bags going through and no practical way to confirm that your bag was OK. After seeing my bag go through and waiting about 20 seconds, I decided to take my chances and go to security. A big line was present with no priority screening from memory, but it was fairly well staffed and things moved reasonably quickly.

Immigration was pretty smooth too and a little quicker than coming in. One thing I forgot to mention is that your fingerprints are taken upon arrival (usually just your index fingers) and you need to "scan out" with the same fingers when leaving. Seems to be becoming more common around the world.

TPE's T2 forms a H shape with immigration in the middle and the lounges after them on an upper level. Since I'd already pigged out at the hotel, I just had a can of pineapple juice. The breakfast options looked OK without being substantial. There are two wings of the lounge to use, with one having a more modern look to it and the other a bit more traditional and understated. After a quick internet catch up on my iPad, it was time to head to the (Murhpy's Law) farthest gate to catch my plane.

The flight is officially operated by Air Japan although besides some with a finer eye for detail than myself, it's be hard to split it from an ANA flight. The seats in the 767 are lounge chair style seats that I'm pretty sure don't go even angle flat (didn't try myself) although one could lean back pretty far without unduly impacting on the person behind you. Blankets and pillows were also waiting on the seats when boarding. Fine for a shortish flight like this, but obviously a step down from the EVA flight the day before. The plane and the seats were showing a little age too, with the AVOD being smallish monitors that swung up from the side of the seat. The seats are in a 2-1-2 formation in J, so aisle fans travelling solo should snap up the middle solo seat when booking. Being very much attached to windows, though, I stuck with that.

Seat/legroom shot

IFE

Pre-meal snack: Rice crackers and ginger ale

The menu

For lunch, there were Japanese or Chinese options. Since the Japanese option looked a bit seafood heavy, something I'm meant to cut back on according to doctors, I went for the Chinese. The lunch was served all together on a tray rather than in courses. There was also a wine list. For those interested in more, ummm, "liquid" lunches, the champagne on offer was Charles Collin Brut, while red and white wine, shochu and sake were also available.

Lunch is served! (apologies for blurriness)

Once again, the food was delightful. While I usually find economy meals quite acceptable (although that might just be SQ Y), the food so far has really be a class above. Even the sweet potato and taro dessert, which I was skeptical about, was quickly devoured. After lunch, drinks were again offered. I took a coffee.

The IFE didn't really have much of interest to me (the range of programs was a bit low) so I listened to my iPhone while looking out the window as Japan approached.

A piece of Japan

Once again, everything was on time (a distinct lack of drama on this trip, is it just me?) and the plane landed a couple of minutes before 1:00 pm.

 

[seanpodge]

Tokyo to Seattle

Flight NH178
Route NRT-SEA
Time 17:30 - 10:50 (9h20m)
Distance 4,762 miles
Aircraft Boeing 777 (JA735A)
Cabin Business
Seat 8A

So, after getting off NH824, I followed the signs for transiting passengers and was led to a security check. Thankfully when I reached the area, I was the only passenger there. Good to see that the *A Gold Track signage is up and in use, even if I didn't need it. After a couple of minutes with the politest security screeners I've ever encountered, I was back airside. The NH lounge is actually directly after transit security, but since I'd never been to NRT, I decided to wander around the terminal for a little while and check out the shops. With nothing tickling my fancy, I headed back to the lounge.

The first part of the lounge I noticed was a bright, light room with wonderful tarmac views. ANA have wisely set up a bar that follows the windows, so I picked up some snacks and set myself up at the window.

The view from the lounge

Another benefit of the bar/bench set up is the plentiful power plugs along the length of the bench. Wifi in the lounge was also easy to connect to and speedy. One issue may be that as it came time for the US flight departures, the repeated announcements in the lounge became a bit much. Would be much better if there were more screens with clear instructions (e.g. It shouldn't say "Go to gate" if boarding hasn't started yet!). With it hard to concentrate on my computer with all the announcements and boarding time approaching anyway, I decided to head down to the nearby gate. One other slight flaw with the lounge was that I got lost trying to find the exit. Instead I found myself in a darker lit area that looked like it might be a more formal dining area (can anyone confirm?).

Boarding was quick and painless, probably because the business cabin was about a quarter full. The cabin was arranged in a 1-2-1 formation with the seats staggered to use a footrest to make a long lie-flat bed. The ANA website has a good picture of the seat. For solo travelers, it is very private with the seat casing wrapping all around the chair. I could imagine that this style could be an issue for couples as the shell and the staggered formation would make communication difficult. There wasn't much storage space around the seat to store an iPad or book, but the side table is quite useful otherwise. The space under the footrest could also be used to store a small bag.

The side table with a takeoff glass of champagne

Footroom shot

Preparations for the dinner service began soon after reaching cruise and due to a combination of professional service and a light load in J, was quite prompt without making one feel rushed. The meal was four courses.

Amuse

Appetizer: Beef, sea bream, persimmon and turnip

Main: Beef with porcini sauce and potato gratin

Desert: White chocolate mousse with blueberry jam and waffle

Afterwards I ordered a cup of coffee, which came with a lovely chocolate truffle. Overall, the food was delightful, although some of the amuse options were a little peculiar. Also, it would have been easier to eat the beef with a proper steak knife, but I suspect that that was something out of ANA's hands.

Once again, the IFE options seemed limited and nothing particularly interested me, so I played some games on my iPad while listening to podcasts. As I tired myself out, I decided to set up my bed. Apart from the seat controls which converts your seat to a lie flat bed automatically, ANA also provides a pillow, blanket and a comforter that you lay on top of the flat seat. One side is rubber to stop it slipping. Overall, it's pretty comfortable for something that's not an actual mattress and I couldn't feel any lumps or joints in the chair. Overall, I got about four hours of quite good sleep, which is pretty good for me.

Within seconds of waking up, a flight attendant had made her way to my seat and offered me breakfast, an offer I happily accepted. Breakfast is a single tray, all in one effort. It too was quite good. I was very pleased that the eggs were poached rather than the mystery scrambled egg/omelette effort I usually get back in economy class.

Breakfast

After breakfast, there was about an hour left until landing, by which time there were some great views of the coastline of Washington state. I couldn't get any good photos of it though. Upon landing, having already filled in my migration form on the plane, I had the great fortune of being first in line at immigration and after a few questions, was through in about a minute. Almost SIN-esque. My bag came out soon after and after passing quarantine, I took the light rail to my AirBnB property.

 

[seanpodge]

So, after finally getting around to getting my photos off of my camera and iPhone, let's continue. Obviously, most people here know Seattle best as the home of Boeing, so a tour of the factory in Everett and the Museum of Flight in South Seattle were mandatory. To be honest, I preferred the MoF more than the factory tour. There was a lot more to look at in detail and up close whereas the factory tour was a bit rushed and we were kept a bit far from the action. I know that there are practical OH&S issues with factory tours, but I think it could have been better. Also, the tour staff seemed a little too keen in talking up Boeing than describing the plane making process.

The MoF is next to the 737 production line so one can planewatch the new deliveries getting tested out from the MoF's café. Managed to spot three such planes when there.

Iraqi Airways (YI-ASU)

SilkAir (9V-MGN)

Indian Air Force

The Concorde and old Air Force One are also outside and well worth a look. AF1 in particular is a interesting plane with its layout. The museum inside also has many civilian and military planes to look at, along with an interesting exhibit about the history of space exploration.

At Everett, guests are taken around to look at the production lines of the 747, 777 and 787. Cameras and phones are prohibited on the tour so there are no photos of that. From the roof of the Aviation Center, you do get a good overview of the runways and planes waiting for delivery.

Dreamlifter

New planes waiting to be picked up

Overall, I was still glad that I went and the tour was interesting, but it still could be improved, I think.

 

[seanpodge]

Apart from the obvious aeronautical attractions, there are other things to see in Seattle. One great thing I found before I left was the Seattle CityPass, which gives tickets for five attractions for US$69, along with other discounts such as 15% off at Macy's. The pass included:
* 2 visits to the Space Needle (within 24 hours)
* Seattle Aquarium
* Harbour Cruise
* Choice of EMP museum or Woodland Park Zoo
* Choice of Pacific Science Centre or Chihuly Garden and Glass gallery

The first three were all very enjoyable experiences. I was also very impressed by the spectacular glass artworks in the Chihuly Glass gallery. The EMP museum wasn't really to my tastes, I think. There were one or two things that I liked, but overall it didn't impress me that much. In any case, the pass is very good value for money and also has a separate, usually much shorter queue at entry for the attractions, so it's well worth getting in my opinion.

Some more photos:

The view from the Space Needle

At sunset

At night

At the Chihuly gallery

Also at the Chihuly gallery

The view from the boat on the habour cruise


My friend who was travleing with me wanted to see some American sports, so we ended up watching a game of NFL, college football, MLS soccer and baseball. There were fun too, although the prices for the NFL tickets were outrageous! As an Australian, college football had to be the most bizarre thing given how little people care about university sport in Australia. It's worth going to just for the anthropology! And of course, given that Seattle is the home of the behemoth, we had to go to the very first Starbucks, which is across the road from Pike Market. The queues lighten up at night, by the way.

Overall, despite probably not being the first city that pops into the head of Australian tourists, Seattle is well worth visiting. We never even got around to visiting the national parks that surround the city, which are meant to be great in themselves. Maybe next time!

 

[seanpodge]

Seattle to Los Angeles

Flight UA6345
Route SEA-LAX
Time 12:40 - 15:22 (2h42m)
Distance 956 miles
Aircraft Bombardier CRJ700 (N719SK)
Cabin Economy
Seat 22A

So, after a nice little holiday in Seattle, it was finally time to head back home to the real world. I took the light rail to the airport. For $3 for a one way trip from Downtown to the airport, it's pretty good value. The luggage storage areas do tend to fill up quickly though. Also, it's a bit of a walk from the station to departures, especially if you are going to the far end (mostly foreign airlines). It would have been better if the station was closer to the terminal, if not underground. At the very least, SEA could stop charging $5 for a luggage trolley! Most outrageous rip off I've seen outside of SYD's terminal transfer bus.

Anyway, after the morning exercise of making my way to the United check in counters, I found a lightly populated business queue but the only check in agent was busy with another passenger that needed re-ticketing, so I was stuck with the machine. For passengers only flying a single domestic sector with carry on only, it's a good enough product, but since I needed a visa check and to put a bag in the hold, I needed to wait for another agent to come over anyway. Eventually the boarding passes got spat got and I made my way through security and to the lounge.

The United Club lounge at SEA is between gates A7 and A8, opposite a duty free shop. It's a smallish lounge but comfortable and roomy enough for the number of passengers in it. There was a small food selection for breakfast and lunch with cereal, muffins, cheese, biscuits, et cetera on offer to make a light snack. There is also a bar but one has to pay for an alcoholic drink from there.

Some western snacks before returning to China

Since my gate was nearby, I waited until the scheduled boarding time until making my way to the gate. At the gate my medium sized Crumpler roller bag was forced to be gate checked, which was a little annoying, although when I saw the size of the overhead bins on board, I became rather more understanding of the decision. They'd probably fit a small to medium sized backpack but anything at the maximum allowed for other aircraft (i.e. 737s/320s and larger) would struggle at best to fit in.

To be honest, there isn't much to get excited about with this flight (quelle surprise!). There was no wifi or IFE on this flight so the iPhone was once again called into service. No food of couse, although a free soft drink was provided. The highlight for me was seeing Mt Rainier from my window, although it was spoiled slightly due to the flithy windows on the plane, which apart from hygine issues also made it pretty hard to take a decent photo. The aircraft is in a 2-2 formation in economy. Not sure how it was in J, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't much to get excited about. The seat was a little cramped and by the two hour mark I was very much looking forward to getting off the plane as my right thigh was starting to cramp up. Thankfully the plane landed ahead of schedule and I was soon granted my freedom. After waiting on the air bridge to claim my bag, it was all over and time to rest up for my next flight.

The inside of a CRJ700

The legroom situation

Mt Rainier

Overall, the flight was quite smooth and good in the "does exactly what it says on the tin" sense. I did like the chance to fly a plane that wasn't another A320/B737, although I think the charm of the CRJ700 wears a little thin after two hours. Still, since this flight was originally ticketed with a stopover in SFO, I did like the peace of mind of the non-stop service. And so on to the next leg....