Trip Report: USA - A tale of two coasts

[smit0847]

Yikes - what a nightmare! Sometimes experiences in airports can be a smooth as silk and other times they can be an absolute nightmare.

A few years back my VX JFK-LAX flight was cancelled due to mechanical problems meaning I would miss my connecting VA LAX-MEL flight that night. I was wisely suggested by a fellow Aussie VX pax to R-U-N back to the check-in desk to beat the crowd to be moved onto another flight (we both sprinted through the terminal and were first in line from our flight back at check-in). As luck would have it the VX check-in systems crashed just as we arrived and it took 3 frustrating hours from arriving at the desk to arrive at an airport hotel with no new flight details as they couldn't check availability on their crashed system, only that 'there are no more flights tonight'. I rang VA in Australia at the hotel to tell them I wouldn't be making the flight due to the cancelled flight (same PNR thank god), and they were fantastic (and I was only PS at that time and travelling in Y). They told me to leave it with them as the VX systems were still down, go to bed and call back in the morning. When I did they told me they had rebooked me on a flight leaving in 2 hours via SFO and booked me on that nights LAX-MEL flight. The airport hotel was actually really nice (my room was fantastic) and the airport experience on returning the following day was very smooth and relaxed. I shudder to think what the people who were last back to the desk were stuck with.

In comparison I would be very annoyed if I was you being treated that badly on an F ticket, especially on such a big airline.

 

[Mattg]

If you are interested, you can read the next part of my trip here: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ip-report-venturing-through-brazil-58201.html

I will come back to this thread in a couple of weeks when I return to the USA to travel down the West coast.

 

[Mattg]

I'm going to pick up this thread where I left off more than 3 weeks ago, at Miami International Airport.

I had a fantastic experience in South America! My round-the-world trip has almost come to an end, but before I go home I'm going to be spending a week on the West Coast of the United States, visiting Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and finally Los Angeles.


There are two Admirals Clubs in Miami Airport. As my flight to Seattle was departing from a satellite terminal I used the one located at gate D15, which I suspect was the smaller of the two. Waiting for the flight in the lounge was nicer than waiting in the terminal, but I can now see why the "Why do people in the US bother with lounge access?" thread was started. The Admirals Club almost made the Qantas Club in Hobart seem like the first class lounge in Sydney! (Note I said almost though, this is Hobart we're talking about ) There were a few tables, a TV and at least free wifi. There was also free instant tea and coffee, as well as a small table of snacks, but if you wanted anything substantial to eat you would have to pay for it. The whole place was quite small as far as airport lounges go, especially for a major airport like Miami. I was only there for an hour, but quite honestly that was long enough.


Flight: AA1057 Miami - Seattle
Boeing 757-200 | N673AN
Departure time: 17:25
Arrival time: 21:10

When I walked onto the American Boeing 757 I felt like I was taking a trip back to the 1980s... or what I imagine it might have been like anyway as I wasn't actually born then! The plane looked OLD, with a capital O! And I didn't know they even had seats like the ones on this plane anymore. When I looked up the aircraft age after the flight, I was surprised to learn that the aircraft was actually younger than me, but only by a few years. I had assumed it would have been older...

With a flight time of 6 hours and 45 minutes you'd think there would at least be some sort of in-flight entertainment but apparently not, other than some bits and pieces playing on overhead screens which made the ones on the old Qantas 737-400s look good. I tried watching at one point but it kept cutting out and the sound quality was atrocious.

The hard product aside, the flight wasn't too awful. I was lucky enough to get an exit row on this flight so that was a bonus. I got my first experience of being served by one of the more mature (a euphemism for old) AA flight attendants. Quite honestly, I don't know why people complain about these people; she was easily the best FA on the flight! She knew what she was doing, she took the time to speak to everyone and was even quite amusing, telling jokes all the time. You could tell she enjoyed her job. If this is typical of these flight attendants, I'd be happy to be served by one of them on any future flight.

We were served a complimentary drink but if you wanted food (or even headphones for that matter) you would have to pay for it. I didn't bother as the cookies from the lounge gave me enough sustenance to survive the long flight. I really think that on a flight of nearly 7 hours food should be included in the ticket price, but apparently not in the United States.

We arrived in Seattle on a rainy night and couldn't see anything out the window as we approached the airport. After landing, the flight attendant came on the PA to tell us "Welcome to Seattle-Tacoma where the local time is 11.59pm..." - she was only off by 3 hours!

Typical of my other flights so far with American Airlines, the flight was just average. At least they're consistent! I'm sure this would have been a pretty good flight if only the plane wasn't so old, there was in-flight entertainment and a meal was served.

I had guessed (correctly) when I booked this trip that I would be tired when I arrived in Seattle so I booked a room at a hotel near the airport for the night. I transferred to a hotel in the city the next morning, and then the sightseeing began...

 

[Atleastonce]

I have never been to Seattle but will be there in about 8 weeks. Very interested to see your comments about the sight seeing. The only things I have planned is the Boeing factory and museum of flight.

 

[Major]

Stage 2...closest I came to Seattle was a day trip from YVR to the Boeing plant at Everett

 

[Hvr]

I have never been to Seattle but will be there in about 8 weeks. Very interested to see your comments about the sight seeing. The only things I have planned is the Boeing factory and museum of flight.

The Space Needle at sunset is magnificent on a clear evening.

The original Starbucks is worth a visit.

 

[Travelqueen]

Fantastic TR.
I'm enjoying it immensely
Thanks for taking the time

TQ

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

Sounds like your new Status is now appearing on your boarding pass.... So that's exciting!

So a flight from MIA > SEA is pretty much the longest flight you can do in the US, with the exception of HNL > JFK (which I believe is the longest domestic flight in the US) certainly in the lower 48 , you flew on the mother of all domestic flights & AA put on a clapped-out old banger on this route..... Are they for real?
No meal service in Y for such a long sector.... I agree, that sounds a bit mean to me!

Never made it to Seattle myself despite being just over the boarder in Vancouver countless times...... The Boeing factory would be pretty cool to see & not to forget somewhere just outside Seattle is the Grave for the Late Jimi Hendrix ....a great pilgrimage to worship a true blues/rock star that's on my bucket list one day!

Once again, Can't wait to read what you got up to .

 

[Mattg]

Sounds like your new Status is now appearing on your boarding pass.... So that's exciting!

So a flight from MIA > SEA is pretty much the longest flight you can do in the US, with the exception of HNL > JFK (which I believe is the longest domestic flight in the US) certainly in the lower 48 , you flew on the mother of all domestic flights & AA put on a clapped-out old banger on this route..... Are they for real?
No meal service in Y for such a long sector.... I agree, that sounds a bit mean to me!

As you can probably tell, I haven't thought too much of AA... there was food available for purchase, i.e. someone came through the cabin quickly with the trolley at the start of the flight (before I got a chance to get hungry), never to be seen again! But no, no free food. One thing I did forget to mention though is that there was at least wifi on board... although when I had a look at the prices I didn't bother!

I'm pretty sure there is only AA domestic flight worse than MIA-SEA on a 757 - the return flight AA1070 which was a redeye flight! :shock:

 

[Mattg]

Say what you like about the public transport system in Seattle, but frankly the light rail which runs between Seattle-Tacoma airport and downtown is fantastic. For less than $3 the service is reliable, convenient and gets you downtown in around half an hour!

The locals seem to like complaining about the transport options in the city but again, once you work it all out I don't think it's too bad. There there's the monorail, plenty of buses of the South Lake Union Streetcar, which used to be called the South Lake Union Trolley until they realised what it stood for! :shock:

On my first afternoon in Seattle I wandered around to get a feel for the city as well as taking one of Bill Speigel's underground tours. For $17 they take you on a group tour of some of the underground parts of the city, which used to be street level until they decided to raise the city following the Great Fire of 1889. It also comes with a bit of history and lots of jokes about Tacoma, Seattle's rival city. I'm not sure I think it was worth $17 but kinda cool nonetheless.



Planes and coffee are two things I like very much, and as it happens Boeing and Starbucks are two companies I am a fan of. But what else do they have in common? If you said that they were both started in Seattle, you would be right. I began the day on Thursday by visiting the original Starbucks store at Pike Place market. You can tell it from the other dozen Starbucks store within a block because it still has the original logo on the shopfront. At 8am the store wasn't too busy but they only do takeaway and there weren't any tables to sit and enjoy my coffee. It seems this store simply wants to get as many people as it can in and out in the shortest possible time. Other than being the original, the store wasn't really anything special, but it was something I wanted to see.



The original Pike Place Market Starbucks store, from the outside and inside.


I booked my tour of the Boeing factory in Everett online from Australia months ago, but only the day before did I realise how difficult it was to actually get there. If you don't have a car, your only two options are public transport or to use a tour company. Public transport won't cost much, but getting there would be complicated and take around 2 hours, so I chose the other option. As I already had a ticket they "only" charged me $54 for what was essentially just transport with commentary. (With ticket the tour would have cost $69...)

The tour of the Everett factory was amazing! I loved it! Even the building, which is the largest in the world was remarkable, but not as much as what was inside. We saw the production lines for the Boeing 777s, 747s, 767s and 787s. The 737s are put together at a different facility in Renton. Among the many new planes we saw being built were a Lufthansa 747-800, Emirates, Qatar Airways and American 777s and a British Airways 787 Dreamliner. We also saw a lot of freshly painted Dreamliners sitting on the tarmac, including planes for Mexicana, British Airways, Hainan Airlines, Air Canada and Kenya Airways, to name a few. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos on the tour so you will just have to go and see it for yourself!


The outside of the Everett factory.

We saw a brand new 777 which will belong to Air China undertaking a test flight. The plane was so new that it hadn't even been painted yet.

 

[Mattg]

I know that the Boeing tour was a big advertorial for company, but honestly I didn't really care. The guide was very quick to point out all the great things about their aircraft, although she didn't discuss any of the problems they were having with the 787s.

The tour begins and ends at the Future of Flight building where there is a gift shop (of course!) and a neat exhibition with a few old plane parts, a simulator etc. I wanted to buy a model Qantas plane to take home and asked the lady to take me through their range. They had a small metal Boeing 737, a small plastic 747, medium-size plastic 767s and 787s. I told the lady that Qantas doesn't actually have any 787s and she said "Boeing must be hopeful!". "So am I," I replied. I bought one of the 767s.



The Future of Flight gallery where the Boeing tour begins and ends.


In the afternoon I headed to the Pike Place market for some lunch. It's a vibrant place and there were heaps of trendy shops and eateries.



Since I was nearby, I headed back to the original Starbucks store to buy a souvenir mug. If you're interested, you can buy unique mugs and other souvenirs at this store at prices no more inflated than at every other Starbucks store in the world. Unlike my pleasant experience in the morning though, by this time the shop was packed and to even get in you had to be line up so that you could be sorted like cattle according to what you wanted to buy.

Before sunset I headed to the Space Needle, probably the most recognisable building in the Seattle skyline. The views of the city were good, but I'm sure they would have been better on the 14 days each year it isn't overcast or raining in Seattle!



Unfortunately I didn't have time to do much more, but if I had a few more days (and more money!) I would have liked to have visited the Museum of Flight and done one of the 20-minute, $95 seaplane tours!

You probably noticed by now that I liked Seattle a lot. It has been a surprise favourite for me and a city which I will no doubt go back to one day!

 

[Hvr]

Loved the report on Seattle. When I was there I asked the hotel concierge (Arctic Club-Hilton) about the Boeing tour and we got one for the next day. Think it was about US$50 all up including transport from/to the hotel.

Like you I would love to spend more time there and explore a bit more.

 

[kevrosmith]

When I visited Seattle, people recommended the observation deck in the Columbia building rather than the Space Needle, and I thought it had a great view.



Looking north toward Space Needle:



Looking south east down the I-5. Sports stadium just to right off camera:



I was fortunate to have great weather when I visited Seattle. Friends took me down to Puget Sound near Federal Way:



And visited Snoqualmie Falls. (I've since discovered these are the falls used in the opening credits of the 90's cult TV show Twin Peaks).

 

[Mattg]

After Seattle my next stop on the west coast was Portland, Oregon. To get there I tried out Amtrak's offering.


The train at King Street Station, Seattle.

The Cascades train was actually really nice. The leather seats were comfortable, there was free wifi and power points. The best thing about the train though was the conductor's announcements. Our conductor Larry (also known as Larry the Legend by his colleagues) made frequent, enthusiastic and entertaining announcements the whole way, not just when we were approaching a station but whenever he wanted to point out something of interest. For example, we went past an old mansion and he gave us a history lesson about it over the loudspeakers. When we crossed over the river between Washington state and Oregon, he came on the PA to say "Cry me a river, we're now leaving the beautiful state of Washington..."

The journey was going extremely well until we had just left Vancouver (the one in Washington state, not Canada) and Larry came on to inform as that due to unforeseen trackwork we were going to be delayed 45 minutes at a point just 4 miles north of Portland station. It didn't worry me as I wasn't in a hurry and I was happy using the free wifi on the train, but for a lot of the other passengers it completely ruined their day. Just imagine one angry, loud American and multiply it by the number of seats on the train... Yeah, it wasn't great. Larry kept us informed though every couple of minutes with every single little detail of information he had to share. When we finally did arrive into Portland station he played his harmonica over the loudspeakers and thanked us all for our patience and for riding Amtrak. What a great guy!

With just one afternoon to see Portland I took a city walking tour.

Here were some of the highlights:


Pioneer Courthouse Square


The Portland Building


Broadway


The World's Smallest Park (well, I wouldn't really call it a park but it is officially recognised by the Guinness Book of Records).


Although Portland is almost twice the size of Canberra, and the largest city in the state of Oregon, it didn't really feel like a city. There were too many parks and not enough tall buildings or people in suits. As my guide explained, this was the result of some clever urban planning in the 1970s.

There is a law that 1% of the cost of large buildings in the city should be put towards public art. As a result, the city is full of random art, from statues in front of buildings, to gardens, to gargoyles in the shape of peoples' heads. Of course, some artworks were much better than others.

Another thing I couldn't help noticing throughout the tour and my explorations of the city was the amount of homelessness. There have been homeless people to some extent in most cities I've been to but the number of people on the streets in Portland seemed to be disproportionately higher than in most other places. The tour guide attributes this to the moderate weather and generous amounts of assistance available in the city.


The high point of my day though came after the tour. I walked into a Ben & Jerry's ice cream shop and told the girl behind the counter, whose name was Roxy that I was from Australia and that it was my first time in one of their stores. Roxy was very friendly and the store wasn't busy so she offered to let me taste every flavour in the shop for free! I looked at her for a minute in disbelief and asked if that was a serious offer. It was. So for the next 15 minutes she took me on a flavour adventure as I tried every single flavour of their ice cream - there would have been around 30! I think Roxy had almost as much fun as I did. For the record, my favourite flavour was milk and cookies but they were all great!

If you want something interesting for lunch or dinner, there are heaps of food carts around the block near 9th & SW Alder Streets with an immense variety of international foods. But for dinner I had a personal favourite food from America - a Philly Cheesesteak.

 

[Mattg]

The next day was Saturday and I had another day of travelling ahead. I was flying from Portland to San Francisco via Los Angeles. If you are familiar with the geography of this part of the world, you will probably realise that this is about the equivalent of flying from Brisbane to Sydney via Melbourne. But I did save $10 on the airfare, so in my books it was worth it.

I had booked once again (months in advance) with American Airlines but the first leg was operated by Alaska Airlines. When I checked in, the lady informed me that I would have to pay $25 for my suitcase, even as a oneworld sapphire member. I wasn't happy about that but what choice did I have? - pay the $25 or leave my suitcase in Portland...

On the first flight I was allocated 9A but I had done some research on seatguru where it said that this row was missing a window. I asked the lady if I could move to a different window seat but she was sure there was a window in row 9 of their 737-400. I stood my ground though and she just said sarcastically "Alright then, I'm not going to argue with you. What would I know, I've only been doing this for 18 years..." The only other available window seat was an exit row seat. "That'll be fine," I said.

Portland's airport was actually quite nice. And I was pleasantly surprised, shocked even when one of the TSA employees asked me with a smile how my day had been!


Flight: AS564 Portland - Los Angeles
Boeing 737-400 | N797AS
Departure time: 11:00
Arrival time: 13:13

Walking onto the Boeing 737-400 I was feeling a little reminiscent. The interior was almost exactly the same as Qantas's 734s used to be, minus the overhead TV screens with half peeled-off yellow & black tape. On Alaska Airlines though, there was no in-flight entertainment other than looking out the window or trying to guess how much botox one of the flight attendants had. When I walked past row nine there was half a window as it was misaligned, but you could actually see out if you leaned forward a bit. So if the kind lady who checked me in is reading this, I was wrong and I'm sorry.

On the Alaska Airlines flight, small complementary beverages were served but if you wanted anything to eat you would have to pay for it. There were a couple of things I particularly liked about the flight though. Firstly, the views out of Portland and on approach to Los Angeles were excellent. And secondly, the cabin crew were friendly and the announcements were made almost amusingly enthusiastically.


Approaching Los Angeles

On arrival into LAX, which was actually slightly early, I got the transfer bus across to Terminal 4, the American Airlines terminal which for some reason QF16 to Brisbane also seems to leave from. (The other flights to Australia leave from TBIT.)

They let me into the Admirals Club in Terminal 4 which wasn't bad by American standards. There was once again only a small range of free food (cookies and pretzels) but plenty of comfortable places to sit and free wifi etc. If you wanted something substantial to eat there was other food available for purchase. I was given two vouchers for free alcoholic drinks but they were useless to me as I'm under 21.


Flight: AA209 Los Angeles - San Francisco
Boeing 737-800 | N895NN
Departure time: 15:50
Arrival time: 17:05

I had a window seat in the front row of economy on the flight to San Francisco. Occupying most of the business cabin and front rows of economy where American employees paxing to San Francisco in order to operate a flight to Dallas, which if I overheard correctly had 5 passengers booked on it. Other than that, the flight was remarkably uneventful. It was actually kind of nice to finally have an American Airlines flight which wasn't terrible. Unfortunately I can only say that about 2/6 flights I took with them.


Somewhere to the south of SFO

Once I worked out how to buy a train ticket in San Francisco I took the BART (subway) to the city. The ticket system was confusing a lot of people. I had barely worked it out myself when others were already asking me for assistance. Instead of buying a point-to-point ticket, you need to load a certain value onto a card. The fares to every station are listed on the machine. So for example, I wanted to go to Montgomery Station which from memory was $8.65 one-way. I inserted $10, then had to add or subtract in $1 or 5c intervals until I reached $8.65. Once I printed a ticket for this amount, $1.35 in change was dispensed. What a weird system.

 

[drron]

Bringing back lots of memories.I notice Seattle's weather was it's usual wet self.
But for philly cheesesteak you have to have it from Pat's or Geno's in Philly.both claim to have invented it with history leaning to Pat Olivieri.

 

[Mattg]

San Francisco turned out to be another city which I liked a lot!

On my first evening I headed down to Fisherman's Wharf to soak up the nightlife and grab some dinner. I took the opportunity to try the much raved about 'In N Out Burger' but I must say, I was disappointed. I had to wait twenty minutes for my burger and when I did get it, it was cold. Perhaps I was just unlucky but even though it was still nicer than McDonalds, I don't see what all the fuss is about!

Being a Saturday evening there was plenty going on at Fisherman's Wharf. There was loud music and acrowd gathered around something so I went over and checked it out. It was a street artist making these amazing San Francisco artworks using nothing but spray paint and a couple of tools. It was quite a spectacle and the artworks looked great! After watching the guy do a couple I decided I wanted one. If you watch it being made it costs $15, or they had pre-made art for $10. Bargain!


A San Francisco street artist

Sunday was my only full day in San Francisco and I wanted to see as much as possible. I started the day by taking a free (tips-based) walking tour of the Castro & Mission distrcits with a company called Wild SF. I've done a lot of walking tours but this one was unique. I knew it would be interesting when the guide turned up in a funny costume with a guitar around his neck! To begin we took a historic streetcar originally from San Diego (the city imported streetcars from all over the world including from Boston & Zurich) to the Mission district while the guide played some funny songs for us on his guitar. I can only imagine what the driver and other passengers might have been thinking!

We wandered around the Castro district for a while before heading over to the Mission district. A highlight was Delores Park where all the "hipsters" hang out and where we got some great views of the city skyline. To finish off the tour guide offered to take us out to lunch at his favourite Vietnamese restaurant. What a great guide!


Delores Park

When I returned to my hostel the steep street running alongside it was blocked off and there was a big ice truck parked out the front. They were pumping a whole lot of fake snow onto the street for some reason. I found out why later that evening.



That afternoon I rented a bike and my plan was to ride from Fisherman's Wharf across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito and then get the ferry back. But first, I made a slight detour to the crooked street, which is one of the most famous streets of San Francisco. It's not that remarkable; just a steep winding street, but tourists were coming in droves to photograph it and cars were queued up for several blocks to drive down it. (I feel sorry for the people who actually live on that street!)

I parked my bike at the bottom of the street and walked up to take the obligatory photographs. When I came back down, I tried unlocking my bike but the lock was stuck. I persisted for 10 minutes or so but it really wasn't coming off. I had to call the bike rental place for help and someone turned up within 10 minutes with a replacement key but it was the lock that was faulty, not the key. Even the pro couldn't get it off, despite trying for 15 minutes! I asked if he had any bolt-cutters and he said that he might have some back at the shop and he'd be back with them in another 10 minutes. Sure enough, he came back 10 minutes later with this battery-powered cutting device. He started to cut through the lock and sparks flew everywhere. We got a lot of funny looks from all the tourists around and even people in their houses. But before he had cut through the whole lock, the machine ran out of battery! I waited some more as he went to the shop to buy a new battery and when he came back he finally managed to get it off. A quick detour to the crooked street turned into an hour but at least I got stuck somewhere interesting!

 

[Mattg]

I was now on my way but it was already 5.30pm and I didn't have enough time to go through with my planned route.

I rode along the waterfront to the famous bridge and crossed it on my bike. The views from the bridge were stunning as was the lookout on the other side. By this time though I think I had already missed the last ferry from Sausalito so turned around and went back to Fisherman's Wharf the same way I came. It was still a lot of fun so I'm not complaining!


The Golden Gate Bridge

When I returned to my hostel, a crowd had gathered across the road and the street was still blocked off. By this time though the ice truck was gone and a shiny red BMW and film crew had arrived. I joined the crowd and watched from across the street as they shot a take of BMW's newest commercial. The car revved up the steep street before stopping suddenly as a camera vehicle followed.



For my final morning in San Fran I visited Alcatraz. Once an infamous maximum-security prison, it's now a National Park and a tourist attraction. The only way to get to Alcatraz is by paying $30 to Alcatraz cruises, who have a monopoly on ferry services to and from the island. I guess you could also swim there if you really wanted to, but from memory I think 5 prisoners died trying to swim from Alcatraz to the mainland, so it's probably not such a great idea!

I thought Alcatraz was pretty cool and the views of the city from the island were also great.




As you would expect, the operator of Alcatraz who happens to be the National Park Service tries to make money selling souvenirs. Some of them looked really good but I think they went a little too far with things like official Alcatraz soap. Seriously, who would pay $4.95 for a bar of that?

To finish off a couple of great days in San Francisco I lunched on some delicious, fresh seafood at Fisherman's Wharf. I reckon that everyone who visits needs to do this once!

 

[Mattg]

Next up was a flight to LA with Southwest.

Flight: WN1203 San Francisco - Los Angeles
Boeing 737-700 | N288WN
Departure time: 18:45
Arrival time: 20:05

This was my first flight with Southwest Airlines but after this flight, I doubt it will be my last. I had a good experience from the moment I checked in to the moment I left LAX.


A spot of plane spotting in SFO.

The boarding process was a little weird as Southwest does not have allocated seating. On your boarding pass you are given a number based on the order in which you checked in. You can pay $12 or something to "check in" early, or otherwise online checkin opens 24 hours beforehand. I checked in around 21 hours before the flight and got given boarding number A56, so I guess that if you want to be the first on, you'll need to pay the $12 or be really cough and check in exactly 24 hours before the flight. When the inbound aircraft arrived at 6.16pm they invited "A-list" passengers (the first 60) to queue up in order. In theory, this meant that the first 60 passengers lined up in exact order, one after the other to allow for very speedy boarding once it started. I'm not sure how well this was policed as it seemed like more than 55 people got on ahead of me, but it did allow for very efficient boarding.

Predictably, when I got on the plane the front rows were full, but there were still plenty of empty rows towards the back and I settled into 20A by the window. I had the whole row to myself. My leather seat was comfortable and the legroom was pretty good too.

The aircraft, a Boeing 737 seemed quite new, although it wasn't equipped with in-flight entertainment in the form of overhead or seat-back screens. They advertise wifi & free television streamed to your device or something - this may be true but for a flight of one hour I didn't bother to look.

By 6.36pm, just twenty minutes after the plane had parked at the gate, everyone was onboard and we were ready to pushback early. The flight was around 50% full.

I was a bit concerned that with such a quick turnover, they might have skimped a little bit on the cleaning. The plane was cleaned, but not thoroughly and there were a few still pieces of food on the floor underneath the seat in front, not that this worried me too much. The toilet hadn't been cleaned either, although I don't think it is standard practice to clean the toilet after every short haul flight.

One thing I hadn't seen much of flying American Airlines was smiling flight attendants, so it was so good to see happy, smiling and enthusiastic flight attendants on Southwest. The announcements were made enthusiastically and a threw jokes were even thrown in, and this includes from the pilots. It reminded me a little bit of Virgin Blue before they grew up.

Despite the early pushback we sat on the tarmac for a good 20 minutes due to "congestion at LAX." Who would have thought?

We had some lovely views of San Francisco as we took off from 1L into the sunset and circled the city.



SFO from the air.

After takeoff the flight attendants came through the cabin offering free snacks. There was a choice of pretzels and peanuts. I asked if I could have one of each and the guy replied "Absolutely, take as many as you like!"

The flight attendants then came through the cabin taking drink orders. There were a range of complimentary options such as soft drinks, water and hot chocolate, but most alcoholic beverages cost $5. Here's a photo of the menu:



The flight attendants were fantastic throughout the flight. There was a kid in front of me with sore ears during the descent and the guy was really helpful, offering all sorts of solutions - from yawning to placing cups over his ears. I thought that was a nice touch.

Once again I got some great views of Los Angeles as we approached the airport.

I was hoping they would sing the famous Southwest song after we landed but they didn't! I guess I'll have to fly with them again in the hope they'll sing it next time.

From the time we parked at the gate it took just 10 minutes to claim my bag and get out of the terminal. For LAX, I would consider that an epic win! By the way, Southwest didn't charge me anything to check my bag.

The Southwest employee in the baggage claim area was having a bit of fun and told lots of jokes over the PA in between announcing carousel numbers, e.g. "Thank you so much for flying Southwest because it means that I get to keep my job!"

If I was to compare my experiences with American and Southwest, it would be like comparing chalk and cheese. It would appear that the USA is some sort of parallel universe where the low-cost carrier (WN) was better than the established "premium" airline (AA). For a supposedly low-cost carrier, I found Southwest to be fantastic and I would definitely fly with them again.

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

Wow! Yet again, I love reading this Trip Review!

Alaskan Airlines....from my experience you get free checked bags when flying within the state of Alaska, but not when flying outside of the state of Alaska.... WTF?

SouthWest Airlines...... IMHO.... they are Top Notch!
Unless I'm proven wrong & thing's have changed they are the only Domestic US airline that provides 2 free checked bags up to 50lb to ALL passenger's regards of Status or ticket purchased..... Hello AA did you hear that?

What I particularly love about SouthWest is some of the hub airports they use such as Chicago Medway...... Sure it may not be the largest of the two airports in Chicago.... but Medway is certainly half the distance from the CBD than its larger cousin O'Hare. The Same goes for Southwest's Dallas Love field base too.

Unlike in Europe the location of Secondary airports in the US is often far closer & easier to get to than their larger counterparts.

The Boeing Factory sounded like it's well worth while & Seattle in General is a great city to explore.... so you've convinced me to put it on my bucket list!

I was thrilled to hear that you loved San Fran! It's a fantastic city.....visually a lot prettier than the ugly duckling a few hundred miles south ! (The People are very friendly though in LA I would say)

Alcatraz is amazing! Those Audio Guides have too much information on them as I found out as I lost track of time & spent the entire day on Alcatraz..... what a fascinating place!

Don't mind me asking which hostel you stayed in?

I stayed at Hostels USA.....cant remember their street address off the top of my head, but their pub crawls were legendary!


Which brings me to my next point.....I mean really...... why doesn't Qantas Fly to San Francisco anymore?

Sounds like you had a terrific trip.... thanks for all your hard effort & time !

So when's your next trip planned for North America?