Reg: N634VA
Name: Mach Daddy
Load: 1 seat free in F, about 80% full down the back
After a busy few days (driving up to Vancouver and back, stopping in Everett on the way back down), arrived at the airport and dropped our car back into Enterprise rent-a-car. Off site location meant a bus to the airport which left promptly and only took a few minutes to get us to the terminal.
On our drive back from Vancouver 24 hours earlier, had stopped at a McDonalds to leach off the free Wifi and check in. Must have been pretty early as there were upgrades available to MCS! Paid the $70 for the two seats - bargain, as would have had to pay $50 to check two bags anyway, and again saved our boarding passes to PDF and dropped into my email drafts. Secured SEQ 3/4 - SEQ1 still eluding me! Managed to print them at the Holiday Inn Express that we stayed that night in Everett - not a bad hotel at all, very tidy and clean and good value.
If anyone visits Seattle/Everett then I highly recommend the Boeing Future of Flight Museum/Factory tour. We went on the first tour of the day and saw the first batch of 748i reaching completion, a bunch of 748F outside, 777 rolling off the line, and 787s being produced at a furious rate. Unfortunately no pictures allowed inside the hangers but an incredible experience seeing so many planes in one building all coming together.
787 with nowhere to go
Back to the flight - once again a very friendly check in, who also kindly reprinted our boarding passes to replace the crappy inkjet copy I brought with me. Finished our bottles of drink then headed straight for security which was fairly smooth except for the large man in front who seemed to repeatedly set off the metal detector despite emptying out everything he was carrying into the X-Ray machine!?!
As we were at an A gate, was disappointed to find that we might not have any lounge access - but after a walk to explore the terminal, found that the B wing was linked (albeit by a 5-10 minute walk) and that free passage was allowed between the two (I had thought that perhaps you might have to stay in one area once you were there).
Courtesy of Priority Pass, we got into the Continental lounge which was very small but light and airy with complimentary drinks and a nice quiet haven away from the masses.
Stopped there until shortly before the boarding time on our BPs. Head off to the gate and was only a few minutes before we started boarding, First Class and MCS called first. Empty a/c and got our pick of overhead lockers. Boarding was uneventful and we seemed to get moving pretty quickly. The usual relaxed attitude of the VX cabin crew.
Drinks service started and we were left with the cans to refill our drinks (in MC on the outbound we just got the plastic cup). No sign of food service so had a go at ordering through the IFE for some snacks. Delivered quickly and for free. Watched a movie which were also complimentary for MCS (but not for MC).
Wasn't long before we were on the ground in SFO, this time took ages for the luggage to arrive to the baggage claim (although ours came out in the first load again). This time we were renting a car so headed to the train to the rental car centre. Journey was quite long as the Intenational terminal is right at start/end of the circular trip. No queue at the National counter, paperwork done and then off to collect a car. Headed for the Hampton Inn at SFO as just stopping off for the night before VS20 the following day. Would not recommend this hotel to anyone! Although downstairs was nice and modern, the rooms were beyond their best and cleaning had not been done especially thoroughly. Although breakfast was complimentary, the selection was quite poor. We had a far better stay at the Holiday Inn Express the night before - so would probably gravitate towards that brand in future if I were looking for budget accomodation.
By the time we got into the hotel, was around 6pm. Headed straight off to see the Golden Gate Bridge close up - learned our lesson after leaving exploration of Vancouver to the day after arrival - and it subsequently poured with rain). The result was seeing the bridge at sunset.
Golden Gate Bridge
It's one of the better benefits of the Amex Platinum!
