Hi everybody,
Here I write my first trip report and I hope you will enjoy it, then I have others memories of long haul flights that I would like to post.
This trip took part in 1999, as I was 22 and it was my first trip oversea, my first long haul flights.
As I had decided myself pretty late (about 1 months before departure), I knew it would have been pretty difficult to find good fares to cross the pond on summer.
Some weeks ago, UA had started a partnership with french railways SNCF, and the holder of the youth discount card SNCF could get a 25% discount on transatlantic flights on UA,
as they book it directly from UA's office in Paris.
I went to the UA office, which was located Avenue de l'Opera (it is now in the Star alliance agency Boulevard Haussman).
I request for my trip :
Paris - NYC on 25-26-27 june ;
NYC -DENVER 2 days after my arrival at NYC;
Denver Paris by the end of august.
A pretty nice woman found me almost what I needed, for a very good fare : 3490 FF (520 euros).
CDG-IAD-LGA June 25th;
LGA-DEN June 27th;
DEN-ORD-CDG August 26th.
She gave me window seat, for the domestic flights, transatlantic were almost full, no window seat free.
June25th : flight UA911, CDG-IAD, B777-200, seat 40F, depart time 5pm.
I arrived at CDG1 at about 3.50pm through RER + bus from the station, which is pretty cheap and free from traffic congestion, but always unconvenient.
I was a bit impressed by all the security controls UA makes at CDG, before check in, before boarding etc..
I had 40F, which is the row in the center which goes from 5 abreast to 4 abreast, so no PTV in your axis.
The flight, at least in coach, seemed completely full.
Take of on time, and, at about 6pm, we got the menu card :
to start :Lobster terrine;
main course : roasted chicken with mustard sauce, or beef or pasta pockets.
Salad,
apple cranberry lattice.
Free red and white wine, champagne for apperitif, all these things seemed quite good and I was not expecting so much from an US airline.
The crew was a mix of french and americans, pretty "chic".
At that moment, some passengers located in the center of the plane complained about "abnormal vibrations..."
Crew was a bit intrigated, talked about with pilots, a few minutes after the captain (Bob Mike Micheal if I remind correct) announced us we could not continue the flight and we are going back
to London Heathrow.
Within no time started the fuel dump, many passenger were anxious about "smoke from the wings..."
We landed a bit heavily at LHR, and went on a remote area, probably the UA maintenance base. We remained on board the aircraft, after about 40mn, they explained us it was a problem
with an air conditioning door from outside.
They told us they could change that piece immediatly, and we could be able to take off to IAD again, but by following a longer route (to remain closed to airport in case of emergency ??) :
Scotland, Iceland, Greenland, Labrador etc..
After 1 hour more they told us they could finally not change the piece, we have to stay there for the night, departure was scheduled for the day after at 9am with another aircraft.
Then began a long deplane process, as there was a single bus to move 300 peoples to the terminal, pretty far away.
Finally we all got our bags, but had to wait again, for an other single bus to the hotel.
I chatted with different peoples, an american girl who started at LHR her trip london - NYC some hours before, a french with its gril friend, approx as aged as me, heading also to NY with the same connection than me.
The bus drove us to the Radisson edwardian hotel, pretty luxury.
We had our poor diner in a separate room, but the atmosphere beetwen travellers was nice.
The day after 5am, it is time to go to breakfast, as the bus were supposed to pick up us at 6am.
Breakfast was a joke, I managed to catch the first shuttle , we proceed for check in at the Royal Jodanian desks.
It is very slow as the guy had to find connections for most people. As there were no LGA flights on Saturday afternoon, I got a JFK flight.
Boarding began and was very slow, I suppose many people were still in the Check in queue.
Finally we took of at about 11am, in a different 777, non PTV equiped.
The flight was uneventful, the food average (Salmon or chicken).
We landed at IAD at about 1.30pm, we deboarded through an elevating bus, funny.
Immigration baggage claim and custom without any problem, but there is now a long queue for the connections and my flight to JFK is supposed to leave within 15mn.
By running through the airport I managed to be at the gate at the approx departure time, the flight was delayed so I could get it.
Boarding consisted of descending a stair and walking on the tarmac to a Jetstream 41, that was my first time on a turboprop.
The plane appears me small and narrow and was approx 60% full.
I could not really get what the FA said, a black man, but each time he was speaking, everybody laughed !! .
A drink was served, I had a coke with a bag of pretzels. The FA had no cart and served passengers individually after he got the order.
Landing at Kennedy directly from the south, we deaboarded and headed to the baggage claim.
As I ran through IAD, I managed to get my connecting flight, but my bag had not benn so fast, and I had to wait for about 1 hour for the next flight.
As that flight arrived, I saw some travelers from UA911, I took my bag and took the shuttle to Howard beech station.
Sunday, 27th June flight UA407, B757-200 LGA DEN. Seat 28A.
Getting to LGA was pretty easy by bus, (M16 I think), Check in fast and easy, I have at least 1.5 h to waste, I got a pizza.
Then I went to the gate, the flight was over sold, they were looking for volunteers to delay their departure.
Boarding on time, a very fat man came at the 28C, but hopefully the 28B remains vacant.
We started to taxi , ands had waited for 1 hour, LGA is a very busy airport with only one runway, there were at least 10 planes in front of us.
Powerful take off with a 1 hour delay, we rocketed into the Queens sky, heading the south, and turning clockwise( south, then east, north, and west). At that moment I had a beautiful view of Manhattan, from Harlem to the WTC.
The flight was the uneventful, the dinner was not very good, consists of chicken rice (the rice too dry) a salad (warm!!??). I was discovering there is a fee for the movie, for alcohols etc.. on domestic flights.
We began our descent into DEN, I was amazing to see the circular crop fields in the desert, thanks to the irrigation.
We landed at DEN about 1/2h late, a subway ride took me to the main terminal for baggage claim.
2 months later I was back in this beautiful airport, it was time to go back to Paris.
Check in was a bit long, but the guy was pretty nice and change my seat assignement (aisle) to window seats.
UA260 DEN-ORD, B777-200, seat 41J.
After I had something to eat at burger king located in the mezzanine of the terminal, I went to the B concourse.
As the rush time of the hub began, many peoples filled the concourse which was almost empty 15mn before. I arrived at my gate, and as boarding began by “rows 35 and more”, I was one of the first onboard.
The 777 still looked me nice, maybe nicer than the one in CDG or LHR. Furthermore I had a window seat and this one had PTVs.
We pushed back on time at 4pm.
As it is a hub other aircrafts next to our 777 were also pushing back.
Despite of that, we taxied and took of in no time.
Powerfull take off, we heading to Chicago with no turbulences.
A “Hawaïan” snack was served, consisted of a box with turkey sandwich, chips and a brownie.
We landed at ORD about 30mn in advance, so I had about 2.5 hours to kill before my departure to paris.
ORD was quite impressive, I liked the C concourse, even I prefer Denver.
I noticed the C concourse smells something like food, greasy and sugared food…
I headed to the gate to Paris at about 8.30pm, for a 9.10pm departure.
UA 922 B767-300, ORD CDG, seat 16G, “exit”.
They informed us the departure will de delayed, about 20 mn, but as the weather was good on the route we would be on time at CDG.
They began boarding at time we were supposed taking off, as I was in the front of the economy, I was one of the last on board.
I notice immediately the huge legroom of these exit seat, the guy seated next to me arrived, quite nice. He was going to visit his girl friend who was in a cuisine school In Paris.
We took of at about 9.40pm,with no time but as we turned into the runway, I noticed a long line of planes behind us. It was dark outside, but I could imagine we flew over great lakes as I did not see any lights for a moment.
Aperitif and dinner came quickly, I had a smoked salmon with quinoa salad, some pasta pockets, with a red wine , every things were rather good.
I had felt asleep for 3 or 4 hours immediately after dinner, I awaked as the sun was rising.
The crew was, like on CDG - IAD a mix of French and Americans, pretty nice but not so “chic” than on the Washington flight.
A average breakfast came, we began our descent and landed at CDG on the northen runway, at about 11.50am (our supposed arrival time was 12.30).
We taxied to the gate and had to wait a UA777 leave at 12.00 exactly.
We deboarded, I went through immigration where there was not a long queue, at least for the EU passports…
Bagages took a while to come, about 20mn.
At about 12.35 I exited CDG T1 and took an Air France Shuttle bus to Paris place Charles de Gaulle Etoile.
Alligator
Here I write my first trip report and I hope you will enjoy it, then I have others memories of long haul flights that I would like to post.
This trip took part in 1999, as I was 22 and it was my first trip oversea, my first long haul flights.
As I had decided myself pretty late (about 1 months before departure), I knew it would have been pretty difficult to find good fares to cross the pond on summer.
Some weeks ago, UA had started a partnership with french railways SNCF, and the holder of the youth discount card SNCF could get a 25% discount on transatlantic flights on UA,
as they book it directly from UA's office in Paris.
I went to the UA office, which was located Avenue de l'Opera (it is now in the Star alliance agency Boulevard Haussman).
I request for my trip :
Paris - NYC on 25-26-27 june ;
NYC -DENVER 2 days after my arrival at NYC;
Denver Paris by the end of august.
A pretty nice woman found me almost what I needed, for a very good fare : 3490 FF (520 euros).
CDG-IAD-LGA June 25th;
LGA-DEN June 27th;
DEN-ORD-CDG August 26th.
She gave me window seat, for the domestic flights, transatlantic were almost full, no window seat free.
June25th : flight UA911, CDG-IAD, B777-200, seat 40F, depart time 5pm.
I arrived at CDG1 at about 3.50pm through RER + bus from the station, which is pretty cheap and free from traffic congestion, but always unconvenient.
I was a bit impressed by all the security controls UA makes at CDG, before check in, before boarding etc..
I had 40F, which is the row in the center which goes from 5 abreast to 4 abreast, so no PTV in your axis.
The flight, at least in coach, seemed completely full.
Take of on time, and, at about 6pm, we got the menu card :
to start :Lobster terrine;
main course : roasted chicken with mustard sauce, or beef or pasta pockets.
Salad,
apple cranberry lattice.
Free red and white wine, champagne for apperitif, all these things seemed quite good and I was not expecting so much from an US airline.
The crew was a mix of french and americans, pretty "chic".
At that moment, some passengers located in the center of the plane complained about "abnormal vibrations..."
Crew was a bit intrigated, talked about with pilots, a few minutes after the captain (Bob Mike Micheal if I remind correct) announced us we could not continue the flight and we are going back
to London Heathrow.
Within no time started the fuel dump, many passenger were anxious about "smoke from the wings..."
We landed a bit heavily at LHR, and went on a remote area, probably the UA maintenance base. We remained on board the aircraft, after about 40mn, they explained us it was a problem
with an air conditioning door from outside.
They told us they could change that piece immediatly, and we could be able to take off to IAD again, but by following a longer route (to remain closed to airport in case of emergency ??) :
Scotland, Iceland, Greenland, Labrador etc..
After 1 hour more they told us they could finally not change the piece, we have to stay there for the night, departure was scheduled for the day after at 9am with another aircraft.
Then began a long deplane process, as there was a single bus to move 300 peoples to the terminal, pretty far away.
Finally we all got our bags, but had to wait again, for an other single bus to the hotel.
I chatted with different peoples, an american girl who started at LHR her trip london - NYC some hours before, a french with its gril friend, approx as aged as me, heading also to NY with the same connection than me.
The bus drove us to the Radisson edwardian hotel, pretty luxury.
We had our poor diner in a separate room, but the atmosphere beetwen travellers was nice.
The day after 5am, it is time to go to breakfast, as the bus were supposed to pick up us at 6am.
Breakfast was a joke, I managed to catch the first shuttle , we proceed for check in at the Royal Jodanian desks.
It is very slow as the guy had to find connections for most people. As there were no LGA flights on Saturday afternoon, I got a JFK flight.
Boarding began and was very slow, I suppose many people were still in the Check in queue.
Finally we took of at about 11am, in a different 777, non PTV equiped.
The flight was uneventful, the food average (Salmon or chicken).
We landed at IAD at about 1.30pm, we deboarded through an elevating bus, funny.
Immigration baggage claim and custom without any problem, but there is now a long queue for the connections and my flight to JFK is supposed to leave within 15mn.
By running through the airport I managed to be at the gate at the approx departure time, the flight was delayed so I could get it.
Boarding consisted of descending a stair and walking on the tarmac to a Jetstream 41, that was my first time on a turboprop.
The plane appears me small and narrow and was approx 60% full.
I could not really get what the FA said, a black man, but each time he was speaking, everybody laughed !! .
A drink was served, I had a coke with a bag of pretzels. The FA had no cart and served passengers individually after he got the order.
Landing at Kennedy directly from the south, we deaboarded and headed to the baggage claim.
As I ran through IAD, I managed to get my connecting flight, but my bag had not benn so fast, and I had to wait for about 1 hour for the next flight.
As that flight arrived, I saw some travelers from UA911, I took my bag and took the shuttle to Howard beech station.
Sunday, 27th June flight UA407, B757-200 LGA DEN. Seat 28A.
Getting to LGA was pretty easy by bus, (M16 I think), Check in fast and easy, I have at least 1.5 h to waste, I got a pizza.
Then I went to the gate, the flight was over sold, they were looking for volunteers to delay their departure.
Boarding on time, a very fat man came at the 28C, but hopefully the 28B remains vacant.
We started to taxi , ands had waited for 1 hour, LGA is a very busy airport with only one runway, there were at least 10 planes in front of us.
Powerful take off with a 1 hour delay, we rocketed into the Queens sky, heading the south, and turning clockwise( south, then east, north, and west). At that moment I had a beautiful view of Manhattan, from Harlem to the WTC.
The flight was the uneventful, the dinner was not very good, consists of chicken rice (the rice too dry) a salad (warm!!??). I was discovering there is a fee for the movie, for alcohols etc.. on domestic flights.
We began our descent into DEN, I was amazing to see the circular crop fields in the desert, thanks to the irrigation.
We landed at DEN about 1/2h late, a subway ride took me to the main terminal for baggage claim.
2 months later I was back in this beautiful airport, it was time to go back to Paris.
Check in was a bit long, but the guy was pretty nice and change my seat assignement (aisle) to window seats.
UA260 DEN-ORD, B777-200, seat 41J.
After I had something to eat at burger king located in the mezzanine of the terminal, I went to the B concourse.
As the rush time of the hub began, many peoples filled the concourse which was almost empty 15mn before. I arrived at my gate, and as boarding began by “rows 35 and more”, I was one of the first onboard.
The 777 still looked me nice, maybe nicer than the one in CDG or LHR. Furthermore I had a window seat and this one had PTVs.
We pushed back on time at 4pm.
As it is a hub other aircrafts next to our 777 were also pushing back.
Despite of that, we taxied and took of in no time.
Powerfull take off, we heading to Chicago with no turbulences.
A “Hawaïan” snack was served, consisted of a box with turkey sandwich, chips and a brownie.
We landed at ORD about 30mn in advance, so I had about 2.5 hours to kill before my departure to paris.
ORD was quite impressive, I liked the C concourse, even I prefer Denver.
I noticed the C concourse smells something like food, greasy and sugared food…
I headed to the gate to Paris at about 8.30pm, for a 9.10pm departure.
UA 922 B767-300, ORD CDG, seat 16G, “exit”.
They informed us the departure will de delayed, about 20 mn, but as the weather was good on the route we would be on time at CDG.
They began boarding at time we were supposed taking off, as I was in the front of the economy, I was one of the last on board.
I notice immediately the huge legroom of these exit seat, the guy seated next to me arrived, quite nice. He was going to visit his girl friend who was in a cuisine school In Paris.
We took of at about 9.40pm,with no time but as we turned into the runway, I noticed a long line of planes behind us. It was dark outside, but I could imagine we flew over great lakes as I did not see any lights for a moment.
Aperitif and dinner came quickly, I had a smoked salmon with quinoa salad, some pasta pockets, with a red wine , every things were rather good.
I had felt asleep for 3 or 4 hours immediately after dinner, I awaked as the sun was rising.
The crew was, like on CDG - IAD a mix of French and Americans, pretty nice but not so “chic” than on the Washington flight.
A average breakfast came, we began our descent and landed at CDG on the northen runway, at about 11.50am (our supposed arrival time was 12.30).
We taxied to the gate and had to wait a UA777 leave at 12.00 exactly.
We deboarded, I went through immigration where there was not a long queue, at least for the EU passports…
Bagages took a while to come, about 20mn.
At about 12.35 I exited CDG T1 and took an Air France Shuttle bus to Paris place Charles de Gaulle Etoile.
Alligator