PrincessInOz
Thanks for my avatar, Mary Jo!
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2010
Nice food and great start. Glad to see you got into the holiday routine the night before.
-
Controversial Topics
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Aloha, Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas
- Thread starter dolphingirl47
- Start date
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Welcome on board. So am I. This could well have been one of those holidays were I never really switch off with everything going on beforehand and the office move hanging over me as well.
Corinna
dgbg100106
Missing the Tag Fiary
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2008
I too like Pei Wei
And I am about 20 minutes from the airport so no hotel overnight for me
but maybe one of these days I can leave out of another airport and justify the stay.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
franandaj
I'm so happy, I could BOUNCE!
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2009
You're quick on the replies today! I would love to stay at the hotel the night before, but you know our track record and with the furbabies, they already miss us so much. Your Chinese restaurant looks yummy as usual!
That was so nice of your coworkers to give you a birthday fund. I'm curious to see how you ended up spending it.
That was so nice of your coworkers to give you a birthday fund. I'm curious to see how you ended up spending it.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Well, I knew that I was racing against time with the shut down of the boards. I was thinking long and hard what to do with that birthday money, but I think I made the right decision as I am using what I got with it on a daily basis.
joining in... great start
Welcome on board.
Corinna
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Day 2
I normally have trouble sleeping the night before a trip, but this time round I slept the sleep of the righteous. I briefly woke up twice, but managed to pretty much sleep from 20:00 until the alarm went off at 6:30. We got up and ready and then headed down to the Club Lounge for breakfast. We both had some juice and coffee. Graham had some orange segments, an apple and yoghurt with berries and granola. I went with half a bagel with salami. After breakfast we checked out and then headed outside to wait for the shuttle. One shuttle was just loading, but there were a lot of people waiting. We thought we would have to wait for the next shuttle, but fortunately the people right in front of us were part of a bigger group and there were two seats left on the first shuttle. So we managed to get on this.
Our luck continued when we got to the check in. There was nobody waiting at the baggage drop desk for people who had done online check in and printed the boarding passes. So we breezed right through this. I had decided the day before to for Fast Track tickets for security. They were only £3.50 per person. Graham was quite bemused by this, but when he saw the line for regular security, he admitted that this may have been quite a good idea. It took us about 20 minutes to get through security. Graham picked up something from the chemist and then we headed over towards the gate.
Our gate was the last one on this side of the terminal. The area was still closed. We moved back a bit and found some seats where we had a nice view of the taxiway. We saw our plane come in. I wanted to see the Emirates plane leave and then I found myself a seat on the back wall were I could plug my iPad in. I got caught up with various things online. Soon it was time for the boarding to start. We quickly went to the bathroom and then we headed for the gate.
This is was our first experience with US Airways and it was a positive one. Although I still prefer Delta, I was very impressed with US Airways. They use Airbus A330s for the Manchester to Philadelphia flight. Our plane was a nice modern aircraft with a decent inflight entertainment system. The seats were pretty comfortable and we had plenty of legroom. Once we were at cruising altitude, I decided to watch an episode of The Big Bang Theory while we were waiting for you he meal service. This commenced pretty swiftly. The food was rather pleasant for airline food. We both had Mexican bean salad; pretzel roll; crackers with cheese spread and cherry crumble cake. I had grilled chicken breast in garlic sauce, rice and ratatouille for my main course and Graham went with the penne in pesto sauce. We both had some wine. I had some Chardonnay and although this came out of a cardboard box, this was actually rather nice. Graham went with the red wine and he suspected that they had served him aviation fuel my mistake. I also had some Sierra Mist and Graham had some water and coffee.
After dinner was cleared, I settled down for some movies. I watched Begin Again with Keira Knightly and Mark Ruffalo followed by Blended with Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler. I thoroughly enjoyed both films. I got started on Maleficent, but fell asleep at some point and woke up again when the film was nearly finished. Fortunately we have this on our rental list for Love Film so I can watch the whole film in the not too distant future. I got started on watching Frozen, but we landed before the film finished. About an hour before we were due to land, we got a piece of tomato and Pesto pizza and a chocolate Panini. I swapped with Graham and he had both pieces of pizza and I had both Panini. The Panini were very nice.
The flight was the smoothest and quickest flight we ever had from the UK to the USA. There was no turbulence at all and the flight took exactly 7 hours. The formalities did not take much time either. I think our immigration official was as much of a Disney fan as I am and she got rather excited when she realized that we were heading to Disneyland. We chatted a bit about the trip and our last trip to the USA and then we were officially stamped into the country. When we got to the baggage hall, our luggage was already waiting for us. At customs, they just took our form and waved us through. We dropped off our suitcases again and then we headed to security.
Security was a little complicated this time round. When I did our online check in and printed our boarding passes, Graham's boarding pass had TSA Pre Check written on it. I did some research on this and this should only happen with US or Canadian citizens that are considered to be low risk. Nowhere could I find that this also applies to British citizens. I did not get this preferential treatment. I could not quite understand why. I think Graham has only been to the USA once without me and both of us have always behaved in the USA. I signed both of us up for US Airways frequent flyer program a few days before we left. The only difference that I could think of is the fact that I have dual nationality. I was perfectly happy for Graham to go through the TSA Pre Check line and meet up again at the other end. However, when they tried to send him to that line, he told them that he would prefer to go through the normal line with me. They put a sticker on his boarding pass and we were sent through the general security line. This did not take very long either. Indeed, the whole process from getting off the plane to getting through security took about 30 minutes. I think this may have been a new record.
Once we were through security, I checked the departure boards for our flight. We had a fair walk to our gate. Philadelphia airport is pretty big and unlike most US airports, it does not have a train between terminals. Instead it had some other interesting features. They have exercise bikes and rocking chairs dotted around the airport. Graham made use of both while I had a look around the shops.
I had found out that there is an Earl of Sandwich at Philadelphia airport. I had two vouchers for a free sandwich so I decided to head over there. We had arrived in terminal A and our onward flight was from terminal C. Earl of Sandwich is in terminal E and not in the main part of that terminal either. Still, I had plenty of time. I left Graham on an exercise bike and headed over. I was disappointed that they had a very reduced menu and none of the sandwiches that I thought I would like for instance the Holiday sandwich or the Hawaiian BBQ sandwich were available. There was nothing that I fancied so I headed back to where Graham was waiting. There was a food court right across from where he was sitting and I ended up having vegetable rice and Bourbon chicken, which was very nice. I also had my first orange soda. Graham was not hungry and just had a Coke.
As I was finishing off my dinner, Graham spotted that there was a rocking chair free across from the food court. As they did not stay available for very long, he headed over there to save it for me while I finished my food. Better still, there was a socket right next to the rocking chair. So I was able to plug in my iPad and make use of the free Wi-Fi to catch up with a few things online.
With a little over an hour to go before the departure of our onward flight, we headed to our gate. This was about as far as we could go in terminal C and it was also fairly lively as it was right next to a sports bar. Still, boarding was a smooth process and we were soon on the plane.
True to form, I remember very little of that flight. I vaguely remember taking off and at some stage I had something to drink. For the most part I slept. I woke up when they announced that we would shortly be starting our descent into Los Angeles. I have to say Los Angeles looks stunning all lit up at night.
Normally it takes forever for the luggage to arrive at Los Angeles, but when we got to the baggage carousel, the first luggage had already arrived. We did not have to wait long for ours either. I left Graham at the baggage carousel and went to check out were the Supershuttle stop is at the US Airways terminal. When I got back to Graham, he already had our luggage.
We headed outside to the stop and checked in. This is where our very smooth journey became decidedly less smooth. When we checked in, we were told that our shuttle would be there in 20 to 30 minutes, which was OK. I headed to the bathroom and then we sat down on a bench near the stop. About 15 minutes later a Supershuttle for Disneyland arrived and I asked if this was already ours. I was told no and given a van number. Then I went to wait again. A while later I checked again and was told our shuttle was now on site and was given a new van number. This was always as a result of me having to ask. Eventually there was a shift change and the new person made it her business to approach us saying she would check what was going on and then came back with an update and an apology. In the end we had waited one hour and 5 minutes. We found out later that the main access road was closed during the night all that week as they are building a train link to the airport and this was causing severe delays. If this had been explained to us, we would have understood. It was no fun though sitting around after a long day travelling without knowing what was going on.
Once our shuttle arrived, it was smooth sailing again. We were the last pick up and we had a clear run to Disneyland. We were also the first people to be dropped off. Check in at Paradise Pier was also pretty smooth and we were soon on our way to our room. I had a quick look around and then we freshened up and headed to bed.
I normally have trouble sleeping the night before a trip, but this time round I slept the sleep of the righteous. I briefly woke up twice, but managed to pretty much sleep from 20:00 until the alarm went off at 6:30. We got up and ready and then headed down to the Club Lounge for breakfast. We both had some juice and coffee. Graham had some orange segments, an apple and yoghurt with berries and granola. I went with half a bagel with salami. After breakfast we checked out and then headed outside to wait for the shuttle. One shuttle was just loading, but there were a lot of people waiting. We thought we would have to wait for the next shuttle, but fortunately the people right in front of us were part of a bigger group and there were two seats left on the first shuttle. So we managed to get on this.
Our luck continued when we got to the check in. There was nobody waiting at the baggage drop desk for people who had done online check in and printed the boarding passes. So we breezed right through this. I had decided the day before to for Fast Track tickets for security. They were only £3.50 per person. Graham was quite bemused by this, but when he saw the line for regular security, he admitted that this may have been quite a good idea. It took us about 20 minutes to get through security. Graham picked up something from the chemist and then we headed over towards the gate.
Our gate was the last one on this side of the terminal. The area was still closed. We moved back a bit and found some seats where we had a nice view of the taxiway. We saw our plane come in. I wanted to see the Emirates plane leave and then I found myself a seat on the back wall were I could plug my iPad in. I got caught up with various things online. Soon it was time for the boarding to start. We quickly went to the bathroom and then we headed for the gate.
This is was our first experience with US Airways and it was a positive one. Although I still prefer Delta, I was very impressed with US Airways. They use Airbus A330s for the Manchester to Philadelphia flight. Our plane was a nice modern aircraft with a decent inflight entertainment system. The seats were pretty comfortable and we had plenty of legroom. Once we were at cruising altitude, I decided to watch an episode of The Big Bang Theory while we were waiting for you he meal service. This commenced pretty swiftly. The food was rather pleasant for airline food. We both had Mexican bean salad; pretzel roll; crackers with cheese spread and cherry crumble cake. I had grilled chicken breast in garlic sauce, rice and ratatouille for my main course and Graham went with the penne in pesto sauce. We both had some wine. I had some Chardonnay and although this came out of a cardboard box, this was actually rather nice. Graham went with the red wine and he suspected that they had served him aviation fuel my mistake. I also had some Sierra Mist and Graham had some water and coffee.
After dinner was cleared, I settled down for some movies. I watched Begin Again with Keira Knightly and Mark Ruffalo followed by Blended with Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler. I thoroughly enjoyed both films. I got started on Maleficent, but fell asleep at some point and woke up again when the film was nearly finished. Fortunately we have this on our rental list for Love Film so I can watch the whole film in the not too distant future. I got started on watching Frozen, but we landed before the film finished. About an hour before we were due to land, we got a piece of tomato and Pesto pizza and a chocolate Panini. I swapped with Graham and he had both pieces of pizza and I had both Panini. The Panini were very nice.
The flight was the smoothest and quickest flight we ever had from the UK to the USA. There was no turbulence at all and the flight took exactly 7 hours. The formalities did not take much time either. I think our immigration official was as much of a Disney fan as I am and she got rather excited when she realized that we were heading to Disneyland. We chatted a bit about the trip and our last trip to the USA and then we were officially stamped into the country. When we got to the baggage hall, our luggage was already waiting for us. At customs, they just took our form and waved us through. We dropped off our suitcases again and then we headed to security.
Security was a little complicated this time round. When I did our online check in and printed our boarding passes, Graham's boarding pass had TSA Pre Check written on it. I did some research on this and this should only happen with US or Canadian citizens that are considered to be low risk. Nowhere could I find that this also applies to British citizens. I did not get this preferential treatment. I could not quite understand why. I think Graham has only been to the USA once without me and both of us have always behaved in the USA. I signed both of us up for US Airways frequent flyer program a few days before we left. The only difference that I could think of is the fact that I have dual nationality. I was perfectly happy for Graham to go through the TSA Pre Check line and meet up again at the other end. However, when they tried to send him to that line, he told them that he would prefer to go through the normal line with me. They put a sticker on his boarding pass and we were sent through the general security line. This did not take very long either. Indeed, the whole process from getting off the plane to getting through security took about 30 minutes. I think this may have been a new record.
Once we were through security, I checked the departure boards for our flight. We had a fair walk to our gate. Philadelphia airport is pretty big and unlike most US airports, it does not have a train between terminals. Instead it had some other interesting features. They have exercise bikes and rocking chairs dotted around the airport. Graham made use of both while I had a look around the shops.
I had found out that there is an Earl of Sandwich at Philadelphia airport. I had two vouchers for a free sandwich so I decided to head over there. We had arrived in terminal A and our onward flight was from terminal C. Earl of Sandwich is in terminal E and not in the main part of that terminal either. Still, I had plenty of time. I left Graham on an exercise bike and headed over. I was disappointed that they had a very reduced menu and none of the sandwiches that I thought I would like for instance the Holiday sandwich or the Hawaiian BBQ sandwich were available. There was nothing that I fancied so I headed back to where Graham was waiting. There was a food court right across from where he was sitting and I ended up having vegetable rice and Bourbon chicken, which was very nice. I also had my first orange soda. Graham was not hungry and just had a Coke.
As I was finishing off my dinner, Graham spotted that there was a rocking chair free across from the food court. As they did not stay available for very long, he headed over there to save it for me while I finished my food. Better still, there was a socket right next to the rocking chair. So I was able to plug in my iPad and make use of the free Wi-Fi to catch up with a few things online.
With a little over an hour to go before the departure of our onward flight, we headed to our gate. This was about as far as we could go in terminal C and it was also fairly lively as it was right next to a sports bar. Still, boarding was a smooth process and we were soon on the plane.
True to form, I remember very little of that flight. I vaguely remember taking off and at some stage I had something to drink. For the most part I slept. I woke up when they announced that we would shortly be starting our descent into Los Angeles. I have to say Los Angeles looks stunning all lit up at night.
Normally it takes forever for the luggage to arrive at Los Angeles, but when we got to the baggage carousel, the first luggage had already arrived. We did not have to wait long for ours either. I left Graham at the baggage carousel and went to check out were the Supershuttle stop is at the US Airways terminal. When I got back to Graham, he already had our luggage.
We headed outside to the stop and checked in. This is where our very smooth journey became decidedly less smooth. When we checked in, we were told that our shuttle would be there in 20 to 30 minutes, which was OK. I headed to the bathroom and then we sat down on a bench near the stop. About 15 minutes later a Supershuttle for Disneyland arrived and I asked if this was already ours. I was told no and given a van number. Then I went to wait again. A while later I checked again and was told our shuttle was now on site and was given a new van number. This was always as a result of me having to ask. Eventually there was a shift change and the new person made it her business to approach us saying she would check what was going on and then came back with an update and an apology. In the end we had waited one hour and 5 minutes. We found out later that the main access road was closed during the night all that week as they are building a train link to the airport and this was causing severe delays. If this had been explained to us, we would have understood. It was no fun though sitting around after a long day travelling without knowing what was going on.
Once our shuttle arrived, it was smooth sailing again. We were the last pick up and we had a clear run to Disneyland. We were also the first people to be dropped off. Check in at Paradise Pier was also pretty smooth and we were soon on our way to our room. I had a quick look around and then we freshened up and headed to bed.
Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
I had a not so wonderful flight experience with USAir in 2008 and have since avoided them. Sounds like they might be getting their act together now, which would be nice as they often offer great prices for flights from Germany to the US.
How annoying to have to wait for such a long time for a shuttle! Especially after the long flight. And isnt it strange how it is often easier to endure something not so nice if you know what the reason is for it. I feel the same way on trains. Easier to sit on a standing train if you know what causes it.
How annoying to have to wait for such a long time for a shuttle! Especially after the long flight. And isnt it strange how it is often easier to endure something not so nice if you know what the reason is for it. I feel the same way on trains. Easier to sit on a standing train if you know what causes it.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Yes, I had heard not so great things about US Airways in the past, too. However, I could not fault the service or the planes we were on. The only issue we had (and this is the same problem with all the US carriers) is that they are far to lenient with hand luggage on domestic flights and then by the time about half the people are on, there is not room left in the overhead bins.
Corinna
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2005
How annoying to have that long wait for a shuttle at the end of a long travelling day. But, yay, you have arrived. Can't wait for more.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
PrincessInOz
Thanks for my avatar, Mary Jo!
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2010
YAY for getting to Paradise Pier without too much hassle. Shame about the shuttle right at the end. I would have totally cracked it at that point, especially after a long flight.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
We were both decidedly less than impressed. By then we had been up for over 24 hours and tempers were wearing a little thin.
Corinna
dgbg100106
Missing the Tag Fiary
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2008
Well I am glad the flight went as well as it did. Congrats on getting there all in one piece and with some sanity left.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
We are pretty used to transatlantic flights as we usually do them twice a year. At least for us we arrive in the USA in the evening and can just head to bed and have the overnight flight on the way back.
Corinna
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
I think the trip report may need to take a little unscheduled break. My computer stopped working earlier today. I think the hard disk may be gone. I will see if I can have her checked over at the Apple Store tomorrow. In the meantime, I have to make do with my iPad and I can't figure out how to post photos on this. Hopefully it is something simple that can be fixed on the spot, but I may be without my computer for a week or so.
Corinna
Corinna
dgbg100106
Missing the Tag Fiary
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2008
we fly to Europe once a year, for us we leave at night, sleep on the plane and get there in the morning, it works pretty well for us, it is the coming back that gets us.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Therein lies the trouble. We at best nap on the flight back so we are totally exhausted when we arrive back in the UK. The flight to the USA does not bother us too much. It just means that we have a few early mornings.
Corinna
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