A Long Way To Go For A Burger

A LONG WAY TO GO FOR A BURGER

An All Airbus Affair

Introduction

As 2009 came to a close I looked back on an amazing 12 months of flying. This had been my most productive year in terms of sectors flown (31) and also in terms of earning/burning Frequent Flyer Miles. 2009 really was the year I got to grips with working out seat availability and looking for “longwinded” routings. This however had done nothing to dampen down my obsession for flying, which was now starting to really strain my finances. The situation at work was looking Dire to say the least and the thought of any trips in the near future would be something of a financial risk. As if to tease myself I would keep looking in the usual places “just to see” what was out there in terms of good deals. I would watch deals come and go, kicking myself when the price shot up the next day. My conscience was my guide, “and that was how it had to be” I told myself! Until….

Overview of the Trip

Expedia threw up a ticket that caught my eye. U.S Airways out of Manchester (MAN), to Los Angeles (LAX) connecting in Philadelphia (PHL). Nothing particularly special but I thought it to be a reasonable price. I then discovered that they were only charging £2 extra to add another segment on through Phoenix (PHX). I scratched my head, I bit my nails… should I? Shouldn’t I? How would I tell the Mrs I had booked ANOTHER trip during these uncertain times at work? Nervously I clicked on the BUY button, expecting her to be saying BYE when she found out!!!!!!!
A few years ago I had the displeasure of spending three nights in North Hollywood and vowed never to return to L.A thereafter. That was until I saw the pictures from the IN-N-OUT burger. Heavy jets from all four corners of the world approaching LAX just feet above as you tuck into a cheeseburger… I wanted to spend a few days there so set about looking for a return flight to the U.K with that in mind. My flight out to the states would get me into LA on Saturday evening, so ideally I was looking to come home Tuesday/Wednesday. To cut it short I found an open seat flying with SWISS, Los Angeles (LAX), Zurich (ZRH), Manchester (MAN) departing Tuesday evening and getting me back home Wednesday evening. Perfect!!
With the Mrs not dumping me after informing her I was going away again, I sneaked in a quick LAX-SFO-LAX with Virgin America for the Sunday, and the same routing again for the Monday but this time with United.

I booked two hotels for this jaunt. Radisson Blu at Manchester Airport for the night before departure, and the Hilton Garden LAX for my three night stay in The City of Angles.

So here is the route list….

Manchester (MAN)
Depart 09:55
Terminal 2 to Philadelphia (PHL)
Arrive 14:00
Terminal A 3,423 mi
(5,509 km)
Duration: 8hr 5mn

Flight: 735

Philadelphia (PHL)
Depart 15:35
Terminal B to Phoenix (PHX)
Arrive 17:56
Terminal 4 2,070 mi
(3,331 km)
Duration: 5hr 21mn

Flight: 191

Phoenix (PHX)
Depart 18:40
Terminal 4 to Los Angeles (LAX)
Arrive 20:07
Terminal 1 369 mi
(594 km)
Duration: 1hr 27mn

Flight: 34

Los Angeles (LAX) to San Francisco (SFO) 330 mi Flight 925

San Francisco (SFO) to Los Angeles (LAX) 330 mi Flight 928

Los Angeles (LAX)
Depart 12:15
Terminal 7 to San Francisco (SFO)
Arrive 13:38
Terminal 3 330 mi
(531 km)
Duration: 1hr 23mn

Flight: 808

San Francisco (SFO)
Depart 15:00
Terminal 3 to Los Angeles (LAX)
Arrive 16:28
Terminal 7 330 mi
(531 km)
Duration: 1hr 28mn

Flight: 844

Los Angeles (LAX)
Depart 20:25
Terminal B to Zurich (ZRH)
Arrive 15:45 +1 day
Duration: 11hr 20mn

Flight: 41

Zurich (ZRH)
Depart 17:15 to Manchester (MAN)
Arrive 18:15
Terminal 1 Duration: 2hr 0mn

Flight: 380

Total bum in seat miles…. 13790 miles.

Day one: Friday 19th March

Today’s journey involved no air travel, only two trains to position myself at Manchester Airport for the night. I worked until 11.30am then drove straight home to shower and collect my bags. I normally use an airport transfer company to take me to/from the airport, but as I had ample spare time I opted for the train. I was quite shocked at the price for a single ticket from Halifax to Manchester Airport, 14 pounds!!!!! Both trains ran on time which was good, but I had to stand from Huddersfield to the airport.
I had booked a night at the Radisson BLU airport hotel. A fairly basic place but wins hands down on convenience, especially when departing from T2. Another “perk” of staying here is you get a quite good view over the T1/T2 ramp area, as can be seen in this photo I took later in the evening.

I just decided to potter about the place and get a beer or three along with some food. I think I eventually nodded off about 11pm ready for the next day’s onslaught.

Day two: Saturday 20th March

Due to the Excitement I awoke at about 5am. Today the journey starts in earnest and it was going to be a gruller. Three segments, a Trans Atlantic followed by a Trans Con, then a short U.S domestic to finish up the day. I had a nice hot bath to relax a little before heading down to reception to check out. The hotel lobby was deserted so I was on my way to check in at the US AIRWAYS desk in a matter of minutes.

A quick shot of the Terminal link tube, lit up in a cool blue effect.

About twenty people were in line ahead of me. A large family of about 9 made sure that one desk was out of action for nearly 20 minutes as they were all well over the max baggage weight. Nice try, but unlucky!! I was eventually checked in soon after being vetted by the TSA regarding my strange travel pattern and my lack of a return ticket on this PNR number. I showed my return itinerary which I had booked separately, and with that I was good to go. Security was quite easy to negotiate at this early hour and I was in the Executive Lounge in double quick time.
About an hour later my flight was called for boarding. I decided to go to the gate as soon as I saw this on the display screen as I had a hunch it would be chaos. Well I was right. What the hell was going on here? We were directed down a flight of stairs to gate 300(may have been 200 I can’t quite remember). I have never seen anything as poor in any airport before. Our flight was sharing a holding area with two other long haul flights, and im guessing close to 800 people were strewn all over the place. I quickly asked where the PHL flight was departing from and was told 300A, the line up was massive already. We were all being screened AGAIN by the TSA before boarding. After some 30 minutes I was on the bus out to the A330-300. Why put a large wide body jet heading out to the security sensitive USA on a remote stand, and have a 737 going to Spain linked to an air bridge?? Crazy. Due to the chaos we were 50 minutes late out of MAN, this was eating into my connection time in PHL. After hearing a lot of bad reviews on US AIRWAYS I wasn’t expecting much. In my own opinion this flight was ok. Quite tight legroom, but the food was ok, as was the IFE which had a full and varied selection of music and films on-demand.

Due to no in flight map I can only guess this to be somewhere over Canada

I chatted with the guy in the seat next to me for a while. He had been in the UK on business and was returning to Pittsburgh. A journey he made about once a month. I don’t think he could quite grasp the idea behind my being on this flight!! Not for the first time.
In what seemed like no time we were descending into Philly, and the lost 50 minutes in Manchester had been caught up as we touched down at 14.oo local time. As I was seated in row 8 I was off the plane in minutes and off on my way to clear immigration. There was no queue. The conversation went something a little like this….

Me: Hi, Good afternoon.

Officer: Hey…… Can I ask what your visit to the US entails?

Me: Sure, im on a Mileage Run.

Officer: A what?

Me: Im taking flights just to earn miles. Im bouncing round a few airports over here for a few days.

Officer: Ah your one of those guys?

Me: Yea, if you wanna put it like that.

He then asked about what I did for a living and if I was doing this trip alone. He seemed happy with my answers and asked how many miles I would be earning. Fingers scanned, passport stamped and off for my next flight to Phoenix.
Trans cons are quite boring I find and this was sure to be the case on this segment. An A320, no IFE and no food. I told myself “just think about the miles”.
The scenery was just flat plain after flat plain for a couple of hours.

Then it started to get a bit more interesting.

Decent into Phoenix

On approach, as craggy terrain gives way to urban sprawl.

We touched down at PHX ahead of schedule allowing me time to take a leisurely stroll to my next flight and grab a Burger King. I will also add that I found Phoenix Sky Harbour Airport to be a very nice and chilled out place at this time of day.

Next flight. Just a bog standard A319 for the short 50 minute hop up to LA. Nothing eventful, so I will leave it at that for this segment.

After arrival at LAX, I made my way out to the hotel shuttle pick up section. A short drive took me to my base for the next few days, the Hilton Garden Inn LAX. Turned out to be a nice enough place. Nice pool area and very helpful staff. I think Hilton as a brand has lost its edge now, but this place was quite alright by me. I was sure going to make the most of that free airport shuttle over the coming days.
I must have been in bed for seconds before crashing out.

Day three: Sunday 21st March

Today was not about Miles. It was about trying an airline that was missing out of my Log Book. Virgin America. Branded as the funky alternative to the “other” carriers.
Jumped the shuttle at 6am to LAX T3. I had not checked in online, so went to the self service check. I was given the opportunity to upgrade the LAX-SFO segment to First Class for $70. Short flight but I took it anyway, just to sample it. Well that upgrade was worth its weight in gold. The security line for pleb class was about 2hrs long, but I just cut straight in flashing my freshly minted F boarding card to the man on the desk and was airside in five minutes. I was a bit miffed to discover that Virgin America offer no Lounge facilities to there first class customers. I asked about this at there ticketing desk and the fellow there seemed a bit embarrassed that they didn’t offer this service. He assured me something was in the pipeline but for today I would just have to sit it out. Hey no problem. Burger King it was then (again).
About a half hour before departure, boarding was announced. I made my way down the jet bridge to what I can only describe as one of the coolest aircraft cabins I have ever seen. Very good first impression.

I took a quick picture of the seating set up in First Class.

And the seat controls.

As the rest of the flight boarded, I was offered a pre take off drink. I looked at my watch….. I looked at the stewardess….. I looked at my watch….. I looked at the stewardess. 08.15, not too early for Champagne is it? Sod it, Champagne it is please. It wasn’t very nice though I have to say!!!
Only a quick snack on this short flight.
Warm Blueberry bread. Very nice, to go with the not very nice fizz.

The seat was nice and soft, offering ample recline and legroom and would be a nice way to spend 5 hrs on a Trans Con flight.
All too soon we were on the ground in San Fran and I waited for my return flight back some 4 and a half hours later.

Watching some international arrivals passed a few hours. This ASIANA 777 pulled right up to where I was sitting after its flight from Seoul.

Later I went and sat by the gate for my next departure, back down the coast to LA.
Flight back was in Economy, and I was quite happy with the product VX offer. Worthy of note is the amazing RED IFE system. A lot of choice is on offer. Movies, games, music in large quantities and catering for a massive cross section of tastes. You can also order food from your seat via the seat back screen. Your item is then brought to you by a member of crew.

A320 wingtip fence. Looks cool I thought.

Took a shot of the economy cabin looking forwards after we parked up. Very funky, im not sure if it will look so cool after 15 years of service though?

I left the airport and made my way to the IN-N-OUT burger. If you don’t know this place is iconic in California for having the best burgers. Couple that to this particular restaurant being right on the approach into LAX and it’s a plane lovers dream come true.

Im no photography expert but I tried to get a couple of half decent shots.

I will post the rest in the photography section.

This place lived up to my expectations. I had a chat with some guys who post on airliners.net and there pics were incredible. I had a bit of a wander around and tried shots from a few different angles, but my equipment was maybe letting me down…… (not for the first time) I hung out there for 5 hours or so but I was wrecked. I grabbed a burger and then set off back to the hotel.

I flew half way across the world for this… Well kinda.

Bed, and sparked out again in an instant.

Day four: Monday 22nd March.

Today was about miles again. I was to repeat yesterdays routing but on UNITED AIRLINES this time. Basically they offer 100% miles earning on any ticket class in economy. Unlike in Europe, a cheapo economy ticket can sometimes earn only 25% of miles flown, or in some worst case scenarios 0 miles!!! With a minimum of 600 miles per segment I would get 1200 miles for a 672 mile round trip. Not amazing buy any means, but us European guys will take whatever we can. Also I get a 25% elite status bonus on top of the 1200.
Flights were run of the mill. Certainly a dated cabin after yesterdays funkadelic experience. Just two pictures for you off this round trip.

Up the West Coast Again today.

An overview of SFO as we departed off 1L then banked around to the left to head south again.