No Snow in Cleveland

The fare was cheap ($200 round trip), but un-upgradeable. Not that it really mattered for such a short haul (the K fare was over $300 r/t).

Itinerary (planned and no unexpected hitches!):

23Feb
DL  994      dep BOS 1725 arr CVG 2000 757  27E&F
DL 5533 (OH) dep CVG 2040 arr CLE 2142 CRJ   8A&B

26Feb
DL 2090      dep CLE 1700 arr CVG 1804 M88  25D&E
DL 2057      dep CVG 1920 arr BOS 2135 757  27D&F

As it was just a quick weekend trip, and we had relatively little luggage (two carryons plus one small duffle), we took the T to Logan. Everything ran smoothly, and we arrived there just after 1600. Terminal C was very busy, but the Medallion line got us through the gauntlet pretty quickly. We agonized over checking our small duffle. With a short (40 minute) connection (including a concourse transfer), if we were late the bag might not make it. On the other hand, it would be a hassle to carry with us and might slow us down. In the end, we checked it.

Logan Terminal C was so busy that we chose not to even stop at my favourite newsstand Relay (nee Press Relay), instead choosing to go straight through security and go to our gate, C32. The gate got busier and busier, along with the rest of the terminal. We were on the tail end of Boston's "spring vacation week", which I thought might have meant lighter, not heavier, passenger counts. But why try to analyze Logan? I whiled away the time eating a snack I'd brought in my bag (salt & vinegar potato sticks from Marks & Spencers in Paris!).

DL994 sch dep BOS 1725, actual 1751. sch arr CVG 2000, actual 2012
757-200, 5FAs (2F, 3Y), seats 27E&F

Boarding was called at 1715, late for a 1725 scheduled departure. It was obviously a very full flight, and the gate agents were trying to clear all of the F pax. Every single last F class pax going down the jetway was an old(er) white male. So much for equality! Christopher and I went down the jetway, grabbing our SkyDeli snacks en route, and soon settled down in to 27E&F. Our preferred seating on the 757 in coach is 27A&C or 27D&F, leaving the middle of the exit row open. We booked three weeks in advance and couldn't get 27D, so we knew we'd have a row mate.

Before our rowmate arrived, I scarfed down my SkyDeli snack: Turkey & Cheese sandwich (in Sara Lee paper) with tomato and lettuce (I picked the lettuce off), Sun Chips (plain), Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies, an "airline apple" (red, tiny, no flavour), and the obligatory 8oz bottle of Delta-labelled water. The bag also contained low-fat mayo, dijonnaise, and a napkin.

Our row mate arrived. Ung. He was a huge guy who had a space problem. He kept thinking that MY space was his. He was an armrest hog, he let his jacket fall over the armrest and into my space, and he kept stretching his legs over to my space. Get OUT OF MY WAY, moron. He wasn't even Medallion. His buddy was sitting a few rows up, and so RowMate said "hey I have this awesome exit row seat and you're up there, heh heh heh". Shut up, moron. He had one redeeming value: he didn't drink.

After eating (I needed the calories), I took a moment to survey my surroundings (those not blocked by Huge Moron Guy). Hm! What's new on this plane? The BINS. Delta has embarked on a bin-extension campaign for its 757s and MD88s. I first heard about it quite a while ago, but this was the first time I'd seen the bins. It means that regulation rollaboards can now fit transverse and not horizontally, meaning more big bags in the bins. I don't believe in rollaboards, but it's welcome news for people who do.

The door was finally closed at 1745 and we pushed at 1751. The safety video was the old one ("hips", not "lap", "wish", not "want", etc). Meanwhile, I was nervous, waiting for announcements from the cockpit. The weather forecast had uttered the two words that a Logan passenger never wants to hear: Northwest Winds. Well, either they'd changed or the weather forecaster was lying, because there was no delay. The captain said we were going, and we did. After a (relatively brief) taxi, we took off at 1806.

The flight was longer than usual, given the 170mph headwinds. As a result, we didn't begin descent until about 1940. The flight had been pretty bumpy, so the seatbelt sign stayed on. Moron Guy didn't buckle his belt the entire time. His loss, not mine. No skin off my nose if he'd whack his head on the ceiling due to CAT. Unfortunately, it didn't happen.

Seatbelt sign was turned off at 1946 and on again at 1947 (truly an indication that the cockpit crew had forgotten that the sign was on). They rang final at 1952, dropped the gear at 2003, and we touched down on runway 18L at 2006. I love Cincinnati.

While we did a mad taxi, connecting gate information was announced. Interestingly enough, DL has started printing gate information on its ETBAs ("Electronic Ticket Boarding Authority", or "et-buh"). I knew ahead of time that DL5533 would be out of C8, and the announcement confirmed it. Usually, DL994 arrived at B2, but due to our late arrival, we were put into A7. A7 worked out quite well for us, as it was pretty close to the end of the concourse and thus to the shuttle to Concourse C. We reached A7 at 2012 and, lucky for us, we had a door 2 deplane. The FAs made a typical announcement "would passengers without a close connection please wait", to which nobody listened.

Didn't matter to us, we have the fastest feet in the east. Whoosh, off the plane and down the concourse. The shuttle to Concourse C leaves from gate A1, and we managed to arrive there just as a shuttle bus did. Slower people were screwed, as the bus pulled away just moments after we got on the bus. Their problem, not mine!

Over to Concourse C, and we were no longer at C8 but at C20. NBD. They were already boarding, so we just gave in our boarding passes (they RIPPED them. I forgot OH doesn't have scanners). On our dash through Concourse C I did note how nice it has become. Comair is bursting at the seams here, though. No surprise that they want to use some gate space in A.

Announcement was made for final boarding, but we were queued up at the door. At least the plane was there and waiting (and seemed fully functional). Sure enough, a few minutes later a CSA came over and opened the door, and we were allowed out onto the tarmac. My there were CRJs everywhere. I think they must be like rabbits and multiply when you're not looking.

DL5533(OH) sch dep CVG 2040, actual 2043. sch arr CLE 2140 actual 2144
Canadair Regional Jet. 1FA. Seats 8A&B.

We handed one of our carryons to the CSA and got a "pink tag" for it. CRJs are nice and comfy but their on board luggage space leaves something to be desired. We got on board to find somebody in Christopher's seat! Turned out she was mistaken, she was sitting in 8A but should have been in 8D. We settled into our "more seat padding" (according to Comair's onboard magazine) seats. We pushed a couple of minutes late, at 2043.

Back to runway 18L (typically CRJs take off from 27), and we were airborne at 2054. The FA soon came around and did drinks service from a tray (a selected number of juices plus water), and then passed out a snack basket (biscoff cookies, pretzels, peanuts, peanut butter crackers, cheese crackers). The service was VERY efficient. OK, there were only 50 of us (totally full flight), but for a 40 minute flight (of which she couldn't be moving for 10 minutes due to ascent and descent), the FA sure hustled!

I also noticed something that I had never paid attention to before. It seems like people chat more on small planes. Is it because CRJs go to non-business-type destinations? Apart from "Your Space Is Mine" Moron on the 757, it seemed like hardly anybody spoke to anybody else who was not in their travelling party. The CRJ had mixed groups, talking across aisles (my old School Bus driver would not have been amused!), turning around, etc.

The seatbelt light was lit again at 2119, final was rung at 2131, the gear dropped at 2134, and we touched down at 2136. We zipped over to gate B6 and docked at 2144. Down the steps, claim our pink-tag-bag, and then up the stairs at B6. It was nice to feel the brisk air after being on a warm plane. No snow, though!

Delta's usual baggage claim belt at Hopkins was out of commission, so our bags arrived on the next claim over. Unfortunately, a plane from ATL had just arrived as well, so there were plenty of people hovering over the single claim. Seemingly, most of the luggage was unidentifiably black. How anybody can tell which bag is theirs is beyond me.

26Feb

We haven't had much luck returning from Cleveland. The past two or three trips we've had delays on the way back to Boston (usually at CLE itself). However, the weather was clear, there was no snow (NO SNOW!), and even BOS seemed to be running smoothly (no "northwest winds" in the forecast).

My mother got us to the airport for just before 1600, and we went in to the terminal. The airport was VERY quiet. I was surprised. The gate agent informed me that there were lots of east coast delays the day before and some people didn't get out. So why did this explain the LACK of people at CLE? Oh well.

Check in, check the bag. The shop choice hasn't gotten any better at CLE (although a book shop is promised - all of 1000 sqft!). Through security, and down to gate B2. We sat down and plugged in the laptop so I could work on my paper (HIST E1430 British Monarchy). I normally don't have trouble concentrating, but a family with kids came along and broke up my concentration. It wasn't the kids that was the trouble, mind you, it was the MOTHER. She talked incessantly. When the dad went off to the restroom, she talked to the kids. When the dad was entertaining the kids, she tried to distract him. And she had a voice that CARRIED. arghh!

We moved down the gate area a bit and found another seat. Better! Not for long. Cellular Phone Guy started yakking on his phone. At least he wasn't talking about his bodily ailments (I had that experience in CLE last year).

I was relieved when 1640 rolled around and boarding was called. There was a Cellular Phone Woman standing near the gate area waiting to board. She did not have Gold, Silver, or Platinum, nor Elite or Elite Plus on her ETBA. "Have you called frequent flyer boarding yet?", she pestered the agent. The agent let her get on during Medallion boarding; I don't know why!! She kept talking on her cellphone all the way down the jetway. She used the cellphone as the excuse to ask for help from some poor schmuck to help her get her bag into the overhead bin.

DL2090 sch dep CLE 1700, actual 1657. sch arr CVG 1804, actual 1755
MD88. 3FAs (1F, 3Y). Seats 27D&E.

We sat in our preferred exit row on the MD80, which is great (but pretty far back in the cabin). Unfortunately for us, the LOUD family in the gate area ended up right behind us. Luckily, the loud MD80 engines drowned out the even louder woman's voice. They were flying SOMEWHERE and didn't understand they had to change planes in Cincinnati. Whatever!

We pushed back at 1657 (early!!) and took off on runway 23L at 1709. ("we will be dimming the cabin lighting" announcement was made, even though it was still very light out!). After takeoff I got down our own bag of Granola Berry Crunch, purchased from King Nut's outlet store in Solon, Ohio (close to my parents' office). This flight isn't long enough for anything but fastbreak, and fastbreak it was. I had water, Christopher had lemonade.

Just three FAs on this flight, but they covered the cabin quickly. There was nobody at all sitting in the rear pseudo-cabin of the MD80, which helped things. We cruised down to CVG at 22000 feet.

The seatbelt light was re-lit at 1731, final at 1736, gear at 1746, and we touched down on 18L (again) at 1755. Oddly enough, we made some strange maneuvers to get onto 18L. We must have not done a direct straight approach in, as we had to do a left turn to get on to the typical approach path (those of you who fly often into CVG know about 18L's approach path).

We docked at gate B6 at 1755. Our connecting flight was scheduled out of B16 - but we had almost 90 minutes to kill. Lucky for me - I was STARVING. Unfortunately, the nice soup place between gates B6 and B8 was gone, so we went up to the main food court in B. Options included Cinnabon (not that much sugar), McDonald's (bleah), Great Steak & Potato, or a combined Pizza Hut/KFC (it used to have Taco Bell as well. I much prefer Taco Bell to either PH or KFC).

Unfortunately, the staff at KFC were inept. The delivery woman gave away Christopher's sandwich twice, and in the end, gave me two sandwiches and some cold fries (PLUS my chicken strips). I gave her back one of the sandwiches - extra food will not pacify me.

Impromptu dinner over with, we headed for B16 and a little bit more time to do some paper writing. But it wasn't long before boarding was called - on time at 1855. We were in 27D&F (yay), but unfortunately, somebody came along for 27E (so we stuck him in the window). Yet another SkyDeli flight: Roasted Chicken, Cheddar Ruffles, Brussels Cookes, Runt Apple, Delta Water. We'd just eaten, so we left the sandwiches but ate the cookies and saved the chips.

DL2057 sch dep CVG 1920, actual 1930 sch arr BOS 2142, actual 2143
757. 5FAs (2F, 3Y). Seats 27D&E.

We pushed at 1930, and after a lengthy taxi, took off at 1949 on runway 27 (!) First a CRJ takes off on a 757 runway, then a 757 takes off on a CRJ runway. Thanks to a 130-160mph tailwind, we were due into BOS early. I barely even noticed the trip (although I'll admit part of that was due to the time spent on paper writing). FAs came along to do an obligatory drinks service and handed out Summer Harvest mix. Lucky us. It went in the bag along with the King Nut purchased Granola Berry crunch.

Unfortunately, even though the weather was rumoured to be good in Boston, and we had a tailwind, we still circled for a little while. We started descent at 2055 [the seatbelt light had been on for a while], final at 2113, and due to circling, the gear didn't drop until 2137. We touched down at 2139. Unusual for Boston, we had a quick taxi in, and we docked at C32 at 2143.

Baggage claim was wild. Every last inch of floor space was taken up with bags. Obviously, the delays that the agent in CLE was referring to was showing up in bags. No matter, our single bag was the twelfth off on Conveyor 4 (the bag agent kept trying to tell me that DL2057 was Conveyor 5, but I didn't listen and I was right). No cab line, so we were in and home not long after 2200.

Next trip (& report): PHX, before the end of March

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