Well, it was a brutal one, but it is over and all is well. We were up at 3:45 in the morning, with little sleep, afraid we would miss hearing the 3 alarm devices we had set. It appears we had nothing to fear! The airport is nice and quiet at that time of the morning ad we quickly want through all the processes of checking in, going through security and US customs. We are fortunate in Vancouver, that we can clear US customs as we leave Canada rather than when we arrive in the US. It makes arrivals in another country so much easier.
The flights, two, were good although we did not get to see much of the scenery as we left Vancouver in fog, drizzle overcast and arrived in Dallas-Fort Worth to the exact same weather, and lots of cloud cover along the way - I did see the odd glimpse of what looked like high prairie at one time.
This was our first flight with American Airlines - no real complaints. We were in Business class, on our first leg. I must say, a body could get used to the extra room and leg space! On our second leg to Miami, we were actually sitting in First Class!! These were older style first-class seats, but still pretty good. Bill managed to stretch out and sleep for a bit. I preferred the business class seating better though. In first-class, there were no places to put your stuff - no under-seat storage and only these weird little cubbies that bearly fit anything or were placed so it was inconvenient to get to easily. For my short little body, the seat did not fit well, it seemed like everything was hitting at the wrong spot creating discomfort rather than comfort for me.
What surprised me though, was that there was no seatback entertainment system. There was a small dropdown TV to view, so of course no choice of what you saw. I guess the expectation now is that everyone carried handheld devices and we use those, and in first-class, there were attachments to mount them. The plane was equipped with Wi-Fi, but I didn't investigate its cost or use, I always carry my own assortment of materials to keep me occupied. An interesting observation from my two flights, that although we were traveling throughout the daylight hours, I was the only one who had the window shades up! No one else seemed to be the least bit interested in the scenery outside. I can only conclude it is because they were all using devices and the light from the windows made them more difficult to see. Devices, they rule our world!
Transfer at Dallas went well - we had to travel thru three terminals to get to our departure terminal. Dallas is the second-largest terminal in the uUS so these buildings are HUGE! Fortunately, they have a Skytrain, monorail system that can move you quite quickly, or they have these internal people mover carts - that is what we took - quite an interesting process. We hopped on, got to the point where we had to get to a different level to continue our journey. The attend got on the elevator with us, delivered us to our next trolley and driver, where we continued our journey and repeated the process one more time before being delivered to our departure gate. Those devices, I mentioned earlier, came into play again on our journey. It was absolutely amazing how many people could not hear the driver of our trolley, calling out to people to please step aside, as we traveled because they were plugged into something. One group, he called out to 8 times and still they were not aware of us, he finally was able to manoeuver around them. I asked the driver, why the didn't have a bell or a horn that could be used, but he just said, "It would help, but we are not allowed". So instead they are constantly calling out.
Food presented was a normal run of the mill airline food, but served on actual ceramic plates, with real cutlery, drinks in actual glasses instead of plastic, and a cloth napkin, that had a buttonhole so you could attach it to your shirt, should you be wearing one, and keep it from slipping away from you - how civilised!! We were also given a warm moist face cloth to freshen up with before meal service and when served our drinks we were given a bowl of mixed nuts, deliciously warm. Drinks, of course, were complimentary - too bad 8 AM is not a time to start partaking of the offerings. The best part of the meals were the biscuits and the pieces of bread, soft, light and warm. The Americans know how to make a biscuit!! And with our final meal, came a warm from the oven, ooey-gooey chocolate chunk cookie, YUMMM.
The moment we stepped off the plane in Miami we were hit with the heat and humidity. 7 PM and it is 88 degrees and I don't know what the humidity is but it has to be high. You could feel the moisture on your skin immediately. It was a short journey to our hotel, where we were quickly checked in, glad for the air-conditioned room, where like a couple of old retirees that we are, we striped to our undies and started to cool down. Then it was off for a bite to eat a little later and we were in bed by 9:30.
The flights, two, were good although we did not get to see much of the scenery as we left Vancouver in fog, drizzle overcast and arrived in Dallas-Fort Worth to the exact same weather, and lots of cloud cover along the way - I did see the odd glimpse of what looked like high prairie at one time.
This was our first flight with American Airlines - no real complaints. We were in Business class, on our first leg. I must say, a body could get used to the extra room and leg space! On our second leg to Miami, we were actually sitting in First Class!! These were older style first-class seats, but still pretty good. Bill managed to stretch out and sleep for a bit. I preferred the business class seating better though. In first-class, there were no places to put your stuff - no under-seat storage and only these weird little cubbies that bearly fit anything or were placed so it was inconvenient to get to easily. For my short little body, the seat did not fit well, it seemed like everything was hitting at the wrong spot creating discomfort rather than comfort for me.
What surprised me though, was that there was no seatback entertainment system. There was a small dropdown TV to view, so of course no choice of what you saw. I guess the expectation now is that everyone carried handheld devices and we use those, and in first-class, there were attachments to mount them. The plane was equipped with Wi-Fi, but I didn't investigate its cost or use, I always carry my own assortment of materials to keep me occupied. An interesting observation from my two flights, that although we were traveling throughout the daylight hours, I was the only one who had the window shades up! No one else seemed to be the least bit interested in the scenery outside. I can only conclude it is because they were all using devices and the light from the windows made them more difficult to see. Devices, they rule our world!
Transfer at Dallas went well - we had to travel thru three terminals to get to our departure terminal. Dallas is the second-largest terminal in the uUS so these buildings are HUGE! Fortunately, they have a Skytrain, monorail system that can move you quite quickly, or they have these internal people mover carts - that is what we took - quite an interesting process. We hopped on, got to the point where we had to get to a different level to continue our journey. The attend got on the elevator with us, delivered us to our next trolley and driver, where we continued our journey and repeated the process one more time before being delivered to our departure gate. Those devices, I mentioned earlier, came into play again on our journey. It was absolutely amazing how many people could not hear the driver of our trolley, calling out to people to please step aside, as we traveled because they were plugged into something. One group, he called out to 8 times and still they were not aware of us, he finally was able to manoeuver around them. I asked the driver, why the didn't have a bell or a horn that could be used, but he just said, "It would help, but we are not allowed". So instead they are constantly calling out.
Food presented was a normal run of the mill airline food, but served on actual ceramic plates, with real cutlery, drinks in actual glasses instead of plastic, and a cloth napkin, that had a buttonhole so you could attach it to your shirt, should you be wearing one, and keep it from slipping away from you - how civilised!! We were also given a warm moist face cloth to freshen up with before meal service and when served our drinks we were given a bowl of mixed nuts, deliciously warm. Drinks, of course, were complimentary - too bad 8 AM is not a time to start partaking of the offerings. The best part of the meals were the biscuits and the pieces of bread, soft, light and warm. The Americans know how to make a biscuit!! And with our final meal, came a warm from the oven, ooey-gooey chocolate chunk cookie, YUMMM.
The moment we stepped off the plane in Miami we were hit with the heat and humidity. 7 PM and it is 88 degrees and I don't know what the humidity is but it has to be high. You could feel the moisture on your skin immediately. It was a short journey to our hotel, where we were quickly checked in, glad for the air-conditioned room, where like a couple of old retirees that we are, we striped to our undies and started to cool down. Then it was off for a bite to eat a little later and we were in bed by 9:30.
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