Inni ZA003: Annað fyrst fyrir StarMegaDo
When I saw the original itinerary for today’s festivities I thought that landing at Paine Field in Everett, Washington was going to be the highlight of the day. It is an airport that doesn’t see commercial airline service and flying in on a jet is quite rare unless you’re a Boeing test pilot. As we were panicking trying to find the driver of the luggage delivery company (that’s a whole ‘nother story) I was also chatting with one of the Boeing organizers and she let me in on an additional detail of the itinerary: We were going to be inside one of the 787 Dreamliner test aircraft.
Boeing has taken a few 787s on tour over the past few months but they don’t really let just anyone on board to look around. Indeed, several of our tour guides today noted that they had never been inside one either. Enn, somehow we managed to convince them that it was a good idea for us to get inside. And they were incredibly gracious in allowing us to do so.
We bounded up the stairs and into the cabin and, in that moment, became part of the record books. We were the first non-industry folks to be inside the plane. With our near 200 participants touring the aircraft we also significantly increased the total number of people who have toured it in general. We didn’t have full run of the aircraft like we did on the A380 in Frankfurt, mostly because it is still a test aircraft and still mostly being used for making sure that things are really working as expected so that the planes can be delivered. It wasn’t even fully fitted with an interior.
It did have enough bits installed, þó, to make our walk-through truly memorable. We got to poke our heads into the cockpit. It is all glass and huge digital screens rather than traditional instruments. Quite a change from the Bonanza I was sitting in earlier in the day during my Phoenix visit. The whole main console is LCD screens and the electronic flight deck is integrated into the cockpit rather than in huge binders. The cockpit is also rather spacious, with a couple jump-seats and standing room for another person or two.
The crew rest area – installed into the space above the passenger cabin – was surprisingly large. I suppose had they cut it to three beds from two it would have been incredibly cramped. Instead they appeared quite spacious and comfortable.
The overhead bins are apparently spec’d to hold four bags each at 12”x16”x25”. That’s HUGE. It didn’t look to me like the 25” dimension was real but I didn’t have a tape measure handy and they wouldn’t let me crawl up in one to check it out (the guy running that part actually noted that he’d been warned about me and overhead bins when I asked about that).
Perhaps most significant was that the aircraft was fitted with a few rows of economy class seating in a 3-3-3 configuration. There has been much concern in the frequent flyer community as most airlines announced their intentions to go 9-abreast on the 787 rather than the 8-abreast that Boeing originally claimed the aircraft was designed for. Sitting in the seats today I was pleasantly surprised by just how comfortable the cabin felt. I know that there’s a lot more to it than just seat width, but things might not be quite as dire as feared.
And that was it. The visit was short – only about 15-20 minutes – but incredibly fun and truly an amazing experience. And yet another first for StarMegaDo.
No photos (from us) because of corporate security policies but their folks took a few of our group that I hope to post soon.
The Forsetar Club Pub crawl
Áður en við komum of djúpt inn í starfsemi leiguflug í dag, a fljótur saga: Frammi fyrir fjórar klukkustundir til að drepa eftir kynningu CO fimmtudaginn síðdegis, 15 af okkur ákvað á pub skrið ... í gegnum forstjóra Clubs. Nýta einstaka getu tölvunnar til að gefa út hliðið framhjá fyrir félagsmenn og allt að tveir gestir, Hópurinn byrjaði á E Terminal og gengið í gegnum stafrófið í hinni, heimsækja Terminal C South, C Norður, B, og A í stöðu vaxandi ölvunar. Þrír af okkur — Scott, Marty og ég — laumaðist út til KLM stofunni í smá, uppeldi alls hópsins stemma að sex. Þegar við caught upp þá aftur, að Klúbbar hafði byrjað að hringja á undan til að vara við nálgun hópsins okkar. “Þeir eru að koma,” gestamóttöku á C suður tilkynnt hliðstæðu hennar á C Norður. “Allir þeir vilja er nokkrar myndir.”
“Og drekkur!”
Á hverju hætta, voru myndir. First, það var hópur skot utan Club í Terminal E; þá einn í framan borðið á Terminal C suður. Af C Norður, við vorum á bak við borðið. Í B, við vorum í the andlit af the bar. Að lokum, Þegar við náð Club í Terminal A — af þeim tíma sem fyrst (árlega?) Forsetar Club Margarita Keppni var nálgast niðurstöðu sína — við vorum á bak við bar. (Myndir hér að neðan). Eins og fyrir um samkeppni niðurstöður:
1. Dina í Terminal B. Leyndarmálið á árangri hennar? Bæti skvetta af amaretto til að blanda.
2. Keri á Terminal A
3. Charles á Terminal C suður
4. Veronica á Terminal E
5. Óþekkt á Terminal C Norður. “Ákveðið sterkasta, þó,” dómarar réðu. “Markmið hans var að fá áfengi í þér eins fljótt og auðið er.”
Hann tók.
Field trip in First Class
I’m pretty sure that the first class service on today’s LH440 from Frankfurt to Houston was not typical. With eight people hanging out in two of the seats upstairs at one point it was much more reminiscent of a field trip than a flight. Even with the extra bodies up there is was a quite fun and pleasant experience.
As we sat around sharing travel stories and canapés it was an opportunity to truly enjoy some of the best that air travel has to offer. At triple the normal capacity seated in the first class beds, it was still quite a bit more comfortable than my assigned seat in the economy cabin. And the food and beverage choices were definitely a few steps above.
There was plenty of champagne to be had, as well as a few bottles of Baileys consumed, several beers and a glass or two of Johnnie Walker Blue, and that was just during the bit of the flight that I was invited up to visit.
The food spread was quite impressive, of. From finger sandwiches to fresh fruit to a quite impressive caviar presentation, everything I saw was top notch.
Ó, and some fun with the amenity kits, of:
It really did seem much more like summer camp or a field trip than a 10 hour flight across the Atlantic.
The Seat Guru
Það eru nokkur ný andlit á seinni fara-umferð af Star Mega DO, og eina sem gerist að tilheyra Matt Daimler, aka Phatteus, sem stofnaði Seatguru.com næstum áratug síðan. “Þetta byrjaði í 2001 sem ein flugvél, með einu korti,” Hann segir, og var ekki mikið meira en áhugamál fyrr en tekjur Google AdSense byrjaði að snúa því í alvöru fyrirtæki circa 2004. Seldi hann á síðuna til að Expedia í 2007 (í dag kortið hans segir “Stofnandi” og hlutverk hans er í raun að kynningarstjóri) og núverandi ósk sinni er að sjá kort Seatguru er felld inn í vinsælustu iPhone apps eins Flight Tracker.
Hann segir enn sagan að læra hvernig fara bekkjum vinna. Þó að ferðast með vini circa 1996, flug þeirra var lokað og flugfélagið neyddist til rebook þá á annað símafyrirtæki, útgáfu pappír skírteini að gera það. Sjá “Y” skrifað á skírteini, vinur Matt er spurt hvað það þýddi. Upplýst “Y” þýddi þjálfara og “F” þurfti að vera rebooked í fyrsta, vinur hans ákvað að festa þessi. Using penna, hann doctored áY“Y” inn í “F.” Og það í uppnámi.
Star Alliance mælist tillögur frá meðlimum FlyerTalk – USATODAY.com
ByBen Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY
Alltaf furða hvaða höfuðstöðvum Star bandalagsins lítur út eins og?
Margir á FlyerTalk “Mega” tíð-flier ferð gerði, og heilmikið hætt að smella myndir af Star Alliance kortinu og firmamerki (sjá hér) á skrifstofu félagsins nálægt Frankfurt Airport fyrr í dag.
Það kom eins og nokkrum tugum FlyerTalk meðlimir mætt með Star Alliance embættismenn í dag í Frankfurt sem stærsta tíð-flier hópi heimsins sem auglýst er eftir viðbrögð þeirra um hugsanlegt í framtíðinni vörur.
Star Alliance forstjóri Jaan Albrecht var á hendi til að takast á við hópinn, þakka þeim fyrir hollustu þeirra við bandalag og flytjenda þess.
Star bandalagsríkja ferðaðist frá eins og langt og Hawaii og Ástralíu í “Mega” atburður, sem er tengd við FlyerTalk og gáfu ferðamönnum aðgang að æðstu stjórnenda Star's. The MegaDo Ferðin hófst í New York og mun halda áfram að Houston, Phoenix og Seattle svæðinu eftir föstudagskvöldi.
“Ég held að aðgang [að bandalag og flugfélag stjórnendur] er frekar ótrúlegur,” a FlyerTalk fulltrúi frá Ástralíu sagði mér.
Star Alliance embættismenn bauð FlyerTalk meðlimum að taka þátt í röð námskeið þar sem “FlyerTalkers” þar hvattir til að gefa álit sitt á vörum bandalagsins er að hugleiða að bæta við í framtíðinni.
áfram: Star Alliance mælist tillögur frá meðlimum FlyerTalk – USATODAY.com.
SMD vs. OMG
OK, today is unlike any other day. I mean, just how many days do you start out on a mileage run of sorts with 70+ members of that special secret society of frequent flyers? Anyway, I’m just bidding my time at the gate waiting for my next connection when I hear across the way a few young ladies exclaiming their joy over some topic that clearly brings interest and excitement to themselves. The chosen term—O-M-G. O-M-G in todays lexicon stands for Oh My God or Oh My Goodness, that being a statment of exclamation. Since an exclamation is an expression of feeling, the next words from my mouth will be—S-M-D. You know, an exclamation of feeling about the Star Mega Do. Say it, say it with emotion. We, ladies and gentlemen are getting ready to rumble in the skies—forward march to the airport gate that greets us later today. Let me say it again … S-M-D.
