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  • #31
    See here for FCL concourse B.

    See here for FCL concourse A.

    Despite the great distances, FRA was an easy airport to navigate. And you can literally hop and skip anywhere in the airport without an outgoing BP and no one will ask a thing, except the C area that is.

    A funny incident occurred at the security screening area for entry into A, on my way to meet berlinflyer (LH board, TOF) who's just flown in from TXL. I didn't notice that there was a separate queue for C and F pax, and joined the regular queue. Then one of the security officers yanked me out of the queue and pulled me to a corner. I was thinking that I'd been selected for a random secondary inspection. Then he pointed to the stub of my incoming BP from LH 773 and told me that I was supposed to be queuing up 'right here!' (there was no line at all), and not to clog up the regular line.

    While in the FCL B, there were lots of nice big birdies taxiing past:








    Saving the best for the last...
    Last edited by KeithMEL; 28 December 2006, 03:41 PM.
    All opinions shared are my own, and are not necessarily those of my employer or any other organisation of which I'm affiliated to.

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    • #32




      Seat: 3A
      Aircraft: B767-300

      Those represent the only pictorial evidence i could collate to prove my existence on AA83 FRA-ORD on 2 DEC before I was abruptly told to stop by a very stern looking ground staff member of AA. So stop I did, rather than being dragged into detention in some obscure subterranean concentration camp. I mean, I'm sure the airport staff know the rules better than I do.

      I am in the process of cashing out on my oneworld accounts. Normally I'd have flown BA across the atlantic. But this ticket was issued using my AAdvantage miles and the only way I could've flown BA was via YYZ or MEX. Not wanting to add those unnecessary segments to an already long trip, I decided to bite the bullet and endure AA for the transatlantic legs. I was initially ticketed in Y. Contemplated cancelling the award and take advantage of an expedia mistake fare in F, but then managed to find award inventory in C - phew.

      To get your boarding passes for a US-bound flight, you'd first be subjected to the Inquisition by the airline staff. They were particularly curious as to why I chose such a weird routing to the USA instead of the stock-standard MEL-LAX/SFO routes. I had to go into the fine intricacies of the urgent need to requalify for FFP status combined with the irresistible urge to burn out other mileage accounts, which seemed to do the trick anyway as I was allowed to check in without further questioning. It was reasonably close to boarding time by then and, fearing a long queue at security, I decided to go airside without bothering with the Admirals Club which was bizarrely located landside.

      It was my lucky day because the 763 operating to ORD was fitted with the new-style AA business class angled-flat seats. Only a handful of the 763s have been fitted with these seats and so I was pretty pleased with scoring one of them.

      Service onboard was pretty decent - exceeded my rather low expectations. [a reversal of my experience on TG982]. The crew was generally cordial and made an effort to engage with passengers. This flight also featured new 'Special Business Class menus', a fact prominently advertised on the menu (which I wasn't allowed to keep - they cited the fact that they needed to re-use the menus...right...). The food was nothing spectacular, despite being endorsed by a supposedly celebrity chef whom I haven't heard of. The starter was a non-descript salad, had a beef dish for my entree, some cheese with these cute little lemon-flavoured cookies, and I finished up with a sundae.

      I wasn't awake for much of this flight other than the meal services, as I'd been flying for way more than 24 hours by then. I was thinking I should rest onboard so I could enjoy my first Saturday night out in Chicago (ie almost immediately after landing). I slept pretty well on the seats even though they;'re not the comfiest angled flat seats in the world, but then I was exhausted.

      We landed on time in ORD - and I'm sure you'd remember the drama I had with my lost suitcase. It was also freezing in Chicago. But nothing a discounted Ben Sherman jacket at W the Store couldn't fix, and I was ready to conquer Chicago!

      Next: W Chicago Lakeshore
      Last edited by KeithMEL; 30 December 2006, 09:51 PM. Reason: typos
      All opinions shared are my own, and are not necessarily those of my employer or any other organisation of which I'm affiliated to.

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      • #33
        I love hip hotels and the W Chicago Lakeshore is no exception. The W is in fact my favourite out of Starwood's stable of hotel brands. The 'Whatever/Whenever' service was delivered well by a crew of energetic, young staff (major eye candy too, most of them). The Living Room Managers (W speak for 'concierge') and Welcome Ambassadors ('porters/doormen') were most helpful in recommendations and directions around chi-town. One of the best features of Ws is the Bliss bath products - featuring Bliss Spa's 'Bliss Six' range with lemon sage flavours. I took the extras with me and used them almost exclusively during the rest of the trip.

        The hotel also featured 'Whiskey Sky' - a part of Rande Gerber's nightclub empire, however the lack of a dance floor means this establishment is not as exciting as it ought to be. The Living Room ('lobby') Bar had awesome bartenders who took on the challenge of making me a 'vodka LLB.' (I gave them an 8/10 plus a generous tip so there - I'm not a PITA) There was DJ music in the Living Room on Saturday night; at other times funky dance music would be blaring from the stereos.















        All opinions shared are my own, and are not necessarily those of my employer or any other organisation of which I'm affiliated to.

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        • #34














          Last edited by KeithMEL; 1 January 2007, 04:32 PM.
          All opinions shared are my own, and are not necessarily those of my employer or any other organisation of which I'm affiliated to.

          Comment


          • #35








            Now if only they're found in more locations...
            All opinions shared are my own, and are not necessarily those of my employer or any other organisation of which I'm affiliated to.

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            • #36
              6 DEC UA884 ORD-PHL
              Economy Plus
              B737-300
              Seat 6C (free upgrade to E+ courtesy of 1P status)

              Did online check in the night before. Easy check in counter had no queues at all when I rocked up to get my bag tagged. I suspect it wasn't peak time as the security lines were also virtually empty. No lounge access, as I was on a purely domestic itinerary and I hadn;t made it to *G on a non-UA FFP at that stage.

              Not much service since it's such a short flight. The E+ seat featured generous legroom and would come in handy if flying on longer sectors. A can of Coke, a pack of pretzels, a short kip - and I assume it was going to be over....

              Just prior to descent we were informed over the PA that we'd have to circle over PHL for a bit due to a problem with one of the runways. We ended up circling for about 45 mins before we could land. I didn't have connections to worry about so it just meant I had a longer nap.

              As my hotel shuttle pulled out of the airport, against the backdrop of the Philly skyline and night sky, I could see the flickering lights of zillions of planes circling the airport waiting for their turn to land. Beautiful sight!









              Last edited by KeithMEL; 1 January 2007, 11:28 AM. Reason: i can't spell
              All opinions shared are my own, and are not necessarily those of my employer or any other organisation of which I'm affiliated to.

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              • #37
                Fantastic trip report, Keith.
                ‘Lean into the sharp points’

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                • #38
                  Originally posted by KeithMEL
                  A can of Coke...
                  You mean Pepsi, right? Big difference there.

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                  • #39
                    Originally posted by globetrekker84 View Post
                    You mean Pepsi, right? Big difference there.
                    I actually can't remember now. I automatically ask for Coke everytime and sometimes get Pepsi. Don't really mind - I mean, po-tay-toes, po-tar-toes...
                    All opinions shared are my own, and are not necessarily those of my employer or any other organisation of which I'm affiliated to.

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                    • #40
                      Originally posted by KeithMEL
                      I actually can't remember now. I automatically ask for Coke everytime and sometimes get Pepsi. Don't really mind - I mean, po-tay-toes, po-tar-toes...
                      UA is definitely a Pepsi airline. BTW, don't say that on TOF. You'll get a lot of angry Coke people.

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                      • #41
                        Originally posted by jjpb3 View Post
                        Fantastic trip report, Keith.
                        Thank you, sir!
                        Aiming to get more done...

                        Quality trip reports - a forte of KeithMEL Publishing Pty Ltd.
                        All opinions shared are my own, and are not necessarily those of my employer or any other organisation of which I'm affiliated to.

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                        • #42
                          Originally posted by KeithMEL View Post
                          T

                          Quality trip reports - a forte of KeithMEL Publishing Pty Ltd.
                          Indeed it is

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                          • #43
                            The Sheraton Society Hill in Philly advertises itself as possessing 'colonial charm.' In hindsight that should've been a warning as to the maintenance situation in the hotel. Shabby furniture, slow and creaky lifts, filthy curtains, jaded decor... I liked the look of the atrium-style hotel and its lobby at first glance but I'm sure the colonists of 18th century Pennsylvania smelt better than the common areas of the hotel did. The much-advertised Cybercentre had only a single working computer...

                            OTOH the service was quite good. The concierge knew his stuff and planned out my restaurant reservations for the entire stay in Philly. I got upgraded to a club level room even though I'm only a lowly SPG Gold. However I remained with a room with 2 twin beds as apparently all rooms with King-beds were taken. Yep this is one of those hotels that'd try to slug you with an extra 30 bucks if you want a King sized bed.

                            Standard Pantene amenities were found in the bathroom, but the bathgel happened to be by Caswell Massey and seemed better than the generic Sheraton-branded stuff that you find in Sheratons overseas. I used my liberal quantity of Bliss stuff that I accumulated from my stay at the W Chicago-Lakeshore anyway.

                            If you're a tourist visiting Philly for the first time and wanting to stick to SPG, this hotel is located in a great neighbourhood - within spitting distance of touristy spots like Penn's Landing and South Street. And walk to Campo's on 2nd and Market for a mean cheese steak!

                            Otherwise, I'd go for the Westin in Centre City as it's near great nightlife and lots of good shopping around the Rittenhouse area. There's also another Sheraton at the Centre City area but I hear that's a recent conversion from Wyn-dump, so....

















                            After the W, regular hotels are sooooo boring...
                            Last edited by KeithMEL; 1 January 2007, 03:29 PM.
                            All opinions shared are my own, and are not necessarily those of my employer or any other organisation of which I'm affiliated to.

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                            • #44
                              "Penn station, New York City," blared the speaker on my train as it pulled into the station. NYC - the centre of the universe. From the lights of Times Square to Soho to The Village to Alphabet City to the UWS to the *cough* establishments in Chelsea, I loved every bit of this city! The buzz, the crowds, the clubs, the 24/7 food - all good.




                              Ground Zero is a misleading name as it implies that there's nothing there. This is now a construction site for Freedom Tower. Let freedom ring!












                              One of the many moments in this great land of freedom when I wanted to go "USA, USA...!" Splendid.
                              Last edited by KeithMEL; 2 January 2007, 02:36 PM.
                              All opinions shared are my own, and are not necessarily those of my employer or any other organisation of which I'm affiliated to.

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                              • #45



                                Union Sq holiday market. Very pretty sight.




                                I always thought the UN was a colossal waste of space in more ways than 1 - but great to be in there anyway.


                                The NYC way of eating pizza. (that's one of my good mates Arthur) Great pizza at Lombardi's btw (Little Italy - refer to the eating thread).


                                Empire State Building


                                The NYU house party!
                                Last edited by KeithMEL; 2 January 2007, 02:33 PM.
                                All opinions shared are my own, and are not necessarily those of my employer or any other organisation of which I'm affiliated to.

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