One Long Travel Day

Thursday, 12 August

I knew we were facing a long travel day when we left the house this morning. What I didn’t know was just how looooong it was really going to be. Nor did I know then that the day was going to end just a few hundred miles short of our final destination. We should be well on our way to Anchorage, Alaska by now. Instead, we’re on a flight to Denver, Colorado … the first leg of today’s revised two-flight itinerary.

When our initial route through Chicago falls by the wayside,
we fly to anchorage through Denver instead.
will our original flight plan remain intact for the return trip?

Here’s how our day has unfolded so far. We were up at 2:30a and in the cab to Dulles International by 3:45a. Though our flight wasn’t until 6:00a, we wanted to get to the airport early to resolve a potential problem with checking our bags through to Kodiak. You see, when I checked in online yesterday, I was able to print boarding passes for the DC-Chicago flight on United, but not for the Alaska Airlines flights that followed.

Long story short, as soon as we typed our confirmation number into the easy check-in terminal at Dulles, the screen showed our final destination as ADQ (Kodiak). Whew! What a relief. In short order, our bags were tagged and we were dropping them off at the TSA screening booth. Next, we tackled the security hurdle. We passed through OK … once we found the alternate check point that is usually reserved for flight crews and airport staff. (The regular screening gates apparently don’t open until later in the morning.)

A little more than an hour after entering the airport, we were aboard UA 705 and settled into our exit row seats (didn’t have to pay a dime for them, by the way). At that point, all seemed to be well in our travel world. Hah!

I’m Ready; let’s get going!

Not so fast! We pushed back from the gate on time and taxied off to the ramp, but that’s as far as we got. Fifteen minutes later, we were returning to the gate to check out a mechanical problem. More specifically, as the pilot put it, “The fuel in both our wing tanks is running too hot; we need to have the mechanics take a look at it.” By all means, let’s do that. Once at the gate, they kept us on the plane for about an hour — we had A/C, water, use of the facilities, and permission to wander the aisles to stretch our legs. Certainly we were comfortable enough, but each passing minute was making me antsy. After all, sitting on the ground in DC wasn’t going to get us to our connecting flight in Chicago.

At 8:00a came the announcement that the issue wasn’t a simple problem with the fuel gauges. They needed to change the fuel pump and for that we needed to deplane. New estimated departure time: 10:00a. “There goes our connection to Anchorage,” I said as we collected our carry-on bags. That I wasn’t overly-stressed or upset was a surprise. I guess it helped to know that we still had two days to get to Alaska before our first planned-activity was due to kick-off. It also helped that Mui had already called the United 800-number and we had a Plan B in the works.

It took us two hours at two different United customer service counters, but finally the alternate plan was in place. Since today’s Alaska Airlines flight was already winging its way from Chicago to Anchorage and tomorrow’s flight was booked solid, we agreed to be routed through Denver instead. The catch … first we had to get ourselves to BWI Airport near Baltimore, Maryland. The second catch … we had to overnight in Anchorage. All at our own expense. With no other viable option, we agreed to the new itinerary provided United could get us confirmed seats to Kodiak on the 13th (a Friday no less). They could and they did, assuring us along the way that our luggage would get to Kodiak, no problem! We’ll see … keeping fingers crossed on that one!

A dizzying ride on the new people-mover returns us to the dulles Main Terminal.

By 10:30a, we were in a cab, crawling through miserable mid-morning traffic on the Beltway. Not an auspicious beginning to Plan B. Once we arrived at BWI, the kinks in our travel day started to work themselves out. First order of business: getting our seats changed — to Economy Plus, no less (didn’t have to pay for the extra legroom … again; how did we get so lucky?).

That smile means we have E+ seats!

We had several hours to kill at BWI and we put it to good use. We grabbed a bite to eat at the Greene Turtle — the crabcake burgers were pretty decent; canceled our hotel in Kodiak for tonight and made reservations in Anchorage instead; changed the pick-up time for our Kodiak car rental to tomorrow morning; and called the insurance company about the trip interruption — good news … looks like they’re going to reimburse us for delay-related expenses.

UA 453 to Denver pushed back on time and we were wheels up at 3:45p. Many, many, many hours behind schedule. We set our watches to Denver time (gaining two hours) and settled down to while away the uneventful 3-hour and 23-minute flight.

interesting cloud formations catch my eye as we descend into Denver.

Even as I write this sentence, we’re descending into Denver International Airport. More later …

… LateR: passing over alpine glaciers (8:20p Alaska Time)

The pilot just directed our attention to the glaciers below us, but didn’t tell us what US state or Canadian province we might be over-flying. We’re certainly nowhere near Alaska; at least I don’t think so. From what I can tell, we still have about three hours to go on the second leg of today’s travels.

After a bumpy descent into Denver, we landed at 5:07p (Mountain Daylight Time), 20 minutes ahead of schedule. Denver was bathed in beautiful afternoon light that had me itching to be out taking photographs. Instead, we headed off to the customer service center to check on our chances of getting Economy Plus seats for the longer flight ahead of us. We had to pay $59/person for the upgrade this time, but the exit row seats we managed to snag have definitely been worth it. Look at it this way, with free E+ on the first leg, we got two upgrades for the price of one!

The fiberglass peaks of the main terminal at Denver international
were designed to mimic the snow-capped peaks of the Rocky Mountains.

Seats squared away, we headed to the food court to get a light dinner. From the options available, we chose Itza Wrap, Itza Bowl, which offers a simple menu. You get chicken or beef, a choice of sauces, plus veggies and noodles, in a wrap or in a bowl. Just like the name says. My teriyaki noodle bowl with chicken was tasty; as was Mui’s chicken wrap. We both agreed that the food was a better value for the money than our lunch at BWI. For dessert — ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s.

After today’s travel snags, we deserve a sweet treat.

We arrived at our gate shortly before the designated boarding time, only to find the jet bridge standing empty. It didn’t stay that way long, but the late arrival of the equipment did delay our departure 30 minutes. By 7:35p, UA 701 was in the air. Setting our watches to Alaska time (gaining another two hours), we settled down to chase the sun all the way to Anchorage.

Another Airbus 320 … another flight; this one to Anchorage.

The Captain initially gave the flight time as 5 hours and 21 minutes. He has since revised that up to 6 hours and change due to headwinds from storms over Montana. As long as we get to Anchorage safe and sound, that’s all that matters.

More later … probably tomorrow morning. My body clock says it’s 2:00a. We’ve been on the go for 24 hours and I am beat; won’t be blogging when I get to the hotel tonight, that’s for sure.