Previous reports:
Daytrip To/from DFW On DL & UA Part 1 (many Pics) (by Super80DFW Jan 25 2009 in Trip Reports) Delta via ATL to STL
TopicDaytrip To/from DFW On DL & UA Part 2 (many P (by Super80DFW Jan 28 2009 in Trip Reports) United via ORD to DFW

First off, I'd like to apologize for the general low quality pictures in this report. I was at home after arriving back at Dallas Fort Worth before I realized I had the camera on the wrong setting the entire day. It was somewhat of a bummer, but whatever.

This is my 2nd daytrip. After having a blast on my first daytrip 8 months prior, I decided I needed to mark some milestones off of my flying checklist:
1) Fly on a widebody
2) Fly in a premium cabin
3) Fly on Continental
4) Fly through new airports (IAH and MSP)

Final routing, DFW-IAH-MSP on Continental and Continental Express, and MSP-ORD-DFW on American. I booked the flights as one-way tickets for a total of $160 after tax.

I woke up at 5am, hugged mom goodbye and chauffeured dad to the airport. We parked in the 1 hour parking at Terminal B, near United's gates. I printed out our Continental tickets the night before, so we proceeded straight to security. The TSA officer asked me why I was entering security on the other side of the airport from where we were departing from, and I told him because this is where our car was parked. I have no idea why he felt so compelled as to ask, but whatever. We made it through security no problem and entered the secure side of DFW at B30, a United Airlines gate where the 6am flight to SFO was about to begin the boarding process.





My dad and I proceeded up to the Skylink station and made our way over to Terminal D.





DFW Terminal D



American Airlines 777 at D23 after arriving from EZE



American Airlines 763 at D22 after arriving from SCL (sorry for the awful glare)



American Airlines Super 80 at D21 loading up for BNA



Tigin's Irish Pub



Blue glass art sculpture at D15



Too early, and too low for BA



After walking the length of Terminal D, we went up to the Skylink and rode it to Terminal C.

An Alaska 738 taxiing to the runway for departure to SEA, and later HNL?  



Frontier A318 preparing for departure to DEN



Continental 73G at E9 going to EWR



Our Continental 735 at E10, getting ready to take us to IAH



American Airlines Super 80 going to DCA



My dad and I didn't have much time in Terminal C as we had to make our way back to Terminal E to board our flight.

Continental 314
DFW-IAH
Boeing 737-500

Note: our aircraft was parked at E10, although we boarded through the E9 doorway.









I took my seat in 21F



Boarding...





Flight attendants finishing up before taxi out



Push back







Here we go! Headed to the bridge







American Eagle ATR getting ready for takeoff



D in the distance



Holding short of 36R



Oh yay almost time for takeoff





And we're rollin...



And we're off...









Warehouse district. Okay it's just Coppell.



Grapevine Mills Mall



The golf course where our car window was smashed, and our GPS was stolen in July.



The lake that my house backs up too



And we're above the clouds





The flight attendants quickly made their way into the aisles giving the typical beverage service.

No can



And as soon as we leveled off, we began to descend



Rather sparse load this saturday morning





Descent legroom



As we neared the Houston area, the clouds became thicker











There was brief clearing









Flaps for approach





Into the clouds



Out of the clouds





Vapor trail



Eastex Freeway



Large retail center



People looking out as we near the ground



Oh I'd love to live in this neighborhood! Gear down too.



Flaps for landing, and more vapor trail







Thump! We're down rather hard.





Quite a bit of runway left



EVA Air Cargo 744 taking off



Lots of Continental Express ER4's parked on the ramp



A rather dead Terminal D. I'd much rather see BA, LH, KL, SQ, QR, and EK there.



One of my favorite pictures of the day!



Terminal E



Continental 762 from GRU, loading up for EWR



Terminal E horseshoe



Continental 777 loading up for Tokyo Narita



We pulled into C34 I believe, and went up to the train station to go see Terminal E.

Line of Continental 737's at Terminal C



FID's. I like the clock



Would I be wrong to call this the most famous view at IAH?



A must take photo!





738 going to CLE



Tokyo Narita gate



Back in Terminal C



I must say, I've never seen a Bass Pro Shop in an airport





Loading up for MIA





Reminds me of Northpark Mall in Dallas



59 minutes to departure



Bush



I really like the Continental decor all over this airport. Notice the gold stripes on the wall.



Terminal B





Security checkpoint



I enjoyed these ads all around the airport too



The cramped gate area in Terminal B







Terminal B ramp



Continental 3123
IAH-MSP
Embraer 145





Boarding for our MSP flight began right ontime.

Walking down the steep jetbridge





I took my seat in 17A



Getting cozy



The flight departed a few minutes behind schedule





And we're on our way



United Airlines A319 departing for DEN





Holding short



Delta MD-88 taxiing out for departure to ATL



And we're rollin...



After a very long takeoff roll, we're in the air







Heading in



And we're out







Our flight attendant was very quick at passing out the meals. Today, we had a choice of ham or turkey sandwiches.



Inflight. Getting bored with the camera













This flight became very long. I stayed awake the whole time, and was truly ready to get off the plane.



We begin descending into MSP



For some reason I can't explain, I didn't take any pictures of the descent and approach. I really don't know why.

Here we are taxiing into the gate



Northwest A319



Delta DC-9-50



And this will conclude this portion of the trip report. I'll continue writing the rest at a later time.

This was my first time on Continental, and I was more than please with their service. I really liked IAH and can't wait to visit again!

Stay tuned
Chad