Tigerguy From United States of America, joined Aug 2010, 446 posts, RR: 0 Posted (10 months 2 days 19 hours ago) and read 4462 times:
Leg 8: Blue/Bed/Boston – May 26-27, 2012
Hello there, fellow A.netters. What you see here is the final leg in “The Next Ten”. If you’ve followed along for the other seven legs, call a doctor. If you haven’t, feel free to look them over! (links provided at conclusion) This quest will take me to General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport, serving the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It scrapes its way onto the list as the 19th busiest airport in the country.
BOS presented its own set of booking challenges, mostly due to distance, flight availability, and my requirements for flying certain airlines. To that last point, I wanted an opportunity to try JetBlue, so I found a flight from Denver that suited that need. Having connections wasn’t going to be a problem, but finding properly-timed flights proved difficult. I considered a number of options, including a red-eye from Denver on B6. Finally, though, I decided to stay the night in Boston and leave the next day. I’ll fill you in on the details as we roll along. Until then, let’s go to Saturday morning…
(Some pictures have been omitted for your convenience. If you wish to see them all, feel free to follow the link: Slideshow for Leg Eight)
Saturday, May 26
I had something to look forward to the moment I woke up that morning: a return to Frontier 1188, an oft-taken flight of mine that was recently placed back in the schedule. One of the few things on my mind was which animal I’d be paired with; my answer came in the form of an unnamed puffin:
Another plus: scoring the ex-Midwest planes means wide open spaces in the front
We make like the cool kids and cut in front of this ERJ for takeoff
Up we go into the haze; similar haze would greet us in Denver
Snack; I’ll give you one guess as to what animal that is
Hugoton, Kansas and its Municipal Airport (KHQG)
Aforementioned haze
On the ground
Grace and Flip bid me a good morning
The last time I flew Frontier, I scheduled 20-something minutes between that and my next flight. This time, I had about four hours. Needless to say, I could proceed at as leisurely a pace as I could. Frankly, it was really nice to not have to be anywhere right away. I visited the usual time-killing spot of Concourse B and walked around and had some overpriced (surprise, surprise) breakfast. Following that, I found a desk with an outlet and occupied myself with various things for the remaining time.
I can’t recall not seeing any CRJs at The Cave before…
Seems a bit bigger when it’s not stuffed with people, doesn’t it?
The view from my command post
Well, I couldn’t stay up there forever if I wanted to get to my destination, could I? I unplugged and made my way back to Concourse A, where I saw this A320 waiting for me. As you can see, the name was blocked from view; I later found out that my ride was “It Had to Be Blue”.
JetBlue Airways 494 DEN-BOS
Scheduled: 11:40-17:43
Actual: 11:55-17:13 (wheels up/wheels down); 11:36-17:19 (gate to gate)
Airbus A320-232 (N519JB)
After all of the positive things I’d heard about JetBlue, it was always in the back of my mind to find an opportunity to give them a try. The opportunity presented itself when I found a morning flight from Denver to Boston. This flight would give B6 a lot of time to show their stuff. It would also enter the books as my longest flight to date in distance. However, due to some brisk tailwinds, it only came in at 2nd longest in terms of time. (It held that place for a little over 28 hours before UA937 bested it by five minutes.) I crossed my fingers that the pilots and flight attendants didn’t pick that time to go insane.
Spirit of the Cayman Islands and Stan the Ram (also, spot the polar bears)
Cabin; I was expecting something a little more fresh, but not every plane can be brand-spanking new…
Mel the Mule Deer joins the party
A blue jet of a different sort
Legroom was fine; the gray seats reminded me of—dare I say—Spirit. The clear difference here is that my knees aren’t jammed into my chin
Maya eludes me yet again (one of these days, I WILL fly with you…)
Ready to make some music
Jetting into the wild blue yonder
The entertainment system was frozen for a little while; they eventually reset the system and it worked just fine
It’s never too late for a geography lesson! The haze was a bit of a challenge at times, but here’s what I came up with:
Yuma, Colorado and its Municipal Airport
Wray, CO and its Municipal Airport
I know it’s hazy and you may not see it, but I have reason to believe it’s McCook, Nebraska and the McCook Ben Nelson Regional Airport (MCK / KMCK)
Futurama (bonus points if you can guess the episode)
Elwood, NE
Elm Creek, NE
Kearney, NE; the city is served by…
Kearney Municipal Airport (EAR / KEAR)
Grand Island, NE and the Central Nebraska Regional Airport (GRI / KGRI)
Central City, NE and its Municipal Airport (or, Larry Reineke Field)
David City, NE and its Municipal Airport
Fremont, NE, its Municipal Airport (FET / KFET), and the Platte River
The external airshow came to a pause shortly after Fremont…
Complimentary drink and snack (no Japanese can this time…)
…before starting again with Waukesha, Wisconsin and its County Airport (UES / KUES)
General Mitchell International Airport (MKE / KMKE)
Here begins Lake Michigan
Grand Haven and its Memorial Airpark
Grand Rapids, Michigan; Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR / KGRR) is also visible
You see that? It’s Canada! Mine eyes have spied a foreign land for the first time…
Dunnville, Ontario and its Airport
Welland/Niagara Central Airport, 4 miles west of…
Welland, ON
Canada ends, USA begins again with the suburbs of Buffalo, New York
Buffalo Niagara International Airport (BUF / KBUF)
Albany, NY; the South Albany Airport is also in the shot, but not quite visible
Pittsfield, Massachusetts; also, lakes: Pontoosuc and Onota; also also: Pittsfield Municipal Airport (PSF / KPSF)
Quabbin Reservoir (trivia: it’s the largest inland body of water in the Massachusetts)
Clinton, MA and the Wachusett Reservoir
Hanscom Field (BED / KBED)
As you can plainly see, we’re just about there. Also, some people having fun on Revere Beach. (trivia: it’s the first public beach in the country)
Planes and buildings
Welcome to Boston!
I’ll be on that big green lump in the middle in a few hours
Always a good idea to let speeding hunks of metal have the right-of-way
Parked
And so I set out to put the last piece of the puzzle into place. Logan International Airport has four terminals: A, B, C, and E. None are connected behind security, which I knew. (That’s why I booked DL going out so I could see Terminal A as well.) As such, I had to satisfy myself with only two of the four airside areas. We start out with Terminal C:
As you can see, it’s not particularly exciting. Just another middle-of-the-pack terminal.
Here’s the entrance to the bathrooms. I didn’t want to risk social awkwardness and/or arrest by taking pictures inside, so I leave the interior to your imagination.
United occupying a lonely corner of the terminal
International operations
And that’s Terminal C. I decided to check out the landside areas of the remaining terminals before I went to my place of lodging. The other terminals can be accessed by a series of walkways, some of which lead outside.
Going to Terminal E (Volpe International Terminal)
Having finished with E, I entered another walkway to see the rest of the airport
On the way, I saw a sign for a 9/11 memorial. I didn’t realize they had one at first, but I quickly remembered the Logan connection. I looked for directions to get down there; all of the signs directed me to Level 2. I went to Level 2 and could only get this close:
Mildly confused, I looked for a way out. I went down to the first level and blazed a trail to the outside, where I went through a parking lot and over a small fence. Thank goodness for clear signage…not. Bad wayfinding tools aside, I entered into one of the most poignant moments in my travels.
The memorial consists of a grassy knoll planted with gingko trees and a glass cube; the cube contains panels listing the times the planes took off and the names of the passengers and crew members of United 175 and American 11, the two flights that crashed into the WTC towers. The ceiling is strung with translucent panels, reminiscent of the debris that fell from the sky. (from an article in the Boston Globe)
After visiting the memorial, I went back up to the walkway to continue my trek.
Looking at the Terminal A ramp
Terminal A ticketing
From there, it was on to Terminal B, which is split into two buildings primarily occupied by US Airways and American. Unsurprisingly, these buildings were also short on style. But they could definitely have been worse.
The first part of airport investigations was complete. Next, I needed to get to Winthrop. I called the taxi suggested by the owners of my lodging; apparently a Boston taxi would have set me back at least $40 and the driver might have gotten lost. When I saw the winding streets of my destination, I understood why.
Once there, I took a look at my surroundings…
I've flown with Charlie I, Buddy, Earl, Carl I, Lucy II, Fritz, Stretch, L.J., Thunder, Flip, André, and 21 others
Tigerguy From United States of America, joined Aug 2010, 446 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (10 months 2 days 19 hours ago) and read 4455 times:
…and ascended the staircase to enter. I stayed at the Harrington House, a bed and breakfast owned by a very friendly couple. The house itself was built in 1889 and overlooks Boston Harbor. They neglected to mention that the sitting room had a nice view of Logan and that my room had a perfect view of the traffic utilizing Runway 9/27.
The house was silent except for the heavy footfalls on the old wooden floor. I went into the dining area where I found this waiting for me:
So I called the number and had a look around while I waited for Maggie to show…
A few minutes later, somebody hurried up the stairs and through the door; it turned out that her husband Joey came over to welcome me and show me around. After getting the hang of the place, he went back downstairs…then came back upstairs to tell me something else…then came back upstairs again to tell me another thing. Finally, he exhausted his information and went back to whatever he was doing. Feeling thoroughly at home, I settled myself before venturing out to find something to eat.
Looking through my window
You can see the lights for Runway 33L in the distance
Here, have a sunset
I walked down the street towards a couple of Italian restaurants I read about: Alia and D’Parma. I settled on the latter because Alia was packed and D’Parma was less packed. I received a menu from a waitress and looked it over…my first impression was that it was awfully ambitious for a restaurant of that size. The choices were nearly infinite, but I went for the swordfish puttanesca (anchovies, capers, basil, olives, and tomato sauce; also with a pasta side). Here it is. Please excuse the dark ambience.
I hadn’t had swordfish before, but that dish was pretty tasty. The flavors were distinct while not overpowering. The fish was cooked well and nicely-flavored, at least it seemed to me. With still a little room in the tank, I inquired about dessert. I ordered and received what they called a chocolate truffle, in this case a ball of gelato within gelato topped with cocoa powder and hazelnuts served on top of some cream. See below:
All in all, I give my royal seal of approval. I paid up and stepped outside for a little shot of the restaurant…
...and proceeded to just walk around for a little while as the night descended around me. Those lights in the sky are attached to a plane.
I returned to the B&B and took a seat in the sitting room, where I looked across the water at the herd of flashing beacons at the airport. A couple of times, I heard a great roar as some 747s made their way to Europe. The rest of the evening was spent making the rounds of the social network and watching the Celtics game along with the rest of the city. One night of sleep later…
Sunday, May 27
Good morning, New England!
Once again, I emerged into a silent house. I went downstairs to find breakfast waiting on the table: croissants, Greek yogurt, blueberries and strawberries, strawberry jam, and bananas. Some cereal was also available, but I did not partake. Oh, and note the cookies for the journey back.
After consuming an appropriate amount of tasty breakfast items, I went back up to my room to wait for the taxi. In the meantime, I looked through the window at the jets departing Logan:
The cab arrived 10 minutes before the scheduled time, so I hurried up and went on down. Maggie, ever the bundle of cheer, wished me a pleasant voyage. It was thus that I made my way to Logan again. With the recent addition of a smartphone to my arsenal, I gained two handy abilities: the mobile boarding pass (which worked nicely for both security checks and all four flights) and additional picture-taking capacity (which came in handy as my camera battery died again). Anyway, here be the much-heralded Terminal A, the first terminal in the country to be LEED certified for eco-friendliness:
Plaque recognizing the eco-friendliness
Terminal A is split into two buildings; this tunnel connects them
Overall, A was pretty slick-looking. There weren’t cathedral-like ceilings all over the place, but that was alright. The key was that I didn’t feel like I was in a cramped dungeon. Even if it wasn’t a quiet Sunday morning, I wouldn’t mind spending some time there. (And did I mention the tech-friendliness? You will have no problems being in a state of wireless, charged-up bliss.)
The calm morning allowed me to take a look in the bathroom unopposed
There’s my jet, sitting there all by itself…
Getting to my departure gate
Plane again, still shy
And just like that, I was finished. The last airport of my grand challenge was under my belt, but I couldn’t celebrate just yet. There still stood the matter of getting home…
Delta Air Lines 3413 BOS-JFK (operated by Pinnacle Airlines dba Delta Connection)
Scheduled: 09:54-11:11
Actual: 10:07-10:43 (wheels up/wheels down); (gate to gate) unknown—I do apologize for that
Canadair CL-600-2D24 Regional Jet [CRJ-900 NextGen] (N600LR)
You may remember the last time I had the pleasure of riding on a CR9—I had a great deal of disappointment over the misaligned windows. This flight was no exception. I didn’t feel that breaking my neck for such a short hop would be in my best interests, so no pictures here. Besides, there would be plenty of time for pictures on the IAD-DEN segment.
So, we pulled into Terminal 3 under the canopy. If I was on Pan Am a few decades ago, that might have been more exciting. This time, it just meant that I returned to the dump that I saw when I wrote my report on JFK. However, with a few hours to burn today, I could look around the rest of JFK, even if most of it was landside. So, consider the next portion a continuation of my first look at Kennedy—and a potential shot at redemption.
The joys of T3
I went outside to ride the train to the other terminals. As you will see, I skipped around a little…
Another typical AirTrain station
Oh, if I had known, I would have flown TWA…
Terminal 5, home of JetBlue
Singapore A380 in the background
Terminal 4—international
Terminal 8, home of American Airlines and friends
Terminal 1, home of Air France, Japan Airlines, Korean Air, and Lufthansa
This is as close as I’m getting to an A380 anytime soon…
Finally, Terminal 7, home of British Airways and United, among others
And now, here’s a look at T7 airside. Honestly, I thought it might be more of a crap-shack based on its outward appearance. It was a pleasant surprise to see that it looked okay.
A couple of British 744s
I went to a nearby restaurant for a bite to eat before my little trip to Washington. Note the real utensils.
My order: a brioche chicken sandwich with parmesan fries. It took a little longer because the chef forgot to cook the fries with it.
The food went down, and I got up to seek my CR2…
I looked through the windows, and all I saw was steel. I figured out that we would have to go down the stairs and board outside. Something to look forward to…when the plane got there. Turns out that ATC was trying to smooth things out at JFK, so that translated to a late-arriving aircraft. Still, I had plenty of time to make the next flight. We were eventually sent downstairs and I saw my jet:
United Airlines 5740 JFK-IAD (operated by ExpressJet Airlines dba United Express)
Scheduled: 14:25-15:48
Actual: 15:20-15:56 (wheels up/wheels down); 14:59-16:22 (gate to gate)
Canadair CL-600-2B19 Regional Jet [CRJ-200ER] (N877AS)
Once again, I was greeted with a misaligned window on a short flight. Once again, no pictures here. Once again, I figured that I could make up for it on the long flight to Denver. We picked our way to IAD and landed without incident. However, we taxied close to the terminal and stopped. The captain then informed us that the ground staff had screwed up somehow. There were planes all over the place with no place to go. Indeed, there were two Airbuses in front of us, a ‘Bus and a 737 behind, and two CRJs on an adjacent taxiway. There was nothing we could do but sit there until things cleared up. In the captain’s own words, “we’re pretty much screwed for right now.”
I just had to take a look at the mayhem around us…
Look closely and you’ll see two jets patiently waiting
Fortunately for the 50 of us aboard, the situation was resolved sooner than expected. We finally took a stand and deplaned using the stairs. That’s something I’ll never get tired of—walking across the ramp, even if it was a bunch of regional jets in our immediate area.
In another stroke of luck, my next departure gate was just across the hall, so I went there to get a shot of our 757, still sporting the old UA colors:
They called for boarding to begin, so I took the expedited grand tour of the airport:
In a word: blah. I have to say, I haven’t been in an area that stuffed with people in a little while. It looked the part inside and out: passengers and planes occupying every possible space. The tour completed, I prepared my mobile boarding pass. As I joined the line, I noticed that my seat assignment had magically changed. I went from 30F to…10B. After the nanosecond of joy I had for gaining Economy Plus and the precious legroom therein, I realized that I would be in a middle seat for over three hours. So, all of those pictures I planned on taking? Poof.
United Airlines 937 IAD-DEN
Scheduled: 17:09-19:10
Actual: 18:12-19:36 (wheels up/wheels down); 17:53-19:40 (gate to gate)
Boeing 757-222 (N530UA)
The only thing I could manage
I take it that somebody got wind of the drama I encountered during my Detroit trip and decided to up the ante. The events of the next four or so hours were quite the roller-coaster ride of emotions…
As we sat on the ground after the safety demonstration, the captain informed us that there were some thunderstorms that required our route to be modified…to the tune of about 300 miles. We therefore needed to take on more fuel before we left. The delay minutes quickly accumulated as we fueled up and waited for the paperwork. After that, we still had to navigate our way through the traffic mess on the ground. With that in mind, the captain said that he would put the pedal to the medal as much as he could to make up some time. Indeed, as we tore down the runway, the 757 made a noise that I don’t think I’ve ever heard a plane make before. It was just raw power and speed.
As we hurtled through the skies, I was a bit calmer than the last time I was against the clock—I knew what to do if the worst came to pass, and I had Channel 9 tuned in so I could hear exactly what was going on. With each sector we passed through, the pilots kept requesting route changes. Each time we were told to stay where we were for a variety of reasons. Finally, after hearing other traffic being assigned a shortcut, we used that story with Memphis to lobby for a route change of our own. After a little bit of waiting, they let us take the shortcut—the two up front had just bought me 20 more minutes! All of a sudden, I felt that the evening would work out just fine, so I sat back in my seat a little easier. Oh, and I didn’t mind the middle seat much anymore, either.
We landed and I started to make my way to the gate, but not before a shout-out to the plane (and the pilots) that worked so hard for me and the others (there was suddenly something charming about this plane with the one two-tone engine nacelle…)
On to B25 I went, stopping only to take this picture of the plane…
The gate area was empty except for the agent who was on the phone. She activated the scanner so I could be on my way, and I was. I saw one more person trickle on after I took my seat; I don’t know if he was on the plane with me from IAD, but he was another lucky camper.
United Airlines 247 DEN-OKC
Scheduled: 19:58-22:34
Actual: 20:07-22:11 (wheels up/wheels down); 19:57-22:16 (gate to gate)
Airbus A320-232 (N452UA)
Sun setting behind the tail of a neighboring Airbus
Just like I did for the last flight of my previous series, I watched the evening fade to night and reflected on my experiences as the peaceful final flight sailed along. As a whole, the series did prove to be more challenging. But, through the good and the bad and the ugly, it was just as fun as the first time around.
Regarding the airline, it was easy to see why JetBlue receives such high marks for customer satisfaction: free drinks and snacks and music and television go a long way towards keeping the people happy. Other than that, they didn’t really distinguish themselves from any other airline. (This obviously doesn’t take into account baggage policies, fares, etc.) Granted, after all of the free stuff, many people don’t care a whole lot. I merely noticed that beyond those things, there wasn’t anything special. As always, it will take more than one flight to paint the entire picture.
I've flown with Charlie I, Buddy, Earl, Carl I, Lucy II, Fritz, Stretch, L.J., Thunder, Flip, André, and 21 others
Tigerguy From United States of America, joined Aug 2010, 446 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (10 months 2 days 19 hours ago) and read 4453 times:
Airport Conclusions
BOS: Logan was another airport that ran hot and cold with me. I won’t hold it totally against them that the terminals aren’t connected behind security—that’s something that’s definitely not uncommon. Terminal A was the best looking part of what I saw, and Terminal E showed some promise from its ticketing area. Terminal C is your standard boring, compartmentalized box. If it’s a terminal transfer you have, prepare to walk. If that’s not your thing, shuttle buses are available. With the exception of the memorial directions, I found the signage clear and easy to follow. Even though I didn’t buy anything, the amenities looked adequate.
JFK revisited: T3 was confirmed for a dump long ago; we strike it from the record. Based on Terminal 7 and the landside areas of the others, JFK actually isn’t that bad in the looks department. Navigating around the airport may be another story, but the AirTrain helps a fair bit, just as it did in EWR. The usual issues of congestion will always be in the back of your mind when you travel there. In the end, I lift the airport from the pit of despair, though it certainly has some room for improvement.
IAD: Those few minutes left me with a lackluster impression. I hope to return to get the other side of the story…
And now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for: the personal ranking. Remember that these are based solely on my experiences of each day; they obviously don’t take into account any positive or negative aspects that I didn’t come into contact with, for any reason. Also, low rankings don’t necessarily mean “terrible”, just perhaps “not as good”.
10. LGA—not even the decent US Airways terminal could save this place
9. EWR—an incredibly separated-out time machine
8. MCO—another time machine, this one mildly confusing
7. PHL—a decent place, but not “wow” worthy
6. BOS—Terminal A shines; the rest seems easy but unspectacular
5. CLT—deceptively expansive (but not overly) and just above middle-of-the-road
4. MIA—long walks await; but the transitions are smooth
3. SEA—hub-and-spoke layout equals easy times for travelers
2. MSP—large, customer-friendly, and easy to get around
1. DTW—clean, modern, many amenities and ridiculously efficient; you can’t ask for more
And that’s the end of The Next Ten. With these slightly smaller airports came a few slightly larger challenges, but it was nothing that a cool head couldn’t deal with, including delays, missed flights, and unexpected overnight stays. (Depending on your schedule, of course…) All in all, it was an informative and fun trip through the mixed bag that is the air transport system in the United States. If you’re wondering if there will be a “third ten”, it’s not going to happen anytime soon for one simple reason: it includes HNL. And you can be assured that I’m not going to go to Hawaii only to turn around and come right back!
Whether or not you got anything useful out of it, I do hope you enjoyed the sights and reading everything. Stay safe, dear friends, thanks for coming along for the ride, and stay tuned for my next thrilling adventure, whenever that is!
Small world! I flew on that same airplane back in February from DEN to DRO. I really like those E-Jets.
Quoting Tigerguy (Thread starter): I prepared my mobile boarding pass. As I joined the line, I noticed that my seat assignment had magically changed. I went from 30F to…10B.
jblua320 From United States of America, joined May 2002, 3160 posts, RR: 21 Reply 4, posted (10 months 2 days 14 hours ago) and read 4051 times:
Nice report and thanks for choosing JetBlue! You flew on one of the first planes to join the JetBlue fleet, tail number 519, so that would explain it not being as "fresh" as some of our newer planes. I hope you'll come back and fly with us again soon!
MSS658 From Belgium, joined Oct 2010, 2212 posts, RR: 14 Reply 5, posted (10 months 13 hours ago) and read 3485 times:
Hi
Nice ending of the series.
I must agree on your comment about IAD, BOS and JFK.
It seems like you had some good flights as well
I had a rather average expercience on jetBlue last year
Tigerguy From United States of America, joined Aug 2010, 446 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (9 months 4 weeks 17 hours ago) and read 3225 times:
Quoting N172DM (Reply 3): I really like those E-Jets.
As do I. I think the CRJ looks better, but I've found the E-jets to be generally more comfortable.
Quoting N172DM (Reply 3): Do you know why it changed?
It may have been a perk of the airline credit card, now that I think about it. While I certainly enjoyed the extra space, it was mildly disappointing to have lost the window.
Quoting N172DM (Reply 3): I will be flying this same route, DEN-BOS, on Jetblue, in late August.
I hope you have a pleasant time with them! And I think you're in the clear as far as insane crew members are concerned...
Plenty of excitement and plenty of fun...not much more to ask for. And as for the airports...not surprising that all of the northeast airports scored lower with me.
Thanks for following along, youse guys!
I've flown with Charlie I, Buddy, Earl, Carl I, Lucy II, Fritz, Stretch, L.J., Thunder, Flip, André, and 21 others
teo747 From United States of America, joined Nov 2006, 132 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (9 months 3 weeks 5 days 22 hours ago) and read 2763 times:
Great reports, I really enjoyed reading them and logged into my account for the first time in a couple of years to say so! For the record, I generally agree with your rankings but would put MSP ahead of DTW due to its highly enjoyable observation deck!
Sponsor Message: 
From United States of America, joined Aug 2010, 446 posts, 
If you haven’t, feel free to look them over! (links provided at conclusion) This quest will take me to General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport, serving the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It scrapes its way onto the list as the 19th busiest airport in the country.
All of a sudden, I felt that the evening would work out just fine, so I sat back in my seat a little easier. Oh, and I didn’t mind the middle seat much anymore, either.
From Belgium, joined Oct 2010, 2212 posts, 
Sponsor Message: 
Printer friendly format
