So, its early, way too early to be standing in line at the airport… The sun isn’t up yet.
United Airlines are at their very best… (clue, sarcasm to follow) We get in line with the other people who have checked in on line but need to check bags… the line is not that long… but it never moves, you can scan your boarding pass but there is no one to take your bag… people are freaking. The man ahead of us stomps over to anther united counter where they ignore him… people at getting close to bag check cut off time… the apparent supervisor walks by, ignores us (apparently a required United job skill…) After what seemed like forever, but in retrospect was probably only 7 or 8 minutes the apparent supervisor returns and a clerk shows up… bags are checked, the supervisor tells people there are more check in stations… she acts as if its our fault… We must rush! Have I told you I love to fly?
Bags checked it’s off to security where a woman is arguing with the “greeter”… Her bag is too large to carry on, she must check it… she claims that she doesn’t’ have enough time… that her bag isn’t any bigger than others (it was bigger) the line backs up… the greater calls for assistance from a gate agent (why can he find a gate agent when we couldn’t) a man walks by, not seeing said greater… greater calls him back, tells him he has violated security… the greater goes back to arguing with the woman…
The crisis transferred to the gate agent, the greater checks our ID… on to the bag scanners, take off your shoes, pile your bags, computer out… through the metal detector… wife forgot to take her bracelets off… Finally through security and off to our gate… at least there is a Peet’s nearby… the monitor in the gate area is inviting us to take a customer service survey… not always a good idea. One flight attendant is missing, we can’t board our flight yet…take down the “minutes to boarding sign”
On to the plane… at least the flight isn’t full…
United offers one service I haven’t seen on other airlines… One of the audio channels is the air traffic feed…. You can listen as they direct your plane along the taxi ways, and clear it for takeoff… I enjoy it.
The Taxi ride into downtown Seattle was a breeze… and cost less than expected, the hotel (The Inn at Harbor Steps) has our room ready. We take a minute to relax, now off for a walk.
This is fast becoming a vacation.
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