Text 24533, 75 rader
Skriven 2015-03-05 08:33:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: bbq trip 310
====================
UA1143 IAD ORD 1255 1401 752 2A

This route between hubs is an especially tough one to upgrade.
Luckily, my status allowed me to bypass most of the list.
Unluckily, other than a drink being offered, there wasn't much
in the way of service. Luckily, there was Courvoisier. We got
in quite early, and I had half an hour at the club, where
orange juice and a banana gave me my potassium for the day.

UA3419 ORD STL 1447 1605 ER4 2A

The jungle jets have bigger seats and bigger windows than
most of the mainline aircraft and are pretty nice to ride in.
I have hardly got words for how superior they are to the
skimobile-maker-made Canadairs, both in comfort and reliability.
There's got to be a downside, such as maybe they're made with
slave labor or something. Anyhow, this was a quite pleasant
hour flight, also with no service to speak of.

I had arranged to meet Lilli at the American Airlines credit
union, right by the metro, but it turns out that this cushy
office has been taken over by the TSA, so we spent some time
playing tag, she focusing on the credit union, which has
relocated across the airport, I on the subway, which we were
about to use. Eventually we found each other, and some random
guy started trying to be helpful, which he wasn't. He got us
to the station, not rocket science, and ushered us into a
train car, thereupon laying on us a sad story about how his
mother was dying in New Orleans, and he needed money to get
there. Oh, I said, I'll come back to the airport in a couple
days and get you a mileage ticket. That was apparently not the
right answer, as he looked crestfallen and eventually went
away. (A reminder - I do have enough miles to be able to offer
the occasional ticket to my friends in case of unforeseen
emergencies. Last month when my brother said he had a job
interview in Chicago (yay) and needed to pay for a ticket, I
offered to get him a mileage ticket. That also was apparently
not the right answer, as he totally ignored my offer. Brat.)
Eventually the train went, and it was a fairly comfy half
hour downtown.

St. Louis Union Station used to be a huge train depot. It's
now a mall with a Doubletree attached. There are those who
would say that this is an improvement. The metro stop is not
connected to the mall; instead, you either walk across the
tracks (!) or take the elevator, cross briefly through an open
and very windy parking area, and then find that not all the
doors to the mall may be open. After finding an open entrance,
you go through a dimly-lit shopping area selling cheap off-brand
stuff you wouldn't be inclined to buy, and up to the hotel door,
which is locked. You pound on it, and eventually someone takes
pity and opens the door. Apparently even though the hotel
literature says that this is the entrance, it's not. The actual
entrance, which they expect you to use, is a block up the way
on the main drag. That wouldn't have worked this day, as that
street was closed for some sort of civic ceremony involving the
mayor and lots of city and hotel officials.

As both Lilli and I hold high status with this outfit, we were
issued a huge suite, rather a large 1 BR apartment minus a
kitchen, with a king and a queen bed, living room, atrium, and
a bath that might have slept two. On the other hand, because of
the city function, we were somewhat inconvenienced, routed hither
and yon to get to our quarters.

The club lounge offers wine just like what you get free from the
airline, only it's $5 a glass here. But you get free snacks. I
was hoping for toasted ravioli such as the Sheraton gives you,
but in fact this place gives out Chinese takeout - in this case,
squishy eggrolls - and something else that I didn't even consider,
loaded potato skins or the equivalent.

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