3 Weeks in North America: What could possibly go wrong?

[Mattg]

I was staying at an Airbnb around a 20-minute walk from the city centre. To get back, I had to walk along a trail that took you through some bushland. It looked something like this:



I was walking back one afternoon and had about 5 minutes to go, when I was approached by a couple of park rangers holding guns. "Stop right there!" they yelled at me. I wasn't sure what I had done wrong, but this didn't look promising!

They asked me to come over for a chat. Turns out there had just been a bear sighting in the area and they warned me to leave immediately. Well that was the end of my leisurely stroll through the woods!

I made it back to the Airbnb safely to find an email confirming my place on a Buffalo Airways tour the next day.

I also had a missed call from United, who had finally located my bag! Trouble was, I was now in Yellowknife and my bag was at Cincinnati Airport. Luckily, I would be passing through Cincinnati the following week so I asked them just to leave it there for me to pick up.

 

[Mattg]

The Buffalo Airways tour was really interesting. There was a very large group doing the tour that day - most of them part of a tour group of Canadian retirees.

The tour lasted around an hour and Tabatha told us all about the company and the various aircraft in & around the hangar.







At one point Buffalo Joe (with a dog in tow) and his son Mikey came out for a chat and to sign autographs. As we were a very large group I didn't have a long chat with either of them, but it was still nice to see them in person. (These two are stars of the TV show Ice Pilots NWT.)

 

[Mattg]

On my last full day I hired a car and drove out to Cameron Falls. The drive itself was really nice and scenic, as was the short hike to the waterfalls.












That night I had planned to head out during the middle of the night in my hire car to see the Northern Lights again. I was told that you just had to drive ~5km out of town to get a good look. The Aurora forecast for that evening showed a 55% chance of activity, so I was hoping for a good show. When my alarm went off at 1.30am I headed out in anticipation, only to find that it was completely overcast! Oh well. It wasn't to be.

 

[Mattg]

This marked the end of the Canadian part of my trip. It was back to Yellowknife Airport for my flight to Calgary and onwards connection to San Francisco.

Flight 5: AC8222 Yellowknife - Calgary
Dash 8 Q400
Departure time: 13:35
Arrival time: 16:04

I arrived an hour before the scheduled departure time and was checked in straight away via the priority queue. There is definitely no lounge at YZF and after security there's jut a small waiting area.



There was a different demographic of passengers on this Air Canada flight compared to my WestJet flight to Yellowknife. There were quite a few business travellers, while the remainder of passengers appeared to be tourists. There were very few locals on board. Again, the flight was completely full.

Here was our Air Canada Express plane:



And the standard Dash 8 legroom...



We left half an hour late. There were some great views after takeoff, although they quickly disappeared as we climbed above the clouds.




There were two drinks runs during the flight; non-alcoholic drinks were complimentary and, as with WestJet, other drinks and light snacks were available for purchase.

The flight seemed to take ages (being on a Dash 8 with no entertainment probably didn't help) but eventually we arrived in Calgary. There was an announcement after landing that the ~30 passengers connecting to Vancouver had 9 minutes before their plane left and anyone not going to Vancouver should remain seated to allow connecting pax to disembark quickly.

I checked out the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge in Calgary Concourse A during my layover. It was surprisingly nice and exceeded my expectations. There was a good selection of food and drinks, including a chef cooking teriyaki chicken with rice to order. The tarmac views were also great.

About an hour before my flight to San Francisco was supposed to leave, I cleared US immigration/security and headed over to the Aspire Lounge in Concourse E (the US pre-clearance area). This lounge wasn't nearly as flash but there was a moderate selection of buffet food and drinks. No wifi was provided in this lounge; the front desk staff were instructing people to connect to the terminal wifi.

Flight 6: AC8559 Calgary - San Francisco
Bombardier CRJ900
Departure time: 18:40 (Actual: 22:40)
Arrival time: 20:38 (Actual: 00:45+1)

I headed over to the gate as boarding was supposed to start. The scheduled departure time came and went, and there were no staff - nor a plane - at the gate. The first announcement that there would be a delay came at 7.35pm - nearly an hour after the scheduled departure time! Meanwhile, there was a planeload of extremely confused passengers waiting around the gate.

When they finally made an announcement, it was to tell us that the flight would be delayed at least another 2 hours. By this time the lounge (and almost all of the airport shops and restaurants) had already closed. Eventually they started handing out $20 meal vouchers to everyone, and we were able to spend them at the only terminal restaurant still open!

The revised departure time of 9.45pm came and went. Around 10pm an aircraft arrived at the gate, but apparently our original crew had run out of hours and they had to wait for a new crew to arrive on another flight. Finally, by 10.40pm (4 hours late) we were boarded and ready to go.

It was an otherwise uneventful flight, with the usual non-alcoholic drinks (and not much else) available. At least this aircraft had seat-back IFE.

It was nearly 1am by the time we arrived in SFO, and the BART train had already stopped running for the night. I ended up wasting a fortune on a taxi downtown.

Our plane at SFO:



I passed through SFO around a week before Qantas' new non-stop flight to Melbourne was due to start. There were posters like these all over the airport:

 

[RooFlyer]

About an hour before my flight to San Francisco was supposed to leave, I cleared US immigration/security and headed over to the Aspire Lounge in Concourse E (the US pre-clearance area). This lounge wasn't nearly as flash but there was a moderate selection of buffet food and drinks. No wifi was provided in this lounge; the front desk staff were instructing people to connect to the terminal wifi.

Air Canada - indeed, any airline - did not have a lounge in the US departures area at YYC for the 8 years I flew in and out of there. Just as I was completing my work there, YYC got its big upgrade and I was hopeful that there may be a MLL in the new US concourse. Obviously not.

I am surprised that the US pre-clearance didn't run out of time while you were waiting airside for your delayed flight. They were about to turf us out after about 90 mins delay when we were the last flight of the day. That would have meant going thru Canadian immigration to 're-enter' Canada, then back through US pre clearance, but the next day, as the American staff had gone home! We boarded just in time.

 

[Mattg]

I’d been to San Francisco before, so had already seen the big attractions like the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz.

On this trip I only had one day in San Francisco. Instead of jamming in more sightseeing, I just had a relaxing day enjoying the city and some of its nice restaurants.

I did happen to re-visit Lombard Street though.

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

Sounds like you had a great adventure so far Matt!

To witness the Northern lights from an aircraft window would certainly be a sight to behold.

Enjoying the TR review immensely, learning about the high's and lows of flying airlines based in North America is certainly never a dull moment for you.

 

[ellen10]

Enjoying your travelling tales.

 

[Justinf]

Enjoyed seeing Yellowknife not covered in ice and snow.
How good is the NWT Brewery!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Mattg]

I'm afraid life has got in the way and I haven't had as much time as I'd like to finish this trip report lately. But I will get there eventually!

Air Canada - indeed, any airline - did not have a lounge in the US departures area at YYC for the 8 years I flew in and out of there. Just as I was completing my work there, YYC got its big upgrade and I was hopeful that there may be a MLL in the new US concourse. Obviously not.

I am surprised that the US pre-clearance didn't run out of time while you were waiting airside for your delayed flight. They were about to turf us out after about 90 mins delay when we were the last flight of the day. That would have meant going thru Canadian immigration to 're-enter' Canada, then back through US pre clearance, but the next day, as the American staff had gone home! We boarded just in time.

Nope, no Maple Leaf Lounge in the US pre-clearance area.

I think that one of the reasons they took so long to announce the delay was precisely because they didn't want to turf us out (given they were expecting us to depart that night, albeit late). Around 2 hours into the delay the AC staff said that the board hadn't yet been updated for this reason, and they would update it with the real departure time once the US border staff went home.

Enjoyed seeing Yellowknife not covered in ice and snow.
How good is the NWT Brewery!!!!!!!!!!!!

So good! And the weather was even nice enough to sit outside. A far cry from the winter, when apparently the temperature dropped below minus 50 degrees and the kitchen stopped working!

 

[Mattg]

Flight 7: UA285 San Francisco - Houston
Boeing 737-900ER
Departure time: 11:06
Arrival time: 17:05

After San Francisco, I flew to Cincinnati via Houston in United first class. I paid for these flights as I needed some more EQMs to get me over the line in my status run. There were several combinations of flights offered - I chose to fly via Houston as it was the longest routing (and therefore earned the most miles).

I arrived at SFO 2 hours before departure. If I didn't have priority check-in and security, I probably would have missed the flight! The queues were out of this world. Despite holding a first class ticket and United Gold status, I was not eligible for lounge access at SFO.

You can tell SFO is a United hub...



Boarding for UA285 commenced a full 45 minutes before departure. It took the entire 45 minutes to board the 737 as they spent ages trying to find overhead bin space for everyone brining on board their rollaboards and kitchen sinks!

For this flight I was seated comfortably in 1A. The seat was a standard recliner seat with extra width and legroom over economy. Nothing special but perfectly adequate for a daytime domestic flight. Legroom shot:



Before departure we were offered a drink and a hot towel. Warm nuts were then served shortly after takeoff.



There were two meal choices for lunch - Spanish paella with shrimp and chicken sausages, or a Cobb salad. I had the paella, which was surprisingly tasty and served with a salad and chocolate cheesecake.



I was pleasantly surprised with the service on this flight. Astrid, the flight attendant looking after first class happened to be a German lady, and she was really friendly.

The in-flight entertainment (via streaming to an App) wasn't working for the first half of the flight. But we had some nice views for a while.





Later in the flight I was feeling a bit hungry, and asked one of the other flight attendants if I could have something else to eat. Eventually she offered me a snack from the economy menu, but I was made to feel a little guilty for asking.

We landed in Houston on time. Overall, this was a very pleasant flight and a far cry from my EWR-YYZ experience the week before.

 

[Mattg]

I had around two hours to spare in Houston between flights. With no lounge access, I wandered around the terminal looking for something to eat.

I was craving Chinese food so thought I would give Panda Express a try. What a mistake that was! Pretty much everything there is frozen, then deep-friend and drenched in a sweet sauce. Honestly, it was disgusting and an insult to Chinese food.

With that out of the way, I headed over to the gate to wait out the rest of the transit. There were constant announcements advising of the locations of all the airport chapels, which were of course all open 24/7.



Flight 8: UA5405 Houston - Cincinnati
Bombardier CRJ700
Departure time: 19:45
Arrival time: 23:08

I once again had 1A for this flight. The first class cabin was configured in a 1-2 layout, so this was both an aisle and a window seat.



There was an extra flight attendant on board who was completing her training. The lead FA made an announcement that she was still learning, so "please be nice to her".

The flight was on time and relatively uneventful. To my surprise, dinner was served. The two choices were a Sriracha chicken wrap or, as the flight attendant described it, "some Asian thing". (This turned out to be a glass noodle salad with beef.) I had the chicken wrap, which was OK.



After arriving in CVG, I headed over to the United baggage services counter to collect my long-lost suitcase. When I got to the front of the queue, I gave my file reference number to the guy and he did a search on his computer. After a minute or two, he says to me "your bag is in Washington DC". Seriously?! How incompetent could United possibly be?

Considering I'd spoken to somebody at that exact office just a couple of days earlier - who had confirmed they had my bag - I didn't believe him. I asked if I could have a look in their magic room out the back where they kept all the bags, and the guy reluctantly agreed. So, I walked in and the first thing I saw was my bag! It was there the whole time. Now that was a relief. After 11 days I'd got my bag back. I now had to carry two suitcases with me for the rest of the trip, but whatever.

 

[Mattg]

It was almost midnight by the time I left the airport. I took a taxi to my friend's apartment, where I would be staying the next 4 days. When I got to the entrance of his apartment complex, I tried ringing through to his apartment but got no answer. That was strange, I thought, I'd just spoken to him before I left the airport. I then tried calling him and, again, no answer. Eventually another resident came along and let me into the building, so I tried going upstairs to his apartment and knocking on the door. No answer.

This guy is a good friend, and I knew he wouldn't have stood me up on purpose. But at this point I had no idea where he was and had no way of getting into the apartment. It was already 1am by this point and I was now stranded in downtown Cincinnati with nowhere to sleep.

I started searching desperately for cheap last-minute accommodation in Cincinnati for the night. All of the hostels had already closed, but there was a Hampton Inn & Suites around 1.5km away. Everything else was too far to walk to. I wasn't too keen on sleeping on the street, so had little choice but to go there.

With my two suitcases in tow, I wandered over to the Hampton Inn and asked if they had any rooms available for the night. They did indeed have a room, and the lowest price he could offer me was USD200 (ouch). With no other options I accepted, checked in and headed up to the room.

It was nearly 2am by the time I checked in at the hotel, and I just wanted to go to sleep. I'd worry about everything in the morning.

When I walked into the hotel room, it was immediately obvious that the room hadn't been cleaned after the previous guests. One of the beds wasn't made, the bins were full, there was a half-empty glass of water on the table, and there was even hair all over the bathroom. Normally I'd complain and ask for a new room, but I was beyond caring by this point and it looked like one of the beds hadn't been used by the previous guest. So I just got in there and went to sleep.

I woke up at around 8am the next morning and had a bunch of missed calls from my friend. He'd fallen asleep on the couch while waiting for me and was extremely apologetic.

After having breakfast I checked out, and the lady at the front desk asked if everything was alright during my stay. I thought I should probably mention about the room not being clean, in the hope I might at least get a small amount of Hilton points as compensation. Well, I hadn't even finished explaining the state of the room when the lady said "I'm gonna stop you right there. I'm so sorry about your experience and I'm going to refund your entire stay." Sure enough, the full amount was refunded to my credit card about a week later.

Well that all worked out just fine in the end.

 

[Mattg]

As an aside, I was shocked at how much waste was generated at breakfast. There was not a single porcelain plate, mug, glass or piece of metal cutlery in sight. Instead, everything was served in plastic or on a polystyrene plate, then thrown away after one use. They even gave out plastic straws with your coffee. This wasn't unique to this hotel, either - the same thing was happening at every hotel I stayed at in North America. So much waste!!

 

[Mattg]

Despite the false start, I had a really nice few days in Cincinnati! There's quite a lot to see and do. Here are a few photos...



Findlay Market




The view from the rooftop bar above the Marriott hotel




And the view from Mt Adams



We just happened to be in town during the Indian Independence Day festival.

 

[Mattg]

We did a Brewing Heritage Trail walking tour, where a guide took us around Over-The-Rhine while teaching us about the beer brewing history of Cincinnati and how this was impacted by prohibition. The tour included a visit to an old underground cellar.





On my last evening we went to see a baseball game at the Great American Ball Park. The Cincinnati Reds were playing the Milwaukee Brewers. It was my first baseball game in the States and it was a nice experience.

Various US military personnel were thanked for their service during the innings breaks.





My favourite restaurant in Cincinnati was The Eagle. They did two American classics - fried chicken and macaroni cheese - very well.

 

[Mattg]

My mother was born in Indianapolis, so I’ve always had an interest in visiting there. Turns out that Cincinnati is only two hours down the road and Megabus could get me there for $5, so I headed there for one night.

Before this trip I asked my grandmother if she still had the adress of the house where my mother lived as a baby. She did, and I was able to go and visit it. This was the street:



It was a bit of a trek to get there without a car though - I had to take a bus to somewhere around 3km away, then walk along the side of the road the rest of the way (there were no footpaths). I wasn’t even out in the middle of nowhere... but suburban Indianapolis is apparently just not built for pedestrians. In hindsight, I should have hired a car.

Since I was there, I visited a couple of other spots in Indianapolis.

Around the city





The Virginia B. Fairbanks art & nature park





The city is apparently famous for its Speedway and you can take a tour or visit the museum if you’re interested. I’m not, so I didn’t.

 

[Mattg]

After Indianapolis, I had to get back to New York to pick up my flight back to Amsterdam. United and American Airlines both wanted obscene amounts of money for this flight, so I decided to redeem some Qantas points for an American Airlines flight. There was no availability to New York on the date I wanted, but I could fly to Philadelphia for 8,000 Qantas points and USD5.60 in taxes. This seemed like a good enough excuse to eat some Philly Cheesesteak, so I flew to PHL and stayed a night before catching a train to New York the following morning.

Flight 9: AA4433 Indianapolis - Philadelphia
Embraer E175
Departure time: 13:21
Arrival time: 15:09

My Oneworld status came in handy. I now had two bags to check in, but didn't have to pay anything. Priority boarding also worked a treat and I was able to pick a front-row seat in the main cabin extra section. I think the legroom in row 8 was the best of any row on the plane, including first class!



For an airport that is not a hub for any of the major airlines, IND is surprisingly large and clean. Unfortunately there was no Admirals Club at IND.

This was our plane:



It had been a few years since I'd flown American Airlines, and most of my previous experiences with them have been terrible. So I was keen to see if the service had improved.

On the plus side, the flight ran on time and we got a new plane with comfortable seats. As expected, we received a choice of a cookie or pretzels as a snack, and a complimentary non-alcoholic beverage.



But I still couldn't get a single AA staff member to smile!! They all looked seriously glum. I did have a chuckle though, during boarding, when one of the flight attendants barked at an economy passenger for daring to place their bag in an overhead locker dedicated for "main cabin extra".

Approaching PHL:

 

[Mattg]

I was on a mission to find a great Philly Cheesesteak during my short stay in Philadelphia. After some research on Google I decided to try Sonny's, which is famous for its Cheesesteaks. When I got to the counter, the guy asked if I wanted the "traditional" option. I didn't think you could possibly go wrong with that, so I said yes.

Turns out that the "traditional" option comes with whiz cheese (that orange stuff that comes out of a spray can and isn't actually cheese) and no vegetables. What a way to totally ruin an otherwise perfect cheesesteak with tender rib eye beef! Everyone knows the only way to serve a Cheesesteak is with provolone cheese!

There's lots to see in Philadelphia, but this was just a short visit and I'd already seen many of the sights on a previous trip.

A quick tip for anyone trying to buy a train/metro ticket in Philadelphia with a foreign credit card. After inserting your credit card, the ticket machine will ask you to enter your "zip code". This is supposed to be 8-digits. If, like me, you have a 4-dight PIN; enter your PIN followed by four zeros.

I visited Starbucks the next morning before heading to the big apple. The guy ordering in front of me proudly announced to the barista that he was going on a diet, so would have low-fat milk. He then asked for extra whipped cream on his cappuccino.

The direct Amtrak train to New York's Penn station was comfortable enough. The wifi and power outlets worked well, the train was fast, and we arrived only ~5 minutes late. Not too bad for $29.

 

[Mattg]

To finish off the trip, I had two nights in New York. There's always lots to see in New York, and I enjoyed doing some sightseeing and trying lots of delicious food!

A few pics...





Central Park



The High Line




Chelsea Market




A crowded Times Square




It was easy to get around on the subway.



It was the height of summer in New York, and the weather was almost perfect outside. In the subway stations, however, it was uncomfortably hot (they don't seem to have any ventilation). And pretty much every building was air-conditioned to the point of being uncomfortably cold.