San Francisco International

I returned my rental car and arrived at the airport to find to find it crowded. There were long lines at the counters for Economy Class and also lines at the Premier Access counters. Only one agent was assisting those passengers who had to check luggage and it was a mess. Compared with Los Angeles I rate the service at SFO far worse. It is better at the international terminal at SFO, but if you have to fly domestic, it is chaotic, especially during peak time. I began to hate me for not booking the Air Canada flight … and it should come even worse.

Finally another agent and later a third one appeared and this speed the boarding process quite a bit. I could check my luggage and was on my way to the Premier Security line, which was long, but way shorter as the lines for regular passengers. Luckily the lines moved fast. After twenty minutes I had passed security and was on my way to the international United Club which was closer to my gate than the one at terminal 3.

I hate and love SFO. It is a nicer terminal than those at the other West Coast Hub: LAX. The international club is a good alternative to the domestic club and the connection with international and domestic terminals is quite good. On the other hand I always encounter longer lines at SFO and the staff and agents are less stress resistant. If something goes wrong, I have experienced them as not able to accommodate one in an appropriated manner. There are of course exceptions, but if one agent is responsible for twelve counters in a busy travel time, this simply could not work. And if a passenger becomes angry, because nobody could check his ID to check the luggage, I can understand his frustration and an agent yelling at him, why he is checking a coat does not really help to calm this heated situation. There is room for improvement, despite the fact, that I acknowledge that staff is reduced and they sometimes have a hard time.

The lounge was busy with the flight bound for Asia (ICN and KIX) leaving around noon but I was able to get a seat at the area next to the bar. I spent the next hour with reading and relaxing before I headed down to the gate ten minutes prior to schedule boarding time as I expected that the travel documents had to be checked again – and I was right.

11 June 2012
SFO – YVR
[San Francisco International – Vancouver International]
UA 759 (United Airlines); Airbus A 319 (N829UA)
Gate C 17
12:10 – 14:24 [effective 16:15 – 18:35]
Economy Class
Seat 23 A

Boarding started in time with first passengers traveling in First Class, Global Service Members and 1Ks before Star Gold and the last rows were called.

I headed to my seat in the rear part of the cabin and my first impression was the cabin was quite chilly. The flight was fully booked and boarding was completed but nothing happened. I got a text message from flight stats that the flight was now 15 minutes delayed but not information was given by the crew. Just a few seconds after I received the second text message informing me of a delay of 30 minutes the purser informed us of some technical problem, which was not further described. They had called maintenance to fix it and expect us to be able to leave soon. Approximately ten minutes later we were pushed back but had to wait, as two other planes were in our way.

The Lufthansa A 380 bound for Frankfurt was at the international terminal among a few other planes. We taxied to runway and despite the cold cabin I was able to enjoy planes taking off and touching down. But suddenly left the taxiway and waited.

My instinct told me, that this was not a good sign and I should be right. The captain told us, they still had a problem with the air condition in the cockpit having more than 100 F while the cabin was – as he said – reasonably tempered. Quite a few passengers disagreed and mentioned it was way too cold. Given the number of people in the cabin who had their jackets on, I think the crew should have noticed, that the cabin was way too cold. The captain decided to return to a gate and see if the technical problem could be fixed.

Ten minutes later we were back at a gate and waited for news. I could see people from maintenance at the plane and a few people asked about connection and information, as they had to be in Vancouver at a specific time to get on a cruise.  Approximately around 13:45 the captain informed us that the problem could not be fixed right now and we had to deboard the plane. The good news was that there was a substitute plane available and we should get the news in the terminal.

Deboarding took some time and in the terminal were agents present to try to deal with the situation. Honestly, now the situation improved as the agent updated us that we should return latest at 15:00 to this gate to get news of this flight. They also rebooked passengers with connections to other flights. I decided to visit the United Club in terminal 3.

The monitors showed the flight with a delay until 15:00 at gate A 85 and I asked at one of the counters, if the information was right, that the flight was leaving from gate A 85. The agent confirmed it and printed a new updated boarding pass.

I grabbed something to drink and read in the papers. Flightstats showed the flight as still active, which was at least a good sign. A glimpse at one of the monitors showed the flight as boarding and I decided to leave the lounge and walk over to the gate. There the agent was about to inform us, that a plane was awaiting us at terminal 1 and we had to use the shuttle buses to terminal 1. The buses are quite small and there are only a few available, so it would take some time before we were all brought over to terminal 1. I had expected United would be able to get a bigger bus or at least more buses, but this was not the case. There was soon enough a long line and several agents brought passengers with tighter connection to LAS and SAN at the head of the queue, which caused a further delay for us. As much as I recognize the effort of ground staff to assist us and to help us, United seems not to be prepared for anything like this. I was able to chat with a couple from Boston and a young lady from France and we tried to make the best out of this situation.

Finally we made it over to terminal 1. There the monitors had no information about our flight but one agent showed us directions to our gate. Priority Boarding was available and I was able to cut the long line – and also get the young lady from France with me on board ahead of other passengers. According to the information screens the seat next to me was now empty and so I had a bit more space available to myself. The plane was not as cold as the other one. It took some time, before all passengers had boarded.

The captain had turned on channel 9. The safety video was shown again and we were pushed back at 16:15.

Our substitute plane was also an Airbus A319, which was delivered to United on April 28, 2000. The first flight was on April 12, 2000. It had 8 seats in First Class in a 2-2 configuration and 112 seats in Economy / Economy Plus. It was equipped with 2 IAE V2522-A5 engines.

We had to wait for take off and even let a few other planes pass. Now, I really hated me for not booking Air Canada. I had planned to do some sightseeing in Vancouver and to take a few pictures at the harbor before it was becoming dark and this was now not going to happen.

Finally at we were cleared for take off at 16:40 and took off towards Berkeley before we made a turn in Northern direction and flew towards Vancouver.

The flight itself was uneventful. A beverage service was done. I opted for a Ginger Ale and got the whole can. Later items from the beverage service were collected. I listened to channel 9, read in the magazine and relaxed. The more Northern we flew, the more clouds were in the sky and it was no longer possible to watch the landscape on the ground. We approached Vancouver from the sea and made a few turns towards the mountain before we finally touched down on the runway from the mountainside at18:29 and arrived at our gate a few minutes later at 18:35

Deboarding took some time, but there were no lines at immigration. This time, the luggage had not made it to the belt and so I had to wait. At least priority stickers were working and my trolley was among the fist on the belt. I passed customs and was on my way to the skytrain for a service of the Canada Line to City Center.

Top

next flight