When it was time to head home after my recent trip to Denver, I left the #GrdHyattDenver at 6:30 in the morning for the short taxi ride back to #DenversStation. I like walking through Union Station and enjoy the unique architecture and beautiful interior restoration. Its soaring ceilings and sparkling chandeliers bring a smile to my face, even in the early morning hours! Trains from the station to #DENAirport run every 15 minutes and I was lucky to make the 6:45 AM departure. I’m impressed with the University of Colorado A line trains. They’re normally always reliable, always clean and always quick at roughly 36 minutes either way. My journey that day was no exception. At the final stop, I hopped off the train and headed into the Jeppesen Terminal and it was only 7:23 AM, leaving me plenty of time to make my 9:48 departure.
The Denver Airport is one of #united's hub cities and is fairly easy to navigate - if you’re traveling on that carrier. Since I was going home on #AmericanAir, it was initially a bit of a trek through United Baggage Claim to the elevators up to American ticketing on Level 6. With my boarding pass in hand, it was a further trek to find the TSA Pre check security area. First, I had to walk across the footbridge over the actual security checkpoint itself, then travel down an escalator, walk over to my far left and next travel around a bend in order to arrive at the correct location. Travel through the expedited security lane was thankfully simple and speedy. I didn’t have to remove my shoes, belt or sports jacket. Plus, I wasn’t required to dig into my carry-on luggage to remove my tablet or quart-sized plastic bag carrying the liquids I bring with me when traveling. Remember, family members ages 12 and under traveling with a parent or guardian who has Pre check can accompany them in the expedited lanes. I’ve mentioned this before but it’s worth repeating - if you don’t have TSA Pre check, get it. You won’t regret doing so and the $85 fee covers enrollment for 5 years and is well worth it in time saved and frustration avoided.
American uses the A Concourse which was easy to reach via the Denver International Airport Automated Guideway Transit System. Boy, that’s a real mouthful but it’s basically a people mover utilizing 2, mile-long tunnels traveling underneath the aircraft taxiways and passing through the center of the concourse buildings. There are 4 stations, serving the terminal itself as well as Concourses A, B and C. While it is possible to walk from the terminal to Concourse A via a pedestrian bridge over the taxiway, it’s much easier and faster to use the train and that’s the only way to reach Concourses B and C. The train system is essential for the airport to function at its full capacity. In rare instances of the train being out of service, shuttle buses have been used. While this system is highly reliable, one major system failure occurred over 20 years ago on April 26, 1998. A routing cable in the train tunnel was damaged by a loose wheel on one of the trains, cutting power to the entire system. It was out of commission for about 7 hours. United reported that about 30% of its flights and approximately 5,000 passengers were affected by that failure. The day of the outage is often referred to as “Black Sunday” by airport personnel to this day.
No such worries for me that morning as the train whisked me to Concourse A in short order after which I made my way to the Admirals Club. It’s located on the 4th floor at the North end of the A Gates bridge from the terminal. This club also serves as the British Airways Executive Lounge catering to their premium cabin passengers booked on the carrier’s daily flights from Denver to London Heathrow. It’s a pleasant space with panoramic views overlooking the multi-level atrium. I was happily surprised to see how uncrowded the club was on that Monday, and was also pleased to see the fresh and varied morning food and beverage offerings on tap. I had ample time to leisurely enjoy a light breakfast and the opportunity to “catch up” on the news of the day with both local and national newspapers.
My first flight of the day was headed to Charlotte and boarding began at Gate A 48 about one half hour before our scheduled departure. This aircraft was an A321 featuring 16 seats up front with 4 rows in a 2-2 configuration. It was one of the planes formerly flown by US Airways which American kept in their fleet after the carriers’ merger in December of 2013. With a seat width of 21” and a pitch of 36” it was a bit more cramped than the 737s which took me out to Denver. If you’re ever flying on one of these birds, be aware it’s best to charge your devices before boarding as there are no power outlets or USB ports onboard, nor are there any seat back entertainment screens. Our flying time from Denver to Charlotte was a quick 2 hours and 41 minutes. After the safety briefing, our flight attendant told us she would be giving us further information about the American Airlines co-branded Master Card available from Barclays Bank after takeoff. But then she spent about 7 minutes talking about the current bonus mile offer anyway.
Denver is a large airport. In fact, it comprises about 53 square miles in area, bigger than the Island of Manhattan and the cities of San Francisco and Miami. With this in mind, it wasn't surprising that it took us more than 11 minutes of taxiing to reach the departure runway. Our take off was relatively smooth with only moderate chop on the climb out to our cruising altitude of 31,000 feet. It wasn’t long before the flight attendant went through the same credit card pitch again. Then she walked through the cabin with the application telling us to complete it en route and they would “place them in a lockbox after our arrival in Charlotte for secure and expedited processing.” Really? She droned on for at least an additional 10 minutes. It was beyond annoying. American has been “pushing” applications for their Barclay Master Card for some time now. Perhaps it’s because, up until the second quarter of this year, they actually made more money from the sale of miles to financial institutions than they did carrying passengers!
My flight landed in Charlotte at 2:38 in the afternoon, a good 36 minutes ahead of schedule. This city is the second largest hub for American Airlines (after Dallas Fort Worth) and I had to switch concourses for my connecting flight to #RDUAirport which departed at 4:20 PM. That left me ample time to visit the Admirals Club located at the intersection of Concourses C and D. This is the largest club at the Charlotte Douglas Airport and, like many, offered complimentary Wi-Fi, PCs with internet access as well as snacks and beverages with more substantial food available for purchase.
I flew another legacy US Airways A320 plane on my final leg of the day. There were only 12 seats in First Class with 3 rows in another 2-2 configuration. I experienced a further bumpy climb out but we only reached a cruising altitude of 13,000 feet for the short 35 minute flight. Believe it or not, they did have time to serve us the beverage of our choice and one of the flight attendants made yet another announcement for that darned credit card. It didn’t bother me much by that point because it wasn’t long before we were taxiing to our arrival gate at the Raleigh Durham Airport and I was on my way home.
Until next time…safe travels.
So, George, is the deal for the Barclays co-brand card a good one?.... ;-)