After a great visit to the #TWAHotel and a restful night's sleep, it was time to return home to Raleigh. Although the hotel is located at New York’s #JFKAirport, I was only able to secure award tickets to and from New York’s #LaGuardiaAirport. Getting a taxi took me about 20 minutes. First, I had to exit the hotel through one of the two, red carpeted flight tubes used by passengers going from the original Saarinen-designed TWA Flight Center to their waiting aircraft. The tubes now lead to Terminal 5, home of #JetBlue. Once inside that terminal, I had to take several escalators up to the Skyway Level and cross over the traffic below before arriving at the taxi stand which was virtually deserted on that early Sunday morning.
There was little to no traffic on the Van Wyck Expressway (Interstate 678) at 6:45 AM although the journey still cost me about $40. On arrival, I was cleared through the Security Checkpoint in under 10 minutes, thanks to TSA PreCheck. My #AmericanAir flight was departing from Gate 48 which was a 10 minute walk from the Terminal B check-in area.
This airport has been justifiably criticized for its outdated facilities, dirty appearance, cramped design, low ceilings and generally shabby look and feel. In mid-2015, the airport announced a $4 billion plan (now $8 billion) to rebuild the terminals as one continuous building. Completion is scheduled for 2021 but, as part of the reconstruction, eleven new gates at Terminal B opened in December of 2018. These are used by #AirCanada, #AmericanAir and #Southwest. Five additional gates opened in June of this year when #United relocated most of its operations to the new concourse.
I lucked out as my aircraft was departing from one of the newly refurbished sections of the airport. This brand new concourse area features ceilings up to 55 feet high with plenty of windows providing sweeping views of the tarmac, and an abundance of natural light. Passengers have access to13 new shops, restaurants and services. Among these are a Shake Shack and a branch of New York’s most famous toy store - FAO Schwarz. There is ample seating in all new gate areas with conveniently located charging stations. Free, unlimited high speed Wi-FI is also provided courtesy of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Additional features include a “park space” complete with greenery and benches and an airport-themed children’s play section.
There is no #AdmiralsClub in this new concourse but I noticed a sign reading “Airline Lounges Upstairs.” So I took the escalator up to Level Three and faced the entrance to a brand new, and what proved to be very beautiful, #UnitedClub. The airline instituted a policy last year whereby members are only permitted to access these clubs if flying on a same-day United ticket. The friendly agent on duty however, kindly admitted me into the Club with my membership card, even though I was carrying an American Airlines boarding pass on that particular day.
As part of the LaGuardia Airport redevelopment, United opened its newest club here on June 2 to service the airline’s 40 daily flights from LGA. Airline CEO Oscar Munoz did the honors himself one week before my arrival. It’s a fairly expansive space at 10,500 square feet with great views of the tarmac. In fact, this club is 30% larger than the one it replaced. There are more than 200 seats with ample charging stations and free, hi-speed Wi-Fi.
The club has a tended bar and expanded food selection offerings. The early morning choices were excellent. These included several cereals, fruit and granola, breakfast carrot bread (nice touch United), bagels, toast, assorted cream cheeses, jams and smokehouse salmon spread as well as pastries. A good Illy coffee station was also available as were a variety of Fanta fountain drinks. To top it off, scrambled eggs, bacon and several salads all made for a great breakfast on this early Sunday morning. The menu options are rotated throughout the day with both hot and cold items available.
The American Embraer RJ-175 taking me back to the #RDUAirport was just as spacious up front as my inbound flight the previous day. The cabin featured 12 wide and roomy seats in the same 1-2 configuration with 37” of seat pitch and a seat width of nearly 20 inches. Unfortunately, this particular aircraft appeared to be older and dirtier than the one I’d flown earlier and I kept thinking a thorough cleaning would have done wonders for its appearance.
But its looks didn’t affect its performance and we landed 20 minutes early. Sadly, it took nearly 19 minutes for the American gate agent to bring the jet bridge to our aircraft. I returned to overcast skies with occasional rain but it sure was good to be home for my birthday.
Until next time…safe travels.
Love the down to earth comments from the man flying in the front of the plane! ;-)