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Trip Report: No chicken on Malaysia Airlines, solicitors at LAX, etc.
Redeemed 60,000 Delta Skymiles for MSY-TPE round trip Award ticket in mid
January. Left New Orleans on March 17 for 30+ day vacation in Taipei and Taiwan. Delta is really cutting back. All MSY-DFW flights are now handled by Delta Connection with CRJs. The 7:00 AM Flight 4914 was packed but not overbooked by about 3 seats. DFW-LAX coach passengers are only served beverage and pretzels for the 9:30 AM (breakfast time) Flight 1625 so I went to the DFW Burger King before boarding. Aircraft used is MD-88 (should be at least a 757) because it's was packed both ways. Arrived at LAX around 11:00 AM for a 12+ hour layover. Fortunately I my cousin lives in LAX so I waited for him to arrive and sure enough a pesky Korean solicitor wanted a donation to some Korean crap. What's with LAX being a haven for solicitors and for it being so infamous getting mocked (and the PA recording with the "red zone, white zone, etc.") decades ago in the Airplane movies? Is it like this at SFO? I have been solicited just about every time I go to LAX. I finally noticed this but why are all LAX signs only in English? Even the MSY airport is foreigner friendly with Spanish, French and Japanese translations on its signs even though there are no direct flights to/from Japan and only one nonstop flight each to/from Toronto and San Pedro Sula. Picture of MSY terminal with the four languages used on its signs. http://208.55.190.92/images/SB_line_...east_2-4-2.jpg My cousin and I had Dim Sum for lunch in Monterey Park and also I got some sleep at his house in Alhambra for a few hours. Got back to LAX about 3 hours before the 11:35 PM departure to TPE on MH 95. You really have to arrive at LAX at least three hours before International departure because TSA is screening every checked baggage. You may end up arriving at the gate 2 hours before departure but that's because you just avoided the mad last minute rush. To kill some time I watched a DVD on my laptop. Finally boarded MH 95 and it was packed! It must be people going back for the Taiwanese Presidential Election. I booked window seat 26K both ways two months in advance. I should have booked a better seat which I did on the return trip. I was never given a good explanation why there was no chicken even on flights from the USA. See the airline meal pictures below for what I was told. Airline meal pictures http://public.fotki.com/apjung/airline_meals/2004/ Photos from the entire trip http://public.fotki.com/apjung/vacations/2004/taiwan/ http://public.fotki.com/apjung/trainspotting/taiwan/ http://public.fotki.com/apjung/roadgeeking/flying/ http://public.fotki.com/apjung/roadgeeking/taiwan/ Left Taipei on April 19 back to New Orleans. Booked window seat 81K shortly on MH Flight 94 after arriving in Taipei and it was the best choice I ever made for another packed flight. There are only two seats instead of three because of the curvature of the 747 at the rear so I had plenty of side space to stretch my legs and store some carry on items. There is still row 82 behind me but those are reserved for the cabin crew for resting and meal times so reclining is not a problem. (best seats in the rear are Rows 80A/K and 81A/K) Finally learned the true reason that chicken is not being served on Malaysia Airlines aboard is because of the bird flu so what was substituted in place? Absolutely nothing! We all had to settle for fish or vegetarian for Dinner. At least Malaysia Airlines should have offered beef as a substitute! Just before landing at LAX the flight attendants sprayed disinfectant towards the ceiling to circulate thru the system. Will this procedure kill all airborne SARS and bird flu viruses? Arrived at LAX an hour early around 5:20 PM so I have another long 8 hour+ layover. Picked up my luggage and went thru Customs and rechecked for the connecting flight. Caught the LAX shuttle bus to domestic departure terminal. Avoided those damn solicitors at LAX like the plague when that same Korean solicitor approached a lady sitting next to me so I got up and left but I couldn't check in at the Delta counter until 6 hours before departure which was another 50 minutes of agony. The sooner you go thru the security checkpoint at LAX, the sooner you leave those pesky solicitors behind for good! Hey TSA, please do not lift the ticketed passengers only rule except for a family member accompanying children, disabled people or people who can't speak English. I arrived at Gate 63 after many of the restaurants had closed on a Sunday night. Only one of the food places in Terminal 6 was open but the line was not really moving so I didn't really eat for the night. Killed some waiting time again with another DVD. Finally boarded the 1:45AM redeye MD-90 (again should be at least a 757) Flight 2088 to DFW and again it was packed so I didn't get continuous sleep in Sardine Class. I should have realized that the 6:37AM arrival time at DFW was during DST so the sun hasn't risen yet which meant I should have booked an aisle seat back in January. Arrived at DFW around 6:30 AM and went directly to the Burger King again and ordered a Chicken Whopper meal after about 12 hours between my previous Brunch meal on MH 94. Yes, you can have lunch/dinner during breakfast hours at the DFW Burger King. On the final leg on 7:30 AM Delta Connection Flight 4922 to MSY I finally got a less than half full flight so everyone got plenty of room to move around and stretch their legs. I couldn't say the same for the unfortunate folks on the 9:30 AM 4922 flight back to DFW because it was overbooked. Now why couldn't it be overbooked for me on March 17 so I could've asked for a First Class flight to ATL and LAX on bigger aircraft and gotten fed with a meal? Arrival at MSY was around 8:45 AM which was about 15 minutes early. Baggage claim wait time was virtually non existant. -- Andy P. Jung Metairie, Louisiana U.S.A. http://www.JungWorld.com/ To reply via e-mail, please visit my web site. |
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Trip Report: No chicken on Malaysia Airlines, solicitors at LAX, etc.
"Andy P. Jung" spam@yourownrisk wrote in message
news:uvqic.9911$55.1808@lakeread02... Left Taipei on April 19 back to New Orleans. Booked window seat 81K shortly on MH Flight 94 after arriving in Taipei and it was the best choice I ever made for another packed flight. There are only two seats instead of three because of the curvature of the 747 at the rear so I had plenty of side space to stretch my legs and store some carry on items. There is still row 82 behind me but those are reserved for the cabin crew for resting and meal times so reclining is not a problem. (best seats in the rear are Rows 80A/K and 81A/K) Whoops, should be window seats in row 60 and 61. -- Andy P. Jung Metairie, Louisiana U.S.A. http://www.JungWorld.com/ To reply via e-mail, please visit my web site. |
#3
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Trip Report: No chicken on Malaysia Airlines, solicitors at LAX, etc.
"Andy P. Jung" spam@yourownrisk wrote in message news:uvqic.9911$55.1808@lakeread02...
Redeemed 60,000 Delta Skymiles for MSY-TPE round trip Award ticket in mid January. Left New Orleans on March 17 for 30+ day vacation in Taipei and Taiwan. Delta is really cutting back. All MSY-DFW flights are now handled by Delta Connection with CRJs. The 7:00 AM Flight 4914 was packed but not overbooked by about 3 seats. DFW-LAX coach passengers are only served beverage and pretzels for the 9:30 AM (breakfast time) I was surprised that Continental is still serving meals, at least they were 2 weeks ago on the IAH-SFO-SFO/IAH flights. The e-ticket said "snack only" and I was pleased to see breakfast and lunch served. |
#4
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Trip Report: No chicken on Malaysia Airlines, solicitors at LAX, etc.
"Andy P. Jung" spam@yourownrisk wrote in message news:uvqic.9911$55.1808@lakeread02... snip DFW-LAX coach passengers are only served beverage and pretzels for the 9:30 AM (breakfast time) This is pretty consistent among all the major carriers. snip Aircraft used is MD-88 (should be at least a 757) because it's was packed both ways. That's what airlines aspire to, now. It's a concommitant of deep discount fares. Arrived at LAX around 11:00 AM for a 12+ hour layover. Fortunately I my cousin lives in LAX Poor guy! He lives in the airport? so I waited for him to arrive and sure enough a pesky Korean solicitor wanted a donation to some Korean crap. What's with LAX being a haven for solicitors and for it being so infamous getting mocked (and the PA recording with the "red zone, white zone, etc.") decades ago in the Airplane movies? Is it like this at SFO? There is a "free speech desk" just outside the President's Club entrance at the CO domestic terminal. Solicitors harrass airport passengers from there. There isn't, however, the ubiquitous white-uniformed "fake nun" parked in front of every escalator as there is at LAX. I have been solicited just about every time I go to LAX. I finally noticed this but why are all LAX signs only in English? They're not, at least at the United and American terminals. snip My cousin and I had Dim Sum for lunch in Monterey Park and also I got some sleep at his house in Alhambra for a few hours. Ah, some of the best Chinese food in North America can be had at Monterey Park. snip To kill some time I watched a DVD on my laptop. Out of curiosity, what software/hardware do you use? I'm experimenting with movie viewing on my laptop in-flight. My batteries won't take me through a 2-hour film if its read from the DVD, so I was thinking about copying it to my hard drive. snip Hey TSA, please do not lift the ticketed passengers only rule except for a family member accompanying children, disabled people or people who can't speak English. I agree (though not about the people who can't speak English part). Since the ticketed passengers airside only rule, terminals have been less crowded, you can you usually find a comfortable seat near the gate, there are usually seats at the bar, etc. snip |
#5
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Trip Report: No chicken on Malaysia Airlines, solicitors at LAX, etc.
"Lou Minatti" wrote in message om... "Andy P. Jung" spam@yourownrisk wrote in message news:uvqic.9911$55.1808@lakeread02... Redeemed 60,000 Delta Skymiles for MSY-TPE round trip Award ticket in mid January. Left New Orleans on March 17 for 30+ day vacation in Taipei and Taiwan. Delta is really cutting back. All MSY-DFW flights are now handled by Delta Connection with CRJs. The 7:00 AM Flight 4914 was packed but not overbooked by about 3 seats. DFW-LAX coach passengers are only served beverage and pretzels for the 9:30 AM (breakfast time) I was surprised that Continental is still serving meals, at least they were 2 weeks ago on the IAH-SFO-SFO/IAH flights. The e-ticket said "snack only" and I was pleased to see breakfast and lunch served. I didn't know that. Since turning Platinum, I haven't yet had to fly in Y on CO, so my only source of information about food service was the e-ticket which, like yours, said either "snack only" or "none." |
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