Trip Report: Canada/U.SA

[George G]

Please forgive me if my videos/images don't work, it's the first trip report i've written. I will mainly write up the aviation related things.

Date: 15th September 2012
Destination: Vancouver, Canada
Airline: Air Canada
Flight:AC 34
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200LR Rego: C-FNNH





Getting to the airport this day was a hassle. The queues to the international airport extended all the way back into the M5 tunnel. I was wondering whether i would make it in time for boarding, but once at the check in gate there was no line so that was pretty seamless. This was the first time i have flown to Canada and the U.S.

I took my seat at 26E which is the left isle seat in the middle of Air Canada's 3-3-3 configuration. Scheduled depature today was for 10:25am but just like the traffic getting to the airport, there was plenty of air traffic to keep us sitting on the taxiway for well over an hour. The captain came over the intercom to say that we were about 7th inline for take off so he would be switching off all engines to conserve fuel, as the flight is well over 15hours long fuel conservation is critical.

So we departed around 11:45am from 16R and headed straight out to sea. I found Air Canada's seating arrangements to be quite comfortable. I had plenty of room to stretch my legs, and i think for this reason only i would definately fly them again. Service on board however was a different story. The stewardess seemed disjointed, as if they couldn't work together. Having not eaten much before getting on the plane i couldn't wait for some food. After eating my 1st meal soon after takeoff, about 7 or 8 hours later i was starving bad. But it seems i wasnt the only one. The passenger behind me started moaning "I want some foooood" ...excellent...they came around and gave us a small midnight snack.

Before arriving in Vancouver, the connecting flight announcements started. I lost count to how many announcements there were. Maybe 3 or 4 and they went for about 20 minutes all up. Each time they were more confusing than the announcements before. "Passengers connecting to Montreal, your plane has now changed from a 777 to 767, and you will be now leaving from gate 52 not 45, and your flight number is now AC74 not AC96."..and so on.

It was a smooth landing in Vancouver, arrived early despite our delay in Sydney. I was surprised as to how quiet Vancouver Airport is. It was like a ghost town. But overall i was impressed.
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Next Aviation related stop: Seattle.

We caught the bus to Seattle. Was only a 3 hour ride from Vancouver. My other half had to do some work with Boeing so a part of our trip involved taking a VIP trip around the Boeing Everett Factory. We got given safety goggles, and put on a little golf cart and were driven around the whole Factory. This place is huge as you may know. I loved the experience. We got taken down all the lines and i learnt many things that i did not know before.

I was authorised to take photos everywhere except for the 787 line. I will only post a few photos despite having quite a few. (EDIT: I will resize the images and post them again at a late date)



After our tour we has some lunch with a couple of people from Boeing. Their hospitality, despite their busy schedules, was above and beyond. And i will also never forget our shuttle bus driver, Tom, who picked us up from our hotel and drove us back again courtesy of Boeing. What an awesome guy. I dont think i have ever had a conversation like this with someone before in my life. Totally awesome!!
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Next Stop: Las Vegas
Airline: Alaska Airlines
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800 (sorry didnt manage to get the rego)
Seat: 10F (right side window seat)



A bit of a traffic starting to build up:


Video of take off from Seattle Tacoma Airport (including fly over Boeing Field):


We departed Seattle on time off runway 24R.Overall flight time to Las vegas was about 2 hours and 15mins.The pilot said we might experience some rough weather along the way, but overall the flight was smooth. The Air Alaska crew offered good service.



Coming Up: Arrival in Las Vegas...Los Angeles with Southwest Airlines...and back to Vancouver...

to be continued......