ORD-PIT (410 Miles)
I was thankful to get back to business travel, but quickly learned that the Priority AAccess security lane at 6am is not the line to be in. There is a lone agent serving this line and all ORD crew goes through the crew lane which shares this agent. The result is watching people pass through the normals lane in half the time that it takes to be special. What surprised me most about waiting in the line was how impatient and upset people get while waiting in the slower line. There is no need to get angry and take deep breaths of anger while waiting in line for security. If you care enough to make a scene, please move to the quicker moving line and take your chances. I digress. The highlight of this flight was my upgrade to First Class, first upgrade of the year! The seat was on a new EMB-175 and I was thrilled. I was in the bulkhead seat with plenty of legroom and fully enjoyed the coffee served in an American Airlines mug. The flight ended too quickly and it was off to work for the week.
PIT-PHL (268 Miles)
This flight gave me a unique opportunity to visit two of the most polarizing Admirals clubs. The PIT Admirals club was one of the worst I have ever seen. The club is dated and for some reason looks more like an office with cubicles than an airline lounge. So, I quickly spoke to the agent and got on an earlier flight to PHL. The flight was uneventful on a US Airways EMB-175. Although the plane is the same, the interior was different. Most notably the 8th row bulkhead is a solid wall and limits legroom and prohibits under-seat storage. Once in PHL I walked all the way to the International terminals Admirals Club located high above the A gates. The club offers a fantastic view of the field and has a great spread of snacks and beverages throughout. I then took the shuttle bus to Terminal F for my next flight and I’m glad the agent in the club told me to allow up to 20 minutes because once the shuttle is out on the tarmac it constantly gets stopped by moving aircraft.
PHL-MKE (688 Miles)
The last flight of the day was slightly delayed due to maintenance, but overall very easy. This time on a US Airways (Air Wisconsin) CRJ-200. The only complaint was that the man behind me was quite tall and the back of the seat makes it very easy to feel his knees on my back. Other than that the flight went well and I was excited to be back in MKE for the weekend!
