Saturday December 16th, 2023
Burlingame, California USA
Another beautiful day. We managed to sleep into 7:30 this morning. Got up and checked for any possible messages or updates concerning the condition of flights and hotels. There was a message from The Britannia Hotel saying they were sorry, but they couldn’t offer a refund or change the dates on my reservation. This was to be expected and not particularly upsetting. They did manage to rearrange the car service from the airport to the hotel without an issue. If losing money due to changes in flight schedules or other transportation interruptions was a major concern it can be squelched by purchasing travel insurance. Up to now travel insurance always just seemed a scam. If transportation interruptions continue, then maybe the travel insurance might possibly be a less than unreasonable idea.
A few changes in the clothing for the day were necessary as there is no airplane ride. Holding off on the compression socks and multiple layers of clothing which are necessary when flying. After the daily waking up routine it was off the to inclusive breakfast buffet down in the atrium of the hotel. The Hyatt Regency is an empty box. You should interpret that as the rooms are around the edges and the center is only occupied on the “ground” or atrium floor. Our room is up on the 9th floor which is also the Club Floor. The room looks down into the atrium. While not offering a view of the hills or airport, it is still a pleasant view.
Breakfast is served in the 3SIXTY Bistro. It is buffet style. It was typical American hotel breakfast buffet. Scrambled eggs, bacon, over cooked eggs Benedict, pancakes from a machine, various breads for toast, a selection of fruits, milk and juice. The cappuccino, should one wish to call it that, was extra. $6.50 plus tax extra. The price should have indicated a really nice well-prepared cappuccino, alas it wasn’t.
After completing breakfast, a stroll around the grounds was required to “work-off” the incredible breakfast. A phone alert greeted us upon returning from the stroll. It was time to check-in for the flight to Dallas and bed extension for Roma. Being conscientious and on the ball, application for check-in was made. Entering all the same information they already have, name, birthdate, Passport number, AAdvantage number and the like. Upon proudly completing the require information for two people, send was executed. “Sorry the information entered does not match our records.” Really! Ok, try again you old fool, you forget something. Same response. One more time, same response.
So, the decision was made to go visit the airport and seek out a human, or airline agent not human, to give some real time assistance. Let me know when you are up off the floor from laughing. We played a full game of Canasta to allow time to settle down and relax before heading to the airport. P.S. I won.
Arising from our relaxing Canasta game we headed to the room to drop off the playing cards and other sundry items. The we headed down to the shuttle. The shuttle from the hotel to the airport takes about twenty-five minutes. Upon arrival at terminal 1, where domestic American Airlines is located now, we sought out an American Airlines Agent. There were two agents assisting people and a small gaggle of people standing near the “help desk”. After a few minutes another agent showed up and told us we, and the small gaggle, were standing in the wrong place if we wanted help.
Everyone adjusted their stance and properly entered the proper Que in the proper order of arrival at the Que for assistance. You may recall the roped off waiting lines. These were very located behind the back of the help desk, so the agents didn’t and couldn’t see if anyone still needed assistance. Yes, there we eight or ten stations for agents. And, yes, six of them were facing the Que we were in. However, the two agents working today, were facing in the opposite direction.
This really isn’t a problem, at least not until someone walking toward the agents, from the front, decides there is no Que, so I’ll just go up to the agent and talk to them. Again, not a problem so long as the agent sends them to the Que. And, what happened you dare ask? Yes, someone decided there was Que and attempted to burst in ahead of the Que. Did the agent tell them to go to the Que? Oh, No. Did the old man in the black fedora let both the agent and customer know there was a Que? You bet your sweet ass.
It seems everyone’s problem takes a long time to resolve. It was finally our turn to present our grievance to the agent. What was ring with our check-in data? Turns out the passports used in the booking process were replaced with updated passports. The passport numbers had changed. Ok, that is reasonable. Can the agent just check us in? No, you can do that online, less you are ready to turn in your bags, which were conspicuously absent. Ok, is this the best you can do? Any seats in business? No not a thing the agent can do. No waiting list, no check-in, Nadda.
Ok, back to the hotel, at least after accomplishing something. A stroll through the terminal seemed appropriate as there hadn’t been much opportunity to get the daily prerequisite steps recorded on the Fitbits. Due to construction, you can’t walk from one terminal to another. Terminal one is attached to the international terminal, but the connection between Terminal One and Two is under construction. So it was off to the international terminal. Besides the hotel carries Pepsi and not Coke products. And a Diet Coke this afternoon while playing cards seems appropriate, and this seemed an opportunity to obtain one.
We found a Hudson shop and acquired the requisite coke product. Walking around a bit more, the Market Place, a food court was discovered. Breakfast had given us a really good start on the day, and there wasn’t any real hunger pain, but it was going on one and some slight interest in food was present.
There was a Asian stand in the food court, for reference you can think Panda Express on a budget. It may or may not have been the best choice but there was not sufficient time to do an entire market comparison, nor the interest to do so. Acquisition was made of a plate containing orange chicken, beef short ribs with broccoli and white rice with vegetables. One plate to share, a good third of which ended up in the trash receptacle. That probably says enough about the quality of the food.
After this fulfilling snack another leisurely stroll was necessary to work of the calories. As the walk progressed we happen to pass a sign which said hotel shuttle. Exiting the building we saw the shuttle for the Hyatt Regency, he was just pulling away from the curb. He stopped when flagged down and let us on board. Fifteen minutes later we were back at the hotel.
Diet Coke in hand we headed to the Regency Lounge just down from the room. We took a table and played cards for a couple hours. There was the occasional curious guest checking the lounge out, but they seemed equally disappointed that it was closed. The thought of a lobster roll for dinner had been presented earlier but on the shuttle ride back we passed Max’s. Max’s hot pastrami sandwich with swiss on rye is something we probably can’t get in Italy, and we had recently indulged in a lobster roll. Reservations were made of Max’s at 6. Max’s is just a quarter mile down the road. It is 16 degrees outside (60 F). So it would be a nice stroll. Maybe a slight detour and walk along the bay for a while before dinner?
Max’s of Burlingame (formerly Original Max’s) has been an iconic Bay Area restaurant for nearly fifty years. This location is the original location. Sometime during the 1980’s or early 1990’s they either expanded or franchised locations. One of these was at the Stanford Shopping Center in the 1990’s. There was another one at the Sequoia Station shopping center. Their specialties included their legendary pastrami sandwiches and wonderful deserts. It is unclear what happened but all except this one closed sometime in the 2010’s. They were able to confirm that their pastrami sandwich is still very good, maybe not legendary. Mary had the patty melt which looked very good. The meal was finished with a slice of carrot cake for Mary, the size of which required bring half of it back to the hotel. The very berry pie is advertised as wild blueberries and marionberries under a crispy rock-sugar lattice top. In truth, if there were either of these berries in the pie, they were difficult to spot. It was more a strawberry rhubarb pie than a berry pie. There was rock-sugar on top but it wasn’t a lattice top. Good? Yea? A berry pie? No! Over all a good meal. Didn’t really need the calories in the dessert anyway.
Tomorrow should be interesting. Looking at the flight history for the flight from SFO to Dallas it seems American can’t be on time or consistently use the same gate. The flight history on the Dallas to Roma leg is even more interesting. That flight has a record of leaving early. We only have an hour and thirty minutes between landing and takeoff times, assuming everything is on time. It is only a ten-minute walk and train ride between the B gates and the D gates. So again, if all goes well, we should make it. No point in worrying. Anyway the plan is to leave the hotel between 8 and 8:15. We should get to the airport about three hours before our scheduled take off time.
Flight 1064 is supposed to arrive of DFW at 10:17 am. Assuming it is on time, or take off time, back to DFW is 11:18 am. It will be amazing if that actually happens. It is an Airbus A380-800, which hold about 540 people. There is no way the type of aircraft is an A380. You can’t get that many people off and then on in an hour and a half. It also seems too large an aircraft for the route. My guess is that it is an Airbus A321NEO which is maybe 180 – 190 passengers. That might be possible to do in an hour. We shall see…
Stay tuned for the results of tomorrow’s adventure in flight! Good Night, Enrico
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