The day did not start very well. We had to get from our house to DCA, and with the expected usual weekend track work on Metro we left particularly early – or so was the plan. Some last minute delays, and being stuck at the cross roads waiting for the longest cargo train ever to pass made us at least 20 minutes off the time table. We thought we are just going to change the trains from the red line to the yellow line at Fort Totten instead of Gallery Place, however, letting the Green train pass us, and no Yellow train in sight we discovered that the Yellow train does not get to Fort Totten this weekend. So Green train it was to L’Enfant Plaza, only to board the Yellow train, which took the Blue train route this weekend (though nothing about THAT was posted on the web-site). So as you can see from the map, we really took the long route to get to the airport. That delay was another 40 minutes delay. Luckily, there was no line at the US Airways check-in, there was no problem checking in the luggage, and security was relatively quick at 20 minutes – so we just got to the get with 5 minutes to spare prior to boarding. Needless to say I was nervous the whole way.
US 1905 – DCA - FLL
This flight was going to be a special flight – not only it is a beginning of a nice vacation, but it was the flight that will push me over to have A3 Star Gold status. My partner and I booked on the flights on different PNRs and chose window and aisle seat hoping that the middle seat will remain empty – which it was. All in all, US Airways continues to leave good impression. The flight was a normal flight. There is really nothing to report on. It was a normal flight in economy class. My luggage arrived after about 15 minutes intact, which is more than one can expect.
I'm glad to report that four days later the flight had posted and now I am a proud A3 *G.
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| Obligatory leg room picture |
We had a good rate through the charter line we to this hotel. It included breakfast (that I would have gotten anyway as Hilton Gold, so I took the points this time), transfer from the Airport to the hotel, and from the hotel to the Port, plus shuttle service from the hotel to downtown Fort Lauderdale in the evening. So, even if I could get a different hotel a little cheaper, with all the add-ons it was no brainer.
The hotel is a standard Hilton Garden Inn, if you ever been to one you know what I am talking about. It is a little old and a little run-down. It does not seems like anyone had been cleaning the vents in the room for years, and the shower could use some fix-ups as it seems that the water controller is almost out of the wall. Other than that, there is nothing special about this hotel – good bed, decent breakfast (if VERY crowded), spacious room and free internet. All in all, I would stay here again if given similar deal, but it would not be my first choice.
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| Bathroom Vent |
In the next post I'll talk about the curise
