Sun Country Airlines, give credit where it's due

My mom is 88 and is not feeble, but she's not steady on her feet. She was going to go see my brother and his family in MN and we were trying to find her a decent fare and flight. I told my sister in law to ask the travel agent to check on Sun Country. They only have 1 flight in/out of LAX a day.

We got the reservations and when I went to do the online check in I found you have to pay $15 for an aisle seat to get it online or pray when you get to the airport. They also charge $20 for your first bag. I did notice that they give you the option to upgrade when you do your online check in. We didn't do that.

The day of travel she was in a lot of pain as she has back problems. I asked her if she wanted to upgrade, she'd have a nicer seat, be closer to the bathroom and it would be more comfortable. She said yes. So I go up to the first class line (all alone) and say we want to upgrade. No problem, what seat would you like? 2C. OK. We will refund the fees you've already paid and this is $119. I got a gate pass as well. We also got a wheelchair and headed to security.

At TSA we jumped the line and I got to use the walk through. Mom got a female assist I got the walker and we were done in less than 5 minutes. It was probably one of the easiest transits through security that I've had since I worked for them. We got to the gate and the young man said someone would be back at boarding time.

Boarding time came and the young man was back, Mom went through the jetway got settled into her seat and I left. She said they could not have been nicer to her on the flight to MSP. My brother picked her up at the Humphrey terminal and she had a great vacation there.

On the way home she upgraded again and had a wonderful flight. She told me the other day that when she flies again to MSP to see them, she will fly SY and first class. Why be uncomfortable and jammed in when she can be comfortable.

I've read good and bad reviews of SY and this was a good one. The flight attendants could not have been more attentive and the service was good.

peace

da bunny

Such is the life.....

I've been under then weather for the last few days, don't know if it's the up and down temps or just too much togetherness. It's coming up on 6 months now that the errant spouse has been out of a job and I have totally lost my routine.

And for the raptor fans, it's back in fine form. Sitting outside on the upper patio and squawking away.  It's varying it's noises now but it's still as annoying as hell. Add to that a cocker spaniel bitch that barks at people and the tiny little chihuahua comrade. I think we need to get a comrade for the Duffster, a boxer bitch would be nice.

We've had some rainy days and today it is hazy but nice. Went to one of my favorite plane watching spots and saw the new Lufthansa 748 come in. Amazing how something that big can fly, there were 2 Qantas A 380's parked for their journeys back across the sea tonight. I've seen the ladies come in but I have only once seen an A380 take off, and that was the first one that visited LAX many years ago.

I've been bitching about my hair for the last month so I called and booked an appt on Friday to get a perm. God knows I need one. Curls and more curls. 

My new bonsais. Free, 

Stay well. Love God. Be happy. 

da bunny

If you are short and trying to take pictures 0f the shuttle.....

So I'm 5'1 and trying to squeeze in with a crowd of over 200 people on a parking lot roof. It was magnificent. Even if it doesn't look like it, it was. God Bless the USA!!!

Oh I forgot something, it's new at LAX

Air France is now bringing its A380 for flights 65/66 into LAX. The airport is being proactive and has electronic signs at the pertinent exits for the people who are meeting or delivering passengers. This is a good thing. Normally AF comes into Terminal 2, but the A380 is using the Tom Bradley International Terminal aka TBIT. TBIT is undergoing a huge construction project which will go on ad infinitum due to $$$ change orders and contractor issues. When it's finally done, the existing terminal will be torn down to make a kinder gentler terminal area.  So we welcome the new plane to LAX.

One more thing, the vaunted new luggage security area which is in place at TBIT is not doing what they wanted. 

A $140-million baggage screening facility that was part of a recent remodel of the Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport has been able to process only about half the luggage it was designed to handle, airport officials said Monday.

Deputy Airport Director Roger Johnson said the facility, which relies on a complicated system of conveyors to feed bags into and out of security scanners, was supposed to screen 3,240 pieces of luggage an hour but has been processing between 1,500 and 1,800 bags an hour.

Because of the problem, Johnson said that occasionally during peak travel times bags have had to be taken to the nearby American Airlines terminal so to be scanned before being returned to Bradley and loaded onto international flights.

“It has not been that often, but it is problematic,” Johnson said.

He attributed the capacity issues to inadequate operational procedures, not breakdowns of the machinery, which is housed in a 45,000-square-foot annex that was included in a $737-million remodel of the Bradley Terminal that was completed in 2010.

 This is the TSA's area of concern. Either they aren't staffing the luggage screening area properly or they aren't moving fast enough with the amount of bags coming in. Can't do the old we'll not do 10% of the bags to move things along anymore, which is what I heard happened in the old days.


Have a nice week.
da bunny

Road Trip

My mom called me after she got home from church today and she was pretty upset. A friend of ours is dying. She is the same age as my husband and is dying from untreated melanoma. Being fair complected and a true redhead she was at a higher risk than some. She let it go and she has refused any and all medical treatment, though now she is using hospice. Why she is doing this is beyond me. She's well educated, Stanford MA, and is so talented. But she's dying of a disease that had she sought treatment for she might have survived. She's got a daughter who's pregnant with her 2nd child and a husband who adored her. They will be left without her. Her mom and dad are friends as well. There are times you don't know what to pray for.

On to better things. So my mom was kind of blue. She picked me and my daughter up this afternoon and we headed east. We went out towards Riverside. We went to the California Citrus Grove State Historical Park. Picked up some things in the gift shop, got back on the road and went to the Riverside National Cemetery to see if the new stone was placed on my MIL's grave. It wasn't. We drove around the cemetery and looked at the memorial for the Medal of Honor winners. It's very fitting. Back on the road and we stopped at Evelyn's Farm Market in Riverside, got some oranges and vegetables and headed home. Driving west with the sun setting is not fun. The traffic was good though and we didn't slow down at all. Thank goodness for the diamond lane.

Yesterday after a nice family brunch at the beach with my cousins from Illinois, the spousal unit and I went to Westchester and the roof of a Ralph's store where there is a parking lot that overlooks the north runway complex at LAX. It's hard to see but there are 2 Qantas A380's parked in a holding area and a Singapore Airlines A380 sitting at a gate at the Tom Bradley International Terminal. As we were leaving we saw the Korean Airlines A380 floating in the pattern to come in. Big Airplanes.

We then drove west to the beach which is past the end of the runways at the west. It was a lovely day, light winds, moderate temps, and lots and lots of sail and power boats on the ocean. We saw some sightseeing helicopters buzzing up and down the beach. It was a wonderful day to sit and watch the water.

This morning it was already in the high 70's when I got up. I let the dog outside and he decided to lay in the sun for a while.

Looks very regal for such a little guy.

Next week has some appointments and perhaps a surprise or two.

da bunny