I left the house at around 4:30 AM for my 7:30 AM flight.
United’s app said to go to Terminal D, but when I arrived they weren’t opening until 6 AM. And my Uber driver was Mario Andretti, so I arrived much earlier than I expected. I took the subway to Terminal C and proceeded to the check in and bag drop.
I went through the CLEAR / TSA Pre-Check line and I was randomly selected for an ID check since apparently CLEAR has had some issues recently.
Rather than waiting for 6 AM to go to the Centurion Lounge I decided to go to the United CLub since I recently (and unexpectedly) reached Premier Gold which entitles me to use the United lounges when I travel on United internationally, even when I am flying in economy. Oh and by doing this I wouldn’t need to take the broken down train with the broken down air conditioning to the other terminal.
After getting some juice, water, fruit and electricity (charged the phone) I walked to Terminal E (luckily this E gate was not soo far from Terminal C).
Boarding went smooth, I had an exit row seat across from the flight attendant so I had to store my bag and cameras in the overhead bin. It wasn’t the greatest seat since it didn’t really have a window and the exit door bulges into the foot space, but at least the seat next to me was empty.
I slept most of the flight, although I did snag a Ginger Ale to drink.
The flight landed a bit earlier than United expected so the plane had to wait for a gate to become available. Eventually I got off and headed to the Centurion lounge. Last year when I flew through SFO it was closed for remodeling. I got in easily, and they had very good danishes.
I saw my flight was delayed, but still arrived on time in case they decided to start boarding.
Eventually they let us on the plane. This time my seat actually had a window.
And now is when everything started to go how things usually goes when one flies on United. Captain makes an announcement: we are waiting for a few bags for the people who had short connections, but we should be able to make our wheels up time at 11:40. Next announcement: Mechanics noticed two tires need to be replaced, I’m going to go down and talk to the them to find out how long it will take. Next announcement: The mechanics said it will take about 45 minutes; since this flight is international we can let you off onto the jet bridge, but you can not re-enter the terminal. A while later the next and final announcement: The mechanics need to change the brakes and that will take at least 2 hours; we need to deplane, take all your items with you and check the flight status.
I decided to just walk to the United Club this time as it was closer. I managed to get a meal voucher for the delay and I found they actually had tacos you could make yourself with either tofu (still no idea what it is, or if it is even digestible) or green chile chicken. I obviously chose the chicken and make myself two tacos.
I used my voucher at a restaurant called Bacon Bacon Bacon. I got a pulled pork sandwich and 5 slices of bacon. It was actually quite good, and fast.
Finally back on the plane around 1:30 PM. Luckily for me the passenger next to me either got rerouted or just gave up so I had an empty seat next to me.
I arrived in Vancouver without any more excitement. I did manage to watch a movie, but I was unable to be productive as they didn’t offer the free T-Mobile Wi-Fi on this flight for some reason. Upon landing there was a ANA plane with an interesting design.
The airport had this piece of art just before entering immigration.
After using the machine for immigration I was waved into the Canadian line as the line for everyone else was too long. And of course the bag was on a different carousel than they announced, but at least I found it.
I bought a day pass for the train. It was about $16 CAD which is about $12 USD. It of course included a $5 CAD surcharge for the airport.
The train was nice and I managed to get to a stop near the hotel without any issues.
I arrived at my hotel for tonight, The Douglas.
The lobby is on the 6th floor as the casino occupies the lower part of the hotel. I checked in and was upgraded to a room on a high floor. The room is actually quite nice with actual wood furniture (yeah, I remember you Ritz Carlton Residences in Hawaii with fake plastic wood) and a wood door. The view was a bit underwhelming – just the football pitch.
The sky was kind of dreary, so not the greatest for photos. I took the skytrain to Canada Place to take the seabus across to North Vancouver. I didn’t have any expectations for what I would find, I just wanted to ride the ferry across the harbor for the view.
Once I arrived in North Vancouver I found a really modernized area which shops, parks and boats. There was a Windstar ship there, but I think it may have been waiting to be serviced in the dry dock. There was a nice view of the Vancouver skyline as well.
After exploring I took the ferry back and decided to figure out how to get to the cruise terminal since I haven’t been there in 7 or 8 years.
I found a nice walkway around Canada Place to get some photos. Even a floating gas station.
I decided to call it a night and take the train back to the hotel. I did find this building on the walk back from the train station.
When I did get back I noticed I could see through into the football pitch.
Today’s timeline:
