It was that time again. Time for another vacation somewhere around the world. This time my parents and I are going to Eastern Canada for 9 days. After finishing up work for the day, my parents and I headed out to Van Nuys FlyAway terminal to catch the next bus to LAX. By now, I have lost count on how many times we’ve taken the FlyAway bus to LAX from both Union Station and Van Nuys. For short weekend trips that include more travelers than yourself, it is more economical to take ones car to LAX and park with one the parking services, but if traveling for a week or more, the FlyAway comes out ahead. We arrived on time to take the next bus to LAX which was leaving at 6:30PM. Unlike the last time we were here at the Van Nuys FlyAway, it did not seem too busy at all. Once the boarding for the 6:30PM departure was called, our tickets were scanned, and we handed over our three bags to the baggage handler who tagged our bags for Terminal 7 and then placed them in the bus’s baggage hold.
Our FlyAway bus departed on time and we made good speed over Sepulveda Pass on the 405 freeway before hitting traffic near the 10 freeway interchange. After the usual stop and go traffic on the 405 freeway which is familiar to practically every SoCal resident, our bus got off and used the Manchester Ave route to get to LAX. I was expecting the worst in terms of traffic as we approached the departure level, but traffic was fairly light. Since United Airlines is located at Terminal 7, which is the last terminal stop that the FlyAway bus makes at LAX, it would be a while before our turn came up. While we’ve been on FlyAway buses that did not have to make stops at all terminals, this bus would not be one of them. United Airlines being located at Terminal 7 makes it the last stop for being dropped off and also the last pickup stop. My parents and I have run into a situation last year where by the time the FlyAway arrived at Terminal 7 to pick us up, there were only 3 seats left on the bus. Lucky for us that we got on the bus but one of these days, the bus could easily be full by the time it arrives at Terminal 7.

LAX Terminal 7 Entrance
Newly Renovated Terminal 7 At LAX – First Class
Our FlyAway bus dropped us off right at the entrance to the Premier Checkin area. The last two times we’ve been through Terminal 7, construction was still going on in the checkin area but it looked like the construction for the checkin area was 99% finished. The Premier Checkin area and the Economy Class checkin areas have been swapped from their previous locations and in between them, is now the consolidated and bigger security check area. Checkin went smoothly and we were also told by the agent that our flight to Chicago was running late. The agent was also able to get me preliminary gate number for our Toronto flight so I would know if our Chicago flight and the Toronto flight would be departing from the same concourse. I thanked the checkin agent and with our boarding passes in hand, we headed to the PreCheck security lane. While PreCheck only had couple of people ahead of us, those couple of people caused a traffic jam and slowed down the process. Long story short, an elderly lady who could not speak any English kept setting off the metal detector and kept the rest of us from going through. The TSA Agent finally pulled the lady out and had one of the female agents pat her down instead.

LAX Terminal 7 Security Check Area

LAX United Club Sign
The New United Club At Los Angeles International Airport Terminal 7
Once we were through security, we headed upstairs directly to the new United Club. The new LAX United Club was still under construction the last time we flew out of here so I was excited to see the new and improved club. While I am a member of United Club, but since we were flying on a international itinerary in United’s premium cabin, we have automatic access to the club. One of three club agents scanned our boarding passes and welcomed us in. We took the escalator up to the second floor where the main club is located. The new United Club was big, bright and had plenty of seating area. We found ourselves a table in the dining area and helped ourselves to the food buffet. The food in the club would be our dinner tonight since our flight to Chicago is a refreshment flight IE snack basket flight. The food itself has not changed from our visit to the old club last year. Couple of the items have been changed for something else and a second soup was available but generally the items were the same. Both the chicken noodle soup and the roasted red pepper and smoked gouda bisque were very good! My mom even made a comment that both soups tasted as if they were made from scratch and not from a can. The salad bar items were fresh and so were the celery and carrot sticks which were located with the cheese cubes. Staff in the club were constantly refilling and cleaning the food area and dirty plates were promptly cleared away. Fresh whole fruits were available along with couple snack mix dispensers.

LAX United Club Food Buffet Area

LAX United Club Outdoor Patio
United Airlines app was showing where about our aircraft was and the estimated time that it would arrive in LA. Based on the data, that I saw, it was going to be very difficult to impossible to make our connecting flight in Chicago. I proactively went over to the customer service desk inside the United Club and after a giving her a brief explanation, the agent checked my reservation on her computer. She told me that she could put me on a later flight but after I reminded her that there were three of us all in First Class, the flight in question was not doable. Instead, she put us on Air Canada flight which would leave Chicago around 9AM-ish. She explained to me that we were booked in both our original flight and the Air Canada flight and if our original connection was delayed, we could still take that flight to Toronto. I thanked the agent and headed back to my parents and explained the situation to them since they were worried about missing the connection. I also reminded them that delay and misconnection situations such as this is why we pay for First Class and also pay for United Club membership.

United Airlines Terminal 7 Gate 73 Waiting Area

Jet Bridge Traffic Jam
United Airlines Flight 660
Once boarding of passengers who need assistance was completed, the GA announced for First Class passengers only to board since the Coach section aisle was blocked with an aisle wheelchair. As soon as we got down the jet bridge and to the aircraft door, boarding was blocked by wheelchair handlers and we could not board the aircraft. The First Class passengers ahead of me were for sure were frustrated based on the expressions and hand gestures that I saw. This holdup went on for about good 10 to 15 minutes before the wheelchair block was cleared and we were allowed to board. Mind you, these were empty wheelchairs and handlers blocking boarding. The people who were brought down the jet bridge were already aboard. Not sure why the wheelchair handlers thought it was needed to block the door standing in front of it, but it happened and after 5 minutes had passed, I was getting annoyed myself.

United Airlines First Class Seat Boeing 757 300
Once everyone was boarded, and the usual safety demonstrations and routines completed, we were off to Chicago. As soon as our aircraft started moving on its own power, there was no further delay and shortly we were on runway 25R and powering down the runway towards the Pacific Ocean. The Boeing 757 300 seemed to liftoff the runway sooner than the Boeing 737 900 that we have taken many times out of LAX before. Due to the delay of our flight, there were two United Airlines leaving simultaneously for Chicago tonight. I heard the 10,000 feet chime and the flight attendants slowly started to stir and announcements were made regarding service aboard todays flight. We were also told that the seatbelt sign was still on and to stay seated. One thing that I and others have noticed about United Airlines is that the seatbelt sign is kept on for a longtime. On many occasions I have had to just ignore the sign and go use the bathroom. Other airlines that I have flown on shut the seatbelt sign off at 10,000 feet unless there is adverse weather ahead but for whatever reason, United Airlines likes to keep it on until the aircraft reaches cruising altitude. VERY ANNOYING!!! It is not only myself who has ignored the seatbelt sign before, but others in the cabin, after waiting and waiting just get up and head to the bathrooms.

United Airlines First Class Snack Basket
After the snack service was completed, I reclined my seat back and tried to get some sleep. These seats on our Boeing 757 300 were so uncomfortable that I just could not sleep at all. I tossed to the left and to the right and each time the seat kept squeaking and creaking and also the sciatica in my left lower back started to act up from sitting in the seats which made sleep even more elusive. The bottom seat cushion had no padding and seemed to be full of odd pressure points which caused pain. Last year when we flew on United Airlines 737 900 to Houston, the First Class seats were a lower back killer but these seats on the 757 easily beat the other seat for painful and uncomfortable. I just kept looking at the flight progress map via my iPhone and United WiFi checking to see how much longer till we arrive in Chicago. I did try to watch a movie on the BYOD streaming via United WiFi but after scrubbing through it, I went back to the flight progress map.
The rest of the flight was uneventful. The usual landing preparations and announcements were made including asking passengers who did not have a connection to let passengers with connections disembark first. We landed in Chicago and taxied to the C gates and parked at gate C21. I checked the United App to see what was going on with our flight to Toronto. The app showed that the flight to Toronto was delayed as well. Once the aircraft was parked and the door opened, the gate agent went on the intercom and made an announcement for connecting passengers who missed their flight to collect their new boarding passes at the podium and for Toronto passengers, which was my parent and myself, to head to the gate since the flight was delayed.
This concludes flight UA660 portion of the report and I will continue on the report for the flight to Toronto.