Mileage Run to San Diego

BWI-DEN-SAN-IAH-BWI

Earlier this month I did a mileage run to San Diego.  I started off by taking the metro and bus to BWI which takes way too long.  I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare and eventually boarded my flight to Denver.  Upon arriving in Denver, I headed over to the United Lounge to make use of my newly achieved Star Alliance Gold status with Aegean.  I didn't have my card yet, and the lady was reluctant to let me into the lounge, but after telling her my Aegean number she looked it up and admitted me into the lounge.  Riding up the escalator into the lounge is always the best part.  You get to watch all the commoners walking below you.

Escalator to the lounge - look at the commoners!

Lounge

Terrible United snack selection

Once in the lounge, it was time for some dinner, which consisted of a plate of cheese and crackers and a cup of trail mix. 

Dinner

Delicious and nutritious

Me and lounges don't really mix.  Imagine letting a homeless person loose in a lounge.  I kind of just wander around the lounge, mumbling things about status and airplanes.  I literally take every snack item on the table and put it in my bag.  I shove trail mix into my face like a mentally challenged baboon.

Mileage running is extremely expensive in itself, let alone paying for expensive airport food.  Now that I have Star Gold and access to a wide array of lounges, I will be able to eat for free.  Sure, it's not really smart to try and sustain yourself on nothing but coffee and low grade cheese and crackers, but I could see myself doing it for weeks at a time.

Guy trying to enter the closed lounge

 Soon it was time to board my flight to San Diego and I noticed that I was seated in Economy Plus.  I'm not sure why, as I don't have status on United, but it was a pleasant surprise.
 

United Blue Carpet

Nothing better than Economy Plus and reruns of 30 Rock

So much legroom!!!

I arrived in San Diego at 10 pm.  I did not have a hotel room booked since I would be leaving at 6 am.  I decided not to sleep, and instead I just stayed up all night watching Prison Break in the airport food court.

Prison Break

San Diego Airport

The next morning I headed over to security and was through in a matter of minutes.  Stupidly, I didn't look at what gate my flight was leaving from and just figured it would be leaving from Terminal 1, the same terminal I arrived at. However, Continental still has like two gates in Terminal 2, so I quickly ran back past security and outside.  I didn't know how to get to Terminal 2, but remembered seeing an airport shuttle bus.  One pulled up in front of me and I hopped on.  I was the only person on the bus and the driver asked where I was going.  I replied that I was headed to Terminal 2 to which the driver gave me a confused look.  He drove about 10 feet and stopped and yelled out Terminal 2.  I guess I could have just walked.

I then walked over to security which was a packed.  I must have waited in line for over an hour.  When I finally made it through, I raced over to my gate.  There was no time for the lounge, meaning I wouldn't get my early morning dose of trail mix :(

I boarded my flight and was soon in Houston.  I quickly ran over to the lounge where the lounge agent remembered me from last week. 

IAH Lounge

After filling myself with trail mix (I didn't spend a single dime on food during this MR), I headed over to my gate where boarding had already commenced.

When I arrived back at BWI, I ran to catch the bus to Greenbelt station which was leaving in 5 minutes.  I just missed it and the next bus wasn't for an hour.  While waiting, I got to talking with some guy from Japan who was very confused with the bus system.  When I went to the bathroom, he followed me in and then took a sponge out and started washing his face with it which I found kind of odd. The bus finally arrived and because of some delays with the metro it took me 4 hours to get home.  But overall, it was a good MR.

I will soon have 2P with United, which provides very few benefits and is really not worth mileage running for, but still, it has been a fun journey.