UMTravels

Time to go back to racking up status for 2023 – and off to Juneau on the milk-run go I. This route used to be serviced by a “combi” which had the first 15 rows removed to make room for cargo. Now, it’s just a standard 737, but with 3 stops between Seattle and Juneau. I took it for old-time sake.

I actually found my post from December 2009, it is here. Had to dig up the pictures since they were stored on a server that is no longer active, so I’ll just put the pictures here:

No windows up front, and from the inside, there is a moveable bulkhead at row 15:

And should the pilot or co-pilot need something from the back, the can open a little door and pass it through.

These days the plane looks like this:

Started the day off with the usual in the lounge. Caesar (a Canadian Bloody Mary with Clamato), everything bagel – but now they also have scrambled eggs and sausage. NICE ADDITION.

No First-Class upgrade, but at least I’m in Premium (extra legroom and free booze):

It’s an hour and a half flight to the first stop, which is Ketchikan.

There is time to get off the plane (and buy a postcard), and see the airport:

Seems to be a thing in Alaska airports.

So, on the first leg there was drink service – nothing more than water and CheeZits at each of the next stops.

Here are the flight times:

• Ketchikan = 1.5 hours
  
• Wrangle = 20 minutes
  
• Petersburg = 10 minutes 
  
• Juneau = 30 minutes 
  

Next stop Wrangell, where my friend Salamander was raised (miserably, apparently):

Then Petersburg where we maybe go to 2,000 feet above land. No getting off as you’d have to go back through security.

And then onto Juneau, with some nice scenery along the way:

More animals in the airport in Juneau…

And then to grab the shuttle to the Travelodge:

Needless to say, stock photo as it was overcast and drizzly.

Fortunately, this was a points stay, because, well, this is what $200 a night gets you in Alaska. And the view – apparently there is a glacier in the distance:

That said, because of the flight schedule into/out of Juneau, it’s a 24-hour hotel shuttle. Other notable features are an on-site Mexican restaurant, and several MASSIVE freezers to store the fish you caught so you can fly it home.

This will give you an idea a where the airport is located – and they do offer a free shuttle to downtown…

When I say 24-hours, here are the flights south to Seattle for a typical day…

• 1:30am
• 5:20am
• 7:10am (1-stop)
• 8:20am
• 10:24am(1-stop)
• 1:06pm (3-stop milk run)
• 1:10pm
• 6:28pm
• 10:24pm

That’s a lot of flights – and it’s a good thing since I decided I didn’t want to take the milk run home. At check-in online, they let me choose a different flight (and still get Premium seating, though a middle seat). It left 5 minutes earlier than my old flight but got in 3 hours earlier.

And the kicker is that a couple of hours before departure, they upgraded me to First-Class! Elite status has its perks.

And it being the window, more scenic shots.

And coming into Seattle….

A fun, odd couple of days in a metal tube.

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