Trip Report: RDU-JFK on JetBlue 8/13/06
Hey all,
I decided to write a brief trip report on my return trip home from visiting the girlfriend in NC. I flew into Fayetteville, NC via CLT from LGA on US Airways. That segment was pretty boring...A319 to CLT; CRJ-200 to FAY. Typical US Airways. One note: Charlotte is a great airport to connect through, unlike that death bus in PHL from Concourse C to Concourse F. I digress, back to the flight.
I arrived at RDU after the 1.5 hour drive from Fayetteville at 9:10am for my 10:55 flight on B6 1102. I checked in via a kiosk for seat 9C, an aisle on their E-190. I was quite disappointed there were no ticket jackets available, oh well. I made my way to security expecting long lines due to the Heathrow liquids scare. Surprisingly security was light (it was after all a Sunday morning). A woman had to give away her deodorant at security, otherwise, uneventful. I walked to Gate A12, which is JetBlue's gate. This gate used to belong to Independence Air and America West, and before that Delta and possibly TWA. There were lots of people (the flight was 100% full), and I counted 6 baby carriages. All those brats were screaming so I walked a bit further down to do some spotting of the tarmac. Typical domestic stuff, save a learjet and a C-172 landing. Boarding commenced asking for those needing assistance to board, then general cattlecall. I picked up the cheap headsets for the IFE, and saw a bin next to the cheap ones that were selling for a dollar...slightly high quality. I boarded the E-190...N198JB "Big Apple Blue". Nice, airy interior with large overhead space. Legroom wasn't that great since I was towards the front half of the plane. If you sit in the back there's more legroom. I sat next to a B6 gate agent from Syracuse. We chatted and she assumed I knew nothing about planes, saying how these are made in Brazil and our others are made in France, and that these are nicer than the "french" planes. I just nodded and watched my screen. Taxi and takeoff were quick. It was a powerful (albeit quiet) takeoff. I checked out the IFE...default setting was flight tracker/advertising for jetblue. I watched ESPN and a bit of the Game Show Network and Fox News. 36 channels in all. I also listened to some XM Satellite radio...nice selection! It really makes the flight go faster!
The flight attendant came around taking orders for drinks on a diagram map piece of paper. I got apple juice and received a tiny can :( Oh well. We were then offered a choice of Terra Blue potato chips or animal crackers. I wanted both but was too scared to ask, so I got the chips. They were pretty heavy...but they were edible. FLight attendants made announcements to clean up the area surrounding you to keep Jetblue flights ontime. One FA asked me if 's please remove the plastic bag from the seat pocket in front of me for the headphones, so I complied. They kept going on and on about keeping the cabin clean for the next segment. Descent and landing at JFK was normal...we landed on 31L. We deplaned at the temporary gates. The interior of the temporary gates looked very nice! We took a shuttle bus to T6 and from there connecting passengers went upstairs and arrivals went to dingy baggage claim. I was disappointed I didn't arrive at T6 proper. I caught a cab back to my house.
All in all JetBlue is a great airline. I wish they entered the NYC-RDU corridor when I was still in school down there. Go B6!!
Well, that's it, I hope you enjoyed it. I love reading trip reports, so if you post one I'll read it!
Cheers,
Matt
