Charlotte / Douglas International

I headed upstairs in the departure area and through security. Security was a breeze with only one person in front of me who was according to his dealing with the unpacking of laptop, belt and shoes a frequent traveller. Again no beep as I passed the security checkpoint and I could pack my belongings in my trolley and my laptop bag. I headed for the US Club at the A concourse. The agent checked the flights, which seems to be on time and notified me about the changed gate. She also told me, that the US Club in the B concourse was smaller but adjacent to my gate. So I decided to head over there.

At the US Club at the B concourse my boarding pass was checked again and I took a seat, grabbed a cup of coffee and some cookies and read in the Time Magazine I had not finished yet.

A few minutes before boarding was announced to start I left the lounge and headed for the gate area at gate B 3, which was very crowded. The boarding process was just about to start with First Class passengers as well as those of Zone 1. US Airways had preboarding for Elite Members and so I could secure space in the overhead compartments. The flight was full in all classes as I was told in the lounge.

20 February 2009
CLT - ORD
[Charlotte Douglas Airport – Chicago O’Hare International Airport]
US 705 (US Airways); Boeing 737-400 (N404US)
Gate B 3
17:59 – 19:03 [effective 18:02 – 19:06]
Economy Class
Seat 08 D

As I entered the plane two flight attendants stand in the galley and chatted. I put my belongings in the overhead compartment (carry on) and under the seat in front of me (laptop) and waited for the passengers in the middle seat. Boarding took some time with a lot of people with large carry on items which had not the maximum seize but were much bigger. So it was the usual huddle with people looking for space in the overhead compartments. Finally everything was stored, boarding completed and the safety demonstration done.

We pushed back at 18:02 and taxied for runway 18 where we had to line up behind other planes and finally took off at 18:17 in front of the Munich bound LH flight.

Service on this flight was a paid service only, starting with a coffee for 1 USD up to wine for 7 USD. A few passengers ordered some beverage, coke, coffee and wine. Some passengers worked on their laptops or watched a movie on it. The flight was uneventful. I listened to my MP 3 player and the flight time passed really quickly before we began our final approach into ORD. We approached ORD from western direction and made some circles over Lake Michigan as far as I could see it through the windows. We touched down a bit behind schedule at 19:01 and taxied for our gate F 8 where we arrived at 19:06.

I walked to the terminal 3 where I could pass through the road to the place where the shuttle bus picked up passengers. The shuttle for the Intercontinental was waiting there and after a couple of minutes started the short ride to the hotel.

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