Our ride picked us up right on time ~9:45am and we were off to the airport. Arrived at TPA about 45min later, ~10:30am. United line was nil so we were checked in quickly... pleasantly and efficiently!
Back in October, we'd applied for the "Global Entry"/"Trusted Traveler" Program, had our interview a few weeks later and, within a few weeks had our cards! What a difference that made in getting through TSA lines!!
We were at the gate by 11am! Boarding started right on time at 1:15pm for a 1:50pm departure!
On the first leg of our flight, we had front row on the galley side (starboard). One of the flight attendants stuck her head around the corner, you can see folks still boarding, and asked if we'd like something to drink! We requested our traditional start of trip Bloody Mary's!!
It was a full flight, everyone was boarded 10-15 minutes before scheduled departure time and we were away from the gate 10 minutes early!
Arrived at Dulles ~20 mins early and found that we were arriving at D30 (end of Concourse D) and our flight to Rio was leaving from C3, the absolute opposite end of Concourse C... did I mention Concourse C and Concourse D make up one building, one LOOOONG building with the transportation to Concourse A->B and the Main building in the middle?!!? It must have been at least a one mile walk!Back in 2000, after Tom turned 65, we purchased a Lifetime Continental President's Card for Senior and spouse. It converted to the United Club when Continental merged into United. That gave us access to all the clubs.
Here at Dulles, UA has 3 clubs on this concourse. We parked in the club closest to our gate, the Global Services Lounge, to wait the 5-6 hours until boarding time!
It is quite a good sized lounge and, while we were there,the highest number of count of people was probably 15.
We conquered a couple of chairs, and headed for the "galley" for some food. I really didn't get close up pics, but here is the little room. It is complimentary! And, our flight from Tampa only served potato chips, chocolate candy and chocolate chip cookies.
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| Galley from one side |
Here, they had prosciutto wrapped asparagus, ham, roast beef and turkey slices, fresh watermelon, raspberries and other fruits, several types of cheese, and other types of high end snacks. The sweets included fresh cookies, cheese cake, Ghirardelli chocolate, etc.
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| Food Galley from the other end. |
The bar was totally self serve! Liquors, beers, wine & champagne were all of the premium grade! We had wine with food, champagne for me, pinot grigio for Tom. Around 6:30 pm, we opted for our traditional evening drinks, however, instead of our typical "bar scotch", Tom had Chivas 12-year-old and I had Glenfiddich.
At one point, the club was almost empty!
It is now 9:10pm and time to head for the gate!
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