To celebrate my brother Edmund's milestone birthday, a last-minute trip to San Diego was planned. Since he, his wife Angela, and daughter Abby live in Southern California, they could drive there. It'd be a really long car ride alone from Northern California for me (Kaleb had work obligations), so I checked airfares. If you buy tickets within a week of departure, the price is usually very high. Fortunately, I had some United miles to burn. It wasn't the best use of miles and cost me a $75 "close-in fee" as I was booking less than 21 days before departure with no elite status, but it was much less than if I paid for the ticket outright. (At the time of this writing, there's a way to get around this fee according to Million Mile Secrets, but I didn't choose to do so) The flight included a stop in San Francisco but I didn't mind, though the 5am departure time wasn't ideal...so not a morning person!
I would be landing in San Diego 5 hours before Edmund arrived in town (no other award flights with better timing) so I planned to hang out in the airport's Airspace Lounge until then, with complimentary entry thanks to the American Express Platinum Card (includes 4 free guests too, according to the SAN Airspace Lounge web page).
The flight to San Francisco was uneventful, on a small CRJ-200 jet. The flight from San Francisco to San Diego was a different story. It started out uneventful and took off on time. Then the captain got on the PA system shortly after takeoff and informed us of an electrical problem (a monitor in the cockpit went dark) and that the plane needed to return back to SFO. There was a loud rapid alarm going off in the cockpit as he was making the announcement, which was disconcerting. Unfortunately, the plane had to burn off fuel before landing, so we flew in circles around the Bay Area for almost 2 hours. Inconvenient, but my wait in San Diego was shortened, plus I was sure that United would offer compensation. And I'm glad we didn't crash!
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The plane landed and everyone returned to the gate waiting area, waiting for an update. There were several schedule changes, but finally we were going to take off at 10:30am. (our original departure time was 6:42am) In the meantime, United staff brought out snacks and drinks for the affected passengers, a nice gesture.
In the meantime, Edmund was a little late starting the drive, so the late plane departure didn't affect our plans. The flight to San Diego was uneventful the second time around, save for a hard landing.
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| Airspace Lounge entrance in San Diego airport |
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Edmund arrived and we were off to the Hilton San Diego Resort and Spa. With Hilton HHonors Diamond status, he got a spacious balcony room with bay view and breakfast vouchers.
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It turned out that my brother Allen, wife Lisa, and kids Alison and Brandon were also able to make it down to San Diego, arriving a few hours after us. We went for a walk in the park next to the hotel.
Afterwards, we had dinner at Red Lobster. Love those cheddar biscuits!
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The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel's restaurant, Acqua. Edmund and Angela upgraded their continental breakfast voucher to full breakfast buffet. The buffet looked really good, though I didn't get any pictures of it as I ordered off the menu.
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Onward to the San Diego Zoo! Angela bought all our tickets through her employee discount program...it's always a good idea to see if you have these benefits at work. Her deal was better than the discount I would get from showing my travel agent ID card!
The zoo was fun, especially seeing the pandas! As the grounds were hilly, there were moving walkways that transported guests and their strollers up the slope. (just up, not down) Our tickets included a ride on the aerial tram as well as a bus tour around the park. I would recommend sitting on the right-hand side of the bus as you are facing the front as most of the exhibits were best seen from there. We were seated on the left-hand side and found it was hard to see and take pictures over people's heads.
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| what a healthy lunch! |
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Allen and family left the park early as they had to get ready for work and school on Monday. The rest of us headed to dinner at Phil's BBQ, which had high Yelp ratings. The food did not disappoint!
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The next morning, we had breakfast again at the hotel restaurant. The breakfast buffet wasn't available as it was a Monday, but Edmund and Angela were able to redeem their voucher for a-la-carte menu items.
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| my breakfast today |
Afterwards, we headed over to Seaport Village to stroll around, try some Frost Me cupcakes (as seen on Cupcake Wars) and take pictures.
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Then we all headed home. I got dropped off at the San Diego airport, where I enjoyed a short visit to the Airspace Lounge again. Both flights were uneventful, and I was even able to enjoy a yummy dinner at the Centurion Lounge during my layover in San Francisco, with complimentary entry through the American Express Platinum Card (2 free guests also included).
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What a fun weekend! It was great to get together with my brothers and their families. I was correct in assuming that I would get some compensation from the delayed flight in San Francisco - 3750 miles were credited to my frequent flyer account.
Stay tuned for my next entry about attending a Cruise360 conference in Vancouver, BC and get a little insight into how cruise travel agents keep themselves up-to-date with the industry and the latest offerings!
