We got to the airport 3 hrs early expecting there to be line's out the door,of course as is always the case we were checked in in 2 mins flat,it would of been 1 min flat but for whatever reason the 3 people in front of us in the first class line were flying in coach and after a quick q & a from the check-in agent were sent back to wait in line with the other coach pax [y],though I should say that that line was moving at a good rate.
Through security in 30 sec's again fast track was empty and short lines in the regular security check.
After a snack and some reading we go over to the gate area,we make our donations to the airport machines [n],the wife is bummed because lasttime she went through here she hita machine for $500 and so expects to do it again.
Boarding went very smoothly,families.people needing help and 1st class pax boarded first.
One nice touch HP seems to do that I havn't seen anyother domestic airline do is after 1st etc have boarded they seem to pause for maybe 5 mins,let everyone get seated and arranged,this helps so much when all the pax have to go past to get to thier seats and im sure result's in a quicker boarding over all.
The FA was [y],the wife and her hit it off straight away (both from the right coast)drink's offered and accepted [y].Now for whatever reason I had been craving a Jack and coke all day (one must accept these cravings and learn to live with them)well the FA asked if I wanted a strong one....sure why not...the drink I got was just about see-through [y][y]...the wife look's,roll's her eye's and says 'you'll be asleep before we get off the ground'.
Well just about all the pax are loaded the capatin comes on to let us know that to much fuel has been loaded and they need to off load 8k pounds of the stuff [:0].
This is a first for me,never been on a plane that has to much fuel,but ok,i'll sit here and drink [y].
So finaly off,maybe 10 mins late,hard right turn out of 27 right then a smooth flight,wife is asleep in the seat next to me.
Seat belt sign off and another rink appears next to me [y][oo],though rather than being made it is still in the 3 small bottles and the can.
Smooth flight,just over an hour and twenty min's gate to gate.I do love this flight if only for the view's out o the window,the Sierra's have snow then as you come into SMF you get to see a blanket of cloud/fog pressed up against the mountains.
Grabbed a car from avis,which was done in 30 sec's thanks to Preffered select,up=graded from an eco car to full size [y] and on the freeway 15 mins after touching down.
