Reno to Denver to Montreal
Nov. 3rd, 2021 08:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kevin_standleeI made it to Montreal. The start and end of the trip were stressful, but the middle, i.e. the actual flights themselves, were not.
I only got four hours of sleep last night thanks in part to having to run back to Fernley to get my jacket. Then, technical issues with the work I need to do for Day Jobbe while I'm on vacation meant I checked out about 30 minutes later than I planned. It's a good thing it's only about a five minute drive from the hotel to the airport, and that there were no more than normal delays going through Terrorization. I got to the gate just before final call.
The money I spent on upgrades to Economy Plus on United and the Air Canada equivalent were very well spent: in both cases I ended up with a group of three seats to myself, which made both flights much more comfortable. My Bose headphones worked, and on Air Canada, I was actually able to make the in-flight entertainment system work, which is something I could not say about United.
The long layover in Denver was a blessing. I didn't have to rush at all. I could find one of the restaurants (a sit-down place on the upper level of Concourse A) that wasn't crowded, could get a table away from other people, and could eat breakfast without trying to inhale it instead of chew it. I was at the Air Canada gate long before it opened, meaning I was the first person at the desk to get my boarding pass after showing my various bits of documentation.
This is the immigration hall at Montreal Airport (YUL). It looks daunting, but I breezed through it. To my astonishment, nobody asked me for anything other than my passport. Not my ArriveCAN document, not my COVID-19 vaccination card, not my COVID-19 negative test. Maybe it was all indexed to the passport, so when I scanned it, all of the other doors opened, metaphorically speaking.
My luggage was waiting for me on the belt after Immigration, so when I handed over my declaration receipt after collecting the bag, I though I was done. But not so fast! As if to pay me back for the smooth sailing through Immigration & Customs, without any explanation, I was shunted into another queue, which then ground to a halt. After what felt like an hour, I was told that I (and everyone else in that queue) had been randomly selected for another COVID-19 test. Eventually they took my details, a lab tech swabbed my nose, and I was finally free to go.
The 747 Express bus is the least-expensive way to get from YUL to downtown Montreal, but it apparently has two destinations. The driver of the first bus told me to take the second one, which I did. But the second bus seems to have gone to the same destination as the first bus, and I found myself not at all where I expected to be. It took a while, but I eventually figured out that I needed to get on the Metro (fortunately, the same transit pass I bought for the 747 works on the Metro) and ride it three stops to Bonaventure, where the hotel (the former Delta, for those of you who were at Anticipation) is located.
Update, November 4, 2021, 7 AM: It turns out that I was misreading the map, and the route I took was the correct one. I thought it went to the main train station across from the Bonaventure, but it actually goes to the Lionel-Groulx Metro stop, but that is only three stops down the line to Bonaventure, and the Metro day pass works on both the Metro and the bus. (It is also around 1.6 km if I wanted to walk it.) This should make things less stressful going back next Wednesday.
I had forgotten how much of Montreal seems to be full of steps. My hotel room is up a flight of stairs with no elevator. I was able to haul my luggage up those stairs, but it was annoying.
My personal telephone doesn't have roaming in Canada, but fortunately my work phone does; unfortunately, the connection in the hotel room is poor. I was able to raise a phone signal in the lobby and called Lisa to reassure her that I was okay and had not been jammed into a hold with a bunch of Covidiots. Even though there were a handful of people who seem to think that wearing a mask around their chin is sufficient, I kept reminding myself that at least in theory, every one of them had to prove they were vaccinated and had tested negative before the airline would even let them onto the plane, and I was mostly able to stay away from them, and I was wearing my N95 mask faithfully (except for pulling it down to drink my coffee or such, but I pulled it back up after each drink).
I still have to be up early in the morning to do Day Jobbe stuff, and thankfully the internet connection here at the Bonaventure (unlike the SureStay in Reno) is pretty solid. Still, I'm very tired. I may well take a nap mid-day tomorrow if there's nothing pressing needing my attention during the first day of World Fantasy Con.
I only got four hours of sleep last night thanks in part to having to run back to Fernley to get my jacket. Then, technical issues with the work I need to do for Day Jobbe while I'm on vacation meant I checked out about 30 minutes later than I planned. It's a good thing it's only about a five minute drive from the hotel to the airport, and that there were no more than normal delays going through Terrorization. I got to the gate just before final call.
The money I spent on upgrades to Economy Plus on United and the Air Canada equivalent were very well spent: in both cases I ended up with a group of three seats to myself, which made both flights much more comfortable. My Bose headphones worked, and on Air Canada, I was actually able to make the in-flight entertainment system work, which is something I could not say about United.
The long layover in Denver was a blessing. I didn't have to rush at all. I could find one of the restaurants (a sit-down place on the upper level of Concourse A) that wasn't crowded, could get a table away from other people, and could eat breakfast without trying to inhale it instead of chew it. I was at the Air Canada gate long before it opened, meaning I was the first person at the desk to get my boarding pass after showing my various bits of documentation.
This is the immigration hall at Montreal Airport (YUL). It looks daunting, but I breezed through it. To my astonishment, nobody asked me for anything other than my passport. Not my ArriveCAN document, not my COVID-19 vaccination card, not my COVID-19 negative test. Maybe it was all indexed to the passport, so when I scanned it, all of the other doors opened, metaphorically speaking.
My luggage was waiting for me on the belt after Immigration, so when I handed over my declaration receipt after collecting the bag, I though I was done. But not so fast! As if to pay me back for the smooth sailing through Immigration & Customs, without any explanation, I was shunted into another queue, which then ground to a halt. After what felt like an hour, I was told that I (and everyone else in that queue) had been randomly selected for another COVID-19 test. Eventually they took my details, a lab tech swabbed my nose, and I was finally free to go.
The 747 Express bus is the least-expensive way to get from YUL to downtown Montreal, but it apparently has two destinations. The driver of the first bus told me to take the second one, which I did. But the second bus seems to have gone to the same destination as the first bus, and I found myself not at all where I expected to be. It took a while, but I eventually figured out that I needed to get on the Metro (fortunately, the same transit pass I bought for the 747 works on the Metro) and ride it three stops to Bonaventure, where the hotel (the former Delta, for those of you who were at Anticipation) is located.
Update, November 4, 2021, 7 AM: It turns out that I was misreading the map, and the route I took was the correct one. I thought it went to the main train station across from the Bonaventure, but it actually goes to the Lionel-Groulx Metro stop, but that is only three stops down the line to Bonaventure, and the Metro day pass works on both the Metro and the bus. (It is also around 1.6 km if I wanted to walk it.) This should make things less stressful going back next Wednesday.
I had forgotten how much of Montreal seems to be full of steps. My hotel room is up a flight of stairs with no elevator. I was able to haul my luggage up those stairs, but it was annoying.
My personal telephone doesn't have roaming in Canada, but fortunately my work phone does; unfortunately, the connection in the hotel room is poor. I was able to raise a phone signal in the lobby and called Lisa to reassure her that I was okay and had not been jammed into a hold with a bunch of Covidiots. Even though there were a handful of people who seem to think that wearing a mask around their chin is sufficient, I kept reminding myself that at least in theory, every one of them had to prove they were vaccinated and had tested negative before the airline would even let them onto the plane, and I was mostly able to stay away from them, and I was wearing my N95 mask faithfully (except for pulling it down to drink my coffee or such, but I pulled it back up after each drink).
I still have to be up early in the morning to do Day Jobbe stuff, and thankfully the internet connection here at the Bonaventure (unlike the SureStay in Reno) is pretty solid. Still, I'm very tired. I may well take a nap mid-day tomorrow if there's nothing pressing needing my attention during the first day of World Fantasy Con.
