Round The World and other travels

This short hop, which had been remarkably good value for money considering that it was booked just days before I left home, left from San Diego's Commuter Terminal. This meant no Admiral's Club, but it did bring good views of part of the apron and one of the runways as compensation. I managed to be first to board the aircraft. It was my first time on the Embraer 140 variant, having previously flown only the 135 and 145 models. It proved to be a typical experience : a bit awkward to get into at first, but remarkably civilised once you are settled into one of the single seats on the port side. It was announced that our flight time was to be 1hr 13mins, cruising at an altitude of 36,000ft.

We started engines and moved off the stand just a couple of minutes down at 1122 and were airborne just seven minutes later. I got some good views of San Diego harbour as we took off, and later on there were some good coastal views to be glimpsed through gaps in the cloud cover.

Having expected to pay for any refreshments on this flight, I was delighted to be offered a complimentary beverage service. I restricted myself to a diet coke, bearing in mind that there was a rental car with my name on it at the destination airport. After a bumpy descent, we touched down in a soaking wet SJC at 1243, making it onto stand four minutes later. Unfortunately, there was a considerable delay in getting off the plane. It was to be my first time to disembark an Embraer using a jetty; however it proved to be a temperamental one that needed much coaxing into action.