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Browsing Tag: Long Beach

Airline Sampler- Part 3: Hellooooo, JetBlue! Where Have You Been All My Life?

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N595JB, an Airbus A320 named Rhythm & Blues at SLC airport

N595JB, an Airbus A320 named Rhythm & Blues at SLC airport

In part one of this series I provided an overview of my airline sampler trip (five airlines over four days) and offered my thoughts on my very first flight with Virgin America, from Dallas (DAL) to San Francisco (SFO.) For part two I reviewed United’s 787-8 BusinessFirst service from SFO to Los Angeles (LAX). Today we pick up just a stone’s throw away from LAX, at Long Beach Airport (LGB), for a quick journey to Salt Lake City (SLC) with JetBlue.

Let me first say, I’ve always been fond of JetBlue. Except their route map. They simply don’t exist in my neck of the woods, so the opportunity to check them out never presented itself. When opportunity doesn’t knock, we’ve got to go looking. Enter the Airline Sampler, a trip focused solely on getting out and experiencing new things. I was excited to find a way to incorporate my first B6 (their airline code) flight into my adventure.

Hitching a Ride on the Last Passenger Douglas DC-8 Flight

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an ATI DC-8

N799AL parked on the ramp in Sacramento

On May 26, 2012, my dream came true.

As adamant as you can be when you’re a child, convincing your family to fly to Hawaii on United Airlines just so you can say goodbye to the last of the narrowbody four-holers is a long shot. Especially when there were fewer-stop options available through Vancouver. I tried, though.

Until February of 2012, I was pretty sure that I’d never get to fly on a DC-8. Then my fortunes changed.

A company called Classic Jet Tours had managed to organize a passenger flight on a DC-8-62CF belonging to Air Transport International. After seeing my friends posting their boarding passes on Facebook, I jumped on it; I paid my fee, booked travel to Sacramento, and began counting the days.