Airline Review: United Airlines Flight from San Francisco to Vancouver

 San Francisco to Vancouver (Alaska Pre Cruise) . 2012 . September 14

This post is part of our Alaska Pre and Post Cruise Report and follow-up of our popular Alaska cruise series. Do check out our Alaska Cruise story too if this is your first time here! :)

It was a packed but enjoyable day at San Francisco where we visited the San Francisco Ferry Building Marketplace, had a good cuppa of coffee @ Blue Bottle Coffee followed by a fruity lunch @ Hollywood Cafe, watched the sea lions at Pier 39 and visited Alcatraz Island.

After a well rested night's sleep at Red Roof Inn San Francisco Airport, it was time to check out and take the complimentary 24 hr shuttle from the hotel to catch yet another early flight from San Francisco to Vancouver this time.

There are 3 airlines that fly from San Francisco to Vancouver. (United Airlines, Air Canada and West Jet). In fact, United Airlines do code share with Air Canada on this route.

We chose United Airlines due to the lower price and better timing at the time of booking. It was a 815am flight to Vancouver, which meant that we could wake up a bit later as compared to the 610am Southwest Airline flight that we took the previous day. Flight time was 2 hours and 14 minutes and we would reach Vancouver airport around 10.30am in the morning.

Air Ticket Booking

For this flight, we had booked the air tickets way in advance (almost 5 months!) in April and we managed to secure a relative cheap price of SGD$192.30 per person (inclusive of taxes). Unlike the Southwest flight that we took the previous day, baggage was however not free. The 1st bag costs USD$25 while the 2nd bag costs USD$35.

United Airlines Baggage Information (Retrieved from United Airlines website on 16 June 2013)

Check-in & Boarding Gate

Check in was relatively fast and soon we were on our way to the Boarding Gate. Flight Information Boards along the way help guide travellers to their repective gates.

Our flight UA 946 to Vancouver was at Gate 75. It was code shared with Air Canada flight 5109.

Boarding Waiting Area at Gate 75. Guess we were still pretty early and had some time for breakfast.

Having tried the famous Blue Bottle Coffee at Ferry Building, we grab the oppotunity to try another one of San Francisco's famous coffee joints, Peet's Coffee & Tea at the airport. Although the coffee was not too bad, we still like the coffee at Blue Bottle Coffee more. Guess it's all down to personal tastes though.

Flight Information at the Boarding Gate.  We were pretty impressed by the amount of information provided. Distance from San Francisco to Vancouver is 1287 km. Even the aircraft model and registration number was provided!

Available seats on the flight. Looks like its quite a full flight.

The lucky ones who got upgraded to Business Class. *Envy*

Cabin Amenities and Food

Seat Pitch for the flight was relatively ok. Having been on several low cost carrier's flights previously, we were already quite used to cramped seating areas. :)

There is no personal LCD screen for each seat, but only overhead monitors. This was similar to the Silkair flight we took to Surabaya. For a relatively short flight, we could easily keep ourselves entertained with our own IPADs.

There were no food served for the short flight, but we were offered a complimentary drink. Having taken coffee before the flight, we opted for two soft drinks.

Love the elegant design of the Coke can. It does reminds us of the Blue Bottle Coffee Logo...

In Flight Magazine and Shopping - Hemispheres Magazine and Skymall

Similar to Southwest that we took the previous day, United Airlines were also using Skymall as their appointed In-Flight Shopping provider. We were more interested to know how to spend three perfect days in Istanbul though. :)

We took some photos as the aircraft approaches Vancouver.

Time flies fast for the short flight...soon we were touching down at Vancouver Airport...

Welcome to Vancouver! Greetings from the Big Bird!

Making our way to the Immigration and collecting our checked in luggages at the United Airlines Belt at Vancouver Airport.

Some general shots taken at Vancouver Airport.

Belt information at Vancouver Airport. Our luggages were are Belt 34.

Final Verdict:  Overall, we had a comfortable flight on board United Airlines. Check-In was relatively smooth and the seat pitch was comfortable. We love the information boards provided at the boarding gate. Overall, we definitely will consider taking another United Airlines flight when we travelled to USA again the next time!

This post is part of our Alaska Pre and Post Cruise Report and follow-up of our popular Alaska cruise series. Do check out our Alaska Cruise story too if this is your first time here! :)

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. To receive notifications on updates, subscribe to our blog via RSS feed and email.

Like us on Facebook @ Discover. Book . Travel and follow us on Twitter @Discoverbooktra!

Do check out our Flickr photos & Youtube videos too!

Restaurant Review: Hollywood Cafe, San Francisco

San Francisco (Alaska Pre Cruise) . 2012 . September 13

This post is part of our Alaska Pre and Post Cruise Report and follow-up of our popular Alaska cruise series. Do check out our Alaska Cruise story too if this is your first time here! :)

After our short coffee break at Blue Bottle Coffee, it was time to make our way for our lunch at Hollywood Cafe. We have done our research on restaurants on Tripadvisor prior to our trip and we chose Hollywood Cafe for lunch as it was highly recommended and was a relative cheap option. As of 13 June 2013 as we write this post, it is still ranked #2 out of of 3,866 restaurants in San Francisco. So do give it a try the next time you visit San Francisco!

After a long walk on the Embarcadero, we were finally in the cozy cafe. There wasn't a big crowd in the cafe and we were glad to grab a table indoors.

Walls inside the cafe were lined up with portraits of current and ex Hollywood stars.

Breakfast + Lunch Menu

Even some of the breakfast special sets are named after Hollywood stars. How about having Marilyn Monroe or Audrey Hepburn for the day? All Breakfast sets come with a complimentary coffee or tea besides their famous Fresh Fruits.

 You can opt for Ala Carte options too if you are not so hungry.

You can check out the full breakfast menu on their website here.

Lunch menu is also available, which includes all time favourites such as sandwiches, cheese steak and charbroiled burgers. There are also soups and salads too for those who do not fancy a heavy meal. :) 

Full Lunch menu available here on their website.

Side Dishes and Beverages Menu. There are even cocktails and beer for selections. Full menu available here on website.

We ordered a James Dean Set (USD $11) and a Homemade Clam Chowder Soup (USD $6) to share.

Crispy Bacon. Eating this reminds us of the fantastic bacon we had at Peter Luger Steakhouse in New York.

Overflowing Fresh Fruit Bowl. It was pleasantly presented and certainly appetizing.

The set comes with toast which goes well with the butter.

The soup. Comes with complimentary Toast.

Jams are available for spreading on the toast if you wish.

The portion was huge. Lucky that we only ordered 1 set to share. We still have some left over food after our meal.

 The Bill comes up to be USD $18.45 after tax.

Verdict: Overall, we would certainly recommend that you pay Hollywood Cafe a visit if you are at San Francisco. The fresh fruit bowl is certainly the highlight and must-try. The portions offered are huge and you can certainly share a set for two persons.

 

How to get to the Cafe

We took a long walk from the Ferry Building along the Embarcadero. Believe us, it was a long walk! You might want to take the Muni Metro F Line and get off at the (Jones Street & Beach Street) stop or the next stop at (Mason & Beach Street) if you are short of time. You can then make your way to Taylor Street and start walking along it. Look out for the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf as the Cafe is just right next to it.

MUNI Metro - F Line

We have done up a map below to help guide our readers to the cafe.

F Train Stop 1 is Jones Street & Beach Street Stop  F Train Stop 2 refers to the next stop at (Mason & Beach Street). You can stop at either stop and make your way along Taylor Street to the Cafe. The Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf is just right behind the cafe.

Hollywood Cafe San Francisco
530 North Point St, San Francisco,
CA 94133, USA
(Taylor St and North Point St)

415.563.3779

Open Everyday 7AM - 2PM
Breakfast + Lunch

This post is part of our Alaska Pre and Post Cruise Report and follow-up of our popular Alaska cruise series. Do check out our Alaska Cruise story too if this is your first time here! :)

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. To receive notifications on updates, subscribe to our blog via RSS feed and email.

Like us on Facebook @ Discover. Book . Travel and follow us on Twitter @Discoverbooktra!

Do check out our Flickr photos & Youtube videos too!

Restaurant Review: Blue Bottle Coffee, San Francisco

San Francisco (Alaska Pre Cruise) . 2012 . September 13

This post is part of our Alaska Pre and Post Cruise Report and follow-up of our popular Alaska cruise series. Do check out our Alaska Cruise story too if this is your first time here! :)

The most prominent tenant in the Ferry Building Marketplace must be the famous Blue Bottle Coffee outlet.  The company started its operations in Oakland, Califonia and prides itself in selling fresh coffee less than 48 hours off the roaster, using the finest organic pesticide-free beans.


Blue Bottle now operates several cafés at locations around San Francisco, including the Ferry Building Marketplace and the SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art).  Blue Bottle Coffee opened its first New York location in 2010.

The outlet at the Ferry Building Marketplace.

The menu @ Blue Bottle Coffee. Prices are considered relatively cheap when you compare with the Coffee Chains.

Besides its famous coffee, you might want to grab some small bites to go along with your beverage.

A sneak peek at the preparation kitchen.

There are a couple of stools available for customers to rest their feet and enjoy the coffee.

After months of hearing about Blue Bottle Coffee and craving for some good quality brew, I finally got my own cup of coffee to ravish. Ok, the portion is relatively small for a cup that cost USD$3-4, but this is one of the best coffees I’ve ever had!  Its full bodied texture and quality is exceptionally better than what is offered at the usual mass market coffee houses.   The coffee has a rich and deep aroma, and yet leaves no aftertaste after drinking.

Note there are 2 Blue Bottle Coffee outlets at the Ferry Terminal – one that resides within the Ferry Building, and another small kiosk at the Farmers Market.  The one at the Farmers Market was the original outlet until they found a space to rent in the building.

Verdict:  This is one of the best coffee we ever had, and we’ll never miss a chance to try this again.  There are a few Blue Bottle Coffee outlets in San Francisco and New York. Do check out their webpage for more details: http://www.bluebottlecoffee.com

Blue Bottle Cafe
Ferry Building Marketplace, Shop #7,
1 Ferry Building. San Francisco
Monday-Saturday 7-7, Sunday 8-6
Side Window: Monday-Wednesday 10-4, Thursday-Sunday 9-4

This post is part of our Alaska Pre and Post Cruise Report and follow-up of our popular Alaska cruise series. Do check out our Alaska Cruise story too if this is your first time here! :)

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. To receive notifications on updates, subscribe to our blog via RSS feed and email.

Like us on Facebook @ Discover. Book . Travel and follow us on Twitter @Discoverbooktra!

Do check out our Flickr photos & Youtube videos too!