Omicron-era Trip Report: UA5499 SFO-SAN United First Class Embraer 175 (Skywest)
Originally I had planned a 4-hour layover in SFO: arriving at 5:40pm from Shanghai, and departing at 9:40pm for San Diego. My idea was that I could leave the airport and get my first dose of Moderna vaccine at a CVS near the airport.
By the time I changed my ticket from my original, earlier connecting flight to the 9:40pm departure, and gone to the CVS website, all of the nearby vaccine appointments were booked up! I think Omicron might have caused a rush on vaccine appointments.
But, it turned out that Omicron had other plans for that 4-hour layover anyway. First, as a result of the boom in Omicron-driven COVID cases overseas, Pudong Airport mandated new cleaning and disinfecting procedures, which delayed my flight departure by 3 hrs 10 minutes, and delayed the arrival by 2 hrs 20 minutes. Had I maintained my original flight, I would have missed my flight. And I definitely wouldn’t have had time to leave the airport in an Uber and get a vaccine shot at CVS. But I could still make my connecting flight, because that flight was delayed from 9:40pm to 11:05pm. I had read that flight crew were hard to find these days, because so many were calling in sick due to Omicron, or being in close contact (for example sitting in the cockpit together) with someone who was positive. So lots of flights were delayed or even cancelled during this time.
So I was lucky to have booked this later flight, and that the flight still operated, even if delayed.
I was also lucky that this later flight had upgrade space available for immediate confirmation (while the earlier flight did not). I booked a Premium Plus seat from Shanghai to San Francisco, and the connecting flight was booked in Economy B-fare class. This should trigger automatic confirmed upgrade for 1Ks if available, but I had to call in. (I had read about this glitch when upgrading in conjunction with a Premium Plus fare).
The seats in first class on the Embraer 175 are in a 1-2 configuration, and I was able to get one of the single seats on the A side: an aisle and window in one! I was glad not to have to sit next to anyone.
On this flight they gave the little snack packs with a bottle of water, a stroopwafel, and pretzels. I appreciated that everything was packaged up, because I didn’t take off my mask from finishing eating in the United Club until getting home.
