Our United flight was fine except that maintenance delayed us an hour getting in to LAX. We were on the upgrade waitlist, but business class was checked in full. We mentioned to the business class flight attendant when we boarded that we had the waitlist ticket & were eager for the upgrade because we were on our honeymoon. She apologized about the full business class & we went to our economy plus seats (not big deal & we had extra leg room because it was an exit row). After take-off, the business class flight attendant came back w/ a large bottle of white wine & 2 real wine glasses (not the plastic cups you're usually served in economy) & congratulated us. We thanked her and toasted. Not a minute later she was on the load speaker making an announcement to the entire plane that there were newlyweds on the plane & that Mr. & Mrs. Snyder were headed on their honeymoon. Very cool - in all the flights I have ever been on this has never happened.
After the announcement, we discovered the couple across the aisle from us and a couple in the row in front of us were also heading to their honeymoon (the one couple was married yesterday in SF). They congratulated us but were visibly upset that they didn't get the same treatment. They told the economy flight attendant they were on their honeymoon too and they were given a complimentary drink. Not the same as our huge bottle & I felt bad for them (especially since we're fake newlyweds on our pre-wedding honeymoon), so we asked the flight attendant for 4 more wine glasses & shared the wealth (it was really the right thing to do).
Once we de-boarded the United flight we immediately asked the woman at the gate where we needed to go to make our connection that boarded in 20 minutes (still without tickets). She told us we had to go to Terminal 2 (we were at Terminal 7), get our tickets and go through security for international. She advised us it was best to RUN, as the shuttles would never get us there in time. So we RAN with all of our carry-on bags. We made it to Terminal 5 before I stopped and asked a police officer (hanging in his cop car w/ a K-9) if he would please drive us to Terminal 2. I explained our connecting flight was an hour late and we'd never make our international flight (plus I added "it's our honeymoon officer" and I batted my eyes). He couldn't take us because of the dog in the back seat, but he did flag down an off duty disability shuttle and had him bring us directly to Terminal 2. We got there with 10 minutes to boarding (still no tickets). The women at the check-in counter knew immediately who we were & said they've been calling and calling United & tried to hold the flight, but they had to close the flight 15 minutes ago for check-in. They said our business class seats were given away.
As you can imagine, we were so distraught. I begged and begged (obviously throwing in "but we're supposed to be going on our honeymoon") & they worked really hard to make it happen for us. They came back with only one option - they could get us on the flight but not in our business class seats and we couldn't sit together. We took it, since we had a connection to make once we landed in Papeete for Bora Bora. Super bittersweet - I got an upgrade to first class (1 of 4 first class suites), but poor Curtis was sent to the back of the plane (they gave him a bulk head seat in economy to try and make up for it). We ran through security and when we got to the gate we asked again if there was anything they could do, since we paid a TON of money for those business seats (the answer - NO - but we'd definitely get refunded). As we handed the ticket collector our tickets, I began to cry (not full blown break down - but eyes welled up in tears). The maitre d of the business/first class took my bags and showed me to my seat & Curtis was herded back to steerage with the rest of the cattle.
I explained everything that had just happened to the maitre d. He handed me a tissue (since tears had streamed down my face) and assured me that Curtis could join me in 1st class as soon as we took off & he could stay as long as he liked (as long as we were quiet because the man in the suite next to mine had requested quiet during the flight so he could sleep the whole time). I changed into my first class PJ's put on my slippers and once we were in the air the flight attendant brought Curtis up to join me for dinner. We shared my first class meal, which was pretty tasty (5 courses - including a lobster entree). We must have downed an entire bottle of champagne, but were finally feeling relaxed. Curtis spent a good hour and a half hanging with me in first class & then we both decided to get 6 hours of sleep so we'd be ready for Bora Bora (since we landed at 3:30AM in PPT).
The first class suite was superb. The flight attendant felt terrible about our flight trouble and was fabulous the whole time. I had my seat turned into a bed, she tucked me in (literally) and I donned my eye shades for about 6 hours.
Curtis slept until for about 6 hours as well. He skipped breakfast, as he slept through it & didn't complain once about the lack of recline in his seat. I really am a very lucky lady to have an amazing fiance that sat in economy & let me get all the pampering in first class.
The other 3 people in first class were all men. One man had his girlfriend in economy (he was about 55 and she was about 24 - no joke). I was woken up by the flight attendant serving breakfast to the others & it smelled delicious. I was served really yummy crepes for breakfast & enjoyed the last 45 minutes in first class watching a movie.
We then went through customs (we got to skip the line because we checked off the "honeymoon" box on paperwork) & didn't even have to put our baggage through the scanners on the way out. Very easy & laid back entrance into Tahiti. We had 4 hours to kill in the airport while we waited for our early morning connection to Bora Bora. By this point, we had forgotten the rocky start and were chatting away excitedly about the start of our adventure (while staring googley eyed at each other like we used when we first met).
Our Air Tahiti flight was super short (40 minutes) and then we were greeted by a St. Regis representative & ushered to the St. Regis yacht. The boat ride from the airport to our hotel was picturesque. When we pulled up to the hotel I realized that the entrance is literally the same dock/welcome area that was in the movie Couples Retreat (we knew they filmed the movie at the St. Regis, but didn't imagine that 95% of the set was the St. Regis). Absolutely breathtaking.
Hope you're all enjoying the updates! Curtis promises he'll add his perspective at some point during the trip.
More on our first glimpse of the St. Regis tomorrow....
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