Best: The AAngels in the SFO AC proactively reserving seats on flights before my scheduled flight is canceled or delayed because of weather/mechanical before I arrive at the airport.
Worst: Not AA's fault, but sitting next to a severely overweight passenger in Y for a DFW-SFO flight. Also, the DFW-GSP 2.5 hour flight in a RJ is painful; I must have flown that segment over 20 times last year.
Funniest: *Before flight to Tokyo in J* My GF: "I don't need business class. I'm fine in coach so I can lift up the armrest and sleep next to you."
*Before return flight back to California in Y* My GF: "Oh, I like business class, I can actually sleep comfortably in the [slanted] flat seat position." *beat* "What do you mean we're in coach for the return flight?! "
Best: The AAngels in the SFO AC proactively reserving seats on flights before my scheduled flight is canceled or delayed because of weather/mechanical before I arrive at the airport.
Worst: Not AA's fault, but sitting next to a severely overweight passenger in Y for a DFW-SFO flight. Also, the DFW-GSP 2.5 hour flight in a RJ is painful; I must have flown that segment over 20 times last year.
Funniest: *Before flight to Tokyo* My GF: "I don't need business class. I'm fine in coach so I can lift up the armrest and sleep next to you."
*Return flight back to California* My GF: "Oh, I like business class, I can actually sleep comfortably in the [slanted] flat seat position." *beat* "What do you mean we're in coach for the return flight?! "
Your GF sounds the same as my wife! We had a long delay out of DFW to NRT and missed our connection to Bangkok, when I talked with AA in Tokyo they said they would try to get us into J on the return flight. So we arrive back at NRT and I am at the counter for a looong time trying to figure out where they ere going to sit us. Then my wife says" Jeffrey its no big deal, I can sleep just fine in the coach seat!" BTW, my wife is 5' and I am 6'3",and she is so tiny that she can almost make the coach seat look like biz with her in it!
On the same outbound flight, my wife takes and ambien and falls asleep 1.5 hours out of dfw, and sleeps the rest of the way to nrt! It was an ongoing joke with the FA when I would order something for my wife and just eat/drink it myself. The FA would laugh and ask if my wife liked the food and/or diet soda! So there is another example of a friendly FA in Y.
-Meeting with FT members in FRA for a day to have brunch, etc. during a mileage run.
-First ever trip to DUB and we were on approach, just off the coast and flying over Howt(h) a great first impression of IRL.
Worst:
-None
Funniest
-Trip from LAX to JFK, safety announcement plays in English an then in ITALIAN, I say to the FA, Oh nice....are we going to Italy?
-Trip from LAX to JFK, I do a double-take when I see the Galley Attendant/FA using a PAX blanket as a pot holder to remove food from the oven.
-First time I've sat next to any sort of celebrity, and I'm Seated next to Stephen Smith in J (Had to look up who he was) Upon boarding, he's in my seat and I showed him where the seat numbers are, he moves over and apologizes. I notice he has brought Mc Donald's on board and was eating it before take off. I thought to myself "he must be pretty hungry, we're going to get a meal later on" FA comes by to take meal orders and he had no idea we get a meal. Apparently it's his first time in Business Class.
Weird...But Funny Too
-Pax seated next to me in FC jabbering away on mobile phone, even after announcement is made to put phones away. He's going on and on about how he's on the plane and traveling etc., and FA gives him a warning. He then starts reading his newpaper, and as he is finished with one section, "throws" it over his right shoulder and Pax behind are gasping....meanwhile I'm trying refrain from laughing too loud seated next to this DYKWIA dude.
While, I'm not technically AA, I do use AA to pad my OW miles for mile runs in the states.
I had my Best and Worst on the same Trip, JFK->LAX->SBA Mile Run.
WORST: JFK to LAX sat next a guy who was asleep when I boarded the plane. There was this real strong alcohol smell. You know the soured drunk smell. I couldn't tell if it was the sleeping PAX next to me or someone in one of the other rows. I figured since this flight was taking off at 6:30am, maybe it was a smell in the seat/floor, who could possible be drinking since before 6:30AM
Well about an hour before we land the guy next to me wakes up and I quickly learn it was him. The guy then calls the F/A over and begins ordering Heinekens like there were going out of style. I counted 5. He was even ordering one as we were preparing to land.
I guess as a compliment to the F/A she was nice enough to give him that last one for free
BEST: On the return flight back from Santa Barbara to LAX that evening, the G/A proudly proclaimed that we'd be making history as the last commercial propeller flight AA would run. (They alluded it was the last commercial propeller flight in US period, but that seems impossible somehow).
The crew told us the same thing when we boarded, and when we landed I was the last one off and the captain was nice enough to let me step in the cockpit and take pictures. Nice too was in the terminal there was cake waiting to celebrate and they let me grab a slice. It was very cool.
-Meeting with FT members in FRA for a day to have brunch, etc. during a mileage run.
-First ever trip to DUB and we were on approach, just off the coast and flying over Howt(h) a great first impression of IRL.
Worst:
-None
Funniest
-Trip from LAX to JFK, safety announcement plays in English an then in ITALIAN, I say to the FA, Oh nice....are we going to Italy?
-Trip from LAX to JFK, I do a double-take when I see the Galley Attendant/FA using a PAX blanket as a pot holder to remove food from the oven.
-First time I've sat next to any sort of celebrity, and I'm Seated next to Stephen Smith in J (Had to look up who he was) Upon boarding, he's in my seat and I showed him where the seat numbers are, he moves over and apologizes. I notice he has brought Mc Donald's on board and was eating it before take off. I thought to myself "he must be pretty hungry, we're going to get a meal later on" FA comes by to take meal orders and he had no idea we get a meal. Apparently it's his first time in Business Class.
Weird...But Funny Too
-Pax seated next to me in FC jabbering away on mobile phone, even after announcement is made to put phones away. He's going on and on about how he's on the plane and traveling etc., and FA gives him a warning. He then starts reading his newpaper, and as he is finished with one section, "throws" it over his right shoulder and Pax behind are gasping....meanwhile I'm trying refrain from laughing too loud seated next to this DYKWIA dude.
Programs: AA Gold, *wood Gold, Hilton Honors Silver
Posts: 780
OP poster here. I love all the responses, please keep them coming.
Elitetraveler's sweet post in the best flight ever thread just reminded me of perhaps truly my best/worst all in one travel memory from 2008. (guess I blocked it out of my memory!)
My brother was in a wreck in June. A bad one, nearly died (thankfully is doing quite well). Once I knew just how serious it was, I bought a ticket to fly "home" the next afternoon. NW was about $100 more but I went with AA because I knew I would need the segments for requalification and it was during AADER.
I booked it online. Then I found out his surgery got moved up so I called to change the ticket to try and get the first flight out the next morning. I spoke to a true AAngel. I was barely holding it together at that point. I hated that I wasn't there with my mother and I wasn't going to be there when he went into surgery the next morning. She looked at my info and then asked why I wasn't flying on a compassion fare. I said based on my prior experience that they weren't cheaper. She said well in this case it is about $100 (I forget the exact amount, but it then made the price competitive with NW). She asked for the information about my brother's hospital. I gave room number, hospital info, surgeon etc. You name it. She said I'll need to verify this with the hospital so I can confirm you qualify for the compassion fare. So she puts me on hold. I expect to be on hold for a couple of minutes. She comes back like mere seconds later. I enquire about the speed and she softly tells me that she has no doubt that I'm telling the complete truth and am not pulling a scam on AA. The woman was so nice and so compassionate in my true hour of need in 08.
She then rebooked me on the earliest possible flight (I looked at flying out that night but there was no way at that point for me to pack and get to the airport) and credited my mother's credit card. I thanked her profusely, got her employee info and hung up and filled out the form. I explained how yes she just cost AA $100 but she got the airline so much more because that's why I would be loyal in the future to them and had flown AA rather than NW. I got the form response but hopefully the info did get passed along.
I had just discovered "stickers" (thanks FT) and had put in a request for an upgrade to F for the first segment (second segment was on RJ). It was a 6 a.m. flight. My first upgrade request cleared. (I was stunned). During boarding, I called my SIL and found out that the surgery had been moved up even sooner and he was getting ready to head down. I of course had to talk to him because this was spinal cord surgery and had risks. I probably went past the put away electronics announcement by 30 seconds or so. But the FA in front of me knew what was happening and didn't say a word.
(I promise it wasn't an annoying minutes and I wasn't all DYKWIA about it either, a second announcement wasn't needed). I then hung up and put my head against the window and bawled all the way to DFW. I regret not asking for a mimosa either, my nerves could have used it LOL.
Best: Getting an open middle seat next to me because the lady who was supposed to be in that seat didn't read her boarding pass.
Worst: Not having any of my flights ex-DFW depart on time. As far as travel goes, that isn't so bad.
Funniest/Weirdest: Meeting a BYU student on a flight who's roommate's girlfriend goes to TCU and worked in the athletic department with me last semester. Small world, you know...
Programs: Mucci Diamond Hairbrush Elite, AA Plat, BA Blue, and a host of others.
Posts: 339
Best - flying business class from JFK to LHR, my first flight in an international premium class. It was so much better than coach, and so much better than I had even imagined that it turned out to be my best flying moment.
Weirdest - I was the first pax on a MD-80 flight and sitting in the first row of coach is an oddly round FA chewing on carrots with her mouth open. As I was the first one on the plane I thought upon seeing pax start to arrive she'd get up. She didn't (yes she was working the flight) I was sitting in 5b. I stowed my luggage and was about to sit down when I felt her gaze still upon me so I looked back at her. She looked at me like I had a huge booger and had just farted as well (as she crunched away mouth agape on her wretched carrot sticks). She didn't get up until passengers were well on their way back to Y. To make it even weirder about two weeks later, on a completely different route she was on my flight again. This time I didn't see her until we were in the air and she came up to the F galley for something. I nearly screamed out loud.
Worst - I truly had an exceptional flying year so I don't have a worst moment. Trust me, I'd be the first to say if I had.
Oh and I agree with the poster that said SEA TAs and GAs are wonderful.
I've been pretty absent from FT for a while, yet only managed to make it to the second sentence of this one before realizing it was a "Chuck." Classic!
Happy New Year to everyone!
Quote:
Originally Posted by edwin_p_morales
On a recent flight I was very thirsty and pressed the call button to ask the
FA for a drink but she was in her jump seat talking with the other FAs,
eating leftover fruit salads from breakfast. So I went to the galley and got
a club soda out of that plastic box that they are kept in (the drawer was
open so I didn't actually open any part of the galley to get the can). Then
I went back to my seat and poured the club soda into the glass cup which
already had ice.
About 5 min later the FA comes up to me and says "Did you just help yourself
to something from my galley?" I'm like yeah, I got this club soda so that
you wouldn't have to make the trip. She's like "Well only FAs are allowed to
serve drinks and it was rude of you to take it." To which I responded "Well
maybe if you answered my call button instead of fussing around then
passengers wouldn't have to get drinks for themselves." So then she says
that I'm not supposed to be in the galley for "security" reasons. And I'm
reaching for my pen to write down a name when my gf intervenes and is like
"Edwin, this isn't the airline lounge...he's very sorry!"
I was flying from Miami to ABQ via ORD. The flight was delayed, and delayed, and I was afraid of missing my connection. Got on the phone with the Gold Desk which booked me onto another flight to Chicago... but it too was suddenly delayed. When it finally took off (sooner than my original flight) I was still worried. Soon, however, there were bigger things to worry about. The pilot announced that our landing gear was damaged, and we were going to have to go into ORD on our belly. The airport cleared a runway for us so we could go in as slowly as possible. I had been in an emergency landing years before, in Iceland, with the fire trucks on the runway, etc. But it was still scary, and I, like every other passenger on board, was as quiet as a mouse as we made our runway approach.
We are Fine. The message about the malfunctioning landing gear was apparently just a computer glitch. I made my connection with less than a minute to spare - this was one of those ORD horrors where you have to schlep to the ends of the earth, and why I prefer to connect in DFW - and I realized that the Only reason I had made the connection was that we had had an emergency landing and thus been given priority over every other plane circling Chicago.
"
