Trip Reports - SNA-SFO on AA (from a UA loyal)

Oops... ha ha... the title should have read SNA-SJC. Its was so hot this weekend that my brain must have gone kaputt...

AA2884 SNA-SJC N902RA 5/20/00

'Twas the night before…
A coworker scored a couple of free round trip tickets to SJC, and was kind enough to share one with me. The catch is, it had to be on AA. I've not been on AA or QQ for over a year, and thought it would make an interesting comparison with them a year ago, and with UA and U*. After much arm twisting, I agreed and picked up the ticket Friday. One problem arose immediately, the departure was for 5pm that day, and I need to attend the funeral of a good friend and mentor who lost a short bout with late-term cancer Saturday morning. I called AA fully expecting a change fee, but was able to change the flight without any penalty. I then thought to go to the UA CTO to see if they can take the ticket in exchange for flights on UA. After much review of rules, it was determined I had violated the fare rule since I changed the flight, so I would need to pay the fare difference of nearly $100. They had the June issue of Hemispheres available, and I got one of those fold-out seating charts (albeit now obsolete), so it wasn't a total loss. Then I thought to drive to SNA to make sure the new reservation is kosher and change seating assignments. The AA check-in was nearly empty, and three agents fought to help me. At first, the agent was surprised that I can change schedules without penalty, but we found the clearly printed "NO CHANGE FEE" as part of the rules. The best window seat at this point is 31F. At least the aircraft is confirmed to have "more room throughout coach." Oh well…

"Hi, I'm Average Joe!"
After a somber but beautiful ceremony, in which I said good bye to a good friend who had influenced the last 10 years of my life, I headed to SNA still in disbelief at the fragility of life. The check-in counter had a massive line, and the first class/gold/platinum line was no better. I went straight to gate 13 to find another line 25 deep. Gold status isn't gonna help me today, I'm just average Joe sitting in the back today. The previous departure was pushing back as I arrived, 30 minutes before our departure time. The line wasn't moving very fast; there are 2 agents who seem to take a personal interest in every passenger checking-in. They are certainly friendly and helpful, but the line inched forward as the clock ticked toward our departure time. Our aircraft (N902RA) pulls in with 15 minutes to go. I reached the counter with less than 10 minutes to go, and there were no other seats forward, period. The middle seat is still blocked at this point as consolation. There would be no pre-boarding in the interest of time. There is at least another 20 waiting to check-in, so I run over to the bar to check on the Lakers game. Half time, we're up by around 20! Woohoo! Rush back to the gate, a gaggle had formed by the gate, they're boarding from the back. I can't get through the crowd. They call rows 33 through 17 and the bunch in front of me rushes forward. The agent takes my boarding pass, run it through the scanner and returns the whole thing to me, instead of tearing off the small piece. That's when I notice the three stamps on it: "FLIGHT COUPON REQUIRED," "AADVANTAGE GOLD," and "TICKET LIFTED." Turns out, only "TICKET LIFTED" was stamped, the other two were printed that way. Its an interesting approach, but I don't think its as eye-catching as UA's ** PREMIER EXECUTIVE ** in a blank area.

A different world
The last time I was on an MD-90, they were less than a year old. Today's aircraft looked almost as beat-up and the U* 733. The overhead bins are smaller in comparison, and several rollaboards stored lengthwise took up most of the bin space in the back. The seats themselves were in surprisingly good shape, sans adjustable head rests. The arm rest lifts completely out of the way, as opposed to the UA style with a slight protrusion. There are more F seats than UA narrow bodies, except for the 752. No audio, no channel 9. The increased pitch does not feel as roomy as UA Economy Plus, but it is very welcome back in row 31. My seat-mate on the aisle seat was the grumpy-old-man-type that mumbled complaints about everything, including my claim to his window. A late-boarding elderly couple couldn't find space overhead for their bags, and the friendly FAs helped them find room further up. Worried, the elderly lady went up with them, insisting she had to be near her bag. A good variety of toddlers, children and pre-teens were sprinkled all over the cabin. Two rows ahead of me, a child was jumping on her seat, her head bobbing above the seatback every second or so. The grumpy old man reminded us every 5 minutes that we're late for pushback. Out the window, a bag lay unattended next to the baggage loader for a good 10 minutes. There were no reminders on primary storage under seat, no requests to keep the aisle clear during boarding, and no final destination check. The last passenger to board is a middle-aged woman who headed right for my row to take the middle seat, also to the ire of the old man. AA managed to get 100% yield on this flight. The fourth reminder from the old man prompted push-back. As I watched the safety demonstration, the familiar view from the back finally struck me. I used to see the whole cabin from back here; I used to recline as soon as the gears retracted; I used to bring aboard a duffel bag that would take up 2/3 of a bin. It was a year ago, how things have changed… sigh…

The American way
I put on the noise-canceling headsets, a necessity this close to the engine. The captain comes on the brief us about the departure. Taxing and takeoff felt different and exaggerated sitting behind the main gears; the G-forces were much greater too. Some passengers began getting out of their seats as we were parallel LAX, which was less than 10 minutes into the flight. The FAs didn't seem to mind. In fact, throughout the flight, the FAs were friendly and smiling, but they seemed to take the attitude of non-confrontational, no matter what the passengers were doing. I suppose this makes for happy customers, until something goes wrong and someone is injured. 20 minutes after departure we were notified it was OK to use approved electronics - an announcement I have not heard on UA for some time. The flight time was 47 minutes, at flight level 330. I received a pack of pretzels (no sticks, just pretzels) and asked for a can of Coke. The FA said she'll give me a glass and come back for seconds, since this is a full flight - completely acceptable to me. The curtain to F never came down. Lots of traffic for the aft lavatory. The FAs attitude is much better than those on most UA or U* flights, but I thought they were too nice at the expense of safety. I was offered a second drink after descent, and I had water this time. The heat wave made the descent much rougher than the flight. Landing was a bit rough, with a slight bounce, and 20 minutes late. Clicks of seat belts unbuckling as we taxied (this is the same on ALL airlines). One of the FAs got the elderly lady's rollaboard and brought it back to her as an announcement was made advising us of our gate, the baggage carrousel, and the location of the Admirals Club - nice touch! Disembarking was slow, as the grumpy old man kept reminding us. The aft FAs chatted happily to help kill some wait time. Its been a while since I've taken a jetway at SJC and walked into the cool terminal, where Honeybaby waited with a huge smile.

Overall, this flight is comparable to the typical UA SNA-SFO flight in terms of service, but closer to the U* LAX-SFO in terms or on-time performance. However, with all the investments I've made towards UA (miles, status, Red Carpet Club, general familiarization with the system and procedures), it is likely that this will be the only AA activity on my AAdvantage statement this year.

Coming up, Honeybaby's restaurant review.

[This message has been edited by Indurain (edited 05-23-2000).]

The entire weekend the Bay Area was under attacked by record breaking temperatures. To escape the heat and all the hustles and bustles of weekenders we decided to tug ourselves indoors by checking out one of the Mileage Plus Dining affiliates in the heart of Silicon Valley.

The Santa Barbara Grill, located in Cupertino, CA, is a modern Amercian Grill voted for Best Restaurant in 1997, 1998 and Best Wine List for 1998 in Metro Magazine. (Of course we found out about these reviews after we had been mesmerized in the smell and taste of our meal and walked away wonderfully satistified).

Let me start my review by pointing out the bad side of this dining experience. Luckily there is only one bad point. I am very much a bread person. (Indurian nods in agreement). However, I am also very critical about the types of bread served in fancy restaurants. To my disappointment, our dinner started with slices of sourdough rounds and butter. I was hoping for some oven popping herb bread like rosemary or olive bread. The butter that came in the same plate had turned into warm mayonnaise since the whole dining place was a heat trap. Okay that's bad point number two. We couldn't figure out if the air conditioning was down or the restaurant
management was energy-wise conservative.

Minutes after we were seated our waiter, Eric, came around to take order. We wanted a Seafood Sampler with prawns, oysters, smoke salmon and fried calamari (the squid is a must for Honeybaby at almost every restaurant she goes to) and for the entre a Lazyman's San Francisco style Cioppino for two. The stew would inlcude crab, prawns, clams, crawfish, scallops and fish and was to serve with garlic bread. We were happy with our dinner selection for about 3 seconds when the waiter returned to inform us that the cioppino was not available. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif However, Eric recommended another seafood dish, Calamari Steak Dore, which he assured us to be equally good, if not better than the cioppino. Okay we thought, putting our trust in him just this once.

The service was prompt, our dinner came within 15 minutes after ordering. The sampler included 3 fresh oysters, 3 jumbo prawns, 3 toast wedges topped with slices of smoked salmon, and a generous portion of fried calamari. Since I am not a shellfish eater, I left Indurian in charge of the oysters and prawns while I worked hard on the smoked salmon and calamari. The smoked salmon toasts were perfect, rich in smoke flavor and light on the sodium. The fried calamari were hot and crispy. Halfway through our appetizer, the Calamari Steak Dore came to the table. It was a supernal entre, two egg battered lightly pan fried calamari steak dressed in white wine/lemon butter sauce and topped with sauteed sweet onion and tomatoes. It was compliment by rice pilaf studded with fresh and tender yellow corn squash, broccoli, and cauliflower. I was surprised to find the deglazed white wine and lemon butter sauce so captivating and the taste so unforgettable. the meal was excellent, we both thought. We left the restaurant with no room for desert, much to Indurain's disappointment...

AA2865 SJC-SNA (unknown registration) 5/21/00

But I'm too old for a curfew
After the wonderful dinner, it was only a short drive to the airport. Things took a turn south only after exiting the 101 (yes, THE 101, a SoCal term), when we were met with a string of red taillights and traffic-directing cops. A long string led to short-term parking, another to the terminal building. I elected to drop-off to spare Honeybaby the pain of the after-departure mess. Security was surprisingly easy, without the laptop sniff I used to receive all the time. I navigate through the crowd to gate A7, where the board showed a 15 minute delay right off the bat. A quick check-in and I'm left wandering the terminal looking for an empty seat. There was a little display for "More Room Throughout Coach," and those sample seats looked like the only empty ones in the entire area. I thought about it, decided against sitting in them, but as I write this, about 6 others have decided to take refuge in those new seats with leather headrests.

An announcement was made that our crew had arrived and we'll start boarding sans pre-boarding to speed things up and get into SNA before the curfew. Boarding is through the first door of the aircraft, as opposed to the 2nd door on UA. I'm the last group to board with seat 11F, got the last bit of space in the bin for my bag. While boarding, the young man ahead of me stuffs his bag in the first class bin and heads to the back while an elderly lady in F looked on with disapproval. These old F seats look suspiciously similar to the old UA F seats. No extra leg room in coach, no new seats. The middle seat was empty for most of the plane, including my row, but the middle seat behind me was occupied by a mother, with her little girl directly behind me. Thus began an unscheduled session for me building character in preparation for future parenthood. We sit for a curiously long time, well past the original 15-minute delay. When an FA came around handing out pretzels, I knew there's a problem. Turns out there's a mechanical and they're awaiting the proper paper work to complete, and its 50/50 we might go to LAX, then to SNA by bus. The captain assures us that the plane is 100% safe. We finally push back while the safety video begins playing as I wish we had those comfy-looking seats featured in the video. When it came time to start the engines, everything shut down, the APUs wind down and the cabin is lit by the emergency lighting system. Disappointment all around as we are towed back to the jetway for a thorough check of all systems, and we'll definitely head to LAX once everything is OK. The FAs allowed passengers requesting reschedule to disembark, and half the plane, including myself, left.

The long line at the gate curved around and blocked the jetway exit. I bypassed that line to go through security to the check-in counter, and the lady behind me decided to follow. We were the only two at the counter, with 4 agents disbelieving our predicament. I'm placed on 2897 the next morning, seat 18A. No compensation, no hotel accommodation, as this was voluntary, and the flight was not canceled. I had to go through security again to retrieve my ticket at the gate, where the line now snaked toward the connecting bridge between terminals A and B. I go back downstairs to wait for Honeybaby once again. The 9pm night air is still warm and uncomfortable. Overall, I thought AA handled the situation well enough, but nothing extraordinary. Probably about the same level of service to be expected among the big domestic carriers, which explains the level of dissatisfaction among passengers. Although its always nice to spend more time with my fiance, I just don't care for the circumstance which created this opportunity.


[This message has been edited by Indurain (edited 05-23-2000).]

Good report. Hopefully you made it back to SNA okay.

Sounds so typical AA. Don't get me wrong, Poo Poo can just happen to any passenger on any airline. In the name of safety, that's just how it goes. But my personal expeiences with AA, it happens about 50% of the time so I have given up on them. Good luck getting out of SJC (or was it SFO http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif ).


[This message has been edited by steve64 (edited 05-24-2000).]

AA2897 SJC-SNA N671AA 5/22/00

SJC-SNA, Take Two!
Wake up at 6am for the 40-minute drive down the Peninsula, hit the curb at SJC right at 7am. Bypass the counter, breeze through security and head right for A9, the first gate across the connector bridge. The gate area is empty! I panic for a moment thinking I have the wrong gate, but the display shows the right flight, so I check in and keep my assigned seat, 18A. Upon entering the aircraft, I smile and say good morning to the two FAs did not reply, nor did they take notice. The 757-200 has old seats with old configuration. There is a storage closet ahead of the forward lavatory, giving it 1 less row in F compared to UA's 757 fleet. It is about 50% full when I boarded, roughly 70% by push-back. Most middle seats are empty.

Sink into my seat, put on my sunglasses and haul out the noise-canceling headsets, in preparation for a short nap once airborne. Suddenly I freeze, hearing a child's voice somewhere. I poke my head above the seat backs like a curious mouse, looking for the origin of the sound. I recognize some passengers from last night's flight. There is not a single child anywhere ahead, to the side, or in the back, except for a little girl in the seat behind me. Her name must be "Angela Don't," that's how her mother addresses her. To other parents, Angela may be well-behaved, but this bachelor would have gladly traded seats with any of them. Her mom kept her occupied with a coloring book on the tray table, and she was busy pressing those crayons through the book and into the tray table. Push-back was roughly on time, give or take a few minutes. The 752 is obviously used to serve AA's Latin American destinations, as there is a dedicated inflight magazine in Spanish, and the safety video is bi-lingual both spoken and closed-captioned.

Takeoff was quick with very light traffic. Smooth climb out into a crisp and clear morning sky. Our cruising altitude is flight level 410, and flight time is exactly 1 hour. I had a bag of pretzels with a full can of Coke. Everything would be just great had it not been for the little girl behind me. Apparently, children around the age of 6-8 have legs roughly 31 inches long, and little Angels delights in measuring the seat pitch with her legs over and over again. Nothing like a little child-induced turbulence to keep me on my toes. Oh well, chalk it up as preparation for future parenthood…

The entire SoCal coast is covered by a marine layer typical this time of year. The descent brought us toward Catalina Island from Point Mugu, according to the captain. Angela is complaining about the pain in her ears so much that even her mother began to lose patience with her. A left turn and further descent and we're feet-dry on downwind. Halfway on final we enter the marine layer and break out below just as quickly. A hard landing and bounce, full reverse, and we're on our way to the gate. Angela is looking forward to her cab ride to the hotel, and the upcoming trip to Disneyland, I'm just looking forward to some peace and quiet. No such luck. Captain announces out gate is occupied, we have a few minutes wait. A few minutes turn into a few more minutes, and ground control start diverting other aircraft around us via 19L, the active general aviation runway. Captain tells us the other aircraft is waiting for some missing equipment, so we wait some more. Finally, 15 minutes later, we taxi into gate 9, and we disembark in a fairly civil manner. I head to the RCC for a break and some yogurt, looking like a man at the end of a long day.

The flight was smooth, except for the delay. Its not really AA's fault that there were so many children on these flights, but it might have helped had I been seated closer to the front. If I learned anything this weekend, it's that it requires energies of atomic proportions to be a parent; wonder if that comes in a sports bottle or a twist-off? Also, I'd do my best to avoid flying with my future kids, and if I must, I'd try to be sensitive to those passengers with the misfortune of being within earshot.

One of the agents at the SNA RCC said they could have taken my tickets and placed me on UA flights. Should have done that! Routing didn't matter to me that much, as I would have happily taken SNA-LAX-SBA-SJC for the miles (I AM doing that in 2 weeks!) Sigh… I could sure use a beer… http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/tongue.gif

Thanks bokich and steve64. All's well that ends well. I felt real bad for the other passengers in that long line at the gate. The gate agents' priority was to make sure the plane leaves safely and the remaining passengers accounted for, so they all had a late night ahead of them.

awesome reports, just awesome. Thanks, very entertaining.