Seat 2A
Dec 9, 01, 2:06 pm
Howdy Gang
I’ve submitted a single flight report before, along with a train trip report, but this will be my first real trip report. This was, of course, a mileage run consisting of 17 flights which will ultimately net me just over 60,000 miles. Total expenditure on airline tickets: $669.00. Since I discovered FlyerTalk.com, my favorite part has been the flight reports. Although my primary interest is in First Class, there have been some great tales of travel in Economy Class as well. I enjoy and appreciate all of the detail that many of you include in your reports, particularly taking the time to print out the menus and describe the meal experience in either class.
Although only four segments of this trip were in First Class, I had a fine time criss-crossing the continent and experiencing the post 9/11 Coach Class as well. Also reviewed in this report are Northwest First Class, American Coach Class and Alaska Coach Class.
The overall itinerary looked like this:
ANC-SEA-MSP-MCO-MIA-ORD-RNO-LAX-DFW-MCO-MIA-ORD-RNO/SJC-ORD-MCO-MSP-SEA-ANC
The trip was long so the report is pretty long as well. Lots of flights, lots of insights, lots of meals… I hope you enjoy and of course, I welcome any feedback, including from those of you who may feel this report is too long.
05 December 2001
Alaska 190 Y ANC-SEA DC-9-83 N968AS Seat: 22A
I arrived at the Alaska Airlines ticket counter at 525a, a mere 45 minutes before my scheduled departure time. No problem. Only two people were waiting in line at the MVP counter so I was checked in and on my way to gate B8 within ten minutes.
Despite my lofty status as an MVP Gold in Alaska’s Mileage Plan, I was unable to upgrade into First Class. I had hoped that with the early morning departure, (610a) one or two people might have elected to sleep in. Alas, it was not to be, so I settled for the next best seat on the plane, exit row 22A.
We boarded on time but de-icing took quite a bit longer than usual so we didn’t get airborne until 645a. The First Officer came on over the PA and announced that despite our late departure, tailwinds approaching 200mph would have us at the gate in Seattle about 15 minutes early. That’s cool.
Cabin service started as soon as we reached cruising altitude. Breakfast this morning would be a choice between Scrambled Eggs with Rosemary Potatoes or Cold Cereal. I think it’s great that Alaska still offers a hot meal option for breakfast in Economy Class. Most of the major domestic airlines have long since ceased offering anything beyond cereal for breakfast on flights less than 3-4 hours. Now the question was ~ would eggs still be available by the time the cart reached me back in row 22? Yes! And they were actually quite tasty, too, despite being sprinkled throughout with tiny flecks of what can only be described as an indefinable protoplasm. If I had to guess, I’d say it was soggy bac-o-bits.
We landed in Seattle 10 minutes ahead of schedule and, despite our early arrival at AS’s major hub, didn’t have to wait for a gate. We taxied in briskly and parked at D5, right next to Alaska’s 737-400 N794AS, the 3000th 737 ever built. I’ve yet to fly this aircraft and am curious if there is any type of plaque onboard commemorating this benchmark achievement in commercial aviation manufacturing.
Northwest 44 F SEA-MSP DC-10-40 N159US Seat 5J 1400/2800
Northwest’s partnership with Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air allows for a quick transit between each airline’s respective gates via a shuttle bus which departs from Gate C2A. By utilizing it, I avoided having to head back into the main terminal, clear security again and then take the train out to the South Satellite.
Northwest operates a very nice World Club facility here at Sea-Tac ~ spacious, plenty of work stations and lots of big windows affording a great view of the tarmac and aircraft activity outside. Both my CO President’s Club and AS Boardroom memberships are valid in any NW World Club (AS on day of departure only, though) so I headed right in through the pneumatic doors, upgraded my seats to First Class with the receptionist, grabbed a Club Soda and completed a multitude of small tasks.
The aircraft for this flight was a DC-10-40, parked right next door to the club at Gate S8 - very convenient indeed. Upon boarding I was happy to see the DC-10 operating this flight was outfitted in the international World Business Class seating configuration.
As Business Class seats go, these seats are nothing special. Essentially, they are a domestic First Class seat that’s been modified with the addition of a leg rest and a greater recline. They’re a real treat for a domestic flight but considering the standards set by the world’s leading airlines when it comes to modern day Business Class seating, these seats are outdated. They certainly don’t compare favorably, for example, with United’s “new” Business Class seat, which itself now lags behind the next generation 180 degree reclining “flat” Business Class seats such as those now offered aboard airlines like BA, SQ and CX.
The First Class cabin checked in full for today’s flight. While my seatmate busily chatted on her cell phone and took copious notes, I got my jacket hung and ordered my usual mineral water with a squeeze of lime. Ah…. Refreshing…
Northwest’s pre-flight safety video just about lulled me to sleep. It began with two female Flight Attendants welcoming everyone aboard, followed by the usual safety related folderol. What was so strange about it was how the FAs behaved on the video. They spoke so slowly and calmly and moved so deliberately that I swear they’d been medicated with something normally reserved for unruly mental patients. The passengers in the video also seemed unnaturally calm, smiling somewhat dreamily and gazing complacently at the Flight Attendants who smiled benignly back at them whilst demonstrating the proper way to fasten and unfasten a seatbelt. Everyone was soooo c a l m. It was like something out of that old movie The Stepford Wives. To make things worse, horribly tepid background music played softly throughout the video. Pink Floyd’s classic, “Comfortably Numb” would have been far more appropriate for this video.
We took off to the south and after banking east past Mt. Rainier climbed to 30 some odd thousand feet en route to the Twin Cities. Flight time was announced at 2hrs 50min.
Hot Oshibori towels were presented first. I believe Northwest introduced this Japanese tradition to American skies. It is one of the finer points of their service, especially since their Oshibori towels are 1) real cotton towels, 2) hot and moist, and 3) scented. Easy enough, n’est ce pas? Still, anybody who’s flown United domestically can tell you how incredibly and consistently challenged UA is by this simple little treat. Limp, often tepid paper “towels” usually devoid of scent would accurately describe United’s version of the towel on domestic flights.
The beverage cart rolled through the cabin next, followed by lunch. No menu was presented (does any domestic airline use menus for flights less than a Trans Con these days?) and no linen was set. We were offered a choice of beef or chicken. I asked our flight attendant how the beef had been prepared (i.e. steak, stroganoff, etc) and she feigned ignorance, claiming to be a vegetarian. Wow! Won’t even look at the meat! OK, I’ll have the chicken then. A single tray was presented bearing the following:
A small bowl of salad with a container of Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing. An appetizer plate consisting of two 3” sections of endive lettuce filled with curried krabmeat. A small ramekin of curried mayonnaise was included on the side. A large “Bolillo” style roll with butter The entrée, served in Northwest’s seven inch wide round entrée dish. A real napkin with a real fork, spoon and the unreal plastic knife.
The salad, though small, was actually fairly decent and included tomatoes plus red, yellow and green peppers. The curried krabmeat appetizer was well intentioned but ultimately bland due to lack of enough curry. The bread roll was pretty good. The entrée, however…
A decent sized piece of chicken was, for lack of a better word, dumped amongst a morass of stuffing, carrots and green beans. The stuffing and vegetables were all mixed together, not side by side. Then, as if this “presentation” hadn’t already insulted the appearance at least a potentially good meal, the entire lot of it was drowned in beef gravy, effectively ruining the taste as well. That’s right, folks ~ beef gravy. I was reminded of meals small children attempt to make for their parents on Mother’s or Father’s Day. Sigh… The end result was more slop bucket than proper First Class fare. Indeed, this definitely ranks as one of the worst entrees I’ve ever been served on any flight. Honestly, I’ve seen children’s mud pies that had better presentation.
All this notwithstanding, I was hungry so I ate the entire meal. All of it! I had Rolaids and Budweiser standing by but ultimately required only a couple of Buds to initiate digestion that I may yet live to regret.
It’s worth noting that dessert was an ice cream sundae, consisting of two decent sized scoops of vanilla ice cream topped with either strawberry sauce or hot fudge. I opted for the fudge and was treated to Hershey’s Chocolate syrup. I know the Hershey’s flavor well. It was one of my favorites as a kid. But hey! At least we got a sundae! On a 2hr 50min flight! You won’t even sniff a sundae on most airlines unless the flight is scheduled for four or more hours.
The last hour of this flight was just perfect. An agreeable glass of Merlot at hand, great music through my headphones, my window seat comfortably reclined as I watched the sun sink below the southwestern horizon… From gold to orange to pink to bluish purple, all reflected beautifully atop the clouds below. As we made our approach into MSP at dusk. the sky was filled with incoming flights, their landing lights aglow like so many slowly moving fireflies. It really was quite a pretty sight.
Northwest 588 F MSP-MCO 757-200 N551US Seat 3B 1300/2600
After an hour in the MSP World Club, I began my expedition out to Gate G18. That G concourse at MSP just goes on and on… and on some more. Finally I arrived at my gate and was surprised to discover the aircraft operating this flight was N551US, an aircraft I’ve flown three times since July. Now that might not seem like all that big of a deal in as much as I log all my flights and have flown many individual aircraft more than once. But when you consider that I have flown Northwest only eleven times since July 25th, and add to that the fact that NW operates literally hundreds of aircraft, including 54 different 757s, it’s quite a coincidence that out of only eleven flights I should get the exact same aircraft not twice but three times! And not all on the same route either. I’ve caught Ship 551 from MSP-ANC, MCO-DTW and now MSP-MCO.
This flight was totally full, front and back. Our F Class flight attendant, Richard, announced that dinner would be served this evening. Dinner! I was expecting the usual turkey sandwich NW serves up front on seemingly all non-MSP/DTW to West Coast meal flights. Sure enough, when “dinner” came around it was NW’s ubiquitous post-911 Sandwich as I like to call it now. This month however, turkey is out and NW is offering an Italian Sandwich ~ a small Kaiser roll generously filled with ham, salami, pepperoni and a slice of cheese. It was accompanied by a … potato salad, I guess it was, and a small green salad with pears and Feta cheese. Dessert was a rich and delicious chocolate torte. True, it wasn’t dinner in the usual sense, but it was good and satisfying ~ certainly better than the Chicken Disaster from Flight 44.
A couple of real positives I noticed about Northwest Flight Attendants today ~ they worked hard during the entire flight. In First Class at least, they were always available and came by often to check on beverages and clear meal trays and other detritus of the meal. Good job, people.
Secondly, Richard of the MSP-MCO flight twice protected the sanctity of the First Class cabin. Two guys seated in front of me seemed to have a lot of youthful associates back in Coach who wanted to come up and chat, block the aisles and scam swigs of First Class wine. As well, the man across the aisle from me, who talked nonstop from the moment he boarded the airplane, had his teenaged daughter come up from Coach to visit. A nice girl I’m sure but loud and giggly and ultimately annoying. Richard ran ‘em all off! Thank you, Richard!
Call me a hard case, but First Class should be exclusive. As F Class passengers, we’ve either paid more for our extra space and service or we’ve earned it through consistent patronage of and loyalty to the airline. For me, one of the nicest benefits of travelling in First Class is the peace and quiet I enjoy relative to the back of the plane. The one thing most offensive about these visitors up front tonight was the amount of noise they were making. So I say to everybody out there, if you’ve got children or friends back in Coach and you want to visit with them, go back to coach and visit. DO NOT bring them up to visit in First Class.
All right then, well here I am touting First Class exclusivity so you might expect a guy like me to have a limo waiting to take me somewhere prestigious upon arrival. Perhaps an exclusive hotel or resort…
Actually, I claimed my backpack off the carousel and headed off to the lobby adjacent to the Hyatt Hotel, which is located inside the airport. I’d love to stay in that Hyatt sometime but a night there is likely more than the cost of my ticket so instead I set myself up in a nice dark area just behind the big arrivals and departures sign. It was past midnight local time and it just didn’t make sense to shell out $70.00 or more for a hotel room when I’d be leaving in just a few hours anyway! I’m on a budget here.
So, once I’d located a quiet out of the way corner of the airport, I inflated my Thermarest pad, pulled out my sleeping bag and a pillow from my pack, and lay down for a proper rest. The Thermarest pad is only 1” thick when inflated and rolls up much smaller than any Insulite pad.
I’m always amazed at how many people, when circumstances conspire to have them sleeping in an airport, try to sleep in a chair. That’s no way to sleep! Still, I understand some people are a bit embarrassed to be seen lying on a floor and sleeping in a public place. Or perhaps they feel a bit more vulnerable. I figure, who cares what anybody thinks of me if they see me lying on a floor in an airport. I’ll likely never see them again anyway. I’m not proud (at least not in that regard) and in the big picture there are far worse transgressions in life than sleeping in public. Like vanity and excessive pride or ego. So, while those poor folks in the chairs are sleeping fitfully at best, constantly waking and trying to reposition themselves into something marginally more comfortable, I’m snoozin’ like Rumplestiltskin. Plus, I’ve just saved a nice chunk of change. Believe me, I’ve been places on this planet, including here in America, where the equivalent of one night paid to stay a few hours in an airport area hotel has gotten me food and lodging for many days.
06 December 2001
American 1291 Y MCO-MIA A300-600 N59081 Seat 10A 500/1000
One thing about sleeping in airports ~ you’re rarely going to sleep in. If the din of the early morning passengers bustling nearby doesn’t get you up, the airport police generally will.
I awoke on my own, found a secluded bathroom and cleaned up for the day. I washed up in the sink and changed cloths in a stall. Nobody entered the bathroom. I should add I’m not talking a full-scale strip down wash-up here; just face, arms, hair and armpits. I dried my hair off with the hand dryer and wiped down everything around the sink I’d just used. There now, fresh as a mountain spruce and ready to take on anything airport security can throw at me.
It turns out my Alaska MVP Gold status allows me to check-in at American’s First or Business Class counter. This saved me a long wait and allowed me to catch an earlier flight down to Miami. MIA is a far more interesting airport to hang out in than MCO, plus the aircraft for the earlier flight was an A300-600. While I’ve flown a few A300s, I haven’t flown American’s version. I was assigned seat 10A
What can one say about a 47 minute flight? The orange juice was tasty! The First Class cabin, however, looked old and worn out. I was surprised at how small it was given the size of the A300. I think there were only two and a half rows of seats up there, maybe 16 seats. Also, the seats were the old pale brown leather ones from the late 80s/early 90s. Coach was quite a bit better looking.
American 1383 Y MIA-ORD-RNO 737-800 N913AN Seat 17A 2550/5100
The Miami International Airport is a plane spotter’s haven. Here’s just a few I saw that one doesn’t see very often: a Centurion DC-10 freighter, an AVENSA DC-10-30, a BWIA 737-800 in the new color scheme, an Aeropostal (Venezuelan) 727-200 and an AeroSur (Bolivian) 727-100.
Concourse B Security instructed me to: take off my jacket, take off my hat, take off my shoes, unbuckle my belt and unbutton my jeans (top button only) and submit to wanding and light frisking. They really should have some kind of lounge music in the background suitable to strip acts. I briefly considered twirling my jacket provocatively above my head and tossing it to the nearest National Guardsman but decided that might be a bit risque. They then scanned my carry on daypack with the Explosive Residue Detector. The National Guard looked on with heightened interest. Later, as I was boarding this flight, my ID was checked at the gate not once but twice. Hmm… Must be the beard. I don’t have one of those dainty little goatees that are so popular with the Hip n’ With It crowd and I’m just not a soul patch kinda guy. No, I sport a full size genuine Alaskan Keep You Warm in 35 Below Zero Beard. Perhaps it is cause for concern down here in the Sunshine State. Oh well…
This was my first ever flight aboard a 737-800. I’ve now flown all of the 737 family derivatives except for the -600. That’ll be a tough one to get, too. Nobody in North or South America currently flies it. The closest one to these parts would probably be operated by SAS. I believe China Southwest flies one also, and possibly Royal Air Maroc or Tunis Air. Presently I have no plans to visit any of those locales.
I was seated in 17A, affording me a great view of the wing, the flaps, and the engine nacelle. I must say I really like AA’s More Room Throughout Coach program. While I still think UA’s Economy Plus offers the best coach seat in the sky short of an exit row, there’s ample space on these AA planes in every seat onboard. Certainly that’s got to hold some allure to the casual vacation traveler not to mention any frequent flyers out there lacking in enough status to consistently upgrade.
On the topic of seats, these AA 737-800s feature a whopping 20 First Class seats! UA’s -300s, which seat maybe 20 less passengers, offer only 8. Still, I would bet UA’s new domestic First Class seat will have it all over those skinny little F class seats up front on AA’s -800. Those new United Seats are way comfortable.
Despite this being a 1200 mile, 3 hour leg up to Chicago, there was no meal service short of a bag of pretzel mix. However, dinner was to be served on the 1640 mile leg into Reno.
Wrong! Despite the flight into RNO being scheduled for 4hrs 7min, AA’s infamous Bistro Bag was our lot back in steerage. I had heard AA had cut back on meal service but I thought that was for flights under 4 hours in length. Guess I thought wrong. The Bistro Bag included a turkey sandwich, a small bag of chips, a little packet of granola, a bottle of water and a packet of Pepperidge Farm cookies.
I passed on the movie. United has spoiled me by not charging for movies (Movies Free Throughout Coach) and I can rent any of these movies AA offers for much less then AA’s $5.00 headset fee. Instead, since AA now leaves the curtains open between cabins, I used my binoculars to watch what was being served in First Class (Just kidding!) I was impressed however with the excellent visibility offered by the multitude of TVs screens throughout the cabin. I counted eleven screens in the entire plane.
Due to headwinds, we landed in Reno just a little late. I waited until most of the passengers had disembarked so that I could quickly sample the comfort of those skinny little First Class seats. Given how thin the seatback is, they’re surprisingly comfortable. Still, I think UA’s are just a bit better in that they feel not only softer but just a bit deeper as well.
I was met at the airport by friends of mine who live in the hills above Truckee. Camaraderie, good beer and a comfortable Futon closed out the day.
07 December 2001
American 833 Y RNO-LAX DC-9-80 N7548A Seat 21A 500/1000
I got dropped off at the Reno airport a couple of hours before my flight departure. Check in and security were non-eventful, as they ought to be, and I grabbed a cup of coffee and put in some work on this report. When I showed up at the gate about a half hour before departure we were informed that due to a fuel leak in one of the engines, there would be a bit of a delay. I was scheduled for an hour and twenty minute connection at LAX so I wasn’t too concerned. Even if I mis-connected at LAX, I didn’t absolutely have to be in Orlando until about noon tomorrow. Fortunately, AA’s crack RNO mechanics have more experience than many stations with MD-80s. They found and remedied the problem quickly and we were airborne only 25 minutes past our scheduled departure time.
Beyond that, what more can I say about a 310 mile, 50 minute flight? I remember thinking what a beautiful day it was for flying. My coffee was hot and flavorful and we landed smoothly at LAX. A nice little flight.
While taxiing to our gate, I noticed four QANTAS 747-400s and three AIR NZ -400s plus a 767-300 as well. In the case of AIR NZ, I think that’s just about their entire fleet of 747-400s. I wondered where QF would be flying four of those big birds to? SYD, MEL, AKL… anywhere else? PPT maybe.
We parked at Terminal 3 and were told that for most of us, our connecting flights would be departing out of Terminal 4. This meant exiting the terminal, heading over to Terminal 4, and having to suffer another wait in line for another security screening. While I enjoyed walking over to Terminal 4 - probably faster than waiting for the inter-terminal bus, in any event - I did not appreciate having to once again deal with security screening and the long wait in line again. For this reason alone, I would avoid booking American if my trip with them involved any connection through LAX. There’s a fair bit of construction going on in AA’s main Terminal 4 so it could be that this will be a moot point soon if they build enough gates to move out of T-3 all together.
American 2450 Y LAX-DFW 757-200 N193AN Seat 9C 1250/2500
Once through screening, I headed over to Gate 45 to check out the airplane for this flight. Specifically, I was looking for the N number as I keep track of these things for my log. Due to the angle at which the plane was parked coupled with the available windows in the gate area, I had some difficulty seeing the number and had to squat down and peer under the wing to read it. Ah, there it is! N193AN. As I arose, I noticed a couple of AA gate agents looking at me suspiciously. I waved and smiled, then strode off nonchalantly towards the central part of the terminal. All the while I was considering how I would deal with the possibility of a firm hand on my shoulder and the polite request “Excuse me, Sir. We’d like to ask you about your activities back in the gate area just a moment ago.” Thankfully this never happened though I was prepared to give a thorough explanation of my flight log if need be. Depending on your relative interest in commercial aviation, you would either be extremely impressed or extremely confused.
Although I’ve now flown 114 times on 757s, this was my first flight on one of American’s 757s. As such, there’s always a bit of excitement and anticipation as I board what for me is a “new” plane. What’s it look like inside? What’s First Class like? What color is the carpet? What color are the seats? I know, I know what you’re thinking. Still, I am unrepentant. This is exciting stuff!
From the outside, Ship 193 looked shiny and new under the bright California sun. Once inside however, it was back to the Nineties. Old, dull leather F Class seats, and pale blue striped seats without the adjustable headrests in Coach. Not bad though I really do like AA’s newer interiors alot more.
Upon checking in earlier this morning, I had asked for and received exit rows on all of today’s flights. This meant over wing exits on every flight except this one where I settled for 9C, the first row of Coach. Most of my experience on 757s has been aboard United and while I realize every airline configures its aircraft to its own specifications, I would have expected the row by the number 2 door to be behind the door. It is, on United, as they use the number 2 door for boarding more often than not. On American however, they are set beside the door, effectively blocking half of it. As a result, there is no window, you are right in front of the lavatory and the forward Coach class drink galley is right across from you. Exit row notwithstanding, 9C was, to me at least, one of the worst seats on the airplane. Ah well, live and learn. I’ll never book row 9 again, at least not on an American 757.
On the bright side however, since AA no longer closes the curtains between the F and Y cabins, I had an excellent view of the proceedings up in this airplane’s better half. (I didn’t even need my binoculars!) A bowl of nuts served with the first round of drinks. Hot towels. Nice large salads individually served off the cart. Good looking entrees served on big plates. Ice cream sundaes for dessert. This on a 1250 mile flight. Why can’t United do this?!
For comparison’s sake, on a flight of this length aboard United, only a packet of pretzel mix would be served with drinks (Nuts are out supposedly because of passenger allergy concerns, though I believe UA still serves them on its trans-con routes.) and the meal would generally be served all at once. (It varies from crew to crew on UA as to whether they want to present a meal or just put it all on a tray and be done with it.) There’d be a choice of entrees but rarely course by course service. Salad would be in that little 5” bowl, not the classier (and larger) glass bowls that AA uses (and UA used to use) Ice cream sundae? Forget it! Try one of Eli’s endless varieties of cheesecake. Tasty yes, but lacking the panache that a good sundae presentation delivers to end a good meal.
Mind you, I’m not saying UA’s First Class fare is not tasty. It is generally pretty good. Where United really lags behind is in appreciating the Class and the Service in First Class Service. On occasion, you can get a crew that’ll be top flight but over the last six or seven years I feel that more often than not those United FAs really do believe that bit about Safety being their primary concern. Actual service appears to have slid considerably farther down the list. I hope UA’s Customer Service Dept. has heeded my advice and logs on to FlyerTalk now and then. If I were living in Chicago, based on what I’ve experienced of AA’s service so far, I’d be taking my business to American.
Now, lest any of you AA aficionados begin to feel too prideful about your favorite carrier, I found it interesting that on a 1250 mile, 2 hr 50 min flight departing at 2:40pm, AA would chose to serve a hot snack (consisting of a hot turkey and cheese sandwich, a bag of chips, a packet of granola and a cookie) when last night on a 1840 mile, 4 hr 30 min flight departing at the dinner hour of 7:04pm and headed for a hub city, they served us a measly Bistro Bag. Go figure. The hot turkey sandwich on today’s flight really hit the spot though.
Approach and landing at DFW were nothing to get excited about. Which is good. I headed right over to Gate C37, anxious to discover if my next 757 might be outfitted in the new interior.
American 458 Y DFW-MCO 757-200 NN603AA Seat 20A 960/1920
On my way to gate C37, I called up Priceline to see if my bid for a room tonight in Orlando had cleared. My flight wasn’t scheduled to leave until 1:20pm tomorrow and I didn’t feel like hanging out all morning in the Orlando airport, nice as it is. Still, thus far I was a two-time loser with Priceline for tonight as no three or four star hotels would accept my paltry $23.00 bid. Well all right then, make it two and a half star! And, just to sweeten the pot, I added a buck. Well lo and behold, my bid got accepted! Where?, I wondered breathlessly… Day’s Inn, Ho Jo’s? No. Courtyard by Marriott! Wow! That’s some two-star facility all right! Or, what a difference $1.00 makes!
Tonight’s flight into Orlando wasn’t that full but it took forever to get to my seat because a couple of lummoxes didn’t realize they weren’t the only people in the world and took forever and a day to stow their carry-ons and decide who was going to sit where. If the man directly behind them hadn’t rather gruffly reminded them that a good thirty people were waiting on them we might still be at the gate!
Alas, this 757 into MCO also had the older style interior but more importantly had benefited from AA’s MRTC upgrade. We pushed back on time and were on our way to Orlando after only a 24-second take-off roll. Which runway? I don’t know, one of the shorter ones, I suppose. It was, after all, a pretty quick take-off.
Seriously though, I’ve noticed a number of people routinely post all kinds of detail that I would have no interest in like what runway we took off from or what our cruising altitude was. To me, those things have no bearing on getting a sense of the over all flight experience. I time all of my flights on my own watch, starting at the moment we begin the take off roll. It was only because we leapt into the air with such alacrity that I even bothered to look at my watch and note the length of this flight’s take-off. Even so, I recognize that this site appeals to not only frequent flyers but also people who genuinely enjoy the experience of flight, some more so than others. Please let me know if you’d like that kind of detail. I’ll try and provide it.
Not much talk about this flight so far because there hasn’t really been much to report. I’m happy with my reclining exit row seat, 17A, the Club Soda and lime I ordered came promptly and was delicious, the numerous children on board have been remarkably well behaved (They must be on Dramamine…) and the flight has been very smooth. All things considered, a most pleasant flight.
08 December 2001
American Eagle 5026 Y MCO-MIA ATR-72 N545AT Seat 1A 500/1000
I didn’t wake up this morning until 11:00am (7:00am Alaska Time) On a mileage run like this, I’m in the Twilight Zone. Not Rod but rather his brother Robert Serling’s Twilight Zone… For those of you unfamiliar with Bob Serling, who really is Rod’s brother, go down to your local bookstore or over to Amazon.com to check out all the books he’s written about commercial aviation. In any event, good thing this hotel had a 12:00n check-out time. Jimmy Ray, our driver, whisked myself and three Canadians off to MCO. After dropping the three very friendly Canucks off, he finally dropped me off at “Murcan” Airlines. I figured that must be “American” in J.R.’s neck o’ the woods, presumably the Deep South.
Lots of people flying out of Orlando today. I was particularly grateful that my AS Mileage Plan status allowed me to check in at AA’s First Class counter. I was quickly checked in and able to get exit rows for both flights today. I had about an hour before my flight departure and wanted to hit the Starbucks over by the Hyatt side of the terminal but, given the crowds, I figured I’d better head right over to security. A good decision. Last time I saw crowds like this was in downtown Denver after the Broncos had massacred the lowly Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 33.
We had a fairly full flight down to Miami this afternoon. Thankfully, the seat next to me was unoccupied. Seats 1A-D are far and away the best seats on the ATRs as AA’s MRTC program does not extend to American Eagle turbo-props. Don’t know about the Jungle Jets.
Once we were airborne and at cruising altitude I found the ATR-72 quite impressive as commuter planes go. It was relatively quiet and vibration free, the two factors that generally steer me away from propeller aircraft. The flight attendant came on over the PA to advise us that it’d be a 50-min. flight down to MIA. More interesting however was her comment that “Miami has weather conditions and 80 degrees” Weather conditions? That seems a little like saying today’s forecast calls for widely scattered daylight in the morning hours followed by increasing darkness at night. Ah well, as long as we can land safely and expeditiously.
We landed in sunshine amidst MIA’s usual scattered cumulo nimbus clouds. No rain, no wind. Weather conditions, I reckon. A bus meets American Eagle passengers as they exit the aircraft onto the tarmac and delivers them to the main terminal, in this case Gate D10. American seems to be spread out all over MIA, from the B Concourse through the E. I checked a TV monitor and found my next flight leaving out of Gate B15. I had about an hour to spare and set off to look for a bite to eat as I’d had only a wake-up cup of hotel room coffee so far today.
Aside from the halfway decent Cuban Cafeteria at the entrance to the D Concourse, or perhaps the restaurant in the Miami International Airport Hotel (expensive) there really isn’t much to eat at MIA besides junk food and sandwiches. Unfortunately, I didn’t really have time to enjoy a sit down meal in the Cuban café, especially considering the long line emanating from it. There is one place that sells fresh fruit salads and I did see a smoothie place that looked interesting but I wanted more substantial food. I stopped by the food court at the entrance to the B Concourse where pizza and pasta were available. As a rule, I eschew the use of airport pizza. Unfortunately, the $5.95 portions of lasagna and spaghetti looked pretty small. The lasagna in particular had not fared well under the heat lamp. I checked out the Chicken Caesar salad but they wanted $7.00 for it!
I decided to head down the B Concourse towards my gate and see what might be down there. Once again, I was selected for stripping, wanding, frisking, etc. They really have it in for me on this Concourse. I got the same treatment here two days ago.
There wasn’t much available down by the gate area either ~ some hot dogs, pizza, popcorn and coffee. I noticed the menu at the hot dog kiosk had Turkey Sandwiches. I’ll take one of those, please. $4.99. Then I went next door to the pizza stand and scored a decent sized mixed salad with broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes and cheese for $1.99. With Ken’s Lite Italian dressing! That stuff is the best! As light Italian dressings go…
Armed with what was effectively my breakfast and lunch, I headed on board my waiting 737-800 to Chicago and on to Reno
American 1383 Y MIA-ORD-RNO 737-800 N922AN Seat 14F 2550/5100
Another full flight! Saturday, Tuesday and Wednesday are the cheap fare days so I wasn’t really surprised.
I really like American’s 737-800s! Twenty seats in First Class, More Room Throughout Coach, laptop PowerPoint’s in each row of seats and eleven TV screens throughout the aircraft. All the -800s have the new interiors which I find very attractive. Especially First Class. Yes, the seats are smallish and not quite as comfortable as UA’s new F Class seats, but the overall ambience is far superior to that dusty old grey on all the UA aircraft. UA, US and anyone else that’s big on this ultra-businesslike overly serious grey interior and exterior needs to lighten-up in my opinion.
The Miami-Chicago leg of this trip was planned for 2hrs 36min at 35000 feet according to our First Officer. Only beverages were offered back in steerage though I could see some type of food was being presented up in First Class. I really must invest in a proper pair of binoculars!
I strolled back to the coach lavatory at one point and overheard a passenger querying one of the FAs as to why Chicago’s airport code was ORD. Midway’s code of MDW made sense, he pointed out, but as there is no D in Chicago or O’Hare, ORD made no sense to him. The FA was totally flummoxed by his question as well so it was a good thing that one so well schooled as myself just happened to be in the area.
The reason O’Hare airport’s code is ORD is because once upon a time it used to be known as Orchard Place Field. It was renamed after a Lieutenant Eddie (?) O’Hare, a WWII ace lost over the Pacific. There is a plaque that explains all this in one of the terminals, I think by the G and H concourses.
Are any of you taking notes?! These little bits of esoterica can really come in handy. After all, you never know when you might end up on a game show. So hey! Why is Spokane GEG or Portland PDX?
We had a nice smooth flight up to Chicago, kissing the concrete of one of O’Hare’s many runways at 2hrs 39min by my watch.
We actually arrived a bit early and though I was tempted to wander over to the Northwest World or Continental President’s Club, I had a four hour flight coming up and a laptop running low on power. I plugged in at Gate 15 and finished off Pico Iyer’s fine travel expose, “Video Night in Kathmandu”. The title says it all. In addressing some of the unfortunate effects of tourism on local culture, Iyer makes a point when he says “Western tourists are the cultural terrorists of the world.”
Saturday low fares notwithstanding, we had a light load from Chicago into Reno tonight and as I boarded I remember thinking this was how flying was most of the time back in the seventies. Airplanes were often only half full in both First Class and Coach. All the extra space was appreciated. Though I didn’t count, I’d say First Class on this flight was less than half full. I hardly ever see that on United or Alaska.
We left the gate on time, zipped right on out to the runway and got airborne. Captain Smith came on the PA and informed us it’d be 3hrs 59min out to Reno this evening (Why not just 4:00hrs?), once again at 35000 feet. Turbulence was to be expected over Iowa, then we’d pass just south of Cheyenne, Wyoming and right over the top of Steamboat Springs, Colorado before bee lining it on into Reno with the expectation of arriving 17 minutes early.
Early?! Fantastic! I’ve got some driving to do tonight so an early arrival suits me just fine.
Satisfied that all was well in the world, I tore into my Bistro Bag with abandon, washing it all down with a full can of Club Soda! The $3 or 4.00 AA wants for a single beer will be applied towards a twelve pack of Red Tail Ale later. I can wait. Once again, I got to occasionally watch but not listen to tonight’s movie choice, a romance called Breathing Room. The actress starring in it sure is pretty though. A memorable face and eyes.
By my watch, we landed after a flight of 3 hrs, 57 min and 49 sec. Not bad!!!
OK, that’s all for now, folks! I’m headed for the Sierras to have some fun! I’ll try to get the rest of this posted soon.
I’ve submitted a single flight report before, along with a train trip report, but this will be my first real trip report. This was, of course, a mileage run consisting of 17 flights which will ultimately net me just over 60,000 miles. Total expenditure on airline tickets: $669.00. Since I discovered FlyerTalk.com, my favorite part has been the flight reports. Although my primary interest is in First Class, there have been some great tales of travel in Economy Class as well. I enjoy and appreciate all of the detail that many of you include in your reports, particularly taking the time to print out the menus and describe the meal experience in either class.
Although only four segments of this trip were in First Class, I had a fine time criss-crossing the continent and experiencing the post 9/11 Coach Class as well. Also reviewed in this report are Northwest First Class, American Coach Class and Alaska Coach Class.
The overall itinerary looked like this:
ANC-SEA-MSP-MCO-MIA-ORD-RNO-LAX-DFW-MCO-MIA-ORD-RNO/SJC-ORD-MCO-MSP-SEA-ANC
The trip was long so the report is pretty long as well. Lots of flights, lots of insights, lots of meals… I hope you enjoy and of course, I welcome any feedback, including from those of you who may feel this report is too long.
05 December 2001
Alaska 190 Y ANC-SEA DC-9-83 N968AS Seat: 22A
I arrived at the Alaska Airlines ticket counter at 525a, a mere 45 minutes before my scheduled departure time. No problem. Only two people were waiting in line at the MVP counter so I was checked in and on my way to gate B8 within ten minutes.
Despite my lofty status as an MVP Gold in Alaska’s Mileage Plan, I was unable to upgrade into First Class. I had hoped that with the early morning departure, (610a) one or two people might have elected to sleep in. Alas, it was not to be, so I settled for the next best seat on the plane, exit row 22A.
We boarded on time but de-icing took quite a bit longer than usual so we didn’t get airborne until 645a. The First Officer came on over the PA and announced that despite our late departure, tailwinds approaching 200mph would have us at the gate in Seattle about 15 minutes early. That’s cool.
Cabin service started as soon as we reached cruising altitude. Breakfast this morning would be a choice between Scrambled Eggs with Rosemary Potatoes or Cold Cereal. I think it’s great that Alaska still offers a hot meal option for breakfast in Economy Class. Most of the major domestic airlines have long since ceased offering anything beyond cereal for breakfast on flights less than 3-4 hours. Now the question was ~ would eggs still be available by the time the cart reached me back in row 22? Yes! And they were actually quite tasty, too, despite being sprinkled throughout with tiny flecks of what can only be described as an indefinable protoplasm. If I had to guess, I’d say it was soggy bac-o-bits.
We landed in Seattle 10 minutes ahead of schedule and, despite our early arrival at AS’s major hub, didn’t have to wait for a gate. We taxied in briskly and parked at D5, right next to Alaska’s 737-400 N794AS, the 3000th 737 ever built. I’ve yet to fly this aircraft and am curious if there is any type of plaque onboard commemorating this benchmark achievement in commercial aviation manufacturing.
Northwest 44 F SEA-MSP DC-10-40 N159US Seat 5J 1400/2800
Northwest’s partnership with Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air allows for a quick transit between each airline’s respective gates via a shuttle bus which departs from Gate C2A. By utilizing it, I avoided having to head back into the main terminal, clear security again and then take the train out to the South Satellite.
Northwest operates a very nice World Club facility here at Sea-Tac ~ spacious, plenty of work stations and lots of big windows affording a great view of the tarmac and aircraft activity outside. Both my CO President’s Club and AS Boardroom memberships are valid in any NW World Club (AS on day of departure only, though) so I headed right in through the pneumatic doors, upgraded my seats to First Class with the receptionist, grabbed a Club Soda and completed a multitude of small tasks.
The aircraft for this flight was a DC-10-40, parked right next door to the club at Gate S8 - very convenient indeed. Upon boarding I was happy to see the DC-10 operating this flight was outfitted in the international World Business Class seating configuration.
As Business Class seats go, these seats are nothing special. Essentially, they are a domestic First Class seat that’s been modified with the addition of a leg rest and a greater recline. They’re a real treat for a domestic flight but considering the standards set by the world’s leading airlines when it comes to modern day Business Class seating, these seats are outdated. They certainly don’t compare favorably, for example, with United’s “new” Business Class seat, which itself now lags behind the next generation 180 degree reclining “flat” Business Class seats such as those now offered aboard airlines like BA, SQ and CX.
The First Class cabin checked in full for today’s flight. While my seatmate busily chatted on her cell phone and took copious notes, I got my jacket hung and ordered my usual mineral water with a squeeze of lime. Ah…. Refreshing…
Northwest’s pre-flight safety video just about lulled me to sleep. It began with two female Flight Attendants welcoming everyone aboard, followed by the usual safety related folderol. What was so strange about it was how the FAs behaved on the video. They spoke so slowly and calmly and moved so deliberately that I swear they’d been medicated with something normally reserved for unruly mental patients. The passengers in the video also seemed unnaturally calm, smiling somewhat dreamily and gazing complacently at the Flight Attendants who smiled benignly back at them whilst demonstrating the proper way to fasten and unfasten a seatbelt. Everyone was soooo c a l m. It was like something out of that old movie The Stepford Wives. To make things worse, horribly tepid background music played softly throughout the video. Pink Floyd’s classic, “Comfortably Numb” would have been far more appropriate for this video.
We took off to the south and after banking east past Mt. Rainier climbed to 30 some odd thousand feet en route to the Twin Cities. Flight time was announced at 2hrs 50min.
Hot Oshibori towels were presented first. I believe Northwest introduced this Japanese tradition to American skies. It is one of the finer points of their service, especially since their Oshibori towels are 1) real cotton towels, 2) hot and moist, and 3) scented. Easy enough, n’est ce pas? Still, anybody who’s flown United domestically can tell you how incredibly and consistently challenged UA is by this simple little treat. Limp, often tepid paper “towels” usually devoid of scent would accurately describe United’s version of the towel on domestic flights.
The beverage cart rolled through the cabin next, followed by lunch. No menu was presented (does any domestic airline use menus for flights less than a Trans Con these days?) and no linen was set. We were offered a choice of beef or chicken. I asked our flight attendant how the beef had been prepared (i.e. steak, stroganoff, etc) and she feigned ignorance, claiming to be a vegetarian. Wow! Won’t even look at the meat! OK, I’ll have the chicken then. A single tray was presented bearing the following:
A small bowl of salad with a container of Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing. An appetizer plate consisting of two 3” sections of endive lettuce filled with curried krabmeat. A small ramekin of curried mayonnaise was included on the side. A large “Bolillo” style roll with butter The entrée, served in Northwest’s seven inch wide round entrée dish. A real napkin with a real fork, spoon and the unreal plastic knife.
The salad, though small, was actually fairly decent and included tomatoes plus red, yellow and green peppers. The curried krabmeat appetizer was well intentioned but ultimately bland due to lack of enough curry. The bread roll was pretty good. The entrée, however…
A decent sized piece of chicken was, for lack of a better word, dumped amongst a morass of stuffing, carrots and green beans. The stuffing and vegetables were all mixed together, not side by side. Then, as if this “presentation” hadn’t already insulted the appearance at least a potentially good meal, the entire lot of it was drowned in beef gravy, effectively ruining the taste as well. That’s right, folks ~ beef gravy. I was reminded of meals small children attempt to make for their parents on Mother’s or Father’s Day. Sigh… The end result was more slop bucket than proper First Class fare. Indeed, this definitely ranks as one of the worst entrees I’ve ever been served on any flight. Honestly, I’ve seen children’s mud pies that had better presentation.
All this notwithstanding, I was hungry so I ate the entire meal. All of it! I had Rolaids and Budweiser standing by but ultimately required only a couple of Buds to initiate digestion that I may yet live to regret.
It’s worth noting that dessert was an ice cream sundae, consisting of two decent sized scoops of vanilla ice cream topped with either strawberry sauce or hot fudge. I opted for the fudge and was treated to Hershey’s Chocolate syrup. I know the Hershey’s flavor well. It was one of my favorites as a kid. But hey! At least we got a sundae! On a 2hr 50min flight! You won’t even sniff a sundae on most airlines unless the flight is scheduled for four or more hours.
The last hour of this flight was just perfect. An agreeable glass of Merlot at hand, great music through my headphones, my window seat comfortably reclined as I watched the sun sink below the southwestern horizon… From gold to orange to pink to bluish purple, all reflected beautifully atop the clouds below. As we made our approach into MSP at dusk. the sky was filled with incoming flights, their landing lights aglow like so many slowly moving fireflies. It really was quite a pretty sight.
Northwest 588 F MSP-MCO 757-200 N551US Seat 3B 1300/2600
After an hour in the MSP World Club, I began my expedition out to Gate G18. That G concourse at MSP just goes on and on… and on some more. Finally I arrived at my gate and was surprised to discover the aircraft operating this flight was N551US, an aircraft I’ve flown three times since July. Now that might not seem like all that big of a deal in as much as I log all my flights and have flown many individual aircraft more than once. But when you consider that I have flown Northwest only eleven times since July 25th, and add to that the fact that NW operates literally hundreds of aircraft, including 54 different 757s, it’s quite a coincidence that out of only eleven flights I should get the exact same aircraft not twice but three times! And not all on the same route either. I’ve caught Ship 551 from MSP-ANC, MCO-DTW and now MSP-MCO.
This flight was totally full, front and back. Our F Class flight attendant, Richard, announced that dinner would be served this evening. Dinner! I was expecting the usual turkey sandwich NW serves up front on seemingly all non-MSP/DTW to West Coast meal flights. Sure enough, when “dinner” came around it was NW’s ubiquitous post-911 Sandwich as I like to call it now. This month however, turkey is out and NW is offering an Italian Sandwich ~ a small Kaiser roll generously filled with ham, salami, pepperoni and a slice of cheese. It was accompanied by a … potato salad, I guess it was, and a small green salad with pears and Feta cheese. Dessert was a rich and delicious chocolate torte. True, it wasn’t dinner in the usual sense, but it was good and satisfying ~ certainly better than the Chicken Disaster from Flight 44.
A couple of real positives I noticed about Northwest Flight Attendants today ~ they worked hard during the entire flight. In First Class at least, they were always available and came by often to check on beverages and clear meal trays and other detritus of the meal. Good job, people.
Secondly, Richard of the MSP-MCO flight twice protected the sanctity of the First Class cabin. Two guys seated in front of me seemed to have a lot of youthful associates back in Coach who wanted to come up and chat, block the aisles and scam swigs of First Class wine. As well, the man across the aisle from me, who talked nonstop from the moment he boarded the airplane, had his teenaged daughter come up from Coach to visit. A nice girl I’m sure but loud and giggly and ultimately annoying. Richard ran ‘em all off! Thank you, Richard!
Call me a hard case, but First Class should be exclusive. As F Class passengers, we’ve either paid more for our extra space and service or we’ve earned it through consistent patronage of and loyalty to the airline. For me, one of the nicest benefits of travelling in First Class is the peace and quiet I enjoy relative to the back of the plane. The one thing most offensive about these visitors up front tonight was the amount of noise they were making. So I say to everybody out there, if you’ve got children or friends back in Coach and you want to visit with them, go back to coach and visit. DO NOT bring them up to visit in First Class.
All right then, well here I am touting First Class exclusivity so you might expect a guy like me to have a limo waiting to take me somewhere prestigious upon arrival. Perhaps an exclusive hotel or resort…
Actually, I claimed my backpack off the carousel and headed off to the lobby adjacent to the Hyatt Hotel, which is located inside the airport. I’d love to stay in that Hyatt sometime but a night there is likely more than the cost of my ticket so instead I set myself up in a nice dark area just behind the big arrivals and departures sign. It was past midnight local time and it just didn’t make sense to shell out $70.00 or more for a hotel room when I’d be leaving in just a few hours anyway! I’m on a budget here.
So, once I’d located a quiet out of the way corner of the airport, I inflated my Thermarest pad, pulled out my sleeping bag and a pillow from my pack, and lay down for a proper rest. The Thermarest pad is only 1” thick when inflated and rolls up much smaller than any Insulite pad.
I’m always amazed at how many people, when circumstances conspire to have them sleeping in an airport, try to sleep in a chair. That’s no way to sleep! Still, I understand some people are a bit embarrassed to be seen lying on a floor and sleeping in a public place. Or perhaps they feel a bit more vulnerable. I figure, who cares what anybody thinks of me if they see me lying on a floor in an airport. I’ll likely never see them again anyway. I’m not proud (at least not in that regard) and in the big picture there are far worse transgressions in life than sleeping in public. Like vanity and excessive pride or ego. So, while those poor folks in the chairs are sleeping fitfully at best, constantly waking and trying to reposition themselves into something marginally more comfortable, I’m snoozin’ like Rumplestiltskin. Plus, I’ve just saved a nice chunk of change. Believe me, I’ve been places on this planet, including here in America, where the equivalent of one night paid to stay a few hours in an airport area hotel has gotten me food and lodging for many days.
06 December 2001
American 1291 Y MCO-MIA A300-600 N59081 Seat 10A 500/1000
One thing about sleeping in airports ~ you’re rarely going to sleep in. If the din of the early morning passengers bustling nearby doesn’t get you up, the airport police generally will.
I awoke on my own, found a secluded bathroom and cleaned up for the day. I washed up in the sink and changed cloths in a stall. Nobody entered the bathroom. I should add I’m not talking a full-scale strip down wash-up here; just face, arms, hair and armpits. I dried my hair off with the hand dryer and wiped down everything around the sink I’d just used. There now, fresh as a mountain spruce and ready to take on anything airport security can throw at me.
It turns out my Alaska MVP Gold status allows me to check-in at American’s First or Business Class counter. This saved me a long wait and allowed me to catch an earlier flight down to Miami. MIA is a far more interesting airport to hang out in than MCO, plus the aircraft for the earlier flight was an A300-600. While I’ve flown a few A300s, I haven’t flown American’s version. I was assigned seat 10A
What can one say about a 47 minute flight? The orange juice was tasty! The First Class cabin, however, looked old and worn out. I was surprised at how small it was given the size of the A300. I think there were only two and a half rows of seats up there, maybe 16 seats. Also, the seats were the old pale brown leather ones from the late 80s/early 90s. Coach was quite a bit better looking.
American 1383 Y MIA-ORD-RNO 737-800 N913AN Seat 17A 2550/5100
The Miami International Airport is a plane spotter’s haven. Here’s just a few I saw that one doesn’t see very often: a Centurion DC-10 freighter, an AVENSA DC-10-30, a BWIA 737-800 in the new color scheme, an Aeropostal (Venezuelan) 727-200 and an AeroSur (Bolivian) 727-100.
Concourse B Security instructed me to: take off my jacket, take off my hat, take off my shoes, unbuckle my belt and unbutton my jeans (top button only) and submit to wanding and light frisking. They really should have some kind of lounge music in the background suitable to strip acts. I briefly considered twirling my jacket provocatively above my head and tossing it to the nearest National Guardsman but decided that might be a bit risque. They then scanned my carry on daypack with the Explosive Residue Detector. The National Guard looked on with heightened interest. Later, as I was boarding this flight, my ID was checked at the gate not once but twice. Hmm… Must be the beard. I don’t have one of those dainty little goatees that are so popular with the Hip n’ With It crowd and I’m just not a soul patch kinda guy. No, I sport a full size genuine Alaskan Keep You Warm in 35 Below Zero Beard. Perhaps it is cause for concern down here in the Sunshine State. Oh well…
This was my first ever flight aboard a 737-800. I’ve now flown all of the 737 family derivatives except for the -600. That’ll be a tough one to get, too. Nobody in North or South America currently flies it. The closest one to these parts would probably be operated by SAS. I believe China Southwest flies one also, and possibly Royal Air Maroc or Tunis Air. Presently I have no plans to visit any of those locales.
I was seated in 17A, affording me a great view of the wing, the flaps, and the engine nacelle. I must say I really like AA’s More Room Throughout Coach program. While I still think UA’s Economy Plus offers the best coach seat in the sky short of an exit row, there’s ample space on these AA planes in every seat onboard. Certainly that’s got to hold some allure to the casual vacation traveler not to mention any frequent flyers out there lacking in enough status to consistently upgrade.
On the topic of seats, these AA 737-800s feature a whopping 20 First Class seats! UA’s -300s, which seat maybe 20 less passengers, offer only 8. Still, I would bet UA’s new domestic First Class seat will have it all over those skinny little F class seats up front on AA’s -800. Those new United Seats are way comfortable.
Despite this being a 1200 mile, 3 hour leg up to Chicago, there was no meal service short of a bag of pretzel mix. However, dinner was to be served on the 1640 mile leg into Reno.
Wrong! Despite the flight into RNO being scheduled for 4hrs 7min, AA’s infamous Bistro Bag was our lot back in steerage. I had heard AA had cut back on meal service but I thought that was for flights under 4 hours in length. Guess I thought wrong. The Bistro Bag included a turkey sandwich, a small bag of chips, a little packet of granola, a bottle of water and a packet of Pepperidge Farm cookies.
I passed on the movie. United has spoiled me by not charging for movies (Movies Free Throughout Coach) and I can rent any of these movies AA offers for much less then AA’s $5.00 headset fee. Instead, since AA now leaves the curtains open between cabins, I used my binoculars to watch what was being served in First Class (Just kidding!) I was impressed however with the excellent visibility offered by the multitude of TVs screens throughout the cabin. I counted eleven screens in the entire plane.
Due to headwinds, we landed in Reno just a little late. I waited until most of the passengers had disembarked so that I could quickly sample the comfort of those skinny little First Class seats. Given how thin the seatback is, they’re surprisingly comfortable. Still, I think UA’s are just a bit better in that they feel not only softer but just a bit deeper as well.
I was met at the airport by friends of mine who live in the hills above Truckee. Camaraderie, good beer and a comfortable Futon closed out the day.
07 December 2001
American 833 Y RNO-LAX DC-9-80 N7548A Seat 21A 500/1000
I got dropped off at the Reno airport a couple of hours before my flight departure. Check in and security were non-eventful, as they ought to be, and I grabbed a cup of coffee and put in some work on this report. When I showed up at the gate about a half hour before departure we were informed that due to a fuel leak in one of the engines, there would be a bit of a delay. I was scheduled for an hour and twenty minute connection at LAX so I wasn’t too concerned. Even if I mis-connected at LAX, I didn’t absolutely have to be in Orlando until about noon tomorrow. Fortunately, AA’s crack RNO mechanics have more experience than many stations with MD-80s. They found and remedied the problem quickly and we were airborne only 25 minutes past our scheduled departure time.
Beyond that, what more can I say about a 310 mile, 50 minute flight? I remember thinking what a beautiful day it was for flying. My coffee was hot and flavorful and we landed smoothly at LAX. A nice little flight.
While taxiing to our gate, I noticed four QANTAS 747-400s and three AIR NZ -400s plus a 767-300 as well. In the case of AIR NZ, I think that’s just about their entire fleet of 747-400s. I wondered where QF would be flying four of those big birds to? SYD, MEL, AKL… anywhere else? PPT maybe.
We parked at Terminal 3 and were told that for most of us, our connecting flights would be departing out of Terminal 4. This meant exiting the terminal, heading over to Terminal 4, and having to suffer another wait in line for another security screening. While I enjoyed walking over to Terminal 4 - probably faster than waiting for the inter-terminal bus, in any event - I did not appreciate having to once again deal with security screening and the long wait in line again. For this reason alone, I would avoid booking American if my trip with them involved any connection through LAX. There’s a fair bit of construction going on in AA’s main Terminal 4 so it could be that this will be a moot point soon if they build enough gates to move out of T-3 all together.
American 2450 Y LAX-DFW 757-200 N193AN Seat 9C 1250/2500
Once through screening, I headed over to Gate 45 to check out the airplane for this flight. Specifically, I was looking for the N number as I keep track of these things for my log. Due to the angle at which the plane was parked coupled with the available windows in the gate area, I had some difficulty seeing the number and had to squat down and peer under the wing to read it. Ah, there it is! N193AN. As I arose, I noticed a couple of AA gate agents looking at me suspiciously. I waved and smiled, then strode off nonchalantly towards the central part of the terminal. All the while I was considering how I would deal with the possibility of a firm hand on my shoulder and the polite request “Excuse me, Sir. We’d like to ask you about your activities back in the gate area just a moment ago.” Thankfully this never happened though I was prepared to give a thorough explanation of my flight log if need be. Depending on your relative interest in commercial aviation, you would either be extremely impressed or extremely confused.
Although I’ve now flown 114 times on 757s, this was my first flight on one of American’s 757s. As such, there’s always a bit of excitement and anticipation as I board what for me is a “new” plane. What’s it look like inside? What’s First Class like? What color is the carpet? What color are the seats? I know, I know what you’re thinking. Still, I am unrepentant. This is exciting stuff!
From the outside, Ship 193 looked shiny and new under the bright California sun. Once inside however, it was back to the Nineties. Old, dull leather F Class seats, and pale blue striped seats without the adjustable headrests in Coach. Not bad though I really do like AA’s newer interiors alot more.
Upon checking in earlier this morning, I had asked for and received exit rows on all of today’s flights. This meant over wing exits on every flight except this one where I settled for 9C, the first row of Coach. Most of my experience on 757s has been aboard United and while I realize every airline configures its aircraft to its own specifications, I would have expected the row by the number 2 door to be behind the door. It is, on United, as they use the number 2 door for boarding more often than not. On American however, they are set beside the door, effectively blocking half of it. As a result, there is no window, you are right in front of the lavatory and the forward Coach class drink galley is right across from you. Exit row notwithstanding, 9C was, to me at least, one of the worst seats on the airplane. Ah well, live and learn. I’ll never book row 9 again, at least not on an American 757.
On the bright side however, since AA no longer closes the curtains between the F and Y cabins, I had an excellent view of the proceedings up in this airplane’s better half. (I didn’t even need my binoculars!) A bowl of nuts served with the first round of drinks. Hot towels. Nice large salads individually served off the cart. Good looking entrees served on big plates. Ice cream sundaes for dessert. This on a 1250 mile flight. Why can’t United do this?!
For comparison’s sake, on a flight of this length aboard United, only a packet of pretzel mix would be served with drinks (Nuts are out supposedly because of passenger allergy concerns, though I believe UA still serves them on its trans-con routes.) and the meal would generally be served all at once. (It varies from crew to crew on UA as to whether they want to present a meal or just put it all on a tray and be done with it.) There’d be a choice of entrees but rarely course by course service. Salad would be in that little 5” bowl, not the classier (and larger) glass bowls that AA uses (and UA used to use) Ice cream sundae? Forget it! Try one of Eli’s endless varieties of cheesecake. Tasty yes, but lacking the panache that a good sundae presentation delivers to end a good meal.
Mind you, I’m not saying UA’s First Class fare is not tasty. It is generally pretty good. Where United really lags behind is in appreciating the Class and the Service in First Class Service. On occasion, you can get a crew that’ll be top flight but over the last six or seven years I feel that more often than not those United FAs really do believe that bit about Safety being their primary concern. Actual service appears to have slid considerably farther down the list. I hope UA’s Customer Service Dept. has heeded my advice and logs on to FlyerTalk now and then. If I were living in Chicago, based on what I’ve experienced of AA’s service so far, I’d be taking my business to American.
Now, lest any of you AA aficionados begin to feel too prideful about your favorite carrier, I found it interesting that on a 1250 mile, 2 hr 50 min flight departing at 2:40pm, AA would chose to serve a hot snack (consisting of a hot turkey and cheese sandwich, a bag of chips, a packet of granola and a cookie) when last night on a 1840 mile, 4 hr 30 min flight departing at the dinner hour of 7:04pm and headed for a hub city, they served us a measly Bistro Bag. Go figure. The hot turkey sandwich on today’s flight really hit the spot though.
Approach and landing at DFW were nothing to get excited about. Which is good. I headed right over to Gate C37, anxious to discover if my next 757 might be outfitted in the new interior.
American 458 Y DFW-MCO 757-200 NN603AA Seat 20A 960/1920
On my way to gate C37, I called up Priceline to see if my bid for a room tonight in Orlando had cleared. My flight wasn’t scheduled to leave until 1:20pm tomorrow and I didn’t feel like hanging out all morning in the Orlando airport, nice as it is. Still, thus far I was a two-time loser with Priceline for tonight as no three or four star hotels would accept my paltry $23.00 bid. Well all right then, make it two and a half star! And, just to sweeten the pot, I added a buck. Well lo and behold, my bid got accepted! Where?, I wondered breathlessly… Day’s Inn, Ho Jo’s? No. Courtyard by Marriott! Wow! That’s some two-star facility all right! Or, what a difference $1.00 makes!
Tonight’s flight into Orlando wasn’t that full but it took forever to get to my seat because a couple of lummoxes didn’t realize they weren’t the only people in the world and took forever and a day to stow their carry-ons and decide who was going to sit where. If the man directly behind them hadn’t rather gruffly reminded them that a good thirty people were waiting on them we might still be at the gate!
Alas, this 757 into MCO also had the older style interior but more importantly had benefited from AA’s MRTC upgrade. We pushed back on time and were on our way to Orlando after only a 24-second take-off roll. Which runway? I don’t know, one of the shorter ones, I suppose. It was, after all, a pretty quick take-off.
Seriously though, I’ve noticed a number of people routinely post all kinds of detail that I would have no interest in like what runway we took off from or what our cruising altitude was. To me, those things have no bearing on getting a sense of the over all flight experience. I time all of my flights on my own watch, starting at the moment we begin the take off roll. It was only because we leapt into the air with such alacrity that I even bothered to look at my watch and note the length of this flight’s take-off. Even so, I recognize that this site appeals to not only frequent flyers but also people who genuinely enjoy the experience of flight, some more so than others. Please let me know if you’d like that kind of detail. I’ll try and provide it.
Not much talk about this flight so far because there hasn’t really been much to report. I’m happy with my reclining exit row seat, 17A, the Club Soda and lime I ordered came promptly and was delicious, the numerous children on board have been remarkably well behaved (They must be on Dramamine…) and the flight has been very smooth. All things considered, a most pleasant flight.
08 December 2001
American Eagle 5026 Y MCO-MIA ATR-72 N545AT Seat 1A 500/1000
I didn’t wake up this morning until 11:00am (7:00am Alaska Time) On a mileage run like this, I’m in the Twilight Zone. Not Rod but rather his brother Robert Serling’s Twilight Zone… For those of you unfamiliar with Bob Serling, who really is Rod’s brother, go down to your local bookstore or over to Amazon.com to check out all the books he’s written about commercial aviation. In any event, good thing this hotel had a 12:00n check-out time. Jimmy Ray, our driver, whisked myself and three Canadians off to MCO. After dropping the three very friendly Canucks off, he finally dropped me off at “Murcan” Airlines. I figured that must be “American” in J.R.’s neck o’ the woods, presumably the Deep South.
Lots of people flying out of Orlando today. I was particularly grateful that my AS Mileage Plan status allowed me to check in at AA’s First Class counter. I was quickly checked in and able to get exit rows for both flights today. I had about an hour before my flight departure and wanted to hit the Starbucks over by the Hyatt side of the terminal but, given the crowds, I figured I’d better head right over to security. A good decision. Last time I saw crowds like this was in downtown Denver after the Broncos had massacred the lowly Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 33.
We had a fairly full flight down to Miami this afternoon. Thankfully, the seat next to me was unoccupied. Seats 1A-D are far and away the best seats on the ATRs as AA’s MRTC program does not extend to American Eagle turbo-props. Don’t know about the Jungle Jets.
Once we were airborne and at cruising altitude I found the ATR-72 quite impressive as commuter planes go. It was relatively quiet and vibration free, the two factors that generally steer me away from propeller aircraft. The flight attendant came on over the PA to advise us that it’d be a 50-min. flight down to MIA. More interesting however was her comment that “Miami has weather conditions and 80 degrees” Weather conditions? That seems a little like saying today’s forecast calls for widely scattered daylight in the morning hours followed by increasing darkness at night. Ah well, as long as we can land safely and expeditiously.
We landed in sunshine amidst MIA’s usual scattered cumulo nimbus clouds. No rain, no wind. Weather conditions, I reckon. A bus meets American Eagle passengers as they exit the aircraft onto the tarmac and delivers them to the main terminal, in this case Gate D10. American seems to be spread out all over MIA, from the B Concourse through the E. I checked a TV monitor and found my next flight leaving out of Gate B15. I had about an hour to spare and set off to look for a bite to eat as I’d had only a wake-up cup of hotel room coffee so far today.
Aside from the halfway decent Cuban Cafeteria at the entrance to the D Concourse, or perhaps the restaurant in the Miami International Airport Hotel (expensive) there really isn’t much to eat at MIA besides junk food and sandwiches. Unfortunately, I didn’t really have time to enjoy a sit down meal in the Cuban café, especially considering the long line emanating from it. There is one place that sells fresh fruit salads and I did see a smoothie place that looked interesting but I wanted more substantial food. I stopped by the food court at the entrance to the B Concourse where pizza and pasta were available. As a rule, I eschew the use of airport pizza. Unfortunately, the $5.95 portions of lasagna and spaghetti looked pretty small. The lasagna in particular had not fared well under the heat lamp. I checked out the Chicken Caesar salad but they wanted $7.00 for it!
I decided to head down the B Concourse towards my gate and see what might be down there. Once again, I was selected for stripping, wanding, frisking, etc. They really have it in for me on this Concourse. I got the same treatment here two days ago.
There wasn’t much available down by the gate area either ~ some hot dogs, pizza, popcorn and coffee. I noticed the menu at the hot dog kiosk had Turkey Sandwiches. I’ll take one of those, please. $4.99. Then I went next door to the pizza stand and scored a decent sized mixed salad with broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes and cheese for $1.99. With Ken’s Lite Italian dressing! That stuff is the best! As light Italian dressings go…
Armed with what was effectively my breakfast and lunch, I headed on board my waiting 737-800 to Chicago and on to Reno
American 1383 Y MIA-ORD-RNO 737-800 N922AN Seat 14F 2550/5100
Another full flight! Saturday, Tuesday and Wednesday are the cheap fare days so I wasn’t really surprised.
I really like American’s 737-800s! Twenty seats in First Class, More Room Throughout Coach, laptop PowerPoint’s in each row of seats and eleven TV screens throughout the aircraft. All the -800s have the new interiors which I find very attractive. Especially First Class. Yes, the seats are smallish and not quite as comfortable as UA’s new F Class seats, but the overall ambience is far superior to that dusty old grey on all the UA aircraft. UA, US and anyone else that’s big on this ultra-businesslike overly serious grey interior and exterior needs to lighten-up in my opinion.
The Miami-Chicago leg of this trip was planned for 2hrs 36min at 35000 feet according to our First Officer. Only beverages were offered back in steerage though I could see some type of food was being presented up in First Class. I really must invest in a proper pair of binoculars!
I strolled back to the coach lavatory at one point and overheard a passenger querying one of the FAs as to why Chicago’s airport code was ORD. Midway’s code of MDW made sense, he pointed out, but as there is no D in Chicago or O’Hare, ORD made no sense to him. The FA was totally flummoxed by his question as well so it was a good thing that one so well schooled as myself just happened to be in the area.
The reason O’Hare airport’s code is ORD is because once upon a time it used to be known as Orchard Place Field. It was renamed after a Lieutenant Eddie (?) O’Hare, a WWII ace lost over the Pacific. There is a plaque that explains all this in one of the terminals, I think by the G and H concourses.
Are any of you taking notes?! These little bits of esoterica can really come in handy. After all, you never know when you might end up on a game show. So hey! Why is Spokane GEG or Portland PDX?
We had a nice smooth flight up to Chicago, kissing the concrete of one of O’Hare’s many runways at 2hrs 39min by my watch.
We actually arrived a bit early and though I was tempted to wander over to the Northwest World or Continental President’s Club, I had a four hour flight coming up and a laptop running low on power. I plugged in at Gate 15 and finished off Pico Iyer’s fine travel expose, “Video Night in Kathmandu”. The title says it all. In addressing some of the unfortunate effects of tourism on local culture, Iyer makes a point when he says “Western tourists are the cultural terrorists of the world.”
Saturday low fares notwithstanding, we had a light load from Chicago into Reno tonight and as I boarded I remember thinking this was how flying was most of the time back in the seventies. Airplanes were often only half full in both First Class and Coach. All the extra space was appreciated. Though I didn’t count, I’d say First Class on this flight was less than half full. I hardly ever see that on United or Alaska.
We left the gate on time, zipped right on out to the runway and got airborne. Captain Smith came on the PA and informed us it’d be 3hrs 59min out to Reno this evening (Why not just 4:00hrs?), once again at 35000 feet. Turbulence was to be expected over Iowa, then we’d pass just south of Cheyenne, Wyoming and right over the top of Steamboat Springs, Colorado before bee lining it on into Reno with the expectation of arriving 17 minutes early.
Early?! Fantastic! I’ve got some driving to do tonight so an early arrival suits me just fine.
Satisfied that all was well in the world, I tore into my Bistro Bag with abandon, washing it all down with a full can of Club Soda! The $3 or 4.00 AA wants for a single beer will be applied towards a twelve pack of Red Tail Ale later. I can wait. Once again, I got to occasionally watch but not listen to tonight’s movie choice, a romance called Breathing Room. The actress starring in it sure is pretty though. A memorable face and eyes.
By my watch, we landed after a flight of 3 hrs, 57 min and 49 sec. Not bad!!!
OK, that’s all for now, folks! I’m headed for the Sierras to have some fun! I’ll try to get the rest of this posted soon.