January Mileage Runs on AA, AS, CO, & QX
Jan 23, 2003, 2:05 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: New York
Posts: 7,348
January Mileage Runs on AA, AS, CO, & QX
Hi all,
Here is another trip report, which is mainly about Alaska, American, Continental Express, and Horizon. I hope you will enjoy it.
January 18, 2003
AS 7 EWR-SEA Lv1800 Arr2110
Boeing 737-700 N619AS
I have flown this route many times and am really pleased with the on-time performance of this particular route. CO has done a great job in turning around the plane. I checked in using the machine and was able to move to 2C from my original 2A assignment. The inbound flight arrived early and the load this evening was about 50% full, and F class was full as expected. Boarding began at 5:27pm, and door was closed at 5:47pm, and pushed back at 5:50pm. As I headed to my seat, a printed menu and a bottle of water were already placed on the console. We were ten minutes ahead of schedule. We took off from Runway 22R at 6:02pm.
Flying time was five hours and thirty-nine minutes, and we climbed to 39,000ft shortly after takeoff. Beverage service began shortly after seat belt sign was off. Dinner was served shortly after. Here was the transcript:
Dinner
Baby Spinach Greens with Fresh Mushroom, Bacon, and Asiago Cheese
Assortment of Warmed Rustic Breads
A very nice salad accompanied by Parmesan Peppercorn dressing
The choice of breads is French, Country, and Whole Wheat, and I have the French bread.
Entrée
Your choice of the following
Asian Ginger Seared Prawns with Teriyaki Sauce, Jade Rice Pilaf, and Sesame Stir-fried Vegetables
5 nicely cooked prawns with rice and the sauce was a bit too sour to my taste.
Or
Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Pink Peppercorn Madeira Sauce, Israeli “Cous Cous” with Fresh Tomato and Thyme, and French Green Beans Almondine
Dessert Offered with Coffee and Liquers
Bread Pudding with a strawberry sauce
For economy class, it was a choice of beef straganoff with tri-color pasta or chicken with soya ginger sauce, accompanied by a whole grain roll, a salad, and a cake. DVD players are passed out after dinner. The rest of the flight went by quickly. About an hour and half prior to arrival, the flight attendant passed out warmed nuts and made another beverage run. We began descent at 11:18pm, and soon we landed on R/W16L at 8:40pm SEA local time, and I headed to the C concourse for my connecting flight to Portland.
QX 2335 SEA-PDX Lv2210 Arr2254
Dash 8-100 N345PH City of Wenatchee
A last minute change of aircraft from Dash 8 Q400 to Dash 8-100 resulted in a very full flight – 37 + a jump seat. Also because of this reason, my seat assignment was changed and the agent called my name and explained the situation to me, and had reserved me a window seat on the emergency exit row. Gate this evening was C2M and SEA was fairly quiet. As I was trying to find something to drink, I found most concessions were closed by 9pm, and not much luck with food this evening. Boarding began at 9:48pm and the door was closed on time at 10:10pm. We pushed back within a few minutes and took off from R/W16L at 10:22pm.
Well the flying time was twenty-three minutes, and one good thing for changing to the classic Dash 8 was that you got a full beverage service with complimentary selected beer and wines. On the larger aircraft, they can only do a water, OJ, and beer run. Anyway, I got my cranberry juice and a pack of Kettle’s Organic Tortilla chip with zesty salsa. Very good quality snack! However, this flight was not that comfortable because my neighbor was an overweight man, and I was unable to open my tray table. Therefore, I had to use the floor and tried to finish everything as quick as possible. Thankfully, it was only twenty minutes or so. We began descent soon and landed on Runway 10R at 10:55pm. We arrived at Gate A4 and exited the aircraft within a minute. We were pretty much the last flight in. PDX was fairly busy tonight with number of Hawaiian return flights. I went to the Radisson PDX hotel and decided never to do a mileage run with little sleeping time.
January 19, 2003
QX 2193 PDX-SEA Lv0630 Arr0727
Dash 8-100 N358PH
Portland Airport was fairly busy at these early hours, as there were a number of Alaska and Horizon flights, as well as Southwest, and all the morning flights. I used an AS instant machine, since regardless of the methods of check-in, you got that flimsy boarding pass paper these days. My flight began boarding at 6:10am, and was almost full this morning, except the seat next to me and the aisle across from me. We pushed back at 6:27pm, and headed to R/W10L for takeoff. On my way, I saw the classic Hawaiian’s DC-10 and the Disneyland AS’s 734 at Gate D1. We took off at 6:33pm and flying time was about thirty-eight minutes. Seven minutes after take off, Peggy, our flight attendant this morning, finished setting up the beverage cart and rolled it down the aisle with an Il Biscotto’s White Chocolate Cranberry Orange Pistachio Biscotti. Very nice pastry and I asked for a second one. Cranberry juice is my preferred beverage these days. The flight went by quickly and we landed on R/W16R at 7:11am. We parked at C10 and I headed over to Gate D6 for my flight back to Newark.
AS 8 SEA-EWR Lv0845 Arr1701
Boeing 737-400 N614AS
This morning, Seattle was fairly busy as the morning traffics went. For my flight, Y cabin was about 60-70% full, and F cabin was full. The load was a bit heavier than yesterday. Everyone was boarded within twenty minutes, but due to computer glitch, we had to restart the computer and to run some tests before pushing back. We finally pushed back at 9:04am and due to strong tail wind, we will still be on time and even early. We took off from R/W16L at 9:13am, after an Horizon’s N414QX took off.
Printed menu was available this time, and beverage service began at 9:33am with the fruit plate and pastry. Here is the transcript:
Warmed Breakfast Pastry and Fresh Fruit Plate
3 orange segments, grapefruit, kiwi, & strawberries
A nice warmed biscuit
Breakfast Entrées
Your choice of the following:
Orange Nutmeg French Toast with Black Berry Compote, and Grilled Canadian Bacon
Or
Omelet with Asiago Cheese and Green Onions, Chicken Apple Sausage Links and Paprika Potatoes
A decent omelet with the usual accompaniments
Coffee
Flying time was a quick four hours and twenty minutes, with a cruising attitude of 41,000 feet. For Y class, the breakfast entrée choices are Omelet with ham and sautéed peppers filling & Canadian bacon, and Cheese Blintz with raspberry compote, scrambled eggs and sausages. DVD players were passed out at 10:33am and I did not take part of it, as I was pretty exhausted and I had one more flight to go. At about 12:12pm SEA time, the flight attendant began the snack service.
Shortly before our arrival in Newark we will be offering you a light snack.
Apples, Pear and Figs with Camembert
4 apple wedges, 1/2 pepper marinated pear, 2 figs, 2 slices of Camembert cheese, & nuts, accompanied by a basket of freshly baked cheese breads. Very good – better than the deli plate!
Descent began forty-five minutes later, and hot towels were passed out then. We landed on R/W22L at 4:33pm. Unfortunately, our gate was still occupied by a Continental’s Boeing 737, and we sat next to a very nice Virgin’s A340-600 for a while. At 4:48pm, we parked at gate 27.
CO 2852 EWR-IAD Lv1930 Arr2045
Embraer EMB-145RJ N11565
Nothing much to report! The check in counters – the elite ones, were fairly busy, but I was checked in quickly. Boarding gate was 114-C, which was a stair gate. Nothing much to report, except that the plane had some pressurization system, as we prepared to push back! We did not take off till 8:54pm, but the flight attendant was very superb this evening. After knowing the situation, she began the beverage service a bit earlier. She spent most of her times chatting with passengers, and she came to me with refill offers, pretzels, and even asked me to move to the BC pair, since the load was extremely light today. Finally, the problem was fixed and we took off an hour and half late. Flying time was forty-seven minutes, and the pilots apologized. We finally got in at 9:41pm. I think CO did a great job in keep us informed, and was better than the situation I encountered with American Eagle last year.
January 20, 2003
AS 5 IAD-SEA Lv0815 Arr1109
Boeing 737-700 N614AS
After a nice evening at Hilton Dulles, I proceeded to IAD airport. The check in line was almost non-existence. I was checked in quickly and got my boarding pass. D23 was the gate, and the plane was the same as I took to EWR a day ago. What a surprise! AS really worked its Boeing 737 hard. We were parked next to BA’s Boeing 777 G-VIIF. Boarding time was 7:40am and the load was a bit light this morning, with 100% F but 50% Y. A bottle of Tropicana’ Premium orange juice and a copy of WSJ was found in the console. Unfortunately, the printed menus were not loaded. Door was closed at 7:57am. Once the door was closed, the pilot announced that our flying time was six hours and fourteen minutes, due to very strong head winds. This situation did not improve, when he announced that SEA was fogged in this morning, our flying time was further lengthened. Well, the pilots tried their best to get us off the ground as early as possible. We took off from R/W30 a minute earlier than our schedule departure time. Not bad!
Seat belt sign was turned off at 8:35pm and a minute later, breakfast was served. I will describe the meals on my own words.
Warmed Breakfast Pastry and Fresh Tropical Fruit Plate
Kiwi, 2 strawberries, mango, & three papaya slices – very fresh and ripe fruit… excellent
Cranberry scone with butter – a bit too dry for my taste
Breakfast Entrées
Your choice of the following:
Scrambled Eggs with Canadian baon
Or
Mushroom Omelet , accompanied by a tomato, red & green pepper, and mushroom chutney medley, home-fried potatoes, and sliced sausages
A very nice omelet and I cleaned off everything on the dish
Coffee
The choices for economy class passengers were a spinach and feta cheese omelet or French toast with scrambled eggs. Due to the long flight, F/As did a few beverage runs and tried to serve various snacks – cashews and peanuts. DVD players were passed out and I watched a funny movie – “Austin Power II – The Gold Member.” The F/As kept most passengers busy by offering them another DVD. Around 12:30pm IAD time, we were served a light refreshment. It was a disappointment, compared to my SEA-EWR flight.
Shortly before our arrival in Seattle, we will be offering you a light snack.
Smoked Salmon, onion, and cream cheese on top of English Muffin, accompanied by a cherry tomato and Jalpeno pepper
Very nice snack – I like it much!
Descent finally began at 2:08pm and hot towels were passed out then. We landed on R/W34L at 11:34pm, and parked at Gate D9 four minutes later. Thankfully, my LAX flight was departing from D8 next door. I wasted no time in hopping over. Boarding was at its final stage, as I finally deplaned. After a quick look at the plane registration, I boarded this brand new Boeing 737-900 and headed to my seat at 4A.
AS 84 SEA-LAX Lv1157 Arr1430
Boeing 737-900 N307AS
I had no idea about boarding time, but when I boarded, the catering had just been completed. Therefore no water bottles were offered. Our flight was pretty full this afternoon, and we pushed back at 11:55am, and headed off to Runway 34R for takeoff. We passed by an Asiana’s Boeing 777-200ER HL7597. There was no line for takeoff and we took off at 12:02pm. Flying time was two hours and six minutes. We climbed to 37,000ft for a fairly short flight to LA.
Lunch was served after takeoff and as expected, a very light lunch was served in first. Our entrée choices were
Grilled Chicken Breast on top of Romaine lettuce, artichoke hearts, and orange segments, accompanied by a warmed roll
Or
Turkey, Provolone Cheese and Southwestern Spread sandwich, accompanied by a warmed Italian roasted tomato soup
The soup was pretty nice, and the sandwich was fine. It will be nicer, if a warm sandwich can be served as well, and if the soup was filled up a bit more. It was a good lunch, but lack quantity severely. Thankfully, the F/A did a separate beverage service prior to lunch and passed out two packs of cashews.
Dessert – Ghiradelli’s Milk Chocolate Square
It was a fairly quiet flight. We began our descent at 1:48pm and landed on Runway 24R at 2:12pm. We parked at Gate 31B within a few minutes.
AA 1942 LAX-SFO Lv1509 Arr1623
McDonnell Douglas MD-80 N288AA
I went to the check in counters for my boarding pass. I was booked for the 5pm flight and asked about switching to this earlier flight. The agent said, “Of course.” I was immediately rebooked and was given a boarding pass to this afternoon flight. As expected, the flight arrived a bit late from SFO, due to low visibility, but it did not affect our departure time.
In terms of planes-spotting, Tom Bradley had the brand new livery LX’s MD-11, a brand new painted EVA Air’s Boeing 747-400, and the retro Mexicana’s Boeing 757-200. In terminal two, a KL’s Boeing 747-400 and a NZ’s Boeing 747-400 with the Lord of the Ring livery were parked this afternoon. They looked beautiful. Around 2:30pm, VS’s Boeing 747-400 G-VBIG landed.
Boarding time was 2:53pm and first class was 100% full, and the economy class cabin was about 70% full. Not bad! AA managed to turn the plane around quickly. We pushed back at 3:11pm and headed to R/W24L for takeoff. We lifted off at 3:18pm, after a BA’s Boeing 747 landed next to us. At the Imperial terminal, a MH’s Boeing 747 and a CX’s 744 were parked there. Flying time was fifty-one minutes, with a cruising attitude of 29,000ft. During the short flight, a beverage service was served with a choice of pretzels or honey-roasted almonds. Nearly everyone took almonds. Descent began at 3:53pm and we landed on R/W28R at 4:09pm, and headed to Gate 62B. I spent the night at the Embassy Suites Burlingame, which was very nice. Please request a room facing the bay. You will not be disappointed with the landing activities of Runway 28RL. The breakfast was very nice too, with cooked eggs, pancakes, and waffles as well. The only disappointment was the fog the next morning. It was pretty bad. I could not even see anything before 9am. Thankfully, the fog was lifted a bit later.
January 21, 2003
AA 16 SFO-JFK Lv1230 Arr2048
Boeing 767-300ER N399AN
I went to the airport at 11:15am, and the premium check in counter was pretty short, but of course, AA staffed it with only one person. When the person in front of me had some problems, the rest of us just waited. I finally gave up and headed to the self check-in counters. My upgrade was cleared and was given 8D. J class was almost full with only a few empty seats. Y class was pretty light this afternoon as well, but F class was full with many revenue passengers. As expected, the flight came in late and I think it arrived at Gate 65 around noon. Yes, there were some cutbacks, which I would detail later.
Back to the planes, the most exciting moment was the missed approach of an Air China’s Boeing 747. JAL’s JA8915 was in charge of the duty of JL 001 this afternoon to Tokyo. I saw KE’s Boeing 777-200 taking off as well. Singapore Airlines sent our 9V-SVL, Boeing 777-200ER for the Incheon and Singapore flights. Asiana Airlines’ Boeing 777-200ER HL7700 arrived early from Seoul as well. I managed to see this plane landed before boarding my flight to JFK. Boarding began at 12:45pm, and door was closed at 1pm. We pushed back a few minutes later and headed to R/W1R for our takeoff. Due to strong tail wind, flying time was a short four hours and twenty-eight minutes. We still made an on time arrival.
The plane itself was very nice but I was a little bit disappointed that no personal television unit has been installed. The F class got the nice suite seats founded at its Pacific Boeing 777 fleet. Unfortunately, these suite seats will become history soon. I am curious on how AA will use these older full flat F seats. They look pretty new to me, which looked a bit too new to be disposed. Although there were cutbacks, AA service still beat Untied. Here is the transcript:
Appetizers
To Start
Warm mixed nuts or herbed Oyster crackers to accompany your preferred cocktail or beverage
It was still here, and after the initial round of beverage and nuts/crackers service, the flight attendant returned with a full bottle of nuts and another bottle of crackers to refill our nut or crackers dishes. United does not even bother to warm the nuts these days.
Appetizer Salad
Sliced, smoked salmon served with a fresh Mozzarella Salad and seasonal mixed greens with roasted Garlic Balsamic Vinaigrette or creamy Basil dressing
The first change here is the disappearance of a separate appetizer. It is now an appetizer salad, which also applies to first class. There is no longer the smoked salmon cart in first class. I will type you the first class menu at the end of the report. I don’t find a big different. The appetizer is pretty small anyway for American. AA spends more efforts in preparing the salad. The salad plate was in a fairly big size.
Bread Basket
Sourdough or Honey sesame seed wheat rolls
Entrées
Macadamia-Crusted chicken
Boneless Chicken Breast coated with Macadamia Nuts accented by a Ginger demi-glace, served with Mashed Potatoes with whipped Scallions and sautéed Spinach
Or
Soy-Glazed Pork
Seared Tenderloin of Pork accented by a Soy Glaze Sauce, accompanied by Green beans with onions and Sweet Potatoes
In my memory, pork is never popular by the Americans. I don’t understand why a pork entrée is still served these days. They are always the last choice.
Or
Chilled Lobster Plate
Lobster Tail, cooked and served over a bed of lettuce, filled with lobster salad, presented with Shrimp, enhanced by a Creamy sauce and garnished with two Crab Claws
Very nice lobster plate – the meat was tender and was better than my last flight with this same dish. I don’t think I see lobster too often on the US airlines, except some continental’s flights.
Dessert
Tiramisu
Sponge cake with Coffee Liqueur and Italian Cream Cheese
Or
A sccop of Blue Bell Premium Ice Cream
Very nice White Chocolate Almond ice cream… you can taste the white chocolate chunks.
Cordial
The service was very good, and I had a cup of tea after this good meal. In terms of entertainment, only a movie, “City by the Sea,” was shown and even CBS Eyes on American is not shown today. After dinner, Dannon water bottles were passed out and the flight attendants made a couple of rounds throughout the evening. Unfortunately, there was no more cookie service on AA anymore, even for first class. I am a little bit disappointed and cannot see how not serving cookies can help AA getting out of this financial mess. But what can you do?
Descent began at 5:21pm, and we landed on Runway 31R at 8:43pm JFK time (three hours ahead of SFO). There was a bit of wait at the gate. I seemed to have this feeling that AA is running very tight in terms of labor and various resources at JFK. There is always gate holds on JFK and the bags always came out late. I hope you enjoy this report. The next report will be once again on AA’s Premium Transcontinental flights (the return segment of this ticket) and Midwest Express (my first ride after the cutbacks were announced). I did not expect much from YX and will eat ahead of time, but it is nice to see how deep the cutbacks are.
Here is the AA first class menu – fairly identical with J
Appetizers
To Start
Warm mixed nuts or fresh Vegetables and Dip to accompany your preferred cocktail or beverage
The Salad Cart
Seasonal mixed greens with with roasted Garlic Balsamic Vinaigrette or creamy Basil dressing
Thinly sliced smoked salmon with Lemon wedges
Mediterranean Chicken
Fresh Mozarella Salad
Bread Basket
Assorted warm Breads
Entrées
Macadamia-Crusted chicken
Boneless Chicken Breast coated with Macadamia Nuts accented by a Ginger demi-glace, served with Mashed Potatoes with whipped Scallions and sautéed Spinach
Or
Spinach Quiche
A delicious Quiche complemented by roasted tomatoes, offered with fruit salsa
Or
Soy-Glazed Pork
Seared Tenderloin of Pork accented by a Soy Glaze Sauce, accompanied by Green beans with onions and Sweet Potatoes
Or
Chilled Lobster Plate
Lobster Tail, cooked and served over a bed of lettuce, filled with lobster salad, presented with Shrimp, enhanced by a Creamy sauce and garnished with two Crab Claws
Dessert
Tiramisu
Sponge cake with Coffee Liqueur and Italian Cream Cheese
Or
Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice cream with a choice of Hot fudge, Butterscotch or seasonal fruit toppings and fresh Whipped Cream
Cordials
Here is another trip report, which is mainly about Alaska, American, Continental Express, and Horizon. I hope you will enjoy it.
January 18, 2003
AS 7 EWR-SEA Lv1800 Arr2110
Boeing 737-700 N619AS
I have flown this route many times and am really pleased with the on-time performance of this particular route. CO has done a great job in turning around the plane. I checked in using the machine and was able to move to 2C from my original 2A assignment. The inbound flight arrived early and the load this evening was about 50% full, and F class was full as expected. Boarding began at 5:27pm, and door was closed at 5:47pm, and pushed back at 5:50pm. As I headed to my seat, a printed menu and a bottle of water were already placed on the console. We were ten minutes ahead of schedule. We took off from Runway 22R at 6:02pm.
Flying time was five hours and thirty-nine minutes, and we climbed to 39,000ft shortly after takeoff. Beverage service began shortly after seat belt sign was off. Dinner was served shortly after. Here was the transcript:
Dinner
Baby Spinach Greens with Fresh Mushroom, Bacon, and Asiago Cheese
Assortment of Warmed Rustic Breads
A very nice salad accompanied by Parmesan Peppercorn dressing
The choice of breads is French, Country, and Whole Wheat, and I have the French bread.
Entrée
Your choice of the following
Asian Ginger Seared Prawns with Teriyaki Sauce, Jade Rice Pilaf, and Sesame Stir-fried Vegetables
5 nicely cooked prawns with rice and the sauce was a bit too sour to my taste.
Or
Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Pink Peppercorn Madeira Sauce, Israeli “Cous Cous” with Fresh Tomato and Thyme, and French Green Beans Almondine
Dessert Offered with Coffee and Liquers
Bread Pudding with a strawberry sauce
For economy class, it was a choice of beef straganoff with tri-color pasta or chicken with soya ginger sauce, accompanied by a whole grain roll, a salad, and a cake. DVD players are passed out after dinner. The rest of the flight went by quickly. About an hour and half prior to arrival, the flight attendant passed out warmed nuts and made another beverage run. We began descent at 11:18pm, and soon we landed on R/W16L at 8:40pm SEA local time, and I headed to the C concourse for my connecting flight to Portland.
QX 2335 SEA-PDX Lv2210 Arr2254
Dash 8-100 N345PH City of Wenatchee
A last minute change of aircraft from Dash 8 Q400 to Dash 8-100 resulted in a very full flight – 37 + a jump seat. Also because of this reason, my seat assignment was changed and the agent called my name and explained the situation to me, and had reserved me a window seat on the emergency exit row. Gate this evening was C2M and SEA was fairly quiet. As I was trying to find something to drink, I found most concessions were closed by 9pm, and not much luck with food this evening. Boarding began at 9:48pm and the door was closed on time at 10:10pm. We pushed back within a few minutes and took off from R/W16L at 10:22pm.
Well the flying time was twenty-three minutes, and one good thing for changing to the classic Dash 8 was that you got a full beverage service with complimentary selected beer and wines. On the larger aircraft, they can only do a water, OJ, and beer run. Anyway, I got my cranberry juice and a pack of Kettle’s Organic Tortilla chip with zesty salsa. Very good quality snack! However, this flight was not that comfortable because my neighbor was an overweight man, and I was unable to open my tray table. Therefore, I had to use the floor and tried to finish everything as quick as possible. Thankfully, it was only twenty minutes or so. We began descent soon and landed on Runway 10R at 10:55pm. We arrived at Gate A4 and exited the aircraft within a minute. We were pretty much the last flight in. PDX was fairly busy tonight with number of Hawaiian return flights. I went to the Radisson PDX hotel and decided never to do a mileage run with little sleeping time.
January 19, 2003
QX 2193 PDX-SEA Lv0630 Arr0727
Dash 8-100 N358PH
Portland Airport was fairly busy at these early hours, as there were a number of Alaska and Horizon flights, as well as Southwest, and all the morning flights. I used an AS instant machine, since regardless of the methods of check-in, you got that flimsy boarding pass paper these days. My flight began boarding at 6:10am, and was almost full this morning, except the seat next to me and the aisle across from me. We pushed back at 6:27pm, and headed to R/W10L for takeoff. On my way, I saw the classic Hawaiian’s DC-10 and the Disneyland AS’s 734 at Gate D1. We took off at 6:33pm and flying time was about thirty-eight minutes. Seven minutes after take off, Peggy, our flight attendant this morning, finished setting up the beverage cart and rolled it down the aisle with an Il Biscotto’s White Chocolate Cranberry Orange Pistachio Biscotti. Very nice pastry and I asked for a second one. Cranberry juice is my preferred beverage these days. The flight went by quickly and we landed on R/W16R at 7:11am. We parked at C10 and I headed over to Gate D6 for my flight back to Newark.
AS 8 SEA-EWR Lv0845 Arr1701
Boeing 737-400 N614AS
This morning, Seattle was fairly busy as the morning traffics went. For my flight, Y cabin was about 60-70% full, and F cabin was full. The load was a bit heavier than yesterday. Everyone was boarded within twenty minutes, but due to computer glitch, we had to restart the computer and to run some tests before pushing back. We finally pushed back at 9:04am and due to strong tail wind, we will still be on time and even early. We took off from R/W16L at 9:13am, after an Horizon’s N414QX took off.
Printed menu was available this time, and beverage service began at 9:33am with the fruit plate and pastry. Here is the transcript:
Warmed Breakfast Pastry and Fresh Fruit Plate
3 orange segments, grapefruit, kiwi, & strawberries
A nice warmed biscuit
Breakfast Entrées
Your choice of the following:
Orange Nutmeg French Toast with Black Berry Compote, and Grilled Canadian Bacon
Or
Omelet with Asiago Cheese and Green Onions, Chicken Apple Sausage Links and Paprika Potatoes
A decent omelet with the usual accompaniments
Coffee
Flying time was a quick four hours and twenty minutes, with a cruising attitude of 41,000 feet. For Y class, the breakfast entrée choices are Omelet with ham and sautéed peppers filling & Canadian bacon, and Cheese Blintz with raspberry compote, scrambled eggs and sausages. DVD players were passed out at 10:33am and I did not take part of it, as I was pretty exhausted and I had one more flight to go. At about 12:12pm SEA time, the flight attendant began the snack service.
Shortly before our arrival in Newark we will be offering you a light snack.
Apples, Pear and Figs with Camembert
4 apple wedges, 1/2 pepper marinated pear, 2 figs, 2 slices of Camembert cheese, & nuts, accompanied by a basket of freshly baked cheese breads. Very good – better than the deli plate!
Descent began forty-five minutes later, and hot towels were passed out then. We landed on R/W22L at 4:33pm. Unfortunately, our gate was still occupied by a Continental’s Boeing 737, and we sat next to a very nice Virgin’s A340-600 for a while. At 4:48pm, we parked at gate 27.
CO 2852 EWR-IAD Lv1930 Arr2045
Embraer EMB-145RJ N11565
Nothing much to report! The check in counters – the elite ones, were fairly busy, but I was checked in quickly. Boarding gate was 114-C, which was a stair gate. Nothing much to report, except that the plane had some pressurization system, as we prepared to push back! We did not take off till 8:54pm, but the flight attendant was very superb this evening. After knowing the situation, she began the beverage service a bit earlier. She spent most of her times chatting with passengers, and she came to me with refill offers, pretzels, and even asked me to move to the BC pair, since the load was extremely light today. Finally, the problem was fixed and we took off an hour and half late. Flying time was forty-seven minutes, and the pilots apologized. We finally got in at 9:41pm. I think CO did a great job in keep us informed, and was better than the situation I encountered with American Eagle last year.
January 20, 2003
AS 5 IAD-SEA Lv0815 Arr1109
Boeing 737-700 N614AS
After a nice evening at Hilton Dulles, I proceeded to IAD airport. The check in line was almost non-existence. I was checked in quickly and got my boarding pass. D23 was the gate, and the plane was the same as I took to EWR a day ago. What a surprise! AS really worked its Boeing 737 hard. We were parked next to BA’s Boeing 777 G-VIIF. Boarding time was 7:40am and the load was a bit light this morning, with 100% F but 50% Y. A bottle of Tropicana’ Premium orange juice and a copy of WSJ was found in the console. Unfortunately, the printed menus were not loaded. Door was closed at 7:57am. Once the door was closed, the pilot announced that our flying time was six hours and fourteen minutes, due to very strong head winds. This situation did not improve, when he announced that SEA was fogged in this morning, our flying time was further lengthened. Well, the pilots tried their best to get us off the ground as early as possible. We took off from R/W30 a minute earlier than our schedule departure time. Not bad!
Seat belt sign was turned off at 8:35pm and a minute later, breakfast was served. I will describe the meals on my own words.
Warmed Breakfast Pastry and Fresh Tropical Fruit Plate
Kiwi, 2 strawberries, mango, & three papaya slices – very fresh and ripe fruit… excellent
Cranberry scone with butter – a bit too dry for my taste
Breakfast Entrées
Your choice of the following:
Scrambled Eggs with Canadian baon
Or
Mushroom Omelet , accompanied by a tomato, red & green pepper, and mushroom chutney medley, home-fried potatoes, and sliced sausages
A very nice omelet and I cleaned off everything on the dish
Coffee
The choices for economy class passengers were a spinach and feta cheese omelet or French toast with scrambled eggs. Due to the long flight, F/As did a few beverage runs and tried to serve various snacks – cashews and peanuts. DVD players were passed out and I watched a funny movie – “Austin Power II – The Gold Member.” The F/As kept most passengers busy by offering them another DVD. Around 12:30pm IAD time, we were served a light refreshment. It was a disappointment, compared to my SEA-EWR flight.
Shortly before our arrival in Seattle, we will be offering you a light snack.
Smoked Salmon, onion, and cream cheese on top of English Muffin, accompanied by a cherry tomato and Jalpeno pepper
Very nice snack – I like it much!
Descent finally began at 2:08pm and hot towels were passed out then. We landed on R/W34L at 11:34pm, and parked at Gate D9 four minutes later. Thankfully, my LAX flight was departing from D8 next door. I wasted no time in hopping over. Boarding was at its final stage, as I finally deplaned. After a quick look at the plane registration, I boarded this brand new Boeing 737-900 and headed to my seat at 4A.
AS 84 SEA-LAX Lv1157 Arr1430
Boeing 737-900 N307AS
I had no idea about boarding time, but when I boarded, the catering had just been completed. Therefore no water bottles were offered. Our flight was pretty full this afternoon, and we pushed back at 11:55am, and headed off to Runway 34R for takeoff. We passed by an Asiana’s Boeing 777-200ER HL7597. There was no line for takeoff and we took off at 12:02pm. Flying time was two hours and six minutes. We climbed to 37,000ft for a fairly short flight to LA.
Lunch was served after takeoff and as expected, a very light lunch was served in first. Our entrée choices were
Grilled Chicken Breast on top of Romaine lettuce, artichoke hearts, and orange segments, accompanied by a warmed roll
Or
Turkey, Provolone Cheese and Southwestern Spread sandwich, accompanied by a warmed Italian roasted tomato soup
The soup was pretty nice, and the sandwich was fine. It will be nicer, if a warm sandwich can be served as well, and if the soup was filled up a bit more. It was a good lunch, but lack quantity severely. Thankfully, the F/A did a separate beverage service prior to lunch and passed out two packs of cashews.
Dessert – Ghiradelli’s Milk Chocolate Square
It was a fairly quiet flight. We began our descent at 1:48pm and landed on Runway 24R at 2:12pm. We parked at Gate 31B within a few minutes.
AA 1942 LAX-SFO Lv1509 Arr1623
McDonnell Douglas MD-80 N288AA
I went to the check in counters for my boarding pass. I was booked for the 5pm flight and asked about switching to this earlier flight. The agent said, “Of course.” I was immediately rebooked and was given a boarding pass to this afternoon flight. As expected, the flight arrived a bit late from SFO, due to low visibility, but it did not affect our departure time.
In terms of planes-spotting, Tom Bradley had the brand new livery LX’s MD-11, a brand new painted EVA Air’s Boeing 747-400, and the retro Mexicana’s Boeing 757-200. In terminal two, a KL’s Boeing 747-400 and a NZ’s Boeing 747-400 with the Lord of the Ring livery were parked this afternoon. They looked beautiful. Around 2:30pm, VS’s Boeing 747-400 G-VBIG landed.
Boarding time was 2:53pm and first class was 100% full, and the economy class cabin was about 70% full. Not bad! AA managed to turn the plane around quickly. We pushed back at 3:11pm and headed to R/W24L for takeoff. We lifted off at 3:18pm, after a BA’s Boeing 747 landed next to us. At the Imperial terminal, a MH’s Boeing 747 and a CX’s 744 were parked there. Flying time was fifty-one minutes, with a cruising attitude of 29,000ft. During the short flight, a beverage service was served with a choice of pretzels or honey-roasted almonds. Nearly everyone took almonds. Descent began at 3:53pm and we landed on R/W28R at 4:09pm, and headed to Gate 62B. I spent the night at the Embassy Suites Burlingame, which was very nice. Please request a room facing the bay. You will not be disappointed with the landing activities of Runway 28RL. The breakfast was very nice too, with cooked eggs, pancakes, and waffles as well. The only disappointment was the fog the next morning. It was pretty bad. I could not even see anything before 9am. Thankfully, the fog was lifted a bit later.
January 21, 2003
AA 16 SFO-JFK Lv1230 Arr2048
Boeing 767-300ER N399AN
I went to the airport at 11:15am, and the premium check in counter was pretty short, but of course, AA staffed it with only one person. When the person in front of me had some problems, the rest of us just waited. I finally gave up and headed to the self check-in counters. My upgrade was cleared and was given 8D. J class was almost full with only a few empty seats. Y class was pretty light this afternoon as well, but F class was full with many revenue passengers. As expected, the flight came in late and I think it arrived at Gate 65 around noon. Yes, there were some cutbacks, which I would detail later.
Back to the planes, the most exciting moment was the missed approach of an Air China’s Boeing 747. JAL’s JA8915 was in charge of the duty of JL 001 this afternoon to Tokyo. I saw KE’s Boeing 777-200 taking off as well. Singapore Airlines sent our 9V-SVL, Boeing 777-200ER for the Incheon and Singapore flights. Asiana Airlines’ Boeing 777-200ER HL7700 arrived early from Seoul as well. I managed to see this plane landed before boarding my flight to JFK. Boarding began at 12:45pm, and door was closed at 1pm. We pushed back a few minutes later and headed to R/W1R for our takeoff. Due to strong tail wind, flying time was a short four hours and twenty-eight minutes. We still made an on time arrival.
The plane itself was very nice but I was a little bit disappointed that no personal television unit has been installed. The F class got the nice suite seats founded at its Pacific Boeing 777 fleet. Unfortunately, these suite seats will become history soon. I am curious on how AA will use these older full flat F seats. They look pretty new to me, which looked a bit too new to be disposed. Although there were cutbacks, AA service still beat Untied. Here is the transcript:
Appetizers
To Start
Warm mixed nuts or herbed Oyster crackers to accompany your preferred cocktail or beverage
It was still here, and after the initial round of beverage and nuts/crackers service, the flight attendant returned with a full bottle of nuts and another bottle of crackers to refill our nut or crackers dishes. United does not even bother to warm the nuts these days.
Appetizer Salad
Sliced, smoked salmon served with a fresh Mozzarella Salad and seasonal mixed greens with roasted Garlic Balsamic Vinaigrette or creamy Basil dressing
The first change here is the disappearance of a separate appetizer. It is now an appetizer salad, which also applies to first class. There is no longer the smoked salmon cart in first class. I will type you the first class menu at the end of the report. I don’t find a big different. The appetizer is pretty small anyway for American. AA spends more efforts in preparing the salad. The salad plate was in a fairly big size.
Bread Basket
Sourdough or Honey sesame seed wheat rolls
Entrées
Macadamia-Crusted chicken
Boneless Chicken Breast coated with Macadamia Nuts accented by a Ginger demi-glace, served with Mashed Potatoes with whipped Scallions and sautéed Spinach
Or
Soy-Glazed Pork
Seared Tenderloin of Pork accented by a Soy Glaze Sauce, accompanied by Green beans with onions and Sweet Potatoes
In my memory, pork is never popular by the Americans. I don’t understand why a pork entrée is still served these days. They are always the last choice.
Or
Chilled Lobster Plate
Lobster Tail, cooked and served over a bed of lettuce, filled with lobster salad, presented with Shrimp, enhanced by a Creamy sauce and garnished with two Crab Claws
Very nice lobster plate – the meat was tender and was better than my last flight with this same dish. I don’t think I see lobster too often on the US airlines, except some continental’s flights.
Dessert
Tiramisu
Sponge cake with Coffee Liqueur and Italian Cream Cheese
Or
A sccop of Blue Bell Premium Ice Cream
Very nice White Chocolate Almond ice cream… you can taste the white chocolate chunks.
Cordial
The service was very good, and I had a cup of tea after this good meal. In terms of entertainment, only a movie, “City by the Sea,” was shown and even CBS Eyes on American is not shown today. After dinner, Dannon water bottles were passed out and the flight attendants made a couple of rounds throughout the evening. Unfortunately, there was no more cookie service on AA anymore, even for first class. I am a little bit disappointed and cannot see how not serving cookies can help AA getting out of this financial mess. But what can you do?
Descent began at 5:21pm, and we landed on Runway 31R at 8:43pm JFK time (three hours ahead of SFO). There was a bit of wait at the gate. I seemed to have this feeling that AA is running very tight in terms of labor and various resources at JFK. There is always gate holds on JFK and the bags always came out late. I hope you enjoy this report. The next report will be once again on AA’s Premium Transcontinental flights (the return segment of this ticket) and Midwest Express (my first ride after the cutbacks were announced). I did not expect much from YX and will eat ahead of time, but it is nice to see how deep the cutbacks are.
Here is the AA first class menu – fairly identical with J
Appetizers
To Start
Warm mixed nuts or fresh Vegetables and Dip to accompany your preferred cocktail or beverage
The Salad Cart
Seasonal mixed greens with with roasted Garlic Balsamic Vinaigrette or creamy Basil dressing
Thinly sliced smoked salmon with Lemon wedges
Mediterranean Chicken
Fresh Mozarella Salad
Bread Basket
Assorted warm Breads
Entrées
Macadamia-Crusted chicken
Boneless Chicken Breast coated with Macadamia Nuts accented by a Ginger demi-glace, served with Mashed Potatoes with whipped Scallions and sautéed Spinach
Or
Spinach Quiche
A delicious Quiche complemented by roasted tomatoes, offered with fruit salsa
Or
Soy-Glazed Pork
Seared Tenderloin of Pork accented by a Soy Glaze Sauce, accompanied by Green beans with onions and Sweet Potatoes
Or
Chilled Lobster Plate
Lobster Tail, cooked and served over a bed of lettuce, filled with lobster salad, presented with Shrimp, enhanced by a Creamy sauce and garnished with two Crab Claws
Dessert
Tiramisu
Sponge cake with Coffee Liqueur and Italian Cream Cheese
Or
Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice cream with a choice of Hot fudge, Butterscotch or seasonal fruit toppings and fresh Whipped Cream
Cordials
Jan 23, 2003, 5:14 pm
#3
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Seattle
Programs: Alaska Airlines
Posts: 1,570
Gosh Carfield - I return home from work to be enticed by yet another of your exciting trip reports. What a nice way to unwind the day... :-)
These reports are like gold...
Have a great weekend.
:-)
------------------
Patrick A. Inouye
These reports are like gold...
Have a great weekend.
:-)
------------------
Patrick A. Inouye
Jan 23, 2003, 9:13 pm
#5
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: HKG
Programs: AA 3MM EXP, SQ Solitaire, LH SEN, CX DM, Hyatt CC, Marriott LT Titanium
Posts: 3,179
Always great to read trip reports from you Carfield... I still remember that only after reading your trip reports that I decided to write my own.. 