LAX-DFW-ORD-LAX in 13 hours AA first class
Jun 1, 2003, 8:11 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Agoura Hills, CA USA
Posts: 2,662
LAX-DFW-ORD-LAX in 13 hours AA first class
In an attempt to use a couple of coupons from a OWE bought last year I decided to do a quick three city "tour" with American. Here is that report
Saturday May 31, 2003 AA 2804 LAX-DFW
This flight leaves at the very early hour of 6:30AM I had to leave for LAX at 4:30AM . The great thing is that there was no traffic on a VERY EARLY Saturday morning. Parked in terminal 4 parking and checked in at the AA first class section, which was empty at this time of the morning. I was given a boarding pass for all three segments of my flights today and quickly went through security to the AC near gate 45. The LAX AC is very nice but if you are at all hungry, go and get breakfast elsewhere. There literally was no food. Maybe because of the early morning hour. Oh well...
Boarding for this flight was at gate 48A. It was a 757 which was parked next to a AA Denver flight, as well as the 8AM JFK flight. Boarding was extremely quick. The first thing I noticed before I arrived in seat 3B was that this 757 was unlike any 757 I had been on before when travelling on AA. The seats in first were not the gray leather but was a brown and grey fabric...also when I sat down I realized that there were NO power ports for my laptop. I then figured out that this 757 was from the TWA era. And I was right. The seats were great... the FA however were another story. There were two FA in first....each one seemed to have a chip on their shoulders. One cannot really blame them as they will be furloughed on July 1, 2003. So I just " took it" when my coat was not hung up, or when I asked for a blanket and was told ....I KID YOU NOT....that there was a blanket on the floor next to my feet, just use it!
The flight took off on time and we were offered a choice for breakfast of cereal and fruit or a bacon and tomato quiche. This was a one plate affair. Unlike other breakfast AA flights I have taken to DFW, there was no offering of bagels or blueberry mufffins. On the cereal plate was blueberry yogurt, a very small lemon muffin, rice krispies, low fat milk and a plate of fruit with pineapple, kiwi, strawberries and cantaloupe. It was quite nice. I notice the quiche to be a good portion as well.
After breakfast, the movie TWO WEEKS NOTICE was shown. In this 757 there were no TV monitors like in other AA 757. But, there were individual TV screens which dropped down and were located every two rows. Very nice. I of course brought my Mac Powerbook and watched a couple of DVDs that I had rented from NETFLIX. The flight was only 2 hours and 30 minutes. I barely finished my DVD before the flight was over.. Final comment... I miss the powerports, the bagels and the AA FA...
DFW-ORD AA 66
I choses this flight beacuse it is the first leg of the international flight to LHR. It is a 777 with the first class coffin seats. Although only 802 miles from DFW-ORD, it was an exceptional flight...
After we deplaned from the LAX flight at gate A33 in DFW, the ORD flight left from A24. This is nice as I did not have to change terminals for this next segment flight. I checked into the ORD AC near A23 for some emails....then walked over to A24, where the flight was boarding. This flight was packed to th gills. Lots of people going to ORD on a Saturday... I was put in seat 4H which is an aisle. Although there is one helluva lot more room than in the 757, the flagship suites have it all over this first class configuration....but beggars cant be choosy so to speak.
I had a diet coke and my seat mate had his first out of 4 or 5 glasses of red wine. This is only a 1 hour and 44 minute flight for anyone interested. The video programming was Eye on American. But on this 777 there was the video map which plotted our course. This was and always is fantastic.
Lunch was served in first class. Coach was beverage service only. Lunch consisted of a choice of herbed salmon salad, or a chicken feta salad. I had the herbed salmon salad which was served withh a greek salad and dressing, some carrs crackers, some prepackaged Tillamook cheese, and a pack of Milano cookies. The salmon was terrific. It was a cold salad and the piece of salmon was quite large. This was quite a nice lunch for such a short flight. What made this flight fantastic was the room I had on the 777. Just wished that AA had more domestic 777!
Many people on this flight were going on to London. I guess I do not understand why they would not opt to take flight 86 which also leaves from ORD very close to the re-departure time of this flight. Flight 86 has the flagship suites in first.
And IMHO, the flagship suites are far superior to this type of seating...especially for a transatlantic flight.
Arrived at gate K12 at ORD.
AA 729 ORD-LAX
Originally I was to be on flight 873 which left me with a 3 hour layover in ORD...but the angels at the AA EXEC PLAT desk finally cleard a seat in first for the earlier flight AA 729. This flight was departing from gate H4 and I had less than an hour connection time. This proved to be more than enough as I only had a 5 minute walk from my incoming DFW flight to my flight back to LAX.
This plane was the old AA 757. Flight was packed. As soon as we boarded and I took my seat at 4E, we were offered the drink of our choice...not just OJ, water, or champagne. Flight time today was 3 hours and 38 minutes to LAX. The movie was THE HOURS which I decided not to watch. I sat down, I plugged my laptop into the powerport, put some DVD in and was in seventh heaven. I do not know how most of you other FT feel, but a personal DVD is so nice to watch at 35,000 feet.
Dinner was nice ..Here is menu..
Warm nuts served with your beverage of choice
Salad with peppers, capers, olive with a choice of ranch or vinagarette dressing
Plum chicken, sweet potatoe compote and fresh vegetables
OR
Lasagne with cheese and vegetables
Ice cream sundaes
OR
Fruit and Cheese.
Most people chose the plum chicken which was great. A single boneless breast of chicken placed along a great sweet potatoe compote and very fresh vegetables.
Dessert was too much for me...but it was your typical AA ice cream sundae.......Quite nice with toppings of hot fudge, strawberries, and nuts as well as whipped cream..
By the time the pilot announced that we were descending into LAX, I had finished my DVD of WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION. Great flick for all who have not seend this..
Until the next trip report..
Saturday May 31, 2003 AA 2804 LAX-DFW
This flight leaves at the very early hour of 6:30AM I had to leave for LAX at 4:30AM . The great thing is that there was no traffic on a VERY EARLY Saturday morning. Parked in terminal 4 parking and checked in at the AA first class section, which was empty at this time of the morning. I was given a boarding pass for all three segments of my flights today and quickly went through security to the AC near gate 45. The LAX AC is very nice but if you are at all hungry, go and get breakfast elsewhere. There literally was no food. Maybe because of the early morning hour. Oh well...
Boarding for this flight was at gate 48A. It was a 757 which was parked next to a AA Denver flight, as well as the 8AM JFK flight. Boarding was extremely quick. The first thing I noticed before I arrived in seat 3B was that this 757 was unlike any 757 I had been on before when travelling on AA. The seats in first were not the gray leather but was a brown and grey fabric...also when I sat down I realized that there were NO power ports for my laptop. I then figured out that this 757 was from the TWA era. And I was right. The seats were great... the FA however were another story. There were two FA in first....each one seemed to have a chip on their shoulders. One cannot really blame them as they will be furloughed on July 1, 2003. So I just " took it" when my coat was not hung up, or when I asked for a blanket and was told ....I KID YOU NOT....that there was a blanket on the floor next to my feet, just use it!
The flight took off on time and we were offered a choice for breakfast of cereal and fruit or a bacon and tomato quiche. This was a one plate affair. Unlike other breakfast AA flights I have taken to DFW, there was no offering of bagels or blueberry mufffins. On the cereal plate was blueberry yogurt, a very small lemon muffin, rice krispies, low fat milk and a plate of fruit with pineapple, kiwi, strawberries and cantaloupe. It was quite nice. I notice the quiche to be a good portion as well.
After breakfast, the movie TWO WEEKS NOTICE was shown. In this 757 there were no TV monitors like in other AA 757. But, there were individual TV screens which dropped down and were located every two rows. Very nice. I of course brought my Mac Powerbook and watched a couple of DVDs that I had rented from NETFLIX. The flight was only 2 hours and 30 minutes. I barely finished my DVD before the flight was over.. Final comment... I miss the powerports, the bagels and the AA FA...
DFW-ORD AA 66
I choses this flight beacuse it is the first leg of the international flight to LHR. It is a 777 with the first class coffin seats. Although only 802 miles from DFW-ORD, it was an exceptional flight...
After we deplaned from the LAX flight at gate A33 in DFW, the ORD flight left from A24. This is nice as I did not have to change terminals for this next segment flight. I checked into the ORD AC near A23 for some emails....then walked over to A24, where the flight was boarding. This flight was packed to th gills. Lots of people going to ORD on a Saturday... I was put in seat 4H which is an aisle. Although there is one helluva lot more room than in the 757, the flagship suites have it all over this first class configuration....but beggars cant be choosy so to speak.
I had a diet coke and my seat mate had his first out of 4 or 5 glasses of red wine. This is only a 1 hour and 44 minute flight for anyone interested. The video programming was Eye on American. But on this 777 there was the video map which plotted our course. This was and always is fantastic.
Lunch was served in first class. Coach was beverage service only. Lunch consisted of a choice of herbed salmon salad, or a chicken feta salad. I had the herbed salmon salad which was served withh a greek salad and dressing, some carrs crackers, some prepackaged Tillamook cheese, and a pack of Milano cookies. The salmon was terrific. It was a cold salad and the piece of salmon was quite large. This was quite a nice lunch for such a short flight. What made this flight fantastic was the room I had on the 777. Just wished that AA had more domestic 777!
Many people on this flight were going on to London. I guess I do not understand why they would not opt to take flight 86 which also leaves from ORD very close to the re-departure time of this flight. Flight 86 has the flagship suites in first.
And IMHO, the flagship suites are far superior to this type of seating...especially for a transatlantic flight.
Arrived at gate K12 at ORD.
AA 729 ORD-LAX
Originally I was to be on flight 873 which left me with a 3 hour layover in ORD...but the angels at the AA EXEC PLAT desk finally cleard a seat in first for the earlier flight AA 729. This flight was departing from gate H4 and I had less than an hour connection time. This proved to be more than enough as I only had a 5 minute walk from my incoming DFW flight to my flight back to LAX.
This plane was the old AA 757. Flight was packed. As soon as we boarded and I took my seat at 4E, we were offered the drink of our choice...not just OJ, water, or champagne. Flight time today was 3 hours and 38 minutes to LAX. The movie was THE HOURS which I decided not to watch. I sat down, I plugged my laptop into the powerport, put some DVD in and was in seventh heaven. I do not know how most of you other FT feel, but a personal DVD is so nice to watch at 35,000 feet.
Dinner was nice ..Here is menu..
Warm nuts served with your beverage of choice
Salad with peppers, capers, olive with a choice of ranch or vinagarette dressing
Plum chicken, sweet potatoe compote and fresh vegetables
OR
Lasagne with cheese and vegetables
Ice cream sundaes
OR
Fruit and Cheese.
Most people chose the plum chicken which was great. A single boneless breast of chicken placed along a great sweet potatoe compote and very fresh vegetables.
Dessert was too much for me...but it was your typical AA ice cream sundae.......Quite nice with toppings of hot fudge, strawberries, and nuts as well as whipped cream..
By the time the pilot announced that we were descending into LAX, I had finished my DVD of WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION. Great flick for all who have not seend this..
Until the next trip report..
Jun 1, 2003, 9:16 pm
#2
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Toronto, ON
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Titanium, AA Plat MM
Posts: 3,582
Good trip report, especially for those not familiar with AA's Domestic F product. Other than the ex-TWA segment, it sounds as if you had a good time. Most interesting were your comments about the full flights. Could be good news for all of us AA flyers.
Jun 1, 2003, 10:09 pm
#3
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: DFW
Programs: OWE AA EXP;*A TK Gold; Marriott LTT; Hyatt Globalist; IHG Plat; National VIP
Posts: 3,097
Very good trip report! One note though...sometimes Im having a day when I would be in your seatmates shoes, and 5-6 glasses of wine from DFW to ORD would not be out of order 
Thanks for the report!
Thanks for the report!