I had a little more than 4 hours to kill before my flight back to the lower 48. I figured a little exercise would do me some good, so I took a stroll around the concourse before exiting the secure area to get my Alaska boarding pass. Of course, I couldn’t pass up checking out the small observation deck which was pretty nice, though there wasn’t really much see at that time.
Tarmac Views
Observation deck
C-17 on Tarmac
Getting my Alaska boarding pass tool a little longer than I expected. There was just one family in front of me, but they were trying to ship 3 bags that were 80 pounds each in the MVP/Gold/First Class line, which I was entitled to use as an AA EXP. The agent was trying to work with them in getting them to take to take some stuff out of their bags, but they weren’t having any of it. Finally, another agent shows up to man the general line a solid 20 minutes later. She waved me up to the counter, and I got my boarding pass seconds later. The other agent and the aforementioned family were still going at it when I left.
I decided to get some fresh air walking outside. It was a good bit warmer than I expected, but still very pleasant.
Downtown Anchorage
Terminal
After getting some funny looks by the po-po patrolling the outside of the terminal (I swear I was not riding dirty), I decided to head inside and clear security which was relatively painless. I was feeling a bit hungry at that point, so I headed to a restaurant just after security. I was seated by a very disinterested host, and it took a good 15 minutes before Susan the waitress came around because she was too busy flirting with the middle aged business looking guys a few tables over. And that was only because her manager noticed and admonished her. Without him, I think I would probably still be waiting be helped. I ordered a tall Alaskan Amber with a seafood salad sandwich. The beer was ice cold and tasty, but the food was very bland. It was a very bad experience overall.
Anchorage Dinner
I was hoping to use the Alaska Board Room on account of my Admirals Club membership, but I was turned away because I was not flying out on an American operated flight. Fair enough, rules are rules. So I found a spot in the gate area to read and watch the gate lice slowly build up.
In typical Alaska fashion, boarding began a good bit earlier than scheduled. I had inquired about the availability of a paid upgrade since it was a fairly lengthy redeye flight, but First Class had checked in and boarded full. After Alaska elites boarded, boarding for partner elites was called.
Alaska Airlines 138
Anchorage (ANC) – Chicago O’Hare (ORD)
Depart: 11:20 PM
Arrive: 8:28 AM
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Seat: 6A (Economy)
To be honest, there isn’t a whole to talk about this flight. I chose seat 6A, which really isn’t a bad alternative to being seated up front. It had plenty of legroom, as Alaska does not use a hard bulkhead between First Class and coach on their 737-700s and 800s. The Captain came on the PA during the boarding process giving us quick update on our flight path and promising this would be his only announcement until the morning. The flight ended up being completely full, so unfortunately the middle seat was occupied. But I hardly noticed as I popped a “Zzz quil” as the cabin door was closed, and drifted off to sleep right at “V1…rotate.”
I woke up a little over an hour outside of Chicago, actually feeling halfway decent. The cabin crew was running a beverage service in coach, which seemed trivial at the time but compared to my red eye in First Class the next weekend it was actually impressive. Regardless, the coffee and OJ was much appreciated. I took a peek outside since the sun was just starting to rise.
We began out decent over Minnesota before continuing east toward Illinois and finally turning south toward Chicago over Lake Michigan, per our Captain. It was a gray, dreary, and rainy day in the Windy City, but I was still able to catch a glimpse of the iconic skyline on final approach. Touchdown was smooth, but our rollout was rather lengthy which I’d assume was due to reduce braking action from the wet weather. Taxi to the gate took quite awhile, and included 3 U-turns. We eventually pulled in next to a Virgin America A319.
First order of business was to make the trek to the H/K Admirals Club, where a nice hot shower was awaiting me. I felt like a new person after showering. Brekkie was a croissant and some yogurt covered pretzels with a ok cappacino from the new Nescafe machine. I settled in one of the quiet room, which had some nice views of the tarmac as well as the active runway. About 45 minutes before scheduled departure, I had pleasure of watching the 737-800 that was operating my flight to DC pull in.
Quiet Room
777-200ER in livery reverse thrust
My ride to DC pulling in.
And that was my cue to head down to the gate, which was just a short stroll away from the club. As I mentioned earlier, I had missed the upgrade on this route the week prior. I was kind of nervous about this flight because it went from 7 First Class seats for sale in the two days leading up to departure. Now, it was showing just 1 First Class seat open and I was number one on the list. Stranger things have happened. Fortunately, the Gate Agent called me up just before boarding and handed me a boarding pass for 3F. Which is probably my least favorite seat in the cabin, but at least I was fortunate enough to get the upgrade. Things could be much worse.
American Airlines 1473
Chicago O’Hare (ORD) - Washington Reagan (DCA)
Depart: 10:30 AM
Arrive: 1:20 PM
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Seat: 3F (First Class)
Since I was right at the podium, the gate agent ushered me to the boarding lane scanned my pass before announcing First Class boarding. The FA in the galley greeted me as I entered the aircraft. After stowing my bag in the overhead, and settled into 3F. I really dislike the seat because legroom is restricted due to the hard bulkhead, though it was perfectly fine for this short flight. I passed time by watching the rampers working hard to get out flight out on time, despite the downpour. Big tip of the hat to them.
I soon found out why there was a sudden drastic decrease in available F seats on this flight. A family of 6 boarded and took residence in the forward cabin, including in 3E right next me. I overheard them say they couldn’t believe how cheap First Class was ($150 more than coach) a few days before departure. If we were in the Delta forum, we’d be moaning about First Class Monetization. But since I’m a rational business minded person, good on ya AA for making a few more bucks AND taking care of your elites at the same time. Hear that SMI/J?
PDBs, which consisted of water or OJ, were served just before push back. Take off was to the North. We hit quite a few bumps during climbout, though the ride smoothed out after we climbed above the tops of the over cast.
Gorgeous day after breaking through overcast
Our hardworking FA sprang into action as soon as we climbed through 10,000 feet. Since AA reduced the seating capacity of their 737-800s to 150 after the installation of Main Cabin Extra, only three FAs are required to be on board. Therefore, the FA serving First Class is usually flying solo which certainly increases their workload on shorter flights with meals. Still, our FA was able to serve a round of drinks with warmed mixed nuts and refills before entrees were served. Unfortunately, the aforementioned large family kept on congregating in the aisles and getting in the way of the FA. Though, she handled the intrusions very professionally and was still able to conduct service. Our flight that day was snack flight, with a choice of a salmon salad or a chicken curry wrap. Since I was on the wrong end of FEBO, all that was left was the wrap which was fine by me since it’s usually pretty good.
Curry chicken wrap and white chocolate cookie macadamia nut cooke
In the interest of time, cookies were served with the meal. Normally I’m not a fan of this practice, but given the short duration of the flight it’s understandable. Another round of refills were offered prior to the meal trays being cleared. Soon we were descending over the Virginia country side. The clouds cleared enough for nice views during decent.
Virginia country side
We arrived a few minutes early, and I was back at my hotel less than half an hour after I deplaned. Gotta love smaller airports. I had to get through another week of boring classroom training before I can take to the skies again.
I hope to have the next couple of sections up by Wednesday and the report finished by Sunday.