October 28, 2005
Miami to Dallas AMERICAN 737-800 Coach Class 903a – 1102a
Dallas to Seattle AMERICAN 757-200 Coach Class 1234p – 247p
Seattle to Denver ALASKA 737-400 First Class 600p – 933p * Snack

The morning commuter traffic into Miami was quite heavy, so it was a good thing I got an early start out of Florida City, located about thirty-five miles south of Miami. Despite getting on the highway at 6:15am, I didn’t present myself at the American Airlines ticket counter until 8:10am. Alas, there’d be no time to visit the Club America, a very nice Miami only airport lounge affiliated with the Priority Pass lounge access program.

Down at Gate 32, bedlam was the order of the day as hordes of passengers jammed the entrance to the jetway. Finally, the agent shut the jetway door and re-announced – in both English and Spanish – that boarding would be by group number ONLY and that passengers in groups four, five or six were only delaying the boarding process by trying to board now. I heard three different languages in my immediate vicinity, so I wonder if it was her announcement or her tone that ultimately provided some relief. I love to fly, but such anxiety to board an airplane I will never understand.

Once onboard, I settled into my non-reclining exit window seat and enjoyed the sights as we pushed back and taxied out for takeoff. Amongst the more memorable views were bright yellow DC-8s, DC-9s and 767s from cargo carrier DHL along with a handsome blue, green and white DC-10 from Arrow Air. Also noted was a fleet of winglet equipped Amerijet 727-200s resting quietly at the far end of the cargo area.

Flight time to Dallas was announced as two hours and thirty-eight minutes, a prognostication that ultimately was off by only three minutes. Service consisted of a couple passes with the beverage cart and a complimentary granola bar. Also available for $3.00 was American’s “Silver Box”. This box is offered for sale on flights prior to 10:00am, so it would seem reasonable to assume that it would contain breakfast type items such as yogurt or a breakfast bar. My seatmate purchased one and it contained:

 Nabisco Wheat Thins®
 Sunbutter®
 Knott's Berry Farm® Jelly
 Nabisco Fig Newtons®
 Newman's Own® Raisins

Not exactly what I’d want to eat in the morning.

During the flight, I had an enjoyable chat with my seatmate. Our conversation started when he noticed the book I was reading – Michael Crichton’s State of Fear – but soon drifted toward his job and travels. He worked for Boeing auditing parts suppliers for Boeing jets. Although most of his travel was in North America, he was very much looking forward to an upcoming trip to Korea. I got the sense that what he was really looking forward to was a big wide seat across the Pacific in Northwest’s World Business Class.

Our arrival in Dallas was right on time. My onward flight to Seattle was to depart from gate C-29, right next door to the SkyLink inter-terminal train station. With a little more than an hour to go before the Seattle flight would begin boarding, I decided to pay a quick visit to Continental’s Presidents Club over at Terminal E.

Last year, I would never have been able to do this because it would have involved exiting the terminal, waiting for an inter-terminal bus, then going back through security over at the E Terminal. That entire procedure would be repeated upon my return to Terminal C, so there’d be little if any time to enjoy the lounge.

DFW’s new SkyLink train allows passengers to quickly and easily travel between all terminals without ever leaving airside. For those making inter-terminal connections between American flights, the SkyLink is a huge improvement over the ancient and rickety old TRAAIN.

Boarding was just wrapping up as I arrived back at C-29. Today’s ex-TWA 757-200 was completely sold out, leaving some disappointed stand-by passengers to mill about DFW for another two hours until the next Seattle departure. I was thankful to have snagged a spacious exit row seat, even if it was across from door 2R where there was no window.

Back in the good old days of commercial air transport, this four-hour flight from Dallas up to Seattle would have featured American’s Flagship Service in the forward cabin and a choice of hot entrees in the back. The ticket price would have been higher however and First Class passengers would have actually paid a higher fare for those First Class seats. Back then, the only way to upgrade was to pay the First Class fare.

These days, First Class gets a choice of hot entrees while those sat behind the curtain get a bag of pretzels and the option of purchasing the “Red Box” for $3.00.

The Red Box contains the following items:

 Stoned Classics™ Tortilla Chips
 Heinz® Salsa Sauce & Dip
 Gourmet® Cheddar Cheese Sauce
 O'Brien's® Honeycured Turkey Stick
 Nabisco Lorna Doone® Shortbread Cookies


The Red Box’s collection of junk food is fine if you live in an alley but if you want something halfway decent to eat onboard, you really must bring your own food. DFW offers a good variety of take away food outlets, including all the usual franchises such as McDonalds and Taco Bell. There is also some local flavor with a barbecue place and a burrito shop. My personal favorite however is the Manchu Wok outlet. I stopped by there before today’s flight and shelled out $6.50 for a big container of steamed rice topped with Sesame Chicken and Chicken with Mushrooms. Add some hot sauce along with a fortune cookie and I’m in seventh heaven. As for my fortune:

You will make a big impression on everyone you meet this month,
particularly the Asian women on the jury.

Flight time between Dallas and Seattle generally runs close to four hours. After finishing my Chinese feast, I had hoped to put in a bit of work on this Trip Report. Unfortunately, since today’s aircraft was an ex-TWA machine, there was no laptop powerport for my laptop. The inflight movie was Young Frankenstein, one of my favorites but one that I watched on another American flight just a couple of days ago. Good thing I still had another 437 pages to read of Michael Crichton’s latest thriller.

Meanwhile, the guy sitting next to me just stared at the wall in front of him for four hours. I’m always amazed how anyone can show up for a four hour flight and not think to bring a newspaper, magazine or book along. Then again, I’ve come across plenty of people who hardly ever read unless they have to. Maybe this guy was meditating…

Approach to Seattle was from the north. This is always one of my favorite approaches into SeaTac - when I have a window seat, that is – because it affords such a great view of the downtown area as well as overflying Boeing Field and the Museum of Flight with its 707, 727, 737, 747 and Concorde all parked in fleet formation.

Faced with a three hour layover in Seattle, I decided to pay a rare visit to Delta’s Crown Room, located just three gates farther down the A Concourse from American’s area. In terms of overall ambience, I think Delta’s Crown Room is the nicest looking lounge at SeaTac. I love the dark woods, warm fabrics, nicely lit seating areas and big windows overlooking the gate area below. Now if only this lounge had free wireless access like Alaska’s Boardroom and Continental’s Presidents Club.

Later, I headed over to Alaska’s Boardroom and languished over a pint of Alaskan Amber and a plate of veggies with dip before heading up to Gate D-6 for my flight down to Denver. According to my flight log, this would be the one hundred and twenty-seventh time I’d flown the Seattle – Denver route. Oh Boy! Although Alaska has surpassed United as the airline most flown on this route, I’ve flown SEA-DEN with Continental, Frontier and Wien Air Alaska as well.

Once sat, I watched with interest as a fellow First Class passenger arrived to find all the overhead bin space above his bulkhead seat taken. This despite the fact that both 1A and 1B were as yet unoccupied. The man behind me in 3C chimed in to make it known that a passenger from Coach had placed his stuff in there and then headed back to his seat. A sign on the bin door over row one clearly states that this bin is reserved for bulkhead row passengers only. The offending baggage was quickly removed and replaced with the bag from the rightful tenant. I never did catch what happened with that Coach passenger’s bag, but I think it was gate checked to Denver. I sure hope so. If one is traveling in Coach, their baggage has no place in the First Class cabin unless there’s absolutely no other place aboard. At the time I’d boarded, the plane was only about half filled, so it was evident that this coach passenger simply didn’t want to carry his bag to and from his seat in the back.

Alaska’s website indicated that a dinner would be offered in the forward cabin on this two and a half hour flight to Denver. Alaska calls it a dinner, but it’s really a snack – essentially the same food they serve on all First Class luncheon and short dinner flights systemwide. The choices this month are:

Italian Salad
Highlighted by turkey slices with black beans, tomatoes and Asiago Cheese
Served with Caesar Dressing

Warm Chicken Sandwich
Accented with Marinara sauce and Monterey Jack Cheese


I’m not kidding when I say the choices this month. Alaska used to cycle its meals every week but with the Draconian cuts to meal service instituted last year, Alaska has now gone to a monthly menu. I’ve had the chicken sandwich a couple of times this month on the Chicago to Seattle route. It’s garnished with three canned mushrooms, a cherry pepper and an olive. That’s it. No longer is there a side dish such as the little serving of pasta or rice salad. On longer flights where Economy also gets fed, this First Class sandwich is essentially only about 15% larger than the chicken and cheese sandwich served back in Economy. But those canned mushrooms are really awesome…

I opted to go with the salad and was not disappointed. Most of Alaska’s salad entrees are quite good. Now if only they would see fit to offer a dressing better than the Naturally Fresh® brand…

Interestingly, drinks were offered with dinner rather than before dinner. To me, this is just laziness on the part of the Flight Attendant. Unless you’re eating a hotdog or a burger, who wants to drink beer or scotch with their meal? Were this just a one hour and thirty minute flight, I could understand, but on a two hour and ten minute flight, there was plenty of time to get out a round of drinks and then serve dinner. Believe me, with over 1500 First Class flights to my credit, I’ve seen it done too many times before. That said, most of Alaska’s Flight Attendants do a pretty nice job so it’s a bit of a shame to see the occasional indifference of one potentially tarnish the higher level of service provided by so many others.

We landed in Denver right on time and parked next to an America West CRJ-900. I look forward to seeing US Airways’ new colors on this and other aircraft in the months ahead.