With the late arrival it was no surprise that the return flight to Dallas was also late. I wasnt worried as this time I had a bigger connection in Dallas, although obviously any delay eats in to lounge visit time

Its been a while since I've flown out of an airport where an active air force (or in this case marines - why they should have an jet air capacity in the first place when there is a perfectly good air force as well, and then to base it well inland of all places I have no idea but I digress) uses the same runways as civilian aircraft (unlike eg Singapore where the air force has its own runway). So it was a surprise to have the taxi held up for some marine jets taking off and others landing.

The snack served was very similar to that on the way in so I pass. The weather had deteriorated a bit so no views, and in any case by the time we reached Dallas it was again dark. Again arrival and departure gates almost as far apart as can be so by the time I reach the lounge there is no time to do anything other than use the bathroom and back out again. The monitors show our flight back to New York as boarding but arriving at the gate it is clear we wont be for a while. The gate agents refuse to give a boarding time so I decide not to return to the lounge (which is some distance away within the terminal).

Apparently the aircraft had just arrived on international flight and so supposedly required special cleaning/security checks. These dragged on and on, so we boarded nearly an hour late. My own personal on-time performance stats for AA are atrocious - all four flights either late arriving, or both late departing and arriving; and none could be blamed on the weather.

With the delay they also changed the meal service (in F at least) from dinner to snack which turned out to be the same as the light lunch on the Dallas to Fresno flight. The 737 was full but again I had a bulkhead seat. By now I was getting tired and so tried to doze but the seat wasnt comfortable enough to do so. The only thing of interest (well to me) were the lights of other aircraft taking off and landing at Dallas Fort Worth and presumably Love Field, and then also on approach to New York city - this time on a different flightpath (duh different airport) to the previous night. However during the day the cloud and showers over New York didnt clear and so the view was mostly obscured.

With the flight being so late and nearly first to leave the aircraft (and no checked bags) the taxi queue was non-existant and so quickly made my way to the Millenium Hilton. Whether it was my HHonors status or the tired look on my face I dont know, but scored an upgrade to a fantastic corner suite ^ Unfortunately the first few times they set the keycard it didnt work so it was 2am before I was finally able to get checked in properly.