Well, a mini-trip report of sorts. I completed my final flight for FLY3 this weekend. Some highlights:
-Nothing exciting LAX-SFO-ORD on AA.
EDIT: Forgot about the stinky hippie sitting right behind me SFO-ORD.... smelled like he hadn't showered since the 70's. I had to turn my air nozzle backwards to blow the smell back towards him.
-ORD-MCI on AA was delayed first because we had to wait to get more air in our tires (again with the adage of, why not last night?), then slight delay due to the rains. This meant I went from 1h40m to connect to my MCI-DAL flight on WN to 50 minutes.
-Arrived to the WN terminal just a few minutes before boarding (glad I got the A, but still one of the last A's in line)... 100% full flight. Still ended up in 11A. In the air either we caught a strong headwind or the captain was going crazy fast, but we arrive into DAL 40 mins early!
-Original plan was to get a ride from DAL to DFW and catch the 2:37pm to AUS. But arriving so early, I had time to look up loads and rush to the AA gates at DAL to stand by for the 12:55pm to AUS. Made it on no problem. Many thanks to
platbrownguy for offering to drive me to DFW.
-Arrived in AUS early, putzed around the AC a while (have I mentioned I love the AUS AC?), then went into town to hang out with my relatives. Highlight of Austin was seeing the bats fly out from under the Congress Blvd Bridge. ^ Sixth St. also looks fun (but no time to stop by). Lunch the next day was Pappacitos (sp?)... VERY highly recommended. This is the best sit-down restaurant Mexican place I've had. Austin will definintely be a town I will come hang out in again, and hopefully soon.
-Back to AUS early, more time in the AC (redeemed my SuperCerts
), inbound plane from DAL arrives early, we board, and AA 3443 departs early, since everyone was onboard. The FA did her announcements, then quizzed everyone as to crew's names, altitude, flight time, temp at DAL... apparently most onboard were doing FLY3, but not sure if anyone was an FTer. Sorry to anyone on that flight, I was being anti-social (actually, I just needed a nap
). Oh, and I was moved from 1A to 5B (supervisor blocked 5C for me)... damn weight&balance issues!
-Arrived in DAL early (see a theme?),
studley picked me up (in the time it took for me to walk from Gate 31 to the curb, he drove around twice), and we proceed to Taste of Addison. Quite a fun time to be had... good food, beautiful people abounded, great weather (a little warm at first, but cooled off a bit later). Met up with
swag, and we proceeded to walk around. I had myself a honey-glazed pork-chop ^, mushrooms with beef/bleu cheese ^^, and a turkey leg ^^^. The turkey leg was most definitely the star, as 4 people came up to me in about 5 minutes, asking where I got it. Finished off with some gelato. Gin Blossoms took the stage singing their hits and some lame new songs (aren't they always?). Tried to win an inflatable WN plane, won a WN luggage tag (so if any AA PLTer is complaining about not getting tags, I can send this one your way
).
swag stayed for the Go-Gos
-Arrived to DAL at 8:55pm for a 9:15 departure on WN. Breezed through security (not only did TSA not harass me about my footwear, the TSAer even told me my flight to MCI was at Gate 3 ^). Arrived as the last A to board (there were no B's)... still snagged myself 12F ^. Funny quote of tonight: "We will now dim the cabin lights for take off. There is a button with a light bulb above you, push it for more lighting or if you're afraid of your neighbor..."
-Arrived to MCI at 11pm. Overnighing in MCI... I actually had decided to stay in the WN "fish tank" (airside) and just hang out/sleep until my flight at 6:20am. BUT, I forgot I had made a reservation to the AmeriSuites, so I guess I'll go there... good thing anyway, I'll need a shower.
EDIT: Asked a TSAer who said no one was allowed to stay "airside" overnight.
Continuation of report
-So I successfully hold up a shuttle full of people because the hotel forgot to pack my lunch to have it ready for my departure, so I had to board under hateful eyes. Couldn't wait to get into the AC.
-Board the 6:20am flight to ORD, nothing to report on the flight itself... but, I wanted to confirm that the 4 ex-AA 757s parked at MCI do NOT have engines. We arrive to the gate at ORD a few minutes late.
-ORD-SJC was a sucky flight, due to the pax. I had a couple sitting a few rows up from me with a 2 yr old, and grandparents behind me, so of course the child is free to run back and forth, waking me up several times. And of course grandma has a huge honkin' camera with a huge flash just taking pics. I finally had enough, got up, and told grandma to stop taking pics as it was disturbing the other pax. Happy Mothers' Day!
Arrived to SJC early. Got a chance to shower and such.
-SJC-LAX.... yay for RJs. Only exciting thing was that the SJC-SAN flight was delayed by 3+ hours for mechincal (waiting for spare part), so they held our flight 5 minutes and shuffled some on board for SJC-LAX-SAN. Oh, and it's weird that I'm the only one who boards when they call EXP/PLT.
-Aftermath: I'm sick
But, I'm ~24K miles richer (prorated FLY3), 6 more RR credits on WN, and 8 segs closer to EXP.