flyer4512

I guess I could see that as A321 doesn't have lay flat seats, back to back 5 plus hour flights in coach doesn't sound like fun and that's why we are flying east an hour to do the NS from Chicago in the lay flat seats.

RobertHanson

Good luck with that. It's not exactly current, but there was some discussion a while ago about AA doing very last minute plane changes to HNL, where people thought they had lay flat seats, only to arrive at the gate and find a plane with only recline, even in FC. You might want to ask on FT if people have recent experience with that.

flyer4512

I'm confident the ORD/HNL plane ( 788) will remain the same as a lot of planes can't ( or for some reason don't) fly that far. There is one NS ORD/HNL per day and it's seasonal and only on the 788. My guess is that the same plane is flying back and forth.

Planes usually ( as in every plane change I have ever been on) get swapped out well before you arrive at the gate because seat assignments usually have to change.

Maybe shorter flights like PHX or LAX/HNL were changed.

If people had the 788 ORD/HNL flight changed to a plane that did not offer lay flat seats I would love to be pointed to those posts. Thanks

NTP9766

gumercindo

flyer4512

I have been seeing 145K each way when I check MSP/ORD/HNL in March which is peak.

The ORD/HNL nonstop is not even available after March ( not sure when it starts up again) from what I have seen.

If we fly back in early April the NS HNL/ORD is not available and I saw some First saver fares using HNL/PHX/MSP but the PHX/MSP leg was not in lay flat seats. We are not going until March 2021 so I won't know the exact fares until April 2020 when I book

PHL was the other posters flight.

Happy

His trip sounds like almost 2 years later, so what is going on now may not apply. He does need to monitor the situation closer to his departure time, like a month before - so he can formulate a Plan B.

NOT always True. We have had MIA-LHR reverse herringbone lie flat 777-200 swapped out to an angle seat at the gate, AFTER we have done OLCI with correct aircraft that showed correct seat selection before heading to MIA - only to find out when printing BPs from the Kiosk that our seats no longer be the same, and of course the aircraft is swapped at the last moment. So now we would be in the angled recline seat (think of it like a dental chair, it reclines for 170 degree or slightly less - as a result, we always slide down during our sleeps and be woken up by that.)
At the time agent told us last moment swap happened A LOT at MIA on MIA-EU routes. These routes have less business travel traffic than the routes from NYC and ORD or LAX (the most profitable business travel route).

Hawaii is a pure leisure market, so pulling out the better plane when other place needs it, is high probability. Years ago when returning from Kona we had OLCI at Sheraton with correct seats, only found out the airplane was swapped when we arrived the airport and asked where was the gate and when would be the time to enter the waiting hall... The agent did not even have the decency to tell us (because we actually no longer had seat assignment!). Her colleague, a guy, reminded her, Didn't the aircraft is changed and they no longer had their seats? She then reluctantly told us the truth and then reassigned us to the back of the plane.
When we were allowed into the waiting hall, I went to check the AA little office - on the wall there was a sheet of paper with a loooong list of Non Rev waiting to get on that flight, together with 2 Plats and 1 Exp. We could have been bumped off on that flight on awards giving the 2 Plats and 1 Exp had higher priority, and of course the agent may want to take our seats to give her Non-Rev coworkers.
The final truth was, the plane from LAX to Kona was delayed by 5 hours, and AA decided to pull another aircraft for the Kona to LAX return flight instead of delaying the flight to next morning as the original flight was scheduled to depart 9pm or so.
Even when we did OLCI at Kona, the LAX depart plane was already delayed, AA still maintained the same plane / departure time on our Kona to LAX flight.

So yeah, Hawaii routes can have more than usual mess that AA already has, because this is a 100% leasire market.

flyer4512

Perfect..............I'll stay home, lol.........I would much rather open my door and sit on the Gulf but it's a trip my wife wants so we are going for 20 nights hitting every Island we can.

I never said it was ALWAYS true, I spoke of my experiences and while you fly all over the world I fly much more often as we have property is 3 different states now. In the last month I have take 12 flights

As I said this seasonal ORD/HNL route seems to fly the same plane ( per flightaware ) back and forth once a day and it has never been a plane other than the 788 on the 30 or so flights I have checked.

If it happens it happens, not a life changer

Happy

You would never see PHL/MSP served with aircraft with lay flat seats as regular schedule. The long haul configure would not fly the domestic connection segments. No airline would, other than very occasional IRROP that they pull an international config aircraft for short route. We once had an US international config on MIA-CLT because of that. Then CLT-LAX was back to the usual domestic config.

NTP9766

flyer4512

I don't remember ever saying you would see PHL/MSP in a lay flat seat........................

Happy

You mentioned PHL/MSP is not lay flat. I am just saying that this segment will ALWAYS be a regular domestic config.

Actually if flying coach on a trip longer than 6 hours, we prefer to break it up into 2 segments versus nonstop - this way it gives us a chance to stretch our legs, walk the airport a bit between flights while the flights are 3 to 3ish hours each, quite manageable in coach.

We do take a lot of flights a year - you can still fly a lot outside US, Since April we have flown JL F longhaul to NRT, 3 JL coach inside Japan, 3 Air Canada flights booked with UA miles and UR pts, and 2 AA flights booked with AA transportation vouchers for 9 flights in total in less than 90 days. But that is irrelevant as here we are talking about the Pro and Con of AA miles and the various usage of such.

flyer4512

RobertHanson

Thinking it over, I seem to remember it was the flight from LAX that is frequently swapped out at the last minute, if I remember correctly. Experienced and reported by MommyPoints…

Based on your report above, you seem to be pretty solid on your flight.

MaxVO

Happened to me recently - my transcon was switched to a disgusting USAir clunker. AA comped be with only 5K miles.