tjcxx

1/ Those like OP with SWUs who can fly J for the BE price.
2/ Those like Antarius (and me) who appreciate the AA 77W seat's length and footspace.

brewdog11

As mentioned above, only doing it because I can pay for Y and likely fly J. If I were paying out of pocket for J, AA wouldn’t even be a consideration.

Long Train Runnin

Also, I think this flight will be very popular with the nonrevs of AA!

vasantn

I'm with the OP. I enjoy ULH flights in premium cabins. It's a way of removing myself from the routine hassles of everyday life, and the bonus is that no one can reach me on the phone!

You may be looking at it backward. The purpose is not just to burn the SWUs; it's to take advantage of them and enjoy a nice, long, comfortable, and peaceful break from everyday life; instead of wasting them and sitting at home.

davecraze

I have been eyeing this flight for later this year in December and see almost no award availability on expertflyer on the AA flight. However, two of the three NYC-DOH Qatar flights are C7 for tons of dates.

On the day I prefer, despite being C0 on expertflyer, AA,com shows award availability for the AA120 flight, but no award availability on the the Qatar flights where expertflyer shows C7. Am I doing something wrong here?

carlosdca

I can think of many many ways to remove myself from the hassles of everyday life without having to get on a metal tube with potentially grumpy FAs (AA)
For everyday life, you can just switch your phone to airplane mode if you don't want to get disturbed.
But to each his own.

If I wanted to do this (burn SWU), I would choose whatever destination offers the best value (cheapest Y ticket, confirmed SWU, 8hrs + travel time) and I would not care about the destination at all.
DOH would be the one of the places I'd be least interested in (I already did and spent 2 hours at AlSafwa, nothing I could not live without).
But if the value is there, ok, why not.
Cheers,

JJeffrey

Yes you have your award and upgrade classes all mixed up.

AA metal flights:
C = upgrade space from Economy/PE to Business
U = sAAver business space

QR metal:
Z = First award space
U = Business award space

If you're looking for a business award on QR (or AA) you need U space.

vasantn

Will switching the phone to airplane mode save the OP from being yelled at by an irate spousal unit for having forgotten to perform some menial household chore?

Dave Noble

No - but that is probably better than being yelled at additionally for wasting thousands of dollars to just travel from point A to point A

BavarianFlyer

Flying DOH-JFK on July 19th in F, will see how it goes!

carlosdca

MMM.
I was being serious.

But if that's the case:
- Don't "forget" the menial task, if it's that menial, just do it.
- Seems spouse might need some attention? Book a getaway for you two and burn the SWU on that trip, or get a different "choice reward" so you can share the benefit with such spousal unit and make spouse happy?

metallo

Mine don't go to waste. I use them J to F, and I gift them to family, usually when traveling with me. I don't really need more SWUs (and I've posted about picking the miles over the SWUs for some of my choice rewards), but when I have SWUs, I can generally find a way to use them without flying to Doha. That's all I meant.

I guess if this is the OP's best opportunity to use them, and he really wishes to do so, more power to him.

My first couple of years of frequently flying, I probably would have loved a trip like that just for the novelty of it. Now, particularly with all of the patchy COVID restrictions that remain here and there, along with AA's inconsistent international service/soft product, I'd rather use them on a real trip, not a trip that sort of has the markings of a mileage run (even if it's not specifically for that purpose).

PresRDC

QR runs several departures to the States that leave around that time (JFK, ORD, DFW, and LAX). They arrive in the States in the morning. I find it a perfect time to depart.

Basically, if you can stay up to eat right after takeoff, you'd then be looking to sleep at a reasonable bed time at your destination. You can then sleep as much as you want without having to worry about messing up your body clock for when you arrive. And, for me, the very late departure makes me more tired and more likely to want to sleep for a long time on the plane.

beachfan

You could just check into a nice hotel in a big city and get room service or Door Dash, bring you own wine/booze or go down to the bar.

I also can't do a home staycation, but I don't need to be at 40,000 ft to get peace.

beachfan

Not to mention catching it on the plane out and quarantining in DOH. I caught mine most likely on a plane last month, luckily I could drive home from Phoenix.

If the test to return was finished, I might, but that's a big roll of the dice now, even if it doesn't often come up snake eyes.