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OTP-PHX TP runs in April 2019 Meet Up Thread

Old Nov 13, 2018, 1:33 am
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Last edit by: jfallesen
It seems like we have quite a few are taking advantage of the recent good price on OTP-PHX so I thought it might be a good idea to see if we could put together some ad-hoc meet-ups. I don't want to organise anything as it seems that we are all travelling on different dates and, in some cases different routes, but it would be a shame to be on the same flight or in the same lounge as another FTer, not know and not be able to share a beer and stories... if that is what you want. Of course, if you like to travel alone then that is great too.

So, if you want others to know about your travel plans and fancy saying hi to fellow FTers please post your details and I will add you to the wiki. If you have wiki update access then please, by all means, update the wiki yourself

I am posting my hotel arrangements but if you would rather not do that yourself but wish to post your flights then that is also perfectly fine.

For those that want to read about the Aug 2018 PHX mini-do (quite a few did it!) it is here : https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...ug-2018-a.html

There are some links at the end of the wiki to interesting things to do around Phoenix. Please feel free to add to this list if you wish

Note: Times are DEPARTURE times.

OTP Hotel Vienna : H2L, Shl (+1)


29th June
BA885 OTP–LHR 07:55 : jfallese
BA67 LHR–PHL 12:40 : jfallese
BA4672 / AA854 PHL–PHX 17:25 : jfallese

2nd July
BA6358 OTP - LHR 07:55 : LondonAndy

3rd July
AA6538 LHR - HEL 08:25 : LondonAndy
AA6480 HEL - LHR 14:10 : LondonAndy

4thJuly
AA6214 LHR - JFK 11:20 : LondonAndy
AA1587 JFK - PHX 16:10 : LondonAndy

5th July
BA5451 / AA883 PHX–ORD 13:45 : jfallese
BA296 ORD–LHR 20:55 : jfallese

6th July
BA886 LHR–OTP 13:50 : jfallese

7th July
AA0760 PHX - LAX 10:10 LondonAndy
AA0032 LAX - JFK 13:15 LondonAndy
BA887 OTP–LHR 17:55 : jfallese

8th July
AA6143 JFK - LHR 07:55 LondonAndy

9th July
BA0794 LHR - HEL 08:25 LondonAndy
BA0886 LHR - OTP 11:40 AlisonB84 + 1
AY1337 HEL - LHR 16:00 LondonAndy
BA0884 LHR - OTP 18:55 LondonAndy

10th July
BA0885 OTP - LHR 07:55 AlisonB84 + 1
BA0885 OTP - LHR 07:55 Jason8612
BA0067 LHR - PHL 12.40 AlisonB84 + 1
AY1344 LHR - HEL 13:50 Jason8612

11th July
AA0686 PHL - PHX 13:50 AlisonB84 + 1
BA6005/AY HEL - JFK 12:45 Jason8612
BA4344/AA JFK - SFO 21:15 Jason8612


12th July
AA 1844 SFO - PHX 16:00 Jason8612

16th July
AA480 PHX - SAN 17:10 AlisonB84 + 1
BA0272 SAN - LHR 20:30 AlisonB84 + 1

17th July
BA884 LHR–OTP 18:55 : AlisonB84 + 1

18th July
BA886 LHR/OTP 0815 Gastrocnemius+1
BA887 OTP–LHR 17:55 : AlisonB84 + 1

19th July
BA885 OTP/LHR 0755 Gastrocnemius+1
BA115 LHR/JFK 1420 Gastrocnemius+1
AA2615 JFK/SFO 2115 Gastrocnemius+1

20th July
AA1868 SFO/PHX 0915 Gastrocnemius+1

22nd July
AA12339 PHX/JFK 0843 Gastrocnemius+1
BA116 JFK/LHR 2010 Gastrocnemius+1

23rd July
BA886 LHR/OTP 1140 Gastrocnemius+1
BA885 OTP/LHR 1750 Gastrocnemius+1

24th July
BA886 LHR-OTP 11:40 : thejohn

25th July
BA885 OTP-LHR 07:55 BA177 LHR-JFK 13:10: thejohn

26th July
BA 4310 JFK-LAX 06:00 BA 1742 LAX-PHX 16:33 : thejohn

28th July
BA5244 PHX-LAX 09:54 : thejohn

29th July
BA4751LAX-BOS 14:00 BA202 BOS-LHR 21:40 : thejohn

30th July
BA886 11:40 LHR-OTP : thejohn

31st July
BA885 07:55 OTP-LHR : thejohn
Things to do

Top-Rated Tourist Attractions in Phoenix
Top hikes in the Phoenix area
Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation - Taliesin West
Heard Museum
Museum of Musical Instruments
Arizona Rattlers Football Team
Titan Missile Museum
Pima Air & Space Museum
Print Wikipost

OTP-PHX TP runs in April 2019 Meet Up Thread

Old Mar 31, 2019, 9:13 am
  #121  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: living near Malaga
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Originally Posted by LondonAndy
The real killer was the JFK - PHX flight as they don’t have beds, and that is when I could have done with a sleep the most! If I didn’t need the TPs I probably would have done JFK LAX PHX instead of the HEL shuffle.
Its a couple of weeks before my run and I have a couple of questions about this leg.
(1) what aircraft was it ? I read my flight is supposed to be a 737-800 , is that the same as the grounded Max or different
(2) its 5 hours , did you have any IFE? I had seen that I would need to download an app and stream something on my tablet if I wanted to watch anything.

Like you I am doing the Helsinki Shuffle but overnighting in OTP staying for the best part of 8 hours overnight in Romania.

Looking forward to picking up any further tips or insights.
sunshinebob is offline  
Old Mar 31, 2019, 9:32 am
  #122  
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1) the 737-800 is a previous generation of the 737 compared to the MAX. All MAXs are grounded atm and it’s unlikely any will be flying by the time of your trip.
2) from memory the aa aircraft should have IFE. However you may want to have things on your tablet as there is no guarantee there will be something you want to watch on it.
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KARFA is offline  
Old Mar 31, 2019, 9:40 am
  #123  
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
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Programs: BAEC | qantas | IHG | Hilton Honors | Priority Pass | Nandos
Posts: 864
Originally Posted by KARFA
1) the 737-800 is a previous generation of the 737 compared to the MAX. All MAXs are grounded atm and it’s unlikely any will be flying by the time of your trip.
Also, I think I remember reading that AA's MAXs are almost all based in MIA.
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Old Mar 31, 2019, 9:48 am
  #124  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: NCL
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Posts: 647
Two places with an aerospace theme (near Tucson, well south of Phoenix, so only for those who are staying long enough) are:
https://titanmissilemuseum.org/
Pima Air & Space Museum

I'm hoping to do both in July...
Tocsin is offline  
Old Mar 31, 2019, 11:20 am
  #125  
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: London
Programs: BA CCR/GGL, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,483
Originally Posted by sunshinebob
Its a couple of weeks before my run and I have a couple of questions about this leg.
(1) what aircraft was it ? I read my flight is supposed to be a 737-800 , is that the same as the grounded Max or different
(2) its 5 hours , did you have any IFE? I had seen that I would need to download an app and stream something on my tablet if I wanted to watch anything.
It was the 737, but not the Max8 (as Karfa said they are all grounded).

On some AA flights in the past they’ve handed out tablets - not on this one! You had to download the AA app (which I couldn’t do on my iPad) in advance to stream content but luckily I had enough BBC programmes downloaded to fill the time!
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Old Mar 31, 2019, 12:13 pm
  #126  
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Originally Posted by LondonAndy
On some AA flights in the past they’ve handed out tablets...
Yup... flying can give me a headache sometimes too
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snaxmuppet is offline  
Old Apr 1, 2019, 5:59 am
  #127  
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I have switched my hotel at OTP from the Ramada Plaza to the Vienna House. It is walkable, cheaper, includes breakfast and on the deal I have it includes dinner too. There is even a sauna!
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Old Apr 3, 2019, 1:29 am
  #128  
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Northants, UK
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Posts: 111
AA have rather stuffed up this run for me. My return flight from SAN to JFK has been cancelled and they can't find an acceptable alternative. I am now returning directly to LHR on 21 Apr on AA6204 at 20:45 arriving 15:20 on 22 Apr so I will miss my BtB to OTP. Booked via Amex originally and they were really helpful in trying to find an alternative schedule that worked for me, but this is what I am left with. Loss of 220 TPs (and 80 for the likely cancellation of the return from OTP unless I change the return to the 23rd for a cost of Ł100) but apparently AA have agreed in principle to award avios and TPs for original routing.

Grateful if someone could update the wiki please.
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Old Apr 3, 2019, 5:09 am
  #129  
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@Wbeest Sorry to hear about your issues. I have updated the wiki for your SAN - LHR but I have not changed the OTP flights until you know whether you are cancelling or changing. Just post and I'll update
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Old Apr 3, 2019, 5:34 am
  #130  
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
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Originally Posted by snaxmuppet
@Wbeest Sorry to hear about your issues. I have updated the wiki for your SAN - LHR but I have not changed the OTP flights until you know whether you are cancelling or changing. Just post and I'll update
...thnx snaxmuppet
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Old Apr 5, 2019, 4:12 am
  #131  
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
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Now that I've had a day to recover, a couple of points that may make the lives of others easier:
- The B2B at OTP was really a breeze - on the B2B thread navylad had a problem not so long ago, but I found it fine.
- On the return leg I couldn't get AA to check my bag from PHX - JFK - LHR - HEL - LHR - OTP as it passed through LHR twice in one day. They said that if they checked it to the first LHR stop then I could pick it up from the AA luggage desk when I arrived back to LHR for the second time. I was very sceptical, but it worked absolutely fine.
- I, like many people, stayed in Vienna House. I tried calling when I arrived to get the shuttle bus but couldn't get through, so decided to walk. I wouldn't say that it was terribly well lit, had many people around, or the smoothest pavement, but I got there in a bit over 10 minutes. Just make sure that you go to the carpark straight ahead of the terminal, get the lift down two floors, and then keep walking in the same direction towards the main road (using the footbridge of course!). The shuttle bus the next morning took almost as long as it seems to take a very convoluted back-road route.

Good luck to everyone, and I "look forward" to doing it all again in July (maybe 32 hours from leaving one hotel to arriving at the next, with 5 flights in between, was a little too much!).
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Old Apr 5, 2019, 4:44 am
  #132  
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Helsinki
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@sunshinebob - I'll be on your AY flight to HEL on 17Apr (though slumming it in the back as this is my flight home). So if you're going to be in the CX lounge beforehand (and why wouldn't you be) you'll find me trying to make sense of what day and timezone i'm in!
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Old Apr 5, 2019, 6:16 am
  #133  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
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Originally Posted by offshore_bob
@sunshinebob - I'll be on your AY flight to HEL on 17Apr (though slumming it in the back as this is my flight home). So if you're going to be in the CX lounge beforehand (and why wouldn't you be) you'll find me trying to make sense of what day and timezone i'm in!
Will see you there.. We have decided where possible to try to stay on Euro time but like you will prehaps be a tad jaded. We stay in HEL later that night before heading back to LHR for the sixth time on this somewhat mental TP run.. Ho Hum.
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Old Apr 6, 2019, 2:32 am
  #134  
 
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Don’t know whether it has already been mentioned, but this could be useful for 2020 if the good OTP-PHX fares continue.
https://hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com/...HGI/index.html
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Old Apr 6, 2019, 3:01 am
  #135  
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Originally Posted by WickedStepMother
Don’t know whether it has already been mentioned, but this could be useful for 2020 if the good OTP-PHX fares continue.
https://hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com/...HGI/index.html
Wow, that's really good news when you arrive late evening and depart the next morning. The hotel is 150m from arrivals ! Driving time is said to be 0.05 min, but the demand for taxis/rental cars for this distance might be low. Prices from €57 for Hilton Honors members, which is competitive, certainly in comparison to the unimpressive 'Worst Beastern'. the only OTP airport hotel I've stayed in. Not just good for next year, the HGI takes reservations from Nov 07, so TP-runners in late November and the Holiday Season now has a good alternative for a pure overnight stay, Hopefully the fare to PHX will be extended to these 'usual' periods.

Edit: No interesting fares have yet been loaded for the two periods above, but hopefully will be soon.

Last edited by onobond; Apr 6, 2019 at 3:10 am Reason: added info
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