Need help with a same day MR
 

As Mrs Lieu would say, whats more important, your time or your money. Well,

I can't pass up on the opportunity to fly on the 744 (LAX to ATL) on October 29, 2011. Its an 11:10 AM departure out of LAX.

I am leaving either out of lga, jfk or ewr.

There is a 7:00 AM JFK to LAX on 10/29 which gets me in at 10:00 AM and its on an A330. This leaves me with a 70 minute turn around time to make the flight on the 744 to ATL. If there are no delays, then I'm fine with making the flight back to ATL. If there's anything more then a 30 minute delay out of JFK or in the air, then i am screwed and I'll be more then likely forced to take a 75 back to ATL. Kills the whole reason for the MR.

Common sense would have me leaving the night before (10/28) to make sure there are no delays which cause me to miss the 744 flight, but this forces me to overnight it in LAX.

So, what would you do? Play it safe and overnight in LAX or leave the same day and pray for an ontime arrival?

Total price from NYC to LAX to NYC came to $310.00. Not all that bad!

thx!

Assuming on time or close to on time, 70 minutes should be plenty to hit your connection LAX-ATL. I would start by looking at the on time percentage for your outbound flight to LAX to see how close they usually are to making it when they're supposed to. Otherwise, if you're that concerned and the aircraft is the reason for the MR, might be safer to go in the night before. This would be ideal if you also needed a MR for hotel elite status!

I find that the westbound transcon flights (I fly JFK-PDX or JFK-SEA a lot) are almost always early on arrival. I think they build a lot of time into those schedules both for the typical painful taxi times at JFK but also for the unknown headwind conditions.

I already think you are crazy to spend $300 just to ride in a 747 (why not just add a few hundred dollars more and take a RT to somewhere more exotic on the normally scheduled 747 flight). So if you are that crazy, you should be crazy enough to try and make the turnaround.

There's padding in that schedule for sure.

Also, I don't think OP is crazy because he'll probably get an easy UG to B/E since it's a domestic leg. You'd be paying MUCH more for that on an int'l leg.

Oh, I am certifiably crazy! That much has been confirmed.

$300.00 isn't to bad. I mean, any other 747 destinations and I am looking at 3 times the cost, at least. Plus, time is a factor to. I only really have a day for this, at most a day and half.

I'll probably book the 7:00 AM departure out of JFK as the weather in NY around the end of October is pretty calm. I'm guessing the dispatch reliability on the A330's are pretty good?

With over 40 seats on the 744 in J, I had to say, why not? The UG should be easy for Plats and Golds as well. Nothing really compares to the ride you experience on the upper deck of a 744. For a plane enthusiast, its well worth the money.

Still on the fence for the same day MR or the night before MR. I mean, with the night before MR, I can make it a In-N-Out MR!! :cool:

+1.

Many of us fly these birds constantly (HKG and NRT are pretty much just rows of jumbos as far as the eye can see..nothing like US airports) but for somebody who is a plane enthusiast and primarily a domestic traveller $300 is a great price to fly up stairs in the big seats and "feel" the ride in a really big bird. It is a pretty cool thing..if, like many of us, you are into that. Something about the way a 744 turns on final still gets me. I would prefer to sit in a 777 Lie flat but the 744 has a "feel" that is pretty amazing.

I'm doing this against my better judgement. I think you know what I'm talking about avid (t-72).

It was a tough decision to make, cause the flight before the 744 is a 77L. I'm telling you, I'm like a kid in a candy store. However, the 77L (and 77E) are common and routine on a few domestic routes. The 744 however, is not.

I much prefer the seats on the 77E and 77L but hey, the decision has been made and the 744 won hands down!

Now that I am rebooked on the A330 out of JFK on the same day, cross your fingers for no delays, otherwise there goes my 744 MR! :D

Best of luck! It is a great ride and an engineering marvel. To feel that much airplane bank hard left and then end up on heading is a just spectacular. FWIW The 744 wing can flex 26 feet (or 13 feet up or down) which goes to how big that plane really is! Have a BLAST and if you do overnight in LA I would suggest the Hilton for ease and a PM to me to join you in the Hilton bar for a drink. I am in Calabasas which is about a half hour north west without traffic....2 hours with ;)

Thanks avid.

I've got until midnight Wednsesday to change my mind to arriving the night before. Will PM you if I do.

I certainly understand the OP's reason to fly the 744. My wife & I worked out a KLM flight ORD/AMS on the 744 upper deck. It was awesome.

I am now considering the JFK/CDG on Air France A380 "just to say I did it".

I couldnt pass up on the opportunity...Got a great S fare for Thanksgiving break. Will be on the upper deck of the 380.

????

Is this in *addition* to your LAX trip on the 744?

Dude - you really *ARE* nuts!!

Two MR's a year is hardly nuts. I've slowed down in my old age!

It's not the two MRs...it's the first MR just to fly on the big plane, and then booking another one on the 380 just because PolicyPeddler mentioned that he aspired to fly on one, and you just could NOT resist!

LMAO!!!