I did this run back to back on Dec. 11 - 12. I will admit it was a little awkward because it was the first time i was doing it but as I sat down to do the work I had brought wiht me, it dawned on me that the FA had their work to do as well. I'm sure they do what most polite busy people do: Acknowledge it and conclude correctly that as long as I am properly ticketed they should leave me alone and hope I do not cause any problems. (smile)

I had an weird experience once...did a PVD-IAD-RIC-ORD-RIC-IAD-PVD. Left PVD 6am...stayed in at ORD overnight, left ORD at 6am.....didn't have to worry about missing the transfers because they were all on the same CRJ-700. I had one crew from PVD-IAD-RIC-ORD, and the next morning...had the same crew....was asked if I wanted a job!

I am very distinctive, old, l(ong straggly beard. In F when asked for drink choice it is always a"poor man's mimosa please." (orange juice and sprite).

For two of my talt flights to Man during the Volcano activity the outbound crew talked with the return crew at the hotel and described me. Then on each return trip had my pm mimosa ready when I sat down.

ralph

I will never forget the face a FA made when she approached me after realizing I was scheduled to be on her next flight. The flights in question was PDX-ANC-SEA on the same plane. She figured it out by looking at the paperwork.

I almost always fly the same route BOS/PDX and run into the same FA's all the time. They arent shocked anymore, except when I tell them i plan on staying for a few days

The potential issue that can arise with any short turnaround MR is that if the outbound flights are delayed, the cutoff for checking in for the return may occur. The fact that the return flight will also be delayed is actually not a factor since the computers will base the check-in cutoff based on the scheduled departure time.

Good topic. On the few MRs I have done, they always have an immediate turn and it's usually on the same plane. I agree that it feels a bit awkward, but often I will have chatted with the FA in F on the outbound and will have found out whether they are returning. If so, I usually mention what I'm doing, although I have occasionally concocted reasons besides MRs. I have NEVER encountered an FA who seems clued into the concept of mileage running.

I have always been recognized when getting back on, and if an FA looks surprised I just say "your service was so good on the way out, I just had to do it again."


Not necessarily a problem on all airlines. It IS a problem on DL, which I'm guessing is who you fly. Just check in via your PDA immediately after the door closes on your outbound flight, or via delta.com during the flight.

Last week I did IAH-SMF-IAH 2 days in a row on the same plane.

The first day FAs were surprised to see me boarding for the return flight. One actually approached me and asked: "are you doing this for miles?"

The 2nd day when I was on the outbound flight, one of the FA recognized me immediately and said: "you are baaaaaaack!!" I was sitting in 1B, and overheard her telling other FA (who weren't on the flights the previous day) in the gallery about my itinerary.

For the returning leg I didn't get upgraded. I was sitting in my seat while others were still boarding, and one curious FA walked to me and started asking me question about MR. During the flight another FA came and chatted me up, and actually offered me a blanket and free wine though I was sitting in economy class.

I would like to know how you can tell if on your return it is the same ship as you were on for your outbound? The MR's I have done so far have all been different ships on the return. Knowing you are on the same ship would be a huge relief trying to get back home. Obviously I cant answer the OP question.

GA and FA faces are priceless when they see something strange

Few years ago I went from IAD to GSP via Kentucky, Utah and Georgia. My routing was IAD-CVG-SLC-ATL-GSP. When GA saw my routing he declared that he can put me on IAD-ATL-GSP flight which will get me to GSP about 11 hours earlier. I didn't take his offer

When I did DCA-LAS-DCA runs for the past couple of weeks I started laughing when FA got "that" look after announcing gate for connecting flights.
I was on a flight DCA-LAS and she read over PA system "Washington Reagan????? gate A7". Look on her face was priceless

I've done a lot of same aircraft returns, but sometimes with diferent crew.

I've skipped offers from GA to do RDU-DCA non-stop when I had RDU-CLT-PHL-DCA itinerary

Flying is fun

Did my 12 hours in Vegas, courtesy of Expedia.ca, and had the same cabin crew both ways. We both asked the other if they got enough sleep.

not sure at a hub, but in SJU, there are 2 UA flights -- IAD/SJU/IAD and ORD/SJU/ORD -- which don't usually overlap on their ground-time in SJU, and leave from the same gate where they arrive, so it's pretty easy to know.

even easier someplace like BKK, where there's exactly 1 UA flight in and out each day.

and yes, it was nice on my MRs to SJU knowing that i would never misconnect in SJU.

on one of the runs, i missed a golden opportunity though:

had flown the LAS/SFO/ORD piece of an LAS/SFO/ORD/SJU/ORD/LAS MR. had turned off my phone while sitting in the plane in ORD, and the pilot announced that he the plane needed 2 tires changed, and we'd be delayed an hour. my thoughts were, "no worries, i can't misconnect in SJU." my thoughts should have been, "turn on your phone." a GS agent had called and left me a message saying they'd re-routed me ORD/LAS instead of ORD/SJU/ORD/LAS to make sure the mechanical issues didn't result in me making it home that night. i could've spared myself 1/2-day of travel and then asked for original routing credit... darn.

I did a double trip MR run to Hawaii 3 weeks ago (Fri-Sat and Sun-Mon). Was recognized by a flight attendant from the Fri outbound flight who was working the red eye Sunday night. She commented I'd had a quick trip - didn't have the heart to tell her that I'd actually been home on the Saturday and flown back to HNL again on the Sunday!

Was fun telling a nosy PAX at ORD who was giving me 50 questions about my trip when asked how long I'd ben in Hawaii. "An hour"... he thought for a minute, opened his mouth to ask question #51, but then shut up

Another fun part of the trip was spotting fellow MR'ers... one guy got off the plane in MKE and looked lost... 10 mins later he got on the MKE-ORD flight on the same metal he'd just flown up on. I was laughing to myself knowing what he was up to!