I am on the return leg of a DUB-LHR-LAX-HNL-PHL-DUB run, and sat in the Flagship Lounge at LAX watching low cloud and hoping it will lift soon. 400 ft layer the pilot explained as he did an auto-pilot landing.

I start my next one on Thursday - DUB-LCY-MAD-JFK-LAX-HNL-LAX-JFK-LHR-DUB.

ex-DUB TP Run (almost live)
 

@CaptainC747 if you checkin with the AA app it will show you how many people are standing by for an upgrade so you will know how many neighbors you are about to have.

Not sure what, if any impact, the current merging of US/AA will have on the app but that's the pre merger status quo.

I have the AA app but I am not an AA FF. I only belong to BAEC does that mean I still can check?. I can see the fare buckets and what is still left.

I assume when you say checking I can only do that 24H out from the flight?

I can't UUA from BA MMB. It is a AA ticket but I guess I could give them a call no harm and asking

Cheers

Captainc747

ex-DUB TP Run (almost live)
 

You can still check, or at least as a BA FF I've been able to check and it's been a long time since I've had any AA status. You won't get a complimentary space available upgrade as an EXP would but as a BA FF you will get upgraded after AA flyers of a similar level and ahead of AA flyers of a lower level if they are overbooked.

Immigration and the Admirals Club at JFK
 

Immigration at JFK was somewhat chaotic. A number of passengers had onward connections which needed to be rebooked, and there was meant to be a representative there to help these people. Although she was there, she also seemed to open some of the barriers at random mixing the US and non-US passengers together. This meant that people didn’t know where to queue, resulting in a bit of a blockage and some people starting to get frustrated. In the end I only waited about 15 minutes, but that was in part due to getting off the aircraft fairly quickly. There were already some people in the immigration hall when I arrived, probably too many to have come off the same flight, so no doubt they were from the ‘later’ BA flight.

Now why do immigration officers need to be so ignorant? A series of barked orders with no pleasantness, no matter how hard you try to smile and be friendly. Have to say, when arriving into JFK with VS in February I was able to use the automated terminals and this was a more welcoming experience. Even my first visit to the US last year was so much more pleasant.

Once past immigration I went to go through customs only to find I had been selected for a secondary bag search. My heart started pumping wondering what I could have do wrong. But there was nothing much to worry about as my hand luggage simply went through a scanner. Phew. And with that I was free to head towards the Airtrain.

On arrival at T8, I went through fast-track security, or priority, or whatever they called it. This was certainly not as fast as either LHR or Dub, or even slow track at Manchester the day before.

From there it was a case of heading towards the Admirals Club. Have to say I was not overly impressed. Yes I could have a few beers – although no premium ones. There were a couple of soups and a few bits of cheese and crackers. I may have been spoilt with the few lounges I have visited in the past with BA, but this certainly did not fill me with much desire to return. I made a fairly sharpish exit and headed early to the gate. In some ways I should be relieved that I didn’t have another three hours to spend in there.

Aa181 jfk/lax
 

I had heard a lot of good things about the A321T service from FT and along with the CW flights this was one I was looking forward to trying out. Boarding was fairly swift and well organised despite very little space in the boarding gate area and the fact that they started boarding about five or ten minutes later than advertised. I quickly found my seat and settled down. A pre-flight drink was offered and accepted. The Prosecco was a little acidic and not up to the standard of the Tattinger.
I’d tracked this flight a number of times on FlightRadar and it often appeared to depart late. However, we pushed back five minutes ahead of scheduled departure and made our way down to the runway. This didn’t seem to take too long and we were soon in the air.
The seat itself was spacious in terms of legroom. I actually found the foot rest a bit too far forward despite being over 6 feet. There was a large fixed IFE screen directly in front with a separate handheld controller. Overall, the standard of IFE was far superior to that which I experienced on the earlier BA 747. The addition of the Bose headphones made a real difference. I never realised how good these were. All controls for the seat were located on a panel near the shared table with the passenger in 6B. Behind your head there is a small shelf where you plug in your headphones and any power needs. A bottle of water was already in position which I thought was a nice touch.

Meals were served about an hour into the flight. This was a starter of herby chicken with fresh fruit, a goats cheese salad and a choice of entrees. (When in America!) I had pre-ordered the steak. The other options included a gnocchi and a tomato based dish. I don’t do tomatoes. The starter and salad were fine and probably on a par with my experiences in CE. The steak came with mashed potatoes – with a cherry tomato plonked in the middle. Why? The port based sauce was a little strong but perfectly edible. The steak was succulent. I tend to go for well done but am getting better as I get older and will eat steak with a bit of pink. I would have to say this was probably medium to medium-rare, but I still ate it. Some parts of the meat were perhaps a little cool, but overall I am sure most steak lovers would find little to fault it on. I washed all this down with a few glasses of merlot.

However, the real highlight was the ice cream sundae. Absolutely delicious. Later on in the flight a basket with some goodies was placed on the shelf just in front of my seat. No missing out this time. Although I was pretty much stuffed so didn’t bor. I did try the freshly baked cookie later on.

We made excellent time across the US and ended up landing in LAX an hour ahead of schedule. I think a fair portion of this was due to the swift departure from JFK. There was a fair bit of trundling around to get to the gate but eventually we made it off, and I was able to say a belated hello to my first ‘planned’ FTer of this visit. (If reading, I hope you had a good onward connection to HNL.)

Very glad to see you back online madfish

Was getting a bit worried about you with no report for 24 hrs...

Do continue keeping us informed!

Aa1410 lax/las
 

Having arrived early I had a bit more time to enjoy the sights of LAX. Instead I headed for the Admirals Club. Very much the same as the one at JFK, albeit smaller. Nothing much to report of this other than I like the simplicity of the connection between the gates. After a relatively short while in the lounge I headed towards the gate. Seating around the gate area seemed limited, and the way in which the seats faces towards each other made it awkward to seat in a section already occupied by somebody else. Just seemed to be encroaching on space.

Boarding was called on time, with First and status passengers called forward. I think I was the only person who moved. Even at checkin, I was the only passenger in First although I was joined by a couple of others on board. I assume they were AA members and had updated at the gate. Once again the flight seemed to board without too many issues. The usual offer of a drink, and later a light snack were offered. I opted for a soft drink as knew I had a long night ahead with plans to meet up with some other FTers when I arrived in Vegas. Pushback was again prompt but t appeared to take an age to get to the runway. To be honest I even nodded off and when I woke, thought for a moment that we had already arrived in LAS and I had missed the whole thing as we were still making our way to the runway. Sadly this was not the case, and I was soon up in the air again.

The flight was operated by a 738 and cannot recall any real issues. For some reason my blanket was already open and had been put back in the bag, so I swapped it for the one next to me. Although the seat turned out to be empty so didn’t really matter. The cabin crew were friendly and polite, although seemed to prefer talking amongst themselves. For those who may be interested, one of them was fairly young, and the other in the front was middle aged. Think this beats the age of some of the ones I have heard of flying US.

The flight seemed to take a while. Perhaps because I was tired, but we more of less made it to LAS on time. And here’s where I realised I hadn’t actually given as much thought to the airport experience itself, having focused on the flights. I planned on getting a taxi but what I hadn’t taken into account was the need to get to the right place. With two terminals, I followed the signs for ground transportation. Although arriving in terminal 1, I ended up leaving by terminal 3. Not sure if this is normal or not. However, the taxi stand was nearby and I joined the queue. I had an idea of the price as large signs give details of the various hotels and average prices. Although staying at Monte Carlo, I headed to Bellagio where I had agreed to meet with Teledude, 62aClubWorld and njf63.

As for Vegas… you know the rule!

Aa311 mia/jfk
 

The final AA flight and this was on board an older 757 which had been subbed a week or two before hand. I had been warned that there was less legroom in row 1 in comparison to the 738s I had previously travelled on with AA. But first, Admiral Club at MIA.

The previous flight arrived at one of the lower numbered D gates and I found myself wandering along and into the Admirals Club by gate D15. The lounge was very much the same as the previous ones. Same food and drink offerings. I spent about 30 minutes in there before heading out to explore the terminal a bit. I walked around to the E gates, and saw where the Premium Lounge is located. Unfortunately this doesn’t open until 1pm and so there was no way I was going to be able to access it. This part of the terminal was in complete contrast to what I had seen in D. Dirty, run down and in need of refurbishment, which looks like what they are doing. The D gates was a much more pleasant experience. With not much else to do I found myself going into the second Admirals Club. This is the larger of the two and is located by gate D30. Again, same food and drink offerings. What is worth noting is that I was given two vouchers on entering for the premium drinks at both lounges. If this is your thing then lounge hopping may be an option. I hasten to add, I used none of the vouchers.
I could explain about boarding, but this was very much the same as previous flights, and you have probably read it already, assuming anybody is actual reading. Only significant difference was an announcement that it was a full flight and they were looking for volunteers to have their bags checked for free. Definitely more bags being taken on board, reflective with the number of business travellers, and higher density of seating compared to the JFK/LAX route.

As I took my seat in 1A there was clearly less leg room, or more accurately feet room as no seat in front to put them under. A series of clear announcements from crew and flight deck were made and this certainly had more detail and a sense of personality than some previous ones. Once again boarding was completed and the doors closed before scheduled time of departure. However, we were delayed a few minutes before pushing back. It was then a quite slow and painful trundle towards the runway. (I will try to remember/make note of actual runway codes – still something I have to learn.) In total it was a good half an hour before we had wheels up.
Service on board was good. A team of quite young cabin crew, but they were friendly and polite. Pre-departure drinks, followed by a full bar service with warm nuts. I had pre-ordered the steak again. Sadly this was not of the same standard as on the A321T. As many have complained of poor steak, this was the same. To be fair, I may be doing it a disservice as it may have been termed as beef, rather than steak. It was more beefy. It was edible but hardly anything to write home about. Portion sizes were also noticeably smaller. This came with an accompanying salad and was rounded off with another drink and a warm cookie. Where’s the sundae? I know they were serving the sundae on the slightly longer LAS/JFK flight so why not this one?

This is one of the few flight reports that I have actually written mid-air. At present we are about an hour out from JFK. We have flown up the coast and were mostly over the sea for the first half before cutting in land. Looking out of the window I can see what appear to be two fairly substantial rivers or at least inlets, although no idea where exactly we are. There’s an airport in-between the two. I want to suggest something like Washington, but will have to check when we land.

We came into JFK from the North (or so I think). Seemed to be quite low over the house on approach as we executed our final turns. Was among the first off the plane and out to the Airtrain to take me to T8.

Nice, very nice. LAS cabs are a bit of a racket sadly. You have to tell them you don't want to go via the highway or IME they will take you on a magical mystery tour that seems to double the fare!

AA boarding is always reasonably impressive too, especially in comparison with what we get here.

How are you doing jet-lag wise?

Jet lag only matters if you sleep! I have generally been fine during the day and at night as adrenalin kept me going. A few times when sat down where I have literally dropped off for a few seconds. I still have four flights to do and don't get to see a bed until Thursday. What would be worse is doing a back to back to HNL. Speaking of backs have just had a massage.

The answer is the Flight Radar 24 app. This with inflight wifi :-)

Last time I was at MIA, I came to the same conclusion for extra drinks. D15, D30, D15 again??

Just discovered this!
 

Guys - I've just been sent a link to this forum and get to BA Gold the hard expensive way each year.

Now i want to get involved and and fly in a bit of luxury and without scraping in with 2 weeks to go and retaining my status.

All help and pointers gratefully received. I want a TP run anytime soon preferably from Dublin and anywhere long haul......!

Welcome to FT. ^

There's an enormous thread that is always running on this subject where you're best off asking: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...er-thread.html

(A mod may or may not cut/splice your query into it first)

Honestly, unless you're aiming for the upgrade vouchers at 2.5k or 3.5k, there's not much point in a TP run... you'll be over the threshold anyway and won't make GGL at 5k points without some serious extra flying.

Just find the best sale fare you can - if you're averaging 125 TP per month, that'll still probably get you to gold four or five months sooner and you'll have a more relaxing time.

There's nothing that compelling at the moment, however... hopefully there'll be a post-Easter sale.