well, 2-18 flight AA1975 ORD-SEA the inevitable happened - an LRTC MD80. after just randomly cancelling my normal flight AA868 last sunday and forcing me to take a redeye, i'm beginning to think AA doesn't think much of us seattleites .

on to the trip report...
my first omen of impending doom was when my upgrades wouldn't go through. the 100 hour window passed and there were empty seats but no upgrades. then 72, then 48, and at 24 i look and there are no more 1st class seats. i don't even begin to understand how the priority system works as i purchased and requested the seat about a month ago. so i printed my boarding pass for good ole 21 D around 24 hours before departure (when is AA going to correct the guides that say 30 hours?) so that i could get priority at the gate. my next omen is when our completely full flight in BMI was downgraded to a smaller RJ. i was in a panic thinking that 10 of us were going to get IDB'd (has happened before), but courtney said a bunch of people had taken standby earlier so they didn't need the big RJ. phew, so i went from the back of the plane to the very front seat. some would think, you're complaining? well, when gate checking i prefer to be the last one off the plane so i don't have to move to the end of the line . we departed on time with everything going smoothly and we actually got to ORD on time. after i got my bag (last as usual no matter where i put it on the cart ) i walked into G6a, glimpsed at the monitors to make sure i hadn't been bumped from a gate and strolled to K3. i meandered into the lounge around 20 minutes before departure and of course we are going to be delayed a bit (the monitor never changes). so i stand there for about 5 minutes when the GAs start playfully arguing over who is going to board the plane. after about a minute one of the passengers says "you want me to pick?" they give him a dirty look and then head to their positions.

now, i'm really really allergic to perfume and cologne. so i normally wander over to the boarding line to see if anyone believes in first has marinated themselves in it before i board. if its more than i think the air blower on high can protect me from, i ask an FA to have someone trade with me. well, one guy had fallen in a vat of it on his tour of the cologne factory so i'm thankful for my exit seat.

they call first and then go to group 1. this isn't unusual as this lady at the desk is notorious for stacking groups to see how long of a line she can get into the hall (which is why i love it when they bump me from gate k3 to k9). as i'm walking to the back of the first line, i notice an elderly lady with a cane hobbling up to the line.

i ask her "why didn't you preboard?"
she says "the lady at the desk said they don't do preboards"
i say "she's as full of crap as a christmas turkey. get in line in front of me."
she says "well i'm in group 3"
i say "i'm an elite on this airline if they question it, i'll say you are with me."

about this time we get to the ticket checker and she says "why didn't you preboard?" saddenly, flyertalk has no icon for rolling your eyes .

now the fun begins, she scans my BP and it comes up with some saying i don't have the right seat. so i'm like "maybe my upgrade came through, i'll go to the desk and check". she says "no, i'll check it right here". she then types a bunch of as-400 looking codes into her computer and 4 minutes later figures out my upgrade came through. now, while she is doing this the totally oblivious GA at the desk is calling group 4 to get in line.

she tells me to "go get it sorted out at the GA desk and then just come and get in the front of the line". i had to raise my eyebrow at this. i mean, i watch airline on bravo, you cut in front of the wrong someone and they have to pry them off of you with the jaws of life . so i go to the desk where the GA is chatting it up with a couple of pilots. i wait patiently for her to acknowledge my presence for about 30 seconds (patiently?? ). i roll my eyes at the pilot standing next to me who then suggests to her that she take care of me. she looks at me with a "where did you come from look" and asks me if she can help. i say in my best okie drawl, "yes, ma'am. their tellin' me that you fellers put me in first class." she says "hmm, that's strange". so she looks it up and sure enough i was in first. she looks at a few more screens and then says "oh, your an executive platinum." i looked at the pilot and winked. he didn't look very happy for some reason. of course, i'd find out why in a few minutes. so i get my new boarding pass and meander to the back of the line wondering who i was going to trade with thinking probably the old lady with the cane so she could get off the plane easier. i looked at my boarding pass and it said 6A. 6A? 6A?

i didn't have time to think about it because i was in the middle of some group 3s and pushed on down the jet bridge and i noticed that the guy in front of me was a soldier.

me - "hey, would you like to trade seats"
him - "nah, i don't think so"
me - "what seat are you in"
him - "26E"
me (thinking this is going to hurt me a 100x more than its going to hurt him ) - "i'm in first class"
him - "are you serious?"
me - "yep"

so i get on the flight and tell the FA, i'm trading my 6A seat with the soldier. with a shocked look, she says "that's fine". as a side note, i've had this FA crew 3 times on this flight and all 3 times i've had to give up my 1st seat. so as i'm wandering through the aisle in first, 3 things stick out at me. first, there are 2 crew members in first, second pickled cologne guy is in 6B, and third, why are their 16 F seats (i have to admit i was a little slow last night ). i meander back to 26E and take my seat noticing that the old lady was in 19A (no recline) so i was in a pick your poison situation.

at this point i look at the seat in front of me and think, man that seat is close. i lean forward to rearrange my laptop and the lady in front of me slams her seat back on the top of my head. i felt like i'd been hit by mike tyson it hurt so bad, but she wasn't through. she started hammering the back of the seat to get it to recline more. after losing consciousness at least twice, my motor reflexes came back online and i was able to grab the chair and tell her to stop. luckily planes have rubber tires grounding them out because that was when the lightening bolt struck me. i pushed the FA call button and asked if this was the reconfigured MD80 and she said yes this is the 2nd plane they have done, its really tight back here isn't it? personally, i have no idea how "people of size" are going to fit in any seats behind the exit row (i'm that guy with the incredibly broad shoulders that you just hate to sit next too ).

the girl next to me had never flown AA before and kept asking me questions.

do they have blankets? yes, you can have mine
do they have pillows? nope, not since november
do they have a movie? nope
do they have music? nope

this is the worst airline EVER! i'll never fly it again.

funny thing is, i have 2+ mm miles with them and i was thinking the same thing . i explained to her that AA's biggest asset was their FF program and she should look into it before she is so hasty.

arpey's plan is that the girl next to me was motivated by price to buy the ticket. as long as the price is right, she'll buy. i think this is true to some extent as long as the overall experience of the flight is nothing you'll remember at a later date.

First off, I think that was very big of you to give up your first class seat for a soldier ^

For someone with 2+mm miles with AA, I am sure you know that these things happen from time to time, heck they happen with EVERY airline.

I really don't think it's Arpey's plan to have consumers buy by price, I think that is being dicated by the consumer. He tried to offer a product where he thought he could get a 30% premium, it failed Now he has to compete with the LCC's.

Go ahead and go to another carrier, I am sure you will find that the grass is always greener

i think you missed my point. my sarcastic response (noted by the ) was after getting beaten over the head with a chairback.

what i was saying was for the lady next to me. she was a classic uninformed passenger and assumed that all airlines were the same. she bought the ticket based totally on price, in accord with your discussion of the consumer. the question is whether her onboard flight experience is now going to be a factor in future purchase decisions since she is an infrequent flyer.

Actually, I don't think this is exactly true. From what I gather, Arpey NEVER wanted MRTC and its days were numbered as soon as he took control of the company.

Interesting read. Woaw, domestic flying in the US is such hard work. It makes me tired just to read about it.

Thanks for writing this up! I would never swap my seat for a soldier, so I am very impressed with your generosity.

BTW FT does have 'rolleyes', it's