Call this the Trip of Multiple Regrets, or if I'd only known then what I know now. Still, I think I achieved my basic objectives. If anyone else is planning to do the AA Fly3 promo, you might get some tips here.


I am closing in fast on 2 Million Miler status on American Airlines, which most of you know confers AAdvantage Platinum for life. It's a perk I'm concerned AA may pull in the near future, since the ranks are filling up and as a non-published benefit it can be eliminated with a minimum of fuss.

When AA announced the FLY3 promotion to highlight their flights out of Dallas Love Field (DAL) and DFW that go head-to-head with Southwest's new flights to Missouri, I jumped at the chance to score 60,000 bonus miles (which count toward AA's million miler levels).

The first problem was getting to Dallas to start a run. If I had given the matter proper thought, I would have realized that I could have started the run from either Dallas or one of the promo cities: Austin, San Antonio, Kansas City or St. Louis. I also was so busy tripping over myself to book the run that I failed to notice that DFW was an option; I mistakenly thought all flights had to go into and out of DAL, as Southwest's flights do.

My energy for researching and booking mileage runs has been waning in recent months. I have been very busy addressing damage to my Florida home from Hurricane Wilma, and there is lots more going on in my life. But I knew that this opportunity was too good to pass up. One evening I resolved to just find the dates to do it and get the flights booked.

I didn't want to have to make more than one big trip for these segments, so that meant piecing together six quick turnarounds at DAL in no more than 2 days. Built around these would be the flights to and from Dallas from San Francisco. The logistics of finding 3 sensible turnarounds each day was daunting; it didn't help that I was erroneously placing more restrictions on myself than I had to. But eventually I found an arrangement that worked:

Day 1
DAL-SAT
SAT-DAL
2.5 hours for lunch
DAL-AUS
AUS-DAL
DAL-STL
STL-DAL

Ditto for Day 2.

To get to Dallas, I researched flights and found that the cheapest base fare was $342. This seeemed ridiculous to me, since I often fly AA from SFO-FLL on a base fare of $169, with a stop in Dallas! So, I used AAdvantage miles to get to my mileage run starting point.

My friend Latitudes pointed out that maybe I had missed an opportunity to do a multi-city route to DFW for cash. I tried various ways, but AA had only limited options, perhaps because this was an obvious nonstop route. However, I ultimately found a much lower fare SFO-ORD-IAH on AA (perhaps to compete with CO?), which when coupled with an inexpensive IAH-DFW ticket still came out cheaper than SFO-DFW nonstop. I bought that combo, and now have an unused award that I have to figure out what to do with.

This past Monday the trip began, with a pleasant flight SFO to ORD. There was just enough time on the ground at O'Hare to run over to Gold Coast Dogs near Councourse G and get my all-time favorite lunch from when I used to live in Chicago, a Char-cheddar Burger.

The trip from Chicago to Houston seemed much shorter than I had expected; it's only 925 miles, so it would have been an ideal upgrade opportunity, but I didn't realize that beforehand. But what a disappointment Terminal A is at IAH! Very, very basic. All my previous experience with IAH had been on Continental, so I was unprepared for what a limited, sterile presence AA has in the largest city in its home state. I had a nearly 3 hour layover, so I amused myself by riding the ridiculous little tram that goes around the terminals in the basement.

Got to DFW at 9 pm, too late for a regular bus to the Fairfield Inn near Love Field, my base of operations. But SuperShuttle was a great option -- they were friendly and helpful on the phone after I landed, and showed up very fast. The ride was $17 plus tip to my hotel.

My first flight on the FLY3 promo was at 07.45 Tuesday, and the hotel shuttle only started at 07.00. I had no idea how long it would take, so instead I took a taxi ($10.50 plus tip). I also wanted a few minutes to get the "lay of the land" at DAL before flying out.

I had checked in online for this flight the day before, in San Fran, so even arriving close to boarding time was not a problem. Love Field is definitely Southwest Airlines territory -- AA and CO have only a couple of gates each, and they are down a long, empty hallway, then another hallway, up an escalator, then down another hallway, and a yet a fourth hallway that in sum reminded me of some government buildings in Washington, DC. The photo links will give you some sense of the distance and loneliness of these remote gates. At the end of this dull, long walk awaits the prize, American's gleaming new gAAte. Looks luxurious, huh? I think AA had a nicer presence at Love back in the 1930's.

The ER4 flight to San Antonio was on-time and easy, even if I was already a bit sleepy from the late arrival at the hotel the night before. AA's gates in SAT remind me a little of the terminal setup in San Diego -- a round pod with 6 to 8 gates, at the end of a hallway. There isn't much to do in Teminal A at SAT, so I strolled down to security and back. I got a BP for the return flight from the gate, and this was the first of multiple instances on this MR where the routine was the same:

"Hi, I'd like to check in for this flight."
"You are already checked in, sir, or you would not have been able to make it through security."
"I didn't come through security at your airport."
"Oh, you came off another flight then? Let me check you in."

Back in DAL, I had lunch at Chili's and bought maps of Austin and San Antonio so I could work out where the airports were relative to downtown.

The AUS run was equally easy, and the Austin airport is great -- large and modern compared with SAT, which surprised me since San Antonio is about 50% larger than Austin in both area and population. But this turnaround was absurdly quick, and I only had time to use the men's room and reboard.

I was looking forward to the 3rd and final run of Day 1, to St. Louis Lambert Field. I know St. Louis pretty well from when I used to live in the Midwest, whereas the only city in Texas I had ever been to prior to this mileage run was Houston. The DAL-STL flight was on an MD80 and was booked light. We left the gate early and arrived at STL nearly 30 minutes ahead of schedule. This gave me some time to explore the terminal, visit the Admirals Club, and get dinner at Wolfgang Puck's. Returning to DAL, the flight was booked to only 22 in coach, which made the Super80 seem enormous and roomy, especially in comparison to that morning's 4 flights on ER4s.

Back at DAL, I caught the Fairfield Inn shuttle and began planning Day 2. I figured that since I was very comfortable with DAL now, and the gate agent said I could arrive as late as 07.35 and comfortably board, I was safe taking the hotel shuttle in the morning at 07.00 to arrive at 07.15.

The big snarl of the trip occurred when I tried to check in online for that flight. AA.com would not let me do it, and didn't explain why. So, I called the help desk and they informed me that the 07.45 from DAL to SAT had been cancelled for mechanical reasons. The flight had missed its last run from SAT to DAL and was being repaired in SAT. Over the course of the next 45 minutes, the agent and I tried everything to salvage my next day's mileage runs... since if the first flight of the day failed, the rest came tumbing down like dominoes. I tried inverting the flights (doing AUS before SAT) or substituting another city pair, but reservations was very firm that those options were not allowed. Eventually we came up with the only thing that seemed to work...

(continued next post)

As I had mentioned, when first booking these flight I had been unaware that DFW was included in the promo. Forced to look at DFW as an option for getting down to SAT, I was struck by how dramatically more frequent AA's service is to the 4 promo cities from DFW than out of DAL. The AA.com agent was able to book me on the 07.00 departure DFW-SAT.

Exhausted, I got to bed about 11 pm, but had to be up at 5 am to take a taxi out to DFW. The taxi was 20 minutes late and the fare was $33.50, but at least I made it on time and my mileage run was back on track. I even had a few minutes to use the AC, which thankfully was immediately next to my departure gate of D24.

This MD80 was almost completely full, although I had 8 D-E-F to myself. I had been booked in 15E by AA.com, which they said was the only seat open. In the AC, the agent moved me to 8D and explained that by law at least 10 aisle seats near the front are always held until 24 hours before the flight, to accommodate disabled passengers. They are released to airport control then, and the AC can access them, too. But AA.com and AA rez cannot, and can only offer them to you in that window if they are clever and/or helpful enough to call the airport directly.

At SAT, I learned that the ER4 had been repaired and was ready to ferry us to DAL, but there was an MD80 sitting in our gate and no other free gates. About 20 minutes later a plane departed and agents were able to slip our ER4 in just long enough to get us all on board. My day was back on track.

Now very comfortable with DAL, I used my "lunch hour" to head right to the Fairfield Inn shuttle so I could drop off some purchases I had made in SAT. One thing I did very well on this trip: I packed really efficiently using new luggage I had just purchased from the TravelPro HQ & outlet store in Boca Raton, FL. I highly recommend it. They have a small room with about 200 pieces of luggage ranging from briefcases and backpacks to small suitcases and 30" pullmans. Some are returns, some are discontinued models, some are overstocks. You have to check each piece carefully, as there are no returns, but some of the deals are spectacular and all TravelPro bags are outstandingly made. For this trip, I used a 22" rollaboard and a laptop briefcase with front storage pocket. I left the computer in the hotel room and packed my Bose headset, video iPod, snacks, water, and various other vitals in the briefcase, which fit beautifully in either the ER4 overhead or underseat on the ER4 or MD80. The $75 computer briefcase cost me $20 at TravelPro. The address is Travelpro USA � 700 Banyan Trail � Boca Raton, FL 33431 � (561) 998-2824. Every 4 months or so they have a "blowout" sale where prices are reduced another 20% or more, and airline industry employees w/ID get 10% off every day.

I returned to DAL on the shuttle, grabbed lunch in the Southwest terminal, and the second Austin run was right on time. I have decided that Dallas, San Antonio, and particularly Austin are worth returning to Texas to explore. The final run of Day 2, and the last of the 6 promo RTs, was to St. Louis. The sun had come out finally on Wednesday, and all the flights had great views. But our approach to Lambert was extraordinary, as we passed just south of downtown, across the Mississippi River and straight on into STL just north of downtown. Those on the left side had an incredible view, and we banked so sharply for the turns that we all could see the Gateway Arch and all of downtown perfectly. Really memorable.

Another light-load flight back to DAL, and this time I stayed in the airport a while longer to have dinner. More good views of Dallas coming in (the best ones were on the approach from SAT and AUS. No one noticed the camera... shhh.) Once back at the Fairfield Inn, I booked SuperShuttle online for my morning trip out to DFW to fly home. Thanks to allystl, I knew to use my Choice Hotels membership for a $2 discount, bringing the ride down to $15 -- a big savings over the $33 cab ride the day before. For some reason, self check-in was balking at my reservations, so I checked in at the counter. I used the premium security line, which surprised me with nice touches like the plastic shoebags and little booties.

The short flight to IAH's dismal Terminal A was easy, but then we had a long delay... the inbound craft from Austin was 30 mintues late, as was our departure. This cut my transfer time at O'Hare from 45 minutes to 15. I barely made it from H6 to K16 in time, but I was determined to get home on the 767-300 flight I had booked! And there is only one of those daily going ORD-SFO. After 17 flights on ER4s and MD80s, I wanted to fly on a real airplane!

I was plenty annoyed -- and tired -- by this point, so I grumbled to the gate agent that I was sick and tired of having AA nearly or actually misconnect me so often in recent weeks that I've been missing meals left and right. She apologized and said she hoped it wouldn't affect my loyalty. This gave me a great opener to say, "I'm angry but loyal. This is my 18th AA flight this week." (It was actually my 20th in 7 days, if you want to get technical.)

Here are my lingering impressions and suggestions:

� American's FLY3 promo is generous, and can be done twice. Anyone who wants AA miles for any reason should do it. Fares per segment bounce up and down from $28 to $68, so check AA.com often.
� American's operation at DAL is grim. It's far from security and offers the bare minimum of amenities: 2 gates, toilets, and a newstand/snack bar.
� After the first couple of runs, I began to regret not doing some flights in and out of DFW instead. The whole scenario began to feel like the movie Groundhog Day, but instead of charming Punxsutawny, Pennsylvania, I just keep returning to what looked like a dismal Social Security office (see pics in first note).
� Security at DAL was ultra-quick midweek; I never had to stand in line. I hear it bogs down a little on Mondays, though.
� I think I would have structured my run differently: maybe slept in AUS or SAT, and spaced my runs out over 3 days like 3-0-3. Even 2-2-2 would have been less stressful.
� From what I have heard, I was wise to avoid Mondays, Fridays and weekends. Many more flight delays and cancellations on those days, plus higher pax loads, just complicate the logistics of getting the flights done in order and on time.
� Let me emphasize again: I should have read the fine print (and FlyerTalk) more carefully, and taken advantage of some more comfortable flights out of DFW to SAT, AUS, MCI and STL. I had eleven takeoffs and landings at Love Field over 2 days, and that was more than enough.
� If you do this promo, carry a printout or PDA copy of all 16 schedules: DFW to and from the 4 promo cities, and DAL to and from the 4 promo cities. It will come in blessedly handy in the event of a schedule interruption. I fact, print these out during your initial planning phase and you'll have a much clearer idea of what your possible combinations are.
� There is a Holiday Inn Select directly in front of DAL; they can have you to the terminal in 2 minutes. Rates are $120 or so. The Fairfield Inn Regal Row was a decent option, and I booked it "blindly" on Hotwire.com. I paid $38 a night vs. $69-79 for the same property on Marriott.com and Hotels.com. Its DAL shuttle operates daily 07.00 until late, takes 10-15 minutes, and also runs anywhere you need to within about 3 miles of the hotel (such as to the TRE Market Center station).
� Make liberal use of the Southwest Airlines side of DAL -- it's where all the restaurants and shops are, and affords decent views of the runway for some close-up looks at takeoffs and landings.
� Be aware that there is next-to-nothing to do near AA's gates in San Antonio. There is a small food court and 3 or 4 ripoff souvenir shops. Austin, St. Louis and Kansas City all have great food and Admirals Clubs.
� If doing ER4 runs, seats 4A and 5A are good if the planes are full. If the load is light, you're much better off having 2 seats to yourself on the other side.
� I had a bright yellow "FlyerTalk.com" tag on my briefcase, but no one picked up on it. I'd still recommend it, however. I did seek out "FLY3 runners" on my own and made some pleasant connections. I especially enjoyed meeting weinskkb and two other fellow FlyerTalkers as I awaited my first Austin flight.
� Most of all, have fun with the quick turnarounds and the ton of bonus miles!

Thanks for the report Horizons ^

Yeah groundhog day is a small price to pay.

I will be editing the OPs to insert photos, where possible. I believe I've just done a few successfully in the first post -- check out the majesty of the corridors leading to AA's new, but remote, gates at Love Field.

I like to read about people's mr's. Nothing like flying for the miles! Nice report. ^ ^ ^

Horizons-

Great seeing you at the two Bay Area events today, and talking about your travels. Good luck on your quest to hit 2 million miles!