|
An Adventure in Segment Running (Delays, Reroutes, Downgauges)
So, this was supposed to be a fairly simple weekend of segment runs serving two purposes:
1) Helping the boyfriend complete a PLT challenge on AA 2) Earning a bunch of segments to requalify for EXP on AA myself. Planned Itinerary: Saturday, March 10 AA 1646 STL-ORD 8:25am-9:35am AA 4349 ORD-CMH 10:50am-1:00pm AA 4180 CMH-ORD 3:30pm-4:00pm AA 1464 ORD-STL 8:00pm-9:15pm Sunday, March 11 AA 2472 STL-ORD 10:00am-11:10am AA 2146 ORD-DTW 1:25pm-3:40pm AA 1904 DTW-ORD 4:40pm-4:55pm AA 1037 ORD-STL 5:40pm-6:50pm Day One Today is supposed to be a mileage run to CMH with the boyfriend to get him is PLT challenge on AA once we go to London at the end of the month. He's never done a mileage run before and thinks I'm a bit weird with some of the trips I've taken -- but as long as I'm willing to upgrade him when we travel, he doesn't mind. However, he didn't like the idea of getting off of a plane and getting right back on to head home. So, I suggested staying in Columbus for a few hours to grab lunch at least before we return. Then I do the bonehead move of booking the wrong return flight ORD-STL and give us a four hour layover. No worries.. EXP status should bail me out on standby for the flight I intended us to take. Fastforward a few weeks and uh-oh. There's something we want to do that evening at 7pm and the plans change to standby for the immediate return flight to ORD and then back to STL which should get us home a little after 4pm. I wake up at 6am on Saturday -- Patrick had started to stir and I'm a light sleeper. So, it looks like I'll be surviving on 5 1/2 hours of sleep. I log in to AA.com and see our STL-ORD flight has been delayed 58 minutes -- crew rest I assume. I look for backup plans and see a non-stop STL-CMH at 9:30am, but only one seat is available. It's off to the airport to see what we can find out. Arrive at the Admirals Club and the delay is due to crew rest. That's good news in one way since it shouldn't be one of those creeping delays that doom all good travel plans. But, that leaves us with a 17 minute connection in Chicago -- a stretch not counting the fact that ORD-CMH flight was downgraded from a 70 seat CRJ to a 50 seat ERJ making it heavily overbooked. As visions of VDB vouchers dance in my head, I can picture us arriving at the gate five minutes before departure being told "Sorry, you're too late... we're booking you on the next available flight", which would have totally screwed up our plans. Luckily, the STL-CMH flight now has three seats open and we can be booked on that. It's a much safer alternative although I'm bemoaning the possible loss of $250 in travel vouchers. Plus, the loss of the segment won't affect Patrick's PLT challenge. STL-CMH Revised Flight AA 5292 STL-CMH Scheduled 9:30am-11:50am Actual 9:25am-11:50am Operated by Chautauqua Airlines It's a pretty typical American Connection flight on an ERJ-140 -- the only exception being Barb, our flight attendant. She's the first FA I've seen in a LONG time who takes an active interest in her passengers -- chatting with each one. Patrick is grading papers for his Algebra I class and they have a three minute conversation which she seems totally interested in. That's a rarity these days. Arrival into CMH is right on schedule. We go into the terminal and ask to be placed on standby for the 1:35 departure back to Chicago. That's done but the bad news is this is the same aircraft which was downgraded ORD-CMH. The flight which should have 10+ empty seats is now oversold. That doesn't look good. We have lunch at the High Street Cafe on the concourse. Not bad by airport prices/standards. The 1:35 flight boards and we have no hope. It's oversold by 9 -- EXP status won't help in that situation. So now we're back to out 3:30 scheduled flight and hopes of standby on the 4:40pm ORD-STL. CMH-ORD AA4180 Scheduled 3:30pm-4:00pm Actual 3:20pm-4:00pm Yet another typical ERJ flight -- left a minute early, arrived ontime (in spite of landing 25 minutes early with a hold for an unavailable gate, ramp congestion and lack of personnel to marshall us in). A quick dash to the Concourse G Admirals Club gets us listed for the 4:40pm departure -- with seat assignments although we were yet to be confirmed. We briskly walk to K1 and find ourselves on the cleared list. ORD-STL AA 1037 Scheduled 4:40pm-5:50pm Actual 4:37pm-5:37pm It's a short flight to STL, 43 minutes in the air putting us at the gate 13 minutes early. We end the day a segment short of plans and an hour and a half later than planned but no harm done. We make it to our event before heading home for some well needed sleep before the next day. Stay tuned for Day 2... |
Day 2
After another night of shorter than preferred sleep, I was set for a day trip to DTW for another 4 segments for EXP.
You may ask why all of these one day out and back trips. Well, considering my travel patterns (roughly 40 segments a year for leisure travel with little, if any, business travel) the cheapest way to EXP is through segments -- find a route which AA is matching WN on that would require a connection. From STL, this list includes DTW, OKC, CMH, CLE and OKC. They are usually available for $98+ for a 4 segment roundtrip and sometimes as low as $78+. This gives me EXP status for about $1500 out of pocket. Sounds like a lot, but consider that is a year of domestic upgrades plus 8 eVIPS worth 25,000 miles and $300 each. I think the trade-off is worth it. So, I wake up on Sunday morning and check availability on Expert Flyer. The ORD-DTW flight had been fairly full since I started checking. Late last week, F was marked down to 0 availability even though a number of seats were unassigned. On Saturday evening, the F availability opened up (giving me my upgrade). Before I leave for the airport, the flight shows at least 7 seats open in First with no availability in coach. Not looking too good for a bump. I get to the airport and check again. The flight is zeroed out. I pull up the seat map and it seems like I'm looking at an MD-80 seat map, although the flight is on a 757. I check with the agent at the Admirals Club and she confirms the equipment downgrade. I ask if it's overbooked and she replies "WAAAAAY overbooked". So, off to Chicago I go. STL-ORD AA 2472 Scheduled 10:00am-11:10am Actual 10:05am-11:14am The flight comes in late from Chicago but turns around rather quickly. I get an open seat next to me in First, which is always nice. The in-flight service (drinks) is what I expected. Cran-Apple is about a hard as I'll go at this time of them morning. We arrive in Chicago and I check availability again -- still all zeroes. A stop at the Admirals Club and I'm told the flight is oversold by one. (I'm a bit puzzled by this statement, but with this being my second interaction with this agent, I realize she's not the most forthcoming with information nor the most helpful -- you can figure out who I'm referring to, I'll confirm if you have any questions!) So, I figure I'll grab lunch and show up at the gate an hour before flight time to see what happens. After an enjoyable meal of Panda Express (I recommend the location in the rotunda between the G and H/K/L concourse over the one in the H/K food court -- much less crazy), I head over to K7 to see what's going on. Ninety minutes before flight time, there is already a line at the counter. Apparently, they called for volunteers early. I get in line and overhear the agent say they only need two more people -- unfortunately I'm still fifth in line. I stay there, just in case. As I work my way towards the front, I realize the "just two more" refers to a rebooking option to Flint or Toledo. I finally work my way to the counter and find out the flight is oversold by 40 -- I guess that's what happens when you downgrade a full 757 to an MD-80. I explain I'm doing a segment run and that I will gladly just fly back to STL if I get the VDB voucher. The agent I'm talking to is unsure but the special services rep overseeing the flight tells him no problem. The guy in front of me is a bit curious when I mentioned a 'segment run' so I explain it to him, along with FlyerTalk (John, if you're reading this, feel free to shoot me a PM). He had accepted a reroute to FNT along with the voucher. While I'm waiting for my voucher, I spy a list of rebooking options presented to the agents on the counter:
Each of these options have 2-4 seats each. The rest of the passengers would have to be bumped overnight or AA would have to do involuntary denied boardings. I grab my $300 voucher and head off to the next flight to STL. I'm fairly certain a riot will erupt before this flight leaves. STL-ORD (Rerouted Flight) AA 321 Scheduled 1:55pm-3:05pm Actual 1:50pm-2:45pm While I'm waiting on standby, a gate change moves AA2146 to H17 -- the gate next door. A lot of very unhappy people wander over from the K concourse. I keep my distance. I'm cleared into F and board at my first opportunity. F is fairly empty until a non-rev family board taking up six seats -- at least they are well behaved. We leave on-time, my drink is replenished (it's afternoon, so add vodka to the cran-apple) and we arrive 20 minutes early. I lose out on two segments, but end up $300 ahead. Summary of the weekend Planned: 8 segments, one PLT challenge complete Actual: 5 segments, one PLT challenge complete, $300 ahead I think it was a fair trade-off. Greg |
| All times are GMT -6. The time now is 2:54 pm. |
This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.