Re: Airlines selling F upgrades cheap, undercutting Elite flyers

I feel like AA has been doing this for over 10 years now, and is a key part of their revenue strategy. I can clearly remember being offered $30 upgrades at the kiosks checking in - and this was as a lowly non-stAAtus AAdvantage member. I'd rush to the airport obscenely early to try and snag one of t...

Re: What aircraft have you flown transpacific?

Only 2 transpac trips for me, so a short list:

American:
787-8 DFW-PVG-DFW

United:
747-400 ORD-NRT
747-400 HKG (Kai Tak!)-SFO

Re: What aircraft have you flown transactlatic?

Let's see; not much variety here either:

Concorde:
British Airways

A330:
Swiss

A340:
Sabena

747:
British Airways
Virgin Atlantic

767:
British Airways
United Airlines

777:
British Airways

MD-11:
Delta Airlines

Re: The Worst Red Eyes You’ve Done

I've done the UAL DEN-IAD redeye once, and that was unpleasant, especially sitting in E-. I also had a few late evening DFW-IAD flights on AA get massively delayed (usually due to weather in Dallas), and wound up being unintentional redeyes leaving after midnight and arriving at 4am. Those flights w...

Re: First Time You Flew on an A320?

Mine was March 31, 1994 - Dragonair KA374 from Guilin to the old HKG Kai Tak. It is one of the few flights where I still have the old handwritten paper ticket.

Re: What non-weather issues at an airport could cause the airport to be closed with no notice?

About 6 years ago, a construction contractor cut through the primary electric cables that feed the Atlanta airport. The airport was shut down for most of a Sunday evening due to zero electricity. No lights in the terminal, no jetways could be moved, etc etc etc.. Something similar happened at Phoen...

Re: Avelo to Lakeland florida

Well - this will certainly make going to Sun 'n Fun a whole lot easier!

Between this, resurrecting service at Wilmington, DE, and their rumored attempts at Manassas, VA they are certainly looking at some interesting secondary airports.

Re: Washington, DC Airports (BWI, DCA, IAD) - 2023

UA used to fly IAD-COS using a Mesa CR7 and with outrageous airfares. Many coworkers of mine would just fly to DEN and rent a car instead while I just flew AA via DFW and got a pair of mainline jets instead for half the price. None of us wanted to be on a CRJ that long. I hear all of this, but I th...

Re: Washington, DC Airports (BWI, DCA, IAD) - 2023

Pleasantly surprised to see BWI-COS added on WN daily starting 6/4 (also announced in the Southwest thread). There wasn't a ton of love for BWI in this extension compared to BUR, DAL, or MCO, but to be honest there aren't many more dots WN can add from BWI that fit their current network profile. I'...

Re: Your Emptiest Transatlantic Flight?

Mine was a BA IAD-LHR flight back in 2008, when BA still had a seasonal eastbound morning flight. A 7:50 am departure with a 1/3 full flight in coach on a 777-200. Everyone had a block of 3 seats to themselves, making for a very relaxed trip across the pond.

Re: Your 2023 Booked/Flown Flights

My travel seems to come in sprints this year; have already flown: March: DCA-DFW AA A319 DFW-COS AA 738 COS-DFW AA 738 DFW-DCA AA 738 DCA-CLT AA A319 CLT-GNV PSA CR7 April: GNV-CLT PSA CR9 CLT-DCA AA A319 DCA-CHS AA A319 CHS-DCA AA A319 DCA-DFW AA A319 DFW-SEA AA A321 SEA-ORD AA 738 ORD-DCA AA 738 D...

Re: Last time you flew on a tri-/quad-jet

Looking back at my notes, it's been longer that I thought!

Last quad was a BA 747-400 LHR-IAD in June, 2008
Last tri was a DL 727-200 EWR-ATL-CHS 10 years before that, in April 1998

Re: Jet age airline with most varied/ interesting fleet at one time

USAir in the late 80s after their merger frenzy was pretty diverse as well, with 13 types by my count:

767-200ER
757-200
727-200
737-400
737-300
737-200
MD-80
DC-9-30
BAC 1-11-200
BAE 146-200
Fk100
F.28-4000
F.28-1000

Re: How many diverted flights have you been on?

I've had it happen twice, both times on American: CLT-STL diverted back to CLT to offload a 'disruptive' passenger. DCA-PHX diverted to TUS due to a power outage at PHX - sat on the ground for 2 hours before continuing on to PHX. Almost diverted a third time - flying LGA-CAK on AirTran, we had a go-...

Re: What 5th freedoms have you flown?

Only 2, both over 20 years ago:

United NRT-PEK
LACSA JFK-CUN

Re: Washington, DC Airports (BWI, DCA, IAD) - 2023

Five or six departures from DCA using runway 4 tonight. Planes flew right over Nationals Park where I was watching a game. Took us all by surprise - never had I seen one before, much less several. And the really cool part was that 1 and 33 were still being used concurrently. Triple departures! How ...

Re: What is your best and worst airline you have flown this year?

20 flights this year so far; 17 on American, 3 on PSA (American Eagle). The PSA flights were all average, so by default my best airline so far this year has been AA, and my worst has been AA. I had 2 great flights DCA-DFW, and SEA-ORD, but like a lot of folks this year, I've been bitten by the fligh...

Re: Washington, DC Airports (BWI, DCA, IAD) - 2023

Dipping my toe into the runway use debate - I've noticed over the past 2 weeks or so that American's 5am departures from DCA have all been using RWY 33 on a consistent basis. These flights include a pair of A319s to MIA and DFW. Is there any reason for the shift?

Re: A Day Trip to Try Denver Air Connection

Fellow O's fan here - that TB series was fun to watch.

Also, great report, sorry about missing out on TEX but thanks for sharing and congrats on the new mortgage!

Re: Your 2023 Booked/Flown Flights

2 weeks into the year, and I have my first few booked, with several in the planning stages: March: (Both booked) IAD-CLT - PSA CR9 CLT-DEN - AA 321 DEN-DFW - AA 321 DFW-IAD - AA 321 -- DCA-CLT - AA 319 CLT-GNV - PSA CR7 GNV-CLT - PSA CR7 CLT-DCA - AA 319 April: (Planned) DCA-DFW-COS r/t on AA May: ...

Re: GoFirst (GoAir) files for bankruptcy, due P&W GTF faulty engines

Who will eventually buy P&W to dig them out of this hole? Could a Grumman or Lockheed buy them? Would they want to? I suspect GE would never be allowed to buy them. Nobody will be buying P&W if Raytheon Technologies isn't selling. No, I can't imagine GE ever getting anti-trust approval to b...

Re: Largest and Smallest Aircraft You've Flown On

Largest - Boeing 747-400
Smallest - Cessna 152
Smallest airliner - Saab 340

Re: American Airlines heritage fleet disappearing??

Given the history of how the current American Airlines came to be I would also argue the heritage fleet is good for employee morale. How many legacy TWA, Piedmont, PSA, etc. employees are still out there? I've had recent trips where the cabin crew identified as Ozark. That doesn't even come close to...

Re: DC to NYC Train vs Flying

A couple of back roads in DE and MD take the misery out of Baltimore. Yes! I have to do DC-Philly for work occasionally, and will always drive over Amtrak. The US50 / 301 combination up the Delmarva peninsula is so much nicer than I-95. I carpooled once with a colleague who usually takes Amtrak, an...

Re: DC to NYC Train vs Flying

Another DC native here: only if I am going into midtown Manhattan will I consider Amtrak. In my experience, Amtrak tends to be the most expensive option, plus I live in the NoVA suburbs, so getting to Union Station in DC is a hassle. My rule of thumb is if I'm going to Philly / Long Island / Westche...

Re: AA A319 Has to be the worst US legacy cabin

I don't disagree, although I don't know if it's as bad as you claim. The main problem with AA's A319 is that with only 8 seats in F, getting an upgrade is almost impossible, even for top-tier elites. You know it's bad when I've booked PSA CR9s to increase my upgrade chances vs. taking the A319 flig...

Re: Your 2023 Booked/Flown Flights

2 weeks into the year, and I have my first few booked, with several in the planning stages: March: (Both booked) IAD-CLT - PSA CR9 CLT-DEN - AA 321 DEN-DFW - AA 321 DFW-IAD - AA 321 -- DCA-CLT - AA 319 CLT-GNV - PSA CR7 GNV-CLT - PSA CR7 CLT-DCA - AA 319 April: (Planned) DCA-DFW-COS r/t on AA May: ...

Re: What airline do you currently fly most?

Going back the past decade, I've been averaging 40 flights a year, and it's been almost exclusively on American. The only other airlines I've flown are 2 flights on JetBlue, 2 on Spirit, and 2 on British Airways. Guess that's what happens when you spend several years commuting to Dallas for work.

Re: Avelo looking at Manchester

That's great news for MHT! They've certainly got the gate space to expand; that airport's been a ghost town the last few times I flew out of there.

Re: Ever Booked with an Airline that Ceased Ops?

Mine was a little older; I had booked a roundtrip JFK-BRU-GVA on SABENA in late 2001, and they went under while I was still in Geneva. Fortunately, I just walked into Swissair's ticket office in downtown Geneva the next day with my paper ticket (remember those?) and simply said "I was on SABENA...

Re: Your 2023 Booked/Flown Flights

2 weeks into the year, and I have my first few booked, with several in the planning stages: March: (Both booked) IAD-CLT - PSA CR9 CLT-DEN - AA 321 DEN-DFW - AA 321 DFW-IAD - AA 321 -- DCA-CLT - AA 319 CLT-GNV - PSA CR7 GNV-CLT - PSA CR7 CLT-DCA - AA 319 April: (Planned) DCA-DFW-COS r/t on AA May: (...

Re: Why Was I Re-Booked? (Hawaiian Airlines)

I had something similar happen to me once on American - it was one of those days with bad weather and delays up and down the entire east coast of the US. I had a layover in CLT, and the flight before mine was delayed, and my flight had started to take delays as well. The agents made a blanket announ...

Re: Last-Minute Mileage Run - BWI-DTW-BWI on Delta

A fun little report - thanks for sharing.

And Let's Go O's! (from an O's fan in NoVA)

Re: Most out of the way tickets you can find.

My corporate travel office once tried to book me DCA-SFO-DAL on Virgin America because it was cheaper than the DCA-DFW nonstop on American. I pointed out that to make the meetings I was travelling for, I'd have to leave a day earlier and the extra hotel night negated the airfare savings. Needless to...

Re: Your longest flights by airline

A quick sampling of my longest flights includes:

Aeromexico: JFK-MEX
American Airlines: DFW-PVG
British Airways: IAD-LHR
Continental: STX-EWR
Delta: CVG-LGW
Frontier: DCA-DEN
JetBlue: IAD-FLL
Sabena: JFK-BRU
Southwest: BWI-ALB
Spirit: BWI-MYR
Swissair: GVA-JFK
United: ORD-NRT
Virgin: LHR-JNB

Re: In flight Ukulele lesson on WN LGB-HNL

In related news, investigators are looking into reports of a Ukulele instructor and 176 ukuleles being thrown out of a Southwest flight over the Pacific Ocean...

Re: Your 2022 Booked/Flown Flights

Pretty boring set of flights for me so far this year: Flown: DCA-STL-DCA -- AA E75 (Republic) DCA-STL-DCA -- AA E75 (Republic)... again. DCA-MHT-DCA -- AA CR7 (PSA) DCA-PHX-SEA-PHX-DCA -- AA A321N-A320-E75 (Skywest)-A321N IAD-DFW-COS-DFW-IAD AA A319-738-738-738 Booked: DCA-PHX-SJC -- AA A321N-A319 S...

Re: Discontinued routes that you wish could come back

Hands-down for me is the old NY Air flight IAD-ISP - it would make visiting family on Long Island so much easier. I'd also accept the USAirways Express DCA-ISP flights. I've done BWI-ISP on Southwest, but by the time I drive to BWI and deal with everything there, I'd be better off just driving the w...

Re: Quick Family Visit: ATL-DCA-ATL on Delta and Southwest (Pics, long)

Nice report - thanks for sharing. Always like seeing reports out of my home airports. And as a NoVA resident, I agree - give me Dulles any day of the week over DCA!

Re: Washington, D.C. Airports (BWI, DCA, IAD) Thread - 2022

Does anybody know the curfew hours for DCA? I saw a Southwest flight arriving a couple of nights ago around 1:30 am.. Don't recall ever seeing a flight that late.. There isn't a true curfew, per se. There is a nighttime noise rule in effect that sets specific limits aircraft must meet to operate be...

Re: Have you flown the same exact aircraft on the same exact route before?

I've done it a few times; I flew a PSA CRJ900 N561NN IAD-CLT 8 days apart back in 2017; I also flew another PSA CRJ900 N597NN IAD-CLT about a year apart in 2016 / 2017. The winner was an AA MD-83 N9405T which I've flown IAD-DFW 3 times between 2014-2016.

Re: Washington, D.C. Airports (BWI, DCA, IAD) Thread - 2022

The Washington Post this morning has an article about Tailwind starting seaplane service from NYC to Washington: https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/04/29/seaplane-new-york-washington/ I had thought they were planning to do so pre-pandemic, and were going to fly from IAD to their 'hub...

Re: American tourists bring unexploded bomb shell to Israeli airport

scbriml wrote:

I don't see the problem, our kids always brought shells home with them from family holidays.

Re: Airlines and Corporate Contracts

An airline can have a corporate client, but employee compliance can be another matter. I was approached once by a travel management company to provide discounts to their client. I asked how much business will they give me in return and I the reply was nothing is guaranteed. I told them not to waste...

Re: lufthansa a340-600

LH flying the A346 on the FRA-IAD route was only for the month of March; they've brought the 748 back on the flight now.

Re: Your shortest mainline flight and longest regional flight

Shortest Mainline: American A321neo TUS-PHX 110 miles
Longest Regional: ExpressJet EMB-145XR IAD-IAH 1,191 miles

Re: Is there a need for a Saab and Airbus partnership on MPAs and AWACS?

Hasn't Airbus been trying to get into this combined space for years now with their A320m3 concept? This is why the German P-8 buy was so disappointing to Airbus / the French Ministry of Armed Forces; they were hoping to get the Germans to co-fund the ASW variant as part of the French Atlantique repl...

Re: Flying Around The Country For Fun | Four Delays, Three Cancellations, and a Partridge and a Peartree

Wow - crazy luck on this trip. Goes to show how much situational awareness can help in these situations. Thanks for sharing!

Re: What is the cheapest flight you have ever taken?

Not as good as some of the others here, but I once flew IAD-HPN on Independence Air for $25. Usually I paid $75-100 each way. With fares like that on a CRJ it's no wonder they folded as quickly as they did!

I've also flown Southwest a few times on their old $29 'Wanna get away' fares

Re: Boeing 314 flying boat

CrewBunk wrote:

It reads like a 300 page trip report!