American 21, JFK-LAX
Nov 14th
767-200
Biz Class, Seat 7D
Well it was back out once more to my second home of Southern California for our year end audit of our branch in Orange and Woodland Hills. I decided to fly out Friday evening and enjoy a weekend seeing some friends and enjoying some dash time on the PCH.
I worked from home Friday and was picked up at 3 pm a bit early but I didn’t want to get stuck in traffic. Even though I wasn’t driving myself I hate sitting in Long Island Traffic. It took no time to get to JFK and by this time I got my upgrade notification from AA that I was upgraded from Coach to Biz class. I arrived at JFK 45 mins later and proceeded to the First /Business Class counter to drop off my bag. The Customer Service rep was very cheerful and wished me a good Thanksgiving.
I moved through security rather quickly since I can use the Fast Lanes for Elite and Premium customers. After putting myself together I headed to the airside Admirals Club for some drinks (it was happy hour mind you). This is the first time I used this club as I generally use the landside club. I took a seat at the bar and was greeted by Tricia; she was the best bartender I have ever run into in my entire life. It’s hard to describe the kind of service she provided but it was truly old world. Every time a patron left the bar she would thank them for fly American Airlines and used phrases like “It’s my pleasure to serve you.” People that were clearly frequent users of the club were coming up to her and wishing her a Happy Thanksgiving, she is clearly a valuable people asset to American Airlines.
About 20 mins before boarding I headed over to the gate and waited for boarding. I got on when Biz class was called and took my seat (7D, aisle bulkhead seat) and settled in. The FA’s did their normal Biz class routine of taking coats and offering a preflight drink. We pushed back 5 mins early and proceeded to 31L. The Capt, a female pilot informed us that there was a 45 min wait until we were at the runway but the time was built into the flight plan and we’d still arrive on time. I took a bit of a cat nap for 30 mins and woke up as we were moving on the runway. We had a nice long and low roll off of 31L, looked like it would have been a nice bank from Hobe.
Once reaching cruise the FAs began their cabin service with one FA taking drink orders and one handing out the BOSE headsets and personal DV players. I order my standard Vodka cranberry and proceeded to check out AA’s new in-flight Web service by GOGO. The service is 12 dollars for all passengers and I have to say it works great! There was no delay while using IM or with video streaming. I have to say that in-flight web service really is the way to go. I was on the web for most of the flight and only used the DV player once my battery died. If I had my DC adapter with me I would have surfed the web the entire flight.
The FA’s also passed out the dinner menu. After reviewing dinner choices I decided on the Roast Beef. Before dinner appetizers were served followed by salad with choice of dressing, fresh hot bread and then finally dinner. The Roast Beef was rather good and presented nicely on AA plate wear. This was a Flagship Service flight with full dinner, desert, chocolate selections, and freshly baked cookies. After dinner I BS’d online a bit and then watch some TV and a movie. As we got closer to the coast you could smell the cookies baking in the oven which is always a sign you’re getting close to your destination. The cookies were soon served with a selection of milk or sparkling water with lemon. After the FAs collected the glasses and dishes from the cookie service the Capt informed us we would be starting our decent into LAX in 15. The FAs began their cabin clean up, collecting the DV players and other related items.
We touched down on the south side and headed to the AA terminal passing the QF A380 which was pushing back from her gate. After getting off I headed to baggage claim I got a bit nervous because my bag didn’t make the flight! So vs. getting upset I said maybe it was on an earlier flight, I got to JFK when another LAX flight was leaving so maybe it was on that flight. I headed to the AA baggage office where an upset passenger was being escorted away by Airport Police. I told the Rep at the office my bag didn’t make it and asked if it could have been on the earlier flight. We walked out to the area they had bags staged and sure enough my bag made it to LAX before I did. With bag in tow I headed to Avis picked up a Mustang Soft top and had an enjoyable weekend before Monday when I headed to Orange.
Overall this was a great flight, the service from all the AA employees I dealt with was fantastic! Also with this flight complete I made Platinum Status with AA.
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