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Thread: Long Flight, Empty Plane....SWEET!!

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    Senior Member Gerard's Avatar
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    Long Flight, Empty Plane....SWEET!!

    Last Thursday me, my wife and my daughter flew to Barcelona to visit my youngest son who is studying (or so he says) there this semester. We flew Delta out of JFK. Boeing 767, N194DN, was our plane and it was pretty crowded. Thankfully I had aisle seat so it wasnt so bad. We left today. My wife and daughter headed to Paris so I was flying solo. We breezed through check-in and security then parted ways. I arrived at my gate at 7:40 for a 9:55 depart (Who knew it would be so fast to get in). But the gate was deserted so I got to sit and watch the departures in the sun rising over the Mediterranean. By the time they closed the doors, Delta N1602 to JFK was quite empty. Everyone started moving around. The middle 3 seat row was very popular for people stretching out and sleeping. I grabbed a window seat and settled in. It was an 8 hour flight and to have no one cramped next to you for those 8 hours makes it much more tolerable. And it was nice and clear coming down the coast. I thought we would come over the Island for 22 on arrival but instead came west along the ocean side, lined up over the Rockaways and in we came!!

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    Senior Member gonzalu's Avatar
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    The only time that happened to me was JetBlue out of FLL for JFK last flight middle of the week at night. Everyone had a row to themselves. The crew said, here is ALL the food (they left the baskets of food out for the grabbing) and wear your belts OVER the blankets and we won't bother you until landing :-) It was great to stretch out in Coach!
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    I had that twice, once on a flight between SXM-CLT. I had the option of first class or the entire back of the plane to myself. I opted for an entire row rather then one big seat. Also on a flight from HKG-SIN, 777 was rather empty.
    It's hard to take chances but sometimes it's better if you do

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  4. #4
    I was on an AA 777 from LHR to JFK and there were 34 people on the entire flight. The entire middle rows were empty. I think we had 1 flight attendant per 8 people or something like that. I was shocked they didnt cancel the flight. No way they made money on that!!

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    Administrator PhilDernerJr's Avatar
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    I was on a 247-seat 767-300 with me and 8 female flight attendants for work. This happened more than once. Just sayin.
    Email me anytime at [email protected].

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    Moderator mirrodie's Avatar
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    What is CLT? You passed up F? Any decent service in F worth passing up?

    Anyway, great to hear it was a nice trip Gerard.

    We've experienced the same a few times as well:

    -On 3 out of our 4 long haul trips on Air Tahiti Nuis 340s, on the way to Australia, we were the only persons in F class. The seats were already big and lie flat but F class was only one row of 6 seats. So it was like flying in our our private jet, with a personal FA and our own bar. That was wicked.

    -Also happened on our first trip to Australia on Qantas. My then GF, now wife, and I split up for a few hours and each took our own row of 3 seats.

    -This last one was most memorable. I took a trip to MIA in fall of 01. I was single and wanted to enjoy the flying so I took 4 different a/c types back and forth to MIA on NW, though MEM and DTW. The last flight home, the DTW-LGA was on a 757 with 43 passengers. That was nuts. It was just after 9-11 and I remember having to taxi bag to gate as there was a bag mismatch issue that was quickly resolved. But you were talking ROWS of empty seats. Everyone was laying out.
    And I, I took the path less traveled by
    and that has made all the difference......yet...
    I have a feeling a handle of people are going to be very interested in what I post in the near future.

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    Quote Originally Posted by mirrodie View Post
    What is CLT? You passed up F? Any decent service in F worth passing up?.
    CLT=Charlotte I preferred the empty back on the 757 to F on that flight. I did opt for first from CLT to LGA.
    It's hard to take chances but sometimes it's better if you do

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    Quote Originally Posted by eric8669 View Post
    CLT=Charlotte I preferred the empty back on the 757 to F on that flight. I did opt for first from CLT to LGA.
    Looks like so far when I fly out to Reno at the beginning of June I will have first class all to myself on each leg of the trip! Man I hope it stays that way.
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    Senior Member Gerard's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mirrodie View Post
    Anyway, great to hear it was a nice trip Gerard.
    THanks Mario. Barcelona is a beautiful city and the airport is gorgeous!! I believe it opened (reopened) last year. We left the hotel around 6:30AM and I was by my gate
    within the hour. The security handling passenger screening were very nice as were the Customs officers.

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    Senior Member megatop412's Avatar
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    This is wierd. I did a lot of flying in the 90's and was never on a nearly empty flight. Those were all domestics though.

  11. #11
    Senior Member cancidas's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Phil D. View Post
    I was on a 247-seat 767-300 with me and 8 female flight attendants for work. This happened more than once. Just sayin.
    lucky!
    -----

    i only got to do that once, was nonreving from FRA to JFK, had the last row center section all to myself on a A333. goodnight!! then again, also remember back in the good old days moving a couple UH-60s to Rammstein. i took my sleeping bag on that one and rolled it out on the floor and slept most of the way across the atlantic. we inflight refueled over newfoundland so the trip from Luke was done nonstop.
    it is mathematically impossible for either hummingbirds, or helicopters to fly. fortunately, neither are aware of this.

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    Senior Member hiss srq's Avatar
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    I flew a USX PDT Dash 8 on Monday to PHL and I was one of three on board.... Than again..... It's USX so............. A few years back I was on Continental 737-500 that had 18 people on board from JFK to IAH back when the service existed... That was nice.....
    Southwest Airlines-"Once it pop's it's time to stop" Southwest Airlines-"Our Shamu's are almost real" Southwest Airlines -"We blow our top real easy" Southwest Airlines- "You can't top us..... really"

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    Sadly my best experience like this was also in about the smallest aircraft I have ever been on. Having been bumped from a CO Express EMB going CMH to CLE for a trip to GRR, they instead put me on the nonstop J31, CMH to GRR on US Airways Express, which at that point (1999) would have been Henson I guess? Anyway, it was the two pilots, a dead-heading FA, and myself. No first class to lay out in, but they left the cockpit door open and it was basically like flying with a group of friends. Excellent weather as well.
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  14. #14
    Senior Member Big Tim #70's Avatar
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    I flew BOS-LAX on New Years Eve one year & I was 1 of 8 passengers on the plane. Pretty trippy.

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    Senior Member sporky's Avatar
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    Was flying Virgina America from LAX-SEA last year and was the only passenger up in First Class for the trip. The back of the plane had about 25 people as well, so quite an empty flight. Great time chatting with the cabin crew who seemed to like the easy flight, and ended up walking away from the plane with a few extra snacks in my backup as well.

    -Tad

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