Off we go

While I reached DL Diamond status in early September, high summer AA fares and crowded F cabins kept me away from AA for a while and left me about 25K EQMs short for EXP re-qualification. By early November, I had resigned myself to year end mileage running. I had booked a couple of SFO-ORD-FLL RTs and was just about to book SFO-JFK/ORD-SJU when the CA-IL-TX DEQM promotion was announced. Thank you AA! That made life a whole lot easier and required only 46 hours of continuous SFO-ORD RTs.

I figured this should be easy compared to the LAX/SFO-BOS slAAveship hell many of us went thru a two and half years ago. At $198 RT and exit rows wide open, I should be able to handle 8 consecutive 4 hour First Class flights. Upgrades for six flights cleared at T-100 and for a seventh at T-70. I used a SWU on the last flight (1561, flight #8) after it went from F7 A5 to F3 A1 overnight this past weekend.

Monday
SFO-ORD AA 1522 11:55p-5:50a
Tuesday
ORD-SFO AA 1341 6:50a-9:30a
SFO-ORD AA 556 10:35a-4:55p
ORD-SFO AA 1561 7:15p-9:55p
SFO-ORD AA 1522 11.55p-5:50a
Wednesday
ORD-SFO AA 1341 6:50a-9:30a
SFO-ORD AA 556 10:35a-4:55p
ORD-SFO AA 1561 7:15p-9:55p

Monday, December 5, 2011
Dropped off at a deserted T-2 at around 10:45p.

There was only one person ahead of me in security and I was in the beautiful new T-2 AC two minutes later.

AA 1522
SFO-ORD
11:55p-5:50a (sked)
11:50p-6:30a (actual)
Refurbished 737-800
PDB
Wifi
December 5, 2011
Refreshments

At about T-40, I headed over to 57A to board to discover that AA's IT department was having fun tonight teasing us with Dinner on a SFO-ORD redeye.

Dinner wound up being the typical late night mid-con warm nuts and drink service.

Despite an early pushback and wheels up at midnight, unusual head winds on an eastbound flight turned this into a 4:30 flight. We pulled into K-10 at 6:32a, only 18 minutes before 1341 was scheduled to depart. I quick walked over to H-10 and boarded at 6:38a. Whew!

AA 1341
ORD-SFO
6:50a-9:25a (sked)
6:50a-8:40a (actual)
Old 737-800
PDB
Wifi Equipped but not working
December 6, 2011
Breakfast

2nd straight AA PDB (pre departure beverage) flight!
Choice of cheese omelet or one of my AA faves, the steel cut oatmeal.
Not sure how many are loaded but everyone in row 6 went for the oatmeal.

The same headwind that fought us eastbound was our friend on the return as we logged an amazingly fast westbound flight of only 3:35p, arriving 45 minutes early at 8:40a.
Back to the AC which I left only 9 hours earlier.