An Autumn Escape (part 6C: finally to Richmond)

One more flight to go to get to Richmond!  I opted to do this post separately, as this flight had enough substantive differences to be worth its own post, compared to the previous two flights.  After arriving in Dallas, I made my way from the A terminal to the C terminal by means of the airport’s internal train shuttle.  At this point, I was in my third time zone of the day.  In Utah, I was in MDT (UTC – 6), then in Phoenix, I was in MST (UTC – 7), and Dallas is was in CDT (UTC – 5).  There was just one more time zone to go: EDT (UTC – 4).  It’s uncommon that I have three flights to get to a destination, and the additional flight, regardless of its actual duration, definitely makes the trip feel longer (and of course does make it longer).  To be fair, I had a three-leg return trip back in March, but that was my first three-flight day for at least a decade. 

Unlike Phoenix, which felt like it was almost in normal operation, Dallas was relatively empty, since it’s American’s largest hub and has substantial international service.  It was also 6 pm by this point, so with few overnight flights, a scarcity of people is not unexpected.  I made my way to the C gates’ Admirals Club, but since I wasn’t sure what I’d be served on the next flight, I opted to stop by a TGI Friday’s for a chicken burger.  On the way, I some nice views of all the aircraft hanging around, and even got to see an aircraft in the America West heritage livery. The A319 aircraft (N838AW) had joined the America West fleet just before its reverse merger with US Airways. 

Like in Phoenix, I had access to the Admirals Club through my Oneworld Sapphire (BA Silver) status.  This lounge, however, was in a completely different league from the Phoenix Admirals Club.  The decorations were more up-scale and tones were more subdued.  It was several times the size as the Phoenix club and had many fewer people, so finding my own safe space was no trouble at all. The food and drink selection was the same, which was expected. This club was not a semi-closed Flagship Lounge converted into an Admirals Club; the DFW flagship lounge is actually in terminal D.   I found an empty area with tables and power outlets and worked a bit on my laptop and ate my chicken burger (which was remarkably good!) with some more guacamole and chips and a banana.  Unlike in Phoenix, the lounge was not immediately beside the departure gate, so when the screen stated boarding was beginning, I had to make my way to the gate. 

I was immediately struck by how little social distancing there was in the gate area and how there was no apparent attempt to make the gate area more orderly beyond the standard 9 boarding group system.  This definitely set the stage for the flight.  I boarded second to last when they called for final boarding, but I was still stuck in the jetway for a few minutes while people slowly filled the plane.  Luckily the people immediately around me did distance correctly within the jetway.

This plane was an A319 (N755US), which is the smallest Airbus type in the AA fleet.  This former US Airways aircraft had just 8 (new style) first class seats, which made for a very intimate feel (too intimate as it turns out…).  I actually remember one time when I was a kid, I flew with my family from Chicago to Phoenix on a United A319, and since there were 4 of us, we constituted half of first class.  The vibe in the cabin was similar to the vibe at the gate; people were doing the bare minimum COVID procedures required of them.

I had checked the seat map in the days prior to the flight, and seat 1C was the last to be filled.  It filled the day of, off the waitlist, so the man sitting in it—who barely wore his face covering, even during boarding—had probably upgraded off 500-mile upgrade certificates.  The man on the other side of me in 1F usually wore his face covering.  But neither of them wore proper face masks; what they were wearing was barely more than a bandana.  During takeoff, the first class flight attendant, Beverly, would often lower her mask to take deep breaths and would pull down her mask to pick her teeth.  Shortly after take-off, Beverly finally went to the lavatory, and I think she got out whatever was in her teeth.  The in-flight service began thereafter.  We were given the choice of a cheese plate or a sandwich from Zoe’s kitchen.  Having eaten in the lounge, I opted for the sandwich, in case I wanted to take it home and eat it later.  During the meal service, everyone lowered their masks, as expected. 

I made it a point to put on and take off my mask only while actively taking a sip from my drink.  About 30 minutes after the service, and with about 45 minutes left in the flight, neither of the two men were wearing their masks, nor did they even have drinks with them.  I got up to use the lavatory and brought this to the attention of the flight attendants in the galley.  They immediately got the men to comply with the policy, which greatly improved my flight.

This flight was, thankfully, my last flight of the day and of the three-leg trip from Utah to Richmond.  My lounge experience was vastly better than in Phoenix, but if it had been normal times, I would’ve had access to the Flagship lounge, which is, of course, a way better lounge (3/5).  The seat on the plane was basically identical to the seat I’d had on the previous A321neo flight and had plenty of legroom, but based on the trouble the people behind me had getting into/out of their seats, I don’t think row 2 was particularly great (3/5).  The service itself was fine; the pre-packaged sandwich was better than the one on the BA flight from Stockholm, but there were no side dishes (3/5).  The flight crew (and the other passengers) on this flight had horrible mask etiquette; this is the only flight during the pandemic that I’ve actively felt uncomfortable and worried during (0/5).  It is, in fact, the only time I’ve ever felt the need to submit a complaint to an airline.  The WiFi + streaming and powerport offer is standard for American (3/5).  Of the three flights today (and all the ones on this trip), this was by far the worst, despite the better soft product (12/25).

From a points perspective, the flight (AA1133 DFW -> RIC) netted me 40 BA tier points (which is the same for any Oneworld partner flight < 2000 miles).  In addition, I earned 1 158 base Avios plus a tier bonus of 579 Avios (50% from BA Silver) and a ‘class bonus’ of 290 Avios (25%), for a total of 2 027 Avios.