October 2021 domestic flights round up

During my October trip to the US, I took a handful of ‘normal’ domestic flights.  These flights were: LAX-IAD on United, RIC-CLT-CLE on American, and CLE-EWR-RIC on United.  During the pandemic, I have generally booked first class flights because the prices haven’t been that much higher, and having a little extra personal space is extremely important for my peace of mind at the moment still.

For my flight from LAX-IAD, I specifically booked a United flight because they fly widebodies a couple times per day on (non-premium service) transcontinental routes like this one.  They flew a retrofitted 767-300ER on the route, which offered Polaris pods, Premium Plus recliners, and Economy class.  The Polaris pods were sold as domestic first class like on my EWR-IAH flight last year, and the Premium Plus recliners were sold as Economy Plus, which I have free access to with my United Gold status.  My Economy ticket was $87, and First class was nearly $400, so I flew economy and waitlisted a mileage upgrade (20 000 miles).  The upgrade didn’t clear, which wasn’t unexpected, given how premium-heavy this route is.   Given that I effectively had a domestic First Class seat for the flight, I figured I’d be fine.  Hint: I was.  This flight is a good example of why United awards miles based on price paid for the flight, rather than the miles flown.  If I’d earned miles based on the distance flown (i.e. as I do with BA), I would have probably earned 2 860 Avios, but instead, I earned just 616 United miles. 

For my flight from RIC-CLT-CLE on American, I booked a first class ticket using a $200 voucher I had from a price change on my earlier MIA-LAX flight.  The RIC-CLT flight was operated by an interesting aircraft: an A319 EOW (N3014R).  Unlike most A319s operated by American, this plane is specifically set up for international flights.  This plane normally operates flights to/from northern South American countries, such as Colombia, so having it on such a short domestic flight was a treat.  This is a rare domestic American flight that has seatback entertainment, haha.  When I landed in Charlotte airport, I tried to get a smoothie from Jamba Juice, but it was closed.  Then I tried to go to Panera, and it was closed.  Half the airport seemed to be closed, so I just gave up and went to the Admiral’s Club to wait for my next flight.  It was really weird. 

The second flight was far less interesting, just a Project Oasis 737-800 with some rowdy football fans talking across the aisle over me.  I thought about crediting this flight to American to earn miles based on the price of the flight and since I didn’t need the BA tier points, but I ended up crediting them to BA because I was able to earn 2500 Avios (and 80 tier points), compared to around 1 000 AA miles. 

For the flight back from Cleveland, I booked an economy ticket on United through Newark.  I checked the seat maps before booking, and it looked like I had a pretty good chance of getting complimentary upgrades on both legs (thanks to my Gold status).  I hadn’t had the chance to try out United’s swanky CRJ-550, but this trip gave me the opportunity on the EWR-RIC leg to try it out.  The first leg was operated by a 737-700, and my complimentary upgrade cleared automatically 48 hours before.  The second leg’s upgrade didn’t clear quite as early, but that was also the case on my previous EWR-RIC flight.  Since I had booked a cheap economy ticket, I only earned a total of 472 award miles.  The 2 segments I got from this trip were just enough for me to requalify for United Premier Gold using their ‘Fly to the Finish’ offer.  I hadn’t expected to requalify, but my surprise trip in September and these three flights secured an extension of my status through 2022.

All my first class flights (i.e. those to/from Cleveland) were too short for any meal service, but I did get free gin & tonics. 

Let me know in the comments if you like these short form reports for domestic flights.