Bingo! & Other Tidbits From My Mileage Run

I did a last minute mileage run to LAX this weekend. While I prefer getting to overnight somewhere to make the most of the trip, this was one of the few straight turns (though I did manage to leave the airport to get an In-N-Out burger).

Flying is always an adventure, and Saturday was no exception. Here were some of the highlights:

Flight cancellation
 As I was driving to my hotel near BWI so I’d be ready to go for my 8:32AM flight, I got a call. That flight had been cancelled. Fortunately they could rebook me on the 6:45 AM flight that gave me a longer layover in LAX, but of course there were no upgrades left. My original route had cleared on all legs. At least I was staying near the airport, so I wouldn’t have to leave my apartment at 3:30 to the make the flight.

Going from a bad to great seat on the A321
My first flight, a flight from BWI to CLT was only 45 minutes long. So I wasn’t very careful when I was choosing seats a few days before. I noticed there was a window seat in the second row of the exit that had no seat in front of it. That usually means you get both carry-on space and extra leg room, so I didn’t bother to verify on SeatGuru.

Well, turns out that’s the seat where the exit door obstructs your leg room, curving out an inch in front of my knees  and essentially eliminating under-the-seat-storage. Unless I wanted to half climb onto the person in the row in front (who had already put her bag there). You can extend one leg, but the other is pretty uncomfortable.

While I’m sitting there regretting my lack of foresight, I pulled up US Airways’s mobile site to check my upgrade status. 12 seats in first. 11 checked in. I was top of the list. I started hitting refresh incessantly. 10 minutes into the boarding process I felt like yelling “Bingo!” A green check had appeared by name.

I got the attention of a nearby flight attendant and asked if I needed to wait til they brought me a new ticket or if I should just go up front and show my phone. Apparently I was the first person to ask that. 🙂 She double checked while fellow passengers asked if I had somehow upgraded myself via my phone? I needed to wait, but it wasn’t long til someone came on board with my new boarding pass. I enjoyed that 45 minute flight greatly!

On the way back LAX-PHL, I had a First Class First. I ordered wine with my dinner and then slipped into the restaurant before the food came out. I came back to find a glass of wine sitting on my side of the console, as well as one of the plastic cups also full of wine. Rather intimidating!

I knew I could probably drink it all over the 5 hour flight, but wondered if this signaled a flight attendant who would disappear after dinner service and resent any additional requests. It wound up being quite the contrary! She also provided us each with a full liter water bottle of water, but checked in frequently throughout the flight to see if we needed anything more. Having the extra just meant we wouldn’t even have to go 5 minutes waiting for a refill. #sheerluxury

I only had a 42 minute connection in Philadelphia to make a flight that was departing out of the F terminal (which requires a bus ride). Our LAX flight was late getting in, but I did make it with 10 minutes to spare, so no drama to report on that end 🙂

Have you had any funny experiences when doing recent mileage runs?

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