The mission: Go for bmi Gold!
Magnificent side-effect: Tour of several national parks in the American West (highly recommended!)
Airline: US Airways
Aircraft: Boeing 737, Airbus A320, Airbus A321
Class: First
Route: New York La Guardia - Washington Reagan - Fort Lauderdale - Philadelphia - Los Angeles / Los Angeles - Charlotte - Fort Lauderdale
Date: August 2010
We decided to take US Airways from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles in First Class (450 EUR + taxes). As we stayed in the countryside, we could add a mini-mileage run to Fort Lauderdale from New York. So we stayed at the Clarion La Guardia (bad decision! really bad!) for one night to be refreshed for next day's trip.
Early in the morning we took off to Washington Reagan. Although booked in cheapest Economy Class fare, we had already been upgraded to First Class (due to US Dividend Miles Chairman Preferred). From Reagan we flew south to Fort Lauderdale. The crew were very friendly, drinks and snacks could be already ordered before take-off and they were served immediately when in the air. The flight attendants also used our names when welcoming us (not only on this flight, but on all flights of the tour which offered First Class cabins).
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| Fort Lauderdale |
In Fort Lauderdale we had some short stopover which was enough to have proper lunch, then the run for Gold started. First back north to Philadelphia (with beautiful views of the Bahamas, as the captain informed). On this way we were already provided with 1-l-bottles of water, pillows and blankets.
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Flight Fort Lauderdale - Philadelphia
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Flight Fort Lauderdale - Philadelphia
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| US Airways First Class: tight seat pitch |
In Philadelphia we spent some time in the US Airways Club and then our transcontinental flight to Los Angeles started. The aircraft was a new A321 and equipped with inflight WiFi. A warm welcome, followed by drinks and snacks. For dinner we could choose between salad (unfortunately drowned in cheese again) or beef, so we went for the beef. There was nothing to complain about. Good, simple, but tasty American cooking. The crew didn't explicitly tell when it was possible to use WiFi, but in the middle of the flight I tried and it worked. It would have cost 18 USD, so it didn't pay off anymore for 2 hours flight, but surfing the US Airways website was free, so at least one could get a nice impression.
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| US Airways domestic First Class |
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| Dinner |
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| Flight Philadelphia - Los Angeles |
Some impressions about "First Class". The cabin was clean and well maintained. Same goes for the lavatories.
The seats in US Airways First Class are not real First Class, rather Premium Economy.They are really wide, thick and look like grandma's cosy chair by the fireplace, but the seat pitch is limited just like the recline of the seat. No doubt, it is definitely far more comfortable than Economy, but I wouldn't call it "First Class". Even if the passenger in front of you doesn't recline, it's hard to get out if you are seated at the window. If the seats are reclined it's impossible to access the aisle from your window seat. The upper part of the seat doesn't have any adjustable headrest, there are also no footrests. You can stretch out very well if you don't have any hand luggage under the seat in front of you, but your head always falls down as the leather is somehow slippery. So it's a good advice to bring your own inflatable pillow that can be worn around your neck.
This kind of First Class is ok for the price, but definitely not worth 1000s of dollars that are sometimes called for on some routes. The long flight time is also just on the edge for this kind of seat. It would be a good idea to replace those seats with the old Envoy recliner seats, at least on the transcontinental routes or flights to Alaska, Hawaii or the Caribbean (if no 767 or 757 is used anyway).
The food was surprisingly good, although some more variation in inflight snacks would be nice (it's always the same: nuts, chips, biscotti, cookie). What about offering an apple or a banana? Or fruit salad?
As I said, it is really acceptable (esp. for this price on this specific route) and great as you get lots of miles, but not more. The seats and snacks are great for short flights, but when it comes to flights of 5-6 hours, they are outdated, simply not state-of-the-art anymore.
We landed in Los Angeles in time. Unfortunately it took quite long until the luggage was delivered, about 40 mins before the belt started moving at all!
The following 10 days (unfortunately we didn't have more time) were full of nature. From Hertz we got a Nissan Altima Hybrid, and that car was really a positive surprise. Powerful and cheap as it needed so little fuel.
First we travelled to Yosemite National Park. From there to Mono Lake, through Death Valley and the deepest point of the US to Las Vegas, then going north to Utah where we visited Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef National Park and Arches National Park. In Monument Valley we were trapped by a thunderstorm, so we could only do a drive-by as everything turned into mud and red torrents came down the hills. One highlight was Antelope Canyon, a hidden jewel in Page. Afterwards we paid a short visit to the Grand Canyon (North Rim) before we took two days for relaxation in Palm Springs. Then it was already time to fly back to the East Coast, unfortunately!
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| Yosemite NP |
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| Mono Lake |
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| Death Valley |
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| Death Valley, Artist's Drive |
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| Death Valley, Devil's Golf Course |
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| Death Valley, Badwater Basin |
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| Death Valley: air pressure experiment :-) |
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| Las Vegas |
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| Bryce Canyon NP |
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| Bryce Canyon NP |
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| Capitol Reef NP |
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| Capitol Reef NP |
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| Capitol Reef NP |
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| Arches NP |
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| Arches NP, Delicate Arch |
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| Arches NP: Landscape Arch |
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| Mexican Hat during thunderstorm |
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| Thunderstorm in Monument Valley |
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| Thunderstorm in Monument Valley |
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| Antelope Canyon |
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| Antelope Canyon |
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| Antelope Canyon |
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| Navajo Bridge |
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| Grand Canyon North Rim |
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| Grand Canyon North Rim |
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| Sunset in Arizona |
The flight from Los Angeles to Charlotte was uneventful, but the view from the window spectacular. A nightflight took us from Charlotte to Fort Lauderdale. The moon was shining brightly and the sea was sparkling. In between silver clouds, so it looked like a Disney creation, but it wasn't. Unfortunately the photo camera couldn't catch that scenery.
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| US Airways First Class |
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| Flight Los Angeles - Charlotte |
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| US Airways Snack |
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| Flight Los Angeles - Charlotte |
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