STATUS RUN REPORT: SFO-DFW-ORD-DFW-SEA-DFW-ORD-DFW-SEA-DFW-ORD-DFW-SEA-PHX-DFW-ORD-BOS-ORD-DFW-PHX-SEA-PHX-DFW-ORD-DFW-SFO
I recently (late July 2016) completed 25 x USA domestic flights, as a status run, over an 8-day period, flying AA in P class, as part of a USA trip to SFO.
In planning, I chose to avoid any flights in/out of mainland USA, a maximum of 4 x flights per day, no red-eye flights, overnight hotel accommodation and within a timeframe of about a week:
Day 1: SFO-DFW-ORD ..................... 180 SC
Day 2: ORD-DFW-SEA-DFW-ORD ... 420 SC
Day 3: ORD-DFW-SEA-DFW-ORD ... 420 SC
Day 4: ORD-DFW-SEA ..................... 210 SC
Day 5: SEA-PHX-DFW-ORD-BOS .... 360 SC
Day 6: BOS-ORD-DFW-PHX-SEA .... 360 SC
Day 7: SEA-PHX-DFW-ORD ............ 270 SC
Day 8: ORD-DFW-SFO .................... 180 SC
FLIGHTS
Most flights were on time, and some were a few minutes early. There were no issues with planes going tech. There were 3 x weather-related delays (2 x DFW and 1 x ORD), but these sorts of delays are to be expected. Two of these delays were major and resulted in flying what was meant to be the final segment of the day, actually flown on the next day (on the first flight out in the morning). However, these delays did not impact my other flights scheduled to depart the next day (due to the timing of the flights).
MEALS
The meals were quite good, overall, and a vast improvement from what I experienced on AA in May 2015. Most flights offered either breakfast/lunch/dinner, with several flights providing “refreshments” instead (tart/cake/cookie, outside of specified meal times).
Photos of some meals (iphone4 quality, unfortunately):
Breakfast: Warm oatmeal and fruit salad, with a warm fruit roll
Another Breakfast option: Omelette with sausage, potato, a biscuit and fruit salad (the biscuit was warm and moist, as it should be)
Lunch: Chicken with salad
Another Lunch option, again with Chicken
Dinner: Shrimp and grits, with salad. There are 5 x shrimp, although it looks like 4
CABIN CREW
Cabin crew were mostly good/very good. I can’t recall any that I would regard as providing poor service. Sometimes addressed by name, sometimes not.
STATUS CREDITS
SCs totalled 2400 and each flight posted to my QFF account, within 24-48hours. The average cost per SC was about $AU2.67, taking into account the cost of USA domestic flights, only (and not including accommodation). Accommodation costs (and pre-positioning costs) would increase the overall cost/SC. There are cheaper options available, but I was happy with this.
The 2400 SC earned is excessive for my short-term needs, but as it puts me within 1,000 SC of LTG, I threw in some extra flights in the process.
OTHER COSTS
Additional costs included overnight accommodation (some with HHonors points and others with cash). Also, the cost of positioning/return flights SYD-SFO-SYD would increase the cost per SC, if done purely as a Status Run.
Total costs could have been reduced by including red-eye flights, rather than staying overnight in hotels, but as red-eye flights do not agree with me, I was prepared to accept the additional cost of accommodation.
I recently (late July 2016) completed 25 x USA domestic flights, as a status run, over an 8-day period, flying AA in P class, as part of a USA trip to SFO.
In planning, I chose to avoid any flights in/out of mainland USA, a maximum of 4 x flights per day, no red-eye flights, overnight hotel accommodation and within a timeframe of about a week:
Day 1: SFO-DFW-ORD ..................... 180 SC
Day 2: ORD-DFW-SEA-DFW-ORD ... 420 SC
Day 3: ORD-DFW-SEA-DFW-ORD ... 420 SC
Day 4: ORD-DFW-SEA ..................... 210 SC
Day 5: SEA-PHX-DFW-ORD-BOS .... 360 SC
Day 6: BOS-ORD-DFW-PHX-SEA .... 360 SC
Day 7: SEA-PHX-DFW-ORD ............ 270 SC
Day 8: ORD-DFW-SFO .................... 180 SC
FLIGHTS
Most flights were on time, and some were a few minutes early. There were no issues with planes going tech. There were 3 x weather-related delays (2 x DFW and 1 x ORD), but these sorts of delays are to be expected. Two of these delays were major and resulted in flying what was meant to be the final segment of the day, actually flown on the next day (on the first flight out in the morning). However, these delays did not impact my other flights scheduled to depart the next day (due to the timing of the flights).
MEALS
The meals were quite good, overall, and a vast improvement from what I experienced on AA in May 2015. Most flights offered either breakfast/lunch/dinner, with several flights providing “refreshments” instead (tart/cake/cookie, outside of specified meal times).
Photos of some meals (iphone4 quality, unfortunately):
Breakfast: Warm oatmeal and fruit salad, with a warm fruit roll
Another Breakfast option: Omelette with sausage, potato, a biscuit and fruit salad (the biscuit was warm and moist, as it should be)
Lunch: Chicken with salad
Another Lunch option, again with Chicken
Dinner: Shrimp and grits, with salad. There are 5 x shrimp, although it looks like 4
CABIN CREW
Cabin crew were mostly good/very good. I can’t recall any that I would regard as providing poor service. Sometimes addressed by name, sometimes not.
STATUS CREDITS
SCs totalled 2400 and each flight posted to my QFF account, within 24-48hours. The average cost per SC was about $AU2.67, taking into account the cost of USA domestic flights, only (and not including accommodation). Accommodation costs (and pre-positioning costs) would increase the overall cost/SC. There are cheaper options available, but I was happy with this.
The 2400 SC earned is excessive for my short-term needs, but as it puts me within 1,000 SC of LTG, I threw in some extra flights in the process.
OTHER COSTS
Additional costs included overnight accommodation (some with HHonors points and others with cash). Also, the cost of positioning/return flights SYD-SFO-SYD would increase the cost per SC, if done purely as a Status Run.
Total costs could have been reduced by including red-eye flights, rather than staying overnight in hotels, but as red-eye flights do not agree with me, I was prepared to accept the additional cost of accommodation.
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