Tier Point Run to San Jose in Nov 2023: Day 2 – New York JFK to Los Angeles LAX

It still feels a bit odd walking into a joint BA/AA check-in area at JFK T8. But everyone is warm and welcoming, so it’s a good place to be.

After a quick check of my passport I was issued with an AA-branded boarding pass that would get me into TSA Pre-check and reduce my wait to get through security.

Interestingly, they don’t scan your boarding pass anymore. There’s a manual check that you are eligible for TSA Pre-check, but the real check at the kiosk is an identity check. They used to scan your boarding pass and write on confirmation that they had checked it. So, I may not actually need to switch boarding cards now. Will bear that in mind next time!

T8 was fairly busy, so it took a good 5 mins to get through security. Once through, I headed directly to the Chelsea Lounge.

It was another situation where two agents were manning a desk; one was dealing with a passenger; the other was doing something else (effectively available to deal with me), but chose to wait.

She waited long enough to annoy me and long enough that by the time she offered to check my boarding pass, the other agent was then free. Agh!

Into the lounge and I rang Vick to see how she was. Good to hear things had settled down a touch.

I popped out a few times to stretch my legs, but other than that, I just chilled out.

My final flight of the day was due to leave from Gate 43. I ambled down and passengers waited politely for boarding to begin. There was none of this swarming around the entrance to the Priority Boarding Queue!

Flight: AA0177 Equip: A321T
Sched Depart: 20:00 Actual: 19:55
Sched Arrival: 23:26 Actual: 23:05
Takeoff: 20:10 Landing: 22:46

Boarding started about 30 mins before departure and there was no CK rep there to invite me to board alongside the CKs.

Soon on board into seat 01F. Offered a drink fairly quickly and I checked out the food offering.

Expecting a long flight due to strong headwinds – aka the jetstream. Just short of 6 hours.

I decided I would eat on the flight. It would help kill an hour at least. I’ll try and sleep thereafter.

Orders were placed from the back. By the time they reached me they were out of the sea bass (shame!). I ordered the lasagne – I fancied something simple.

The starter was a salmon, potato and edemame dish, which looked disconnected in the plate and didn’t really do anything for me.

The salad leaves with balsamic was nice.

The soup with croutons was gorgeous. Never had soup on an AA flight before. We need more of that!

Main course lasagne was big enough to feed a family of four! It was hot and pretty tasty, but way too large for little old me.

I enjoyed a good few hours of kip thereafter, waking with about an hour to go.

My timing was perfect, since warm cookies, which are always a highlight of any AA flight, were served about 5 mins later.

The flight arrived into LAX Terminal 4 Gate 42B. There was a slight delay, I guess due to an aircraft leaving the gate we were supposed to be using, but with AA’s usual efficiency, I was quickly off the aircraft and heading out of T4.

I enjoy the walk down World Way to the Hilton LAX. It’s an opportunity to stretch my legs; it’s cool and it removes any dependency on any other party (e.g. a bus or taxi). And it’s free!

I had managed to bag an upgrade into a one-bed suite and I had received a contactless key. So after my 30 min walk, I could avoid the long queue at the front desk and head straight up to my room.

I was looking forward to a comfy bed and a short sleep, before walking back to the airport in the morning.

Follow the whole story here: Tier Point Run to San Jose in Nov 2023