Tier Point Run to Tucson in Oct 2024: Day 5 – Tucson TUS to Los Angeles LAX

I set my alarms to 4am, knowing full well there was no chance I’d be asleep at that time. I was bound to be awake well before my alarms would even think about the possibility of going off.

My first flight back to LAX was due to leave just after 7am, arriving into LAX with about 2 hours before my onward flight to JFK. That should be time for me to get a Starbucks from the Great Hall.

So getting up at 4am, leaving the hotel for the short walk to the airport would work out just fine.

I was up by 1am and couldn’t get back to sleep, so after updating the blog for the previous day, I warmed up my Starbucks (purchased yesterday) in the microwave.

The microwave was the old sort and setting it to full power for 2 mins was a bit hit and miss, but I got there in the end.

The coffee was hot, sweet, and I could be forgiven for thinking I had just purchased it.

Well, not quite, but I appreciated it when I had no expectation of enjoying my favourite drink without a car and the closest Starbucks being over 3 miles away!

On my way out, I took a couple of photos of the hotel facilities. Overall, the rooms were dated, but I could see that the hotel would suit families with young children.

I wandered over to the airport and headed through TSA Pre-Check. That took no more than 5 mins.

Unfortunately, there was no lounge at the airport, so I went and sat close to the gate. I’d have at least a 90 min wait for boarding to start; possibly as much as 2 hours.

By the time I had sat down at Gate B11, I received another message from AA advising that the flight had been delayed by 30 mins. That would reduce the time I had available in LAX and reduce the chance I had of getting a Starbucks.

About 10 mins later, I received another message from AA advising that there was a further 60 min delay, which meant that I’d have a max 60 min at LAX prior to my next flight to JFK. I was waving goodbye to the Starbucks I yearned for.

With the Tucson flight arriving into the Eagles Nest, that would add a further 20-30 min delay (due to the need to catch a shuttle bus back to T4), so it was going to be touch and go as to whether I would be able to make my connection.

I waited patiently in the gate area for what seemed like an age.

After 3 flights left from the B8/B10/B11 gates within 10 mins of each other, there was a mass of passengers hanging around. It calmed down significantly after they departed.

I had to go and buy a Dairy Crunch to keep me going. Otherwise, I may have perspired! I had considered healthier options, but there was nothing that interested me.

I headed back to the gate to wait some more. Whilst I was there, I deduced from the gate staff that AA had to supply a replacement aircraft from Phoenix.

It flew into Tucson under flight number OO9913. Bizarely, it felt better being able to track the inbound flight.

A number of F-16 fighter jets took off just after the incoming flight from Phoenix landed! What a noise!

Finally, boarding started and I was on into seat 02A. The overhead lockers were bigger on this replacement aircraft compared to the CRJ, which brought me to Tucson a few days ago, so fitting my oversized rucksack into the locker wasn’t a big deal.

We finally reached the runway just after 9:10am. We had to wait for a total of six F-16  fighter jets to land and three more to take off before we were given clearance. No doubt who has priority over this runway!.

The lead cabin crew member advised that they had very little in terms of beverages and no snacks at all due to the last-minute aircraft replacement. I opted for a cup of tea. Good job I had that chocolate earlier.

The flight seemed to take forever, and after landing, taxiing seemed to take an age as well. We had to find our way through to the Eagles Nest, being held up by slow aircraft on the way.

We finally arrived at Gate 52H, and I jogged off to the queue for the shuttle bus back to T4.

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