Book it Danno! JFK T8, and US510 New York JFK to Phoenix

Book it Danno! JFK T8, US Airways Flight US510 New York JFK to Phoenix, Arizona

Index:

Bundled aboard the hotel shuttle bus, it was time to head back to JFK. Although I’m quickly concluding that JFK shuttle bus drivers only drive in a mode known as “mad”.

Seriously, I swear driving round JFK does something to people.

After a tour of JFK, I was dropped off at Terminal 8 – home of US Airways, TAM and American Airlines. With online check in not working on my ticket, it was off to get boarding passes.

Even teddies have to wait in queue …

Eventually, I got to the head of the queue, and my boarding passes were issued – as well as my luggage taken off me. Yes – by this point I had luggage with the stuff I got in Manhattan, and I wanted to lighten my load a fair bit.

With that done, it was time to clear security.

The priority queue… for that exclusive club called “everyone”

Now, for a major terminal such as this, how many TSA checkers and security lanes were open. How many on a Saturday morning. Have a guess.

Wrong.

Two Document Checkers working, and two security lanes was the sum total of what was available to passengers and crew, plus a PreCheck Lane (which I’m not entitled to use).

As a result, security clearance took a good 20 minutes to clear. I think the term is “can do better here”.

Well, it’s art.

With a little bit of time on my side, I headed up to the Flagship Lounge. Well, best to use time effectively…

American Airlines Flagship Lounge

After heading upstairs and to the lounge, I was welcomed to the venue. My boarding pass was zapped, and I was directed to the Flagship lounge. This lounge isn’t new to me in the least as I was here about this time last year.

And it hasn’t changed a dot in that time.

Seating area… nice and quiet

Drinks and such.

Amazingly, I wasn’t interested in my stomach for once – I was interested in the Internet access provided – mainly as I wanted to pre-purchase a 24 hour flight pass for GoGo wireless – namely as it’s a lot cheaper to buy it on the ground than in the air – and $16 a pop, it’s worth it (compared to the $27.95 in the air – it’s worth it!).

See – I can plan every now and again.

With the WiFi pass in hand, it was time to relax for a few minutes – before heading off to the other side of Terminal 8… or the other concourse.

Going down…

Following the signs, I found my way to the waiting Airbus A321 that would take me to Phoenix, with boarding in full swing.

Must… not… vent.

With boarding in progress, I headed down the priority lane (much to some people’s disgust that I was “cutting” the line… no, I was exercising the right to board at any time), and was beeped through.

US/AA510 New York JFK to Phoenix Sky Harbour Airport
US Airways, Airbus A320. Seat 3A, First Class
2155 miles flown, 210 Tier Points Earned, 2155 Base Avios + 2,155 Bonus Avios + 1078 Class of Cabin Bonus.

As boarding was in full swing, people were lining up board… and there were a fair few people gate-checking their bags.

That’s a lot of baggies.

Boarding the plane, I was welcomed, and headed to my home of 3A for the next few hours.

Wider seat, and a bit more leg room than Economy. Not much of a differernce so far.

I settled in, taking note of the surroundings. And sadly, this is a “typical” loved US Airways plane.

Just look at those “clean” overhead bins. Lots of love here.

The plane filled up quickly, and pushed back on schedule. With the safety demonstration done by hand (as the A320 fleet doesn’t seem to have in-flight entertainment installed), our A320 begun its taxi around JFK to a runway.

Waiting Delta heavy… with blended winglets!

A variety of tails… not just Delta!

After a seemingly long taxi (about 20 minutes – and I’ll be honest, I nodded off for a bit), the engines of our A320 powered up for a take-off run.

With a sprint, our A320 took to the air, banked and begun its long trans-contiental run across the USA.

Climbout

A very snowy field…

And off into the blue.

The plane made a reasonable accent up to 10,000ft and beyond – and at that note, the WiFi was switched on.

A log onto the Gogo domain, and through the portal – and I was connected in the air for the first time ever.

Right. Finally in the air. 30 minute taxi at JFK….. #givemestrength

— Kevin-Economy&Beyond (@EconomyBeyond) January 10, 2015

Once in the air, hot towels were distributed.

Oh yes, there were no power ports aboard. Drinks followed – I stuck to my usual poison on flights like this – even in “First Class”
Well what do you think I’d drink?

A savoury snack mix was given out whilst the hot nuts were warmed up. Snack mix in the foreground, WordPress on the background. Now, whilst I was in the air, I needed to do some serious investigative work. Yes – I was doing actual work. In the few days before Gogo had been issuing fake certificates when users browsed Youtube, creating a Man in the Middle Attack vector. My tests were interesting…. it seemed GoGo had lifted that vector of blocking:

Looks like the Fake Certificates the Gogo were issuing have been revoked.. pic.twitter.com/4UnW03uKoz

— Kevin-Economy&Beyond (@EconomyBeyond) January 10, 2015

Interestingly, it had lifted. However, there would have to be more testing to confirm this blocking had been lifted. Just in time for the hot nuts to arrive.

Of course, if you’re on an US Carrier, hot nuts are the norm.

Breakfast was served, which was a beef enchilada with rice and a chicken salad. So, lots of meat all around there.

Tray

Chicken something starter.

Salad

The meal itself was an interesting mix, and was well cooked. The enchilada was a very nice thing to have in the air, and the salads seemed to work rather well.

Well, it’s better than a snack box in Economy Class.

With another coke, I worked my way across the USA, as the plane fly mile after mile.

Of course, with another diet coke to keep me company. US Airways logo prominent still.

Working away and listening to music did it’s thing and soon we were crossing into Arizona.

Soon, the air brakes were up and we begun to slow down. Laptops were put away, and the cabin was secured for landing.

Dropping through the cloud layer, we turned from blue skies to grey skies.

Soon, the sprawl of the Phoenix Metropolitan area appeared beneath us, as we tracked toward Phoenix Sky Harbour airport

Eventually the downtown centre of Phoenix came into view, and the wheels were down for landing.

With a gentle glide in and a gentle landing, we were on the ground, and another long segment ticked off for me

Whilst time wasn’t exactly on my side on the ground, we still had time for a reasonable length taxi around Phoenix, until the plane found an A gate it liked, and headed for it.

Overall: Whilst the food was interesting, the rest of the flight… well, wasn’t. The US Airways staff were “Business Friendly”… which for a Saturday isn’t the greatest thing. They were attentive to needs, but there could had been more room for better service.

Next: Phoenix Airport, an US Airways Club and US684 Phoenix Sky Harbour to Honolulu

Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond – Your no-nonsense guide to network news, honest reviews, with in-depth coverage, unique research as well as the humour and madness as I only know how to deliver.

Follow me on Twitter at @EconomyBeyond for the latest updates!

Also remember that as well as being part of BoardingArea, we’re also part of BoardingArea.eu, delivering frequent flyer news, miles and points to European readers.

Comments

Jon says

26/02/2015 at 2:52 pm

I’m glad to hear your meal wasn’t disgusting. Recent meal experiences in First on AA/US have been almost inedible. Also glad to see that your flight still had the US glassware being used. Other than the ugly cabin, seems like the flight was solid!
HR says

26/02/2015 at 6:52 pm

Nice report. I read your blog and Lucky’s. Yours simply for the one reason that it mirrors my kind of travel. Lucky’s is more for aspirational purposes. On a side note, you might want to fix a few A320 mentions to A321 in this particular segment of the blog post.

Related

Comments