A Few Miles More: American Airlines First Class Kahului to Dallas-Forth Worth

For my return to New York, I took the redeye to Dallas.  Concerned that my upgrade might not clear—especially when booking ten days in advance, I used one of my systemwides expiring February 2013.  If I were flying from New York to London, I’d do everything I could to avoid coach:  As Kahului to Dallas is longer, my views were similar.

As this was an even flight number, I chose a seat in the forward portion of the cabin.

American 6
Kahului (OGG) – Los Angeles (LAX)
Monday, January 21th, 2013
Depart:  18:31PM
Arrive: 5:41AM
Duration:  7 hours, 10 minutes
Aircraft: Boeing 767-323ER (N378AN)
Seat: 1B (First Class)

The menu read as follows:

I chose the tortellini for my entree.

Compared to the cheese plate I had on the way out to Los Angeles, this flight’s paled in comparison.

While the flight time was disappointingly early as I was going to sleep in Hawaii around midnight, the slightly longer flight (compared to most transatlantics) made up for it slightly.  After my previous long haul experience with this seat (New York to London), I had convinced myself that I hadn’t slept at all.  In comparison, I actually felt well-rested afterwards (as good, if not better, as the business class recliners used on American’s Flagship Service for JFK-SFO/LAX).

We had been delayed departing Maui, first for ETOPS-related paperwork followed by an incredibly slow pushback/taxi out, so we arrived to Dallas late, reducing me to 12 minute connection with a terminal change for my onward flight to New York LaGuardia.  During the taxi from the runway, I turned on my cell phone to find that I had been protected on the 7AM departure.   A quick sprint between terminals later (being seated near the front of the plane is good for more than the meal order!), I managed to get the gate for my original 6AM flight.