I wagered on clearing my upgrade to London and lost.  (I successfully “won” in September 2012 on a similar-looking trip to Dublin on American Airlines.)  While the 777-300ER has a new plane smell to it, that’s about the only thing I was looking forward to for my journey across the Atlantic.

As an Executive Platinum member, even in coach, I was able to visit the American Airlines Flagship Lounge, which I last reviewed in 2012.  I chose to have dinner at the lounge, with the intent of falling asleep after takeoff.

Shiny:

I had an exit row seat sitting across from one of the flight attendants.  She seemed…quite worried that I was skipping dinner and eventually, breakfast.  My seatmate was another Executive Platinum who had booked her ticket months earlier–American prioritizes upgrades by time of request–and had failed to clear.

In late August, cheap fares to Dublin returned, so I picked one up in anticipation of working on my American Executive Platinum requalification.  As I was packing flights into my fall schedule, I wound up scheduling this trip the day after my drive down the Pacific Coast Highway, leaving me with effectively a long layover in New York City.

The main ticket (NYC-DUB-LAX) was booked with American, in hope of clearing into business class with a systemwide upgrade.

As far as the trip title goes, I:

• Departed New York on Wednesday for San Francisco
• Departed Los Angeles on Thursday for New York
• Departed New York on Friday for London
• Returned from Düsseldorf the following Thursday

15316 miles in 9 days… an average speed of 70 miles per hour, a need for speed.