These are the kind of trips you hope you never have to take. A friend’s mother died suddenly, and I wanted to go pay my respects and support him through the service in Atlanta. With a window of time available and plentiful points options — paid tickets were astronomically expensive — I was able to make that it happen. Today I’ll talk about the flight out which was in First Class on American.
Since I had to fly to Atlanta, the obvious thought was to look at Delta, but they wanted nearly $700 for a one way. I think it was a little better when booked as a roundtrip, but I instantly started looking to use points instead. On the way out, it was a no-brainer. American had only higher level awards in coach, but it did have a saver award seat available for First Class on the airline’s one nonstop from LAX. For 25,000 Atmos points — less than half the points Delta wanted for a coach seat — this was an easy choice.
I grabbed a room at a Hyatt I’ve stayed at before using an expiring night certificate for one night and points for the other, reserved parking at QuikPark near LAX, and then loaded the itinerary on the AA app (since I used Alaska miles, AA doesn’t see it automatically). Flight status showed me going out of Terminal 4, so I did the math in my head on timing, packed quickly, and then went to bed.
When I woke up, I had an alert saying we had been moved to the Bradley Terminal next door. I’m glad I had to app to tell me that, because it did make me want to give a little more buffer. The drive up was easy, but the terminal shuttle was excruciatingly slow, and I somehow didn’t even pull up to the Bradley Terminal curb until 45 minutes prior to departure. I was sweating this.
Every single time I walk through that terminal, I find it so strange when I’m just doing a domestic hop. This is the terminal of my youth where it meant you were going somewhere far away and exciting. But with Terminal 5 being rebuilt and Terminal 4 half being rebuilt, American is using a ton of gates in Bradley until the work is done.
There was no line at security, so I didn’t feel the need to hurry even once on the other side. I stopped by the bathroom and got to the gate when the last handful of people were boarding. For the first time I can remember in the US, I didn’t talk to a single ground employee. I just scanned my boarding pass and walked through the e-gate. Then I sat in the jet bridge while people slowly found their seats.
American 2469
March 29, 2026
From Los Angeles
➤ Scheduled Departure: 930a
➤ Actual Departure: 921a
➤ From Gate: 155
➤ Wheels Up: 944a
➤ From Runway: 25R
To Atlanta
➤ Wheels Down: 430p
➤ On Runway: 8L
➤ Scheduled Arrival: 449p
➤ Actual Arrival: 440p
➤ At Gate: T13
Aircraft
➤ Type: Airbus A321-231
➤ Delivered: December 20, 2008 to US Airways
➤ Registered: N508AY, msn 3740
➤ Livery: Ugly Flag Tail
Flight
➤ Cabin: First in Seat 2A
➤ Load: ~75% Full
➤ Flight Time: 3h46m
Pre-departure beverages had already been delivered by the time I sat down, but there was a lot of movement. The person in front of me had just been upgraded on the airplane, and bags were being brought forward. She got offered a beverage, but the flight attendant missed me somehow.
I decided to put on my headphones and close my eyes. It was a long taxi, but once in the air and above the receding fog, we pointed east.
I don’t think I actually slept, but I wasn’t feeling great so I kept my eyes closed for the first hour. After that, I felt like a new man.
About 15 minutes later, the flight attendant came by and asked if I wanted to eat since everyone else was long done. The charcuterie board was out — not that I cared — and she brought me the omelette. I can see why the omelette was the only option left.
The fruit was surprisingly good. The cinnamon roll was rock hard. The potatoes were soggy and squishy. The omelette was just… not good. I asked a friend who regularly flies on AA in First if that was normally this bad. His response? “Yes.” I later asked the flight attendant the same question, and she deftly replied, “You don’t see us eating it, do you?” That was a great response.
At this point I logged on to free wifi and after some early buffering, I was able to watch baseball streaming in my MLB app without any issues. After a bit, the wifi popped up another ad. Oh look, they’ve found a way to make the credit card pitch digital. How delightful.
When food was done, I went for a walk. This flight was not very full for a Sunday that undoubtedly touched someone’s spring break. I suppose with one daily flight in the market vs the 300 million daily flights on Delta, it’s not exactly the option most people think about first.
I chatted a bit with the flight attendant who was junior and New York-based. She was in a surprisingly good mood having already flown a delayed DFW-LAX before our flight that morning. Then I went back to my seat and opened up my computer.
I know I always waffle on this, but here’s the thing about in-seat video. If American had it, I could watch it undisturbed. But since American doesn’t have it, I put the phone in the little claw holder on the seatback. When the person in front of me reclines, it angles down annoyingly. And then, when I started logging into things on my computer, I had to keep interrupting my video on my phone to go and pull two-factor authentication codes out. I increasingly get the beauty of in-seat video.
The rest of the flight was pretty uneventful. There was no real service beyond the initial meal, but she would sometimes check on people. After giving up on stomaching the omelette, I was still hungry. Toward the end I asked the flight attendant if she had any snacks. She did not, but she called back to the aft galley, and someone brought up 3 Biscoffs for me. Slim pickings onboard, but I at least appreciated the effort.
It was a straight-in approach in Atlanta where scattered clouds hung over the city, somewhat obscuring my view of downtown. After touchdown, it was a lengthy taxi back to the T gates. I always find it so funny that American and United get the best gates in this airport.
I was pleased to see that construction progress has been made since my last trip. There is an actual ceiling in that terminal now.
I walked 100 miles until I got to the train to the rental car center. I grabbed a minivan and then I sat in traffic.
Overall, this experience was perfectly fine. The flight was on time, and the flight attendants were pleasant. It was basic transportation done as expected.
