Round The World and other travels

I was re-booked onto this flight, having turned up at the airport quite early for AA1541 - this is one of the benefits of travelling on a fully flexible xONEx itinerary. With the early Sunday morning and Labor Day weekend combination, it was a lightly loaded flight, there being only 8 passengers in the F cabin. I had been allocated 4F and, delightfully, 3F/3E/4E/5E/5F were all empty   I sipped a pre-departure apple juice while other passengers boarded.

There had been a minor problem with on-board water pressure, but it was soon put right and we pushed back just a little behind the published schedule at 0804, taxiing out to Runway 36R and taking to the ominous-looking skies at 0815. The flight time was announced as 3 hours and 43 minutes and we were to be flying at 34,000ft.

I had another apple juice while breakfast was being prepared. In a departure from the normal 'FEBO' routine, I was given first choice of main course, even though I was seated furthest forward on this odd-numbered flight. That choice consisted of either omelette or pancakes and I decided to have the former. There was a hot towels service just before the main courses were ready. When it arrived, the tray also contained a fresh fruit starter, and I was able to select a heated bagel and 'biscuit' (similar to a scone). I drank coffee.

I spent the main part of the flight admiring the views out of the window and snoozing. The seat belt signs came on with over half an hour to run, due to the passage over high mountains. We were given 'landing mints' as the aircraft passed to the north of downtown Seattle for a 180 degree turn, giving me excellent views of the Space Needle and the city centre skyscrapers. We touched down in Sea-Tac at 0956, making it to our stand by 1002.