Review of American Airlines flight from Raleigh to Charlotte in Domestic First

Report No: 2020-1004

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Welcome to this long, 18 flight series of US domestic mileage runs that I took in October 2020. After COVID-19, the demand for premium travel within the USA has decreased for short distances so on some occasions Domestic First tickets in the USA could be really cheap if you book in advance. American Airlines had a deal of DCA-RDU r/t for $227 which would have given me 240 British Airways Executive Club Tier Points so I decided to take 3 of these runs to achieve Gold status in British Airways Executive Club.

Although I am a Qatar Airways Privilege Club Platinum member at the moment, unless things change, I am pretty sure that I would lose it in mid-2022 so I have started working on a back-up plan as oneworld Emerald status is a really valuable status for a frequent traveler.

The fourth report of this series would be a short hop flight from Raleigh Durham to Charlotte onboard the same aircraft I flew CLT to RDU a few hours ago this flight. Unfortunately at RDU, the AA Club was closed, so I am unable to review any lounges in this report.

Here is the routing
Part 1 

Part 2

Part 3

Loads for this flight

Domestic First: 100
Main Cabin: 95-100%  

RALEIGH DURHAM AIRPORT - RDU

After arriving from my previous flight, it was time to explore the terminal.

Unfortunately, the Admirals Club was closed and it was only offering ticketing/rebooking assistance for club eligible passengers.

Although, the Delta Sky Club was open.

The United Club was closed because of the Governor's order. If the governor doesn't permit United to open their club, how could Delta open theirs? Interesting.

FIDS for the day. Our flight was the last flight to Charlotte that day.

Open locations at RDU for the day

GATE AREA & BOARDING

For most of the layover, I sat down near an empty gate and spent time on my laptop. When it was close to boarding time, I headed to the gate and saw a surprise. It was going to be N738US again.

Boarding had started on time and I was the first one to board that day.

AA 508 RALEIGH DURHAM AIRPORT TO CHARLOTTE AIRPORT

It was the same exact crew from my previous flight and she welcomed me. Later on, I've headed to the same exact seat that I've flown on the last flight.

Here is the legroom

Here is the hand sanitizer wipe that was on my armrest when I boarded.

Here is the seatback pocket content

And here is the power outlet for the seat.

Shortly after boarding had finished, we had pushed back and the safety demo was performed.

And after a short taxi, we have took off and I have started sleeping for the flight.

And woke up, when we have landed at Charlotte

During our taxi, we have passed by this American 777-200ER that was going to head to Munich as a cargo-only flight.

And we were going to park at gate C16.

CHARLOTTE DOUGLAS AIRPORT - CLT

After a quite uneventful flight, I have thanked the crew for both flights and entered the terminal.

It was time to head to the Admirals Club before my next flight to Philadelphia.

The journey would continue in the next report.
Thanks for reading and hope to see you in another report.