{"id":5208,"date":"2020-12-20T22:59:59","date_gmt":"2020-12-20T14:59:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/?p=5208"},"modified":"2021-06-06T06:58:18","modified_gmt":"2021-06-05T22:58:18","slug":"20201220aa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/2020\/12\/20\/20201220aa\/","title":{"rendered":"Flight Log of American Airlines Flight 2707 and 2188 from Washington Dulles to Reno via Dallas Fort Worth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christmas 2020. I decided to spend a few days snowshoeing in the mountains around Lake Tahoe. This is the outbound flight segments where I flew American from Dulles to Reno.<\/p>\n

\"Sunset\"<\/a>

<\/br>Sunset over Lake Tahoe<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Reservations<\/span><\/h3>\n

I had been looking for somewhere away from home to spend Christmas 2020. At first, I thought the relatively warmth of California coast would make it a good idea to drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles along the gorgeous CA Route 1. I even secured a web-special award from AA from DC to San Jose at mere 5k miles. That is, until most of California went into lockdown early December where hotels weren\u2019t supposed to honor (non-essential)<\/span> reservations anymore.
\nAnother major motivation for going west coast was Alaska Airlines’ promotions for elite qualification, and I was one trans-con flight away from their lowest-tier MVP. With them joining OneWorld early 2021, that would come in handy for me checking bags on AA\/AS. So with my scope set on the west coast, I found Lake Tahoe seemed to be a popular winter sports destination. Even better, the lake spanned both California and Nevada, with all accommodations on the Nevada side still open. Considering schedule and connection times, I decided to fly out on American, and back on Alaska.
\nTowards the end of 2020, American Airlines had lots of domestic award spaces at 7k miles one-way, that\u2019s available all the way to departure time. (I believe there were only a handful of routes and days where they didn\u2019t offer this.) With free cancellation on award tickets and unsure about weather at Lake Tahoe (nobody liked to be out in a snow storm), I booked flights on the 19th, 20th and 21st each, and finally decided to take the flight on Dec 20th. The schedule would have me fly out of Dulles (unfortunately that’s the only airport compatible with 7k award)<\/span> at 8:40am, with a short 1-hour connection at Dallas before landing in Reno at 2pm, leaving enough time for me to settle down before it got dark.<\/p>\n

Flight 2707 from Dulles to Dallas<\/span><\/h3>\n

So on the Sunday morning of Dec 20, I asked my friend for a ride to Dulles Airport. Being early morning and with international traffic way down, the airport felt both cheerful and hollow with its Christmas decorations.<\/p>\n

\"Christmas<\/a>

<\/br>Christmas Lights at Dulles<\/p><\/div>\n

Being the farthest of three DC area airports from my home, this is my first time at Dulles. I liked that it felt modern and spacious, with its high ceilings and wide concourses (by US standards, at the world stage its concourses could still use some widening)<\/span>.
\nYet on the other hand, its secluded security checkpoints and the tram ride to the terminals combined with numerous escalators made it feel like a workout to reach the gate. <\/p>\n

\"Terminal<\/a>

<\/br>Terminal Interior<\/br>Not many people for this Sunday morning before Christmas.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Here’s GPS tracking:
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