Made it back..

..with nary a hitch, catching the 2.30 Native Son and making it to CRC before 4 pm..but WHY OH WHY is AA flying cramped 737's from SFO to Miami for the nearly six hour flight and then much more spacious 757's for the two and a half hours to STT??? I never thought airlines would use 737's, booked to the max BTW, for transcontinental flights. I am only 5 ft 8 and my knees where touching the seat in fron..come on AA..you've got the planes..fly them!

OUCH.....cross country on a 737???

Not nearly the same distance, but they started using the smaller A319's that they inherited from US Air from STL to MIA. Tough to use miles for 1st Class when there's only 2 rows.

Actually, the 737 and 757 (and 707, 720,and 727) have the same cross section. What matters is seat pitch. That's how many rows in a given length. The airline determines that, not the manufacturer. And they can change it easily. I've seen some of the 737NGs that were quite comfortable. I've also been on 757s that were cattle cars. As a retired airline pilot, I often shook my head at some of the decisions as to how many seats a plane should hold.
Lew

Mal, hopefully we will see you this trip

We got stuck on a really old 737 for 11 hours Madrid to Quito courtesy of Iberian airlines. No seta back TV, just those screens that drop down around the cabin in places you can't see, the most surly, elderly cabin crew you have ever seen, and to top it all: we were contacted later to tell us that someone seated within a couple of rows had TB and we had to be tests as we were close to them for such a long time! Great. Never to be repeated!!!

This is the winner! Mal wont be down until catfight but hope to see you then

Mal - I just anchored in CGB. Are you heading in that direction today or tonight?

Yup...agree...pick my planes carefully for mileage upgrades...just not worth plunking down the outrageous amounts they ask for these days!

Tonight..happy hour at Myetts??

Felt like I was in business class in the 757 after that 737..

Mal - sounds like a good plan. I'll do some boat work and then head ashore. What time "happy hour" works for you?

I'll be there about 5.30..

What a coincidence, me too!

I wish I could Join you guys. Maybe next time.

Wish I was there too <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />

Mal and I waited around for hours for other TTOLers to show up; so we passed the time by having some libations and exchanging stories.

I think the new 737-800 gets better gas mileage than the older 757. We use Seat Guru to have a better chance of not getting a bad seat on any flight.

Unless you were upfront there were no good seats on that 737..cramped and horrible.