Review of American Airlines flight Los Angeles Washington in Economy

Airline American Airlines
Flight AA303
Class Economy
Seat 08A
Aircraft Boeing 737-800
Flight time 04:50
Take-off 18 Nov 18, 21:30
Arrival at 19 Nov 18, 05:20
AA   #69 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 591 reviews
ISTFlyer
By SILVER 1033
Published on 21st November 2018

Hi & Welcome to this short series of flight-reports that would only contain two flights; the other one with American Airlines and this one with Spirit Airlines. This report contains a red-eye flight from LAX to IAD, on a mid-aged 737-800 aircraft without IFE, in addition to a visit to the American Airlines Flagship Lounge.

The routing for this trip would look like this; 


Routing


These reports would be also posted in French, which could be found in the French section of this website. 

Excusez-moi de ne pas partager la version française avec la même temps avec la version anglaise. La version française n'est pas encore prêt. Je vais afficher la version française de ce Flight-Report quand il est prêt.


Pax for this flight

Domestic First: %100
Main Cabin: %100 

The flight was fully booked so there were no empty seats onboard. 


ONLINE CHECK-IN


I have completed my online check-in 24 hours before scheduled departure time. Even though some seats seemed empty at that time, the flight was fully booked.


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Due to my oneworld Sapphire status, I was able to reserve a Main Cabin Extra seat without a fee.


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Boarding pass


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Los Angeles INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - LAX


Due to the evening rush at LAX, I was dropped to the arrival level and then used the escalators to reach the departures level


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A shot from outside the terminal


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The priority entrance is located at the end of Terminal 4. Before entering the priority lane for security screening, an agent was checking boarding passes if passengers were eligible for Priority, Clear or PreCheck. Non eligible passengers were directed to the main checkpoint.


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1 lane out of 2 was in service at that time. I took me 10-15 minutes to clear the checkpoint.


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After clearing the checkpoint, this AA B38M to Miami which parked at gate 40 was visible.


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AMERICAN AIRLINES FLAGSHIP LOUNGE LAX


After the security checkpoint, I directly headed to the Flagship Lounge to have a dinner before my flight.


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The entrance of the lounge is shared with Admirals Club card holders so an invitation to the Flagship Lounge is given at the reception for eligible passengers. The employee at the reception warned me that no announcements were going to be made for domestic flights at the Flagship Lounge.


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After finding a spot next to this Boeing 787-9 which was going to head to Auckland


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I went to the buffet to have dinner.

Hot dishes 


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Appetizers and light meals


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Desserts


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And a small section that had dumplings.


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Drink selection


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Soft drinks


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Also, there was a section that the passengers could order their own quesadillas with their topping of their choice. The chef at that section was really efficient and polite to passengers. He also told me that I could to return to my seat and he notified me when my quesadilla was ready.


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While enjoying my meal, this 77W was taxied to gate 41 from a remote stand as the aircraft would fly to Hong Kong that evening.


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Also, this Copa 737-9MAX was being pushbacked from TBIT for its flight CM 362 to Panama Tocumen


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FIDS at the Lounge - I was still in the lounge 25 minutes before scheduled departure time


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Then I grabbed a coffee from the coffee machine


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And a chocolate from the exit of the lounge and headed to gate 45


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GATE AREA & BOARDING


When I arrived to gate 45, group 7 was boarding so I just headed to the Priority Lane and boarded directly by cutting the line.


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As I was one of the last passengers to board, it was difficult to find a space for my carry-on but I was lucky to find one near row 11.


The only shot of our aircraft which I took from the jetbridge


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AA 303 - Los Angeles INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT


I was welcomed by the crew while boarding the aircraft.


Seat:

This aircraft ( N823NN ) was one of the mid-aged 737-800 aircraft on the American fleet, so there were no personal screens installed to seats. Despite that, the seat was comfortable and reclined perfectly. The legroom for Main Cabin Extra is also perfect.


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Another shot of this 787-9 which would serve as AA83 to Auckland


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Overhead screens were present at this aircraft


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As well as a remote at each seat, to control the language of the content provided in the overhead monitors or to choose which audio channel to listen.


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The safety video was played from these monitors shortly after doors were armed.


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An AA A321 which was our other neighbor while we were at the gate


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And another AA A321, which would head to Las Vegas that evening


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Terminals 4&5


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B-16706 was being taxied to TBIT as its flight to Taipei would depart in few hours


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Terminal 6


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Terminals 6&7


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Terminal 7


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United 737


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Remote stands


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United 787 at a remote stand


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Ethiopian 787-8 which would head back to Addis Ababa via Dublin in few hours.


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And we took of


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Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant


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El Segundo, CA


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Redondo Beach, CA


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Rolling Hills, CA


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Carson, CA


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Terminal Island, CA


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After takeoff, overhead monitors were opened


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For most of the flight, they had no content and had a black screen like this


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But, shortly after takeoff. The new Mamma Mia movie was shown


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Long Beach, CA


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Costa Mesa, CA


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Mobile entertainment was available during this flight. This aircraft was equipped with the Gogo system.


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Internet packages


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Services offered for free


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IFE Menu - It is interesting that there is no route map on the mobile IFE system


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I have used the free Wi-Fi option provided for T-Mobile members.


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Speed of the Inflight Wi-Fi provided


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Murrieta, CA


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Palm Desert, CA


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Just after the seatbelt signs had turned off, pretzels were provided for each passengers. No Biscoff cookies were loaded on this flight.


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If customers were not satisfied with the pretzels, they had the option to buy the Food&Cheese Plate. No other options were available


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The Fruit & Cheese Plate could also be preordered online


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Snack options


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Beverages offered on this flight


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Seat pocket content


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And the safety card


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A quick look at the American Way Magazine


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AA Fleet


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AA West Coast destinations


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A short visit to the lavatory. It wasn't clean while I visited 1h30 minutes before landing. By the way, while waiting for my turn the crew at the rear galley asked me if I wanted something to drink. They offered water or any soft drink for passengers visited the galley.


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Coalton, WV


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Shortly after passing over West Virginia, seatbelt signs had been turned on for our descend


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Mt. Clifton, VA


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Front Royal, VA


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White Pump, VA


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Leesburg, VA


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Potomac Falls, VA


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Ashburn, VA


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Sterling, VA


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A final shot before our landing


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And we are in Dulles


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We had touched down 20 minutes before scheduled arrival time


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Concourse B


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Cargo area. We had waited here for 10 minutes due to our parking position was full at that time.


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Main Building.


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After gate B67 was empty, we continued taxiing


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And we had parked next to this Alaska A320 which would head to Los Angeles as AS 1089


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Even though my hand luggage was 3 rows behind my row, I had managed to reach it 2-3 minutes after disembarkation begun


WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT - IAD


The terminal was empty as it was early in the morning


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After heading to the AirTrain station,


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Riding the AirTrain


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And arriving to the Main Building


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This report has came to an end.


Also due to the Silver Line Express Bus starts working at 6:00am, I have took an Uber to the Wiehle-Reston Metro station and took the Silver Line back to DC.


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Thanks for reading and hope to see you in another report.

See more

Verdict

American Airlines

7.6/10
Cabin8.0
Cabin crew8.5
Entertainment/wifi7.5
Meal/catering6.5

Los Angeles - LAX

7.9/10
Efficiency8.5
Access7.5
Services7.5
Cleanliness8.0

Washington - IAD

7.9/10
Efficiency7.5
Access7.5
Services8.0
Cleanliness8.5

Conclusion

LAX
(+) Boarding with priorities respected
(-) Checkpoint waiting time could be better
AA Flagship Lounge LAX
(+) Food options
(+) Nice and comfortable seating
(+) Nice views of the apron
(+) Employees pick up trash in regular intervals and ask if something is needed
AA 303
(+) Mobile IFE system
(+) Friendly crew
(-) Overhead screens showed nothing except a movie. ( Route map could be shown while there is no program going on )
(-) BoB options ( Only Fruit & Cheese plate available )
(-) Lavatories not cleaned during the flight
IAD
(+) Efficient terminal
(-) Waiting for the gate to be available
(-) No public transportation until 5:50am

Even though American Airlines had done a better job than my last LAX-IAD flight, I don't understand why their BoB menu is so bad or they don't offer any sandwich for a 4+ hour flight. Also, the usage of the overhead screens could be improved as they were open but had a black screen for most of the flight and I don't know if this is true but AA crews are probably not responsible for cleaning the lavatories so it's always a mess while visiting one of them prior to landing. On the other hand, the Los Angeles based crew did their job perfectly and the mobile IFE system worked perfectly. I would like to add a point that a route map function could be added to the mobile IFE system. The ground experience at LAX was perfect except a short wait at the security checkpoint. The lounge is fabulous and one of the best lounges that an US carrier operates. The only problem at IAD was that all AA gates were occupied when we landed so we needed to wait for one of them to be vacant. Also I had bad luck that day as a brand new 737-800 was substituted with this 8 year old Boeing 737-800 few hours before the flight. And due to my Oneworld status, I would continue to use American Airlines in future occasions.

Information on the route Los Angeles (LAX) Washington (IAD)

6 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 476899 by
    lagentsecret 12186 Comments
    Thanks for sharing this FR

    "the other one with American Airlines and this one with Spirit Airlines"
    Really ? ;)

    "Due to my oneworld Sapphire status, I was able to reserve a Main Cabin Extra seat without a fee."
    That's nice.
    Which FFP are you member of ?

    "1 lane out of 2 was in service at that time. I took me 10-15 minutes to clear the checkpoint."
    Was this lane a TSA Pre lane ?

    The lounge offer is quite good.
    Except the desserts, the buffet seems to have a lot of choices.
    And of course there is certainly a choice of nuts.

    "As I was one of the last passengers to board, it was difficult to find a space for my carry-on"
    Because of the paid checked luggages rule, it's always difficult to find a space in overhead bins when boarding at last.

    It's nice to have a BYOD entertainment on board

    "If customers were not satisfied with the pretzels, they had the option to buy the Food&Cheese Plate. No other options were available"
    Both options are very poor, especially the BOB options !

    "They offered water or any soft drink for passengers visited the galley."
    A good initiative

    You didn't sleep at all during all the flight ?

    Red eye flights are very tiring

    See you for your next flight
    • Comment 476954 by
      ISTFlyer SILVER AUTHOR 399 Comments
      Hi Lagentsecret and welcome to this Flight-Report,

      "Really ? ;)"
      - I usually pick the most reasonable flight which best fits to me.
      "Which FFP are you member of ?"
      - I hold Silver status on British Airways Executive Club.
      "Was this lane a TSA Pre lane ?"
      - No, it was the regular Priority lane.
      "The lounge offer is quite good. Except the desserts, the buffet seems to have a lot of choices. And of course there is certainly a choice of nuts."
      - It's impressive for an AA lounge, comparing to the Admirals Club. But the lounge mainly serves, long haul international passengers.
      "Because of the paid checked luggages rule, it's always difficult to find a space in overhead bins when boarding at last."
      - Yes, I won't make that mistake in the future, but I was hungry so I was eating dinner while boarding started.
      "It's nice to have a BYOD entertainment on board"
      - Yes but a route map in the Personal Entertainment System would be appreciated.
      "Both options are very poor, especially the BOB options !" & "A good initiative"
      - Completely agree
      "You didn't sleep at all during all the flight ?"
      - Unfortunately not, I was awake during whole of the flight.

      And of course, thank you for your comments and have a great day. See you next time.
  • Comment 476925 by
    KL651 TEAM 4534 Comments
    Thanks for this FR.
    Well the lounge is the only meaningful difference with Spirit.
    Otherwise AA is only worth it when the fare is 50$ more than NK as you only get a free beverage and some PED IFE as a difference.
    • Comment 476956 by
      ISTFlyer SILVER AUTHOR 399 Comments
      Hi KL651 & thanks for stopping by,

      "Well the lounge is the only meaningful difference with Spirit."
      - Yes it is, and of course FQTV privileges and free cabin baggage.
      "Otherwise AA is only worth it when the fare is 50$ more than NK as you only get a free beverage and some PED IFE as a difference."
      - It actually depends if PTV's would be offered on board on AA 738 aircraft but I was unlucky today. The price difference for this flight was around $25 ( base fare for both airlines ). In this case Spirit was more expensive after purchasing cabin baggage. And also the PED IFE is a positive point when flying American.

      Once again thank you for your comment and see you in future reports.
  • Comment 476974 by
    Chibcha SILVER 540 Comments
    thanks for sharing!
  • Comment 477089 by
    ISTFlyer SILVER AUTHOR 399 Comments
    Thanks for the appreciation, hope to see you in another report.

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