Review of American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Washington in Economy

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; 

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.

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

Boarding pass

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

A shot from outside the terminal

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.

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

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

AMERICAN AIRLINES FLAGSHIP LOUNGE LAX

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

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.

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

I went to the buffet to have dinner.

Hot dishes 

Appetizers and light meals

Desserts

And a small section that had dumplings.

Drink selection

Soft drinks

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.

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.

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

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

Then I grabbed a coffee from the coffee machine

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

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.

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

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.

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

Overhead screens were present at this aircraft

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.

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

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

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

Terminals 4&5

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

Terminal 6

Terminals 6&7

Terminal 7

United 737

Remote stands

United 787 at a remote stand

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

And we took of

Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant

El Segundo, CA

Redondo Beach, CA

Rolling Hills, CA

Carson, CA

Terminal Island, CA

After takeoff, overhead monitors were opened

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

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

Long Beach, CA

Costa Mesa, CA

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

Internet packages

Services offered for free

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

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

Speed of the Inflight Wi-Fi provided

Murrieta, CA

Palm Desert, CA

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

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

The Fruit & Cheese Plate could also be preordered online

Snack options

Beverages offered on this flight

Seat pocket content

And the safety card

A quick look at the American Way Magazine

AA Fleet

AA West Coast destinations

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.

Coalton, WV

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

Mt. Clifton, VA

Front Royal, VA

White Pump, VA

Leesburg, VA

Potomac Falls, VA

Ashburn, VA

Sterling, VA

A final shot before our landing

And we are in Dulles

We had touched down 20 minutes before scheduled arrival time

Concourse B

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

Main Building.

After gate B67 was empty, we continued taxiing

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

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

After heading to the AirTrain station,

Riding the AirTrain

And arriving to the Main Building

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.

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