Review of American Airlines flight Long Beach Phoenix in Economy

Airline American Airlines
Flight AA5813
Class Economy
Seat 15F
Flight time 01:32
Take-off 06 Aug 19, 06:45
Arrival at 06 Aug 19, 08:17
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
lbfortress
Published on 11th August 2019

Introduction


Hello and thanks for taking the time to read my latest flight report. Today, I'm flying from Long Beach, CA to Phoenix, AZ. This is a work trip and it was my company who purchased this ticket. I'll be flying an airline I rarely fly, American Airlines. 

If you wish to watch the video, please check out the link below.



Pre-flight


Flying out of Long Beach is usually a stress free experience and today was no exception. Check out the "busy" security line. From my drop off to getting to my gate took about 10 minutes.


photo security

There are no lounges here. These terminals are great compared to what the airport was like before 2012.


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I had some time to plane spot. Here is a jetBlue A320. And you can see a Hawaiian A321 right next to it. Here at LGB, you can board at the front or back with the staircases and ramps.


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Again, not busy at the gates even with several morning flights, including mine.


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American Flight 5813


Here is our plane today, N249LR, an eight year old Bombardier CRJ 900. I used to be a fan of the CRJ. Then I discovered the Embraer E175 and realized the E175s are significantly quieter and seem more spacious. I wish AA would send a few E175s out to LGB. All that to say, I'm looking forward to adding a new destination for me out of Long Beach.


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Thanks to my company buying the ticket and probably we have a corporate contract, I will be able to board in group 4. So much for not having status with AA or OneWorld. Boarding was very quick as it wasn't a completely full flight.


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Unfortunately, my carry on bag was too big for the small overhead bin and I had to gate-check it. Thankfully, that is free and I will be able to claim it at the gate in Phoenix.


The cabin experience


The eight year old plane had a decent looking cabin. You can see how bright it is inside the plane. You can also see the smallish overhead bins. The seats in the main cabin are 2-2. There were only two passengers seated in the emergency rows. The flight attendant asked the people nearby if someone wanted a free "upgrade" to the exit rows. One took her up on the offer. Another didn't and one other got up and took the other seat.


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The seats have decent legroom. However, it is still a cramp seat as there isn't as much width. They average about 17 inches and slightly less at 16.85. You can feel the difference of about one inch compared to the E175. Hence another reason I prefer the Embraers if I could ride a regional jet.


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My view for the next hour. I'll always take a window on a flights less than 4 hours. There's an E175 I would take. That Delta is headed for Salt Lake City. You can see some Southwest 737's in the background.


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6:45 or 7 am?


We left the gate around 6:45. Our flight would be the first flight to take off. However, flights are not supposed to take off until 7. So you'll see a line of jets waiting. In our case, we had to taxi across the runway to the other side and continue to taxi. That's a first time for me at LGB.


photo runway

Unfortunately it was too cloudy this morning to see anything on takeoff.


photo cloud

I love take off from Long Beach and I have my sides I like to sit on. Eastbound flights will fly past Downtown Long Beach and the Queen Mary and past the Port of Long Beach. Sit on the A side of the plane for that. If you're flying North, sit on the F side and you'll see Downtown LA and a unique view of LAX.


Amenities


Nothing fancy. There is a standard American in-flight magazine with all the games, credit card offers destinations, airport and route maps and types of aircraft.

Of note, there are personal air vents. It is really noisy inside the cabin. It's probably not as noisy as a 737 or A320, but I could tell, it was noisy. Another reason I would take an E175.
  
 There were a choice of sodas, juices, coffee, water provided. Snack cookies were also provided. No snack boxes were for sale.


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Also of note, if one wanted coffee, there was a delay there. The flight attendant would ring the call button to indicate a coffee order. The wait was quite long as I guess the coffee was being made right after takeoff and in the front galley. The passenger next to me only had about 15 minutes to finish his coffee. Good call on the water for me.

There is one narrow toilet at the back of the plane for all the economy passengers.


photo toilet

Landing


It wasn't terribly bumpy, but you could see the clouds building as it looked like we would have thunderstorms during the day. At least the cloud cover would keep things a little cooler.


photo landing

We had an uneventful landing in Phoenix and a slightly early arrival. The flight attendant welcomed us and informed us to close the window shades to help keep the cabin cool. Pretty much everyone obliged.

The awkward wait for our gate checked luggage. The reason I say that is because you have people disembarking and there was a small lady trying to push someone in a wheelchair up the gate. She was a strong young woman. At least it was a quick wait. I had my luggage in about 5 minutes and was ready to head to my hotel for check in.


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Verdict

American Airlines

6.5/10
Cabin7.0
Cabin crew8.0
Entertainment/wifi6.0
Meal/catering5.0

Long Beach - LGB

9.6/10
Efficiency10.0
Access10.0
Services8.5
Cleanliness10.0

Phoenix - PHX

9.1/10
Efficiency9.0
Access9.0
Services9.0
Cleanliness9.5

Conclusion

Overall, it was a very uneventful flight. It's a quick hop to Phoenix. Don't expect much in the way of food. But the crews are a mix of young and old and they all seem nice enough. And thankfully today, we arrived on time. I'm ready to start my business trip.

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