Review of American Airlines flight from New York to Charlotte in Domestic First

Report No: 2020-1008

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Welcome to this long, 18 flight series of US domestic mileage runs that I took in October 2020. After COVID-19, the demand for premium travel within the USA has decreased for short distances so on some occasions Domestic First tickets in the USA could be really cheap if you book in advance. American Airlines had a deal of DCA-RDU r/t for $227 which would have given me 240 British Airways Executive Club Tier Points so I decided to take 3 of these runs to achieve Gold status in British Airways Executive Club.

Although I am a Qatar Airways Privilege Club Platinum member at the moment, unless things change, I am pretty sure that I would lose it in mid-2022 so I have started working on a back-up plan as oneworld Emerald status is a really valuable status for a frequent traveler.

The eighth report of this series would be the first Boeing report of this series. This time I'll be flying onboard an Oasis cabin equipped Boeing 737-800 of American Airlines from New York La Guardia to Charlotte Douglas Airport. During my layover, I also had the chance to visit the AA Admirals Club in LGA.

Here is the routing
Part 1 

Part 2

Part 3

Loads for this flight

Domestic First: 100%
Main Cabin: 100%  

New York LA GUARDIA AIRPORT - LGA

After arriving from my previous flight from DCA, I've stepped into the terminal. This time, the terminal was much more crowded and I didn't get any personal greeting like last time.

As you could notice, the terminal is much more crowded last time. Although, it was Friday morning before the long-weekend holiday started so it's normal to see more travelers on this day.

FIDS for today. Because of the strict NY state quarantine for out-of-state travelers, AA operations from LGA is limited to their hubs and Boston where they offer the shuttle service.

AMERICAN AIRLINES ADMIRALS CLUB D - NEW YORK LA GUARDIA AIRPORT

As I had time, I've headed to the Admirals Club in LGA and I was immediately recognized by the agents and was welcomed back.

Although the terminal was crowded, the lounge was empty and there were 2-3 guests including myself at that time.

Here is the food options

Also, there was a section that there was extra food served by a server. Also avocado toasts were being offered by one of the lounge staff.

Before I left the club, the lounge staff offered me to prepare a snack bag while I was enjoying my time. 

When it was time to leave, I said goodbye to the lounge staff and left the club.

GATE AREA & BOARDING

About 40 minutes before scheduled departure time, I was at gate D7 for boarding. 

The seating areas around the gate were fully occupied.

35 minutes before scheduled departure time boarding had started, and I boarded with Group 1.

AA 1782 New York LA GUARDIA AIRPORT TO CHARLOTTE DOUGLAS AIRPORT

After being welcomed by the crew, I took my seat which was 4F for the flight.

Nothing surprising for this report, it's the Oasis First Class seats.

With the same seat pocket content as usual

However, this aircraft was equipped with both power outlets and USB ports

Our neighbor was this American A319 that would operate the next flight to Charlotte which would be followed by the CLT-RDU flight that I took in the next report.

So, the boarding process was a chaos; two cabin crew members were at the front galley greeting passengers, one of them was waiting at the rear galley and one was helping with passengers placing their bags in the overhead lockers. The issue was that most people did not place their items correctly in the overhead bins so the space wasn't enough for everyone. The boarding process took a solid 30-35 minutes while there were several announcements for passengers to not block the aisle when putting their stuff in the overhead compartments. However, as it could be seen, one member of the crew helping with bags wasn't sufficient at all.

Although, we were able to push back 5-10 minutes later than our scheduled departure time when all of the passengers have took their seat and all items were stowed properly.

While we're taxiing, here is the new concourse that would replace Concourse C.

The old Concourse C that would be demolished.

The new gates at Terminal B.

United aircraft at the other side of Terminal B

American Airlines 737-800 that would head to Dallas Fort Worth.

More United aircraft

And when we approached Terminal C, it's time to see DL aircraft

Construction is going on at both terminals

More DL aircraft

Citi Field Baseball stadium

And after a taxi of 5 minutes, we took off

The runway we took off was visible after our takeoff

Passing over upper suburbs of New York City

And we're over NJ airspace

NJ suburbs

Onboard this flight, there was personal device entertainment available by Viasat

Free live TV and Apple Music was also available.

Weather information for Charlotte

Wi-Fi options for todays flight

The entertainment menu

And the live TV channels that were ready to stream

Passing over Tysons, VA

And Washington Dulles International Airport

Later in the flight, I've hit the call button and asked for a tomato juice which was promptly served.

Shortly before landing, the crew appeared to collect trash and later on,

We landed at CLT a few minutes later than our scheduled arrival time

US Military aircraft

An American Eagle CRJ

Concourse D

And that day, we had parked at gate D3.

CHARLOTTE AIRPORT - CLT

After saying goodbye to the crew, I have left the aircraft and took this last photo of N885NN.

And, later on, I've headed to the Admirals Club before my flight to Raleigh/Durham.

The journey would continue in the next report.
Thanks for reading and hope to see you in another report.