Review of American Eagle flight Philadelphia → Washington in Domestic First

Report No: 2020-1018

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 eighteenth and the last report of this series would be an American Eagle flight from Philadelphia to Washington DC onboard the Embraer E-175 operated by Republic Airlines. This time, I was able to visit the American Airlines Admirals Club in Philadelphia before it closed at 20:30 as my inbound flight had arrived early. This report would also include the conclusion for all 18 reports in this series.

Here is the routing
Part 1 

Part 2

Part 3

Loads for this flight

Domestic First: 100%
Main Cabin: 95-100%  

PHILADELPHIA AIRPORT - PHL

As my previous flight arrived early, I had time to visit the Admirals Club as it is closing at 20:30 during this post-COVID era.

American Airlines ADMIRALS CLUB B/C - PHILADELPHIA AIRPORT

After being welcomed by the front desk staff, I was warned that the club would close within 20 minutes.

The club was mostly empty and most of the food was already collected at that time. The only available food were pre-packaged vegetables, hummus, cheese cubes, brownies and cookies. The full drink selection ( both alcoholic and non-alcoholic ) was available at that time.

Here was my selection for the 20 minute stay in the Admirals Club.

GATE AREA & BOARDING

That day, my flight was going to depart from gate B1 which was really close to the club.

Although as the gate area was close to one of the open restaurants at that time, it was crowded and while people were enjoying their beers, they couldn't stop shouting when talking so for my peace of mind, I went for a walk in the terminal before boarding started. 

During my walk, I had the opportunity to take a photo of the FIDS.

When I returned to the gate, it was almost time for boarding and at that time, I browsed the menu for the restaurant that was next door. The prices were high but as the restaurant was operated by OTG, it didn't surprise me.

There was also a self-service supermarket style store of the same restaurant next door; the items did not have a price label but I assume that it's still high as they were charging $5.49 for a bottle of small water in the restaurant section ( plus tax and plus tip of course ). By the way, on merchants operated by OTG in any airport, all transactions are cashless and you would need a credit card.

25 minutes before scheduled departure time, boarding had started and I have boarded with Group 1 for the flight.

AA 4515 PHILADELPHIA AIRPORT TO Washington Reagan AIRPORT

After being welcomed by the friendly lead FA and being handed a hand sanitizing wipe, I have headed to my seat 04F.

The seat has generous legroom.

Here is the hand sanitizer wipe that was given to me.

Here is the seat pocket content

There were power outlets and USB ports equipped in each seat, although mine and my neighbors' weren't working throughout the flight. Last time when I had a similar issue, when I addressed the issue through the AA customer service webform, the only thing that I got was a "Thanks for writing your experience and we're sorry for the inconvenience" style e-mail so I didn't bothered to complain about the issue.

While boarding was going on, I've visited the front lavatory which was tiny, although clean.

As boarding was completed, we had started our push back.

On the way to the runway, I've spotted this A319 which have brought be to Philadelphia on my previous flight from Charlotte.

And after a short taxi, it was time to take off.

After takeoff, the mobile IFE system was activated.

The weather in Washington DC wasn't that bad that evening

Wi-Fi options for this flight

Movies & TV show options

While we were passing over Baltimore, the crew did took drink orders for today's flight.

As the cabin temperature was a bit cold, I've ordered a hot tea which was promptly served.

Although, a few minutes later, the crew apologized and told me that she needed to collect all service items before landing so I could have only enjoyed half of my tea on this very short flight. Despite that, I have thanked her as most crews on a flight on this length prefers to hide in the galley rather than doing a service.

Ballston, VA

Rosslyn, VA

Pentagon

Crystal City, VA

And we have landed ahead of schedule

And after a short taxi, we have parked at gate 36.

Our neighbor was this American Airlines A321neo

Washington Reagan AIRPORT - DCA

After saying goodbye to the crew, I have left the aircraft and headed into the terminal.

As expected, the terminal was empty that late-evening.

And after taking this photo of N447YX from the National Hall, I would like to tell that this mileage run series have came to an end.

I hope that you enjoyed this series.
Stay tuned with Flight-Report for future reports and new series. 

Once again thanks for reading and hope to see you in another report.

CONCLUSION OF THE SERIES

To conclude this series, I could tell that;

American Airlines did a really good job on all the 18 flights. I have no complaints about any of the flights as mostly the crew was friendly towards passengers. It wasn't the best time to enjoy the soft-product onboard American Airlines as due to their policy, no food was being served on flights under 900 miles; although all of the crews followed the drinks on request protocol and some of them were voluntarily asking passengers if they needed anything. For the entertainment part, I could tell that the mobile IFE on flights are one of the best points of American as they offer a great amount of content; although, the Wi-Fi may be expensive although AAdvantage members could purchase a monthly subscription for $49. For the hard-product onboard, I really enjoyed the Oasis seats although it might be true that the old seats are more comfortable than these ones, I found the legroom decent on all 4 seat types that I've flown on this series. Also, the majority of the aircraft had power outlets and USB ports, which meant that I was able to charge my devices on a mileage run that was going to take 16 hours. For the airport experiences, I have nothing specifically to mention about. In all flights, priorities and group numbers were respected during boarding. Although on some flights, the boarding process was not efficient as people improperly placed their belongings in the overhead bins and the cabin attendants were generally watching the process rather than helping on the spot ( maybe due to COVID ). The Admirals Club's were also nice places to spend during layovers, although there wasn't anything for a meal other than soup, avocado toasts, cereal and instant oatmeal. The offerings were mostly snacks but it was still better than what is currently offered at some other airlines' clubs. Although, other than removal of the premium drink coupons, I have no complaints about the drinks as the hot and soft drink selection was wide.

So indeed, I got for what I paid and was overall satisfied from what I got from American Airlines. It was a nice mileage run and I've already got 720TP's on this run which means 64% of my success to British Airways Exec Club Gold status for this year and 2% of my success for lifetime BA Gold status in this mileage run.

Next report:

In the near future more mileage run series would come and some of the flights would be on different routes that I haven't reported before.

However, after some US domestic flights, it's now time to go back to international flights and the next report would be on the airline below.