Review of AeroMexico flight from Cancún to Mexico City in Economy

A visual of my zig zag journey from CUN to DEN via MEX & ATL which would cover a distance of 3,329mi/5,358km

This trip report will cover the Cancun (CUN) to Mexico City (MEX) segment. 

introduction

Welcome to another trip report!
A little back story on my crazy itinerary from Cancun up to Denver. After spending a few weeks exploring Mexico back in May to early June of 2023, I purchased a one way trip on the DL website using 11,000 SkyMiles in main cabin from CUN to DEN. One particular itinerary that caught my eye and ultimately chose was flying AM from CUN to MEX and onwards to LAX where I switch to DL from LAX to DEN. The main reason why I chose this itinerary was so that I could get a chance to fly on AM's 787 Dreamliner on the MEX-LAX sector. However, tragedy struck literally the night before my departure when I got an email from AM saying that my first flight from CUN-MEX got cancelled, I was automatically rebooked on the 10:18 flight instead of the original 7am flight I originally had which meant that I had no chance of making my 787 flight in Mexico City. Strangely, on the DL app the cancelation did not reflect and when contacting DL they told me it was AM's responsibility to rebook me and there's nothing they could do. I tried contacting AM via their customer service number but to no avail. All I could at this point was wait until I got to the airport the next morning and see what my options would be. 

Cancun/Playa del carmen

Here are some pictures of my amazing time in Quintana Roo. Let's just say that this area of Mexico has some of the best beaches I've been to thus far.

We took advantage and explored the Mayan ruins of Chichén Itzá which is an absolute must do if your ever in Cancun.  

day of departure

The day had finally arrived and after spending a few marvelous days in Quintana Roo it was time to head back to the US. We had spent the first portion of our stay in Cancun and later down in Playa del Carmen so the night before departure we decided to stay the at an airport hotel to make it easier on ourselves. 
We woke up bright and early the next morning and took the hotel shuttle to the airport which took about 15 minutes to reach.

Finally arrived at the airport, specifically T2 where AM operates out of.

check-in

Finally made it to the AM check-in desks and there wasn't a big queue and got to someone not to long after. After giving the agent our passports, I had explained the situation I had and I needed to know what would be my alternate flight options. The agent bluntly told me that I had missed my original flight and that I would need to purchase a new ticket. I had even showed her the email I got from AM saying that my flight was cancelled and looked at me as if I was crazy. After insisting for a while that I had not missed my flight another colleague came over and apologized for the misunderstanding. I'm not sure if this agent was new or still in training but clearly I was upset as she didn't know what she was saying and looked at me as if I had no clue of what I was talking about. 
The second agent that took over told me that there would be a chance that I would be spending the night in Mexico City (with accommodation provided by AM) since almost all flights were sold out. He was on the phone with Delta to see what other flights me and my mom could be squeezed in since I insisted that I wanted to leave that day. After a few pauses on the phone he said that he had gotten me and my mom seats on DL out of Mexico City to Denver via ATL and explained to me about my zig zag itinerary. He had mentioned that I had a 35 minute connection time in MEX and when I told him that I don't think I would make that connection, he told me not to worry about it that it would be  fine.
After thanking him for helping me out with my flights we proceeded to head to security check point. 

After that crazy experience, some one was excited to be heading home that day ?.

Security took a while as there was a huge line with many flights leaving around the same time. But nonetheless we made it airside in 25 minutes. 

Very similar to European airports, here in CUN you have to get through a maze of duty free shops before reaching the gates. 

Our flight is AM 517 with a scheduled departure time of 10:15.

American Airlines A321 arriving from Miami, flight time: 1h 27m

my aircraft

Here's our aircraft arriving from Mexico City.

Some information about my plane:
Flight number: AM 517
Aircraft: Boeing 737 MAX 8
Registration: XA-MFN
Delivered: May 20, 2019 
Age: 4 years

boarding

Eventually a large queue began to form near the gate area and shortly after boarding was announced. 

We began boarding with group 3.

Once aboard I noticed that this time the seats were colored blue and not gray unlike my last flight with AM from NLU-CUN.

seat 15A

Arrived at my seat 15A, an exit row seat.

Once again, I got unlucky to fly on another of AM 737's without PTV's.

Legroom was fantastic at least. There had to be at least 38" of pitch on these exit row seats. I'm 5'9" for reference.

My view for the next 2 hours!

A look at one of two CFMI LEAP-1B engines.

JetBlue A320 will be departing to New York City JFK shortly after us. Flight time: 3h 16m

Boarding is complete and today's flight load to MEX is about 95%.

pushback/takeoff

We pushed back right on time.

Sun Country B737-800 departing for Minneapolis (MSP). Flight time: 3h 26m

Taking off on runway 12R.

Hope to be back soon Cancun! ?

Playa del Carmen where I spent most of my time there. 

tray table/seatback contents

The tray table was of standard size and extendable.

Seatback contents.

Approaching the Gulf of Mexico.

inflight service

About 45 minutes into flight the FA's began the onboard service. Starting first with handing out snacks, followed by a choice of drink.

The FA's were very friendly and when I asked for a coffee and orange juice they gladly gave them to me.  

This time the snack offered was peanuts which were tasty.

Cheers!

the loo

Here's a look at the B737 MAX 8 loo. Only an hour into the flight and the loo already looked very dirty and not taken care of.

A look at the cabin. 

Pico de Orizaba 18,491ft

Mt. Popocatépetl, 17,802ft

initial descent

Flying over Felipe Ángeles international airport (AIFA), Mexico City's second major airport.

This was my first time landing into MEX with a window seat and I have to say that it was simply amazing how massive Mexico City is from above. The city seems to just go on forever. 

The iconic Torre Latinoamericana.

landing

Landing on runway 05R.

Welcome to CDMX!

Some parked 787's

Several parked Interjet aircraft, the airline ceased operations in Dec. 2020.

I didn't know it at the time but this would be my 757 taking me up to Atlanta in a few moments. 

We stayed in a queue of aircraft for a good 10-15 minutes on the tarmac waiting for an available gate. This ate to my very short 35 minute connection time. I really thought that I would not make it to my flight. In a few moments my next flight would begin boarding and I haven't even arrived at the gate yet.
This B757 is pushing back for its departure to Detroit (DTW). Flight time: 3h 17m

Behind us is an AM B787-8 Dreamliner just landed from it's transpacific flight of Tokyo (NRT) Flight time: 11h 6m

We slowly began making some progress to an arrival gate.

arrival at gate

We arrived at our gate 10 minutes behind schedule.

One last look at my seat.

deplaning

One last look at our B737 MAX 8, thanks for the safe ride!

This concludes the trip report, stay tuned for the next one!