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

intro

Welcome to the first report of the trip to countries 82 & 83, Nicaragua and Honduras, respectively. Due to my college being in Los Angeles, I am trying to get all of South America done in the following year so I can begin to head deep into the Middle East and Africa. When a flight popped up for an incredible deal to Nicaragua, which is traditionally the most expensive airport to fly into in Central America, I just had to go.

The routing for this is as follows: 

So, the first flight of this long weekend routing would take me on a refurbished 787-800 Dreamliner from Los Angeles to Miami. There were quicker options, but I wanted to firstly review the Dreamliner in the economy and, secondly, fly on a widebody for the longer hop.

Overall, this flight was decent. The service wasn't great, but most of the time, on these LAX-Miami routes, it wasn't in my previous experiences. However, the new cabins are a big step up!

Let's get into it!

how i booked

Flights on American Airlines are typically quite expensive from Los Angeles to Managua. Looking at dates in the next couple of weeks, the basic economy is around 330$, and the main cabin is 370$ ish. 

However, there was a recent deal back in March that American Airlines announced. This included flights all over the US, The Caribbean, and more destinations for only 5k miles one way (certain terms applied). I tried to stretch it to Colombia but it wouldn't budge, the deal only went as far as Costa Rica.

For 10k AA Miles+around 20$ in taxes, I managed to book 2 people on this flight plus the following one to Managua. What a fantastic deal! 

check-in

After my trip to Cuba, where I came close to missing my flight due to check-in issues, I made sure to leave extra early for the airport?.

We passed by the retro AA livery once out of the tunnel.

My friend dropped us off bright and early (3:45 am), and we were ready to check in.

Thankfully, it wasn't too busy at this time of the morning. I filled out the declaration form for Nicaragua online. However, you do not have to do this in the future as they give you a form on the plane. 

As I was traveling with a friend this time, I took one for the team and didn't use my TSA precheck. Talk about a sacrifice?.

Since we were at the airport so early, we strolled over to the Bradley Terminal and grabbed some Starbucks. 

We headed back over to our gate, where our relatively new 787-8 had just been tugged in. 

Boarding began at 5:30 am for our scheduled 6:05 am departure time. It was a completely full flight, and seeing as I was in group 6, I didn't board until 5:40 am. 

As usual, the jetbridge was backed up severely. 

We passed by the Business Class cabin, and I was shocked to see the new B/E Business Class seats (which I have reviewed on the 777-200 before). Needless to say, I was a little jealous. However, the economy cabin didn't look too bad either!! 

Ahh! The new plane smell! I settled into my seat 28L as my friend settled into the aisle. 

Sadly, the middle seat went to someone on standby…

departure

The captain came on the microphone 10 minutes before departure and announced our flight time of 4 hours and 31 minutes, which was longer than usual due to some winds and turbulence on the route. 

A minute ahead of schedule, we pushed back. 

What a sunrise…

We waited for approximately 15 minutes before beginning our taxi ride. 

By 6:30 am, we were airborne to Miami. 

The views were surreal…

the seat/cabin

Seats are arranged in a 3-3-3 configuration in economy, although the last two rows are in a 2-3-2 configuration due to the curvature of the fuselage (I think). 

The new seats themselves might be the most comfortable American Airlines economy seat I have experienced. Perhaps this is only because it is new and fresher, but I didn't feel too cramped.

The legroom was absolutely fantastic! The seatback consisted of a tray table, television, and a safety card. All were very modern! I am 6 foot (on a good day) for reference.

There was a window shade that the crew kept dimmed from takeoff until 10 minutes before landing. ?

Charging ports were available under the seat as well. 

Just another look at the cabin when de-planing.

I thought that 28L was a good selection, and I would happily sit in this seat again. Perfect for sleeping against the window.

ife

One could tell that this plane was brand new, as the IFE was crisp, clean, responsive, and had plenty of selection.

Sadly, no Bluetooth connectivity was offered. However, flight attendants came to the cabin during the taxi to offer free headphones. The quality was per usual, and I didn't end up taking them.

In regard to WIFI, different packages were offered depending on how long you needed them.

A 2-hour pass was 16$, and a whole flight was 23$. A little bit high. 

the flight

After taking off, the crew dimmed the windows, and I headed right to sleep. Sadly, I missed the first round of Biscoff cookies and beverage service. Not the end of the world?.

I slept soundly for about 2 hours with my First Class eyeshade from BA before the plane quite literally dropped out of the air. Okay, a bit of an over-exaggeration, but it was some serious turbulence, although not as bad as my flight to Manila.

For an hour straight, we went through some serious chop, switching altitudes and routes multiple times. The captain kept us well informed and instructed the crew to take their jumpseats during this time. 

The rest of the flight remained quite choppy until an hour before landing. There was one nice flight attendant who got me some Biscoff cookies upon landing as the beverage cart came around again. 

We began our descent into Miami at 1:45 pm local time. 

arrival

We had an expedited approach, it seemed, into Miami because, by 2:12 pm, we were on final into the sunshine of Miami, Florida. 

It was a bumpy approach and an even bumpier landing. From the back of the plane, I could finally see how the plane wasn't even pointed at the runway but 20 degrees to the south?

We were on the ground 15 minutes behind schedule, taxiing back to the main terminal. 

6 Minutes later, we pulled into our gate, only 22 minutes behind schedule. The flight deck did well today.

It was a short de-planing time, and we then had 3 hours to kill until boarding out next flight to Nicaragua!  

Time to do some exploring! 

Thanks for reading! If you are interested in reading more about Nicaragua check it out here, I'll be posting some content around it soon!