Review of American Airlines flight from Raleigh to Miami in Economy

Hello everyone, and welcome to this new FR!

Continuing the adventures after 4 days in Raleigh, this time with 4 days in Miami and its surroundings. As a big fan of the GTA games, I must admit that this choice of destination was largely influenced by the upcoming edition of the franchise being set in Miami!

Here’s a reminder of the routing:

After dropping off the rental car, the journey is as smooth as on the way in, and we arrive in front of Terminal 2 of the airport after a few minutes on the shuttle:

I have to go to the kiosk because I couldn’t check my luggage online due to an error message at payment, both on the American and French versions of the AA website:

The kiosk will be my savior:

The French version of the kiosk has some issues, with a few Finnish words sneaking onto the screen. I know Finnair is part of the OneWorld alliance, but still 😂

In the end, no problem paying the baggage fee with my card at the kiosk:

A quick detour to the departures board in Terminal 2 of RDU, with an ad for the newly launched daily route to Reykjavík in may:

After dropping off my suitcase, it’s time to head to security. All the lines at Raleigh are equipped with next-gen scanners, so there’s no need to take anything out, which is very convenient. The only requirement is to remove your shoes and go through the body scanner. That said, it triggered an anomaly, earning me a very close body search by a TSA agent:

Just past security, there’s a small memorial for the 9/11 victims, featuring the American flag with the names of all the victims:

Heading to the boarding gate, which is located at the far end of the terminal. The roof design reminds me of a large gymnasium… but it’s quite pleasant!

There are several shops and snacks along the way, including this intriguing pickup spot that lets you order food from multiple brands, all centralized here and delivered to a locker. Essentially, it’s a dark kitchen managing everything:

The place also highlights the three universities in the region: NC State (North Carolina State University), where my nephew studies, UNC in Chapel Hill, and Duke in Durham, the only one I knew before coming here. These three universities form the Research Triangle Park, the second-largest advanced technology research center in the US after Silicon Valley:

Arrival at the gate, with some time left before departure:

By coincidence, our boarding gate is right next to the AF flight’s gate, which will leave before us:

We can just see a small part of the 787:

Excitement arises at the gate as this passenger runs in at the "very, very last call," earning applause from all the gate staff. It was a fun moment! Perhaps at CDG, he might have been scolded. ^^

After this little happy interlude for our unfortunate passenger whose boarding gate is now closed, I notice that the Icelandair flight departs from the gate right next door:

The screen couldn’t be clearer:

The AF flight departs, under the eyes of the father and his daughter… future AvGeek in sight? ;-)

As for us, boarding will start on time, though I’m far from being first as I’m in group 7, and that’s only because I paid for a window seat. My nephew, on the other hand, is in the very last group to board:

The gate moment:

Entering the cabin and discovering the Domestic First class; at the start of online check-in, I saw an offer for $79 with a checked bag included for this class, which would have been almost the same as what I ultimately paid for reserving a seat and checking my bag. But my hesitation and the inability to pay online with my credit card got the better of this deal, which I never saw again. Too bad!

The economy cabin still seems pleasant, and I even find that the plane smells particularly nice, a sign of a clean cabin:

Settling into my row 25:

I’ll have enough space for this approximately 2-hour flight:

Boarding continues with the last groups arriving:

The weather has turned sour, after being perfect since I arrived. It was time to head to Florida :)

The cabin is well-equipped with connectivity, starting with this USB port:

And also a standard power outlet, one for each seat:

We push back, while the weather doesn’t improve:

We continue to enjoy the advantages of RDU’s size with a very short taxi:

Takeoff:

Overview of some Interstate intersections:

The area is really wooded:

This will be the last picture of natural IFE before the night, as clouds and darkness will ruin the view:

It’s time for service and snacks, we’ll have both sweet and savory options, a perk of being the last rotation of the day. I like the little detail with the (random) airport code on the pretzel packet:

The seat includes a holder for your phone:

Now, about entertainment: paid WiFi is available, though quite expensive for the flight duration, so I’ll skip it. There’s also free WiFi, but limited to 20 minutes after watching an ad. During my 20-minute trial, the WiFi was very fast and uninterrupted:

But the “offline” options are also good, with a number of movies, series, and even live TV:

Arrival is at night, first over Miami Beach:

You can clearly identify South Beach; by the way, this is where we’ll be staying:

The final approach takes us over Miami; the vastness of American cities always impresses me:

Landing, the taxi is a bit long but the airport is very large… quite a change from Raleigh! ^^

Arrival in true American airport tradition with the usual carpeted floors:

The baggage carousel is indicated right upon exiting the gate:

To get there, we cross part of Terminal D:

Various posters set the mood:

My suitcase arrives in a reasonable time:

We then catch our Uber, a bit tricky to find in the multiple lanes of the overheated underground drop-off area at the terminal. But after a few minutes of searching, we finally meet, and the ride is accompanied by Cuban music to set the mood :)

The flight path:

Thank you for reading!