Avis du vol entre Chicago et Santa Ana en classe Domestic First avec American Airlines

Greetings Flight Report community and welcome to the sixth and final installment of the "Great Swiss First Coup" series. Please feel free to visit the LAX-HKG segment for more detail on how our own Rewardflying contributor worked his magic and turned Swiss F from a dream into a reality.

ORD Transit

Arrival was at terminal 5 and my AA flight was departing from terminal 3. The people mover that connects the terminal has been out of service for over a year so buses bridge the gap. It's a sad commentary on US infrastructure. The long taxi time and now long terminal transit time meant that I will need to locate my gate and proceed directly there if I'm going to make the flight. I have my boarding pass through the AA app. and no checked bags so barring something odd I will be successful. 

AA1568 ORD-SNA

I actually arrive at the gate in advance of boarding and board when group 1 is called. 6F is in the last row of first on the port side of the 737-800.

The seats are comfortable and have a few touches that I appreciate like the small fold out tables in between the seats in front of you and in the armrest.

Literature or laptop storage.

decent legroom.

A blanket was waiting on the seat.

Push back on time.

On your marks, get set, go!

No pesky hills or mountains to look out for.

The streaming entertainment option worked well on my notebook. The seat pocket held the computer it in a reasonably comfortable position for viewing. Mr. Neeson is avenging something or other.

Dinner service started with a hot towel and drink order. I opted for a gin and tonic and it was served with warmed nuts. I neglected to take a picture apparently.

I pre ordered the charcuterie / mezze plate on AA.com. It was a huge amount of food! Pita rounds, pita chips, and a roll form the breadbasket rounded out the feast. It was all quite fine and I appreciated being able to order in advance.

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Ice cream for dessert was offered after the dinner tray was cleared.

A nice variety of scenery as we fly west.

Over the desert and approaching the mountains that separate the coastal plain from the inland desert.

Short final over Interstate 405 about to touch down on 20R.

Main gear touchdown.

It turns out we were quite fortunate to land when we did. The remaining sunlight was essential as the neighborhood where SNA is located was experiencing a power outage and the airport was completely closed for departures. Our flight was the last commercial flight to land and there were several diversions to LAX and ONT. I assume most flights were held at their departure airport and then cancelled due to curfew.

We sat on the airplane for about 20 minutes until a stair was available for us to disembark. It was odd to exit 1R as the door is quite a bit smaller that 1L.

We walked into the dark, rather surreal terminal. It's usually such a busy place.

No power so no screening of passengers.

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Can't check them in or take their bags either. Definitely an odd end to a fantastic adventure. Thankfully cell service was available so I could fire up the Uber app and make the short ride home.