American Airlines MD 80

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  • Anonymous
    Guest

    First Impressions

    I travelled from Denver to Chicago on American Airlines, where I would then connect for an international flight to London Heathrow.

    Check-In

    My departure from Denver was scheduled for 12:25 pm but I arrived around 10:30 am to make sure I had sufficient time for check-in and security. When I went to drop my bag and get my boarding pass, the signage was a bit confusing between American Airlines and British Airways. The distinction between them was minimal and I ended up going between the two self-service kiosks a couple of times before I figured out which one was truly for American Airlines passengers.

    After checking my bags I made it through security in about 5 minutes max as there was a very short line on a Tuesday morning.

    The Lounge

    Denver International does have an American Airlines lounge (Admirals Club) however as I was traveling economy I did not have access to it. It is located in terminal A and does not offer the option to purchase entry.

    Boarding

    About an hour before boarding, my gate was fairly empty so I quickly found a seat next to a charging port where I was able to plug my laptop in. Fortunately, I don’t mind waiting at the gates at DIA because they offer complimentary Wi-Fi and have many accessible charging stations.

    When announcements were made that it was time to board I checked my ticket and I was group 2. There are technically 7 different boarding classes, first class and uniformed U.S. military get to go first. Followed by AAdvantage or platinum or sapphire members, followed by the two lowest tiers of AA status, Gold and Ruby. Then they call priority passengers or group 1, group 2, group 3 and end with group 4.

    The first couple of groups normally board quite quickly and then the economy cabin, starting with priority clearance and group 1 get to board, which can take a bit longer.

    I waited for 10 minutes before group 2 was called and I was one of the first in line. Unfortunately, right as I was about to have my boarding pass checked, my name was called over the intercom.

    At the front desk I was handed a new boarding pass and told that they’d had to change my seat so a mother and daughter could sit together. I was a bit annoyed that the attendant hadn’t asked me first as I had specifically picked that seat, but in the end my new seat was still a window so I didn’t make a fuss about the disorganisation of such a last minute change. I had picked seat 18F when I booked online but was switched to seat 18A.

    After getting back in line I was in my seat after about 20 minutes total.

    The Seat

    The flight took off on time and had an airtime of 2.5 hours. Even though the seats were quite worn and a bit uncomfortable because of this, I fell asleep before the attendant came through the cabin with drinks so I missed them on this flight. I didn’t wake up until we landed which was about 15 minutes early at 15:45.

    The seat configuration in economy on this flight was AB – DEF. I didn’t know this originally because when I booked online the seat chart I selected from was set up in the standard way with three seats on each side, ABC – DEF. I’m not sure if they switched the aircraft for this route after I booked or why it was different in the end, however, I didn’t mind only having one person next to me.

    Verdict

    This aircraft felt very old to me so it comes with no surprise that they are slowly being withdrawn. While the flight was fine, I wouldn’t choose to travel on this aircraft again if there was something else available on the same route as I would prefer to be in something more updated.

    Review courtesy of Seatplans.com. Original review by user brookebumgarner can be found here

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