Shanghai American Minneapolis Dallas –
I returned to Shanghai for my second visit and have put together the following trip report:
- Shanghai Trip Report – Intro
- Shanghai Trip Report – Minneapolis to Dallas
- Shanghai Trip Report – Admiral’s Club at DFW – D
- Shanghai Trip Report – Dallas to Shanghai
- Shanghai Trip Report – Grand Hyatt Shanghai
- Shanghai Trip Report – Sightseeing in Shanghai
- Shanghai Trip Report – VIP Lounge Shanghai
- Shanghai Trip Report – Air China First Class Lounge
- Shanghai Trip Report – Shanghai to Dallas
- Shanghai Trip Report – Hyatt Regency DFW Airport
- Shanghai Trip Report – Admiral’s Club DFW C
- Shanghai Trip Report – Dallas to Minneapolis
Shanghai Trip Report – American – Minneapolis to Dallas Fort Worth
Date: Friday, April 15, 2016
Flight: American Airlines 1395
From: Minneapolis – MSP
To: Dallas Fort Worth – DFW
Aircraft: Super-80
Seat: 6B
I arrived at the airport about two hours prior to the scheduled departure time and parked at an off airport parking lot. The shuttle ride took about 10 minutes.
Because my itinerary was travel to China which requires a visa, I was unable to check-in using the app or online.
Upon arrival at the airport, I made my way to the American Airlines check in counter The area had a relatively low level of activity at that time and it was nice to see that the busy Spring Break season was over.
I joined a line of two people and was assisted within five minutes by a friendly agent. The agent welcomed me and offered assistance. After I requested to check in, I presented my passport and I explained where my visa was located. The agent checked me in quickly and he commented that American was in the process of converting from Sabre to a new system and the gate agents were not looking forward to it. This particular agent was friendly and he said he has been using Sabre for the past 30 years. I imagine this will be a tough transition for a lot of people. Hopefully it will go smoothly. I thanked the gate agent for his assistance and he presented my boarding passes and he asked if I knew where to go for security. I said that I did and he thanked me and he asked me to enjoy my trip to China.
After completing check in, I made my way to the security line. There was a line available for Pre-Check and I joined that line. There were about five people waiting when I arrived.
The line moved quickly and soon enough I approached the agent who verified my identity before inviting me through the line. The security process was efficient and I made my way into the terminal.
At that time, I had about an hour and 30 minutes before the departure time. I went for a walk around the terminal and walked from the mall area down to the end of A and then back to the mall area and then to the G gates and back over to the E gates where my flight was scheduled to depart.
I was happy to learn that the flight departed from the E gates as that is the main American boarding area. Most of the early morning flights tend to depart from C and that gate area is confusing as the signage is limited and the gate are shared with Delta.
When I completed my walk, I approached the gate area and noted there was about five minutes before the scheduled boarding time. I took a seat and waited for boarding to begin.
I received an upgrade to First Class for the short flight to Dallas at the 100-hour window.
I joined the line when boarding began and was greeted by a gate agent who asked me to scan my phone over the reader. Once I did, the gate agent thanked me and he asked me to enjoy the flight.
I entered the aircraft and a polite flight attendant greeted me at the door. The flight attendant welcomed me on the plane.
I located my seat and got situated. Within one minute, another flight attendant welcomed me and she offered a beverage. I requested water and she thanked me.
The flight attendant provided the water a few minutes later.
My seat was a standard first class seat on the Super-80 aircraft. The seat was comfortable. I relaxed while boarding continued.
About five minutes before the scheduled departure time, the boarding completed, and the door was closed. The flight attendants made a few announcements; however, there was a delay on the safety demonstration.
Shortly before reaching the runway, the Captain made an announcement for the flight attendants to take their seats. One flight attendant ran up to the front and I heard her tell the other one to tell the Captain they had not done the demo yet.
The other flight attendant went on the intercom and spoke very quickly to go through the security demo process. One flight attendant did the demo to both cabins.
The flight attendants quickly took a seat when they were finished just as the plane was beginning the take off.
Once we were in the air, the flight attendants welcomed the guests and they approached the first class cabin and offered a beverage. I still had my water glass at that time from the pre-departure beverage and the flight attendant picked it up. I requested orange juice. The flight attendant thanked me.
A few minutes later, the flight attendant provided the orange juice. She also presented a snack basket and she offered a selection from it. I took a fig bar and an orange bread. The flight attendant thanked me.
The orange juice was served chilled with ice. The orange juice was fresh and it had a good taste.
The fig bar was fresh and sweet and it had a good taste and flavor. The orange bread was also fresh and it had a good flavor.
The flight attendants circulated the cabin and they offered additional beverages when I finished my orange juice. I declined and they thanked me and they removed the used glass and picked up the wrappers from the snack.
I read a book on my iPad during the flight and the time passed by quickly.
Shortly before landing, the flight attendants returned and asked if I needed anything else. I declined and they thanked me. They prepared the cabin for landing and a flight attendant made an announcement about the connecting gates.
The plane landed about 30 minutes early and made a short taxi to the gate. Upon arrival, the door was opened quickly and the flight attendants thanked everyone as they departed.
I was surprised to discover that the plane was assigned a gate in the D terminal a few gates from where my connecting flight to Shanghai was departing.
Summary:
The flight to Dallas was enjoyable. It was excellent that the flight attendants were polite and that they offered the pre-departure beverage. I thought that they did a great job of not delaying the take-off by completing the safety demo quickly.