American Airlines Minneapolis Chicago

This post is a review of American Airlines Minneapolis Chicago.

Trip Summary

Date: April 26, 2017

Flight: American Airlines 1409

From: Minneapolis – MSP

To: Chicago – ORD

Aircraft: S80

Seat: 3B

Trip Report

I had to travel to Chicago to attend a meeting for my fulltime job in health care.

This was one of three trips I was making to Chicago in a one month span of time.

Booking

The flight to Chicago was booked via my company. The airfare was inexpensive at $170 round trip. Chicago is one of the only cities where you can find great deals from Minneapolis as there are nonstop flights on American, Delta, United, Southwest and Spirit airlines, which keeps the prices low.

Upgrade

I am currently a Platinum member on American and receive complimentary upgrades on flights shorter than 500 miles. An upgrade was requested at the time of booking.

I received an upgrade to first class at the gate in Minneapolis.

Airport Experience

The check in area was light with activity upon my arrival. There was no waiting in line for the kiosks or for checking bags.

This was a short trip so I utilized a carry on and bypassed the check in desk.

I received TSA Pre-Check and there was a line of three people when I arrived at security. The regular lines were also light with activity.

The security process took about three minutes in total from entering the line to exiting security.

Gate Area

The gate area was busy when I arrived and boarding had already begun.

I noted on the monitor that my upgrade cleared and I joined the line during the pre-boarding process.

The gate agent greeted me when I arrived and asked me to scan my boarding pass. After I scanned it, she mentioned that I was upgraded and provided a new boarding pass.

The gate agent welcomed me to board.

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Aircraft

The aircraft was a S80 that was not updated with the new livery.

You do not see too many of these planes anymore as they are phasing them out.

The airplane featured standard first class seats with DC power, which require a car power port adapter.

I was assigned a seat in the first row on the first class cabin.

The seat was comfortable and the recline button functioned.

Boarding

Boarding lasted about 20 minutes and was relatively easy.

No bags had to be brought up to the front of the aircraft for checking on this flight.

The door was closed a few minutes ahead of schedule and within a few minutes, the flight attendants prepared the cabin for departure and provided the safety demo.

There was a short taxi before the flight was up in the air.

In Flight

Once the plane was at a cruising altitude, the flight attendants greeted the passengers in first class and offered a drink.

I ordered vodka cran with a lime. The flight attendant thanked me.

She provided a hot towel a minute or two later and then picked it up before serving the drink.

The drink was served as requested with a lime and it was poured strong with mostly vodka. It was served in a clean glass with ice on a cocktail napkin.

A snack basket was offered that included chips, cookies, crackers, breakfast bars and nuts.

I selected a package of cookies and a Cliff Bar.

The snacks were fresh and had a good taste.

The flight attendant kept the glasses full during the flight and was attentive.

The flight to Chicago is short so soon enough the flight attendants picked up the items in the cabin and prepared the cabin for landing.

Landing

The flight landed ahead of schedule and there was a lengthy taxi to a gate.

The typical announcements were made welcoming everyone to Chicago and thanking them for flying American.

The flight attendants thanked the passengers as they departed.

Overall

The flight was good overall. It is nice that they offer the full drink service and snack basket despite the fact that the flight is so short. The flight attendants were attentive and polite and it was an enjoyable experience overall.