Get me up and bring me down safely...that's my priority!
Written: Jun 19 '01 (Updated Jun 19 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Leg room galore in coach!
Cons: Served peanuts and didn’t have a substitute for those with allergies.
The Bottom Line: Our flights through American’s hub were on time (even early), great seating, and uneventful. It’s not a crowd pleaser, but it got us to our destination and home safely.
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| lynnzop's Full Review: American Airlines |
What’s the most important feature in an airline? In my opinion, it would be safety. Everything else is gravy. When you are putting your life in a single person’s hands (okay, two, if you count the co-pilot), all I care about is that he/she gets me up in the air safely and down to Mother Earth in the same condition.
Our recent trip to Mexico included four flights with American. Here are the pros and cons of those flights and the service we received from American Airlines.
Check in. Because we were flying with a large group (18) to a foreign country, we had some special issues to take into consideration at check in. The American Airlines staff at Eppley Airfield (Omaha, Nebraska) had to deal with kids who had the wrong documentation to leave the country – to resolve the problem, they quickly got someone to notarize papers so the kids who didn’t bring their “real” birth certificate could still go on the trip. They also opened additional ticket counters for us to check in through so we didn’t hold up our fellow travelers. While the line to check our baggage was fairly long, the American staff processed us quickly and efficiently.
The Plane! The Plane! American has recently redesigned their seating and the leg room in coach was wonderful. Not only would Tattoo have had room to stretch out, but Mr. Rourke would have enjoyed the freedom to cross his legs easily. It also made for nearly effortless bathroom jaunts for the person in the window seat…crawling over your fellow traveler’s laps is enjoyable for some, but I’d rather have a little more space to squeeze my legs through.
I always bring a book when I’m flying, and I’m an unabashed open-mouthed gazer (I spend most of the flight with my nose glued to the window looking at the scenery). However, I noticed that American provided a nice, full-length magazine in each seat pocket to read. When I got bored with my book and couldn’t see through the clouds on the way to Mexico City, I read through the mag, and was surprised that it contained much less “American Airlines” propaganda than I expected. A full-length article/interview with Dan Ackroyd (traveling in Canada), a Mensa quiz, and other columns and articles that dealt with diverse subjects were interesting and made for a decent read.
Bathrooms and overhead bins were clean on all flights. Service by the flight attendants was good, but not exceptional. (Exceptional service in coach is rare; but it’s fun to have a little personality interjected in the flight like Southwest does!)
The food was passable…on three of our four flights we had snacks and beverage. One flight (Dallas to Mexico City) served a hot meal which was pretty good (Turkey/Swiss wrap, chips and cookie). I wished they had served a meal on our return flight from Acapulco to Dallas – it was mid afternoon and nearly a three hour flight. My only gripe about the whole experience was in this particular flight; the snack served was salted peanuts. Peanuts are okay by me, but there are a number of people who are allergic to them (including one of our group) and there was no substitute snack available.
All of our flights were on time and smooth. We did experience minor turbulence coming into Mexico City (it was pouring) and returning to Omaha (thunderstorms in the area made for a rocky end to the trip), but the pilot handled it like a champ and no one threw up. Always a positive when you are traveling with teenagers and first time flyers!
Baggage. Thanks to our keen kids peering through the windows, we observed our luggage being loaded onto the plane in Dallas (both stops) and in Acapulco. This was a relief in knowing that our clothes would make it with us (essentials, like make up and allergy medication were in carry-ons). The baggage handlers were a little rough with the baggage on the first leg through Dallas, so we all wisely decided to pack our tequila in carry-on luggage upon our return. Other than a snap missing on my suitcase when we got back to Omaha, everyone else’s luggage made it through the trip just fine.
I’d recommend American Airlines; while I didn’t have a choice (our trip was arranged through a tour service), I had no major beefs about the trip. And, most importantly, American fulfilled my number one requirement for an airline.
We got there and back safely.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
lynnzop
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Member: Lynn Kvigne
Location: The Great Midwest
Reviews written: 101
Trusted by: 72 members
About Me:
Publisher of BeadingHelpWeb.com
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