After flying from Dublin to Chicago on the Boeing 787-8, I spent the time between flights in the Flagship Lounge at ORD. My connecting flight from Chicago to Seattle was going to be on the Boeing 737, also in Main Cabin Extra.
This promised extra leg room and I had managed to snag a bulkhead seat for the flight. Happily the flight was on time and I was one of the first people on board the aircraft.
AA1438 – Chicago to Seattle (ORD-SEA)
17 May 2018
Boeing 737-823 – N954AN
Seat: Main Cabin Extra 7A
Departure: 13:55 Arrival: 16:24
Leg room in Main Cabin Extra is better than the other seats and you usually pay for the privilege. As I have Sapphire status with oneworld, I was able to select the seats for free.
Flying Time
After the safety demonstration, we were in the air for the four and a half hour journey to Seattle. Complimentary pretzels are handed out with your complimentary non-alcoholic beverage.
Overall Thoughts
Before my flight between ORD and SEA, I was wondering what I was going to do to pass the time. Four and a half hours anchored into a seat with nothing to do is somewhat alarming.
Wireless Internet in flight is really excellent and that is exactly how I passed the time. I didn’t really need any food as I had been eating all the way from Dublin on the previous flight, so everything worked out nicely. It is great to see Priority Baggage means exactly that as well – I was thrilled to have my bag so quickly.
What do you think of American’s Main Cabin or Main Cabin Extra seats and service? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Due to life changes, this is my last year for awhile with AA as primary airline, and last as a Platinum. MCE is a nice perk for status, and I am looking forward to the free drink (I won’t ever expect 2), since a cocktail is appreciated on a long flight. But while AA’s service has generally been solid in my experience, I’ve never seen a difference between MCE and regular economy service. We’re all in the back of the plane, so we get what we get. Plus the planes feel like they are deteriorating in front of my eyes, with broken seats or IFE on a notably high number of flights.
So yay for MCE, yay for the cocktail, yay for the FAs. But MCE isn’t so grand that it would make me change my airline. Though it might make try to dodge the new cramped mainline economy seating they’re rolling out.
I would be surprised if it was just “a” free drink. It is probably as many as you’d like, otherwise it would specifically state that it’s just one and in that case I’d be choosing wisely. The variation in cabins is tiresome but I guess with such a large airline it’s difficult to harmonise the cabins with any kind of speed. On some flights I took with the ex-US Airways aircraft, I noted some improvements such as new seat covers and what not, but when there’s no device charging on board at all, it’s a bit sad. Even British Airways is rolling out the new slimline seating on their European fleet, so I think that’s just the way it’s going to be. Hopefully some airline will be able to run the numbers and keep better seating as a point of differentiation, but I won’t hold my breath. Thanks for the comment!