Happy Memorial Day, everyone! About a year ago, I went on a trip with my family to the Grand Canyon and to visit family in Arizona. The trip only lasted four days, but we had a blast while we were there.
We flew to Phoenix on American Airlines’ 737-800 and flew back on a legacy US Airways A320. However, because the return was a red eye and I slept the whole way, I won’t be reviewing it.
Enough talking though. Let’s get to the review.
We were about to leave our house when we realized that the flight was delayed by about 45 minutes. It wasn’t a big deal for us, but it could have been for people with tight connections.
At Newark’s Terminal A, we quickly used one of the available kiosks. We didn’t have checked bags so we didn’t need to see an agent. We quickly went through security with TSA PreCheck and went into the Admiral’s Club (which we had access to at the time with the Citi Prestige card). The lounge was pretty crowded.
We got out of the lounge just in time to board the plane. Unfortunately, because at the time I was not sure how I’d structure this blog if I started it and what information I’d need, I did not record the aircraft registration. Sorry!
Flight Information
American Airlines 1435
Plane Registration: [Unknown]
Plane Type: Boeing 737-800
Flown: April 2017
Flight Time: ~4 Hrs 50 Mins
Flight Distance: 2,133 Miles/3,433 Km
Seat: 29A
With one of us having AAdvantage Gold status, we were able to board in Group 4 with the Main Cabin Extra passengers but were still seated near the back of the aircraft. This plane, a 737-800, was one of American’s older models, and therefore didn’t have seatback screens. It did, however, have large HD overhead monitors and offer stream-to-your-device entertainment.
The seat pocket had the safety card, American Airlines’ inflight magazine (called American Way), and the menu card (more on that later).
After a pretty long taxi we took off from Runway 22R (this runway is on the opposite side of the airport from Terminal A).
Soon after takeoff, we had a drink+snack service.
After a couple hours of sleep, we got hungry. We brought some small snacks aboard but wanted to eat something more filling.
On American Airlines domestic flights (except for on premium transcontinental routes), only small snacks are provided for free. This is a trend going through pretty much all of the US airline industries, so I can’t complain about it (even though this was a dinnertime flight).
The food was pretty pricy for its size, but pretty normally priced compared to other US domestic carriers. The light snacks such as Pringles or nuts were at most $5.00. The heavy snack option was a fruit and cheese plate, which would set you back $8.99. For meals, there was a Thai ginger chicken wrap or a fake ham sandwich (which I cannot remember the exact name for). Both were about $10. We ordered the fake ham sandwich, which was surprisingly tasty and refreshing (although not the freshest) Sorry I didn’t any pictures of it.
For the next couple of hours, I just read a little and basically did nothing. I only had an i-Phone with me, and I do not really like watching movies on my phone. The overhead screens played some uninteresting movies. Therefore, this flight felt extremely long.
At least the views out the window while moving West and then South were interesting and kept changing!
About an hour before landing, there was another drink service.
The rest of the flight was pretty uneventful. We landed in Phoenix a bit late (as expected), and quickly taxied to Terminal 4. Because it was so dark, none of the pictures or videos came out well, but I will post some anyway.
Overall, this flight was fine. The lack of screens on the seat in front and lack of free meals on a 5-hour flight was a bit of a bummer, but then again, all other US carriers are pretty much the same. I really appreciated the fact that there was a choice between streaming entertainment and the overhead screens, which were the biggest in highest definition overhead screens I have ever seen. The delay was not too significant, and it probably doesn’t happen often. The interior was also very clean.
You will be fine on this flight. Just remember to pack your own charged devices and bring your own food.
Jetbridge Journal 
Great post! aren’t some airlines starting to offer food on economy transcon flights? I thought I saw UA was doing so to LA? Maybe they are to PHX too more recently?
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NYC to LAX and SFO are the main premium transcon routes, which I acknowledged earlier in the article. I haven’t heard of United serving free food to PHX, but if they are, that’s great!
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