Two for the Price of One: American Airlines AA87 London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare

Two for the Price of One: American Airlines AA87 London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare (Main Cabin)

In this epic…

• Two for the price of one? Or when two become one?
• Off to Manchester Airport on the edge of my seat…
• BA Domestic – BA1387 Manchester Airport to London Heathrow
• Heathrow Transit, American Airlines Flagship Lounge
• American Airlines – AA87 London Heathrow to Chicago, Main Cabin
• Streamlined Immigration?
• The Crowne Plaza O’Hare
• Evening adventures with the Sony A5000
• The Hyatt Regency O’Hare
• Off to O’Hare, American Airlines Admirals Club
• American Airlines – AA1205 Chicago O’Hare to Boston Logan
• A Boston Omnishambles
• British Airways – BA202 Boston Logan to London Heathrow Terminal 5 in World Traveller Plus
• Transit and changes… from holiday to work, British Airways Galleries North Lounge
• British Airways – BA974 London Heathrow to Hamburg
• IBIS Budget St Pauli, Hamburg
• Trade Show 101 (or… don’t sleep on your glasses).
• Pounding the Halls of AIX – What you might had missed…
• A Walk around the Hamburg Dom
• Rushing back to Hamburg Airport
• British Airways – BA967 Hamburg to London Heathrow
• Homeward bound
• Mixing business with pleasure

AA87 London Heathrow Terminal 3 to Chicago O’Hare International 5
American Airlines, Boeing 777-200 (Old Configuration), Seat 24J
3,952 Miles Flown, 20 Tier Points Earned, 988+3952 Avios earned

Heading aboard the plane, I was welcomed aboard, and into the confines of an unrefurbished Boeing 777-200ER.

It’s a  sight that not many people like – it’s the ageing classic Boeing 777-200ER interior. This would be a three class plane, with First, Business and Main Cabin.

And these poor birds are looking tired – be it in Business or Economy Class.

American Airlines Boeing 777-200ER (Unrefurnished)

Economy (Main) Cabin.

Yes – I know these birds are getting a makeover to make them semi presentable, but this one needed a lot of tender loving care – including in the lighting system

But I’ll come to that in a bit.

Legroom wasn’t that bad all things being considered.

Leg room.

Eventually, I arrived at my row, and chucked my bags into the overhead bin.

At least I would have both seats to myself – this would actually become so important shortly after take off.  The plane itself filled up slowly – not full to the seems, but full enough.

More importantly, the seat next to me was free – which in economy, gives you a bit of space to spread out in Economy Class.

Still loading

The plane doors eventually closed and our 777 was ready to departure. The safety video played – and with that complete, we were let on our way.

Taxing past Heathrow’s Tower of Power.

United Airlines 787 and 767.

Ohh. An Air Serbia Airbus A319/A320.

From small to large – a British Airways Airbus A380 coming in to land.

Passing the British Airways hangers.

Soon, it was our turn to line up and take off for the long trip to Chicago.

 

  
Up we go!

Heading through the cloud layer

And at around 5,000 seat, the person in front of me decided to put her seat in recline. For pretty much the entire flight. In fact the only time I got some relief was during the main meal service.

Not welcome in the least – as the recline was pretty deep.

Not much space at all (and yes – a Pikachu case is now a valid measurement of distance).

Oh well.

Playing with the IFE system – it’s the old Rockwell Collins system – small screen IFE, with limited Video on Demand (more like wait for the next video start).

Yes. It’s a Rockwell Collins System. A bit olde to say the least.

Supplied Headphones. Not bad, but a bit tinny to be blunt.

Film content was reasonably strong with new releases (however few), and TV content was as weak as usual as they always are on these loop-based IFE systems.

IFE Interface.

Modern content!!!

Best viewing angle. Thank you seat recliner.

Because you need a fax port on your plane.

Sadly, this old Rockwell Collins system has a few downsides – namely, a large IFE box at your feet, and a lack of content. So I needed more content.

Thankfully, there’s a sick bag. Sick Bag and iPhone. Welcome back to GhettoIFE! (for a primer on GhettoIFE, click here… and for those offended by the term… you haven’t been around here long have you?).

GhettoIFE system based on iPhone sick and an AA sickbag.

I also tried to watch something on the Lenovo Mixx…. and that ended badly due to the recline of the seat in front of me.

Danger Mouse! (Danger Mouse and Proffesor Squawkencluck. This was the only angle I could get a decent view.

Let’s look at food.  Drinks were a-flowing, keeping my love of Coke Zero filled.

First service – with pretzels.

Coke Zero… one of many. 

For the main dish, it was a choice of chicken or pasta. With no description supplied, I popped for the chicken (least of all – the pasta is always disappointing). It was Chicken and rice in a white sauce.

The tray.

Chicken, water

  Salad.

The chicken was passable, and the rice wasn’t overly soggy – which help. The salad, whilst pre-packed was fresh. I didn’t particularly want a cake or crackers…. so I had a look at the tray mat… and found a surprise

Hello Hong Kong!

I guess there are some cities I can never escape in the world

With the food cleared away, the seat in-front of me decided to put the seat into full recline again – and I took the opportunity of getting comfy and snoring my way across the pond.

Well it’s something to do once you’ve exhausted the IFE system.

Amazingly, I did ask the person if  I could recline the seat a bit – and I was nodded through. I reclined it around 1/2 way – enough for me, and pulled down the blind for a bit.

I woke up with about 3 hours on the clock to go… and noticed the lights above me hadn’t gone off.

Ummm..

In fact…  the main cabin lights were on all the time, and the safety lights hadn’t been illuminated the entire flight. Talk about an oopsie.

At least *one* of these is lit up at all times… none is not what I’d call a “good” sign.

Meanwhile, outside, the sky was blue and all was well with the world

Although that 777 wing is *big*.

With one and a half hour or so to the end of the flight, the second round of food came around. In the past – this used to be the American Airlines pizza that needed an industrial saw to get through. It was nice… just slightly tough.

Well, they’ve changed them. We now have Montys Bakehouse hot snacks. Easier to heat up, giving a savory product and a sweet product, and much easier to clear down than another tray.

It was nice enough, but not as filling as the old pizza was. I guess.

The cabin was cleared down as people woke up, and the plane closed into Chicago.

This felt way too long.

Eventually, the crew were given their approach warnings, and came to prepare the cabin for arrival… including the seat in front of me going back to the upright position.

That was excruciating.

Decent begun, and all was well in the cabin as we dropped through the cloud layer and over Lake Michigan.

In addition, this was time for the new customs arrival video to be played and forms to be distributed. That done, the crew took their seats for landing.

Eventually, blue turned to grey as the plane begun its final approach into Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

Closing in.

With around 3 minutes left, the undercarriage deployed and the plane begun its final approach.

With the plane on the ground, it turned off the runway and onto a taxiway to head back to the International terminal

United Boeing 757-200 coming in to land – City of Chicago in the distance.

Eventually, we lined up for Gate M8 – which would be handy for immigration and the journey came to an end

A busy afternoon at the International Terminal

Hmm. Thanks.

There was a short delay before disembarkation begun – with CBP Agents checking passports at the top of the jetbridge as well as normal customs procedures when arriving.

Obviously, the US CBP took an interest in our flight.

But for now, I wanted out of that metal tube – and I made my bid to exit (and bypassing the couple in front of me who had reclined the entire way over).

Overall: Not a bad flight overall, mainly marred by the person in front of me using full recline after 3,000ft. The catering was reasonable for a daytime flight and the crew were helpful. But the sooner American Airlines finishes its fleet renewal and plane refresh, the better – the planes in their current state need a lot of TLC.

Next: Streamlined Immigration? Hmmm.

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