Economy Class & Beyond

You are here: Home / Trip Reports / Snapshot / SNAPSHOT: American Airlines 87 London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare (Main Cabin Extra)

SNAPSHOT: American Airlines 87 London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare (Main Cabin Extra)

by

Time for something you’ve all probably not missed – it’s time for a snapshot, this time examining the passenger experience aboard American Airlines 87 between London Heathrow and Chicago

In case you’ve forgotten how we do travel write-ups on Economy Class and Beyond, I have two major travel writing styles:

  • Trip Reports – These are full deep-dive reports taking you into the experience and the small things… as well as the big things!
  • Snapshots – These are bite-sized reviews that show you the basic product in some nice gentle headlines (and normally, only images shot on the phone).

Today, we’re on the Snapshot. The full in-depth review is very near completion.

Check-In

Check-in was a multistage process, with the VeriFLY requirements needing to be met first. For the USA, this included

  • Passenger Assertation Form (completed in-app)
  • Covid Vaccination 3D-barcode
  • Pre-departure test.

Once these were validated by VeriFLY, I could proceed to check-in and generate a boarding pass.

At Heathrow, check-in was either at Zone D (for economy/no status passengers) or Zone C (for premium and status passengers).

people outside a building with a glass roofa large airport with a few signsa metal wall with signs on it

At the check-in desk, my baggage was accepted for travel and a boarding pass was issued.

Security

General security at Terminal 3 was busy enough. With the ticket and status I had, I was allowed to use the FastTrack lanes. This sped up security from tens of minutes to under 3 minutes.

a line of black poles in a hallway

Public Area

The public area has changed very little, with some shops changing around – notably Dixons has left, with another travel technology vendor in its place.

a group of people sitting in an airport terminala storefront with a sign and a wood floor

Lounge

I decided on the Cathay Pacific lounge at Heathrow T3, known both for its views and food. Whilst there were options, exhaustion was high on the menu.

a room with tables and chairsa coffee machine on a countera chair and a table with chairs and a backpack in front of a windowfood on plates on a table

a menu on a counter

a bowl of soup and dumplings on a tray

Boarding

Boarding would be from Gate 42 at Terminal 3. For those who don’t like waking, make time as it’s a good 15-20 minute walk through two satellite hubs to reach the gate.

The process was conducted by groups, with identity checks carried out at the gate.

a group of people walking on an escalatorpeople in an airport terminala group of people in an airport

The Aircraft

Today’s aircraft would be an American Airlines Boeing 777-200ER, built out in a three-class layout (business class, premium economy and main cabin (split between Main Cabin Extra and Main Cabin).

Seating

a seat with a pillow and a pillow in the middlea row of seats in an airplanea row of seats in an airplanea camera on a seat

In Main Cabin Extra/Main Cabin, the 10-across pain has arrived in full swing. The seat felt a little low for my liking, compared to other iterations of the AA economy seat (or I’ve gained height since lockdown).

The seat I had alas, has no direct window, with one to forward of me.

Whilst I had a 3-4-3 row, the section of my 3 remained empty, allowing me to spread out… or use it as a bed.

In-Flight Entertainment

IFE aboard this aircraft is provisioned with a Panasonic EX3 IFE system, with a touch interface.

a screen on the back of a cara screen on a planea pair of seats with two monitorsa screen on the seat of an airplane

a television screen with a person on it
Mr Alice Cooper – Knowledgeable about Milwaukee – The Good Land. And still wants his Frankensiten fed.

Connectivity

Onboard connectivity was provided by Panasonic’s Ku connectivity solution. At

This cost was $35.

Whilst it was pretty fast, the system had a habit of signing out of periods of inactivity, as well as having trouble switching from device to device.

a screenshot of a flight ticketa screenshot of a phone

Onboard service

Service on this flight was made up of two witnessed points – a departures meal service and a pre-arrival snack.

The first service was a choice of a pasta dish or a chicken dish (black bean chicken with rice and kidney beans). The deapture snack was given out at the same time.

food on a tray on a planea tray of food on a trayfood in a tray on a tray

a can and a drink on a table

The second service was a choice of four-cheese or pepperoni folded pizza.

a box of pizza on a planea close up of food

Landing

The aircraft landed a good 30 minutes early, even after taking a far-north route. It was docked at Gate M21, requiring a bit of a hike to US immigration and customs.

a group of people walking down a hallwaya hallway with a sign on the walla group of people in a buildingluggage in a luggage cart

From landing to ground side, the process took around 40 minutes.

Further pictures

a group of airplanes on a runwayan airplane window with a field and a blue skya view of clouds from an airplane windowa view of clouds from an airplane windowa window of an airplanea view of the wing of an airplane from the window of an airplanean airplane wing and wing of an airplanea truck parked on a runway

The full trip report featuring American Airlines 87 is coming soon!

Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond – Your no-nonsense guide to network news, honest reviews, featuring in-depth coverage, unique research, as well as the humour and madness I only know how to deliver.

Follow me on Twitter at @EconomyBeyond for the latest updates! You can follow me on Instagram too!

Also remember that we are part of the BoardingArea community, bringing you the latest frequent flyer news from around the world.