Chicago- Guadalajara via Dallas on American

Flew out from Chicago on July 30th 2015, came back from Guadalajara August 8th, 2015

First leg:

AA2305

ORD- DFW

Economy Class

MD-80

Departed: 6:45 AM

Arrived: 9:12 AM

Living in Chicago, I knew O'hare was one of the busiest airports in the world, so we decided to check-in around 4 am. Went to the self-service kiosk, dropped off my checked bag, then went to the TSA screening. BOY was there a line, and it appeared as though at that time the TSA lines were understaffed, so it was an ordeal to get through there. Finally did, and went to the gate. Gate was empty for a good 30 mins, and then people started to show up. No gate agents were there until about 6:10. When they finally did get there, they began boarding immediately. Got a window seat for the 2 hour flight. Cabin crew were exceptional, served the drinks in a timely manner. Didn't like the seat or legroom on the old MD-80 but it wasn't anything major. No entertainment system sucked, and the wifi is expensive to use and not that great, so I just slept for most of the flight. Arrived in DFW around 7 minutes earlier than expected.

Second leg:

AA387

DFW-GDL

Economy Class

A319

Departed: 10:35 AM

Arrived: 1:10 PM

I was surprised that the gate where the flight to Guadalajara was was located all the way across the airport, but a Skylink train was nearby, so no worries. Got to the gate, gate agent handed me Mexican immigration papers and all that, and then we boarded. Flight was 100% full. AA does have entertainment systems on their A319s, so I paid to use it. It was alright, caught up on the Big Bang Theory in the air. Was thinking about buying something on board but decided against it. Flight landed in Guadalajara at around 1:05 PM. Got off, had to go through immigration which was interesting with my broken Spanish. Could not for the life of me find my bag until I saw some random guy about to take it off the belt, luckily I was able to get it. Went through the bag screening, and then off to the main terminal.

First return leg:

AA387

GDL-DFW

Economy Class

A319

Departed: 2:02 PM

Arrived: 4:45 PM

Arrived at the airport, which by the way is MINUSCULE compared to some American airports I've seen. Went to the AA counter since they had no self-service kiosks, got my ticket, checked my bag, and was on my way. Security was not nearly as crowded as it was in ORD, and went through it in no time. Flight didn't leave for another hour, so i spent my remaining pesos to buy some Subway conveniently located near my gate. GDL only has 2 runways, so they announced every flight departing, and all I heard was Volaris and Aeromexico flights departing. Those two airlines practically fight each other to be the top airline in Mexico, lol. Fire alarms went off for some odd reason a couple times. Finally got to boarding. Another full flight. Once everyone boarded, there was a 10 min delay because there were some passengers missing, but they eventually sorted it out. Once in the air i decided to buy the snack pack AA offers. It was decent, crackers, cookies, cheese, pretzel cookies, and a little wet towel. IFE froze about an hour until landing, which kinda ticked me off. Finally arrived at DFW about 15 mins earlier than expected, so we had to wait since the gate was still occupied. We finally got off at around 4:50 PM.

Second return leg:

AA1142

DFW-ORD

Economy Class

MD-80

Departed: 8:10 PM

Arrived: 10:44 PM

Got off the plane to my dismay that I had to go through Customs again. Once again, couldn't find my bag and vowed to take vengeance on that accursed airline for losing my bag but finally found it. Went through Customs, which was automated, then left my bag off and went to the TSA line. Apparently another AA flight from Shanghai had also just landed so the line through was immense. Took about 30 mins to get through. Luckily the TSA agents in Dallas are nicer than in Chicago. Finally got through the TSA line, and was starving. Luckily being in Terminal A meant I could try TGI Fridays for the first time, and they did not disappoint. Watched the Rangers absolutely clobber the Mariners while I ate. Finally finished, and went back to my gate with about 15 minutes before boarding time and found out to my horror the flight was moved to Terminal C. I ran to the nearest Skylink, and managed to get to the gate with 5 minutes to spare. We boarded the plane, once again another old MD-80 with no IFE. At least it was clean. Decided to buy another snack pack but saved it for the end of the flight. I did decide to pay for the wifi available, and was disappointed. Wifi was slow and expensive. Arrived at ORD at around 10:30 PM with a spectacular nighttime view of the city. Deplaned, and went to pick up my bags. Luckily in ORD the conveyor belts aren't as wide as the belts at DFW, so I easily tracked my bag and went home.

Conclusion:

Absolutely seamless experience. Don't know why AA gets so much hate, I've never had a problem with them ever. Only complaint is that American really does a good job of cramming every seat possible and leave you with no legroom. And the wifi sucked. But the crew members were well trained and charming, no problems. Overall I'll give American 7/10 for their product. I should fly first class with them more however.