I really don’t fly American Airlines and the only reason I did so on this trip was because it was really the only viable option. I didn’t really know what to expect. I must admit I was surprised. I stand about 6′ tall — not monster tall but tall enough to be concerned about leg room. I had ample leg room on this flight – and I was in a standard row: not exit or bulkhead. Unfortunately I didn’t take photos of the leg room, but it was enough to make me think about switching my preferred airline (well, we know how that turned out, don’t we?).
The flight was surprisingly empty. I would say it was about 60% occupied, which I don’t understand since there was another flight to San Juan earlier in the day that was cancelled. Where were all of those people?
The service, food and entertainment were uneventful. I must admit each time I fly to San Juan, I am surprised how far it is. It is 2,072 miles from ORD to SJU. 300 miles more than any place on the west coast and 600 miles more than Cancun. It makes sense when looking at it on the map, but sans-map I am just at a loss.
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| Flying into San Juan |
We got to San Juan on time (new adjusted “on-time”). I had 35 minutes to make my connection — so once that door opens I take off. Come to find out SJU is a small airport. Large enough that I couldn’t use my lounge pass here though. I head off to my gate and arrive just in time for us to board our bus. Ugh. We all know what I think of remote stands (unless you are flying Lufthansa through FRA).
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| SJU is glamorous, eh? |
We flew a Dash 8 from SJU to POS. The plane was hot and we couldn’t turn the A/C on until the pilots got there which took nearly 30 minutes from the time we all were seated. The pilots arrive, carrying to-go meal bags. They tell the stew they were hungry and decided to stop for dinner…but don’t worry, they only ate half their meal at the restaurant and will finish it in air. Now that is service.
My notes indicate the flight took 3.5 hours (can that be right?), this plane was horrible. I was lucky enough not to have a seat mate. These planes had no entertainment (other than the loud passengers telling tales of their lives) and limited service. I did manage to get a beer. The flight was so loud and vibrated so much I was just waiting for a wing to shear off. Luckily that didn’t happen.
We land smoothly and quickly taxi to a remote stand and quickly head into Customs and Immigration.