Part 5: AA99 Chicago O’Hare International T3 - Toronto Pearson International T3 (booked as BA6826)
American Eagle for American Airlines, Main Cabin, 12A, Embraer ERJ-145 – 8th April 2013
463miles flown, 500 awarded, 10 Tier Points, 1000 Avios earned.
The Pictures
I was first aboard, and was welcome aboard by the flight attendant. I was directed down the plane, to my seat in row 12.
Call me bonkers, but I
love Embraer 145’s. Why? The 1+2 seating is in m book the highlight. Any seat that is both a window and an isle is a winner in my book.
Of course, I went for an A seat to get the best of both worlds.
Now, on an ERJ-145, there are certain seats to avoid, and certain seats go for. The ones to go for are in an American Eagle ERJ-145 are Row 1 (duh), and row 12.
Why? Lots of legroom - something you don't associate with an ERJ.
Seat 12A. And rest.
My luggage easily fitted into the overhead bins, and I took my seat as the plane begun to load up.
Still waiting for the go...
Loading took some time, and by this point we were running later than planned. During loading, the flight attendant I was capable and willing to do the duties on the exit card. After a verbal acknowledgement, the she left to complete the loading procedure. Eventually, the plane was buttoned up and pushback commenced.
An audio safety announcement was made, with a demo of the features, and we begun a short taxi around O'Hare.
Soon enough, we lined up for a departure, and those two little Rolls Royce Allison Engines roared into life.
[youtube width=560" height=315]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0FlfsG03_8[/youtube]
Yes, the Youtube video is working now. Don't know what happened to original though. Odd. Most... odd.
The climbout was quick (as they always seem to be with the ERJ series), and as we climbed over Lake Michigan, electronics were allowed.
Even though this is a short flight, I decided to make myself some entertainment - so yes, finally we have a
GhettoIFE System
Sometimes, you feel like this in a plane (Patrick McGoohan - The Prisoner... and yes, I like my zany not quite explainable TV shows...). For those who are wondering why an iPhone is in a sick bag, head to What is GhettoIFE? It explains it. Mostly. People expecting the craplet will have to wait...
Cabin during cruise
The state of the plane can be summed up as "nothing that a bit of TLC can fix". For example, it was clean, but the seat pocket was falling off - quite littarly. Yet simply pushing the popper back on (and if American Eagle has industrial strengh glue), simply put it back in position. Sound, but a bit of attention to detail would help..
As the plane settled into cruise, the flight attendant prepared the cart for service. As we continued into cruise, she made her way to me.
I was greeted by name and offered my drink of choice, and if I'd like a snack as well. There was a choice of a Cheese Tray, Trail Mix or Smoked Almonds. Well, that’s an easy way into my heart when it comes to smoked almonds.
I know it's a small thing offering a snack and being addressed by name, but it does help an awful lot.
Cruise continued, with clouds building up as we travelled. I didn't know what those clouds held for me in store for later on though.
The flight attended distributed the immigration forms late into the flight - a little moan, I know but if you have these at the beginning, you can get them done and dusted quickly, instead of rushing to do them as the plane descended through the cloud levels.
The flight attendant made two sweeps of the plane as we begun to make our descent into Toronto. As we begun to lose altitude the bright evening sun turned to grey and murk, with rain falling.
The plane made a reasonable landing at Toronto, with a short taxi to the terminal.
[youtube width=560" height=315]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeUpuZZRSuw[/youtube]
After landing, we begun the long taxi to the terminal, and guided in with batons to the RegionalJet Jetbridges - and considering the rain that was falling - this was no bad thing at all.
Waiting to be guided in
The bongs went off when we parked, and everyone raced to get off the plane.
I thanked the crew (and again, addressed by name), and headed off for Dante's 3rd ring of hell - Toronto Airport T3...
Overall: Yes, the delay was annoying and there were a couple of things that could had been done better, but a good performance by American Eagle. The service level for a EXP/Oneworld Emerald was excellent and the service delivered well. But next time, immigration forms after boarding please - it'll give some of us more time to fill in the dreaded paperwork...