Trip Report: American Airlines (A321) Main Cabin ORD-MIA

The Details

Flight: AA2498
Aircraft: A321
Class: Main Cabin
Seat: 25F
Route: Chicago O’Hare International (ORD)-Miami International (MIA)
Distance: 1,201 miles
Duration: 2hrs 31min
Departure: 6:14AM
Arrival: 9:42AM

The Preflight

I arrived at Chicago O’Hare Terminal 3 at about 4:30AM in the morning for my 6AM flight to Miami International Airport. The terminal was fairly empty and the TSA PreCheck line had only a handful of passengers.

Our A321 today, registration N154AA, was delivered brand new to American airlines in Jan 2016. She was one of the newer A321s, the “Enhanced” sub-fleet, which have Sharklets on the wings.

Boarding began at 5:25AM and was very fast.

The Flight

American Airlines currently has two distinct sub-fleets of A321s. The “Classic” A321 sub-fleet is made up of legacy US Airways (LUS) A321s. These planes lack seatback entertainment and have no power at the seats. The other sub-fleet is “Enhanced” with seatback screens and power at every seat. These A321s are the legacy American Airlines (LAA) A321s. Today’s aircraft was a legacy American Airlines A321.

Luckily, I was able to select my seat for $17 (despite being basic economy) and my favorite main cabin seat aboard the LAA A321s was still available. Seat 25F is a standard main cabin seat but has the most legroom aboard.

The best thing about this seat is the unlimited legroom. Arguably better than first class upfront. While 25A on the other side faces the flight attendant jump seat, 25F does not.

The IFE screen was in the armrest and was responsive to touch. One downside to this seat is that it is narrower at 16.3″ wide (compared to regular Main Cabin at 17.7″ wide). I loaded up the flight map for the trip down to MIA.

There was no line for takeoff and within minutes we were airborne just as the sun was rising.

About 25 minutes into the flight, the crew came through with a beverage service. Biscoff cookies were also distributed.

Since I had woken up so early this morning to catch this flight, I napped for about an hour. I awoke to the preparation for landing. There were amazing views of the Miami coastline.