San Juan Luis Munoz Marin International

I arrived much too early for this flight to Dallas Fort Worth. But since the Hilton Condado Plaza was nothing special and the time too short to do anything at the morning in San Juan, I decided that I could spend the time also at the airport.

I directed the taxi to the terminal used by American Airlines and walked into the terminal. I used the self check in machines which worked with my European passport. This has been an issue with many airlines in the past and sometimes still is, but this time my two boarding passes for today’s flight were printed.

Security was empty and there was no one queuing so it was no wait for me. My passport was checked against my boarding pass and then it was the standard procedure I have experienced so many times in the past: laptop out of the bag, liquids on the belt. I had already put the belt off my jeans in the taxi and put them in my carry on to safe time. I passed security without need to be padded down.

I went to the American Airlines Admirals Clubs, which I could access with my 30 day membership, but it is also accessible with a Priority Pass. And it is possible to walk between the terminals and gates airside, so it is possible to visit the club even if flying United – just calculate a walk of 10 to 15 minutes from the gates used by UA to the Admirals Club. I was greeted at the entrance and my membership was verified. The club was quite empty and not very busy as I entered it. The club reached out over two floors but since it was low season only the lower floor was used. The selection of magazines was quite good for an lounge / club of an US-based airline, the selection of food limited to bagels, cracker, slices of cake and cookies. Tea and coffee was also available but nothing to write home about. However the design and furniture was slightly different, adding a light Caribbean touch to this club. And the coffee was strong …

I spend the next hours in the club researching some things and writing some e-mails until a colleague and friend came into the lounge. He arrived a day earlier and despite he was staying in the same hotel, we had missed each other in the hotel. He was flying to Miami connecting to Los Angeles a couple of minutes after me, but his flight was delayed. We talked about our experience on board American Airlines and in the Hilton Condado Plaza.

I left the lounge a couple before scheduled boarding time I walked over to my gate, where boarding had already started.

08 October 2013
SJU – DFW
[San Juan Luis Munoz Marin International – Dallas Fort Worth]
AA 1591 (American Airways); Boeing 757 (N623AA)
Gate E 8
10:45 – 14:45 [effective 10:38 – 14:38]
Business Class
Seat 2F

I boarded the plane and there was a short queue in the air bridge, which was attached to the second door, meaning those of use in Business Class in the front could turn left and so did I. I stored my belongings in the overhead compartment and was asked if I like to have a pre-departure drink. I opted for a glass of orange juice. The female flight attendant also offered to hang my jacket. A passenger was traveling with a small dog which he stored at his feet- it was a small Chihuahua which barked a couple of times and which he had on his lap during the flight. I was happy not to have the seat next to him …

Members of the San Juan tennis team were also on board flying to a tournament in Scottsdale and the flight attendant welcomed them and asked them if they were heading there – she was playing tennis herself and mentioned that she read that they were playing there. She told them she would tell the captain so he was able to welcome them on board in his welcome speech.

Pre Depature Drink

And so it happened in the welcome of the captain, who not only welcomed the tennis team of San Juan on board but of course also mentioned the flight time to Dallas Fort Worth with 4:36 and informed us about the weather in Dallas / Fort Worth and our expected flight path.

We finally pushed back at 10:38 ahead of schedule and taxied to the runway. It was no wait and at 10:49 the captain pulled the thrust level and we accelerated on runway 8 and finally the wheels were up at 10:49 and we climbed into the sky above Puerto Rico. It was an older plane which was used for our flight to Dallas / Fort Worth. It was delivered to AA on July 11, 1990 and was fitted with winglets in in November 2008. Like many other Boeing 757 and all in the fleet of American Airlines it was powered by two Rolls Royce RB211-535E4B engines.

The plane was only equipped with an empower outlet which was not very nice as I had hoped to power my laptop on this flight to Texas. Alas, this was not going to happen.

Once in the air, the seat belt signs were switched off after round about 10 minutes and the crew began to prepare the service. First after 15 minutes in flight a hot towel service was done and once this was done the orders for the first beverage service was done. I choose tonic water which was served with the assorted nuts. This time I did not receive the can but was later offered a refill of my now empty glass as the orders for the meal were taken. I had preordered the steak salad which was served with pepper cream dressing and hard boiled eggs and it was confirmed that it was catered and reserved for me.

Aperitif

The flight attendant serving the front cabin did not rush through the service, as the flight time was long enough and it was a day flight. It seems the most other passengers did not have objections against this approach. So it was round about 55 minutes after we left Puerto Rico that the meal was served. I switched to glass of white wine – a Californian Sauvignon Blanc – to go with the meal. The glass was brought; I did not get a chance to see the bottle, so I had to rely on what I was told by the flight attendant. The meal arrived on the tray with cutlery, napkin, salt and pepper and a roll. The wine was brought a couple of minutes later.

Steak Salad
served with pepper cream dressing and hard boiled eggs

Cookie

The meal does not really taste very well; the beef was dry and stringy, the salad tasteless and not very fresh. I had only a few bites of it and passed the rest. This was by far the worst meal I had on this trip and even falls into the category of the worst meals ever.

I was offered a refill of my wine as the flight attendant cleared the tray. Later a warm cookie was offered together with a coffee.

I used the flight time to continue to update some hotel reports as long my laptop was charged. As I ran out of power I continued to read in the Time Magazine. Other passengers worked on their laptops or watched a movie on their iPads or other tablet computers.

The flight attendant passed the cabin a couple of times and asked if we would like to get a refill of our choice of beverage or something different. As we began our final approach the captain gave us an update of the weather situation in DFW. He expected to touch down as expected at 14:20 given that there was no delay due to air traffic control to be expected. The cabin crew soon later asked us to turn off all electronic devices and not to use the lavatories anymore. They gave back the jackets. I think this was a bit early with close to 30 minutes in flight, especially compared to the other flights.

The flight itself was uneventful and with the exceptions of the time we flew over the Gulf of Mexico was very smooth. Out flight path has taken us over the Sothern part of Florida and then on the Gulf and the Mississippi Delta, which was quite interesting to see from above. We passed Dallas / Fort Worth International Airport before we made a U turn and finally approached Dallas / Fort Worth Airport. We touched down on runway 17 C at 14:24 and taxied for our gate D18 at concourse D.

The air jetty was attached to the front door. The most persons in the front cabin expected to leave through the second door, but only one air jetty was used which was attached to the first door in front of the First Class Cabin rather than the second door and so I was the second person to leave the plane and arrived in the terminal.

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