This has been a good weekend going to a wedding and visiting friends. We have lots of friends and family in the Chicago area so we got to see many of people we haven’t seen since before COVID. On Sunday before our flight, we went down to Bucktown to hang out with my old roommate.
This trip is interesting in a kinda boring way, we’re flying 2 different airlines version of the ERJ175, United and American Airlines. I love the ERJ175, I’ve reviewed both Delta ERJ175 and Air France E175. I don’t often fly UA or AA, but when the option of a direct flight exists, I’m usually going to take it.
American Airlines uses the ERJ175 on short flights around North America. As always, I’m never disappointed to see an ERJ175 on the schedule, they tend to be very comfortable and roomy, especially for a regional jet. Today we’re just booked in American Airlines Economy, this flight is scheduled for just over 2 hours.
Anyway, let’s get into this AA ERJ175 Economy Review.
In This Trip
1: Lets go to Chicago: United ERJ175 Economy Review
2: Let’s go to Chicago: The Graduate Hotel Evanston Review
3 :Let’s go to Chicago: American Airlines ERJ 175 Economy Review
3.1: O’Hare Airport
3.2: American Airlines E175 Economy Review
3.3: Final Thoughts
O’Hare Airport
After our fun weekend in Chicago, we were back on the Blue Line headed to ORD. Uber and Lyft have been an absolute mess this weekend. It’s lollapalooza this weekend so not sure if that’s the issue but we’ve been regularly waiting 30 minutes for a ride. All of us had several drivers cancelling on us, not sure why but it’s sure annoying.
It was a pretty good trek to the terminal. ORD has a lot of construction going on and because of it there’s lots of diversions and temporary walkways so it took a little longer than expected, but we had lots of time. American Airlines uses terminal 3 here at ORD.
After a little glitch with Val’s PreCheck (wrong birthday on the reservation, check in agent resolved it quickly) we were through security and heading to the gate.
We had a few minutes to kill here in ORD before our flight boarded. I like these style of halls. Really feels like an international airport. It also reminds me of Home Alone, the second best Christmas movie.
Sadly, as seems to be very common these days, American has delayed our flight. Not badly, but we’re waiting on flight attendants. We started boarding about 10 minutes before our scheduled departure, so an on time departure is clearly not happening. Val knows all about American Airlines delays.
American Airlines E175 Economy Review
Embraer is such an interesting company. They are a major player in the aviation market, especially the regional jet. I love these ERJ175s. In my opinion, they are the most comfortable regional jet. It’s really a different class of aircraft, I’d rather ride on an ERJ170/190 than a 737 or A320 family aircraft. Plus, who doesn’t love that O’Hare sunset.
We eventually boarded, we’re very near the back as AA has monetized almost the entire plane. I’m not paying for a regular economy seat.
From a comfort standpoint the seats are nice and plush, for an econ seat on a ERJ. There’s also power provided in seat. Nice for us after a day of relaxing in the city. The American Airlines E175 is actually a pretty good way to ride from Chicago to Greenville.
More than enough leg room for me, but I’m not that tall. Yes, I’m wearing shorts to fly, it’s the summer.
Anyway, boarding was a mess. Lots of bags without overhead bins. Idiots making tic toks. People not understanding how seat assignments work. Just full blown shit show. No entertainment on the AA E175, but it’s not a long flight.
We’re boarded with the door shut about 20 minutes late. Not too bad, but getting delayed on late evening flights sucks. Seems to be pretty common on American Airlines these days. At least the American Airlines E175 is a nice ride.
This flight used a recorded safety announcement, hadn’t heard one of those in a while. Probably just because I haven’t flown American Eagle in a while. I settled into an episode of CarTalk as the flight attendant did a final walk through on our AA E175. The pilots also did their standard announcements, they did mention that you cannot drink your own alcohol onboard. That’s a new on for me from the pilot. I think AA has seen some things lately. We were also told the flight should be nice a smooth for the first half, but might be a little bumpy on the second half as there are some storms.
We took off to the South West. I’m always grateful when we takeoff in the direction were heading, though no view of downtown tonight.
If taking off this direction, sitting on the left side would give a great view of downtown Chicago, the right side of our AA E175 isn’t that great.
I don’t often sit rear of the wing and I forget that the dynamics are a little bit different back here. It’s also a little bit louder but the Embraer is usually a comfortable ride and this American Airlines E175 is no exception. Little bumpy, but not bad. The captain then turned off the seatbelt sign.
The drink cart soon made an appearance. We were sitting near the back so it took a few minutes for it to get to us as American does a front to back service on the E175. I just wanted a water, and a snack was included too. I don’t much care for pretzels, but Val likes them so I passed them along.
The flight from ORD to GSP really isn’t that long and soon enough we were descending into Greenville.
Nice smooth landing this Sunday evening. Not a great picture but I always love landing back home in Greenville.
Into the gate and our American Airlines E175 trip is complete.
Final Thoughts
And back at home. I’m not on this side of the airport very often as I’m usually a Delta flyer, but it’s really not that different.
All in, this American Airlines E175 is a good ride, as all E175s are. We were delayed, but not bad by AA standards. This is a great way to get to/from Chicago for a weekend. If I had to pick one I’d probably lean to the United option, mostly because the flight was on-time. Not that the AA flight was bad, just the UA one was slightly better. I would say the American Airlines E175 having power is an advantage over the United Airlines E175, but not enough to make up for the flight being delayed.
Anyway, glad to be home from a nice weekend with friends. The E175 will always be a good choice.