Due to a change of events, Val and I are heading home from Austin on an American Airlines 737-800 in Economy. While I’ve reviewed the 737 a lot of times on several carriers, I’ve not reviewed the AA 737-800 so I figured this would be a nice kinda boring flight review. I don’t much care for the ride on most 737s, but the -800 is a great looking plane. Especially with the very fun Reno Air livery that AA has on this particular 737-800.
Our AA 738 Economy flight from AUS-CLT was adequate. It was delayed due to weather in CLT so that’s always a bummer, but at least they got us home in the same day, something Delta could not.
Bottom Line: The AA 737 in economy is average and nothing super special. The lack of in seat entertainment is annoying on these planes but there are streaming options alongside wifi for purchase. The service provided was good, especially with the delay. I’d not go out of my way to ride on the American 737 again, but on a short flight it’s perfectly pleasant.
In This Review
American Airlines 737-800 Boarding
Ok, sometimes things don’t go to plan, this is one of those times. We were scheduled to fly back to GSP today on Delta, however due to the plane being too hot, we’re now flying American. Basically, when the Delta plane arrived at AUS, it had a 3 hour wait between flights, the air conditioning was left off/disconnected/not running. So whatever reason, and likely not wanting to repeat the events that occurred in Las Vegas a few weeks ago, Delta delayed boarding. Because of this, we were going to miss our connection. The amazing Delta ground agent Grace re-booked Val and myself on an AA flight via CLT without us even asking. I was so grateful.
We only had a few minutes and walked quickly over to our AA departure gate. Here we checked into the AA flight with the gate agent and then I saw it was a special livery Reno Air plane. How cool is that!
After just a few minutes it was time to board, our zone was called and we walked down the jet-bridge onto the plane. Judging by the amount of people in the gate area, this is going to be a pretty light flight.
Near the door of the plane there’s a plaque that displays RenoAir for the special liverly. RenoAir isn’t that remarkable of an airline, but they have a great paint scheme and it looks good on the AA 737.
American Airlines 737-800 Economy Seats
We found our seats on the left hand side of the AA 737-800 in the economy section.
The economy main cabin on the AA 737-800 are a standard 3-3 configuration.
Very empty plane tonight, so Val and I had our own row in economy. The leg room here is good enough, not amazing, about average for a slim economy seat.
Little note, if you are selecting seats on the AA 737-800, avoid row 13 entirely and avoid row 12 on the left hand side. There are missing/misaligned windows. The rest of the Economy seats on the American 737-800 are pretty much the same.
American Airlines 737-800 Seat Features
While the cabins are in good shape and clean, there’s no in-seat entertainment on the AA 737.
There are plenty of outlets to charge devices. Each row has 3 outlets, unlike other airlines that only put 2 outlets per row of 3 seats.
The back of each seat also had a USB charging port for phones.
While not as good as true in seat entertainment, there is a phone/tablet holder on the back of each seat. It’s not great with just a phone, but works well with a tablet.
With my bag moved to the center, the leg room is pretty good but is a little narrow. I’m always amazed at how comfortable regular economy seats are when there’s no one in the middle seat.
American Airlines 737-800 Push back and Hold
Inside the cabin the flight attendants prepared the cabin for takeoff and shut the door.
We pushed back from the gate right on time, at this point I was really glad how well everything worked out. Getting on this flight was pretty lucky. Unfortunately things were about to change. We taxied over to a holding area and the pilot broke the bad news, we’d be parked for about an hour. There’s bad weather in Charlotte and we have to wait.
The flight attendants were very proactive and passed out water. I declined as I had my water bottle.
American Airlines 737-800 Takeoff
After our wait, the pilot said we’d be heading to the runway soon and to prepare for takeoff, again.
The sun had set and we climbed out of Austin. The weather here was really hot, but had become a little cloudy as the day had passed on. Maybe they’ll get some rain soon.
The climb was smooth and the flight attendants gave their welcome.
American Airlines 737-800 Economy Snack and Drink Service
We quickly climbed above 10k feet and the seat belt sign was turned off. Due to the relatively light passenger load, the flight attendants were fast to get through the cabin with drinks and snacks.
I got a soda and some Biscoff cookies. I like that American has Dr. Pepper.
American Airlines 737-800 Bathroom
In the rear of the American Airlines 737-800 has 2 lavatories for main cabin economy passengers. There is an additional lavatory in the front for first class passengers. This bathroom was a little worse for wear.
I headed back to my seat. The cabin lights were somewhat dimmed, but not fully off.
American Airlines 737-800 Economy Cabin In Flight
Back into my seat I settled into a movie on my phone with about 90 minutes left in the flight. The total flight time is just under 3 hours between AUS and CLT.
Outside there’s not too much to see at night.
American Airlines 737-800 CLT Landing
In the cabin the lights were dark and the plot told us we’d landing in about 25 minutes. He then asked the flight attendants to prepare for landing. Also that it would maybe be a little bumpy as there are still a few storms in the area.
We approached Charlotte and while a little bumpy, it wasn’t anything crazy.
And on the ground here in Charlotte. We’re about 60 minutes behind schedule. While Delta did book us all the way to GSP, that flight was delayed for several hours so we just rented a car and drove the 80 miles home.
American Airlines 737-800 Economy Final Thoughts
While this flight was delayed, the experience was perfectly pleasant. I’m glad that Delta re-booked us on these flights home. I wouldn’t say the American 737 is my favorite way to fly, but it’s not the worst. I like the abundance of power ports for charging devices, but don’t like the lack of in seat entertainment. I did find the leg room adequate but really this flight was nice because of the lack of middle seat occupant.
The simple snack and beverage service was good enough for this short flight to Charlotte. I was oddly impressed with how clean the plane was, it’s not Singapore, but it’s better than most domestic airlines.
The American Airlines Economy product is pretty consistent across their fleet(A321 Economy Review). It’s not amazing, but consistent is nice.