Review of American Airlines flight from Fort-de-France to Miami in Economy

Hello everyone,

After spending a few days at FDF following the last ORY-FDF flight and sorting out some day-to-day business, it’s time to head back.

The most logical way to get home would be to take a standard FDF-CDG flight, the new reference.
Except that this time, I’m planning to take a little detour via the US.
The return journey to Paris is therefore much more interesting than usual.

At first, I didn’t plan to perform the flight report into English, but the liaisons are rarely, if ever, reporteded.
And when the French report does exist, the english one is already 10 years old!
It's time to do something.

Here is the famous itinerary. 

TICKETING AND ON LINE CHECK IN

To get to the US, as a naive AF customer, I was thinking of taking an FDF-MIA (via PTP) on the local A320, but this option don't fly.
In fact, there’s no acceptable Skyteam routing to get to MSY because DL doesn’t fly MIA-MSY direct.

Luckily for me, there’s a very simple alternative available from FDF: AA, flying direct to MIA with a flight every two days.
I’m going to be trying something new for the first time, as, apart from a few Delta flights, I’ve never flown with any other American airline.

As I’m a bit unsure about my itinerary, I’ve booked an Eco Flex ticket, but without baggage, as an Eco Flex ticket with baggage would have cost a fortune (almost double the price). In theory, I should be able to buy a baggage allowance on the day of travel – let’s hope it isn’t as expensive as gold…

The final routing involves a layover of just over three hours at MIA, which suits me fine as I’m not familiar with the place, and, more importantly, I’ll be just an ordinary passenger: no fast-track access. The current US partial shutdown at this time and its impact on Passport control / TSA queues will cause me a bit of stress, but to stack the odds in my favour, once I’ve obtained my ESTA, I’ll download the MPC (Mobile Passport Control) app and get everything sorted in advance to ensure immigration goes as smoothly as possible.

Shortly before the big day, to keep things as simple as possible, I set up an AAdvantage account so I can have everything in the AA app. A new era begins!

Good news: I’ll see duting On line check in that I’m arriving at MIA in Terminal D and departing from Terminal D.
That should make things much easier.

If the OLCI is OK, it’s not possible to add a luggage online, so I’ll sort it out at the check-in desk.

FDF

On the day, I headed to FDF at a completely unusual time, inluding a lot of margin.
I know that for US flights, the process can involve additional procedures, but I have no idea how things work at FDF.
Learning takes time, so let’s take it.
So, as usual, "Dad taxi" drops me off at the kiss-and-fly area for what would be a first-ever departure from FDF on this route

Usually, it's straight on from here to AF desks, but this time, it's a hard left.

My generous time buffer is plain to see: I'm a full two hours early.

Off we go to the other end of the terminal.

As I reach the AA area, I'm tempted to give one of the kiosks a try.
That would have required knowing my AAdvantage number, though, and of course I can't seem to put my hands on it.

No matter, the traditional check-in desk is there to get me out of trouble and take care of my suitcase.
A lengthy zig-zag queue is set up for us Y passengers, but there is hardly anyone around.

After completing the formalities with a very friendly agent and paying—brace yourselves—just €35 (!) for my checked bag, I'm on my way to security, which is located upstairs.
Note: I'll say it again, €35 (~40US$)! Considering that the Flex fare including baggage was several hundred euros more expensive than the Flex fare without baggage, that's quite a bargain…

Upstairs, this left-hand side of the terminal offers a view I'm not used to seeing

The gates to passport control is within sight, but I first have to walk back a bit to find the beginning of the queue barriers.
An instruction sign catches my eye. It looks new to me, as I don't recall seeing it last summer. Yet it was already there, young man…

PASSPORT CONTROL, SECURITY AND AIRSIDE

13:12, and I'm on my way to passport control.
At this point, I'm realizing just how early I am—especially as there’s been nothing particularly exotic in the process for this US-bound flight so far.
Anyway, time to head to passport control.

Passport control is very quick, but security does require a bit of shuffling around, even if the crowd remains quite light.
All in all, it takes me about fifteen minutes to reach the entrance to the duty-free area, which, of course, puts our rum front and center.

Innovation continues, as I make my way towards the gates 10–16 area, which is part of a brand-new extension of FDF airport.

Before heading off into the unknown, I take one last glance at the usual gates for flights to Paris.

Before walking towards the gates, I snap a quick shot of one of two aircraft that strike me as rather unusual—despite this rather poor photo.
At the time, I think I’ll easily remember the ariline name… but no chance.

The walkway feels a little empty and cold, but as it ultimately takes you down a level, that can only mean one thing: boarding on foot!
Nice.

13:40, I’ve reached the gates, with mine located right at the far end on the left.
PS: Behind me, there are toilets tucked under the stairs, so no need to head back to the main terminal in case of emergency.

I take a seat with a view of this aircraft, as close as possible to a power outlet, to pass the time during this upcoming wait.
The stickers on the windows will unfortunately make photography a bit tricky

Our small area quickly fills up with today’s passengers, especially with a TX flight also expected nearby.

For my part, the very cute AA A319 arrives roughly on time—it’s 14:40.

BOARDING

While the aircraft quickly reaches its parking stand, it takes about fifteen minutes for the jetbridge to do the same.
A shame, as given the size of the aiport and the fact that the other "big" aircraft are using jetbridges.
This gives me time to chat with another passenger and share the good tip about MPC.
Boarding starts at 15:08 with strict zone boarding, extending up to zone 10 if I remember correctly—whereas I’m currently in zone 6. 
Once again, nothing particularly US-specific here—just a very standard boarding process, with the tropical sun as the only real standout feature.

By the time I reach the aircraft, AC is already heading off to the North (YUL).
Quite a busy day at FDF, after all.

This one is bound for PTP—less far north than YUL, but north nonetheless.

A fuselage shot, but no shot of the plane door.
At the bottom of the jetstairs, a local agent shouts a rather hostile “no photo” at me.
After a brief exchange about what can and cannot be photographed, he likely realizes he had misunderstood what I was actually taking pictures of.
Just to be safe, I don’t push my luck at the door—no need to get into another explanation in english, LOL.

CABIN AND FLIGHT

15:20, I’m onboard.
Past the two rows of “DomFirst”, I reach my throne at the very back of the cabin—but with a window seat!
I’m really not far from the rear, as the last row is row 27.

Seat pitch is quite decent for this 3h30 flight.

There is a power outlet at the base of the seat.

The inflight magazine reassures me about the presence of Wi-Fi (free and apparently quite fast) but reserved for AAdvantage members.
No membership number, no Wi-Fi.
I’m glad I signed up in advance.

15:30, boarding is complete, yet the cabin is quite full. The AA crew is efficient.
The announcements begin and are brief, in english only.
15:32, the jetstrais are pulled back; much more efficiently than when it arrived.

We are ready !

Pushback is completed at 15:50.

But we end up waiting… until an announcement from the flight deck finally comes through.
ATC has apparently reported that northern airspace is closed. Our pilot doesn’t fully understand why, but keeps us updated.
We eventually start moving again, only to be held back for priority traffic: TX310 (delayed…) and AF604 (on time).
The beginning of the taxi offers a quick view of the fire station.
We then start our takeoff roll.

After a few minutes of taxiing, we line up on runway 10.

16:08, takeoff!
We pass AF841 at pushback: a flight I could have taken for my return to Paris!

Less than a minute after takeoff, the coastline already appears.
We track along the northern Caribbean coast, offering a great opportunity to capture "La Pointe de la Caravelle" from above.

The Caravelle in full view? There it is, followed by another glimpse of "Grand Rivière" village.

Time to see what the IFE has to offer.
Connecting to the internal Wi-Fi for the IFE is easy, and so is accessing the internet, as long as you are an AAdvantage member.
Everything works well, and the connection speed is very decent.

Now for a blue duo, whether on the Natural IFE or the screen.

A few tubulencess shake up the early part of the flight.
Service begins at 16:20. There is both complimentary service and buy-on-board.
I decide to mix things up a bit, as I’m quite hungry, to put it mildly.
In addition to the complimentary drink and two free snacks on the left side, I go for the cheese & fruit tray for $11.

The contents of the little box are nothing particularly spectacular, but there is certainly plenty of cheese!
US vs. Europe, two very different worlds: as you may have noticed, the glass here is plastic, unlike in Europe where everything is cardboard—and, above all, smaller.

As for the drink, the size of the can makes me pause for a second (roughly double what you get on European flights).

17:20 (!), all the waste is collected.
A few islands follow one another, but I’m content to just sit back and watch the scenery go by.

Nature also reminds me to take a look at the lavatory, which feels quite vintage.
No surprise, given the aircraft’s age: 27 years.

19:20, descent begins.
19:30, arrival is clearly approaching, with the familiar US grid pattern coming into view.

19:40, we turn onto final approach, before a smooth landing at 19:43.

Needless to say, MIA is a whole different scale compared to FDF.
After a quick wave to the local tower, our rather “endless” taxi begins.

Some yellow along the taxi, in two forms: the late Spirit and DHL.

Landing traffic keeps coming in, affecting our progress.

19:56, the gate finally appears in sight!

It takes me about eight minutes to disembark and step into an endless corridor.

I could have taken the Skytrain, but I choose the walking option instead.

And I’m not disappointed by the journey! What a walk!

Given how limited US humour can be when it comes to anything security-related, I switch to “no photo” mode.
I reach the MPC queue at 20:14.
There’s a small line, but nothing compared to the regular immigration queue.
The process is a little slow per passenger, but make no mistake: at 20:21, I’m through!
Long live MPC!
Two minutes later, I’m already at the baggage belt to pick up my luggage.
Bluffing efficiency this evening!

A quick check of the next flight… it’s actually no longer at gate D, but has been moved to gate E.

All that remains is to follow the transit path to drop off my bag and continue on towards MSY.
I’ll leave you here with the FR24 track, and see you soon for the next leg.