Review: American Airlines PHL–CLT

Last month, my mom and I took a quick overnight trip to Charlotte, N.C., to watch my brother’s baseball team take on opening day. Rider University played UNC Charlotte in a four-game series, with Rider taking the series loss — a tough start to the season.

Planning the trip last minute, we opted to fly early Saturday morning as opposed to late Friday evening. We flew American Airlines from Philadelphia International Airport to Charlotte Douglas International Airport at 8:30 a.m. We left for the airport around 6 a.m., figuring it was better to be safe than sorry.

While airport security was quite busy for an early Saturday morning, it did not take us long. We arrived to our gate with time to spare, so we stopped at Chickie’s and Pete’s in Terminal C for breakfast.

The gate agents began the boarding process on time and it went fairly smooth. The agents made several announcements informing passengers of the full flight and limited overhead bin storage — suggesting passengers with rollerboards check them if possible.

My mom and I were one of the first to board as we were seated in first class. Once we were settled in our comfortable and roomy seats, the friendly flight attendant asked if we wanted a drink before takeoff— I naturally opted for a mimosa. The rest of the boarding process took a bit longer than expected, as passengers moved slowly and had difficulty finding overhead storage. Once everyone arrived at their seats, the flight attendant took our in-flight beverage orders. While we did not have a meal on the one-hour, 14-minute flight, we were offered a basket of healthy snacks.

The flight landed 20 minutes ahead of schedule and we were quickly able to deplane. It was a quick and easy flight.