Aircraft: B737-800
Seats: 12A&B
So, the end of our trip was nigh and it was time to head back to sunny Britain via JFK. A smooth and traffic-free drive up to TPA was a good start, and after a brief kerfuffle with the Hertz car return we were at the AA check in around 90 minutes before the 11.45 departure.
Very short wait at check in, and used one of the self-print machines which was painless enough. A member of AA staff came by to check our bag into the hold, but announced "your bag is 2.5lbs too heavy so you will need to remove some things or it's a $60 fee".
So... we hid around the corner and moved 3 books into our hand luggage before returning to the desk with a bag that was exactly at the correct weight. I asked for a priorty tag because we were entitled to one on our second leg in PE. After studying our e-ticket and some initial scepticism the agent relented. All in all the classic unfriendly AA check in experience.We headed off to security which was quite busy but we were soon through, and then it was just about boarding time. We were boarded by group numbers 1 to 5 which was clearly marked on the boarding passes. The still proved too much of a challenge for some people though.
A short flight time of 2 hours 13 minutes was announced, and a full flight. The 737-800 was clean and looked in pretty reasonable condition inside.
At this point a very large chap who could easily have passed for Lurch (Adams Family) plonked himself down next to me in the aisle seat. Not only was my arm now denied all access to the arm-rest, but also a reasonable portion of the leg space as he appeared to need to splay his legs apart at a 45 degree angle. Then my nostrils were assaulted with a glorious hit of Body Odour. Not the 'stinks out the whole aircraft' type, but just enough to be offensive to those nearby.
I stuck the overhead airvents on maximum, and hoped to be teleported to JFK!
Take off was smooth to the south, followed by a long right turn to the north. Once at cruising altitude the crew came round with the customary drink, one member of the crew was very friendly and chatty, a stark contrast to the others. The flight was pretty much constantly choppy with areas of turbulence. The captain apologised, but no smooth rides were available.
Landing on 31L at JFK was pretty smooth given the 35mph wind gusts we were advised of before landing. Quick taxi to T8 and I almost ran off the aircraft, so glad was I to be out of there! My right eye was actually beginning to sting!
Headed over to T4 on the airtrain to collect Boarding Passes for our Virgin flight home.
So, to conclude... whilst I was unlucky with large smelly seat mate, the flight was just plain American Airlines. I'll definitely be looking to JetBlue for future trips.
Always planning a trip somewhere!
