During my recent trip to Guadalajara on a press trip assignment, I flew American Airlines via Dallas/Fort Worth. This is a review of my flight experience on the return trip from Mexico‘s second-largest city.
THE FLIGHT: Guadalajara, Mexico (GDL) to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), Bombardier CRJ 900, 2 hours, economy class
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TRAVEL TIPS: LatinFlyer’s airline reviews show you what’s REALLY on board!
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THE DEPARTURE: Guadalajara has a very modern and attractive airport terminal. I used Uber to arrive at the airport from Casa Alebrijes hotel downtown, and there was no line to use the airport’s shared check-in kiosks. There was almost no line for the bag drop at American Airlines, and that took only about seven minutes. Airport security was equally speedy.
The Guadalajara airport departure area has a variety of luxury shopping venues, with names like Pineda Covalent, Adolfo Dominguez, Guess and Gran Via. The most interesting vendor I found was a small kiosk selling novelty T-shirts, including a shirt with a cartoonish drawing of Donald Trump and the words “Cerdo Racista” (“racist pig”). The main food court has chain brands including Johnny Rocket’s, California Pizza Kitchen and Chili’s.
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The departure gate area was modern and spacious, and — especially nice — had AC outlets at nearly every seat.
THE AIRCRAFT: The American Airlines Bombardier CRJ 900 — actually an American Eagle flight operated by Mesa Airlines — carried the AA colors and livery outside, but inside still sported the seating and decor of its former affiliation as a US Airways Express carrier (including two US Airways logos at the front of the cabin). The seats (which are arranged in groups of two on either side of the aisle in economy class) were quite narrow and showing some wear, indicating they were likely due for an upgrade as well as a full rebranding in the American Eagle mode.
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INFLIGHT SERVICE: Flight attendants served free bags of pretzels and soft-drinks; alcoholic beverages were available for a charge.
THE ARRIVAL: We landed slightly early at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport, and — thanks to my membership with Global Entry — I went through customs and immigration rather quickly (the wait for my checked bag was short too). I took the airport train to connect to my next flight, and since I had a layover of just over two hours had no problem at all (for reasons why you should never allow a layover of less than an hour for domestic flights or less than two hours for international at DFW, read my American Airlines flight review here).