Hello everyone! Even though this happened over a month ago, I wanted to put out this tripreport for you all! There are no pictures due to the fact that it was dark in the airplane, and that I had an aisle seat.
Arrival to the airport
Our class arrived to Ronald Reagen National Airport (KDCA) at approximately 5:15 P.M. we quickly had roll call and headed inside the airport. We then were given our tickets, and headed to TSA. I guess they thought my deodorant was suspicious, and decided to scramble through my luggage, messing all my clothes up lol, I wasnât really mad as most were already dirty. We then headed to our gate, which was sharing with another flight to Orlando I believe. After sitting at the gate watching the planes land and takeoff for about 45 minutes, I decided to go get a burger and fries at the Five guys in the American Terminal. It wasnât very good, the fries were soggy, and the burger was dry. The charging ports were awful aswell. Nobody was able to charge their devices, and we were all sitting at phones with 10% battery.
Boarding the Plane
At about 7:45 we started boarding the plane. Let me just say it was not very organized. We were the last ones to board the plane. Most peoples luggage had to be put in the cargo hold, but mine was small enough to fit in the overhead bins. We then got comfortable, and waited for our pushback. At about 8:00 PM we pushed back, and started our taxi. We took off of RWY 1, and just like that, we were on our way!
The Flight
The flight overall was very pleasant! The cabin was nice and clean, the service was excellent, and the bathrooms were even nice! Me and the FA talked a tiny bit about how I liked aviation, and how I want to be a pilot⌠okay yes, I was trying to get a peek in the cockpit lol. About an hour into the flight, we were given our inflight snacks. I got a bag of pretzels, and a water! I even got a second pack from the Nice FA! The flight was going as planned, until we reached Des Moines. Since it was storming bad in Iowa, we were told we were going to be circling above Des Moines for a couple of minutes.
Diversion & Aftermath
Well, after about 25 minutes of circling, we were told we would be making an emergency landing in Kansas City due to the severe weather over Des Moines Intâl. Everyone was looking around and stuff, and was worried how we would get home. Anyways, we then landed in Kansas City, and for some reason had two fire trucks escort us to a gate. We then hopped off the plane and waited to see when the flight to Des Moines would be. The next flight was at 5:40 A.M. the next day, and everyone basically said no to that (Except me, as I kinda wanted pull an all nighter in the airport.đ). We then called the company helping with the trip, but they said they would try to help. Finally, at about 1:30 A.M., we got a call from them saying we were getting 3 minivans to transport us back to our hometown about 3 hours away. We all piled into them, and had a sleepless ride up to our hometown in Iowa. I then went to bed, woke up, and laughed it off.
Ratings on my experience
Overall, I would rate American Airlines a 9/10! The service was great, and they handled the Diversion amazingly by letting people just get rental cars, or allowing some to stay in an airport Hotel. The only thing I would rate bad about the experience was the check in. The organization for it was sloppy imo, and unnecessary.
I would rate KDCA a 4/10. The area wasnât too crowded, but the plugins were what really killed the rating. Another good and bad thing was that TSA was quick, but pulled people over for the smallest things. Plus the Five Guys was not the greatest, dropping the rating a little.
I hope you all enjoyed my report!