Flight number AA1017 Origin Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) Destination Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaria (SJO) Aircraft type Boeing 737-800 Aircraft registration N358PW Aircraft age Six years Class of service Main Cabin (Economy) Seat 11F (window) My flight from DFW to SJO had a scheduled departure time of 10:05 from gate C37. To my surprise, our departure gate was one of the High-C gates that DFW and American Airlines collaborated on and installed in 2022. The gates are modern and feature LED screens with flight information, making them easily accessible and readable.
I do not know what time the flight started boarding as I did not get a text from the airline and did not take note of when the app notification came through. At the gate I arrived at the gate at 09:27 and the flight was already boarding group 1. Within three minutes, they were up to Group 4, and I boarded shortly after that with Group 5.
At gate C37, American was using biometric technology for boarding, but unlike United Airlines, still checked passports, rather than simply asking passengers to have them in hand. By 09:34, I was on the aircraft and quickly noticed that the overhead bins had been replaced as they had signs indicating that carry-on bags should be placed on their sides in order to accommodate more bags. Before departing Los Angeles (where my trip started), I had asked for a window seat, and the gate agent placed me in 11F, which I found quickly and stowed my bag across the aisle.
Upon opening my window, I realized my seat was just in front of the engine and knew I would get good photos and videos on the flight. Boarding was finalized at 09:49, as our flight was relatively empty. By 10:02, the boarding door had been closed.
Five minutes later, we began our pushback and taxi out to runway 17R, from which we took off at 10:26. Onboard Shortly after takeoff, I fell asleep and eventually missed the inflight service. I had taken a redeye flight from LAX to DFW, which threw my sleep schedule off.
Though I got some sleep in the airport lounge that morning, I needed more on the flight. I woke up about 40 minutes after takeoff and then slept again until the views out of the window made me keep my eyes glued. Less than two hours after takeoff, we reached the Belize coast, and the division in the color of the water was evident, with incredible blues popping out.
For quite some time, we flew over the Caribbean Sea and saw several reefs, and the views kept getting better and better. Though most American Airlines flights have free connectivity for T-Mobile customers, this flight did not. There were only two connectivity options, both paid.
One was for WiFi for part of the flight (I cannot remember the exact timeframe), and the other was for the entire flight. Entertainment was still available through the inflight portal website, and AA partnered with Apple Music to offer two free months of the service. Though the flight lasted nearly four hours, it felt like less time, and we reached Costa Rica fairly quickly.
As we began our descent, we experienced a significant amount of turbulence as we flew through the mountains. The clear skies and blue water were behind us, and we descended into clouds and rain. By 13:06, we had landed in San Jose.
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