American Airlines Landline: Bottom Line Review

I recently redeemed American Airlines miles for a “flight” from Atlantic City, NJ to Albany, NY (via Philadelphia). I put flight in quotation marks because the segment from Atlantic City to Philadelphia was actually operated by a bus, the American Airlines landline. I’ve been wanting to try this out for a while, and I have to say that I was very impressed with AA’s bus service and hope to see this expand.

American Airlines bus operated by Landline: Bottom Line Review

In 2022, American Airlines began serving some routes by bus. I hadn’t paid much attention to that fact until the last few months as I plotted out getting to/from Atlantic City for a last dance with Caesars Diamond status.

The Atlantic City airport is very small. I believe it is only served by Spirit Airlines flights and the American Airlines Landline bus to Philadelphia.

The short story is that I was really impressed with the Landline bus. From the moment we boarded, I kept saying to myself that I wished they’d offer something like this on more routes. The bus was relatively clean, comfortable, and it was really convenient.

In short form, here’s the tale of the experience:

• Boarding: Boarding for the Landline bus occurs at a gate airside (post-security). When I arrived at the airport to begin my trip, I passed through the TSA security checkpoint and waited at a gate. When it was time to board, they scanned our boarding passes and we walked downstairs and out to the curb on the tarmac to an American Airlines Landline bus.
• Onboard experience: Seats are large and comfortable, almost comparable to domestic first class. Every seat has a power outlet and there is fast, free Wi-Fi. The bus driver did a safety briefing, but there was no flight attendant / service onboard. There was a restroom at the back of the bus, though I didn’t check it out. We drove across the tarmac, exited a gate to the road, and drove onward to Philadelphia.
• Arrival: We arrived airside at Philadelphia International Airport about an hour after departing from Atlantic City. Upon arrival at the airport, we went through a secure gate and onto the tarmac, eventually arriving at the F terminal, where we “landed” at a gate and entered the airport already in the secure zone — no need to clear security a second time. That was great as it meant I could head directly to the Centurion Lounge.

As we rode along the highway, with my laptop plugged in, plenty of elbow room to my sides, and using the fast & free Wi-Fi to get work done, I couldn’t help but think that if I lived anywhere near Atlantic City, this would be my preferred way to get to Philadelphia International Airport.

At the Atlantic City airport, there was no line at all at the TSA checkpoint (in fact, the officer who checked my ID actually radioed the officers running the scanning machines to let them know a passenger was coming!). I arrived about an hour and a half before the segment and that was far, far earlier than necessary. I imagine that 30-40 minutes would be sufficient unless you’re running against a bank of Spirit flights (which I imagine probably doesn’t exist?). There is probably some risk of being stuck in traffic on the way to Philadelphia on a bad day, but there were about 3 hours between my arrival at PHL and my connecting flight, so I wasn’t terribly worried.

I might even consider redeeming miles for the Landline even if I intended to travel on separate tickets since you arrive at PHL on the secure side. At 6K miles and $0 in taxes for a one-way award from Atlantic City to Philadelphia, it seems like a pretty good deal.

In my case, I paid 9K miles and $5.60 for my award covering this bus from Atlantic City to Philadelphia (PHL) and the flight from Philadelphia to my home airport of Albany, NY (ALB), but I see some days where the ACY-PHL-ALB ticket costs the same 6,000 miles as ACY-PHL segment alone.

And before you think, “that’s great if you want to travel to Albany”, it’s worth noting that you could get to Chicago for the same 6K miles…..

….or Dallas for 6K miles…..

….or Los Angeles for 6K miles.

Even if you live in Philadelphia, it might make sense to take the train to Atlantic City to start your trip on the Landline!

Note that the price isn’t always 6K miles, but the point here is that it is often quite reasonable.

Overall, I was very happy with my experience aboard the AA Landline bus and I would totally book another in the future. In fact, I found myself repeatedly saying that I would love to see more small routes served this way. I imagine that it’s difficult for this to be cost-effective in many markets, but where it is I would be happy to redeem miles to originate at a small airport and skip the long security line at a major airport.

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