#65 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
598 reviews
Report No: 2020-1203
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Welcome to the second part of this series where I would be on another mileage-run, this time originating from the West Coast on another route other than DCA-RDU. To keep some mystery, I would reveal the routing part-by-part
The third report of this series and the first flight of this mileage run would be on American Airlines' Premium Transcontinental service from Los Angeles to Miami on the 777-300ER aircraft in their Flagship Business cabin. I have also visited the American Airlines Admirals Club in Los Angeles Terminal 4 before this flight.
Here is the routing ( the remaining parts would be revealed soon )
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Loads for this flight
Flagship First: 100%
Flagship Business: 100%
Economy: 100%
About 1h30 minutes before the flight, I have arrived at Los Angeles Airport Terminal 4 for the beginning of this mileage run.
Here are the FIDS
I don't know the reason, although the priority security checkpoint was closed and passengers were separated as TSA Pre and general boarding. The machines at the usual priority security checkpoint was used during these late hours and the main checkpoint in Terminal 4 was closed.
The wait at security wasn't bad and I was in the airside within 5-10 minutes.
In normal conditions, Flagship Business passengers on American Airlines are eligible for the Flagship Lounge, however, the Flagship Lounge was closed so the only lounge option for the day was the Admirals Club. By the way, the Qantas First Lounge and the oneworld Business Lounge in Terminal B is closed since March and never re-opened.
After being welcomed by the agent, the part of the club near to the entrance was a bit crowded so I decided to head towards the back and there was a surprise.
The Flagship Lounge seating was open for Admirals Club passengers and there was nobody over there. During my entire stay in the club, nobody except club staff came there. I had the whole Flagship Lounge to myself.
However, the Flagship Lounge buffet, showers and other amenities were closed.
Food should be taken at the Admirals Club section.
Here are the pay-to-eat options
There were pre-packaged snacks and salads at the buffet
The espresso machine and the fountain drink machine was working.
Filter coffee, tea, ice tea was also available.
The club also has a bar where you could ask for some other snacks and for mac'n cheese and soup. Since June 2020, American Airlines has discontinued the premium drink perk of non-AA oneworld elites and their Flagship passengers so all alcohol other than house wine and house beer should be purchased.
There was also a TV area where a college basketball game and a news channel was streamed at that time.
Here is my selection for the day
By the way, N729AN was visible from the club. This would be the aircraft taking us to Miami.
Closer to boarding, I have headed downstairs to the gate and realized that the gate area was full. Before boarding had started, standby passengers were announced one by one to the podium for their boarding passes.
Boarding started about a few minutes later than planned with the respect of group numbers. As oneworld Emeralds and Flagship Business passengers are in Group 2, we had a very long line in Group 2 and I was about the 40-50th passenger to board the aircraft that day.
Another shot of N729AN
After being welcomed by the crew, I headed to my seat 3A which is located in the front small Flagship Business cabin
There was a water bottle, a set of Bang&Olufsen headphones, a basic Economy earphone, an amenity kit, socks, the menu and pistachios at my seat when I arrived.
As well as a pillow and a blanket which was wrapped
The seat control panels. The seat also had a power outlet and a USB port.
The content of the seatback pocket wasn't surprising. The American Way magazine and the safety card was present as usual.
While boarding, a documentary was being played from the overhead screens.
The Flagship Business Class seats have individual air noses to adjust the air level at your seat.
The seat is also equipped with the Panasonic ex2 IFE system
Also, I would like to mention that the Wi-Fi system was not working on todays flight such as the mobile personal device entertainment system.
Here is the main menu of the IFE system
And the route map for the day
Boarding had been completed on time, although there were reminder announcements for passengers to take their seats as probably it was hard to find space in the overhead lockers back in Economy Class on a full flight.
At that time the safety video was played.
Shortly later we started our pushback towards the runway and the cabin crew appeared for trash collection and the final checks before takeoff.
American Airlines A321 at the terminal
Another one
After a short taxi, it was our turn to takeoff and as usual LAX takeoffs, we have took off towards the west.
While we were taking off, a video about the hygiene precautions on this flight was shown on the personal screens.
Even though this flight departed after midnight ( 00:10 ), there was a full dinner service on this flight which I stayed awake for it. Here are the menu options:
Food & beverage selection for this flight. Even though this flight was on December, the November menu was present on this flight.
Wine options
Shortly after takeoff, the cabin crew came to take drink orders which was followed by food orders.
For a drink, I opted for the "Poderi Dal Nespoli Prugneto Romagna Superiore" red wine
About 5 minutes later than the drink being served, my tray had arrived. The tray had an appetizer, the main course, a bread roll, butter, salt&pepper and a lemon cheesecake as a dessert.
The appetizer
Lemon Rosemary Chicken
Bulgur, Grapefruit, Feta Cheese
For the main course, I've opted for the beef option which was absolutely perfect for a US domestic flight.
Beef Short Rib
Twice baked potato, asparagus, wine sauce
After dinner I visited the lavatory which was clean at that time
After returning to my seat, my tray was already collected and I converted my seat into lie-flat position and slept until the captain has switched on the fasten seatbelt signs for landing. I have skipped the "Light Refreshment" service onboard this flight.
We were already somewhere over Florida at that time
Before arrival the cabin crew serving my area came to me and asked, "Sir, are you doing a mileage run?" and I answered yes. He should be surprised to see my itinerary which isn't that logical when it comes to normal traveling.
Photos of Miami before landing
And we have landed to MIA on time.
Some private jets at remote stands
An American 737-800 passing by
And shortly later we have arrived at gate D14 which was our parking spot for the day
During deboarding, there was no row-by-row deboarding. Door 2L was used so Flagship Business passengers were the first to disembark the aircraft
And ladies and gentlemen, before this report comes to an end here are the connections for passengers onboard this flight. I am waiting for your guesses which flight I would take next. I'll give a solid hint that it's written in one of the two photographs below.
This report has now come to an end.
For the continuation of this series please stay tuned with Flight-Report.
Thanks for reading and hope to see you in another report.
American Airlines' premium transcontinental flights are a really good and enjoyable way if you prefer to travel in a premium cabin and have a great hard and soft product at the same time. Although with priority security not being offered and the Flagship Lounge being closed, the ground experience was not that premium, however, the Admirals Club had a decent selection for the night. The flight itself was a bit enjoyable with comfortable seats for the night, a decent proper dinner service on the air, comfortable amenities including pillows, blankets, and the amenity kit. The only negative parts of the journey were that there weren't any PDB being offered on this flight which is totally understandable due to COVID-19 and the Wi-Fi system was not working on this flight. I wasn't able to try anything from the refreshment menu as I slept after the dinner service until we prepared for landing.
To conclude, the AA premium transcontinental flight on this route might be one of the best premium cabin flights that I've taken within the USA and I look forward to flying an AA premium transcontinental flight in the future. Also, please feel free to provide your guess where would I be taking my connecting flight below in the comment section.
LAX
(+) Boarding made with priorities being respected
(-) No priority security offered
(-) Crowded boarding area
AA Admirals Club T4
(+) Comfortable seating
(+) OK food and beverage offerings
AA1782
(+) Comfortable seats
(+) Proper food being served on this flight
(+) Amenities that were provided
(+) Friendly crew
(+) Lavatories were clean during my visit
(-) Wi-Fi wasn't working on this flight
MIA
Nothing special to mention
Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 8 avis concernant 1 compagnies sur la ligne Los Angeles (LAX) → Miami (MIA).
La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est American Airlines avec 7.2/10.
La durée moyenne des vols est de 4 heures et 40 minutes.
More information
2 Comments
Just a question: how can such a popular flight as LAX-MIA be part of a mileage run?
- The answer for this is that irregular operations such as flight cancellations and schedule changes could sometimes benefit the passenger and allow a re-routing ( sometimes in an awkward way ).
Hope to see you in another report
Best,
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