Hello Flight-Report #avgeeks. The marathon journey continues. And as you will see this is the shortened (much) version.
jetBlue A320 Ecomomy service ORD-JFK
Singapore Airlines A380 Suites Class JFK-FRA / JFK Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse
Singapore Airlines Suites Class FRA-SIN / FRA Air Canada Lounge
Thai Airways A350 Business Class SIN-BKK / SIN The Private Room
Thai Airways B747 First Class BKK-SYD / BKK Thai Royal First Lounge and Spa
Air New Zealand B787 Business Class SYD-AKL / SYD Air New Zealand Lounge
Air New Zealand A320 Economy Class AKL-WLG / AKL Air New Zealand Domestic Lounge
JetStar A320 Economy Class WLG-AKL
Emirates A380 Business Class BNE-SYD / AKL Emirates Lounge
Qantas B737 Business Class BNE-SYD Priority Pass Lounge
American Airlines B777 First Class SYD-LAX / SYD Qantas First Class Lounge
Virgin America A320 First Class LAX-ORD
At one point this trip was booked as:
An insane amount of flying over a 2 week period, not to mention spending a boatload of points. American Airlines is notorious for not releasing saver award space anywhere, let alone from Sydney in first class. One day I noticed not one, but two seats available a day before I was to return from the region. At the bottom of this report I'll explain the cost of this trip, but suffice it to say I would be saving plenty of points by taking this flight and I wanted to try American's first class service from Australia as it had received accolades from other blogs. It would also be interesting to compare it to Qantas A380 service which I took last year.
Now the trip looked like this:
I show this simply to point out now I was flying 10,000 miles less than before and by the time this flight came around I was toast. Enjoying the trip but ready to get home. It all sounded good in the planning stage. Hence this report may not be up to my standards.
I flew in from Brisbane the day before as today's departure was at 10:15AM and I wanted to visit the Qantas Sydney lounge. Plus it's not fun getting up at 4AM, trekking to the airport to take a 6AM/7AM flight and risking a delay then missing your international flight. So I stayed at the Pullman Hotel in the Mascot area. While all the hotels around Sydney airport are expensive, I got a decent rate and it's probably one of the nicer hotels in the area, which is pretty run down.
Arriving at Sydney Kingsford International terminal I proceeded to the American Airlines check-in. If I were flying Qantas there is a special first class reception area. Not surprisingly American has no such fanfare.
Given an express pass for security I headed to the Qantas lounge. You can read about that visit with this link. It would be a highlight for the day.
A couple photos:
Arriving at the gate 40 minutes prior to departure boarding had already commenced. I made my way inside.
The first class cabin on the American Airlines flagship 777-300 was not awe inspiring.
There are 8 seats in 2 rows, 1x2x1. I was in 1A. All 8 seats were occupied by the time we departed, however, based on the conversations I overheard, 5 or 6 of these passengers were AA employees. No knock against the employee, but how many American customers would like to sit up here? I'm not fingering American, United does the same.
When I'd first booked this flight both 1A/K were taken. I'd read that 2A/K had you sitting partially in business class. And guess what, you are!
So I set a seat alert on ExpertFlyer for 1A/K and sure enough one day I got the alert and changed my seat from 2A to 1A.
Since we entered through door two I had a chance to view business class.
American Airlines has numerous business class seats throughout their fleet. Arguably the best are the Cirrus reverse herringbone installed in the 777-300ERs.
Seat 3A in the mini-cabin. Spoiler alert, fly business class and sit here if you can.
Back to seat 1A. This seat swivels to face out towards the window. Presumably allowing you to work on your laptop or tablet which is placed on the side table. I never got around to work on this flight.
The IFE screen is stored for take-off and landing, similar to the Cirrus business class seats.
I'm not sure what is going on here with the belt.
Narrow storage under the ottoman for small carry on or purse.
All the plugs are easily accessible and you can comb your hair or refresh your makeup at the same time.
These buttons kind of reveal the age of this design.
Down on the floor at the entrance of the pod is a little cubby hole, presumably to store your shoes, but not during take-off or landing.
On the other side was a mesh pocket that held a pair of slippers. I am continually amazed by the silly warnings that are required on aircraft. What could you possibly store here that would be dangerous, slippers?
The seat adjustment is touch screen.
Bose noise cancelling headphones are a nice feature.
First class passengers were given these Cole Haan amenity kits.
A rather large pouch for a rather small number of items.
But the whole idea is well intended as it doubles as a tablet carry case. And it was of decent quality, just not my style.
Before departure I requested a pair of American pajamas.
At first I wasn't impressed as they aren't of the same quality as say Singapore, Lufthansa, Etihad, Qatar, Japan Airlines, Cathay, United to name a few. But I've grown to like them. The top is a comfortable long sleeve t-shirt.
Time to go.
Surprise, we start with nuts. I passed on Champagne, not at 10AM with 20,000 miles in hand and 9K to go.
In the air the nuts were replaced with olives and some kind of chip that looks like it's barbequed flavored. All were passed on. (Notice the USB port which is the only photo I have of it.)
While I wasn't able to locate the exact Champagne offered on this flight, my guess it is a reasonably priced champagne and probably not in the class of Dom or Salon. Just a guess. The Heitz Cellars Cab is is decent cabernet to my tastes. But as you will see, mine mostly spilled.
Today's menu.
I began with the chicken bilini and smoked salmon cube canapés.
Not surprisingly the Sydney-Los Angeles is a prized route for American employees, attracting their most senior crew members. Serving today's flight was a 30+ year American flight attendant named Billie. She was fantastic, at least in terms of likeability. She was always laughing or telling jokes and genuinely liked her job. You couldn't help but like her. Recently the CEO of Qatar Airlines, who I'm sure regrets it, stating US airlines flight attendants were a bunch of Grandmas. Billie was, but polar opposite of the point this CEO was trying to make.
When she placed the canapé plate on my tray and the chicken tipped off the blini, she said "Oops!" They were as good as they look.
The Jerusalem artichoke soup as ok, but had me wanting Thai's celery soup flying into Sydney.
How uninspiring.
At least it was fresh.
Then things got interesting, not food wise but flight wise. We encountered a medium chop. Enough were liquids from glasses spilled and you couldn't really eat. It wasn't severe, just constant bouncing. This is one of the problems flying a 777 with a full load of fuel and passengers. Our altitude was 33,000 feet whereas newer aircraft like the 787 and A350 can get higher often avoiding this kind of weather.
The chop lasted for about 3 hours. Only then did I get, or want, dinner.
Fortunately it was a braised dish so it didn't get overcooked. In the end it was a decidedly good business class main meal.
Dessert was a simple spoonful of chocolate mousse with some fruit on top.
Now that the larger dinner plate was removed you can see where most of my wine went. For those of you who read the report I wrote on Singapore Airlines from Frankfurt to Singapore, you might remember what happened on that flight when some wine spilled. It was just a small spill on my neighbors table cloth, like a ring around the base of the glass. Angie, the SQ flight attendant insisted she change the table cloth. No insistence was offered here.
I asked for the bed to be made. Another attendant made it up as Billie was on break. The mattress pad was pretty thin. Apparently American is moving to a new line of bedding soon. They need to.
I tried to sleep but….
The IFE was no help to me, as nothing interested me. That doesn't mean there wasn't anything to watch, just nothing I wanted to watch.
I wouldn't call the first class monitor anything outstanding. I remained content to listen to an audiobook to pass the time.
Somewhere over the Pacific I ordered the steak sandwich from the Small Plates menu.
The flavor was excellent, the meat needed canine teeth.
Cheese was available but I did not partake.
Breakfast was served the standard 90 minutes out.
Firmly against eggs on a plane, unless freshly made as on Lufthansa or Austrian and maybe others as well, I went continental.
The fruit was fresh and the granola was different and good, just not in abundance.
The ginger rhubarb smoothies was delicious.
And the yogurt was to my liking as well, the real stuff.
A beautiful sunrise meant LA was not too far away.
And we had the unusual LAX landing to the east on 6L
And I'd be remiss if I didn't offer some aircraft spotting. First Sydney.
Then LAX.
I saved at least 10,000 points over the conventional method for reward redemption on this route. Find out how at rewardflying.com along with more ratings and other insights.
Flight Path
Next up:
While JAL first class is a favorite, this trip also includes their new reverse herringbone business class seat, a long awaited trip on Garuda Indonesia, albeit in the middle of the night and a lucky snag on Delta's brand new A350 to check out their highly touted but nothing special Vantage XL Delta One seat, now with a door, that doesn't fully close. All posting next year, happy new year to all!
Great report!
Thanks for reading!
Have you seriously never seen a seat belt on an ottoman in all your travels in first class? It’s for buddy dining.
Of course I know what it’s for. Do you really think 2 people would be comfortable eating in this sized pod? Thanks for reading!
Great review again Rewardflying. Hold no punches, good review, the food looks dire.
Nice for the comment on on the good older flight attendants. Experience is always good. Reminded me of this
https://youtu.be/CoLkV-ZPYv0?t=1221
Total flight years = amazing. I wish I could do a job I enjoyed for 40 years.
Hi AndyW, thanks for reading. Yes I'd seen the Sam Chui UA 747 farewell video (he does nice work) and agree experience counts. It's all about enthusiasm for your job. I could tell Billie on this flight LOVED her job.
Greetings, Rewardflying, and thank you for this FR.
"I'd read that 2A/K had you sitting partially in business class. And guess what, you are!"
-Colour me surprised to learn there were no partitions at all. Especially aboard 2017's ATW version of World's Airline of the Year! ;) ;). I'm sure J passengers LOVE remembering that even though they've shelled out more money/miles than the people further back, they're still differentiated from the 'real' hotshots.
"A rather large pouch for a rather small number of items. "
-I'm sorry but that's just rather comical imo. Meanwhile, VA J has Mandarina Duck with more contents!
"While I wasn't able to locate the exact Champagne offered on this flight, my guess it is a reasonably priced champagne and probably not in the class of Dom or Salon."
-$99.99 American per bottle on the ground. Taittinger is pretty good in my books. http://bit.ly/2k0fJ5I
The dinner menu looks somewhat inviting, but the main course looks like something you'd expect on board CX J. AA, it seems, is following in the footsteps of fellow OW partners CX and QF, for better or worse. Might we see them try to differentiate their products even more in the future, I wonder? Will they even bother, given that they hold key monopolies across some pretty important markets?
FA Billie sounds like she was having a good time working this route. I'm certain her naturally humorous nature caught on to Aussie passengers.
"While JAL first class is a favorite, this trip also includes their new reverse herringbone business class seat, a long awaited trip on Garuda Indonesia, albeit in the middle of the night and a lucky snag on Delta's brand new A350 to check out their highly touted but nothing special Vantage XL Delta One seat, now with a door, that doesn't fully close."
-Eh? I thought DL 1 Suites have fully enclosed doors? I can predict the routing here, somewhat. Let me see.. JL ORD-Tokyo-SIN, KL SIN-DPS, GA DPS-ICN, DL ICN-DTW?
I look forward to reading your reports next year. Thanks again for this FR. Cheers!
Hello Razza!
-Well that survey makes Skytrax ratings pretty darn reliable!
-Yes, until they are a 'real' hotshot and find they were the smarter ones all along!
-Here's hoping VA opens award space sooner, would love to fly that trans-pac
-Good catch
-We'll find out about the door in a few weeks. According to the videos I've seen they don't
- And you are correct Sir!
Thanks for reading Razza, and happy reward flying holidays!
Nice report! Thank you for sharing. It looks like you had a good flight in AA F. The food looks quite good, but I agree that salad looks more like just lettuce .. :)
I haven't flown AA in years, as I'm a loyal Delta flier, but I might have to give them a chance again.
Awesome report as always. I wasn't surprised when you wrote that the QF F lounge would be the highlight of the trip--I wasn't expecting much from AA F. I personally love the AA grandma's--they know how to do service right!
With such a great product in J on the 77W, there just isn't much difference between J and F...except for soup and pajamas...lol. Like you said, it's a decent Business class product, but definitely sub par for First class.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi KévinDC, thanks for reading and your comments. To make matters worse, I'm almost positive they give out the PJ's on this route in business! That would make it some expensive soup!
Hi 757Fan, Thanks for reading. Hope to hear about your AA experience if you do so. Remember, lean business class!
Thank you for sharing! Yet another lovely report from you.
On QF F lounge:
- The menu seemed quite extensive, though I somehow hate that they have the menu on one paper, which made me initially confused. How long does it take from your order taken to the time you got your breakfast?
The first class cabin on the American Airlines flagship 777-300 was not awe inspiring.
- The product may not be inspiring but seemed to be quite a solid one when it was launched - when I was younger I would watch the video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20zshmYxhLw) and thought of it as a great offering. Doesn't it sound like American isn't particularly excited about maintaining their first class?
I'm not sure what is going on here with the belt.
- Perhaps next time someone can bring their friend from economy to enjoy a first class meal? Except if they can hide the seatbelt well, it seemed a bit of nuisance for a solo traveler, though.
A rather large pouch for a rather small number of items.
- That seems more fit for business class - the pouch didn't look especially classy (though they claim it's multipurpose) and the contents were akin to business class amenity kit.
Firmly against eggs on a plane, unless freshly made as on Lufthansa or Austrian and maybe others as well, I went continental.
- Is it mostly a thing on flights to/from Asia/Middle East that they actually offer something more substantial than omelette for breakfast? I somehow even thought of getting something from the small plates menu in lieu of the breakfast selections, which seem to be more interesting.
Looking forward for your next reports soon - your trip combination sounds like your KLM trip will be on their fifth freedom route as well, so can't wait to see some positive changes (if any) from my experiences with them before.
Hi Eric VP! Thanks for reading, and as to your comments:
-The dining area was packed. I had to wait a couple minutes for a table and there was a small line after me. To your question it was fast. I'd say no more than 10 minutes IF that. And the eggs benedict were seriously good!
-I remember flying in their original first class seat back in 2002. The seat swiveled but didn't lie flat. At the time I thought it was better than United's first class seat. Thanks for the video. (Note: AA reduced first class legroom on their new 737-max jets and plan to have the same reduction across their domestic fleet.) Seems their international first presence is aligned with partner first class, such as HKG, LHR, SYD. Only their 777-300ER have the cabin, 10 jets out of about 150 international aircraft.
-I was being snarky with this comment as I knew what it was for. The point was there isn't enough room for 2 people to comfortably have a meal in this pod. If you look closely at the photo, the ottoman recedes behind the monitor, make the small sitting area even smaller.
-Good idea!
-Looking forward for your next reports soon - your trip combination sounds like your KLM trip will be on their fifth freedom route as well, so can't wait to see some positive changes (if any) from my experiences with them before.
Thanks for reading and happy reward flying!
Hi Rewardflying and thanks for sharing this FR.
AA should just get rid of F and just have J class offered at this point. At least your interaction with the crew was a good one and they were friendly.
The amenity kit for F is kind of odd. Not my style neither.
Happy 2018 and safe travels.