introduction
We usually try to take advantage of our son's breaks from preschool to take a trip. Last year for winter break, we had a wonderful visit to Japan—this year, we're once again headed across the Pacific, but to the southern hemisphere this time! We hadn't been back to Australia for 8 years, so February was a perfect time to leave the northern hemisphere winter for summer down under!
I would have normally leaned towards flying Qantas on this route, but I had some American Airlines trip credits to use up. AA Trip credits must be booked either on AA metal or AA-coded flights (i.e. codeshares). While it would have been possible to book the AA codeshare on Qantas metal, it was significantly more expensive, as codeshare flights often are.
I hadn't flown American long-haul Business in about a year so I was looking forward to seeing how the service compared on this premium route. We'd also have an opportunity to fly Qantas on this trip, albeit on domestic flights only.
routing
Reviews in this series:
Flight routing
- 1AA73 - Business - Los Angeles ✈ Sydney - Boeing 777-300ER
- 2QF922 - Business - Sydney ✈ Cairns - Boeing 737-800
- 3QF713 - Business - Cairns ✈ Brisbane - Boeing 737-800
- 4QF549 - Business - Brisbane ✈ Sydney - Boeing 737-800
- 5AA72 - Business - Sydney ✈ Los Angeles - Boeing 777-300ER
check-in & lounge
We made sure to arrive at the airport extra early as online check-in hadn't worked due to some technical difficulties in AA's system handling different passports for outbound and inbound international legs. As I'd always entered Australia with my French passport in the past, for consistency, I applied for the Australian ETA (Electronic Travel Authorisation) with my French passport. My reservation only had my US passport, as it's obviously required for the return portion back to the US, so this resulted in a passport mismatch on checking in as AA's system cannot handle multiple passports. I've run into this issue every time I've flown AA to Europe as I'm required to enter the EU with my French passport and then enter the US with my US passport on the return. It's one of the main reasons I avoid AA on transatlantic to Europe. For some reason, AA's system refuses to believe there's such a thing as dual-citizens and it always takes some time to resolve. Luckily Terminal 4 was quiet and there was no line at the Priority check-in desks.
I was right to arrive early as it took a good 20 minutes for the agent to figure it out. This included making multiple phone calls to support for assistance. I really thought AA would have worked these IT issues out by now as it's been happening for years, but nope. Meanwhile, I never ever ever have this problem when flying British Airways or Iberia—I simply input the appropriate passport needed for that leg and voilà!
As we had plenty of time, we took the short walk next door to the Tom Bradley International Terminal for the better lounge options.
As usual, the TSA Pre-check lanes at TBIT were very quiet. It's always much more pleasant to go through security at TBIT than the other terminals when you have Pre-check access.
With no line, we just went right through and were airside in seconds.
Prior to going to the lounge we stopped by the playground behind the food court so our son could spend some energy before sitting on a plane for 15 hours.
We then headed to the Qantas First class lounge, which is conveniently located next to the connector walkway between TBIT and Terminal 4.
Access to the Qantas First lounge is reserved for passengers flying First class on a oneworld carrier or passengers with top-tier oneworld Emerald status.
With the busy evening transpacific bank of flights, the lounge was more crowded than the last few times we'd visited, which was earlier in the day.
Nevertheless, the lounge is large with plenty of seating so it's not difficult to find free seats, even during busy times.
As it was about dinner time, we headed to the dining section, where we were greeted by friendly staff and shown to a table. We were given standard menus and a children's menu.
Drink orders were quickly taken. Always nice to enjoy a glass of Taittinger at the Qantas First lounge.
Here's a look at the menu.
Between the three of us we ordered several appetisers to share.
Baja prawn taco with smoky pineapple pico the gallo
The classic that has always been on the menu for years in Qantas First lounges in Australia and the US:
Salt and pepper squid with green chilli dipping sauce and aïoli
Mozzarella with roast onions, balsamic beetroot and sourdough toast
staff were also offering hors d'oeuvres throughout the lounge, including Satay
Main dishes:
Black angus minute steak with chips, chipotle butter and lime
Donna's grilled pork chop with yukon gold purée, cabbage, blackberries, and apple sauce
Everything was fresh and flavourful.
Desserts:
Ice cream sundae with caramel sauce, chocolate pretzels, brownie bits
Apple butter crumble, yoghurt ganache and blueberries (minus the yoghurt as I'm lactose intolerant.
boarding
About 15 minutes before boarding time, we left the lounge in TBIT to take the connector back to T4 for our flight.
As mentioned earlier, the Qantas First lounge is conveniently located as it only takes about 5 minutes to reach T4. On the way we could see our 777-300ER behind a 787-8 from the windows of the TBIT-T4 connector.
I'm not a fan of flying out of AA's T4 at night as I find the yellowish lighting to be depressing.
We didn't have to wait in the terminal at all as boarding began a bit ahead of time so we were able to go right on when Group 1 was called.
It had been years since I'd been on an AA 777-300ER, but the cabin still looked quite fresh and well-maintained despite being about a decade old.
The 52 Business class seats are laid out in a 1-2-1 configuration over 13 rows—there's a mini-cabin of 2 rows right behind First class between the 1st and 2nd set of doors and a very long main Business class cabin with 11 rows.
We weren't able to get 3 seats together in the forward mini-cabin, so I went for the last row in the longer cabin. I tend to prefer the last row for more privacy and it's often quieter with less foot traffic.
The Zodiac (now Safran) Cirrus seats were among the best business class seat models when introduced over a decade ago and are still flying on some top-rated premium carriers like Cathay Pacific and Air France. The reverse-herringbone configuration, facing away from the aisle, made for better privacy and improved personal space with direct aisle-access compared to the forward-facing 2-3-2 configurations with dreaded middle seats that were previously the norm on 777s. Many of today's most popular Business class seat designs are inspired by the original Cirrus seat.
The 15.4" in-seat entertainment screens are noticeable smaller compared to today's standards, where 18"+ has become more common.
While these cabins have generally held up well over the past decade, American will soon replace them with new "Flagship Suites" featuring closing doors.
One thing I really like about American Airlines long-haul Business is the high-quality Casper bedding. There is a comfortable full-sized pillow along with a thick mattress pad and soft duvet cover.
Also pre-placed at each seat were very nice Bang & Olufson noise-cancelling headphones, a bottle of water, the food menu, and a Shinola amenity kit.
There are 110v universal power outlets and a USB-A port at every seat to keep devices charged. Note that the 3-pronged headphones do not plug in here—the headphone jack is actually inside the little storage area where the water bottle and headphones were placed, which may not be obvious as you can't really see it.
Slippers are also provided on these longer premium routes.
Legroom is very good, as you'd expect in this type of configuration. Seats fully recline to a 79" (2m) long flat bed in sleep mode.
Flight attendants came through the cabin with welcome drinks as boarding continued, with the usual choice of champagne, orange juice, or water.
The cabin crew on this flight were exceptional—very cheerful, enthusiastic, and attentive. The lead flight attendant came through to introduce himself and thanked us for our loyalty as oneworld Emeralds, which I've found to be quite rare when flying AA. He also took drink orders for the apéritif service after takeoff and confirmed our pre-ordered selections, as well as my son's child meal.
Here's a look at the menu. For both meals, there were 4 options of mains, which is better than the typical 3.
There was even more choice available for pre-order with 6 different options!
Let's have a look at the amenity kit.
Pretty standard contents, though the leather Shinola toiletry case is quite nice and of good quality.
As boarding wrapped up flight attendants distributed pyjamas, which, along with slippers, are a nice extra amenity provided on longer premium routes. Unfortunately, by the time they got to me in the last row, there were only medium and small sizes left and I needed a large. The flight attendant apologised profusely, but I told her it's really not a big deal. She even offered to give a few of the mediums as souvenirs, which was sweet, but I declined haha.
The lead FA happened to be around and also came over to apologise. Again, I told him it really wasn't a problem for me at all and that I understand that these things happen. A few minutes later he came back with a wink and a smile and handed me a large. I don't know how he had found an extra pair, but I really appreciated the gesture.
the flight
Boarding wrapped up on time and doors were closed shortly thereafter. The Business class cabin was 100% full.
The safety video played as we pushed back from the gate.
Lights were dimmed and the relaxing mood lighting came on.
Taxi time was short at this late hour and we were off.
As usual, I went to put on the moving map on the screen right after takeoff. The in-flight entertainment interface is available in several languages.
As I mentioned earlier, it had been years since I'd last flown an AA 777-300ER and I could immediately tell the touchscreen was not as responsive as it used to be, and the system was generally slower.
It's crazy to see how vast the Pacific ocean is…there's almost no land when viewing our route this way.
Very short flight time of only 14 hours and 3 minutes, comparing to other flights on the route it seems flight time is usually closed to 14 and a half hours.
The Wi-Fi was available once the aircraft was above 10,000 ft.
The Panasonic Wi-Fi on the widebody fleet is not as fast as the Viasat Wi-Fi found on newer narrowbodies, and is priced quite high at $29 for just 2 hours or $35 for a full flight pass.
I'd used the Wi-Fi on the 777-300ER several times in the past and had always found it to be painfully slow—so much so that on one occasion I'd requested a refund as it was basically unusable. However, this time, I was pleasantly surprised that the speed and reliability had appeared to improve—still not great, but better.
It seems AA took steps to improve the Panasonic Wi-Fi bandwidth last year (https://onemileatatime.com/news/american-improves-wifi-international-planes/)
Service began shortly after levelling out with a hot towel
Followed by an apéritif with warm nuts.
Checking out the IFE while waiting for the appetiser, there's tons of content in multiple languages, but again, the touchscreen wasn't working very well and the system was showing its age as it was slow to react in general, even using the remote controller. I can only imagine all the annoying hard-tapping in the back of heads that must've been happening in Economy.
The Bang & Olufsen noise-cancelling headphones are seriously nice. Very high-quality and comfortable. This really adds to the premium feel of the service as these are among the best headphones you'll find in Business class on any airline.
Unlike British Airways, who I fly much more often than American, there is no choice of appetisers. I dont really mind this so much as AA have more choices of mains than BA, and the appetisers tend to have items that most people like—you won't find anything overly exotic or proteins like pork that not everyone can have. Though theoretically passengers with dietary restrictions would have ordered a special meal, but I digress.
Instead of one dish, there are three different items served for the appetiser course, a "tapas style selection," according to the menu. I rather like this approach personally, as I enjoy trying different dishes, but I can also see where this can lead to some waste if someone doesn't care for one or more of the items.
Sliced Beef
flame roasted corn, chipotle aïoli, queso fresco, bell peppers
Cajun Cauliflower Miso
roasted cauliflower with cajun spice rub and miso sauce
Seasonal Greens
red roasted tomatoes and sultanas
served with balsamic vinaigrette
Aside from the salad being a little too big and a bit boring, I really enjoyed the small tapas style plates. The dishes were flavourful and creative.
For the main dish I had pre-ordered the beef online. As I always say, beef is hit or miss on planes–more often a miss due to being easy to overcook with re-heating. So usually I stay away from beef, but for some crazy reason, I decided to go for the beef, because it just sounded good. And this was just weeks after making the mistake of ordering beef on a BA flight and immediately regretting it when I was served a hot hockey puck…you can find that review here: https://flight-report.com/en/report/65821/british-airways-ba273-london-lhr-san-diego-san/
Grilled Beef Filet
peppercorn demi sauce, fried potatoes, spinach, chanterelle mushrooms, roasted carrots
Luckily, this time, the beef was actually good! You'll never find rare steak on a plane, but it was at least pinkish and tender, and the sauce was really good. I love chanterelle mushrooms so I was really glad to see them on the menu—it really made this dish, in my opinion.
Between the food in the lounge and dinner on board I wasn't particularly hungry for dessert so ordered the smallest option, which I enjoyed with a nice Port.
Lemon Tart
While nothing terribly fancy, the catering was solid for this first meal. I enjoyed the creativity of the appetiser small plates and I was pleasantly surprised that the beef was not overcooked. The cabin crew offered phenomenal service throughout the meal, checking in several times for wine refills and bread.
Overall I found the rhythm of the service to be very well executed. It was efficient without feeling overly rushed. With a 10:15PM departure time, had this been a short transatlantic redeye flight from the East Coast, service would have surely been on one tray to maximise rest time. However, with over 14h in the air, there was no need to rush, so the service felt more civilised and more premium when properly coursed out.
The one criticism I would have is the lack of a printed wine list. It seems American have been having issues with wine suppliers for a while so they haven't printed wine menus in the past several months. Though I know we're not dealing with high-end Bordeaux grand crus here, there's really not much more description than "for reds we have a cabernet or a French blend." I don't need sommelier-level descriptions for mediocre plane wine, but I'd like to be able to make an informed decision as to which option is slightly better. Cabin crew were happy to show bottles, but I didn't ask as I felt that's a lot to ask considering the size of the Business cabin with 52 seats!
In the end it's all fine, of course, but it just felt a bit amateurish (or cheap) on AA's part not to have a printed wine list. Aside from that, the rest of the experience felt quite premium and elevated, at least by AA standards, notably with the Pyjamas, slippers, mattress pads, etc.
Speaking of pyjamas, there was still plenty of time to sleep after dinner. The mattress pad makes a big difference in comfort, especially as the cushioning in these seats is getting a bit hard after a decade of service.
I ended up sleeping for something like 9-hours, which was amazing! I honestly love long night flights like this for catching up on sleep. Hell, I never have time to sleep this long at home…also having a 5 year old usually guarantees that.
Wow, we were due to arrive almost an hour and a half ahead of schedule! Nice to be flying over a piece of France in the Pacific.
As my son woke up shortly after me and was hungry, I took him to the self-serve galley bar, which was still well-stocked even this late in the flight.
As we got closer to Australia, the lights were turned on for the breakfast service.
The sun was just beginning to come up over the horizon.
The service began with a delicious fruit smoothie—something I'd not seen on any other carrier.
Breakfast was served about an hour and a half before landing. My son's child meal was served first, which is always convenient.
For those of us without special meal requests, there were 4 options for breakfast: Beef sliders with kettle crisps (not super breakfast-y), A Mezze plate, American breakfast (Eggs, bacon, etc), and a Fruit plate.
Unfortunately being all the way back in the last row, there were no other options left by the time they got to me. The only option was the fruit plate, and I was honestly totally fine with it, especially considering how much food I'd had between the lounge and the dinner.
Similar to the pyjamas situation, the flight attendant was very apologetic and visibly embarrassed that they'd again run out by he time they got to me. I joked around that having a light breakfast would do me some good.
Again, the amazing lead FA came over to apologise, which was super nice, but unnecessary as I was not in the least bothered….it's a conscious risk of preferring to be in the last row. He insisted that he was going to try to work something out for me, but I told him it's really fine and not to worry about it.
A few minutes later he came back with the American breakfast's main dish.
Crews like this are so rare and they really made me feel like they cared. The lead FA even took some time to have a chat after the meal service.
arrival
The cabin was readied for landing and we were all set for a very early arrival.
Despite the overcast skies, we were treated to beautiful views of Sydney harbour and the CBD on landing. I'd selected my seat on the left purposely in the hopes of catching this view on landing.
We landed about an hour and a half ahead of schedule thanks to the favourable winds.
With all these Qantas birds around, there's no doubt we're in Australia!
Of course, as often happens when flights are well ahead of schedule like this….no gate was available for us to pull into! So this isn't only a U.S. phenomenon. Off to the penalty box we go, awaiting the green light to come into a gate.
On the bright side, there was lots of AvGeek eye candy to see as we waited.
Always love the diversity of carriers in SYD.
The wait for a gate wasn't too long–maybe 15 minutes.
So in the end, even with the wait, we still arrived at the gate well over an hour ahead of schedule!
Finally got a good look at our beautiful 777-300ER on disembarking.
Immigration was very quick. Although we weren't able to go through the E-gates, as children are not allowed through, we were better off in the regular lanes as there was no wait at all there with everyone queuing up for the E-gates.
So great to be back in Sydney after so many years!
This is hilarious, but I can see how this might happen with American Airlines. Sounds like such a complicated process all over, but at least it got sorted out!
As always a great look at the Qantas F Lounge. Love the kids menu, I might have to try it next time?
This comment gave me throwbacks to the 2-3-2 configuration on the old 777-200’s. How premium aviation has evolved! What an upgrade this cabin is, haven’t flown it in 4 years but flying it next week. Am happy to see from your report that it is in good shape.
Do you see a slow rollout coming or a fast one? I have a feeling could be 2027 before all of the 77W get a refurb
It sounds like you had an exceptional cabin crew, going above and beyond at every interaction.
WOW! Good Beef?? Perhaps you should buy a lotto ticket
I love the 77W Business Class seat, from my memory it is comfortable and has a large footwell! 9 hours of sleep? I think even if you plan to fly to anywhere in Asia for your kids break, you should first fly to Australia to get this good rest before connecting?
An hour early?? This sounds like almost a perfect flight with American Airlines and as you say, American Airlines can do well…
Thanks for sharing Kevin!
I mean if BA's god awful IT can handle this with no issues, it can't be thaaat complicated ?
It was so fancy when it first came out, but it was outdated almost immediately. AA was the 1st US carrier to go with flat seats (angle flat, but flat nonetheless), but they were quickly surpassed by DL and UA jumping from old cradle recliners (which I loved btw...always slept like a baby in those) right to fully flat seats.
Yeah it's been about 5 or 6 years for me...over the past few years I've had mostly 788, 789, and 772s. The cabins were in good shape both ways so it seems consistent across the 77W fleet, but the IFE is buggy and slow.
AA tends to do retrofits faster than the others, certainly faster than UA. The old Angled Flat seats disappeared pretty quickly from the 777-200s and 767s. They tend not to overly customise "off the shelf" seat models, which makes rollout a lot faster. They learned their lesson from the whole Zodiac Concept D disaster. Unlike most carriers that would have just waited through the manufacturer's delays, AA quickly terminated the contract and had a new supplier lined up immediately to outfit the rest of the 787-8 and 772 fleets. I mean I could be wrong, but there's only 12 77Ws I think, so it should go fast once they get that first one done.
They can indeed...it's just a matter or doing it consistently
Thanks for your comments!
Thanks for sharing Kevin! I remember flying this route back in 2016 after they started the service. Completely agree that this is one of the few routes that AA actually ups their game even in Y. AA is probably not the most exciting option, but its a consistent/reliable product and the Cirrus seats are timelines classics for comfort and that’s really what you are paying the premium for.
They still market a F product on this route?
Funny how that works out, J improves in layout while Y degrades in layout, follow the money^^ The old 2-5-2 Y-cabins were actually kind of better than the even now vanishing 3-3-3s.
Mattress pads are a unique distinguisher and improve flight hygiene quite a bit since it is normal for planes to turn around in <60 minutes, which makes you wonder how clean the seats really are for sleeping. Surprised the pads have not really caught on with Asian carriers.
The downside of the increased options is the fewer quantities of each resulting in people in the back likely missing out on preferred options (such as yourself). I’ve almost never been denied a first choice when it was limited to 3 options, 4 seems to be the tipping point. Catering looks like what you would expect on a US carrier, pretty safe/mainstream options for the mains, would definitely expect QF to outperform in this department. That said, at least they can course the meal^^
OS and TK used to have them as part of the Do&Co catering, not sure about post-pandemic.
Yep, along with HKG, SYD gets the higher standards in all cabins...can't think of any others off the top of my head...maybe LAX-LHR, but usually they don't make much effort on TATL
Yup, for now anyway. It's expected that they'll stop marketing the F cabin once the first retrofits begin later this year
Exactly, and the introduction of Premium Economy has proven to be very profitable as well...premium cabins just keep getting better while Economy continued its downward spiral. Let's just hope we never see ultra-slimline seats with 28" pitch on long-haul
2-5-2 was awesome if you could get a whole middle row of 6 seats and it was the perfect length to make a poor-man's-first-class lol
Fully agree regarding hygiene, I trust Western carriers less to do a full clean. There's definitely a few Asian carriers with them, but at the same time Asian carriers tend to do a much better job with cleaning and not scheduling their fleet as tightly
Absolutely, this is why I pre-order whenever I can. 4 is definitely a tipping point, though BA have managed to not have my choice on multiple occasions with 3 options, so it also depends on the airline. It's one of those things that I stopped caring about over the years because it just happens, no big deal.
I yes, now I remember seeing TK reviews with smoothies...and those cute little candles light dinners haha
Thanks for stopping by!
Bonjour, Kévin ! Merci pour votre Report de ce vol. Avez-vous visité la Grande Barrière de Corail pendant votre séjour à Cairns ?
Le taco aux crevettes Baja a l'air vraiment bon ! Je vais peut-être bientôt chercher sa recette !
ou, en termes simples : calamari avec des sauces. J'adore ça, c'est un classique qui ne déçoit jamais.
Est-ce que ça vous dérange autant que moi quand les gens appellent les plats principaux "entrées" ? C'est une de mes bêtes noires. Heureusement, AA a évité cette confusion courante (photo 3 sur 4).
Je ne savais pas qu'AA avait introduit ce service, qui je suppose est réservé aux vols internationaux ?
Waouh. Même les œufs brouillés ont l'air bons pour une compagnie aérienne commerciale. Habituellement, ils sont trop cuits (pour mon goût) et ont une texture caoutchouteuse à moins d'être préparés frais à bord.
Merci encore pour votre F-R !
Bonjour, merci pour vos commentaires !
Oui, c'était magnifique! J'en parlerai dans les prochains FRs, mais effectivement, c'était la raison principale pour la visite a Cairns.
> ou, en termes simples : calamari avec des sauces. J'adore ça, c'est un classique qui ne déçoit jamais.
On l'avait essayé pour la premiere fois lors de notre première visite au Salon First de Qantas à Sydney en 2016 et on trouve toujours aussi bon !
Oui! Absolument, ça me rend fou, haha. Malgré plus de 20 ans aux US, ça me dérange toujours autant. J'utilise plutôt le terme "Main dish"
Tous les vols avec un repas sont concernés, vols domestiques inclus, pour toutes les cabines "premium", c'est à dire W, J, et F. La possibilité de pre-commander en ligne existe depuis des années chez AA, ils avaient juste arrêté quelques temps en 2020/21.
Oui, il faut avouer qu'il est rare de réussir et le bœuf et les œufs dans un avion, donc bravo AA. Globalement je préfère BA, mais c'était une belle performance d'AA du debut a la fin sur ce vol.
Merci encore pour vos commentaires!
Hi mate and thanks for the exciting flight report!
The famous thing american companies do instead of money back when they are running late I guess?
Did you drive to LAX or preflight?
Just LOL.
TBIT is quite nice indeed. I have seen it more crowded you were lucky!
Lounge is super nice
Food looks yummy. Shame the main is not as well presented as the starters.
My god that dessert could be a meal on its own ahah
Absolutely agree. Even thought it often meant on AF 777 windows misalignment. But still prefer to havr nobody breathing on the back of my head!
The cabin isn't the newest but still quite nice and up to the standards.
Sleepers are becoming a rare thing! And so are pyjayjays waoh!
Good! I dunno why I always have this impression that AA is usually filled with Karens.
The beef is a risky choice, you were lucky!
Yumm that key lime pie!
French red blend? Lol
I agree the description is way too vague.
The bed looks truely apealing.
The crew was super nice with the second breakfast!
Hey Chris, thanks for your comments!
We drove, it's only about 2h from San Diego. There used to be flights on UA, DL, AA, and AS on the route (mostly for making connections in LAX), but post-Covid only UA and DL are left.
Exactly. Especially since I have to get up quite often to take care of my son, I prefer not to bother anyone being way in the back
It has stood the test of time. AA did well by installing these seats 10 years ago, and also did not choose cheap finishes, so there are no signs of wear, which is very rare. The only problem has been the IFE, which has become buggy.
It's because that's often a true impression. It's always such a coin toss whether the crew will be friendly or grumpy---one of the main reasons I avoid flying AA anymore.
Yeah that just doesn't do it for me...I mean like 99% of French reds ARE blends lol. I'm not a wine snob, but at least tell me what kind it is. And again, this is just AA being cheap...cabin crew should not have to have all this knowledge, nor do they have the training for it---they are not sommeliers. AA just need to get their supplier issues figured out so that they can print proper wine menus again.
It is, the bedding is really soft and the mattress pad makes all of the difference
Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for sharing. I have a trip in the summer on a AA 77W and now I'm afraid of the beating into the PTV from the back!
I hope for you that the IFE is not as buggy, but for me it was bad on both the outbound and inbound flights so it's definitely not isolated to just one aircraft. Will be interesting to see what your experience is!