When we booked this trip back in November we were really excited about this leg and the new transcontinental service of American Airlines, operated by Airbus A321 sharklets. What we didn’t know is that at the time we will report it, here on Flight-Report, it will have nothing new to our valuable readers. 6 FRs are already available from 3 different members (jetsetpanda, pititom & denzee) on the different classes.
New York JFK – Los Angeles (American Airlines, Business, A321)
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Los Angeles – London LHR (American Airlines, Business, B777-300ER)
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London LHR – Paris ORY (British Airways, Club Europe, A320)
[SOON] Most of us stayed at the Hilton Millennium, we are on Sunday morning and we will be at JFK in no time.
Taxi dropped us at the American Airlines Terminal.
Where are passengers?
This terminal is bright and there is a dedicated Premium check-in area
We are getting our boarding passes for our 3 coming flights
Fast track for security
Seems like a special exhibition to celebrate their new A321 service to LAX and SFO
But this old A300 artwork is still here, I found it pretty awful.
And we are off to the Admirals Club lounge
The bar
And the entire buffet!
And my selection, I took everything!
Press or kind of
The only advantage of this place is the view on the aircraft. Two A321 getting prepared for their next flights
Another A321 is pushing back
LAN B787-8
We are getting closer to our gate but let’s visit the second Admirals Club, food offering is exactly the same, only the layout and view are different.
Stop dreaming, these are paid option!
An old B767-200 that American Airlines is currently phasing out in favour of the A321.
LAN B767-300ER
I tried to hurry up Mr Yd75 and Mr Hcl75 to board among the first (I wanted to take clean pictures of the cabin) but with no luck, we will board among the last… I wanted to kill them XD
Our A321, as scheduled
I read that AA planned to use door 2L for their A321 boarding, but we used 1L instead.
Passing through First class, fitted with reverse herringbone Cirrus seats
Business class, very good first impression, looks way better than in pictures
Pillow and duvet
Menu
Seat controls
AA signature: Bose headset
Soon enough a PDB is offered by our friendly crew, it makes a good change from our previous experience with Iberia ^^^
No Champagne but Prosecco and mimosa, I choose the later.
We are pushing back on time
My first time on a sharklets aircraft
The airshow is state of the art with satellite imageries, you can zoom in and out as you wish.
Taxying for take off
Overview of Terminal 1 with Korean Air A380 and Air France B777-200ER.
The place we just left
Additional pictures of this terrific cabin:
Oshibori handed out before service
Menu is very basic, no doubt we are on a US airline.
Wine list and spirits
Famously known nuts with G&T
Lunch is elegantly presented with dark tablecloth
Starter Marinated Shrimp Served over cucumber relish and grilled pineapple
Entrées Grilled Chicken Tapenade Chicken breast with tomato and olive tapenade, served with orzo pilaf and broccolini
Dessert Traditional Ice Cream Sundae Vanilla ice cream with your choice of hot fudge, butterscotch or seasonal berry toppings, whipped cream and chopped nuts
Meal was pretty good, I liked the starter presentation, chicken was tender and with nice seasonings and Ice cream was delicious with the berry topping.
Watching some oneworld advertising
This is of course a full flat seat, very comfortable, I would not mind a long haul flight with it.
Snack basket, I am a big fan of these key lime cookies.
Back in Economy it seems pretty comfy too, with mood lighting and individual seatback TVs.
4hours into the flight, cabin crew are offering cookies and Sparkling water
Yummy!
Airshow
AA A321 are powered with IAE V2500
IFE (provided by Thales) is comprehensive with a HD screen and a touchscreen handset. Still the crew said that they have a lot of teething issue with it and often need to reboot it, in our case airshow was not working at a certain time after take-off.
We are approaching Los Angeles!
Touchdown was smooth but breaking was so strong that it looks like overhead bins would have fall on us! Please check out the video.
I am not seated on the right side.
Delta Connection E-175
Bye bye Business Class
First Class
Video:
See more
Verdict
American Airlines
8.4/10
Cabin9.5
Cabin crew8.5
Entertainment/wifi8.0
Meal/catering7.5
American Airlines Admirals Club (Concourse B) - 8
5.0/10
Comfort6.5
Meal/catering0.5
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Services8.0
New York - JFK
8.2/10
Efficiency9.5
Access8.5
Services6.5
Cleanliness8.5
Los Angeles - LAX
6.5/10
Efficiency8.0
Access6.0
Services6.0
Cleanliness6.0
Conclusion
American Airlines clearly did a very good job with their A321s, the cabin is sensational, even in Economy with the use of nice fabric, mood lighting and state of the art IFE which enhanced the flying experience. In Business, I was pleasantly surprised by the seat and the amount of space you get, sure you still have a seatmate but seats are designed in a way to maximize privacy as they are slightly angled and staggered. Of course it’s going full flat and the IFE is at the top with the use of Bose headset.
Beside that catering was satisfactory but didn’t have the wow effect of the cabin, they could have done something better in terms of choice and quantity, entrée portion was small, and it would be nice to have cheese and dessert. Wine list is basic, and I am sorry but I am not drinking Prosecco, I want Champagne when I am seated with the curtain behind me!
Flight Attendants were attentive and professional. It was exactly what we expected from American Airlines, still no “honey” nor grandma on today’s flight. Please note that we may have been biased in our judgement knowing our previous experience with Iberia lol.
I hope you will have the chance to try this new service sooner or later because we really liked it, and it is definitely a memorable flight for all of us.
Stay tuned and thanks for reading.
1 LIKESLIKE TO THANK THE AUTHORTHANKS ! FLIGHT-REPORT LIKED
Congrats, two flight reports on the same flight posted at the same time. The Admirals Clubs are appalling. Where the hell on earth do we have to pay for food while waiting in a lounge? AA has invented a new way of travel, going from north to south on the way to LAX. Cookies with sparkling water, how weird? Beautiful pictures though and nice video as usual. Thank you Leader.
+1 about the A300 artwork. Come on, where is the apple? you only took half of the fruit selection ! Next time, you should teach young Yd75 and Hcl75 a lesson and leave them in the lounge, so that they find their boarding gate alone. And have the sweet revenge of seeing them rush in the plane and find that all overhead lockers are already full and their hand luggage will eat most of their legroom :) Darn ! I was two weeks behind you flying sharklet for the first time ! ^^ The cabin looks indeed great, and a long haul flight in that is a reasonable option. I find you excessively harsh on the lounge rating. OK, the catering is worth next to zero, but was the staff THAT bad ? and I can't believe the comfort (seats / lighting / temperature / view) deserved that grade either. Please elaborate ! Thanks for this FR !
Awesome report! It doesn't matter if you weren't the first to report the AA A321 in J, it's good to have more perspectives of this amazing product. AA definitely is winning on product for the transcon routes. JFK is an AA A321-palooza...I didn't think they had that many yet to have all those A321s at the gate at the same time. Catering looks really good--it's pretty much international-business grade. I really wish that AA was doing Executive Platinum status matches...I called recently to get one and they stopped on Dec 31st 2013...grrr....hopefully it'll come back. Beautiful pictures, I like the pic of LA on arrival.
Superbly written and photographed report as usual. I agree with KevinDC in that each different report about this transcon product adds an unique perspective to the repertoire.
Most of the time I like to end my meals with a cheese course followed by dessert and so far I have never been refused to have them both, but I agree that it would be nice for AA to offer both in a premium cabin saving the passenger the embarrassment to sound greedy. On that note, I think it would be nice to offer something besides ice cream sundaes. Flying a premium cabin is about comfort and choices and there are people who are not crazy about ice cream.
The J seat looks very comfortable and they are fit for long haul intl. flights, but I am a bit concerned if I am stuck in a window and become trapped. I much prefer cabins with a direct aisle access.
As Indianocean mentioned above, sparkling water with cookies is a weird combination. I think AA should get rid of this and just offer another round of drinks before arrival. Most crews traditionally offer milk along with the sparkling water when serving the freshly baked cookies. The snack basket and former fruit salad were designed to be served before arrival as an alternative to those who found the cookies too rich and fattening. I have never seen a crew follow the proper protocol on this.
Thanks for your comment. I agree with you with the catering, it could be improved, and even if I didn't asked for it, cheese + dessert should be the norm. True seat is not full access, you need to fly First for that :)
You know AA really did a good job because it's not an isolated report which is enthousiastic : it's a continuous praise of the product, by members with their own unique characters.
Sure, the IFE needs to be fixed, but once done, it will be state of the art. The catering may be lacking, but on US grounds (or air, actually), it's already on the best standards.
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594 reviews
14 Comments
The Admirals Clubs are appalling. Where the hell on earth do we have to pay for food while waiting in a lounge?
AA has invented a new way of travel, going from north to south on the way to LAX.
Cookies with sparkling water, how weird?
Beautiful pictures though and nice video as usual.
Thank you Leader.
Come on, where is the apple? you only took half of the fruit selection !
Next time, you should teach young Yd75 and Hcl75 a lesson and leave them in the lounge, so that they find their boarding gate alone. And have the sweet revenge of seeing them rush in the plane and find that all overhead lockers are already full and their hand luggage will eat most of their legroom :)
Darn ! I was two weeks behind you flying sharklet for the first time ! ^^
The cabin looks indeed great, and a long haul flight in that is a reasonable option.
I find you excessively harsh on the lounge rating. OK, the catering is worth next to zero, but was the staff THAT bad ? and I can't believe the comfort (seats / lighting / temperature / view) deserved that grade either. Please elaborate !
Thanks for this FR !
Seems like the grade I gave for the lounge was not correct, edited now ;)
Most of the time I like to end my meals with a cheese course followed by dessert and so far I have never been refused to have them both, but I agree that it would be nice for AA to offer both in a premium cabin saving the passenger the embarrassment to sound greedy. On that note, I think it would be nice to offer something besides ice cream sundaes. Flying a premium cabin is about comfort and choices and there are people who are not crazy about ice cream.
The J seat looks very comfortable and they are fit for long haul intl. flights, but I am a bit concerned if I am stuck in a window and become trapped. I much prefer cabins with a direct aisle access.
As Indianocean mentioned above, sparkling water with cookies is a weird combination. I think AA should get rid of this and just offer another round of drinks before arrival. Most crews traditionally offer milk along with the sparkling water when serving the freshly baked cookies. The snack basket and former fruit salad were designed to be served before arrival as an alternative to those who found the cookies too rich and fattening. I have never seen a crew follow the proper protocol on this.
I agree with you with the catering, it could be improved, and even if I didn't asked for it, cheese + dessert should be the norm.
True seat is not full access, you need to fly First for that :)
Thanks and very nice pictures Mr leadership.
That flight sure was a nice change from the IB one.
I guess for a US flight the menu is good, but the sentance this soup and salad does not include the setarter option is a bit cheap.
The three cabins look good, however a bit more color would have been appreciated.
Looking forward to the LAX-LHR report.
Sure, the IFE needs to be fixed, but once done, it will be state of the art. The catering may be lacking, but on US grounds (or air, actually), it's already on the best standards.
Thanks for the great FR !
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