We live in Iceland and went to Costa Rica for a holiday in November 2024. Flights from Iceland to outside of Europe are usually cheaper if booked separately, i.e. if we book first a flight to Oslo, Paris or Madrid, or sometimes to Toronto when going to Latin America, and then we book another flight from there, but this time there was a very reasonably priced deal in business class in one booking with BA/AA on the following itinerary:
Keflavik to London Heathrow, British Airways
London Heathrow to Miami, British Airways
Miami to San Jose, American Airlines
We had a great arrival experience at Miami Airport as our flight from London landed ahead of schedule and we were through immigration in a few minutes. We went outside the terminal to have some fresh air, then went to Concourse D. Security control was very quick.
Let’s go to the lounge.
Many but not all flights are by American Airlines.
There’s are two lounges: Admirals Club and Flagship Lounge.
Passengers travelling in business class on most international flights have access to the Flagship Lounge which is the better of the two lounges.
Check-in to the lounges is on departure floor near Gate D30; the lounges themselves are one floor up.
The lounge is really spacious and was not crowded when we were there.
The in-lounge showers are modern, spacious and very comfortable.
A buffet dinner was available at the lounge. Here’s the menu:
Buffet dinner at the Flagship Lounge at Miami Airport.
The bar.
Champagne is available.
There is a room marked as Flagship First Dining, normally available for long-haul first class passengers; it was closed.
Departures and arrivals.
American Airlines planes at the Concourse D.
Boarding was a bit chaotic, announcements were difficult to understand and the agent was not friendly. Priority boarding was available for business class passengers.
Our plane was a B737-800, registration number N901AN. It was built 25 years old.
The plane has a forward cabin called first class on domestic flights and business class on international flights. The cabin has four rows of nice, modern, comfortable typical US Domestic First Class-type seats in good condition in a 2-2 configuration. Sorry, I could not take a photo as the cabin was full by the time I had boarded but here is a photo of the legroom:
Push-back was exactly on time at 19:00. We took off at 19.14.
Meal orders were taken during taxi: Chicken or Green Something - nobody understood the second option (there was no printed menu).
Meal service started less than 20 minutes after take-off.
I was quite impressed: dinner was multi-course, huge in quantity and nicely presented. It was easily better in every aspects than the brunch offered on BA A380 9-hour flight from London to Miami (see my previous flight report).
We received a very generous portion of The Green Something.
Two different desserts were offered.
The flight attendant working in the business class cabin didn't have the most polished communication skills but she was efficient in her work.
There are no built-in screens but entertainment is available on your own device using AA’s free Wi-Fi.
We landed at 21.00 and were at the gate at 21.04 for a scheduled arrival time of 20.55.
