A few days ago, I flew American Airlines’ Boeing 777-200ER business class on the nine hour flight from London (LHR) to Miami (MIA). This is the same trip where I had flown TAP Air Portugal’s Airbus A330-900neo business class in the other direction across the Atlantic. While I’ll have a full trip report soon, in this post I wanted to share some initial impressions of the experience.
Let me start by saying that I always struggle with the decision of whether to fly a US or European carrier across the Atlantic. The way I view it:
- US carriers typically have a better hard product, and typically have better bedding
- European carriers typically have a better soft product, including better food and service
That’s a very broad generalization, and there are of course many exceptions. But usually I end up flying with European carriers, since service isn’t quite as much of a wild card on those carriers, so I at least kind of know what to expect.
For this journey I decided to fly with American (I booked the ticket with 57,500 AAdvantage miles), and this was my first time taking a long haul flight on American in years. Well, I have to say, the flight was a very pleasant surprise, from start to finish.
American has comfortable seats, good entertainment and Wi-Fi, and solid bedding. I knew that going in. What delighted me was that the service was exceptionally good, and on top of that, the food was pretty decent. On a good day, American can be a nearly unbeatable way to cross the Atlantic. Let’s get into it…
American’s 777 business class seats are good(ish)
American’s Boeing 777-200ERs have two kinds of business class seats — some have the Safran Concept D seats, while others have the Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seats, which you’ll find on many airlines, and which most passengers seem to prefer. My flight had the former seats, as I was on one of American’s oldest 777s (delivered back in 1999, though it has of course been refurbished).
The Safran Concept D seats are all fully flat and feature direct aisle access, and alternate between being forward and rear facing.
Why do people not love these seats? It comes down to two factors — the seats lack storage, and the seats also tend to “rock.”
Essentially, each pair of forward and rear facing seats are connected, so if the person in one seat moves a bit, you’ll feel your seat shaking. This can be really annoying on a long haul flight when you’re trying to sleep. It’s kind of unbelievable that the seats were produced in this way, and you have to wonder if no proper testing was done before these seats were put into service, or what.
Fortunately this issue can be avoided by selecting one of the seats not “paired” with another seat. For example, I assigned myself seat 7A, the rear facing window seat in the first row of the second cabin, which isn’t connected to any other seat.
If you can score one of these seats that isn’t subjected to the shaking issue, I actually quite like this product. That’s because the seat is comfortable in bed mode, as you don’t have any small footwell you have to cram your feet into. Rather the footwell offers an unlimited amount of vertical space, which you don’t find in many modern business class products.
American’s entertainment & Wi-Fi are great
American’s entertainment selection on 777s is phenomenal. There’s no shortage of movies and TV shows, including things that most people actually want to watch. So compared to the limited selection you’ll find on many other airlines, this is quite a treat.
Personally I’m more of a map and Wi-Fi kind of guy, so the below is what my entertainment was for most of the flight.
Speaking of Wi-Fi, American has Panasonic Wi-Fi on its 777s, and a pass for the entire flight cost $35, with no data caps. While that’s a bit pricey, I found the speeds to be quite good. Last year American announced it would improve Wi-Fi speeds on its jets with Panasonic Wi-Fi, and I think that has actually been quite successful.
American’s amenities are above average
American offers Casper bedding in business class, with a thick pillow and blanket. While not as good as United Polaris bedding, it’s still much better than on a vast majority of airlines (especially European airlines, which often have pillows that are about as thick as pancakes).
American also offers Bang & Olufsen headphones in business class, which are the highest quality headphones that you’ll find on any airline in business class.
There was also an amenity kit, or in this case, an amenity box. The box contained socks, eyeshades, earplugs, a dental kit, a pen, and a couple of D.S. & DURGA products. I know many people are outraged by American choosing to use a box for its amenity kit at the moment, though I’m not sure I get the big deal?
American’s catering was better than expected
American’s business class catering on this sector was solid, better than I was expecting. After takeoff, drinks were served with mixed nuts. I just had a Diet Coke, as I wasn’t drinking alcohol on this flight.
The first course was comprised of a salad with artichokes, as well as a starter of tataki salmon with rhubarb and ginger compote. There was also a bread selection, including a pretzel roll. This was a way above average salad and starter compared to what I’m used to on American.
For the main course, I opted for the grilled salmon with red curry sauce, rice, diced pumpkin, and sautéed choy sum. Both the fish and the sauce were great (and to those who are annoyed by me always ordering fish, worry not, I have non-fish pictures, but you’ll have to wait for the full review!).
Lastly, for dessert there was the choice of a cheese plate, cheesecake, or an ice cream sundae. There’s only one right option when flying with American. 😉
For the pre-arrival meal, I selected the orzo pasta salad, with peas, zucchini, feta cheese, sun dried tomatoes, pepper pearls, and pumpkin seed, served with a side of fresh fruit, plus an an apple and blackcurrant cheesecake.
American’s business class service was flawless
Now let me get to the real highlight of the flight — the service. The only thing consistent about service on US airlines is that it’s inconsistent. As a passenger, it’s quite frustrating when you get on a flight and you can immediately tell the crew isn’t happy to be there.
Along those lines, what a breath of fresh air this flight was. The entire crew was excellent, but in particular, I have to give huge credit to Arthur, the flight attendant working my aisle. His service was just perfect, both in terms of pace and attentiveness. Where do we even begin?
- He greeted each passenger in his section — “my name is Arthur, and if there’s anything I can do to make you comfortable, please let me know”
- I appreciated the polite tone with which he communicated — “have you had a chance to decide which entree you’d like today?”
- He performed the entire meal service so efficiently, all while not making anyone feel rushed; I asked if I could wait about five minutes to have dessert, to which he responded “your schedule is my schedule”
- During the meal service, he never let a glass get anywhere close to empty, and the question was always phrased as something along the lines of “what else can I get you?” (in other words, “you’re not inconveniencing me by asking for anything”)
- Throughout the entire nine hour flight, he must have checked on passengers every 10 minutes to see if they wanted anything; when he was on his break, his colleagues did the same thing in his absence
If all of American’s crews on long haul flights were like Arthur and his colleagues on this flight, I’d always fly across the Atlantic with American. I think it’s also important to recognize that they were providing this level of service despite morale among flight attendants basically being at an all time low, as they are working on negotiating a new contract (which they deserve).
Bottom line
When I boarded my American 777 business class flight across the Atlantic, I figured it was an efficient way to get home, and that would be about it. So suffice it to say that I was absolutely delighted by the experience. The most impressive part of the experience was the service, as the entire crew (and in particular, Arthur) were superstars. On top of that, the food was better than I was expecting.
As far as the rest of the experience goes, it was as expected — I quite like American’s business class seats, the entertainment and Wi-Fi are good, the amenities are solid, and I appreciate individual air nozzles.
What’s your take on American’s 777-200ER business class?
