American Airlines, thankfully, has used the pandemic to realign its capacity and has put many widebodies on its domestic network. One route that has seen a large amount of widebody planes is Los Angeles to Miami.
American Airlines runs a mix of 777 and 787 and this route. These come in an ‘international configuration’ with a four or three cabin layout. For my flight I had chosen a first class seat in this (older) international first class cabin.
American Airlines Flagship Lounge Los Angeles (LAX)
American Airlines has reopened its Flagship Lounge Los Angeles (LAX) and I was able to use the lounge before my flight. So far, the first class section has not reopened in Los Angeles (it has at other airports).
At that late hour it was rather empty and seemed extremely quiet. There is a small ‘sleep section’ and I was looking forward to some quiet time, but some other passengers decided to ‘take over” the section with a loud conversation. Oddly the only ‘quiet zone’ in the lounge was by far the loudest.
The evening dinner spread isn’t anything to get excited about but I found the fresh guacamole and chips a nice touch, and it tasted almost like fresh food. There is a full service bar, but most drinks are for purchase and not included in your lounge visit.
Boarding
Unbeknownst to me my plane would be departing from the International Terminal. There are no additional security or passport controls at LAX, but it is a 15-20 minute walk from the Flagship Lounge and I arrived well past my boarding group at the aircraft. Boarding was well under way and seemed chaotic. American Airlines typically boards by group, but somehow this message wasn’t really coming through to the passengers. Everyone simply went for it and this was a 100% full flight departing just before midnight.
The seat
When I arrived at my seat, the first class cabin was almost completely full. The seat itself offers no privacy at all,…