Review: American Airlines First Class A321T New York (JFK)- Santa Ana (LAX)
Intro
Well, following the epic surprise of visiting my mum in New York and having a fantastic time together in the Hamptons, it was time to head back to Los Angeles (area), not even 24 hours later.
I would fly on the American Airlines A321T in First Class from New York to Santa Ana for this journey. I tend to choose the Santa Ana route when possible because it is about a 15-minute drive from my house. However, seeing as there is only one flight a day, getting decent cash fares or finding a miles redemption can prove challenging. Back in 2020/2021, when I used to commute on this route weekly, it was a lot easier...
The routing for this trip is as follows:
AA700- Belize City- Miami- Business Class- 737-800 (Not Reviewed)
AA976- New York- Santa Ana- First Class- A321T (You are Here)
First Class on this aircraft is always a treat. However, this flight was a bit of a mixed bag as you'll find out below. Let's get into it!
Route-New York (JFK)- Santa Ana (SNA)
Seat- 5A
Flight Number- 976
Aircraft- A321T
Date- May 5th 2024
Flight Time: 6 Hours 2 Minutes
Price Paid- 64.5K BA Avios+5.60$
How I Booked
British Airways, you've got me in a right old mess. Eventually, the day before departure (the same day I arrived in New York), I managed to secure a BA Avios redemption for 64.5K Avios+ minimal fees for this flight over to John Wayne airport. There was 1 seat left in First, and with a stockpile of British Airways miles, I jumped on.
Well, British Airways, you have now raised those prices to over 80K points one way or another! To make matters worse, Etihad isn't better either, with a 1:0.75 transfer ratio. Ugh.
Check-In
The day started with a 2-hour drive from the Hamptons back out JFK. The driver we had the day before offered to pick me up for much less than an Uber, so I happily obliged.
Upon being dropped off at Door 1 by my driver from Pakistan (he invited me to come with him to Pakistan sometime, another country I am dying to go to), I made my way to the holy check-in for US carriers.
Interestingly, access to the Flagship First Check-in is a little bit better than the Chelsea Lounge, with EPs and PPs able to check in with a long-haul business itinerary. However, this does not apply to transcon routes😒.
The staff verified my name on a sheet of paper, and I was promptly let through.
As needed for my wall at home, my boarding pass was printed by the same agents I met yesterday😂.
Security was a breeze thanks to TSA Precheck, and I was on my way to the Chelsea Lounge!
I won't be reviewing the Chelsea Lounge this time, but I just updated it today to reflect the offerings if you want to check it out above!
Boarding
One too many glasses of Krug later, it was to head over to board from Gate 3.
Group 1 was invited to board first, as per usual.
This would be my third time flying this plane, both times from SNA-JFK in seats 1A and 1F. I quickly settled into the last row of the First Class cabin where countless amenities were waiting for me🙂.
Departure
5 minutes before pushback, I was kindly offered a PDB by a lovely FA. Sadly, the cup that was served was plastic, unlike my recent flight on the 777. I believe the reason behind this was due to the FA only being at the company for 3 weeks. Apparently, the person who was supposed to work was called off. Huh.
We ended up pushing back at 8:55 am EST (5 mins early).
We had a decently long taxi out to 4L this morning, as you have to swing by 13L first when leaving Terminal 8.
Takeoff had quite the queue this morning as it seemed to be rush hour.🙂
Eventually, at 9:20 am, we were airborne out of JFK on this gloomy day.
We did spot an Air India 777-200LR that was landing on 13L.
The Seat/Cabin
The American Airlines A321T in First Class is perhaps one of the most comfortable ways to cross the USA due to the 1-1 configuration.
Each seat features direct aisle access and 1-2 windows. Combining that with a very spacious footwell, it's extremely comfortable for a flight of 6 hours.
To the left of you lies a small cubby to hold items such as your phone, wallet, and similar belongings. Along with storage, you can find a charger inside to charge your items.
On the seatback in front of you lies a flip-out TV screen (by a button). As is the norm with reverse herringbone, these are "supposed to be stored during takeoff."
Directly to the left of your left shoulder (switch if you are sitting in the F seats) lies the remote, seat controls and a reading light.
All in all, it's a very comfortable seat that has gotten me some much-needed rest on the flights I've taken. It's not the most modern nor private, but it is quite spacious for the transcontinental hop that these operate on.
Amenities
A combining aspect as to why I love flying First on these A321T's is the consistency. Every time I have flown them, a bedding package is placed on my seat, featuring a comfortable blanket and a large pillow.
A second bedding package consisting of a smaller pillow and a smaller blanket is needed. Technically, minus the memory foam pillow, the bedding is very similar to Polaris.
Waiting to the left of my seat near the headphones laid the traditional amenity kit. It is not the fanciest, but it contains enough to get one through a flight from New York to Los Angeles/SNA/SFO.
Update: As of June, these have been replaced by a different, nicer amenity kit
Of course, the headphones. These B & O headphones are identical to the ones I was offered on the flight 2 days earlier in Business from Los Angeles to New York.
They are extremely comfortable and by far the best I have experienced on a transcon hop. Put it this way: Singapore Airlines First Class uses B & O headphones as well...
Dining
Waiting at my seat when I boarded was a menu for the flight over to John Wayne. Look familiar? Probably because it was a very similar menu to the Flagship First route I flew from Miami to Los Angeles six days earlier😂.
Service started with the lovely junior flight attendant who came around to take my drink order. As obligatory, I opted for the Lionne Royal. Before flying AA, I had never had this champagne, and upon first taste, it wasn't great. However, after multiple flights, it has started to grow on me (I still wish a champagne-like Piper Heidsick was served).
10 minutes later, my cheese board came out. If you follow this blog, you know that I don't eat eggs or fruit, so breakfast isn't for me on planes, sadly (it's a long story that maybe I should make a post about).
Seeing as I love the sourdough crackers from J, the flight attendant ran back to get a couple of them to accompany my cheese.
On the topic of dining, about an hour before landing, the FA came around to distribute the warm chocolate chip cookies. She even got me a second one since everyone else in the cabin was sleeping😜.
IFE
American Airlines provides plenty of movie selections, whether that be on your phone or on the IFE screen in F and J. I opted to watch Planet of The Apes as I personally love that series.
American Airlines, you have been so good recently, but this was a bit of a letdown. I couldn't make it through my movie because the pixels ended up like this!!! 0.25K in it's peak.
Most of the time, I back up American Airlines, but for someone (not me) paying a full-fare ticket who wants to watch a movie and it ends up like this, that is unacceptable.
Wifi was exorbatant as per usual. However, that's nothing new.
Bed Mode
On this specific flight, I managed to get about an hour of rest in a very comfortable and spacious bed.
It can be hit or miss on these old birds, with some of the seats on the fleet worn down in bed mode. However, 5A on this flight proved to be great.
The armrest closest to the aisle lowers allowing for side sleepers to get even more comfortable!
Service
The service on the flight was interesting, as stated above. For myself, I would say it was quite good and on par with Alaska and Jetblue in terms of friendliness. However, seeing as she had only been at the company for under a month, a couple of minor details were lacking (for me, not a big deal). But here is where she, the FA working F, really stood out.
Addressed by name upon boarding
When asking her a couple of questions, she knelt down to be at eye level, which reminded me of service on Asia carriers
Constantly checked in on passengers, not just sitting in the galley.
When there was no more F champagne left, she profusely apologized, made a joke, and then sought to get the business-class champagne for me.
For someone like me, this service was perfect, and I wish her well in the future. It would be a pleasure to fly with her again.
Arrival
By 11:30 am PST, we were descending down into John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana.
Usually, I don't mind if we are on time or even a little late when flying First Class 😂 (not too much). However, the Miami Grand Prix was at 1 pm, so I wanted to land ASAP to watch it.
By 11:55 am, we touched down on the singular runway at SNA. You have to love the landings here, as the runway is so short!
A couple of minutes later, we arrived at Gate 5, with a Delta plane peeking through, saying hello.
The friendly FA bid me farewell and I headed to the lounge to grab a mimosa as I waited for my mate to pick me up.
20 minutes later, I arrived for lights out at home for the Miami Grand Prix. How about Lando Norris this season?
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, this flight was an above-descent flight with American Airlines. Let's get into the pros and cons:
Pros:
Very spacious seat and in a 1-1 configuration
Decent award availability
Friendly Service
Early Arrival
Cons:
The FA was new, so a couple of bits and bobs were off; she was called in at the last minute
Broken IFE
I am excited to see the new Flagship product that is coming to the A321XLR very soon. While I will be sad to see Flagship First coming to an end, I just hope there will be some way to access the Chelsea Lounge in New York since it is one of my favorite lounges in the world (up there).
JETTOAJET SCALE
Meal Service | 8/10 |
Seat (5A) | 9/10 |
IFE | 5/10 |
Lounge | 10/10 |
Overall Service | 9/10 |
Total | 41/50 |
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