Review: Business Class American Airlines A321T New York (JFK)-Los Angeles (LAX)
Intro
For the last flight of 5 on my trip from Los Angeles to Cuba, I will be on the A321T in Business Class. I have flown the First Class product many times, but this would be my first time in 5 years to try out the Business Class offering. I was excited to see how it was holding up.
Overall, I was impressed with this flight. Everything ticked the boxes from comfortable seats to good food, and decent service, this flight went without a hitch.
Route- New York (JFK)-Los Angeles (LAX)
Seat- 6F
Flight Number- AA117
Aircraft- A321T
Date- March 2nd 2024
Flight Time: 5 Hours 33 Minutes
Price Paid- 477$ (3 Flights)
How I Booked
I was sitting on a lot of trip credit with American Airlines. With one-stop flights from Havana to Los Angeles upwards of 900$ in business class with recliner seats, I found a fare that consisted of a 737 to Miami, 772 to JFK, and the A321T to LAX all for 477$. As someone who loves flying this is an unbelievable deal, if I had booked all three tickets separately it would have come out to 2300$. Here is what the routing looked like for today.
Considering my access to the Chelsea Lounge, Flagship Lounge in Miami, and all 3 of these flights, this was an incredible deal. I consumed about 300$ in champagne alone😅.
Boarding
After a terrific hour in the Chelsea Lounge, a pleasant surprise, I made my way to the "dark side" of terminal 8. This evening, AA117 would be departing from Gate 33.
I had to get my skates on as boarding was due to close in 10 minutes🤥.
Eventually, I reached the gate, where the last people were just getting on board.
Due to being in business class today, I had access to group 2 boarding. I jumped the queue and made my way down the jetbridge with no wait.
For some reason, it was a very long color-changing jetbridge😂.
Once I stepped on board, I walked by the Flagship First Product. Straight after I found my seat 6F for the 6-hour flight over to the west coast this evening.
Upon taking my seat, a friendly FA came around to offer a pre-departure beverage. The choice consisted of sparkling wine, orange juice, or water. Of course, I chose sparkling wine. I only drink when I travel so I might as well enjoy it when I can🥰.
My jacket was offered to be hung up! Yay, AA!
Departure
By 7:49 pm, boarding was complete. I love how low-dense this A321 is as it means efficient boarding and deplaning.
A minute later the captain came on to announce our flight time of just over 5 and a half hours.
We pushed back right on time at 8:00 pm.
It was a 25-minute taxi out to 22R, looking out at the pouring rain of New York. There is something nostalgic about 22R, as I remember sitting next to my mum in BA F on a 747 rolling down 22R bound for London. It's just a memory I will never forget.
By 8:25 we were airborne departing south.
The Seat/Cabin
The A321T is the world's lowest-density commercial A321, featuring 102 seats across three cabins. There are 10 first-class seats, 20 business seats, and 72 economy seats.
These seats are dated, and they are lie-flat, which is nice but they have certainly seen better days. The seat controls are located at the middle table for both of the two seats.
There is a small partition, which I don't see the point in as it offers little privacy. My guess is it is more for decoration.
A tray table pulls out from the middle console. I like this design as it doesn't restrict your sleeping position in any way.
While I don't have any pictures of the bed, it allowed me to sleep comfortably for a solid 4 hours. Being in the first row was a good idea as the footwell is about triple the size!
Lastly, there was a TV screen in front of you to watch movies and such.
Dining
20 minutes after takeoff, the service started with the FA offering hot towels to customers. These aren't the best quality but the thought is there!
After a couple of minutes, my table was set. Being in the first row means everything in the meal service moves a lot quicker.
Dinner began with the traditional AA warm nuts. I always feel awkward declining them (I know it's a waste).
5 minutes later my AHA and sparkling wine were brought out. AHA is perfect as it is hydrating and tastes great!
For my main, I had pre-ordered the beef fillet. There are a couple of different options to choose from, but when the FA asked me, I confirmed that I would stick with my preorder selection.
The lovely FA (I believe the pursuer), came around and offered a choice of breads. She offered to let me take as many as I wanted and I took a couple, to say the least😅.
Steak in business class on American carriers seems to be not so great. While the steak was dry, at least there was a little bit of pink to it. The sauce also made it a little more flavorful. After my meal in the Chelsea Lounge, I wasn't complaining.
The FA came around and asked if I wanted dessert. I asked for the sundae which was promptly served with a refill of my sparkling wine. The sundae was delicious as always, I cannot recommend the sundaes on AA enough!
I asked the FA for a double Amaretto when the sundae was brought around. This was amazing and brought out to me in less than a minute! One of my favorite aspects of American Airlines is that they serve Amaretto.
Amenities/IFE
Waiting upon my seat when I arrived was a bag containing a pillow and a blanket. I find the blanket that American Airlines offers to be fantastic quality and keeps me warm on these longer flights.
Fantastic quality B & O headphones were offered to customers in business class. These are fantastic headphones that are noise cancelling.
I like that they are customized for American Airlines and have the branding on them. The best part is they don't collect them an hour before landing 🤨.
Wifi was available for a fee. On these A321T's AA has Panasonic Wifi, which isn't great at all and costs 29$ for the full flight. Seeing as there are plenty of business travelers on this route, I imagine the wifi gets bought plenty.
The IFE system was holding up well for its age! Each seat contains a screen that is touch screen (looking at you SQ).
As you can see in the following picture, I ended up watching Pirates of The Caribbean, my favorite movie series of all time. "You can always trust a dishonest man to be dishonest, it's the honest ones you have to watch out for"- Jack Sparrow.
Extensive options were provided for movies from action to comedy to whatever you really wanted. I guarantee anyone could find a movie to keep them entertained on this system!
The Rest Of The Flight
It had been a long day so I decided to get some rest. I wasn't planning on sleeping the whole flight but the seat was so comfortable, I woke up 10 minutes before landing!
After a solid 4 hours of sleep, we touched down at 11:15 pm local time on 25L. Sadly, we still had a plane at our gate, so we ended up holding it for 20 minutes before pulling into our gate at 45 this evening.
I made my way off the plane and straight onto the bus. My trick for LAX when I don't have a car service, is to hop on the first bus I see and get out of the airport. This bus took me to the employee parking lot where I called an Uber for $ 60$ to take me down to Orange County.
Overall Service
As with my last two flights, I found the service to be nothing short of spectacular on the flight. Here are a few points that stood out to me.
1. Seconds of bread was warmly offered.
2. Smiles were constantly shown by the crew.
3. The lead FA was happy to accommodate me in any way possible, especially with the Amaretto.
Final Thoughts
It's tough to get this kind of service on one flight with American Airlines, let alone three on the same day, on a Saturday! The A321T is a comfortable way to fly from coast to coast with lie-flat seats and plenty of space in the first row to stretch out and sleep. The steak was decent, and the pretzel bread was incredible, but the highlight of the meal was the Sundae. I am excited to see what AA can offer once they get the new business class on. the XLR's.
JETTOAJET SCALE
Lounge | 10/10 |
Seat (6F) | 8/10 |
Amenities/IFE | 7/10 |
Onboard Catering | 7/10 |
Service | 9/10 |
Total | 41/50 |
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