American Airlines Flagship Business – A321 TransCon

For quite some time now we’ve been seeing lots of ‘Web Special’ on American Airlines. These web specials are usually priced at a rate that are very reasonable, but not cheap. Though they sometimes come with one restriction or the other, but it surely has been great seeing this rate being around for quite a while now. 

The American Airlines Flagship offers premium experience, both on the ground and up in the air. With priority check-in and baggage handling, lie-flat seats, chef-curated dining, luxurious bedding and other amenities, and lots more.

This trip to New York – JFK in AA Flagship Business A321T began with a quick stop at The Admirals Club San Francisco (SFO)

Having spent longer time than expected reviewing the Admirals Club SFO, I hurried up quickly to Gate B20 where my flight AA16 was already making its’ last call. Boarding was a breeze, and it didn’t take me much time before settling into my seat 9A. 

The Business Class cabin in the Airbus A321T is configured in a 2-2 layout and consists of 20 fully lie-flat seats in total. 

At my seat were Casper beddings (comforter and pillow) exclusively made for American Airlines, disposable earbuds, handwipes, and bottled water. There was also a bag of APL amenity kit provided (more on that shortly). Surprisingly, American Airlines did not make its’ Bang & Olufsen noise-canceling headphones available on this flight. 

Below the 15-inch TV screen is the ottoman where the passenger’s feet stay on when in fully lie-flat mode.

By the side of the seat resides the power outlet, personal reading light, headphone jack, and buttons to control the seats.

Read More : Delta One Airbus A330 (JFK – ATL)

Since the seats in the Flagship Business on the A321T doesn’t really provide much privacy, it was a bit tough getting a picture of the seat in bed mode. Even though there’s a divider in-between both seats, this divider doesn’t really do much in terms of privacy. Although you’ll barely see the other passenger sitting next to you when the seat is reclined, but again, the window seat passenger will have to climb over the other in the aisle seat in order to go to the lavatory.

American Airlines offers a wide selection of movies and TV shows onboard. I scrolled through the screen and saw some new release movies. There were also options for kids and the young adults. It’s no doubt that AA has done an amazing job with its’ entertainment system compared to other airlines in the US.

Read More : United Polaris Business Class

Fast forward to a little over an hour into the flight, the AAStews began the inflight dining service. When it comes to food and beverage onboard, American Airlines doesn’t come last. With health and safety of passengers and its’ staff in mind, AA was still able to provide a solid mean during this flight.

I opted for the braised chicken cacciatore, and it wasn’t only well presented, it tasted good as well. It was a full-course meal which contained “porcini mushrooms, zucchini, squash, creamy polenta” which was inspired by AA’s partnership with the James Beard Foundation and Chef Sarah Grueneberg.

The amenity kit in the APL bag, which is exclusively designed for American Airlines contains a sleep mask, dental kit, earplugs, lip balm, tissue, plus hand and body balm. While the content of this amenity kit wasn’t the best I’ve received on a domestic flight, it was still a plus to have gotten one. The blue APL bag was very sturdy and wasn’t cheaply made.

My final verdict:

While the American Flagship Business A321T is not the best way to travel from coast-to-coast, it certainly is one of the few ways to travel in style and arrive refreshed. In my opinion, the only downside was the lack of privacy that this business class seats provide, but this shouldn’t be a problem for two people that are traveling together.

I arrived at New York – JFK Terminal 8 feeling refreshed, even though I was only able to get about an hour of sleep during this 5-hours flight.