Oneworld transatlantic JV first class number 2!

Upon landing in JFK, I made my way to the Admiral’s Club, mostly out of habit.  I’ve been to the JFK lounge a couple times before (both outbound and connecting) in the last year, and this was the first time that the dining terrace was actually open.  However, the club was still only offering its standard snacks, so I got some hummus and chips and found a nice spot to myself.  The flight was showing as delayed at the time, but I think it was just setup that way so that they could start boarding later because the flight was so empty.  After about 30 minutes in the lounge, one of the front desk employees came by to alert me that when I got on the flight to London, they would need to check my documents again (in this case, the VeriFly app). Since the offering was so sparse, I was largely indifferent to being in the lounge or not, so I headed out early to begin the long walk back to gate 2. 

While I was on my way, I heard my name be called out that they needed me to talk to a gate agent (presumably to check my documents again).  I arrived only a few minutes after boarding had started, but they were already on group 8 and the gate area was empty.  The seat map was showing the flight as being maybe 15% full (but business class was around 35-40% full).  After my documents were rechecked, I boarded and turned left to my seat. 

Having just been in Flagship First on the transcontinental service, I made a point to check out the 777-300ER’s business class, which is the same as my flight last fall.  I’d definitely agree that it is largely comparable to transcontinental first class.

The main thing about the seat that stuck out to me was how much space there was physically around the seat because the seat was stand-alone within its pod.  There was also a lot of bedding waiting for me on the seat and on the ottoman.  I like the muted colors of the seat and the chrome highlights.  The seat is probably not that different in age from the BA seat, but definitely seems to be a bit more robust. 

I’ve read that the the business class seat has more privacy, but I think that’s mainly the case while in the upright position.  In lie-flat mode, the business class seat’s wall wasn’t very enclosing, unlike the United Polaris seat or the British Airways Club Suite.  The Flagship First seat, on the other hand, takes up a lot more real estate (and made the business class seat look small by comparison).  The swivel feature of the chair means that the outer wall of the suite doesn’t come as far around as one might like.  On the other hand, it means that you never feel boxed in, like one might in a Polaris window seat.

Given that I was alone in first class, the seat was probably the most private seat on the plane.

American doesn’t do much to differentiate Flagship First from Flagship Business on the international flights either.  I got the same headphones and amenity kit as business class (and would eventually get the same food).  However, I did get a pair of slippers and pajamas, which were both quite comfortable. 

The two flight attendants came around to introduce themselves shortly after I boarded.  They informed me that it would be just the three of us and that they’d do their best to keep everything moving quickly to give me as much time to sleep as possible. 

I ordered a pre-departure glass of champagne, and they confirmed my pre-order of the seared red snapper.  Like with the previous flight, they had printed out proper Flagship First menus. I love the sleek black look that American uses for the menus.

One of the best parts of the seat is that I got three windows to myself.  The seat is controlled from a small tablet by the window, which was pretty straightforward to use.  It also has a massage feature!  A small remote control with a screen controlled the in-flight entertainment. 

The pre-departure beverage, like all the other drinks, was served in a plastic cup.  The flight attendant apologized for the plastic cups, saying it made her sad. 

After take-off, I took advantage of the swivel feature to get a great view out the window.  I was given a pre-meal gin & tonic.  Shortly thereafter the food came out (with another cup of wine).  The food was largely what I had expected, based on my previous Flagship Business flight.  It wasn’t nearly as good as the British Airways food.  My main complaint would be the risotto; it would’ve more accurately just been called a rice bed.  The fish was prepared nicely (if a bit dry) and went well with the (very wet) sauce.  Cajun-style shrimp is always a winner with me; it was spiced well but not too strongly.  In my opinion, the cheesecake was a bit big in proportion to the rest of the meal, but I’m not too big on cheesecake to begin with.

After dinner, I changed into my pajamas, and one of the flight attendants proactively offered to make my bed for me.  Since I was the only one there, she made seat 2A into my bed while I changed into the pajamas.  I settled in quite comfortably.  The picture of the bed didn’t turn out well, unfortunately, but the mattress topper was a nice (if a bit thin) addition, and the Casper sheets and blanket were very comfortable. I slept for about 4 hours, waking up about 90 minutes before landing.  At this point, I was served breakfast.  Keep in mind that I had started this journey at 8 am California time, so for my circadian, it was around 8 pm.

Like dinner, it came on a single tray.  I was intrigued by the idea of a scrambled eggs benedict (I’m generally a big fan of regular eggs benedict).  It was surprisingly good!  I can understand why serving a poached egg isn’t feasible on an airplane, and I liked this solution to it.  The fruit was also pretty good, if a bit hard (like most airplane fruit).  The croissant was a bit hard and dry (like the bread from dinner).  Since from my perspective, it was 8 pm, I had a glass of dessert wine.

Shortly after I finished breakfast, I rotated my seat back to face the window.  I enjoyed some nice views of foggy London and took the opportunity to work on my laptop a bit more. 

Had I been traveling simply from New York to London , I don’t think an upgrade would’ve been worth it for such a short flight.  However, given that I had a completely full domestic flight and then a second flight, I think it was worth the extra space, especially because I don’t know if I’ll have the chance to fly in First Class once travel becomes more open (and demand increases). 

Like Krister and my flight to Dallas, this flight was booked as an award flight, in this case as part of the itinerary from LAX – LHR. Given the lack of demand for flights from the US to the UK, saver AAwards were available at all levels: 30k for economy, 48k for premium economy, 57.5k for business and 78k for first class.  A paid economy ticket would’ve cost around $1080.  American Airlines uses married segment logic for its pricing, and so a connecting flight is often cheaper than a direct flight.  If I had just booked the flight from LAX – JFK, it would’ve been 66 000 miles, and the JFK – LHR flight costs the same as the LAX – LHR flight (because of the flat rate from USA – UK).

I used 78 000 American miles, which is over 50% more than the first class flight from London to Dallas, but the cash component was only $5.60, instead of > $600 (and no companion voucher was needed).  Based on the valuations I’ve read online, 78 000 AA miles is worth about $1 170.  American Airlines had a sale on miles (40% off), so I was able to purchase the miles for about $0.019/mile.  To redeem this ticket, I transferred 60 000 Marriott points into 25 000 AA miles (in this specific case, this corresponded to a value of $0.008/point, which is approximately their expected value, based on what I’ve read).  And then I purchased the remaining 53 000 miles using their promotion.  Given that a one-way economy ticket was going for $1080, the ~$1050 I spent on points seemed reasonable to me.  I like to think about it as if I paid for an economy ticket and then used the 60k Marriott points to upgrade to Flagship First. 

This short flight across the Atlantic was physically the most comfortable flight that I’ve taken, but was severely lacking in other aspects. The seat was great: it was very comfortable and hugely spacious, especially considering I was able to use a second seat as a bed (5/5). The Admirals Club in JFK is relatively uninspiring, especially before a first class flight (2/5). The wine on offer was good, and food was alright, but the risotto in particular was laughable for first class (2/5). The service was great– I had two flight attendants to myself (5/5). The inflight entertainment was as good as other flights, but no free Wifi of any duration for first class was a bummer, as was the collection of the headphones before landing (3/5). Overall the flight gets a 17/25, mostly due to the poor soft product and corporate policies.