MIA-LAX Flagship Business Transcontinental

After a short stay in Boston, I joined my parents in Miami to sit by the beach and play some tennis.  Generally when I travel, I’m either staying at a friend’s place or only around for a day or two, so I don’t usually write hotel reviews.  We stayed at the Ritz-Carlton in Key Biscayne.  It wasn’t bad, but it was well overpriced.  Leave a comment if you think in the future I should add in interesting hotels/resorts.

After a week in Miami, I was due to see my friends in Los Angeles, so I hopped on American Airlines’ direct flight from MIA-LAX.  This is one of American’s flagship routes, but only if you’re travelling on a 777.  At the time of this trip (October 2021), American was flying exclusively their flagship 777-300ERs between the cities.  Because of my BA Gold (Oneworld Emerald) status, I was able to use the Flagship First check-in.  The bouncer said I wasn’t eligible because I wasn’t in first class, then I told her I was Oneworld Emerald, which she also said didn’t count.  Finally, she went and checked, and immediately the check-in agent told her to let me through.  It’s reminiscent of the several sentences it took to get into the United Club in September. 

Check-in was handled professionally and swiftly, and then she escorted me to the front of TSA pre-check, which is always great.  After clearing security, I made my way straight to the Flagship Lounge, which had only recently reopened.  Like in some other cities, the Flagship Lounge space is jointly with an Admirals Club, so I was handed an invitation to show to gain entry to the Flagship Lounge. Upon entry, I was immediately offered some champagne.

I took a glass of champagne, grabbed a light snack, and found myself a quiet area to hang out in before my flight.  It was great to have the Flagship Lounge reopened.  The food/drink available are an improvement over just the Admirals Club, but only incrementally so at the moment.  There did not appear to be a full meal option.  The more limited access and additional space mean that this lounge is less busy (could go either way on the adjacent Admirals Club, though).

After my pre-departure snack and chill time, I headed over to my gate to board with group 9, as I usually do these days.  Can you believe American has 9 separate boarding groups? It’s insane.

I booked myself seat 3J, which is my favorite seat option, in general.  I like the bulkhead and I prefer the right side of widebodies, in general.  Since I was towards the end of boarding, the plane was ready to go pretty soon. 

The flight attendant came around with the meal options and headphones shortly after takeoff.  Normally the headphones are on the seats when you board, so that was odd.  I opted for the ‘grains and greens bowl’ with salmon. 

A close second would’ve been the ‘braised chicken cacciatore’.  Next time, I’ll bring someone along so we can try more menu options because the porcini truffle tortelloni also sounded pretty good.  Although, based on what I’ve read, American is planning to actually use its wide-body aircraft for international flights next summer, so there will likely be fewer 777 flights on the MIA-LAX route. 

First, I was served a plastic cup of wine. I asked for the chardonnay, but was given the malbec (I think). I can’t drink red wine, so I had to send it back to get the chardonnay instead. With the drink came a ramekin of mixed nuts.

I nibbled a bit on the nuts while I waited for the main entrée. The salmon was cooked well, it was a solid portion size, and it went great with the salad under it. The appetizer tasted fresh and cool, and the lemon tart was nice and lemony, without being overpowering. The bread was cold and hard as is standard for pre-wrapped airplane bread.

After the meal, I thought about trying to get some work done, but instead I took advantage of the lie-flat seat and took a nap.  The Flagship Business seat on this plane is comparable to the Flagship First seat on the A321 Transcontinental aircraft.  Because of COVID-related changes (more 777s on MIA-LAX, less service in Flagship First), I’d argue this business class is better than the A321’s Flagship First (and was also 1/2 the price).

In summary, this 5-hour flight was probably the best transcontinental flight I’ve had in the US.  It was great that the Flagship Lounge was re-opened, but I don’t think it’s back to full meal capacity yet (4/5).  Having a 777-300ER, the biggest plane in AA’s fleet, on a domestic flight was a treat, and the seat was of course great as well (5/5).  The meal was the best I’ve had on a domestic flight and ranked as one of the better intercontinental business meals I’ve had (5/5).  The in-flight service had a few minor issues, but the headphone collection is really annoying, especially when the headphones weren’t even at the seat to begin with… (4/5).  The inflight entertainment was typical for an AA 777, but the WiFi was a bit overpriced (4/5). Overall, I give this transcontinental business flight a great score of 22/25.

I booked this ticket during a sale for $399, which was a pretty good deal for transcontinental business class.  I credited the flight to British Airways, so I earned points based on the distance flow.  Thus, I got 140 tier points (since the flight is >2 000 miles), as well as 2 928 (base) + 2 342 (bonus) Avios.  I booked this flight on my Chase Sapphire Preferred card (while trying to hit the minimum spend for the welcome bonus), which earned me 2x points on travel.  The Points Guy values Chase Ultimate Rewards points at 2 cents each and BA Avios at 1.5 cents each.  Using their valuations, I earned $95 worth of points, for a return of nearly 25%, which is pretty good.