Spring trip to the East Coast (round 2B: JFK to Boston) in pseudo-Flagship First Class

I had originally planned to merge this report with the previous one, but I decided to split it.  I’ve realized that I reference articles based on what type of seat they have, and the Miami to JFK post might need to be referenced later for American Airlines’ 777-200 business class seat.  That was the first time I’d ever flown that plane.  This article is, therefore, a bit short, but it also means I get to talk more about my favorite domestic aircraft, AA’s A321T.

Upon arrival in New York, I headed immediately from my flight to the Flagship lounge.\

The New York lounge is a lot more open than the Miami lounge is, which is good because the space feels a lot bigger but can be bad because conversations carry.  And New Yorkers aren’t known for being the most quiet people.  Having just eaten in Miami and then on the plane, I found a comfy chair and sat around watching the planes go by for most of my lounge visit before getting a light pre-flight meal.

About 20 minutes before my flight was scheduled to board, I visited the buffet and got an assortment of hot and cold food.  I’m a sucker for sushi and so couldn’t resist a few pieces.  I also got a bit of chicken and some brussels sprouts, which I had learned a few days prior can actually be really good when prepared correctly.  The ones in this lounge weren’t as good as the ones I had at the hotel in Miami, but I enjoyed them nonetheless before heading to the plane.

I got to the boarding gate around the time they were calling for group 8 (of 9) to board.  The plane only seats 102 people, so the plane boards very quickly.  The A321T looks pretty standard from the outside, but it’s the inside where this plane shines. 

As promised, the inside of the A321T is noticeably atypical for a narrow-body domestic aircraft.  The aircraft has 10 Flagship First class seats (which were sold as typical domestic first on this route), as well as 20 Flagship Business class seats (sold as Main Cabin Extra), 36 Main Cabin Extra seats (sold normally), and 36 Main Cabin seats (sold normally).  Interestingly, when used in this manner, the plane’s capacity isn’t actually that different from the E190s that American used to fly between New York (LaGuardia) and Boston that fit 99 people. 

I was among the last to board but was still offered a pre-departure drink, which I appreciated.  One thing that’s a bit of a bummer with the Flagship First seat is that you have to latch your TV during taxi, takeoff, and landing.  The latch on my TV was a bit broken, so it didn’t quite stay latched properly.

After takeoff, I was given a small snack pack and a drink.  The flight was short, but I was able to take advantage of the inflight entertainment for taxiing and landing, just at a bit of a weird angle.  So, I watched some old episodes of House, M.D. 

The flight was short enough that I didn’t try to nap, but I did adjust the chair so that I could lounge with my feet on the footrest, which was delightful for such a short flight.  I wish American flew the A321Ts on more routes or at least had more narrowbodies with lie-flat seats flying domestically.  Or even just more domestic aircraft with TVs because this flight was about as good as you could get for a 45 minute hop.

In summary, I thoroughly enjoyed this domestic flight, which was arguably even more atypical than the previous flight.  I thoroughly enjoyed the New York flagship lounge before my 45-minute flight, haha (5/5).  The A321 Flagship First seat is complete overkill for a 45-minute flight, and I loved it (5/5).  No food was offered on this flight, just a drink, which is typical for a flight of this length in the US.  A comparable flight in Europe would’ve offered a light meal, though (3/5).  The service was solid as well; no complaints there (4/5).  The in-flight entertainment was solid, especially for a domestic flight (5/5).  I had a great flight and always thoroughly enjoy internationally equipped aircraft flying domestically (22/25 overall).

From a points perspective, I earned BA Avios based on the distances flown (2 730 and 1 250, respectively) and 40 tier points for each leg.  I bought the ticket through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal, which earned me 5x Chase UR points/$ for a total of 2 108 points.  The total points are worth around $83.36, for a return of around 19.8%.