Flagship First Transcontinental: JFK – SFO: night time edition!

After learning that American was eliminating Flagship First, I may have overcorrected in my panic to book some flights while they still existed because it’s already time for my second Flagship First flight!  This flight is my return flight from the East Coast directly into SFO this time.  I’d argue the flight from JFK to SFO is strictly better than the reverse because American offers better lounges in JFK than in SFO.  At SFO, American offers only an Admirals Club.  If you have Oneworld Sapphire or Emerald status, then you can also try out the JAL Sakura lounge (which has limited hours) or BA lounge (which is also a Priority Pass lounge).  Neither of these options is particularly inspiring.

I arrived at JFK by subway, and was immediately greeted at T8 by long lines for the regular desks, but American and BA offer a special check-in area for top-tier status members and those travelling in First Class.

I’ve used American’s Flagship First check-in at Miami and many times at Los Angeles before, and the ambiance is definitely the best of the three I’ve visited.

Flight check-in happens while sitting down, which was interesting.

There was no escort to the front of security, however, which was a major downgrade.

At least, unlike in Miami, the lounge is very close by and I didn’t have to use the non-precheck lane in order to skip the line. So far, LAX still has the best Flagship Check-in experience in my opinion. I haven’t tried Dallas’ yet, however.

Once through security, I proceeded directly to the lounge.

At New York’s JFK airport, however, American Airlines and British Airways offer a trio of lounges for status holders and those traveling on Flagship transcontinental or long-haul itineraries. 

These lounges are the Greenwich Lounge (Business Class/Oneworld Sapphire), Soho Lounge (Oneworld Emerald), and Chelsea Lounge (First Class).  Since I was traveling in Flagship First, I could access any of the three.  I decided to visit the top-tier Chelsea Lounge so that I could have a sit-down meal. 

A lot of people comment that the names of the lounges make it confusing to know which you have access to, but there are very large signs that explain who has access to which lounge. 

The lounge is very well-appointed.  The chandeliers above the champagne bar are excellent, and all the furniture is very elegant. My picture of the chandeliers turned out pretty badly compared to the other pictures online.

However, there are no windows in this lounge.

I was particularly looking forward to checking out the sit-down dining options at the lounge.  I haven’t had the opportunity to try out American Airlines’ Flagship First dining, and it’s somewhat unlikely that I will have the chance going forward because it now only exists in Dallas and Miami, since the LAX dining room is closed. Dallas and Miami both only have international Flagship First flights rather than transcon flights like LAX and JFK (which are much cheaper).

I made my way directly to the dining area for dinner.  The dining area wasn’t busy at all, and I had my choice of seats.

The lounge attendant barely seemed to notice I was there, and when she did come and take my order, it was the most indifferent service I’ve ever gotten either on a plane or on the ground.  Even in Germany.

I started with a glass of Moet Nectar champagne, which was served without a word.

Next, I ordered the wild mushroom toast. The mushrooms were good, but the overall dish was just fine.

Then, I was served the sole meunière.  It was actually really well prepared and flavorful, but it was also served without a word.

Finally, I tried to order the praline dome, but they were out. They were out of a dessert in a First Class lounge. I had the ice cream instead as dessert. It was decent ice cream, but nothing special.

The entire meal service took over an hour, which is ridiculously long for such small courses in any situation, but is truly insane in an airport, especially a top-tier lounge.

I finished dinner and then took a quick shower before boarding began.  This flight departed JFK at 9 pm and was scheduled to arrive into SFO just after midnight. 

When I got a notification that boarding had begun, I walked over to the gate.  The plane was, quite possibly, in the farthest gate from the lounge, which is just plain weird.  There weren’t very many flights leaving and there is no reason the A321T couldn’t have been at a closer gate.  By the time I arrived, I was among the last 5 to board.  Though, this isn’t that different from my previous Flagship First flight from JFK. 

Upon boarding, I settled into seat 2A for the next 6 hours.

 

The 1-1 configuration in Flagship First on the A321T never ceases to feel exceptionally spacious and swanky.  By the time I got on the flight, I thought I had missed the pre-departure beverage service, but there were already a lot of glasses poured already and sitting at the front of the cabin.  I noticed at that point that the flight attendants were definitely younger than me (which is becoming less noteworthy every year, haha).

These A321T seats are definitely starting to show their age.

The cabin lights were dimmed for takeoff and then just stayed that way, haha.  Most people in the cabin opted to sleep, and so the meal service was actually provided in the dark, which was unexpected.  At first, I thought it was a bit odd, but then I just embraced it and actually enjoyed that aspect of it.

First, the table was set with the standard cloth.

Flagship First’s meal service distinguishes itself from Flagship Business mostly by being slightly larger.  The pre-dinner drink is served with olives and nuts instead of just nuts.

Next came the starter of poached shrimp along with the baby spinach and kale salad. I was pleasantly surprised by the shrimp appetized and the vegetable noodles. The salad tasted like you’d expect it to; salads are straight-forward dishes.

Third came the soup course, which is, on American Airlines, unique to Flagship First services. The butternut squash soup tasted like typical canned soup you’d find in the US and needed just a touch of salt.

Every aspect of the service was well-intentioned, and you could definitely tell that the two young flight attendants in Flagship First were trying their hardest.  However, as is not surprising, the service was just not polished.  Nothing was bad; they just didn’t have the finesse and experience you would expect in first class (like Tricia).  For example, the pacing of the meal was not very good. They brought out dishes in the order that they were ready, rather than in the order they should have been presented according to the menu or based on when it was time to bring the next course out. Since a lot of people were sleeping, it meant that they could be more efficient with my service, which I appreciate on a night flight like this, but it just wasn’t polished. It’s not a problem or surprising that the young flight attendants don’t have many years of experience, but it points to the fact that Flagship First flight attendants don’t specifically receive special training.

I had pre-ordered my meal of cumin rubbed pan roasted chicken which was served fourth.  There were some bumps during the service, so the transition from the pre-main courses to the main course took slightly longer and made the overall meal just slightly more poorly-timed than it would have been otherwise. 

Finally, I had a sundae as my fifth and final course.  It was a very extensive meal service, especially considering it took place late in the evening NYC time and was done in the dark, haha.

After eating, I converted my seat into bed mode.  One known issue with the aging Flagship First seats is that there is a gap between the two parts of the seat that becomes very evident in bed mode. I definitely noticed it this time, but I was tired enough and the bedding provided was soft enough that it wasn’t a substantial problem.

In summary, I’m very pleased with my decision to upgrade on this flight.  Unlike my previous Flagship First transcontinental flights, I feel like this was the first one where I was able to get the whole experience both on the ground (the special check-in and lounge) and in the air (the soup course).  That being said, I was very unimpressed with JFK’s Flagship First check in and the Chelsea Lounge (3/5).  Having a 1-1 configuration on a narrow-body aircraft is always a great treat (5/5).  The meals and snacks on this flight was extensive and among the best I’ve had domestically in the US (5/5).  The service on the flight was very well-intentioned but unpolished (4/5). The IFE was excellent, but the minimal free Wi-Fi and (non-skippable) advertisements on the IFE detracted from the overall experience (4/5).  Overall, this Flagship First flight was wonderful (21/25).  I continue to highly recommend flying Flagship First on a transcontinental flight while it still exists. 

I paid around $300 on my Amex Platinum Card for this ticket to directly purchase an economy ticket.  I then paid $581 for an upgrade all the way from Main Cabin (Extra) to Flagship First.  I charged the upgrade to my Ritz-Carlton Card to use the $300 travel credit on it, which reduced the out of pocket cost to $281 for the upgrade.  For context, buying the ticket straight up would have been $1 149.  The upgrade was a full upgrade (not just a seat upgrade) because it changed my booking class from V (economy) to F (full-fare First), which meant that I earned a full 210 tier points and 10 344 Avios (which is even more Avios than if I had bought the ticket outright). 

It’s often said that a good tier points run on British Airways is if you can get tier points for $3 each.  The overall tier point cost on this flight was around $4/tier point, but the upgrade by itself earned tier points at a rate of $3.14/tier point, which is pretty good.