American Airlines Flagship First Class International (LHR-JFK)

After checking out the lounge for a while, they announced it was time to board the plane! It’s interesting that even though the lounge attendants were the ones who announced when boarding began, by the time I made it to the gate, the flight was already on zone 8 (of 9).  Though, this is my standard American Airlines experience if one is hanging out in the lounge. 

This would be my second time in Flagship First Class on AA’s 777-300ER. The first time was in 2020 from JFK to LHR, when I was the only person in the cabin. This time, I knew the cabin would be full.

Once on the plane, I turned left for First Class.  Unlike on other airlines, I didn’t get shown to my seat. 

I passed through the 8-seat “mini” Business Class cabin and then entered the First Class cabin.  American’s Flagship First Class is very spacious and definitely feels exclusive with only 8 seats. When American gets rid of Flagship First Class and reconfigures these aircraft, I imagine they will have probably 5 rows of Business Class instead of 2+2. I think I was one of the last to board in First Class.

When you read reviews of this product, they always criticize it for only offering “a bit more room” than business class and not much else. I would argue that it actually offers noticeably more room. The business class seats look small by comparison in my opinion.

Three separate bags of bedding were at the seat, including two blankets and two pillows.

At my seat were the standard B&O headphones, a leather amenity kit, a bottle of water, as well as a menu.

Shortly after boarding, I was offered a choice of champagne, orange juice, or water as a pre-departure beverage. 

Then I took the opportunity to peruse the menu. I had actually already pre-ordered my meal for the flight online, which was the Scottish salmon.

After take-off, my meal order was taken, and they passed out hot towels. These are the same as in business class (and domestic first class).

I started with a gin & tonic, which was served with nuts and olives. This is the same as on American’s Transcontinental First Class flights.

As always, my favorite thing about this seat is that it swivels toward the window!

Then, a table cloth appeared, followed by a tray with my starter.  I selected the lobster, which was served on a bed of fennel salad and with some citrus fruit.  I also took a piece of pretzel bread.

You’ll notice in the background that the TV swivels out slightly so that it faces you dead-on while you’re in the slightly pivoted ‘relaxing’ position.

The pretzel roll was great, and individually, I liked everything in the salad. Together though, it was just plain odd. Maybe this type of salad is common in the northeast; let me know if so.

Next, I was served the tomato soup with a white bread roll, both of which were great.

Third, I was served the seasonal greens salad, which was mostly just an artichoke on top of some greens.

Fourth, I got my pre-ordered main of the Scottish salmon. It was pretty good, but compared to the previous courses, the presentation was remarkably simple (bland?).

I actually took a short ~90-minute nap after the main course and before dessert.

Finally, I ordered a hot fudge sundae.

After the sundae, I decided to rotate my chair and take advantage of the small desk feature of this seat, which is my favorite part of it. 

However, due to how dark the cabin was, I couldn’t open the windows for the “office with a view” vibes. 

Between the extended meal service, my 90-minute nap, and dessert, I actually only had a couple hours to use the office in the sky before it was time for the next meals. Flights between London and New York really aren’t that long.

The service on this flight was very well-intentioned and very American. The flight attendant seemed to come by every 30s to check on me. I guess this is what someone would expect at a top tier restaurant, and it’s definitely better than being ignored. But it did become disruptive pretty quickly.

For the pre-landing meal, I selected the chicken sliders, which were great. 

Are small chicken burgers really the type of food you’d expect to find in an international first class cabin? No.  Are they something that an American who spends a lot of money on a flight to Europe would potentially want? I’d argue yes.  I’ve often shown menus from my flights to my parents, and they pretty consistently prefer the food offerings on American over British Airways, so I think the food options are reasonable for their intended market. I ordered the chardonnay to go with the meal.

The burgers were really very much what you’d expect them to be, as were the small sides. I don’t really like potatoes, and the salad was pretty sad. The two slices of watermelon I guess were good (but I also don’t like watermelon). And the cookie was the same as every other American cookie, haha. Also the bag of potato chips was kind of hilarious to be served in international first class.

Finally, during deplaning, I asked the flight attendant to take my picture:

Before the summary, I think it’s worth asking what differentiates Flagship First Class from Flagship Business Class. On the ground, you do get access to a better lounge and more exclusive check-in, but since American moved back to Terminal 3 from Terminal 5, you can also get these with Oneworld Emerald status. In the air, you get a much larger seat but not much extra privacy. You also get better service (usually) and a larger primary meal, which includes a soup course and olives. This is the same differentiation between Flagship Business and Flagship First Transcontinental. I really do think American Airlines had the ground work laid out with this seat and its lounges, and if they had just invested more in the soft product, they would’ve been able to make Flagship First work. But alas, it will be gone by the end of 2024. Maybe the seats will stay around for a while as “Business Plus” until they’re replaced.

In summary, my experience in American’s Intercontinental Flagship First Class was great.  The ground experience in Terminal 3 is great overall (4/5).  I love American’s Flagship First Class, but there are definitely better first class seats (4/5).  The meal was good, but it wasn’t as well presented or as impressive as one really would expect in an international first class (3/5).  The service on the flight was extremely proactive; much like you’d expect at a US restaurant (4/5).  The IFE offering was standard (4/5).  Overall, the flight gets a 19/25, which puts it in the middle of the first class flights I’ve taken. 

Pro-rating the price I paid for the First Class ticket from Warsaw to San Francisco, I estimate I paid around $900 for this flight, which I put on my Amex Platinum card.  This long-haul flight earned me 210 Tier Points as well as 13 832 Avios, which is worth around $180, and the total points I earned are worth around $240, for a return of 27%, which is great.  For the overall ticket, I earned a total of 460 tier points and 26 516 Avios, so this flight represents just under half of the overall trip’s earnings.