Flagship First on miles! (JFK-SFO)

Upon arrival in JFK, I headed for the Chelsea lounge, which I’ve visited many times.  Having just visited the DeltaOne lounge, I was excited to compare the two (almost) back-to-back.  I’ve read a few times online that American’s strategy with its Flagship First product is to match the key features expected of a premium product without having to offer all those features to their Flagship Business passengers.  For example, both Delta and United now offer sit-down dining to their premium Business Class passengers, but American only offers it to their premium First Class passengers. 

Luckily though, traveling in Flagship First means that I get access to the best AA can offer.  And that was a good thing because I ended up being in the lounge for nearly five hours due to a delay.

I started my trip to the lounge by having some dinner. 

I started with a bowl of the sweet potato, crab, and curry soup:

Followed by the tamari glazed salmon.

I skipped dessert this time around in favor of having a glass of my favorite American Airlines champagne: the Moet and Chandon Nectar Imperial.

After finishing dinner, it was time for boarding. The gate was very far away from the lounge, so I was one of the last to board.  I literally got to the end of the jet bridge, but I wasn’t allowed onto the plane because they were about to deplane everyone due to a multi-hour delay because of strong winds in San Francisco. 

So, I turned right around and went back to the lounge.  I told the lounge agent about the issue, and she confirmed it was likely to be a rolling delay, so she said she’d announce when the flight was boarding again.  About an hour later, it was time to head back to the plane.  We ended up pushing back (and landing) about 2 hours late for a total of over 7 hours with the doors closed. 

The delay was unfortunate, but at least it increased the time between meals for me.  And on the plus side, all the extra time meant that my seat had headphones and an amenity kit, unlike on my previous Flagship First flight.  Since I have now completed my 10 seat challenge, I selected 5F, which is my second favorite after 5A (which was already taken when I booked).

The late departure (especially in winter time) meant that the cabin was relatively dim for boarding (at least that’s what I assume the reason was).  So the seat pictures are dimmer than I’d like, but the seat was no different from the many other times I’ve taken this flight. 

Menus were distributed after we had taken our seats, and it was very similar to the other times I’ve taken this flight recently.  I decided to change up my meal choice a bit, especially since I had had plenty of time to eat in the Chelsea lounge, which offers better food either way. 

Whenever I can, I pre-order on these flights because US carriers tend not to cater any more food than necessary.  You can only pre-select the main, so I selected the Ranchero Seared Shrimp, which sounded like a (lazy) form of paella on the menu to me.

After takeoff, meal service began with a drink and mixed nuts and olives.  I skipped any drink beyond water, which will be a theme for a lot of this year’s flights.

Having tried had beets on my previous Flagship First flight, I went back to my more typical order of the seared tuna appetizer.  It was served with the seasonal greens salad, which was served with the dressing already on it.  That’s the first time I’ve had a salad served that way on a plane.  Luckily I did like the dressing, and the seared tuna was similarly excellent.  I’ve since learned that higher quality tuna is also firmer.  This tuna was not firm, so I assume that means it was lower quality, but it still tasted great with the ponzu sauce.

The dim cabin really did make it almost feel like I was dining by candlelight.  Next up came the sweet potato and cauliflower soup, which I ate with a pretzel roll.  As much as the soup course is a super cheap way to differentiate Flagship First and Flagship Business service, I really do enjoy it.

Finally came the main course: the Ranchero Seared Shrimp.  It was somehow both too bland and too peppery at the same time.  The ranchero sauce didn’t really do a lot for me, and the rice was very dry.  It was not a particularly good main dish, but at least it was a bit different from the chicken I usually order.  I wouldn’t order it again though.

And then finally came the ice cream sundae, which I ordered with just hot fudge.  Truly can never go wrong with it.  I don’t claim to want the finest of dining in the sky, but I do recognize that these ice cream sundaes are very basic and sugar-filled.  And I love them.

After the meal service, I reclined to lie-flat mode to take a short nap.  At this point in the flight, there was still a solid 4 hours to go, so I knew I could get some decent sleep in.

In summary, American’s Flagship First is still the best way to travel transcontinentally in my opinion. The Chelsea lounge may not be quite as good as the DeltaOne lounge overall, but it still scores a 5/5 because what it lacks in extra amenities, it makes up for with its intimacy (and most of the amenities the DeltaOne lounge offers can be found next door in the Soho Lounge).  The Flagship First seat is still the best seat that I’ve flown domestically in the United States (5/5).  The service on this flight was excellent (5/5), and the food was decent (4/5).  I didn’t love the main course I selected, but that was not unanticipated.  Finally, aside from having to pay for WiFi, the IFE screen and selection was good (4/5).  Overall, this flight scored a 23/25 and was cheaper in cash and/or miles than flying DeltaOne would’ve been.

I paid 37,500 miles for the overall flight from DCA-JFK-SFO, which gives and implied cost of about $570, which is a great deal for this flight that usually only drops to around $1 200 in cash (which itself is cheaper than DeltaOne usually is).