OneWorld Welcome: American Airlines Business Class London to New York

OneWorld Welcome: American Airlines Business Class London to New York

19


American 139
London (LHR) – New York (JFK)

Tuesday, February 19
Depart: 12:35PM
Arrive: 3:40PM
Duration: 8hr5min
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200
Seat: 11B (Business Class)

Upon boarding we took our seats in row 11, located in the middle of the business class cabin.


Seats 11A & 11B


Console

Waiting at the seat were a pillow and blanket, as well as an American amenity kit.


Pillow and blanket

Within a few minutes of settling in the rather charming (in a New Yaker kind of way) flight attendant introduced herself and offered us pre-departure beverages.


Vodka

Shortly thereafter Bose headphones and menus were distributed. As departure time approached the business class cabin was at most half full, and that’s after at least a handful of non-revs were accommodated in business class.

Before pushback the captain came on the PA to advise us of our super short flight time of 6hr47min, which he anticipated would put us into New York early. While I can’t really fault him for it, I don’t think I’ve ever had a pilot that sounded as bored as this guy. I mean, this guy yawned and sighed over the PA, and he made no attempt to hide it. He could’ve given Ben Stein a run for his money.


American 777 parked next to us

We pushed back on schedule and taxied to runway 27R, as the safety video played. Not only did we have an extremely short flight time, but the taxi was quick as well, and by the time we made it to the runway there were only a few aircraft ahead of us for takeoff, including the love of my life, Transaero. Sadly it was one of their 737s, and not one of their Hugh Hefner-esque 777s.


Transaero!

Eventually it was our turn for takeoff, and we had both a quick takeoff roll and steep climb out of Heathrow.


Lining up 27R


Airborne

Once we were airborne the meal service began, starting with orders being taken and hot towels being distributed. The lunch menu read as follows:

The wine list was the same as on the outbound, so check out that post for details on the wine.

Service began with drinks and hot nuts. I had the usual.


Diet Coke with lime and hot nuts

Next the appetizer cart was rolled around. The appetizer was rather interesting — a salmon “cheesecake” with balsamic glaze, capers, and mascarpone. I was most excited to see that they had pretzel bread, which is my fourth favorite thing about flying American (after hot nuts, ice cream sundaes, and their Twitter team, not necessarily in that order).


Salmon and salad

For the main course I went with the shrimp and scallop dish, which was good.


Shrimp and scallop provencal

Then for dessert I had an ice cream sundae.


Ice cream sundae

Service throughout the meal was efficient, probably in part due to how empty the cabin was. The flight attendant working my aisle was generally friendly, certainly one of the better international flight attendants I’ve had out of JFK.

After the meal water bottles were distributed.


Water

I decided to recline my seat and see if I could get any sleep. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I have the ability to go a couple of days on virtually no sleep, and then hibernate nonstop for days at a time. I had gotten a full night of sleep on my Malaysia flight, and also the night before at the Hilton, yet I still managed to nap for about four hours on my American flight. That’s surprising, since I usually have to be really tired in order to sleep in an angled flat seat.

The pre-arrival meal menu read as follows, though I skipped it because I figured I’d rather eat in the Flagship Lounge:


Cabin approaching New York


Airshow on approach

About 30 minutes out the captain came on the PA to advise us we’d be landing in New York about 45 minutes early, and sure enough after a quick descent and a smooth touchdown we made it to our arrival gate way ahead of schedule.


View on approach

Customs and immigration took only a couple of minutes thanks to Global Entry. Then we ran into Justin Ross Lee in the Flagship Lounge, and then it was just a quick New York to Seattle flight to finish off the journey.

Anyway, I had a great trip and was thrilled to have been able to try Malaysia’s A380 first class product. They’re a great addition to OneWorld, and I can’t wait to fly them again.

Stay tuned, my next trip report will be coming shortly!

Conversations (19)
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  1. Bgriff Diamond

    @mohamed b

    This is standard American (the country, not the airline) usage of the word. I can't explain beyond that, but it would not strike the home country passengers as odd.

  2. mohamed b Guest

    The menu:do AA realise entree is the french for starter???they better keep it in english and use main dish.

  3. Lantean Diamond

    @lucky

    why not? you fierce... ;)

  4. lucky OMAAT

    @ Andrew B -- Because it's the one airline I'll definitely never be good enough to fly in first class.

  5. Andrew B OMAAT

    Why the obsession with Transaero?

  6. lucky OMAAT

    @ John -- Unfortunately it has been so long that I'll just have to go to the Maldives again to write about it. Had too many trips and just couldn't keep up with trip reports.

  7. Kyle B Guest

    JRL trip report! Please! You two can sample beverages on LOT again!

  8. John Guest

    Ben- Whatever happened to the Maldives trip report?

  9. wwk5d Guest

    Salmon cheesecake? That's sounds like you'd find on LH ;)

  10. Ethan Guest

    As many premium cabin flights as you take Lucky I wouldn't be surprised if you just say "the usual" and the diet coke arrives. ;)

  11. lucky OMAAT

    @ Howard -- Hah, indeed. I guess for me the thing is that any flight with wifi is more or less the same. For me a 45 minute flight feels the same as a six hour flight if I can be connected to the web.

  12. Howard Guest

    Your "quick" JFK-SEA flight was probably only an hour less than your LHR-JFK flight - amazing how our perceptions change when we fly domestic. Good report, Ben!

  13. Sean Guest

    the Transaero flying cigar lounge is the best!

  14. Harold Guest

    Never tired of your trip reports, Ben!

  15. Lantean Diamond

    those are some generous vodka glasses... i think after drinking that's i'd have to nap as well...

  16. The Mystery Traveler Guest

    Hey, I had Ben Stein as a professor in college. Although monotone, he is super funny.

  17. Ana Guest

    You know what I was wondering thru all the article? How is he taking pics while taxing if electronics are supposed to be turned off by that time? Lol ;P just teasing
    You made me hungry with those pics.

  18. Jackie Guest

    yikes, this looks like the level of TAP and TAM

  19. Peter Guest

    Wow--I've never been the first comment before in a post. Love the pre-flight beverage caption "vodka". You wish! ;-)

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

Bgriff Diamond

@mohamed b This is standard American (the country, not the airline) usage of the word. I can't explain beyond that, but it would not strike the home country passengers as odd.

0
mohamed b Guest

The menu:do AA realise entree is the french for starter???they better keep it in english and use main dish.

0
Lantean Diamond

@lucky why not? you fierce... ;)

0
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