American Airlines has recently made two interesting updates to their aircraft scheduling:
- American will fly the 777-300ER between Los Angeles and Tokyo Haneda between June 6 and October 26, 2019, replacing the 787-9; this represents the introduction of three cabin first class on the route
- American will begin flying their special three cabin A321T aircraft on two daily flights between Boston and Los Angeles as of April 2, 2019; this makes BOS to LAX their third premium transcontinental route, along with JFK to LAX and JFK to SFO
American’s A321T first class
All of these new flights became bookable over the weekend, for anyone who is interested in flying them. Unfortunately American has released virtually no additional saver level award availability on any of these flights.
The Boston to Los Angeles flight does have some business class award availability, but that was there even before the aircraft swap happened.
There’s a further interesting update to American’s schedule that I wasn’t initially aware of.
American will begin flying a Boeing 777-300ER daily between Miami and Los Angeles between June 6 and October 26, 2019.
My assumption was that the 777-300ER used for the Tokyo Haneda route would just operate longhaul flights out of LAX (they fly the 777-300ER to Hong Kong, London, and Tokyo), but it seems that it will be part of a larger rotation that involves a daily domestic flight.
American currently flies a Boeing 777-200 between Miami and Los Angeles, but as of that date the 777-200 will be cut from the route and the 777-300ER will be added.
The flight will operate with a very different schedule than the 777-200 currently does, as follows:
AA1297 Miami to Los Angeles departing 6:50AM arriving 9:05AM
AA1297 Los Angeles to Miami departing 1:10PM arriving 9:27PM
American 777-300ER
Unfortunately American has no award seats on this flight yet, and for that matter, pricing is outrageous. I’ve always found American’s pricing on Miami to Los Angeles to be odd. Unlike New York to Los Angeles/San Francisco, they don’t have the $550-650 fares if booking in advance.
But then it seems like American has so many cheap fares out of Los Angeles to Puerto Rico, Latin America, etc. Like check out this fare:
Vs. this fare (and this is the absolute cheapest nonstop fare that I see):
But that’s a big part of how airline revenue management works. Obviously American owns the Los Angeles to Miami market, so they feel they can charge more, while they have to be more competitive in one-stop markets.
Anyway, this new flight is worth being aware of. I know a lot of people liked the previous 777 flying between Los Angeles and Miami, so the schedule will be seriously changing as of June. Furthermore, a 777-300ER will mean that there’s even more premium capacity.
American’s 777-300ER business class
For those booking a paid business class ticket, this is also a good opportunity to use a BXP1 from the Business Extra program, to upgrade to first class.
One thing I’m still working on figuring out is if this flight will be treated as a “premium” transcon route for the purposes of lounge access. In other words, will business class passengers get access to the Flagship Lounge, and will first class passengers get access to Flagship First Dining?
American’s Flagship First Dining Miami
Miami to Los Angeles used to be considered a premium route, and then it wasn’t, so I’m curious what it is now. I’ll update this post when I hear back from American.
In July AA314 (17:55) MIA-LAX is a 777-200 with flat bed business (two class layout).
My question is whether this flight will remain a 777, knowing that the 777-300 is coming on the earlier rotation.
Is it AA's intent to run two proper 777 transcon flights in this route? I hope so, but I have niggling doubt that an equipment change will be forthcoming...
Flagship First Dining is available for first class passengers on the 77W MIA-LAX route. Only problem is that the flight from MIA is at 6:00 AM and FFD opens at 1 PM. Oh how I love AA.
https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/experience/dining/flagship-first-dining.jsp
If you are flight business or first class on a flagship flight then you have access to the flagship lounge. It happened to me before that they did not give me the invitation card when checking in to the club. You just need to point out to the clerk that you are on a flagship flight traveling on business or first and they will give you the invitation card. As for the flagship first dining,...
If you are flight business or first class on a flagship flight then you have access to the flagship lounge. It happened to me before that they did not give me the invitation card when checking in to the club. You just need to point out to the clerk that you are on a flagship flight traveling on business or first and they will give you the invitation card. As for the flagship first dining, you can only go in if you are traveling on first class on an international flagship flight. I was traveling on business from LAX to MIA and they said only for international flagship or if I was a concierge key member which I am not, bummer. Anyways, I hope this helps.
Odd.
Good for you, though. If it works, then go for it.
I’m flying LAX-MIA in biz next week. At the time of booking, it wasn’t considered true transcon premium. However, after looking at my res this morning (and checking the Flagship Lounge access page), it appears as if they’ve added it to the list.
Howdy HiAperture…..yes they've updated my booking. It was offline for approx 24 (I'm assuming as part of the transition from the A321 to the 777), and I've ended up in the Business Class section. And agreed, a huge upgrade from the A321.
I'm flying in on Qantas First on the A380 a few days earlier, and wasn't looking forward the substandard 'first class' (in name only) AA offering
"While you guys were busy talking about nonsensical stuff, did anyone notice that on some dates AA is pricing Business Class well over 4 times the First Class fare? You gotta love the disasters of AA’s Revenue Mismanagement."
Nope, I was using 25k Alaska miles each way to book some future travel.
While you guys were busy talking about nonsensical stuff, did anyone notice that on some dates AA is pricing Business Class well over 4 times the First Class fare? You gotta love the disasters of AA's Revenue Mismanagement.
Chris, what happens when you log in to your AA account and try to select a seat? Do you see 2 rows available to choose from or more? You almost certainly will be booked into business class though. Still quite an upgrade over the A321.
Hi there, thanks for the update!
I've booked a first class ticket on flight AA1297 in August next year from LAX to Miami (I think it was originally scheduled on the A321-200).
What happens to that booking, am I put in business or first class on the 777?
Premium transcon routes should be:
LAX-JFK
LAX-BOS
LAX-IAD
LAX-MIA
They all should include lounge access. Heck, all domestic flights if flying paid first should include lounge access. Just my opinion though.
@W - Yes - it use to rotate into MIA from GRU or LHR to service LAX-SYD
The timing of this flight is NOT a problem, since many business travelers do take 6am, 7am transcons and they are FULL. I've taken a 772 MIA-LAX around 7am ish and it was full. Also this will allow easy connections from SCL, GIG and other Latin American cities incl GRU and EZE which are not daily to LAX.
Not to mention with a 8000+ mile range, the 2300 miles to LAX allows for maximum cargo.
AA used to fly a 3 class plane to LAX some years ago as far as I remember. Flight leaves MIA at 6:50am - first dining will probably not be an option.
Hey Lucky,
I know you addressed this in the past, though with such a discrepancy in prices, and if someone is travelling with carry-on bags only, is there any problem/risk/downside to booking LAX-MIA-SJU and just deplaning in MIA? Would this raise flags?
Makes no sense not to do this if you book a one-way, and take carry-on bags only.
Obviously they changed the timing so it would work with the new international routes they are flying it on, but wow that's awkward timing for a lot of business flyers.
As for lounge access: I flew the 772 in business back and forth a couple times but it did not get me access into the AA Flagship Lounge. Something tells me they won't change it for the 773. The weird thing is that the onboard...
Obviously they changed the timing so it would work with the new international routes they are flying it on, but wow that's awkward timing for a lot of business flyers.
As for lounge access: I flew the 772 in business back and forth a couple times but it did not get me access into the AA Flagship Lounge. Something tells me they won't change it for the 773. The weird thing is that the onboard menu always says "Flagship Business" on that route even on an A321.
The pricing is insane on this route too... It's so frustrating to know that for the same cost as AA's shitty business LAX-MIA RT I could have gone international on a real business class.
lol @ 6:50am departure. FOH that's not even an option.
@Lucky AA Always has operated the 777-300ER from LAX-MIA as a seasonal service, mostly in the summer.
I should add that F is bookabke in a paid fare, though the cost was prohibitive for the dates I looked at.
AA.com still shows only LAX/SFO-JFK as 3 cabin trans on.
This flight does have award availability, it just does not let you book on AA “flight no longer available.” I was able to book two one ways this weekend, one on Alaska’s site and the other on BA’s site. They both ticketed right away.
So does this flight count for Flagship Dining? I know you previously said 787s and 777s with international business would not count on domestic routes. But is it the same since the 77W has 4 classes?
Crappy timing MIA-LAX
MIA to LAX flights will and always have followed the same lounge policy as LAX-JFK
Good news for 773 MIA-LAX flight. Although, the 772 is fine in Business.
On another note, is there any way to ask AA to put the fare codes on the flight information/ itinerary along with the EQMs EQDs.....?
It's really a task to organize that info, otherwise. I have friends with an excel spreadsheet in order to calculate the year of flights.
A few times, I've tapped and left comments on the "Feedback" tab. Maybe you can put in a request?
Well that is the most important question, since both airports have a Flagship facility, will this be treated as a true premium 3 class transcon (hard to take advantage of on the ground with such an early departure from MIA) with actual bedding, amenities, meals, or will it just be a regular 2 class domestic flight with the flagship first seats going to the early birds who select them and a normal domestic first class service?
I flew this route a while ago and when booking on of the flights was on a 777-300ER. Did American used to operate this plane on this route before?