It’s nothing new for airlines to brand many aspects of their experience, whether it’s a menu created by a celebrity chef, a wine list developed by a famous sommelier, bedding from a luxury brand, toiletries from a well-liked skincare company, etc. When it comes to bedding, it looks like American will finally (somewhat) catch up with Delta and United. Delta has a partnership with Westin for their premium cabin bedding, while United has a partnership with Saks Fifth Avenue.
American, on the other hand, hasn’t had any sort of a partnership up until now. As a matter of fact, their bedding has been downright tired. Here’s the pillow & blanket I had in first class on my flight from New York to Los Angeles the other day.
It looks like this is an area where American will finally improve. As of December 1, 2017, American will be introducing Casper bedding, pajamas, slippers, etc., in first & business class on their premium routes. Here’s a video highlighting the full collection of products:
The quality of the bedding will vary by route, class of service, etc.
For longhaul international first class, passengers can expect a mattress pad, pillow, duvet, day blanket, lumbar pillow, pajamas, and slippers.
For premium transcontinental first class, passengers can expect a pillow, duvet, lumbar pillow, and day blanket.
For select longhaul business class flights to Auckland, Hong Kong, and Sydney, passengers can expect a mattress pad, pillow, duvet, pajamas, and slippers.
For business class on other Pacific routes, passengers can expect a pillow, duvet, and slippers.
For business class on other longhaul international flights and and premium transcontinental routes, passengers can expect a pillow and duvet.
For premium economy on international flights, passengers can expect a lumbar pillow and day blanket.
Ultimately this looks like a nice improvement over what American currently has, though I’m still disappointed. Typically when airlines roll something out they try to at least match their competitors, but they’re not doing that here. United’s Polaris bedding is incredible, easily the best offered by any airline in business class. They’ve actually already made cuts to their bedding, but even so, it’s better than what American is offering on most routes.
For what it’s worth, United offers pajamas on all flights of over 12 hours, while American is only offering them to three destinations.
United also offers mattress pads on demand on all longhaul flights, while American only offers them in business class to the same three destinations.
American has a great hard product, so it would be nice if they rolled out mattress pads as a standard business class amenity on longhaul flights. It really makes a difference in terms of comfort, though I guess that’s not happening.
Ultimately American’s new Casper bedding looks like an improvement, though they’re still behind United in that regard. Then again, that’s probably fine. American’s entire widebody fleet features direct aisle access from every seat in business class, while United’s doesn’t.
What do you make of American’s new Casper bedding?
Same experience as RVelts and VX Flyer on DFW-HNL. AA's B767 with 2-2-2 configuration does not have direct aisle access for window seats.
Suffered the swap to that aircraft version twice out of 6 times this Summer. For DFW-HNL, avoid the B76 and take the B77 flight instead.
Has anyone seen the movie KIDS ? Caaaasper the dopey ghost . Darcy it's me Casper .
Next time will try to sleep with Casper.
Darn! Flying longhaul F on AA next week with no immediate plans for another international trip on AA.
adore my Casper Bed – upbeat to see AA making up for lost time in the US business class war!
@WilliamC
How does any of this relate to coach travel at all?
Just flew transcontinental on AA with the duvet and pillow in your lead picture. Quite adequate for the 5 hour journey.
Instead of putting money into new bedding to replace something that does not need replacing, I'd rather see WIDER seats in coach.
Missing this by just 6 days on JFK-LHR in F. Oh well. I’ll have to settle for the lesser amenities of it in J on the return on 5 Dec.
Very very disappointing all around. When the decision is all about the money the product is always mediocre.
Not only UA, but DL is better.
I thought American was getting rid of all international first class? Makes little sense with all the First exclusive flagship lounges and exclusive extra pad and duvet and slippers...why dont they just finish investing it all on business class?
Regardless, American beats > United any day.
I might be in the minority, but Casper mattresses are terrible. They are two pieces of memory foam glued together and they call that a mattress with fancy marketing. However, they are a perfect case study for a cool marketing and brand company that has been very successful with a crappy product.
With that said, I don't know if I would be stoked about a Casper bedding partnership. Casper is a low-cost Bedroom/Sleep leader. Being...
I might be in the minority, but Casper mattresses are terrible. They are two pieces of memory foam glued together and they call that a mattress with fancy marketing. However, they are a perfect case study for a cool marketing and brand company that has been very successful with a crappy product.
With that said, I don't know if I would be stoked about a Casper bedding partnership. Casper is a low-cost Bedroom/Sleep leader. Being low-cost leader is typically not what I would imagine in the same category as high-quality.
@Lucky
Do you think this has anything to do with another attempt at a relaunch between Qantas and AA? Qantas released a revamp of their sleeping packs only a week ago, if feels like they are both staying in alignment in the hopes of the venture deal.
My head was spinning reading through all of the market/bedding combinations!
Lucky have you ever tried Casper? That's a very high end product.
Keep in mind that Delta has to offer a pad because they cheapened out on the hard product by buying non-breathable polyurethane-impregnated "leather" coverings for their seats.
The quilting doesn't do much to alleviate the fact that you're sleeping on plastic, and you'll sweat and feel clammy unless you can cover the plastic polyurethane up with a pad.
I had no idea that United Business Class did not have direct aisle access. That sucks! That is so uncompetitive.
My last two mattresses have been Caspers and they’re fantastic. Wonderful company. I’m excited about this partnership.
I know Casper is new on the mattress scene, but I've heard nothing about their bedding products. It's hard to sa this as on-par with the Westin line of Delta since Westin's are a hotel chain all about sleeping. As for United's teaming with Saks...since when was Saks a big player in the linen arena? I've used the bedding and it's nice, but Saks isn't the first name anyone thinks of when it comes to...
I know Casper is new on the mattress scene, but I've heard nothing about their bedding products. It's hard to sa this as on-par with the Westin line of Delta since Westin's are a hotel chain all about sleeping. As for United's teaming with Saks...since when was Saks a big player in the linen arena? I've used the bedding and it's nice, but Saks isn't the first name anyone thinks of when it comes to bedclothes. And now Casper? To me, this seems more like Casper paying for advertising by providing free stuff for AA to use as opposed to AA upping their game. Worse is that West Elm just traded out Casper for Lull mattresses being on display/sale in their stores. That should be indicative of something, I'd think, considering West Elm's popularity and status.
@RVelts - Agree 100% AA swaps out their "premium" 767 aircraft with their "ancient" 767's almost weekly for their DFW-HNL route. I doubt AA will have any of these Casper products domestically anytime soon.
Promising something is one thing... Delivering on that promise is another.
love my Casper Bed - happy to see AA catching up in the US business class war!
> American’s entire widebody fleet features direct aisle access from every seat in business class,
Close, but there are still 4 un-reconfigured 767's out there (2-2-2). I flew on one from DFW-HNL last Friday (last minute equipment swap, ugh). Those planes still go international at times as well, I've seen it listed to Amsterdam.
Casper is a new player in the mattress industry, though quite unique/interesting, and the quality seems excellent.
This is actually a better partnership, more in lines with Westin Heavenly and Delta.
Just search for Casper and await the targeted ads you'll get - it's pretty cool brand too.
UNITED in the lead again
Casper? He's the friendliest ghost!