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?
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