A Perfect American Airlines Transatlantic Business Class Flight

Glad to see you remembered the dinner pix! Have a great trip, looking forward to the rest of the reviews.

Lanson brut not too shabby

The food looks edible, but certainly not appetising. Other than that, the experience described seems fairly standard and on par with transatlantic service with any of the three major carriers. I struggle to favour any one of the three beasts.

A cliffhanger? Really? Ben, I’ve enjoyed your blog for years because of the high quality writing and genuine personality that comes through in your posts. Please don’t lapse into clickbaity tactics, if I want those I can go to any of the dozens of other blogs.

Lanson is similar to Piper Heidseick or Veuve Clicquot — a decent champagne, even when served in a plastic cup.

Crab cakes are actually probably pretty safe plane food, when you think about it. The crab meat is already likely to be frozen a lot of times at mid-range restaurants, and the other ingredients they contain are hardly things that need to be fresh--some herbs, bread crumbs, egg and mayo. They are probably a pretty easy dish to pre-make and freeze, tbh. Still, it's nice to hear that they tasted good.

Hi Ben
Why don't you usually drink when flying US carriers... Compared to foreign I presume?
Cheers
Steen

At least with my recent experiences. I have felt U.S. airlines have gotten more competitive internationally. Their hard products have definitively gotten on par, if not surpassed their European counterparts (Lufthansa's current business class vs. Delta One Suites or United Polaris is a perfect example of this).

The soft-product is ultimately a glaring weak point and will require getting management in airlines who are willing to work with labor unions to get service standards up.

What is that black, oval shaped thing that comes in the amenity kit??? (not the socks) Wonder why they would include something like that in a kit intended to be used during a flight?

Nice report and nice flight. I wouldn't call it perfect, though, as the title boasts.

As for the flight attendants, I find being addressed by name is creepy. Even worse if they say " Hello, Super Plutonium Elite Mr. Slay-Pig (mispronounced) who is in the 35% income tax bracket, welcome....."

I’m happy you had a positive experience with your flight crew to LHR. I suspect this maybe because of the crew being CLT based versus the angry, resentful bunch who are LAX or MIA based. IMO, Delta still has the most consistent, professional, friendly service of the US 3. Sadly UA & AA will continue to have inconsistent, aloof, indifferent service. This is a employee cultural issue at both UA & AA.
Bye, your fruit plate is one of the nicest looking ones I’ve seen in a long time.

In regards to the amenity kit, is the bag of high end quality considering it’s from pricey American based & made, Shinola? AA switches kits often. Is the kit nicer than the Cole Haan ones?

Looks like it was a lovely flight. They really do need to proofread their printed menu, though, unless they intended to say that the chardonnay had a "coplex (sic) nose". Maybe the person doing the tasting notes had a cold.

And speaking of tasting notes, both red wines and the port are described as having notes of berries and chocolate. Not much variety in those descriptions.

Serving Champagne in a plastic cup in international business class. Tells everything you need to know about American Airlines, US airlines in general, and the decline of our culture and our lack of class.

Great review and exciting trip ahead. I’m traveling LAX to LHR in J this August and so glad they are serving decent food.

I think one-tray service is not necessarily nice. Someone usually pays good money for business class, and when I only fly once a year with my family premium, I actually like to get a longer service. If someone flies a lot during the year, yea sure a short meal might be nice since you have done it a lot anyway. But I think for many leisure travelers in business class it can actually be nice to enjoy the service.

Would you like to go to a michelin restaurant, pay a few hundred bucks and be out in 20 minutes again? I rather make it as long as possible.

In 2018 I took AA from Heathrow to Dallas and flew with my son in Business and it was an amazing experience. Comfort, service, the plane. I think AA for transoceanic flights is a good value and wouldn’t mind flying again.

Regis: Those aren't the only things that have declined. Even as late as the mid-1980s, as I happen to know, if a jetway broke, they'd just lower the built-in stairs at the back of the plane (assuming it was a 727) and let everyone just walk the few yards into the terminal.

It was the same menu from JFK to MXP. The appetizers was really good. I had the chicken which had a nice flavor and was a decent size. Dessert was too sweet for me. Flight crew was really nice thanking us for trusting them for our return to Europe. I also got my bag and no quarantine in Italy with the testing flight.

"Latin Shaved Beef". I think I knew a guy who had that as his profile name on a dating app.

Bigger story should be how you got a business class for 57k to Greece! Wow!

Airline full meals and full service should be brought back ASAP! No reason for the lack of service anymore with the much reduced covid numbers.

Also where are the ice cream sundaes at? Is AA no longer going to offer those?

Found AA business availability for two a couple weeks ago, ATL-ATH, for December travel at 57.5 each with a choice of connections through CLT, PHL, ORD, JFK or DFW. Actually took the back track route via DFW because of the departure and arrival times. As of yesterday, nothing was available. Glad I got that done.

Was this a "covid tested" Italy flight? Can't seem to tell which AA flights are Italy-friendly. Wish AA would clearly label the way Delta does.

Plastic cups in Business class? Why am I not surprised. Any excuse to cut costs airlines will jump on. Reminds me a few years back when ATL had a drought problem and the DL SC went to plastic so they didn't have to use the dishwasher. Seriously?

How come you got a business class Frequent Flier for 57k miles
I just used up 265k for a Round Trip JFK airport to Rome non stop
I avoided LHR options because the landing fees were $450 Pperson!
Do you know something I don’t kniw.
I have flown American Airlines across the Atlantic numerous times and and have always had a great experience. I aldo find the phone agents fantastic.

While I do think all passengers should be greeted by name in premium cabins, it’s hard to not understand how an AA EXP would be greeted one way versus a UA non-status (with a questionable UA history).
We get it, you like AA/DL better.

We are booked EUG-LHR on AA over Christmas - we were charged 57000 miles on the forward leg and a whopping 135,000 on the return in Business - a ripoff in my opinion!

So glad to see you were flying out of CLT. It is a lovely, friendly place, easy to get through. The atrium with the rocking chairs is especially nice when you have a little bit of time to relax. That's why I only fly AA. CLT is my hub and I have had very few complaints. Everyone has been very helpful, friendly professional and courteous. Very nice.

is the plastic glasses and paper cups for coffee just a temporary covid thing?

I don't get how not using china is safer.....

Flew business on a American 777-300ER and 787-8 and I didny get dinner on the 787 since we flew MIA-ORD but I did on the 777 and it was Salmon which was really good. Service on my trip was great and all the flight attendants were very friendly.

@Brian

I agree re the mileage redemption!

Today I booked a multi-country/continent trip today on AA (and a few other airlines that look interesting, just cuz I’m an AvGeek and love visiting really random airports)...and got the 57.5k business redemption from Barcelona-Miami-Los Angeles in mid July (the same redemption level as economy class!). I was stunned, and of course booked it immediately. Within 1 hour I couldn’t see any similar redemption available from any AA European gateway.

Now retired I do enjoy those business class seats. This review made me think of those days when I was skinny the company I worked for in Dallas, would fly us 1st class if over an hour flight. I have had many fine meals as a young business guy, but the best part was when the rolled down the short aisle with the ice cream cart. Making that ice cream Sunday for you will never get old, and I will always remember AA as being a great airline.

Having flown them to Europe and back several times in Bus. Class, they still do it very nicely.

OMG, Lucky is flying and reviewing flights again. This is legit making me feel like we are returning to at least a semblance of "normal".

@jcil - The eye mask?

@ Waryne -- Correct, they cut glassware during coronavirus. I'm not sure I get the logic either, and at this point it's pretty clear that it's a cost saving thing.

@ Robert heath -- It all depends on what kind of award seats are available. I managed to find award space at the saver level, which is 57,500 miles one-way in business class between the US and Europe. Of course it's often not available, but we lucked out that there was plenty of space for our dates.

@ Lils -- Nope, this was a Charlotte to London flight, so not one of the Italy "tested" flights.

@Ben I fly AA transatlantic a lot (American expat living in Berlin) and they are always hit or miss with me.
Me & my husband (also named Lucky hehe) most recently did DFW-LHR and the service was absolutely awful. I couldn't believe it.
Granted, we nonrev, but I was watching service for the revenue J class as well and it was just horrific.

For some reason the only consistent service I've seen is the FRA-DFW-FRA route. I think they know they know they have to compete with LH otherwise the biz travellers will switch

Happy to read this informative review of your AA flight to London; interesting to compare to your previous flights to and from Maui (especially the United flight..). Nice for you to complement Lisa by name too.
Also, happy to see the new format on our webpage:) and happy to read about your travels again:)

Because he’s a snob and doesn’t think the wines served are good enough for him

Champagne in a plastic cup is just the start of it. Let’s not forget those who beat up other passengers, and crew. America and Americans have had no class for a LONG time already, and it only gets worse

……how was he?

Will be interesting to see your Greece experience. Personally I won't even consider Europe until July. Need to see them get all the kinks out of the system and get things up and running again. Really hoping to be able to hit France this summer.

I believe I read somewhere that the US3 are not refilling cups at this time to avoid bottle-to-glass/cup contact with a cup that's been previously sipped from and may have saliva and thus a potential viral component. And it'd be way too heavy to carry enough glassware to provide a fresh glass each time someone requested a refill.

Whats it like wearing a mask on long flights? I am concerned as even 2 hour flights to me get difficult to breath after a while.

I wish more AA flights were like this. LAX -> HNL in an a321 last row with econ passengers kicking the back of my seat while coughing every 45 seconds was not the same experience.

It’s for your safety, Josh.

Thank you, AA, for protecting us from this .0000001% chance of getting infected.

Have never flown American Airlines overseas but would consider it when we book a business class trip to Europe a year from now. Of course, bring fully vaccinated, we would not fly if masks are still required. Our state here is totally opened up now. We shall see....

it's very good for traveling american airlines. thank you .

I've crossed the Atlantic on AA over 100 times and have NEVER had a surly crew...in fact, they've stepped up their game dramatically over the last five years. I agree the herringbone seats are great, and the food has gotten much better. Maybe now the crews are so happy to be back in the air it's an even better experience. I can't wait to fly across the pond again.

People seem to like to bash the American carrier flight attendants, but with the exception of the occasional battle-axe (who really should quit but probably can't afford to) - I've found US International flight crews to be excellent. To some extent, "you get what you give" in terms of attitude. I always greet flight attendants with a cheery smile when I board (or sometimes a look of exhaustion) but either way, I let them know I appreciate what they're doing. I know I couldn't do it with a smile 100% of the time...

I used to love flying BA (convenient for me to fly nonstop from AUS) - and I had been looking forward to my first A-351 flight until Covid hit last year. Their crews are usually good, but a bit more reserved, but the catering has gotten worse even as American's has improved.

Yes, Singapore and Cathay are great carriers. Singapore business seats can be hard as a rock, and while the service is definitely excellent, I've had mixed experience with catering. The best flight I've ever taken was on Cathay, but who knows whether we'll ever experience that level again? As a frequent business traveler, a great seat and a friendly crew is all I really ask for.

Keep up the entertaining reviews, and thank you for shining such a positive light on this crew! I know they will appreciate it.

Flying to OGG in Business Class from DFW at the end of August and SO HOPE, they return to real glassware!! It’s time!!