Hello from Miami! After flying Japan Airlines’ 787-9 business class from Osaka to Los Angeles, I connected to American Airlines’ 787-8 business class from Los Angeles to Miami. It’s always quite the reality check to get off a flight from Japan and board a domestic flight in the United States, in terms of service, passenger…
Continue reading: American Airlines 787 Business Class: Mostly Pretty Good
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Unless you’re seated in 5A or 5L on the 788 don’t even bother. Besides the seat shaking you mention and FA chatter in the galley it will be noisy. Although FAs are more quiet these days as they are glued to their social media during down time.
All you had to do was click on “Existing Subscriber” and your wifi subscription would allow you to login to the Panasonic interneta. This has been available for at least a year.
Don't they also have 788s with just reverse herringbone seats as well? If so, better hope they use that plane instead...
From my beginnings with AA back 1983, their FAs have always had issues. I contribute that to their DNA either Chicago or New York. My comparison then and now is to Delta which has (had) Southern USA DNA. Is what it is. Oh, in hub captive DFW.
Which seats you'll get on the 788s is a crapshoot, and with only 4 of the 24 planes having reverse herringbone seats the odds of scoring them are low.
AA is such a joke. Everytime I pay up to fly in first class, it's always a waste of miles. Glutton for punishment. Bare minimum working FA's, horrendous food options and shit wine.
Pretty much. There’s been good offseason AA J award availability SEA-LHR-SEA, so I’ve taken AA 155/156 several times on awards and it’s basically like that, the Concept D seats are OK if not amazing if you pick wisely, bedding is good, the food is edible and “fine” but not plated attractively, the WiFi is glacial, IFE is solid, service won’t make you think you are on an Asian or ME3 airline but it can be friendly.
Do I think it’s the most amazing J product ever? No. But a nonstop to London that costs less than $6 cash and a reasonable amount of miles even if it’s not saver, with lots of Citi/Barclays/Bilt points sloshing around? Sure.
I do hate those seats...they really do bounce around based on the movements of the adjacent passenger....but for a domestic flight, c'est la vie...still a nice option compared to the usual narrow body equipment....(even then some dedicated JFK trans con fleets, and equivalent routes)
AA is arguably the worst airline. When I’m forced to travel on them, I book my flight on Alaska’s website using AA metal. Rather AA split revenue with a decent airline.
I'm in J on a 788 to MAd next month, thanks to a SWU confirmed at booking. Another reason 5 A&L are the only decent seats on these planes is because the rear-facing seats feel much tighter, for the tray-table monument closing it in.
Ben,
Does AA also offer the same headphones and bedding on a widebody that is not considered a Flagship route? Am flying JFK-MIA and vv next month on the 772.
@Scudder - if you’re referring to the rear facing reverse herringbone 788 seats, they fly those regularly in and out of VCE. I had no idea there were so few of them.
5A and 5L is always last row and forward facing on the 788 with 20 seats. You are also close to the lavatory on long haul flights.
789 is good in the rear cabin also. 8A/L and 9A/L I like. Those have 29-30 seats in J.
That appetizer looks like the same thing on the salad plate- That definitely is a usAAir thing. Looks and tastes like dried out yard clippings. IMHO.
So... I was Gold with USAir and flew F with them A LOT and thought their inflight service and catering was much better than AA, UA and DL...at the time. My other go-to was CO. Anyway, my point is that I have seen you and others mention US in a somewhat negative way...was I just lucky on about 40 or so flts ?
When did LA to Miami turn into a 4 hour flight. Sounds like you are full of shit
Hey Ben. Taking that flight in a few months (on a 772). Was yours marketed as business? Mine is showing ‘first’ on the itinerary, so wondering if it’s just the basic Domestic first service albeit with a flat bed…?
Why is it you so frequently make excuses for cabin crew in the USA? This line being an example: "I’m not sure what exactly to make of this. I realize that flight attendants are currently going through contentious contract negotiations, ..." As a premium passenger I don't care what they are negotiating for, they are on board to do a job and to do it properly. I am paying a lot of money for service, that's why I fly up front, so I expect service, and service is not what carriers in the US provide.
Zero percent objectively when it comes to AA. Yes, we all know Ben lives in an AA "captive" hub. This review is meaningless for almost all domestic AA flights.
Lucky, you need to do something about the search on your website. I was trying to find a review you did of a AA 787, and the only reason I found this was because you just posted it. The search is terrible.
Have you considered an index instead of the "reviews" link going to a chronological page?
You’re paying more by booking AA metal via Alaska, but your choice to be a dunce.
Yes, this is insane. I suspect there's some bias going on + Ben doesn't want them spitting in his food on the next flight. You know they will.
@ Robert Fahr -- I'm sorry, what do you think isn't objective here? And you're suggesting I'm being too polite to American? It's not often I'm accused of that, so...
@ James S -- Thanks for the feedback. Out of curiosity, what search terms are you using? I just searched "American 787 business class review" and all the reviews came up.
@ crosscourt -- It's not that I'm trying to make excuses, I'm just trying to be realistic. Like it or not, service on airlines in the United States is never going to be consistently good. Would I like it to be? Of course. But pretending it is won't make it so.
@ Charlie -- It was marketed as first as well, so you can expect a similar experience.
@ Tyrone -- The flight time was 3hr56min:
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/aa2883
@ Motion to Dismiss -- Unfortunately not. Expect no bedding and headphones on those flights.
@ Christopher Rupp -- There was sparkling wine, which was Paul Cheneau Brut Reserva Guarda Superior Blanc de Blancs Penedes.
I flew JFK-DOH-JFK in the past week and the games portion of the entertainment system wasn't there...
The PDB sets the mood for the whole flight. I may not care about a drink, but the offer/effort sets the stage for me in a positive way.
When I search "American 787" I get this post, but only because it's so new.
I also get following it:
JAL 787
Hot take: Delta
How to tell different airlines
etc etc
Would have to scroll forever to find the older review.
If I search "American 787 review" then I see posts from 7 years ago, 7 years ago, 5 years ago, and 7 years ago....but not the one we're on right now. If I scroll down, I get a bunch of unrelated results (weekly review, Hawaiian airlines, Lot polish)
Which then makes me wonder if there are other more recent ones I have missed.
With an index, I could just go reviews>AA>787 and then see the relevant posts.
As you add 10 posts every day, it gets harder and harder to find specific items.
That's like that Key and Peele skit where one of them tries to fake speaking French to impress a date
I loved that you started the article mentioning how coming from a Japanese carrier to an American carrier is often a reality check. That's exactly how I describe a recent trip. I flew ANA business class on the 787-9 from LAX to NRT and the service was absolutely the best! That crew was the best flight crew I've ever experienced. Then on the way home, we flew United Premium Plus. Let's just say that United's flight crew would be described as indifferent at best. That was my first time in Japan and on a Japanese carrier and after that travel experience, it just reinforced my opinion that service in the US has gotten absolutely terrible over the years.
Lucky - please distinguish this was a domestic flight, which of course its great. However, if it were a 10 hour flight, I dont think it can compare to other carriers.
It has nothing to do with contract disputes. It’s cultural. It’s been like this for years and will always be like this. I never fit US airlines unless absolutely necessary
How are the seats connected? Is it different rows connected front/back - meaning seat 1A & seat 2A , seat 1D & set 2D etc? I'm traveling with my spouse. Thanks!
For me, I fear being assertive directly with them because retaliation is pretty common in the U.S. Often times, we are a defensive culture when it comes to feedback and people just get worse when you try to ask for something different. Thus, I usually just shrug and let the poor service go.