We’re seeing a bit of a champagne battle between the ”big three” US carriers, when it comes to what kind of bubbles they pour in business class. First United and Laurent-Perrier announced a partnership, then Delta and Taittinger announced a partnership, and now it’s American’s turn… I’m very pleasantly surprised!
Continue reading: Premium: American Serving Bollinger Champagne In Business Class!
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
AA is improving in a lot of ways and they need it - look at how uncompetitive their fares, on just about all routes and all cabin classes, have been in the last ~5 years as their reputation for poor service caught up to them.
Right now you can book DFW to Tokyo for about 80k AA miles in business. UA will charge 3 times that and DL 6 times that.
We're in a sweet spot right now where fares (and thus mileage redemptions) are cheap while the quality of service is on the upswing. In another couple of years AA is going to be charging UA and DL rates for miles and it will be impossible to fly business class for under 150,000 miles on any route.
Hope this will eventually lead to improvements to the wine programs as well. I’ll only have the pre-departure glass of bubbles and much prefer a couple glasses of red after takeoff.
This is the normal take.
FNT Delta Diamond needs to take notes bc they are obsessed with drinking alcohol at the airport.
I think they need also food improvements.
I fly out of LHR a lot and that pre-landing "cheese toastie" is an abomination.
Every other meal I eat on AA is a miss.
unlike Delta (which only serves the good stuff onboard).
Not related, but sort of, when I recently visited a Delta One Lounge and asked the bartender for a Mocktail he got angry and told me to just make one with juice and sparkling water. Very nice and hospital, sorry I am sober I guess.
So based on the article titles, the final ranking is United (Wow) > AA (Premium) > DL (Nice).
@ Eskimo -- Hah, well United was first, hence the "wow." It's kind of like how Flagship Lounges were awesome before Polaris Lounges and Delta One Lounges existed.
Look ; It is an elevated champagne offering across the US3 that makes it a more upscale travel experience but if you are being served a vintage champagne that retails for a few hundred dollars on an international carrier in First Class that is going to be more of a luxurious memorable experience.
I wonder if all of the lounge Piper will end up on board for a while, as a marked improvement over Nicky F and some of the other randoms, hence the delayed Bolli rollout onboard.
Also, I think the Bolli colors match the new biz class quite well.
So then you are agreeing that DL ranks at the bottom of the champagne tier list for you?
Same kind of thing happened to me at the Polaris lounge a few years ago when they only had cocktails on the menu. He said something along the lines of I can only make you what’s on the menu…Well can you maybe just make one and not pour the liquor? I walked away with a can of Sprite
Lucky - Do you know if they will serve it for the PDBs as well or just after take off?
It's obviously better than whatever swill they were serving before, but this is still just Bollinger's basic, $50 entry-level champagne. I wouldn't drink it at home. If they were serving La Grande Annee, this would be a nice little perk.
I dont care about Champagne. I would rather AA use their money to refresh or at least deep clean their A321T fleet. Those J plane interiors are definitely suffering from wesr and tear.
Okay, so you guys may not believe me, but sometimes the level of product provided is something I consider when Im booking. For a while now American had Been Pouring Nicky F in business (generally) and very poor stills, and it made me not want to fly them at all. Id say the same for Lufthansa and Swiss to an extent too. It always baffled me how AA served Piper
(which I deem to be a very good champagne) in the lounges and cat's piss in the air.
Pats: "Bolly Stolly!"
It's decent bubbly, overpriced as they all are, but my choice would be Veuve.
I know AA is eliminating F but while they still have it they could at least differentiate the Champagne by providing La Grande Annee (fat chance, I know). But this is a big improvement considering AA was serving sparkling wine in J that isn’t even Champagne.
Beware, the pre-departure bubbles is typically cheap prosecco... NOT French champagne.
In my experience, ALL lounges are really at the mercy of the local 3rd-party staffing company. I think the airlines have good intentions but much of the staff are untrained, inexperienced or seem lost. Even at the Cathay Pacific business lounge at LHR last month, their staff was far from stellar.... absent bartender, no staff bussing tables, really no extra service at all. But the food and drinks were better quality. And it’s a nice space.
Good one! But I give AA massive points for this upgrade. They've been stuck on inferior Nicolas Feuillatte for a decade.
No, they will never serve Bollinger or any premium champagne as pre-departure. It's always gonna be prosecco (yuck!) It is all about bonded alcohol tax. Int'l flights departing US pay zero alcohol taxes for drinks served airborne while any alcohol served on the ground is taxable. So, it's not a ban but a financial decision. They will serve a $5 bottle of prosecco on ground but not $50 French champagne (I am making reference to the wholesale cost, not retail price).
I agree that the product level can determine which carrier to fly. However, Nicky F is a bit more premium than Piper.
I have two Bollys in the fridge. La Grande Annee 2015 and the Special Cuvee. The price difference is huge between them. I've had Grande Annee only a few times and love it because it's 100% pinot noir where the special cuvee has 25% chardonnay. The cuvee is perfectly delicious for everyday champagne. Either way, Bolly is an enormous improvement for AA!
I am literally watching Ab Fab at this very moment and Pats just asked Eddie for "a smidge of Bolly"
Second that, there were also some executives in the lounge and PR/Marketing people in the flagship lounge. There was even an employee walking around with a cart on top of being offered a glass upon entering.