As I explained in the last installment, I had received notice that my flight from Beijing to Chicago would be delayed by several hours due to a late inbound aircraft. That ended up working out pretty well, since it meant we could sleep in and not head to the airport at the crack of dawn.…
Continue reading: Review: American Airlines First Class 777-200 Beijing To Chicago
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
If the pajamas are waiting at the seat when you board, does that mean they only have one size?
Are you planning to review all of the PEK runs? Was the food uniformly horrid for all?
Why would the prospect of a significantly less premium heavy airplane configuration be "exciting" to someone who makes such good use of upgrade instruments?
I appreciate the trip report. The last statement does confuse me "All-in-all I’m excited for American to reconfigure their 777s with a new business class product and without first class...new business class hard product is only marginally worse than American’s old first class product.
So you are looking forward to a marginally worse product? I take it that was a crack at humor?
When I read this trip report I think to myself, I will fly a different carrier to Asia in F. But really when I look at it the service, seat are great. You got a comfortable sleep and a nice crew. Entertainment, I usually pass on that anyhow and just watch from my library of movies and entertainment on my laptop. Wifi can be hit or miss on international (but true would that does take a way a little from the product).
But really the major thing that was poor on this flight is the meal. And I agree from the pictures at least, it looked awful. I can understand that American Airlines cannot afford to serve caviar in F. And I can also appreciate that expensive champaigne's and wines are not necessarily worth the cost - I personally would opt for some "fine wines and champaigne's" in the $50-$100 bottle range. But what I really don't get is what is with their appetizers and main course and lunch for that matter. Your pictures of the food looked bad. Is it just too expensive for AA to cater better for F? I would even hope they could afford to cater better then that in a J cabin.
What is this love from US airlines for branded tap water in a bottle? It amazes me they cannot offer a real mineral water in first class.
The Pretzel Bread turnend out to Be the Highlight...hehe. Thx for the Review, was fun to read! 🙂
Based soley on the seat, would you take old 777-200 seat in first or new 777-300 in business? Service, food, size of cabin don't matter just strictly the seat. thx
Caviar aside; why is the food on some of the Asian airlines so much better than the US airlines' food? Do they use different caterers, or is it how much they spend? I know you're not a big fan of CX food, but I am quite fond of it, and I remember watching a video of a CX chef stir frying lobster at their facility in Vancouver... does CX have food prep facilities at all their destinations?
You should fly Austrian soon again man .. I flew in business in March this year from Beijing to Vienna and I ordered the Sea Bas too and it was amazing 🙂 actually the whole flight was phenomenal .. The crew, the half throne seat on the 767 (bigger legroom than on the 777) .. everything !
Can I over a small suggestion as a long time reader? I love this blog and I keep coming back for the great first class reviews. I don't travel at all for work but I do collect miles as a hobby so my partner and I take one nice free international trip per year in business class. We've been to Europe a few times and are going to Australia this year. I tell you that to give you some idea of my level of involvement in the points/miles/travel game.
Here's my suggestion: stop it already with the snooty proclamations of how certain champagne is "undrinkable." I've seen that in more than one blog post and I can't tell you how off-putting it is to hear a 20-something year old guy who is really leading a charmed life whine about how bad his day was because he was forced to drink the lowly business class champagne. Frankly, it pretty much ruins the post when you do that. It's possible to write a great blog without being uppity and the majority of the time you do that. Just every once in awhile a "I'm-better-than-these-lowly-peasants" attitude kind of sneaks in and creates a weird vibe.
But back to the good stuff...I always feel like I'm right there on the plane and know exactly what to expect from your posts and you really do a good job of describiing every thing down to the last detail. Just keep in mind how "lucky" you are (ha...get it?) to be doing this.
@ ATLJason -- Fair criticism, and I appreciate the feedback. That's certainly not the intention.
@ mangoceviche -- It's all a function of budgets. The catering companies work within the budgets they're given. That's why food can come from the same kitchen but have hugely variable quality.
@ shaun -- I'd say the first class seat is marginally better. That being said, I personally value the wifi on the 777-300ER immensely, which would make me choose 777-300ER business class over 777-200 first class.
@ Greg -- To clarify, my point is that old first class is only marginally better than new business class. I'm excited about that because I can upgrade from economy to business class, but can't typically upgrade from economy to three cabin first class.
@ Theonlywaytofly -- Because ultimately if flying during off peak times or confirming upgrade space in advance, the number of premium seats doesn't matter quite as much.
@ Neil S. -- Same quality on all flights so far. Think I'll only review these flights, but will do separate hotel reviews for all my stays.
@ Mike -- They do have multiple sizes, so I'm guessing they could have swapped them out.
Hey Lucky congrats on finishing this trip report so quickly! And thanks. Will you write reviews of your recent AA 77W F and BA 747 F experiences? Wouldn't be as interested if you'd just flown your original itinerary but I'd love to read about your experience flying the long way to Beijing, especially since you haven't been thrilled by either product in the past. You should tell us about those flights!
You should avoid the fish and try my meal suggestions instead... Beef Boursin on the outbound and Sweet/Sour Chicken on return. Much more edible than what you ate on your flights.
My meal experience was almost the complete opposite of yours, not to the degree of being up to CX F standards or even foreign carrier J meal, but actually something I would finish. The wonton soup and the mixed berry cake were the only offensive thing served to me.
The Duck snack on the outbound was decent. I skipped the return snack as I didn't find the options to be appetizing and I expected the roast beef sandwich to be terrible anyways.
As far as as the Champagne is concerned, the pre take-off stuff really is as bad as it gets, I once had a sip and couldn't believe it. Never again. Nothing snobby or spoiled about Lucky calling it as it is.
I'm reading your review of the awful food but all my brain keeps saying is, "Dewars White Label?" Really? They may call it First but it certainly has no Class!
@Lucky - I burst out laughing reading your comment
Lastly for dessert I had the chocolate lava cake. In relation to the rest of the meal it was very good. In relation to any other chocolate lava cake I’ve ever had, it wasn’t.
Do you ever bring your own snacks on the plane in case of long delays, poor food etc. I'd be interested to know
Surprisingly the American business class is almost the same when it comes to food and beverage. Not sure of your comment about the champagne but I flew on the same flight just 2 weeks ago but in Business and my experience was very similar... please see here: http://www.china-finds.com/travel/2015/05/american-airlines-chicago-beijing-flight-in-business-class/
All in all - business class is a much better deal... (in my opinion)
As I read more of these trip reports illuminating the questionable aircraft, terrible food and iffy ground services, I am more and more confused as to why anyone would choose to fly the north american carriers to Asia when we have the top-notch asian carriers (SQ, CX & ANA for example) to choose from. I realize a lot of the travel you write about is points-based, both accumulation and redemption, but for the many who pay for their flights it doesn't make sense to spend the same but get inferior returns. Or what am I missing here?
Catering out of the Chinese airports is generally not great. Even if flying SQ or EY, you would notice a drop in quality. I spent a lot of time flying AA F out of PVG from 2006-2010 and the food was even then much worse on the return than the outbound.
@ Alexander Simons -- Can't say that I do, given what limited carry-on space I have. Usually they have some extra packaged snacks aboard, if nothing else. And ultimately not eating for half a day would probably be good for my health anyway. 😉
@ Jerry -- So behind on trip reports that I feel like I'd be yelled at if I wrote them, given how many others I have to catch up on. We'll see. 😉
If you don't mind me asking the question here, Lucky.
I have the opportunity to fly BA F on 747 or AA F on this older 777-200. Not considering the tax and fuel surcharge of ~$500 difference [flying out of LHR], which would you choose and why? On one hand the BA F is more newer and more stylish, but narrow seats, on the other hand, this AA F 777-200 review is terrible.
Thanks for your advice.