Review: American Business Class 767 New York To Madrid

Hi Lucky! I think you made a slight mistake in the URL for "Review: American Economy Class A321 Los Angeles To New York". Right now it shows this message when I click on it "Oops! That page can’t be found."

Thanks for all your reviews anyway! I am gonna try American for the first time next May, kinda looking forward to it.

Wait, so you're saying that Avianca is more than a frequent flier program? 😛

Interesting to see the entertainment setup here, but it does look quite practical if you're taking advantage of your own entertainment, using the space as an office desk, etc. I think I might prefer it to normal fixed seatback screens, actually, though if less content is loaded onto the portable systems I may change my mind. How does the content selection in the fixed seatback devices compare to the content in the portable devices?

@Kevin T.

The link is working for me.

@Lucky
Did economy have the entertainment screens handed out as well?

@dave - no, economy doesn't get tablets handed out. There are the overhead screens for economy. 🙁

@betterbub

Portables like that might work better if content is streamed.

They should hand out the entertainment on the ground. The standard on other planes and flights is that you can start watching your movie as soon as you sit down. Having to wait for pushback, taxi and takeoff sucks.

Hi Ben,
Great blog and post. I'm planning biz class travel to Europe soon on American. I have an option of flying on the newly renovated 767 or the (previously UsAir's) tried and true Airbus 330-200er, which would you suggest?

I flew this cabin from JFK-CDG in the summer. It was my first time flying business as an adult, and it was pretty good! My only major complaint was that I found the small area for your feet when you're lying flat got really hot and uncomfortable. The space is small, and not ventilated, and it seemed like my body heat would just fill up the foot hold really fast and broil them. Lucky/anyone who regularly flies biz class: did you find the same thing? Is this just a part of flying business class in this type of seat? Totally curious if this phenomenon was just something i experienced or if other people do too.

I'm still baffled they didn't: a.) install AVOD in business class, at least. b.) freshen up the rest of the cabin with new interiors. Other than that, I think the business class seat and finishings look great.

There are many nice, top-ranked airports in the world, where a 25-minute walk from your gate to a taxi (with no wait at immigration/customs) is pretty much standard. It all depends on your gate.

Why not fly LAX-MAD nonstop?

I tried this cabin MIA-ORD (also in 8J) and really liked it. For a daytime flight (due to how private it feels and I thought the seat itself was comfortable) I would love it but I agree that the seat is not great for sleeping. It took me FOREVER to figure out the tray table though... After messing with it for over an hour I finally realized you have to press the button to make it work (oops).

As far as the tablets.. At least there is a dedicated place for it on the new 767.... I flew the last CLT-DUB flight of the year (last weekend) on the legacy US 757.... There is no place to put the tablet other than your lap. I had to balance the thing on my knees while trying to eat dinner on a tray table that was so flimsy it would barely hold the food tray. Completely unacceptable for international business class... On top of that the poor flight attendant (who was absolutely AMAZING, cannot say enough good about her) kept tripping over my chord.. One time almost causing the tablet to rip right out of my lap...

PS-- a couple weeks ago I tried to register for the "ask lucky" section of this site and it never has worked for me... (my user name is FlyingLaw)

We flew that equipment JFK FCO 2 1/2 weeks ago. The seats were certainly an improvement from the last generation. I was pleasantly surprised. Our Samsung tablets were loaded before we boarded, not afterward as you experienced. That system has some benefits over the standard AVOD but I think I prefer the built in screen. Having had he exact same meal you did, I agree that it was great. Actually I thought it was good enough to put up against my favorite meals on Singapore or Asiana. The Italian white wine was excellent as well. I ordered my dinner as an express meal. I had all the courses, just served at the same time. I will always order express in the future when available. It didn't cut into my sleep time, which is important to me. However, my overhead light, as well as about 1/3 of them in the cabin, could not be turned off. It took two eye masks to try and dim the glare for sleeping. I will see what AA offer me for that pretty awful situation on an overnight flight.

A very thorough review, Lucky ! When is your 787 review due lol

@lucky "seat 8A is a pilot crew rest, so shortly after takeoff one of the three pilots came to start his break, and they have a curtain which goes around that seat"

Just like La Premiére on AF. I'm looking forward to seeing you review of that product, but I'm sure the 767 crew rest is a nice preview.

http://www.airfrance.us/US/en/common/guidevoyageur/classeetconfort/nouvelle-premiere-airfrance.htm

I expect that all your crediting Delta flights to Flying Blue is an attempt to qualify for miles redemptions on the new AF product, n'est pas?

AA did not install screens in J since this cabin refresh is a stop gap measure. The 763's are being phased out within 5 years.

The cabin colors are much more soothing and sophisticated when compared to Delta's nasty color palate which looks tacky in J.

The 787 J class is beautiful ..although the seats are a bit narrow when sleeping. With that said, I still slept 6 hours in one a few months ago.

Hey Ben,

I've been reading your reviews for some time now via Zite. I live in Dubai and fly Emirates almost exclusively. My favorite airline has priced me out of my usual Business Class ticket home this Christmas and I'll be flying BA and AA from DXB to TPA. Thanks for the AA review as I have avoided them like a plague for years. I'm not nearly as concerned as I was.!!

Scott

Thanks for the review!

I agree it is a nice product. I have flown MIA to Europe in the retrofitted 767 business 3 times and have found it to be a great experience... comfortable and nice looking, easy to sleep at night, plenty of space to watch movies during the day. Unfortunately, on one-way of each of my 3 round trips, they swapped out the aircraft about 8-12 hours before departure and flew us in the old 767 business class cabin... so half my 9-10 hour flights were downgraded and my experiences in the old cabin were utterly miserable... just awful... night vs day... and not what I thought I was buying when I booked my flight.

Lesson learned, buyer beware, the new American Airlines 767 retrofitted business cabin is great, but it is a crap shoot as to whether you will actually get it, and the old cabin is horrible... felt like 3 of my system-wide upgrades were flushed down the toilet. And American could not care less. Basically, if they deliver you to your destinations in a cabin they classify as Business, they have fulfilled their contract...

I think I might know why the bubbly tastes different. Just flew AMS - PHL in business with the same wine list and noticed that they were pouring a cava instead of the listed champagne.

Same question as Kevin MW--would you take A330 reverse herringbone J with built in AVOD over this? Seems like the obvious choice, but the 767 cabin looks so much prettier than the A330 cabin... 😉