American 777 First Class: More Of A “Business Class Plus”

A few days ago, I wrapped my quick detour to Africa, and flew American Airlines’ Boeing 777-300ER first class on the nine hour flight from London (LHR) to Miami (MIA).

I wasn’t actually supposed to take this flight — my intent was to fly British Airways Club Suites, but hours before my flight, the plane was swapped to one with the old business class (this trip was a disaster when it comes to plane swaps). So at that point I decided to just book a nonstop flight back home on American, and figured I’d check out the carrier’s first class (or so it’s called), given that a reasonably priced last minute award was available, and I wouldn’t be on the hook for high carrier surcharges.

For context, American’s only international first class is found on the carrier’s Boeing 777-300ERs, and those planes are supposed to be reconfigured as of late 2025, at which point international first class will be eliminated, and replaced by a new business class. I figured it was time to give American’s most premium product one last try before it’s discontinued.

So, how was American’s international first class? It depends on how you frame it. If you compare it to the world’s best first class products, it’s a complete joke, and you’ll spend the whole flight just comparing everything to Emirates and crying. However, if you view this as a “business class plus” product, and are redeeming a reasonable number of miles, you’ll probably be happy.

The seats are ultimately quite comfortable, and the bedding and amenities are good, but the soft product is otherwise lackluster. Let me share some initial thoughts, and then soon I’ll have a full review.

American’s 777 first class seats are big but not private

American’s Boeing 777 first class cabin consists of eight seats, spread across two rows, in a 1-2-1 configuration.

To American’s credit, the seats are quite spacious, and they’ve aged surprisingly well, given that the seats are being discontinued sooner rather than later.

I find the seats to be comfortable for both lounging and sleeping. One innovative aspect of the first class seats is how they swivel, so you can actually turn your seat so that it fully faces the window. This is super fun, since there’s a little desk that can pop out from the side. Talk about an “office” with a view!

Of course this isn’t the world’s most spectacular first class suite, or anything, but the hard product is one of the stronger aspects of the experience. The one thing I don’t like about it is the total lack of privacy. It actually has less privacy than the business class seats. It’s not a huge deal, I’m just surprised no sort of privacy partition was installed a decade back, when these seats were introduced.

American’s 777 first class also has excellent entertainment, but that’s the case across cabins on the long haul fleet. The selection of movies and TV shows is extensive, so you shouldn’t get bored.

There’s also Wi-Fi on the 777s, provided by Panasonic. A pass for the entire flight costs $35, which is steep, but at least there are no data caps, and I found the speeds to be very good. Last year, American managed to improve the Wi-Fi speeds on its wide body jets, and it’s noticeable. I was actually able to stay productive for most of the flight, rather than constantly waiting for pages to load.

American’s first class amenities are good enough

One thing where American nicely differentiates first class from business class is with the amenities. Each first class passenger was offered an amenity kit, which was decent enough, with Joann Vargas and Relevant products.

There were also comfy pajamas and slippers from Nest, which are offered on this route in first class, but not business class.

The bedding is also solid, with a small pillow and day blanket, plus a larger set of Casper bedding, which includes a larger pillow, a mattress pad, and a cozy duvet.

American’s first class catering is hilariously bad

American’s first class catering is not good. It’s basically the same as the carrier’s business class catering, except there’s soup and olives (what a product investment!). Heck, the entire service isn’t even performed directly on the tray table, but rather all the food is brought out on a tray, like you’d find in a not-great business class product.

Service began with warm mixed nuts and olives, so that’s one of the two aspects of the meal service that’s differentiated (in business class you only get mixed nuts).

Next up was a tray with the starter and salad, described as a mixed field greens salad with toasted walnuts, diced apples, and sultanas, and native lobster, with crisp fennel salad, pink grapefruit, and orange dressing.

The next course was a slow-roasted tomato soup with pesto crouton garnish. This is the other part of the experience that’s different than business class, since there’s no soup in business class.

For the main course, I selected the organic Scottish salmon with Jasmine rice, wok chop, and Asian spices. Organic food on American?! Damn, they’re really investing!

Lastly, for dessert I had the ice cream sundae, which is the dessert that US airlines seem to do best.

Then before landing, the pre-arrival snack was a Mediterranean orzo salad with orzo pasta, feta cheese, mixed olives, roasted broccolini, blistered tomatoes, and roasted pepper puree.

If you think the above doesn’t look very first class, wait until you see the wine list. The highlight of the list was the Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Millesime 2015, which is a champagne you’ll find on several airlines in business class.

The rest of the wine list? Well, I can’t fully speak to the quality, but there’s not a single wine on the list that retails for over $12 per bottle. Yes, in international first class.

So yeah, I just stuck to Diet Coke and water for the flight.

American’s first class service was well intentioned

I try to come into flights on US airlines with reasonable expectations on the service front. I know what to realistically expect, and I tend to think that if I can get personable, informal, and relatively attentive service, that’s a huge win.

So I’ve gotta say, for the most part, the American crews working the Miami to London are pretty great, by American standards. There seems to be a bit of a “mafia” working this route, with the same senior crew consistently bidding for the route, so they actually have pretty good teamwork, and crews also get to know frequent passengers on the route.

In first class, we had the purser, who was… okay. He was perhaps the least enthusiastic crew member. For example, upon boarding, his greeting to me was “sparkling wine, water, orange juice?” No “hello,” or “welcome onboard,” or “are you familiar with the seat?”

Then there was a lady working first class, and she was honestly lovely, in the most Waffle House kind of way possible. I started off the flight as her “honey,” then I became her “sweetie,” and then after waking up from my nap, I was a “babe.”

But, you know, she was on top of things, and constantly checked on passengers, and she was also genuinely fun and entertaining, so that’s about all you can ask for. She made the most of the limited product that American gives crews to work with. It was a stark contrast to when I flew American’s 777 first class from Dallas to Hong Kong back in the day, and had a crew that just clearly didn’t want to be there.

Then the best part of service on this flight was Arthur, who wasn’t even working first class. I had him on this exact route in business class last year, and he was awesome. I saw him again this flight, when he kept checking on first class passengers as well, and he’s stellar, and a true professional.

So this was honestly one of my better service experiences in American first class.

Bottom line

While American is eliminating its international first class late next year, the airline has already clearly given up on offering a substantially differentiated soft product. That being said, if you come in with the right expectations, the experience could still be worth it.

On the plus side, American’s 777 first class offers spacious seats, extensive entertainment, and reasonably good bedding and amenities. On this flight, I also had a well intentioned crew, which is more than I can say about many other American flights.

The food and drinks is really where the experience falls flat, though. The catering is almost identical to what you’ll find in business class, while the wine list has to be among the worst of any airline in the world in first class.

All that being said, I wouldn’t hesitate to fly American first class again if the points requirement were reasonable. I’d gladly pay an extra 10-20K miles for this product over business class. However, I pity the person who is booking a full fare ticket in this product (though I assume they’d be doing so based on schedule more than anything else).

What do you make of American’s 777 first class?