For the final segment of the return journey of our trip to Geneva, we flew American Airlines’ Boeing 777-200ER business class on the nine hour flight from London (LHR) to Miami (MIA).
I came into this flight with pretty low expectations. American isn’t exactly known for world class food or service. But I’ve gotta say, I walked away from the flight with a favorable impression, and the experience was nearly perfect. The service was impeccable, the seats were comfortable, the entertainment and Wi-Fi were very good, and the food amenities were more than sufficient.
Based on this experience, I wouldn’t hesitate to fly with American on a long haul flight in business class again. Then again, the challenge with US airlines is that service is consistently inconsistent, so I wouldn’t expect to have such a good experience again.
How I booked my American business class ticket
I booked the return portion of our itinerary from Geneva back to Miami using American AAdvantage miles. Specifically, I ticketed the following in business class for 57,500 American AAdvantage miles plus $90.90 in taxes and fees per person:
3/12 BA723 Geneva to London departing 6:35AM arriving 7:25AM
3/12 AA57 London to Miami departing 11:15AM arriving 5:10PM
It goes without saying that this was an excellent value, even if it wasn’t the most aspirational or glamorous redemption. In a separate installment, I reviewed the British Airways business class flight from Geneva.
American business class lounge & boarding
American Airlines departs from Heathrow Airport Terminal 3, which is a pretty awesome terminal in terms of the lounges you can access as a oneworld flyer. Since we had a lengthy layover, we visited both the Qantas Lounge and the Cathay Pacific First Lounge.
I won’t be reviewing them this time around, since not much has changed since my last reviews of the facilities. However, I’ll emphasize that it’s a real treat passing through this terminal as a oneworld Emerald member, as I far prefer these options to the British Airways Galleries First Lounge in Terminal 5.
Our flight was departing from gate 1, with boarding scheduled for 10:25AM, 50 minutes before the scheduled 11:15AM departure. Unfortunately the inbound aircraft was delayed a bit, and at around 10:30AM it was announced that boarding would only start at 11AM.
That ended up dragging on even longer, and boarding actually started at 11:25AM, an hour behind schedule. Concierge Key members were invited to board first, followed by business class passengers.
American 777 business class cabin & seats
American’s Boeing 777-200ERs are configured with 37 business class seats, spread across two cabins. There’s one cabin between the first and second set of doors, and another cabin behind the second set of doors.
I should mention that American has two different types of business class seats on its 777-200ERs, and the fleet is pretty evenly split. Some have the Safran Concept D seats (which were the original seats), while others have the Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seats (which are the newer seats, and which you’ll find on many airlines).
The airline uses these configurations pretty interchangeably, and you’ll only know with any level of certainty which configuration you’ll get in the days leading up to departure.
This flight featured the Safran Concept D seats, which are generally viewed as the less preferred ones (read my review of the other seats here). The business class cabin on this aircraft consists of a total of 37 seats, in a 1-2-1 configuration. The forward cabin has 21 seats, spread across six rows, while the rear cabin has 16 seats, spread across four rows.
The seats are somewhat staggered, and alternate between being forward and rear facing. The window seats in odd numbered rows face backward, while the window seats in even numbered rows face forward. Meanwhile the center seats in odd numbered rows face forward, while the center seats in even numbered rows face backward.
Which seats are best? If you’re traveling with someone and want to sit near them, I’d recommend the center seats in even numbered rows, since they’re closer together and are further from the aisle, so they allow you to actually enjoy the flight together.
Meanwhile the center seats in odd numbered rows would be my last picks, as they’re not close together, and are instead near the aisle.
As far as window seats go, generally I like the seats in odd numbered rows more, assuming you don’t mind sitting backward. This is because your head is closer to the windows, and therefore it’s easier to look out, while your feet are closer to the aisle.
I assigned myself seat 7A, the rear facing window seat on the left side in the first row of the second cabin.
Then I assigned Ford seat 8A, the forward facing window seat immediately behind that.
While many people aren’t a fan of these seats, the single greatest thing about them is that there’s no small footwell you have to place your feet into when sleeping, but rather that space opens up completely, which is awesome.
The seat’s features were both on the window and aisle side. On the window side of the seat was a small exposed storage compartment with two USB-A and two AC power outlets. I appreciate the quantity of charging options.
On the aisle side of the seat was the entertainment controller (which could be removed, for easier use), plus a small monitor that lets you control all of the seat’s functions, including recline.
The tray table also folded out from the aisle side of the seat. It’s quite a large tray table, and when you remove it, you can flip it over to double the size. However, don’t expect that you’ll be able to get up when the tray table is out, since it really locks you in there.
The entertainment monitor was attached to the seat behind, and could be extended with the push of a button, for head-on viewing. American’s 777 business class entertainment screens are 15.4″, and are touchscreen.
As is standard on American’s long haul fleet, there were individual air nozzles at each seat, which is a feature I value greatly.
As I see it, there are a few pros and cons to this seat. The biggest benefit is that this is one of the few decent products out there where you don’t have to place your feet in any sort of a footwell when in bed mode, and I think that’s hugely underrated.
Unfortunately the two main downsides of this product are the complete lack of storage at the seat, plus the “rocking.” What am I talking about with the rocking? Each pair of forward and rear facing seats are connected, so when a person in one seat moves around in their seat, you’ll almost certainly feel it in the “paired” seat.
This is frustrating to many, since you might find that you’re woken up on a long haul flight by the person in the adjacent seat shifting around. However, there are a few seats that don’t have this issue, as they’re not directly connected to another seat. On the 777-200ER, these seats include 1A, 7A, 7L, 10A, and 10L.
One other thing I have to mention is that the cabin was looking really worn. The leather was starting to fade, and there were all kinds of scratches and scuff marks. These seats could definitely use some TLC.
American business class amenities
There were a variety of amenities waiting at the seat upon boarding. This included a substantial pillow and blanket from Casper. While perhaps not as good as the bedding in United Polaris business class, I still find this to be excellent. I appreciate how substantial the pillow is, and also how the blanket is cozy without being overly warm.
There were also a pair of Bang & Olufsen headphones. The one area where American’s business class is the best in the world is when it comes to headphones, as there’s no other airline offering such high quality headphones in business class.
There was also an amenity kit, or more accurately, an amenity box. This contained socks, eyeshades, earplugs, a pen, a dental kit, a cleansing wipe, lip balm, and lotion. Some of the products were from D.S. & Durga.
The menu and drink list were also waiting at the seat.
Lastly, there was a bottle of water.
During the boarding process, pre-departure drinks were served, with the choice of water, orange juice, or sparkling wine. I find it so cheap how US airlines typically serve pre-departure drinks in plastic cups. It’s one thing if we’re talking about a domestic flight, but on a long haul flight? Bleh…
American 777 business class entertainment & Wi-Fi
A real strong point of the long haul American experience is the entertainment selection. American’s entertainment library is excellent in terms of quality and quantity. There’s a huge variety of movies, TV shows, music, games, and more, so you should have no trouble staying entertained.
Of course there’s also the map feature, which is my favorite entertainment option on just about any airline, frankly.
American also has Wi-Fi on its Boeing 777s, in partnership with Panasonic. The pricing options were either $29 for a two-hour pass, or $35 for a full flight pass, with no data caps. I bought the latter, since I worked for most of the flight, and for that matter, the incremental pricing beyond the first two hours is minimal.
While not as fast as American’s Viasat Wi-Fi on domestic jets, I found the speeds to be reasonably good, and was able to stay productive for most of the flight.
American 777 departure from London
Despite our late start, the boarding process was efficient, and wrapped up by 11:45AM, 20 minutes after it started. That quick boarding was thanks to the flight being fairly empty — while all business class seats were occupied, economy was only about half full. The door was then closed immediately.
Just as the door closed, the friendly captain added his welcome aboard, informing us of our flight time of nine hours, and our imminent departure.
We pushed back at 11:55AM, and at that point the safety video was screened. As you can see, it was a rainy day in London. As annoying as that can be for taking pictures out the window, it was almost artsy, so I’ll just go with it. 😉
Then at 12PM we began our taxi. We had a fairly short taxi, but then a bit of a queue for takeoff… that’s not so bad when you have a view of the Concorde!
Finally at 12:15PM we were cleared for takeoff on runway 27L.
We had a powerful takeoff, and then rocketed off into the afternoon sky.
The climb out was pretty smooth, though the seatbelt sign stayed on for around 20 minutes.
American business class lunch service
Shortly after takeoff, lunch was served, which was the main meal on this flight. Below you can find the menu and drink list for the flight.
Service began around 20 minutes after takeoff, with warm towels being distributed.
A few minutes later, tablecloths were distributed. American’s tablecloths sure seem pretty cheap, given that they don’t even cover the entire tray table.
30 minutes after takeoff, the flight attendant working our part of the cabin was at our seats with the drink cart, offering a choice of drinks. I didn’t want to have any alcohol on this flight, as I was hoping to stay productive, so I ordered a Diet Coke and still water. This was served with a ramekin of warm, mixed nuts.
45 minutes after takeoff, the first course was served. The first course was comprised of an appetizer of tataki salmon with rhubarb and ginger compote, and a salad with baby artichokes and red and yellow cherry tomatoes. There was also a selection of bread, and I chose a pretzel stick.
I must say, both the appetizer and salad were very good, much better than I’m used to on American.
60 minutes after takeoff, main courses were served. We had both pre-ordered our meals, to ensure we’d get our first choice. I ordered the grilled salmon with red curry sauce, thai rice, diced pumpkin, and sautéed choy sum. This was very good — both the fish and sauce were flavorful.
Ford ordered the chili marinated chicken with mojo verde sauce, sweet potato mash, roasted corn, and mini chili. He said this was quite good as well.
As soon as main courses were cleared, dessert was offered, with the choice of an ice cream sundae, cheesecake, or a cheese plate. While I almost always have the ice cream sundae, I decided to mix things up, and instead ordered the berry cheesecake with a cup of coffee.
Ford went with the sundae, with chocolate sauce and nuts.
All-in-all, this was the best meal I’ve had on American in quite some time, and I found all the dishes to be tasty. On top of that, the service was friendly and efficient (more on the service in a bit).
American 777 business class lavatories & snack bar
American has three lavatories in business class on the Boeing 777-200ER — there are two in the galley by the second set of doors, and one by the first set of doors. The best lavatory in business class is the one on the left by the second set of doors, as it’s huge. It’s so nice to not have a lavatory that makes you claustrophobic.
The other two lavatories were more of a standard size, but were still okay.
Unfortunately the lavatories weren’t really cleaned throughout the flight. To be clear, at American that’s not the crew’s responsibility, but there sure is quite a difference between flying an Asian carrier and a US carrier when it comes to lavatory cleanliness, especially toward the end of the flight.
Also in the galley by the second set of doors was a self-serve bar, with bottled water, packaged snacks, sandwiches, salads, cheese plates, and more.
American 777 business class bed
I worked for a couple of hours after lunch, and then decided to nap for a bit. I reclined my seat and made my bed, and found it to be comfortable. As mentioned above, I appreciate how this seat has an open ottoman rather than an enclosed footwell.
In reality, I didn’t get all that much sleep, but rather just snoozed briefly (which is really all I want on a daytime flight where I arrive at home in the evening). I fell asleep around 3hr30min after takeoff…
…and woke up just over 4hr10min after takeoff.
American business class pre-arrival service
Around 90 minutes before landing, the pre-arrival snack service began. You can find the menu below.
Of the two options, I selected the orzo pasta salad, with peas, zucchini, feta cheese, sun dried tomatoes, pepper pearls, pumpkin seeds, and balsamic vinaigrette. This was served with a fruit plate, some breadsticks, and a packaged cup of apple and blackcurrant cheesecake. It was tasty enough, and fairly light.
Ford had the other option, which was a toasted BBQ sandwich with pulled beef and brie. It was also served with fruit and the cheesecake cup, but had chips instead of breadsticks. Frankly this dish looked significantly less appealing, in my opinion, and Ford wasn’t a fan.
American business class service
What I haven’t talked much about up until this point was the best part of the flight, which was the service. As I often say, the only thing consistent about service on US airlines is that it’s inconsistent. Fortunately on this flight we lucked out by having Arthur working our section.
His service was simply perfect, and exactly what I hope for when flying with a US airline. He was efficient, genuinely friendly, and informal. Just to give some examples:
- He greeted each passenger in his section at the beginning of the flight — “my name is Arthur, and if there’s anything I can do to make you comfortable, please let me know”
- I appreciated the polite tone with which he communicated — “have you had a chance to decide which entree you’d like today?”
- He performed the entire meal service so efficiently, all while not making anyone feel rushed; I asked if I could wait about five minutes to have dessert, to which he responded “your schedule is my schedule”
- During the meal service, he never let a glass get anywhere close to empty, and the question was always phrased as something along the lines of “what else can I get you?” (in other words, “you’re not inconveniencing me by asking for anything”)
- Throughout the entire nine hour flight, he must have checked on passengers every 10 minutes to see if they wanted anything; when he was on his break, his colleagues did the same thing in his absence
Arthur is an absolute rockstar, and I hope I get to fly with him again. If all American crews were as good as he is, I’d fly American all the time on long haul flights. What a breath of fresh air.
American 777 arrival in Miami
Before we knew it, we were starting our descent to Miami. At 5PM Miami time, the captain was back on the PA to advise that we’d be landing in about 20 minutes, and five minutes later the seatbelt sign was turned on.
While we were landing into the east, our descent consisted of first flying over Miami Beach and then Miami, before flying inland approaching the Everglades, and then making a 180 degree turn.
At 5:20PM, we had a gorgeously smooth touchdown on runway 26. I’m not joking when I say that it might have been the smoothest touchdown I’ve ever experienced, to the point that I’m pretty sure a domino wouldn’t have fallen over if I had placed it next to my seat.
We then had a short five minute taxi to our arrival gate, E8, where we pulled in at 5:25PM. We bid farewell to the crew, headed through Global Entry, and were home in no time.
Bottom line
We had a phenomenal flight in American’s 777 business class. American’s hard product is competitive (though not cutting edge), and the carrier’s entertainment and Wi-Fi are great. Those things are consistent.
What’s much more variable is the food and service. Fortunately we did pretty well on both fronts on this flight. The food was actually quite good, and the service couldn’t have been better, thanks to Arthur. Based on this experience, I’d fly American again on a long haul flight in a heartbeat. The challenge, of course, is that I could have a very different service experience on another flight.
What do you make of American’s Boeing 777 business class?
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