To kick off my trip to Japan via Mongolia, I flew American Airlines’ Boeing 737-800 first class on the 2hr30min flight from Miami to New York. American’s 737 first class is probably the single premium product I fly most often, yet for whatever reason, I’ve never actually reviewed it, so I figured it’s time to change that.
So, how is American’s 737 first class? I’d say it does the trick. The seats are comfortable and fairly spacious, and the Wi-Fi is typically fast. However, the service can be a mixed bag, the food isn’t great, and there’s no seat back entertainment. Still, ultimately I value domestic first class for the extra space, and that’s an area where this product delivers.
How I booked my American first class ticket
I booked my ticket from Miami to New York with cash. Specifically, I paid $138 for a one-way economy ticket on the following flight:
1/24 AA2347 Miami to New York departing 2:03PM arriving 5:03PM
Then thanks to my American AAdvantage Executive Platinum status, my complimentary upgrade cleared about 24 hours in advance. Those are becoming increasingly rare nowadays, in my experience, though I guess mid-afternoon on a Wednesday is a good time to fly.
American first class lounge & boarding
A regular domestic first class ticket on American doesn’t come with Admirals Club lounge access. However, I do have a membership through the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Legend Mastercard® (review), so was able to use the Admirals Club Miami.
The other lounge options in the terminal are the Amex Centurion Lounge or Turkish Airlines Lounge, depending on the credit cards and memberships you have.
My flight was departing from gate D16, with boarding scheduled to start at 1:28PM, 35 minutes before departure. Boarding only ended up starting at 1:45PM, due to a late inbound flight for the aircraft (the plane only arrived from Dallas around 1:20PM). Concierge Key members were invited to board first, followed by Group 1, which includes first class passengers.
American 737 first class cabin & seats
American’s Boeing 737-800 first class cabin consists of a total of 16 seats, spread across four rows in a 2-2 configuration. These seats feature 37″ of pitch, 20″ of width, and 5″ of recline.
American’s 737s have the Collins MIQ seat in first class, which you’ll find on quite a few airlines, as it’s a generic seat with some minor customization opportunities.
I assigned myself seat 3F, the window seat on the right side in the third row.
As far as seat features go, underneath the center armrest you’ll find a narrow but deep storage compartment. That’s also where the AC power outlet is located, which is easy to access, if you know where to look (it seems to throw off a lot of people, who don’t think to look there).
The center console also has a basic drink tray, as well as the seat recline button.
The tray table folds out from the far armrest, and can be extended completely, or folded over in half.
If you only fold it over in half, you’ll find there’s a little panel that can be flipped up, so that this can act as a personal device holder, for viewing entertainment.
The seat back contains the literature pocket, and a USB-A outlet.
The seat back has an additional personal device holder, where you can place a smartphone to watch entertainment.
Lastly, between the seats in front is a small tray that can be folded down, if you want an extra place to store a drink.
The overhead consoles have both reading lights and individual air nozzles, which is a feature I always value.
American’s 737s also contain Boeing’s updated bins, meaning you can store bags on their side, to maximize carry-on space. You’d think this would limit the number of bags that need to be gate checked, though it seems that even with bigger bins, the fundamental problem hasn’t been solved.
There’s not a proper bulkhead between first class and economy class, but rather there are just some partitions hanging from the overhead bins, and then there’s a curtain (more like a see through net) in the aisle between the cabins.
As much as I generally rag on American’s lack of investment in its premium product product, let me give the airline some credit:
- I appreciate American’s fleet consistency, because you know exactly the product you’re going to get when you board any of American’s 360+ Boeing 737s
- While Delta deserves credit for having personal televisions throughout most of the fleet, American’s first class is more spacious, and I find it makes a material difference in terms of comfort
- While United is heading in the right direction with reconfiguring its narrow body jets, the current state of United’s domestic narrow body fleet is inconsistent, and some of United’s 737s have very outdated interiors, with seats that are downright uncomfortable to sit in
American first class amenities
Lol, what amenities? With the exception of select transcon flights, don’t expect much in the way of amenities on American’s domestic first class flights. There are no pillows, blankets, or any other sort of amenity. The closest thing you’ll get to an amenity is a pre-departure beverage, and I’d say crews are 50/50 on providing those.
When pre-departure beverages are offered, sometimes the crew will just come through the cabin with a tray of water, while other times they’ll do drinks of choice. On this flight there were no pre-departure drinks to speak of.
American 737 first class entertainment & Wi-Fi
American’s Boeing 737s all feature Viasat Wi-Fi, which is among the fastest Wi-Fi you’ll find in the skies. Unlike on Delta, Wi-Fi isn’t free. You can either buy a monthly plan, or there are Wi-Fi passes available for sale on each flight, with pricing being dynamic. On this flight, a one hour pass cost $15, while a full flight pass cost $19.
I have a monthly membership, so was able to use that to stay connected throughout the flight. The speeds were excellent.
Since American doesn’t have seat back entertainment on its 737s, the airline instead has streaming entertainment, so you can connect to American’s Wi-Fi portal, and then choose from a variety of movies, TV shows, and more. While I have a strong preference for seat back entertainment, the selection is at least quite good, with lots of current movies, TV shows, and even live TV.
American 737 departure from Miami
Boarding is never really efficient on US airlines, and this flight was no exception. Boarding took around 30 minutes, and wrapped up around 2:15PM. The main cabin door was closed immediately, and then we pushed back a moment later.
At that point the manual safety demonstration was performed. American has an audio track for the safety information, and then the flight attendants stand in the aisle during that time.
Our taxi started at 2:20PM, and was super quick.
By 2:25PM we were holding short of runway 8R, and a minute later, were cleared for takeoff.
We had a smooth climb out, and as usual when departing Miami, the views were gorgeous.
As is standard on US airlines, the seatbelt sign stayed on for around 30 minutes. At that point we leveled off, and the captain made his welcome aboard announcement, informing us of our flight time of 2hr20min, and our cruising altitude of 35,000 feet.
American first class lunch service
Lunch was being served in first class on this American flight. American lets you pre-order your meals in first class, which gives you access to a larger selection of options than onboard. Below were the options for this flight. It always makes sense to pre-order, since you may very well not get your first choice if you don’t do so.
Service began about 40 minutes after takeoff, with warm towels being distributed.
At that point drink and meal orders were taken. For what it’s worth, below is American’s drink selection (this is also what’s available in economy, which is why pricing is listed as well).
I ordered a Diet Coke to drink, which was served with warm mixed nuts, a staple of American’s first class experience.
For my meal, I selected the harvest vegetable and grain bowl with roasted garlic dressing, roasted vegetables, pickled onions, lentil salad, green beans, and roasted shiitake mushrooms. This was served with some packaged sourdough flatbread crackers, veggies and hummus, and some sort of cake for dessert.
This is usually my go-to meal in American first class. It’s not great, but it’s reasonably healthy, and I’m usually not looking to eat on domestic flights anyway. I believe American has finally changed its meal cycle in the past couple of weeks, which is long overdue, because the airline doesn’t alternate options often enough.
American 737 first class lavatory
American has a lavatory at the front of the first class cabin on the 737. Note that this lavatory isn’t reserved for first class passengers, but is also open to passengers in economy. The only exception is on inbound international flights to the United States.
American’s 737 lavatories are unfortunately tiny, so expect to be a bit claustrophobic. Oh, one more thing — on this flight the first class lavatory was actually out of service from the time the flight departed. So this picture was taken from another flight, as the only option on this flight was to use the lavatories at the back of the cabin.
American first class service
Service in American first class can be a mixed bag. Some crews are great, while some are not-great. The flight attendant working first class on this flight was friendly. She was doing her best, and had a positive attitude. Admittedly I intentionally limited my consumption during this flight to avoid using the lavatory, so there wasn’t much service to speak of beyond the meal.
American 737 arrival in New York
I enjoyed the views enroute to New York, and at cruising altitude, it sure was a pretty afternoon.
We started a gradual descent at 4:15PM, and 15 minutes later, the flight attendants were told to prepare the cabin for arrival.
I was on Flightradar24 for the entire descent, and the views would have been amazing, I’m sure, given that we flew right over Manhattan. However, there was virtually no visibility, so below is what the view was like out the window for most of the descent.
We finally broke out of the clouds a few hundred feet above the ground, and landed at 4:55PM. We had a very rough landing, and slowed down quickly, prior to exiting the runway.
From there we had a short five minute taxi to our arrival gate, where we pulled in at 5PM.
Believe it or not, this was my first time visiting LaGuardia Terminal B, so my first order of business was checking out the Chase Sapphire Lounge New York LaGuardia.
Bottom line
American’s 737 first class is basic, but does the trick. I appreciate American’s fleet consistency when it comes to 737 interiors, as well as the high speed Viasat Wi-Fi and pitch that’s better than on Delta. However, other than that, American first class isn’t much to get excited about.
Service can be a mixed bag, food isn’t great, there aren’t amenities, and on this flight there was even a broken lavatory. Yet living in Miami, American is typically the best choice, so on balance I’d consider American’s 737 first class to be decent enough.
What’s your take on American 737 first class?
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