A flight with very friendly flight attendants but otherwise was deficient compared to business class on other airlines.

This flight occurred in April 2023.

View other posts in this series:

• Trip Introduction: Springtime in the City of Light
• Review: AA Flagship Lounge LAX
• Review: American Airlines 777-300ER Business Class LAX-LHR (this post)
• Review: British Airways Galleries First
• Review: British Airways Galleries South
• Great for Families: A Review of the Hyatt Regency Étoile
• Exploring Paris With Children
• Thoughts on Disneyland Paris
• Review: Air France Business Class Lounge CDG Terminal 2E Hall K
• Review: Air France 777-300 Business Class CDG-LAX

Booking

This flight was the second half of the roundtrip that we started back in November 2022. We did need to also bring along Jenn’s parents for this trip, so we booked two more tickets on the same British Airways flight using 60,000 Alaska Airlines and $758.80 in taxes/fees for each person. British Airways gets a bad rap for the fees it charges, but I tend to view it as paying for a flight in economy and then instantly upgrading using points. It would be nice to avoid paying the fees altogether, but we needed her parents to come with us on this flight, so our options were very limited.

That being said, British Airways canceled on us. We ended up losing a day on our trip and British Airways then booked us on their partner American Airlines. Thankfully, we did recoup costs to the tune of $642 per person thanks to EC Regulation 261/2004. Also, normally award flights are not eligible to earn miles, but British Airways booked Jenn’s parents into a fare class that did earn miles, recouping a good amount of the mileage price as well.

Arrival and First Impressions

After departing the AA Flagship Lounge, it was a very short walk to Gate 41, which was very crowded with everyone anxious to get onboard. Once the plane arrived at the gate, it was a good 20 minutes until the doors opened and boarding started.

The boarding process felt a bit hectic with many passengers making their way past the business class cabin as they made their way back to the economy section. The cabin is arranged in a 1-2-1 format with seats in a reverse herringbone. As we had a party of six for this flight, we ended up taking three rows of middle seats.

We found bedding and an amenity kit waiting for us at our seats. The seats were comfortable enough for a long flight and the controls by the seat were intuitive to use. Bang and Olufsen headphones can be found at each seat (more on that later).

Inside the Shinola amenity kit were the usual suspects–a toothbrush and toothpaste, socks, blindfold, earplugs, and some lotion. Just remember if you’re bringing kids to pack your own kid toothpaste–my kids don’t like the taste of adult toothpaste just yet.

The footwell seemed good enough for me but note it might still be a tight fit if you’re taller.

The one real benefit of flying on American Airlines, if this counts, are the individual air nozzles at each seat. Sometimes airline cabins have a tendency to not be at the temperature you prefer. It’s an easy problem to solve when the temperature is too cold (just use a blanket or two), but if it’s too hot in the cabin, I feel many airlines don’t provide an air nozzle. So mark this as a positive for American Airlines.

Turning the seat into a bed is easily done, but it would be nice if there were some mattress topper provided. While the chair is comfortable as a seat, it could be improved as a bed. Not to mention, a better pillow could have been provided.

One problem with the reverse herringbone design when bringing younger children is that it can be a little harder to provide comfort for them during taxiing, takeoff, and landing. My arms were at least able to reach Char’s arms but Jenn would not be able to do the same. We’ve found that allowing the kids to hold their own entertainment devices helped when we would otherwise be unable to sooth them.

During the boarding process, a flight attendant came around offering pre-departure beverages and I chose the champagne while the kids opted for juice.

Dinner

Awaiting us at our seats were the menus for dinner and “dine on demand” (also known as breakfast). American Airlines does have a kids meal that must be selected in advance, but unfortunately they do not offer any definitive information on what would be provided, nor how large it was. To hedge against a child being potentially too hungry, I chose the kids meal for Char but the mezzi rigatoni for Alex. In retrospect, I probably should have stuck with the kids meal for both, but it would have been nice if they provided better information up front.

After takeoff, we placed our orders and hot towels were handed out. The kids don’t yet understand what this is for, so they use it to wipe down their tray tables, which I found to be adorable.

However, the pacing of the service really needs to be improved. The dinner process took over 90 minutes from the moment they handed out table cloths to when dessert was served, and it wasn’t because I was taking my time. If I were on a shorter flight to Europe out of New York, that’s valuable sleeping time lost. Keep in mind it also took about half an hour for them to start dinner. I’m glad the flight out of LAX is longer where I didn’t mind quite as much.

I wasn’t a fan of the champagne, so I switched to the riesling, but that wasn’t a great choice either and perhaps was one of the most unappealing rieslings I recall ever having. I don’t feel like I’m asking for much, but I would like American Airlines to improve their wine offerings.

Eventually, a salad and some chicken arrived. I know the chicken was advertised as being a small plate, but it might be nice to actually offer it on a smaller plate so it doesn’t look like they’re being cheap with how much is on offer. The meal itself is fine, but otherwise unmemorable. To be honest, the best item here is the pretzel bread.

I ordered the horseradish beef short rib, which was a hearty meal. For a beef option on a plane, it was just about what you’re looking for. The presentation could be better and perhaps some more vegetables would be nice, but otherwise there were no complaints here.

Char on the other hand was enjoying life while waiting for her main meal. The kids meal comes with apple juice, oreo cookies, a candy bar, bite-sized vegetables, and a dessert. The main entrée eventually showed up and turned out to be spaghetti and meatballs (something she ate very little of as she is currently not a fan of pasta with red sauce).

Alex’s mezzi rigatoni had more adult flavors (and vegetables) than he was hoping, so we ended up switching what the kids were eating so at least one of them could be satisfied.

After the plates were cleared, I ordered the ice cream sundae, which was way too sweet.

Breakfast

Roughly 90 minutes before landing, we ordered the fresh fruit bowl, and the kids were big fans. They love eating yogurt and fresh fruit, so this seemed like the perfect combination for them. Of everything on offer from American Airlines on this flight, everyone in our party agreed this was the best. I’ll let you be the judge on their catering if simple fruit received the most praise.

Service

I actually must admit we had a stellar crew on this flight. The flight attendants frequently mentioned to me how cute my in-laws were and the crew went out of their way to make sure they had as comfortable a flight as possible. The flight attendants seemed to genuinely enjoy their jobs. While the execution could be improved (the timing on how long dinner took comes to mind), the crew at least had a very positive attitude.

I did hear them talking to other passengers, lamenting that everyone seems to write off American Airlines business class in favor of British Airways business class. Perhaps if you take this crew and put them on a British Airways plane with British Airways catering, we would have a contender for one of the better options to Europe out of LAX. Since the combination doesn’t exist, I would easily rank British Airways above American on this route. I feel American Airlines just cares about the seat and makes little investment elsewhere.

Odds and Ends

So about the Bang and Olufsen headphones I mentioned earlier. The main problem I have is the inability to listen during the last half hour of the flight. Upon initial descent, the crew comes around to collect the headphones. I believe this is done to prevent someone from stealing the headphones. I’m not sure if this is a problem with other airlines, but no one else collects it this early. If you’re in the middle of watching a show, consider it over unless you enjoy reading subtitles only. This is especially a problem with kids, as they suddenly have nothing else to do and might get impatient (make sure you bring your own entertainment). Even for adults, it’s a bit boring to just sit there in silence for half an hour. American Airlines needs to correct this.

Wi-Fi is available for purchase, but costs either $29 for two hours or $35 for the whole flight. Since I was planning to sleep most of this flight, I didn’t buy a pass, but wow those are some high prices for internet. With some airlines making internet free of charge, this felt a bit egregious. It also would have been nice to have free or discounted mobile messaging, but that didn’t seem to be an option.

Recommendation: No

If you’re the kind of passenger who is purely looking for a flat-bed across the Atlantic and you care about nothing else, I think you’ll be ok here. But business class is priced at a large premium over regular economy such that it might actually be cheaper to buy three economy seats for yourself and then you can get pretty close to the lie-flat experience.

To me, business class should also come with better food and service to justify the price. While the service on this flight was excellent (aside from execution), the food and alcohol selections don’t feel any different than a domestic first class flight. With other options to choose from, I’m not sure I would deliberately choose American Airlines the next time I cross the Atlantic.

Have you flown American Airlines business class? How was your experience?