Introduction
Gulf Air Falcon Gold Lounge London Heathrow
Gulf Air Business Class A330 London To Bahrain
Westin Bahrain City Centre
Etihad Airways Business Class Lounge Abu Dhabi Airport
Etihad Airways First Class Apartment A380 Abu Dhabi To London
Andaz London Liverpool Street Hotel
Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel Copenhagen
Radisson Blu Royal Hotel Copenhagen
Sheraton London Heathrow Hotel
Cathay Pacific Lounge London Heathrow Airport
American Airlines First Class 777-300ER London To New York
Sheraton New York JFK Airport
American Airlines Flagship Lounge New York JFK Airport
American Airlines First Class A321 New York To Los Angeles
Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort & Spa
American Airlines Admirals Club Honolulu Airport
American Airlines First Class 777-300ER Los Angeles To London
Sheraton Skyline Hotel London Heathrow
Etihad Airways Lounge London Heathrow Airport
Etihad Airways First Class 777-300ER London To Abu Dhabi
Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort & Spa
Cairo Airport VIP Service
Qatar Airways First Class 777-300ER Cairo To Doha
The Airport Hotel Doha Hamad International Airport
Qatar Airways Business Class A350 Doha To Frankfurt
Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport
US Airways Business Class A330 Frankfurt To Philadelphia
I was really excited to finally fly American’s new first class for the first time. I’ve flown their new 777-300ER business class many times, including the following routes:
Hong Kong to Dallas
Dallas To Hong Kong
Sao Paulo to New York
New York to Sao Paulo
London to New York
New York to London
I’ve been extremely impressed by the new product, so was very excited to try out their new first class, given that it never really looked that much better to me than their new business class product.
Keep in mind that long term the 777-300ER is the only longhaul aircraft on which American will have a first class product. Throughout the rest of their longhaul fleet they’ll just have business class as the top cabin.
American 107
London (LHR) – New York (JFK)
Saturday, January 3
Depart: 5:05PM
Arrive: 8:20PM
Duration: 8hr15min
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Seat: 2J (First Class)
We boarded through door 2L and turned left to head towards the first class cabin. That required walking through the business class mini-cabin, which is usually my preferred place to sit.
The 777-300ER first class cabin looks nice enough, though completely lacks privacy, which is ironic, since the reverse herringbone business class seats are very private. That being said, I do like the minimalist and neutral/understated look of the cabin.
American 777-300ER first class cabin
I headed to seat 2A, and noticed just how spacious the area around the seat was. The seat itself wasn’t very wide, but there was plenty of space around it, presumably to make room for the “swivel” function of the seat.
American 777-300ER first class, seat 2A
There’s a fairly large ottoman below the TV.
American 777-300ER first class, seat 2A
However, shortly after settling into seat 2A I realized that I actually took the wrong seat, and was assigned seat 2J — oops! That way I was seated across from my two friends, and as it turned out by chance I had another friend seated in front of me.
American 777-300ER first class, seat 2K
American 777-300ER first class, seat 2K
I have to give American credit for the quantity of sheets and pillows they have in first class. There are two pillows, a blanket, and a duvet. Is it Cathay Pacific or Qantas in terms of bedding? Nope. But it’s not bad, all things considered.
American 777-300ER first class pillows, blanket, and duvet
American first class 777-300ER, seat 2K
In terms of the seat’s other amenities, there’s a compartment to the side of the seat, which can store headphones. When opened it has a pop-out mirror. Inside are two power ports, as well as the headphone jacks.
American first class 777-300ER, seat 2K
Below it is the handheld entertainment controller, which is easy to use.
American 777-300ER first class entertainment controller, power port, etc.
The tray table folds out of the wood side table, and below it are three buttons for turning on the light, and popping out the tray table and TV.
American first class 777-300ER, seat controls
On the wood panel next to the seat was a seat controller, which was also quite easy to use.
American first class 777-300ER, seat controls
Then there was a small, open storage compartment, perfect for an iPhone or glasses. There was also a conveniently placed USB outlet there.
American first class 777-300ER, storage
Already waiting at my seat were Bose headphones (kudos to American for offering these in first and business class), the menu for tonight’s flight, an immigration form for the US, and an amenity kit.
American first class 777-300ER, Bose headphones and menu
At the time American had iPad amenity kit cases, which are fairly creative, though not all that useful if you don’t have a regular sized iPad (presently they’re offering collector’s edition heritage amenity kits).
American first class amenity kit
I also requested some pajamas, which weren’t otherwise proactively offered. American has among my favorite pajamas of any airline. While they’re not the most stylish, they’re light, soft, and wash really well (unlike the British Airways pajamas, which make me look like I’m trying out for a slutty cheerleading team after one wash).
American first class pajamas
There were slippers on offer as well, which I really appreciate. Many airlines don’t offer slippers in first class, which blows my mind. I don’t want to have to put on my shoes every time I go to the lavatory, but also don’t want to step onto the filthy floor barefoot or in socks.
American first class slippers
Once settled in I was offered a pre-departure beverage, with the choice between still water, sparkling water, orange juice, or champagne. It’s outrageously cheap that American serves pre-departure beverages in plastic cups in international first class.
American first class pre-departure water
There were two crew working first class — a middle-aged guy, who was the purser, and an older guy, who was working the aisle. I couldn’t quite get a handle on them. At times I felt like they were trying to be nice, but at the same time they couldn’t have been more apathetic.
At around 5PM the captain came on the PA to welcome us aboard and inform us of our flight time of 7hr40min, which he anticipated would put us into New York on-time.
We pushed back at 5:10PM with a full first class cabin, and began our taxi to runway 9R, at which point the safety video began to play.
View upon pushback London Heathrow
We got to runway 9R at around 5:30PM, and after a five minute queue were cleared for takeoff, behind a oneworld British Airways 747.
Taxiing to departure runway London Heathrow
Our takeoff roll was quick and climb out was smooth.
As we climbed out I browsed the entertainment selection. I almost never watch airline-provided inflight entertainment (or on flights with wifi any entertainment, for that matter), but they did have Frozen. While I know every word to every song from Frozen (like any self respecting 20-something year old guy), I had never actually seen the movie. So I decided to watch it.
American first class entertainment
OMFG IT WAS THE BEST THING EVER. My apologies to everyone else in the cabin for singing along not being able to control myself. On the plus side, I had friends seated in front of me and behind me, so I feel like I insulated my embarrassment at least somewhat.
While I was always a fan of good old fashion “Let It Go,” after careful consideration I’ve decided that Olaf is my spirit snowman. What a charmer!
American first class cabin 777-300ER
American first class cabin 777-300ER
Once the seatbelt sign was turned off (about 30 minutes after takeoff) the purser, Kevin, came around to take dinner orders.
The dinner menu read as follows:
And the beverage/wine list read as follows:
I logged into the inflight internet while watching Frozen (which cost ~$20 for a 24 hour pass), and ordered a glass of champagne and a still water to accompany my delicious nuts.
American first class nuts & drinks
I think it’s worth noting that American actually serves drinkable champagne in international first class — Gosset Grande Reserve isn’t Krug or Dom, but it’s very drinkable. Especially in conjunction with Frozen. The more you drink, the better the movie gets (if that’s possible…. it’s amazing to begin with).
American first class nuts & drinks
After drinks the table was set. There are two tablecloths — one white one, and then a beige one they place on top of it (which they remove after the main course, so you have a “clean” one for dessert).
I was also offered my choice from the bread basket, and of course selected pretzel bread.
American Airlines first class table setting
For the starter I ordered the hummus and pita. After spending so much time in the Middle East lately I didn’t have high expectations, but it still managed to disappoint. It was gross — the pita was hard as could be, and the hummus and tabbouleh was tasteless. The dolma was soggier than a slice of pizza that has been sitting on a Seattle sidewalk for a week.
American Airlines first class dinner starter — hummus and pita
I then had soup, which was a morel mushroom soup. It was perfectly fine for canned soup.
American Airlines first class soup — morel mushroom
Then there was a very simple salad. You’d think in international first class it would be a bit more premium, whether that means protein, more veggies, or something. But this kind of just tasted like a fresh seasonal salad from Siberia.
American Airlines first class salad — fresh seasonal greens with roasted almonds and feta cheese
For the main course I ordered the tomato and olive crusted tilapia.
American Airlines first class dinner main course
It was the highlight of the meal, as the tomato and olive sauce was actually quite good. It certainly made up for the fact that the tilapia itself wasn’t very good. Then again, you don’t need to drown a good piece of fish in sauce.
American Airlines first class dinner main course — tomato and olive crusted tilapia
The dinner service took maybe 90 minutes. I was offered dessert, and explained I’d like an ice cream sundae in about an hour.
Service throughout dinner was okay. It was attentive enough, though there was no charm or grace to the service. It was clear they were just going through the motions as quickly as possible. I would have expected identical service in business class.
To finish off the meal I was offered a bottle of water and some Lily O’Brien’s chocolates.
American Airlines first class chocolates and bottled water
So one of the really cool features of the seat is that you can actually swivel your seat around 90 degrees and turn it into a desk facing the window. Is it necessarily that practical? No, since you also have a tray table and can do the same looking forward. But there is something sort of awesome about having a “real” office in the skies. So I got a bit of work done, still on a Frozen high.
American Airlines 777-300ER first class office
While trying to get some work done I ordered a cappuccino. I was served an espresso instead, but wasn’t in a position to turn down any caffeine (I did want to stay up for the whole flight so I could sleep well upon landing), so downed it and then ordered a cappuccino.
American first class espresso
The cappuccino is one of my favorite things about American’s first class on the 777-300ER and Airbus A321 (funny enough US Airways offers cappuccinos in A330 business class while American doesn’t, so I’m curious how that will work long term).
American first class cappuccino
American airshow from London to New York
American airshow from London to New York
After working for about an hour I ordered an ice cream sundae with the strawberry topping and nuts.
American Airlines first class dinner dessert — ice cream sundae
After the ice cream sundae I worked a bit more, and before I knew it we were 75 minutes outside of New York, at which point the pre-arrival meal was served.
The menu read as follows:
I chose the vegetable flatbread. How that’s a meal in an international first class cabin absolutely blows my mind. Seriously, can anyone think of a non-US airline that serves middle school lunches in international first class? Because I can’t…
American first class pre-arrival meal — grilled vegetable flatbread
The flatbread tasted like something you’d get out of the freezer section at your local supermarket.
American first class pre-arrival meal — grilled vegetable flatbread
The side salad was fine, and actually had more accompaniments than the main dinner salad.
American first class pre-arrival meal — side salad
Meanwhile my friend had the charcuterie plate, which didn’t look much better.
American first class pre-arrival meal — charcuterie plate
On the plus side, the freshly baked chocolate chip cookies served after the snack were tasty.
American first class pre-arrival meal — warm chocolate chip cookie
At around 7:45PM we began our descent, at which point the captain came on the PA to give us updated arrival information, predicting we’d touch down at 8:15PM.
At that point I changed out of my pajamas and stowed all my carry-ons.
American Airlines airshow
American Airlines airshow
Our descent was quite choppy due to weather, though we had a perfectly smooth touchdown at 8:15PM, as predicted. While our taxi to the apron only took about 10 minutes, we then had to wait for 20 minutes before our gate was ready, due to congestion. Eventually we pulled into the gate at 8:45PM.
Arriving at gate in New York
American 777-300ER first class bottom line
Several weeks back I wrote a post entitled “Why Does American Bother With International First Class?”
I was on a discounted business class ticket and upgraded to first class. Was it a good value? Absolutely.
But now that American is just keeping first class on the 777-300ER, you’d think they would want to make it something special. But it isn’t.
The service was apathetic. The food was barely acceptable for business class on a US airline, let alone first class. The entertainment and wifi are the same in first and business class.
And American has a really good business class hard product on the 777-300ER, which is actually more private than the product in first class.
So with first class you’re left with marginally nicer amenities, like pajamas and an extra pillow. And in theory ever-so-marginally better food and service.
That being said, I had an absolutely lovely flight, thanks in no small part to Frozen!
If you’ve flown American’s international first class, what was your experience like?
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