American Airlines Archives - Turning left for less

NEWS: American Airlines Introduces New Flagship Suite® Seats and Adds More Premium Economy Seating

Sylvie Simpson — Wed, 21 Sep 2022 01:10:09 +0000

American Airlines has just announced their very own flagship suite seats on their A321XLR and B787-9 aircraft (long haul) beginning in 2024 and will start phasing out long-haul first class seats.

AA was the first U.S. airline to introduce premium-economy seats back in 2016. In August this year, the news was announced that American was planning to ditch its first class and replace it with a new business class on both transcontinental and international flights.

The current AA transcontinental first seat layout which is being replaced.

If you choose to travel in a new Flagship Suite® seat, you’ll get a private privacy door and more storage space for your belongings to give the experience of a private premium retreat in the sky! Each seat can also recline into a fully flat bed for added comfort, and you’ll benefit from many other luxurious touches too.

Comfort in the new 787-9 flagship suite.

Flagship Suite® seat fliers will also have access to the Chaise Lounge, which is also being redesigned. The new Flagship Suite® seat layout will be a 1-1 configuration.

Vice President of American Airlines Julie Rath commented on the announcement:

“We are enhancing the customer experience across their entire journey with American. The arrival of new long-haul aircraft and the customized seat design of the Flagship Suite® seat will offer customers a truly private premium experience on our long-haul fleet.”

A Preview of entry onto an updated 787-9 aircraft.

As well as the new luxury seating options, AA fliers will benefit from a new and improved aircraft design by Teague on the Boeing 777-300ER fleet, which aims to increase the customer experience further. Previews show dark carpets paired with gold accents.

If you want to upgrade your flying experience without the means of upgrading to a Flagship Suite® seat, AA is also increasing the number of Premium economy seats available on its aircraft. Travellers will benefit from more storage space, large armrests between seats and increased privacy compared with economy seats.

However, you can use Avios to fly on American Airlines or of course their own AAdvantage loyalty program, Get started saving your Avios today and you may have enough points to bag a Suite by 2024!

A Preview of the New Premium Economy Seating on the Boeing 787-9 aircraft

American has no plans to update its 777-200 or 787-8 aircraft, where business class and premium economy layouts will remain.

Each aircraft will have the following seat layout:

Boeing 787-9 aircraft: 1 Flagship Suite® seat and 32 Premium Economy seats

Airbus A321XLR aircraft: 20 Flagship Suite® seats and 12 Premium Economy seats.

A preview of the Premium economy seating on the A321XLR airctaft.

American Airlines will also modify its A321T fleet to match the domestic A321 fleet. These aircraft will no longer be used on transcontinental flights.

By 2026 you can expect a 45% increase in premium seating on AA’s long-haul aircraft thanks to these upgrades.

If you can’t wait to try out the new Flagship Suite® seats, the new configurations are expected to be launched in 2022 on new aircraft, with the improvements to existing aircraft expected to be finished by 2025-2026.

As yet we don’t know what routes these are likely to be on. American Airlines has a good business class seat already from the UK with all aisle access seats in a 1-2-1 configuration. They already use B777-300 to London so it’s a fair bet we will see the new seats to the UK.

The service on AA is consistent although the crew can sometimes seem quite brusque but they are usually very efficient. Plus of course there’s those ice cream sundaes too!

It remains to be seen if Flagship First dining is also phased out since it caters for First class passengers on international routes. AA has not made any announcements yet but some bloggers believe it will live on. I hope they are right!

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How to Take Advantage of BA’s Reduced Tier Point Thresholds to Qualify for a Higher Tier or Renew it

Mr Brightside — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 05:09:12 +0000

Back in June, British Airways Executive Club announced a 12-month extension of members’ Bronze, Silver or Gold / GGL status. The luckiest BAEC members of all had recently renewed or upgraded their level of status, meaning that the 12-month extension would be applied to the end of an already-extended expiry date. Other members weren’t quite so lucky, and might already be in the middle of their 12-month renewal period. (or had been recently downgraded and are currently trying to get themselves upgraded again)

At the same time, Executive Club announced a temporary 25% reduction in the number of Tier Points required for elite status. By some accounts, the reduction will apply across-the-board until 8 July 2022. By other accounts, it only applies to “the next time you’re up for renewal“, which for some people might be right now and for others might be 2022. I’ll be honest… I’m supposed to be an expert but I’m confused too! (The official website says next time you renew but there was also other information that said it was valid for renewals until July 22 – I wouldn’t bank on it being for more than your next renewal at the moment – Michele)

Regardless, the prospect of a vaccine is leading many people to foresee an imminent return to normality, and that includes their earning, renewing and using their treasured Executive Club status! Even though I can’t generalise for each individual situation and Tier Point collection year-end month – and I hesitate to speculate whether BA will extend status yet again, particularly since it needs to incentivise people to start flying! – but these are the current thresholds for elite status:

Bronze: 225 Tier Points or 18 eligible flights
Silver: 450 Tier Points or 37 eligible flights
Gold: 1125 Tier Points
Gold Guest List: 3,750 Tier Points to earn, 2,250 Tier Points to retain

By this stage, you are surely aware that Executive Club awards differing amounts of Tier Points based on the fare paid and distance flown, ranging from 5 Tier Points for a short-haul flight in Economy to 210/240 Tier Points for a long-haul flight in First Class.

But what are the standard methods for accumulating Tier Points in a generally cost-effective manner?

Tier Point Runs

Some people undertake so-called Tier Point runs. As the name suggests, you don’t particularly care where you are travelling – you might not even leave the airport (or airport hotel) before returning home – but are simply flying in order to accumulate Tier Points. Because of this, many of the “normal” rules of travel do NOT apply. For example, you will want to fly indirect – with as many connections as possible – because you will earn Tier Points for each individual flight. You will almost always be flying in Business Class – Economy provides too few Tier Points and First Class is usually too expensive…

It is very difficult to generalise about the “best” Tier Points runs, as these change regularly. Luckily, a very popular Flyertalk thread is available for sharing ideas. But some of the more popular pre-COVID Tier Point runs were:

Bucharest to the western United States via London (and Helsinki if you were lucky) and the East Coast on a combination of British Airways and American Airlines (800+ Tier Points return)
Abu Dhabi / Dubai to Jakarta via Colombo on Sri Lankan Airlines (560 Tier Points return)
Western North America to Panama via Miami on American Airlines, forcing as many connections as AA will allow (440 Tier Points return)
London to Estonia / Sweden via Helsinki on Finnair (240 Tier Points return)
Jersey to Amsterdam via London Gatwick (160 Tier Points return)

A useful rule-of-thumb is £1 per Tier Point. My best ever Tier Point run cost me roughly 60p per Tier Point (I was already due to be at the North American starting point), whilst Tier Point runs departing from the UK might cost closer to £2 per TP.

Club Europe

Weekend Getaways

Flying around the world accumulating Tier Points isn’t fun for everybody. Another strategy is to use a few weekend getaways to achieve your targeted number of Tier Points. One relatively easy way to do so is to book British Airways Club Europe flights during a fare sale, focusing on the 80 Tier Point destinations, which normally are:

Bucharest
Catania
Canary Islands and Funchal
Cyprus
Greece (Athens, Thessaloniki, etc.)
Malta
Marrakech
Reykjavik
Sofia
Tirana
Turkey (Istanbul, Dalaman, etc.)

I believe that BA is no longer flying to Helsinki, but Finnair still offers 80 Tier Points each way in Business Class.

The Bright Side… Don’t forget to use “Part Pay with Avios” when booking your Club Europe getaways. The basic option – a £30 discount in exchange for 3,000 Avios – is an excellent way to spend Avios for a true 1p per Avios valuation…

Because you can earn 160 Tier Points for each return flight to one of the above destinations, you can reach Silver status with 3 weekends away…

Long-Haul Holidays

If you are based outside of London, it might not be convenient for you to escape on weekend getaways with British Airways. Instead you might aim for Executive Club status from a long-haul holiday or two.

Qatar Airways

Recent news notwithstanding, Qatar Airways is an excellent choice for those seeking to earn Tier Points. For most Europe to Asia or Africa itineraries, Executive Club members will earn 560 Tier Points in Business Class, as the Europe to Doha flights are usually longer than 2,000 miles in distance, as are many Doha to Asia / Africa flights.

If you are taking the whole family to Bangkok or Singapore, Londoners might prefer the direct flight on British Airways. But if your final destination is nearby Vietnam, Phuket, Cambodia, Bali, etc. OR you are departing from Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, etc. then you must take a connecting flight or two anyhow… in which case Qatar Airways is often as convenient an option as any.

The Bright Side… Even though those 560 Tier Points would get you over the threshold for Silver status, you will still require 4 paid flights on British Airways or Iberia. Thanks to the reduced thresholds, you no longer need to accumulate 40 Tier Points from these BA/IB flights – instead you can book the cheapest 5TP fares. It is certainly feasible to fly on Iberia to somewhere in Spain via Madrid, or for those based in the regions to fly via London on British Airways for a single 4-flight return itinerary…

Ex-Inverness

Although somewhat controversial, flights departing from Inverness airport are exempt from the UK’s Air Passenger Duty. British Airways also occasionally offers fare sales in First Class. This means that you can earn 40 + 210 x 2= 500 Tier Points from a single return trip to somewhere such as Boston or New York. In the process, you’d be accumulating the 4 required flights on British Airways. Even though you probably don’t live in the Scottish Highlands, it is relatively easy to fly up to Inverness on the same plane that would return you to London.

Even though we are likely to see attractive long-haul fare sales in the near future, even departing from London (notoriously more expensive than other departure points), a simple Club World return would only earn you 140 x 2 = 280 Tier Points… nowhere near Silver status, even with the reduced thresholds. So an enticing First Class fare might tempt you to enjoy the delights of Inverness (or just its airport)…

Conclusion

It might seem premature to be thinking about travelling again. But if you are concerned about your Executive Club status, or are thinking about achieving it for the first time, then your next travel plans should take the earning of Tier Points into consideration. Whether it’s flying simply for the Tier Points, or making strategic destination choices (based on something OTHER than quarantine rules!) I hope that this post has helped to guide your thinking…

With Black Friday offers starting early this year with some due at the end of the week, this could be the perfect time to book something while the book with confidence guarantees are still valid.

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How to Keep Your Miles and Avios from Expiring When You Can’t Travel

Mr Brightside — Sun, 05 Apr 2020 04:14:43 +0000

If you a frequent flyer like me, you probably don’t worry too much about your miles expiring. Certain airlines do operate a “hard expiry” policy of course, which helps to focus the mind on the earning and spending of those specific miles. But for those airlines who only expire the miles of inactive accounts, it shouldn’t be difficult for most readers to credit a flight once in a while. But with the coronavirus crisis bringing most travel to a halt – and the likelihood that it will take months, if not years, before many people will take their next flight – how can you keep your miles from expiring without actually flying?

The first thing to consider is how to easily monitor your expiry dates. Award Wallet is the best tool available to track your points expiry. You can read more about it here.

How to Keep my Avios Alive?

Your Avios will expire if you do not earn or redeem Avios within a period of 36 months. This applies to all of the loyalty programmes that use Avios as their currency – British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus, Aer Lingus AerClub, Vueling Club.

The Bright Side… I have heard of so many people making the exact same mistake that I’ll just say it up front – Combining Your Avios with Iberia Plus, Vueling Club or AerLingus AerClub does NOT – I repeat…NOT – extend the life of your Avios! Even worse, if you Combine Your Avios into an account that hasn’t been used in more than 36 months, those Avios will IMMEDIATELY expire.

Accordingly, you must remain individually active in EACH of the Avios-based accounts that you use. If you use your Vueling Club / AerClub account merely as an intermediary to move Avios from Iberia Plus into a BA Household Account, you must be very careful to keep that account independently active.

Luckily there are many ways of earning Avios without flying.

E-Stores

Many online retailers can be accessed via the e-stores operated by BA, Iberia and AerClub. As a result, you can earn a few Avios for online shopping. However, online shopping isn’t something that you can rely upon as a last-minute method of earning some Avios. It can take many months for your purchase to translate into that handful of life-extending Avios…

Click here for the AerClub eStore.

Click here for the BA eStore.

The Iberia eStore is intended for Spanish residents only, but you can easily get around this by changing the country settings on the Iberia website.

You must then log into your Iberia Plus account, where you’ll find the eStore under the Iberia Plus drop-down box.

Take an Online Survey

Some people hate taking surveys. I don’t blame you. Sometimes you spend 20 minutes completing a survey, only to be told at the last minute that you don’t qualify.

But if you want a free way to earn some Avios from time to time, you should sign up for Rewards for Thoughts.

The advantage of Rewards for Thoughts versus other online survey platforms is simple. For each successful survey completed, you receive 25 or 50 Avios into your account within days. So you can easily keep your Avios account active by completing a single survey every once in awhile.

The Bright Side – As some of you know, the Avios Travel Rewards Programme doesn’t exist any more. However what was known as Avios.com is still operating as Aer Lingus’ Aer Club, as well as Vueling Club. However, I don’t believe that you can sign up for Rewards for Thoughts using an AerClub number – despite what the landing page says…

Spend Your Avios on Wine

If you aren’t travelling – but have a reasonable balance of Avios – a fun way to keep your account active is to spend those Avios on wine!

The value proposition is poor when compared to other uses of Avios. But UK residents can drown their unable-to-travel sorrows with something that keeps their Executive Club account active…

The Usual Suspects – Convertible Currencies

“Convertible currency” is an expression used to describe points that can be converted into a variety of different airline miles, hotel points, money off vouchers, etc. It usually makes sense to hold onto “convertible currencies” until you have an award redemption that you are planning to book. And they are great to have when you need a quick transaction to extend the life of any miles/Avios about to expire…

If you have at least 1,000 Membership Rewards points from American Express, you can convert them on a 1:1 basis to British Airways Executive Club or Iberia Plus.

If you have at least 3,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, you can convert those into 1,000 Avios from British Airways Executive Club or Iberia Plus.

If you collect Tesco Clubcard points, you can convert a £2.50 voucher into 600 Avios from British Airways Executive Club.

If you have Heathrow Rewards points, you can convert 250 points into 250 Avios from British Airways Executive Club.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Many of the options listed above also apply to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, which also has a 36-month expiry policy.

A Virgin-specific option is Virgin Red. Some people love it. Other people just can’t be bothered to figure it out. (like me)

But essentially you download an App to your phone and spend a minute or two each day accumulating “points”. These points aren’t actually worth anything… but can help you open up “vaults” with valuable prizes inside, including Flying Club miles. If you use the App enough, you almost certainly will earn some Flying Club miles within each 3-year period.

American Airlines AAdvantage

Of the three largest North American airline programmes, AAdvantage is the only one that expires miles – for inactivity longer than 18 months…

Back to Award Wallet, however. If you visit the blog section of the website and leave a comment that the moderators approve for posting, you will receive 5 free AA miles. That is all you need to extend the life of any AA miles you might have…

The Bottom Line

There is no real excuse for allowing miles to expire, at least with those airlines that offer activity-based expiry policies. Not only is it possible to earn miles without leaving home, but you can also usually do it for free by making a little effort.

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New review: American Airlines economy class B777-200 New York JFK to Paris

Zine Fethazzar — Sun, 29 Dec 2019 05:50:30 +0000

Today’s guest review is by Zine Fethazzar. We often have comments about our economy reviews being from BA Gold cardholders which obviously is a different experience to those with no status. Zine has no status with BA.

Zine flew from Heathrow to New York with British Airways and then returned to Paris on American Airlines in economy. The ticket was an Iberia codeshare. The original ticket was an economy light which had a great price of £275, this went up to about £350 by the time it was upgraded to include baggage. This demonstrates why it is usually a bad idea to use Avios for an economy ticket unless you need extra flexibility. An economy redemption to New York with Avios usually costs around £267 in taxes and charges and 26,000 Avios.

Check-In

I tried to use online check-in, but couldn’t get it to work. The system appeared to be playing up. Once I arrived at JFK Terminal 8 they had self-check-in terminals. As I had a bag to drop and had been unable to check in online, I approached the lady at the counter for help. I greeted her in the nicest way possible but couldn’t get a smile or an eye contact back. (Michele – welcome to American Airlines service!)

The check-in agent instructed me to check by myself and use the self check-in, then drop the bag. Sadly it wasn’t straightforward as it looked and the system was slow. I had to change use a second different check-in point for it to work eventually and then returned to the counter to drop the bag. I said thanks and goodbye to the check-in agent but funnily enough didn’t hear a reply from her!

Security and boarding

I was reasonably on time but started to panic when I saw the number of huge chaotic queues by the security entrance. The queue was very slow, only 3 scanning machines were available out of 5.

Fortunately, I made it to the gate in enough time. As I had no status I was in one of the last groups to board in group 6. This meant quite a long wait and slow boarding but we eventually boarded with no problems.

The seat

25A and C which are one of the better choices as it has two seats by the window instead of 3 (although it is by the toilet)

The B777-200 has 146 seats in economy with a seat pitch of 31 – 32″ and a width of 17.1 – 18.1″. The seats are laid out in a 3-4-3 configuration with several pairs of two seats together in the last row of the front cabin by the window at the very back of economy. My ticket did not include a free choice of seat prior to check-in, and the price was pretty high to buy one so I didn’t bother. Here is an example of the pricing and the cabin layout:

The cabin is broken up into two main parts. I chose an aisle seat in the front cabin, 23J. The bulkhead seats looked like the best choice in terms of room unsurprisingly.

Row 26 bulkhead seats

I felt that there was enough legroom for me (I am 5ft 10).

Legroom

The seats looked fairly modern and I thought there were ok in terms of comfort and legroom. I did feel that the back could have reclined further,

The back could have reclined further. There was a small pillow and blanket neither of which were particularly great.

Food & service

Dinner was served fairly quickly after takeoff on this 5.30pm departure. We had a choice between a pasta and a chicken curry for the main course. The main course was served on a tray with the starter which was a fairly plain salad with grated cheese on top. At least there was a balsamic dressing for it. There was a plastic wrapped roll, cheese, crackers and dessert. A bottle of water was also given.

Main meal with pasta

At first, I had the pasta, whioh was awful! As I was very hungry I requested a second meal instead. The flight attendant was very nice and was happy to oblige. I did have to wait a little while, but she eventually remembered that I was waiting for a second meal.

Sadly the curry was nearly as bad too! For drinks there was a choice of a bottle of small red or white wine plus the usual beers, soft drinks and spirits. I had the wine and it was drinkable, just about. Tea and coffee were offered at the end of the meal.

The crew seemed happy to serve you as many drinks as you wanted (assuming you don’t appear drunk I would guess!)

Apart from the lovely flight attendant who got me my second main course, the service was a bit of a farce and definitely what I would call an old school crew! Let’s just say they were rather on the mature side. They also didn’t look very professional – a bit scruffy and also looked exhausted!

There was a very noticeable absence of the crew thought out the flight once the meal has been served! I never saw any water runs or snacks offered, unlike many other airlines on long haul flights!

Breakfast was fairly standard and rather minimal with juice, tea or coffee, a yoghurt, grain-free granola and a croissant.

Entertainment and connectivity

Probably the best thing about American Airlines in economy is the entertainment. Headphones are provided but just the usual cheap and flimsy economy ones. However, the screens are a decent size for economy with reasonable definition and simple to control with the handheld remote or screen. There was a large choice of films, documentaries, music and TV series. There was also live TV available although I did not use it.

Most of AA’s international flights now feature satellite-based Panasonic Wi-Fi. The prices are:

$12 for two hours
$17 for four hours
$19 for the entire flight

This seems pretty reasonable in comparison to many other airlines. The WiFi is not particularly fast though. If you wanted to charge your devices there was an easily accessible multi-country socket as well as a USB point.

Conclusion

There was definitely very little write home about with this flight. Although the service wasn’t great, as is usually the case with American, at least one of the crew was friendly and helpful. The food was poor but the seats had decent legroom for economy and the entertainment was good. I think with so many choices across the Atlantic, I’m not sure I would choose American again unless they were much cheaper than anyone else, but at least I could collect some Avios!

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American Airlines B777-300ER business class review

Michele — Fri, 27 Dec 2019 05:00:12 +0000

I had flown out to the US in the new AA B777-200 business class (review here) but I was keen to weigh it up against the B777-300ER, which I had flown a couple of years before and been very impressed by. I flew from Los Angeles to London Heathrow on the return leg of my Hawaii trip. I did this trip as an ex Dublin and it cost around £1500 for a return business class to Honolulu.

Lounges at Los Angeles

oneworld business lounge at LAX

I will write a separate post about the lounges since I visited a couple. However, it is worth noting here that if you are flying American Airlines you don’t have to use the Admirals Club or Flagship First (for BA gold card/OW Emeralds). There is a walkway between Terminal 4 which AA use and the main Tom Bradley International Terminal. It only takes about 5-7 minutes to walk to the TBIT lounges which are much better than the AA lounges in my opinion. In TBIT you have the Oneworld business lounge or the Qantas First lounge depending on your status and flying class.

Check in and boarding

I checked in at Terminal 4 and was decidedly unimpressed compared to the great Flagship First check-in at JFK. The premium check-in itself was fine but then I went upstairs to the security queue and saw there was no priority line and a massive queue. Fortunately, the queue moved fairly quickly but it wasn’t the most pleasant start to my trip.

Boarding happened very early again and surprise, surprise they had already finished group 1 by the time I got there. I walked up to the empty Priority lane and was soon on board. I often think that it is better to board just after the rest of business and first so that you don’t have to stand around.

Once at my seat I could see that there were a menu, water and amenity kit already at the seat. The amenity kit was the same as the way out with CE Bigelow toiletries in a Cole Haan designed bag. A pre-departure champagne or water was offered in the usual horrible plastic glass.

Amenity kit by Cole Haan

The seat

Mini cabin – middle seats rows 3 and 4

The seat was as good as I remember and is similar to the Qatar reverse herringbone seats. The layout is 1-2-1 and is over 2 cabins for business class. All the seats have aisle access and also feel very private due to the slightly staggered rows. As a solo traveller, the window seat is the best option whereas a couple would have to choose the middle seats if they wanted to be able to talk to each other.

Seat 4K

I was in the mini cabin of 2 rows as I had flown in this last time, but this time I was in 4K, the second row. Unfortunately, this meant I had the toilet behind me. Unfortunately, I kept getting wafts of toilet type odours when people went in or out, so I don’t think I will be choosing that seat again! Row 3 was definitely a better choice but was unavailable when I selected my seat.

The seat was very comfortable and due to the layout, I didn’t feel any movement from my adjacent passengers unlike on the B777-200. The seat was quite different in layout too. It had a small ledge for your feet and then a footstool which I couldn’t reach in the upright position unless I moved the seat forward.

There was definitely a good amount of storage options which makes a nice change. The vain among us would particularly enjoy the mirror inside the headphones cabinet! Under the window shelf, there was also a large storage area with a netting pocket for securing smaller items.

Headphones cupboard

From my seat I couldn’t really see anyone else, which made it feel very private.

view from 4K

Seat controls were simple and it was fairly easy to find a comfortable position. I liked the fact that you could move the seat backwards and forwards so that I could reach the footstool. There was also a padded armrest on one side which could be lowered or raised as you wanted. This meant you could have it lowered if you wanted more space whilst sleeping.

The seat goes completely flat with one control setting. Unfortunately by the time I had to do this the cabin was pitch black, so please excuse the library photo! As usual, the lovely AA silky quilt and large pillow were provided which made for a good sleep combined with the comfortable seat.

Seat in flat bed mode

Food and drink

Sunset on take-off

After take-off enjoying a spectacular sunset over LA, it was time for a drink and warm nuts. I can never resist a Bloody Mary on American with Tito’s Handmade vodka, so yet again I went for my usual. It was presented nicely in a decent size glass and the nuts in a proper bowl.I did find it annoying that they insisted on having the full table with the table cloth for the drinks service.

The table was large and very stable, so if you wanted to work it would have been ideal. I like the smart linen look tablecloths and the tiny salt and pepper shakers.

On AA there is no choice of starter but seeing as it is vegetarian and there is also an enormous salad with it, it should suit most people.

Starter and salad course

Warm bread was also offered with the starter including my favourite German pretzel bread. The starter was Hickory smoked rainbow carrots with goats cheese, sunflower seeds and a dill buttermilk dressing. The dish was presented beautifully, pretty much restaurant standard. Although the dish was very tasty the carrots were a bit hard and I feared one would go shooting across the cabin in Pretty Woman style as I tried to cut into it!

The accompanying salad was an enormous portion but it was really moreish with the piquant spicy dressing, so I found myself eating it all. The salad was a Southwest wedge salad with chipotle cilantro dressing, roasted corn, black beans and Cotija cheese. One thing about American is that they do have some interesting salads, unlike the BA ones that seem very repetitive.

For main course, there was a choice of 4 options. I had pre-ordered and had deliberated for a while between 3 out of the 4 options. In the end, the chicken won.

Main course options

The chicken was tasty and it was nice to see that the sauce came in a proper dish, not just the foil one that we had on the way out. I wasn’t overly keen on the red cabbage which could have done with some sweetness, but otherwise, it was enjoyable if unsophisticated.

BBQ Chicken main

For dessert there were 3 options:

I asked for the ice cream and was surprised to be given an ice cream sundae instead of strawberry ice cream.

If you were hungry between meals, there was also the fantastic buffet of snacks in the galley with wraps, open sandwiches, desserts and crisps, chocolate etc.

Snack buffet savoury

I had decided to maximise my sleep time since I had a large dinner, so I didn’t bother with breakfast. The choice didn’t look overlooking exciting though. I am not sure what AA’s obsession with smoking everything is all about, after the smoked carrots, now smoked chicken sausages!

Breakfast menu

I did have a mug of tea and a juice though. Surprisingly, the tea was actually pretty good considering it was onboard a plane and made on an American airline!

The service on the flight was pretty much the same as all the other AA flights I did and I like that they are consistent. I found the staff to be efficient and professional but never particularly personable or friendly.

Drinks

As well as Champagne, there was a choice of 4 wines, 2 red and 2 white which were the same as the way out.

De Venoge Cordon Bleu Champagne
Beringer Chardonnay, Napa
Klein Constantia Sauvignon Blanc, South Africa
Hancock & Hancock Cabernet Sauvignon, McClaren Vale, Australia
La Fou Garancha Negra-Syrah, Spain

There was also a Churchill’s LBV Port. I had the Cabernet Sauvignon which I enjoyed. The wines aren’t the most expensive but they were better quality than AA used to have a few years ago. I liked the stemless wine glasses as there is far less chance of knocking them over as well as getting a large serving too!

They had a great selection of other drinks, including lots of different soft drinks with several diet choices. For spirits, there were no less than 5 whiskeys including a Glenlivet 12 year single Malt and a Woodford Reserve Bourbon. They also had Bombay Sapphire Gin, Baileys and Amaretto. There were 6 beers to choose from including Samuel Adams and Dos Equis. Not much chance of getting off AA sober if you like a drink!

Entertainment and technology

The charging points weren’t as good as the B777-200 but there was still a universal socket to plug your device into and 1 USB port. The TV screen was a good size and high definition. It had to be tucked into the side during take-off but you could still see the screen OK.

The entertainment system was easy to control using either the touchscreen itself or the handheld remote. The remote is not as sophisticated as the touch screen one on the B777-200 but actually, I found it easier to use if anything. There was a large choice of films with plenty of recent movies plus the usual TV shows, music and games.

Bose noise-cancelling headsets were already at the seat and these had excellent sound quality, as well as being very comfortable. The downside is that AA are so precious about them, that they collect them very firmly 1 hour before landing, which is way too early. They will even wake you to get them if you are asleep!

Bose headset in case

Arrivals lounge

AA arrivals lounge Heathrow Terminal 3

If you are arriving into Terminal 3 on American Airlines or BA in business or first class, there is an excellent arrivals lounge. I didn’t visit on this occasion but you can read Roving Reporter’s review here.

Conclusion

This will definitely continue to be my first choice for transatlantic flights with the AA B777-200 a close second. The seats were more comfortable than the B777-200 and you could feel less movement from adjacents seats. I also like the mini-cabin on the B777-300 providing you don’t end up by the toilet! BA has certainly fallen far behind AA in their business class and the only thing I would say they have the upper hand on is the service when it is good and the quality of the wines.

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American Airlines First class Transcontinental A321T & JFK First Flagship dining review

Michele — Sun, 16 Sep 2018 04:50:55 +0000

This flight was part of my bargain £1500 flight from Bucharest to Phoenix in First. It is always worth adding in a Transcontinental on flights to the west coast of the US as it adds in either 140 or 210 tier points for business or first class each way and is a nice experience with flat-bed seats in both classes. These aircraft have 3 classes unlike most domestic US flights and is more like a traditional long-haul flight. I flew from New York JFK to Los Angeles.

Check-in

Flagship First check-in entrance

At New York JFK they have a separate check-in area for First class and premium status passengers which is very similar to BA’s the First Wing except that it just filters you into the security channel directly rather than the lounge. They have someone on the door to check whether you are allowed in. I didn’t appear on her list strangely but was allowed through anyway. The check-in area was pretty quiet at about 8am and there was only one other passenger ahead of me. His check-in appeared complicated so I had to wait a little while as there was only one check-in agent.

Flagship First check in area

As I have TSA pre-check as part of Global Entry (worth the money alone in my book) I sailed through security in no time. I had a choice of lounges – my gate was nearer the Admirals Club but since I had plenty of time (or at least I thought I did) I wanted to try the Flagship First dining which I had not done before.

The Lounge

Main Flagship lounge

The Flagship lounge at JFK terminal 8 is on the mezzanine level after the Concourse B security checkpoint. To be able to use the normal Flagship Lounge you must be travelling in First or Business on a qualifying international or transcontinental flight marketed and operated by American or a oneworld airline. You also get access as BA Silver or Gold which changed last year.

I won’t go into the Flagship lounge too much as on this occasion I didn’t really use it but I really like the new lounges. They have a bright modern design with a central bar featuring champagne and some good wines including Miraval Rose. There is also a decent range of food which is nicely presented plus their signature Bloody Mary bar. You can read more about the Flagship lounges in this review.

There are also shower suites and business facilities available.

Flagship shower suite

Flagship First Dining

If you are flying in First on the Transcon or International flights you have access to their Flagship First dining area. This was my first time trying it out and I was looking forward to a nice breakfast. I was asked at the lounge reception if I wanted to use the dining and when I replied yes I was walked to the dining room which I thought was a nice touch. I had a seat by the window which had good views of the airfield.

View from dining area

It felt very much like a restaurant with table service and a comprehensive menu:

Breakfast menu

There were also signature cocktails and better wines and spirits than in the main lounge available but it was a bit early for me!

Since I hadn’t bothered with dinner I decided to go for the full heart attack on a plate with the steak, eggs and frites balanced with a side of berries! I also tried the tart cherry juice which was new to me and absolutely delicious plus of course a coffee. I was offered still or sparkling water and then I waited quite a while to place my order. My drinks came quickly but the food took forever – around 25 minutes to appear which is ridiculous in an airport when people are in a hurry. It was not particularly busy in the dining area either.

Steak and eggs breakfast

By the time it arrived, I only had around 10 minutes before I wanted to leave for the gate so I had to bolt it down rather quickly. Despite the lateness, it was actually very tasty with melt in the mouth short ribs and a punchy merlot hollandaise to cut through the richness. The eggs were also perfectly poached, something that seems to defeat most restaurants in my experience.

Boarding

Boarding was done by group number and for some reason it always seems to work on American unlike some of my BA experiences. The flight attendant greeted me warmly and offered me a pre-departure drink. Seeing as it was a morning flight and AA champagne is normally pretty dire, I thought a mimosa was a good choice.

Pre-departure Mimosa

Already at the seat was the menu, an amenity kit, headphones and a bottle of water. I thought the amenity kit was pretty good for a domestic flight.

I liked that the amenity kit that came in handy zip bag. I have been using it since to hook over my carry on case handles to out any extra items I buy or want to have to hand when I board.

Amenity kit bag by Cole Haan

I liked the contents inside the bag that were pretty comprehensive, though I am not sure the stripy socks are really me… It was nice to see some different things such as the stain remover and the gadget cloth. There were lots of things that were really useful for a flight.

Amenity kit contents

Inside the CE Bigelow pouch were the usual 2 miniatures you get in business class plus a face wipe. Although not overly premium I like the CE Bigelow products with their natural ingredients and lovely fragrances.

The seat

First cabin

First Class has 10 seats in a 1-1 configuration which makes it feel very exclusive. The seats are angled towards the window but it did feel a little far away from the window if you like cloud gazing as I do.

I liked the fact that there was a small storage area for your water bottle and headset and the window shelf was very large.

AA Transcon First

There were further storage areas under the window table but none really suitable for a laptop. The seat had a leg rest which was independently controllable and I found the seat easy to operate. The seat was comfortable for sitting or relaxing too. Even though this was a daylight flight I was still provided with some nice Casper bedding with a large high-quality pillow and a duvet. After lunch, I had a little nap and I found the seat comfortable for sleeping although it felt a touch narrow. Your feet go into the cubby hole under the TV but this actually didn’t feel too small.

I am a big fan of AA’s bedding and as usual, it felt soft and cosy.

Food and drink

Pre-lunch drink

The service on the flight was pretty good compared to many other AA flights where the crew can be rather unfriendly although I do normally find them pretty efficient. My FA was friendly and smiling plus I can’t fault her attentiveness during the flight at all. The service started with the usual drink and a bowl of warm nuts. Seeing as it was still early I decided to go for another breakfast favourite, a Bloody Mary. I always enjoy a Bloody Mary on AA as they use Tito’s handmade vodka plus a nicely spiced bloody mary mix.

The menu looked good but I had already pre-ordered my main course which you can do on many AA flights in business and first class.

I enjoyed the starter although it felt slightly unbalanced in the amount of rice to crab ratio. It had a nice kick to it though which wasn’t too much for the delicate crab. It was also beautifully presented I thought. Bread was offered several times during the service too.

Crab starter

For the main, I had chosen the snapper which tasted OK although it looked a bit of a mess. It was a little overcooked as most fish on aircraft is but overall it was enjoyable.

Sweet chilli snapper main

Naturally, I had to finish with the ubiquitous AA ice cream sundae having now recovered from my overdose of them on my last Hawaii TP run! I just went for a simple butterscotch sauce rather than the full monty of toppings and suffice to say it went down well!

Ice cream sundae

To drink I decided to try a glass of the wine. I normally find the wines on AA a disappointment. The Stag’s Leap Chardonnay was actually OK but not particularly memorable.

Entertainment and connectivity

TV screen

First and business class have 15.4-inch screens offering up to 75 movies, 150 TV programmes, 350 audio choices and 15 games. I watched a few things and found the TV screen had good definition and the Bose headphones were comfortable and effective. Though it always annoys me that they collect the headphones in a long time before landing.

There was plenty of choice of recent TV and films. The remote had a full-colour mini touchscreen and it was simple to understand but at times a bit fiddly as it lagged behind or was unresponsive. I got there eventually though!

There was Wi-Fi on board which you had to pay for but I like the fact you can get an all-day pass if you have several flights. It worked well and wasn’t ridiculously expensive. If you wanted to charge your devices there was both a socket and USB port.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed my AA First Transcon flight and if you can get it included on a First ticket to the West Coast it is worth a try. I would not pay much for it though over the Transcon business class as the only real value for me was in the aisle access and on this length of flight it is not quite so important.

It was good to see such good service from AA too as this is often an area I find them lacking in terms of warmth and friendliness.

Arrival at Los Angeles

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American Airlines A321 First class Los Angeles-Honolulu review & LAX Flagship First lounge

Michele — Sun, 15 Jul 2018 04:50:40 +0000

There has finally been a half-way decent BA deal to Hawaii and this time direct from the UK. For those that took advantage, this review may be helpful or if you are thinking of any US domestic medium haul flight. If you do a oneworld flight to Hawaii the chances are you may end up on American Airlines from Los Angeles to Honolulu. There are surprisingly few places you can fly on a flatbed to Hawaii from, despite the flights being around 5 hours long from the US west coast. You can fly with American from Dallas on their B767 or one of the daily flights from Phoenix on an A330 to get a flat bad but that’s about it. That would be fine if you wanted to do London-Dallas-Hawaii but if you wanted to add in JFK then you would end up with equally bad seats on JFK to Dallas which is also a fairly long flight.

My advice is to try to break your trip up overnight if possible. I would strongly advise against doing London-Honolulu in one day unless you are able to sleep on a non-flatbed seat. The timings of the flights normally mean you are on the American Airlines domestic flight just as you are most tired. Remember you can put in a stopover on itineraries for free providing it is less than 24 hours. Another thing to remember is that Domestic First on AA only gets business class tier points so either 40 or 140 one way depending on the length of flight. For this flight it was 140. The exception are the 3 class transcontinental flights which get 210 in First class.

Lounges

Bar in the Qantas First lounge

As a domestic First customer, you don’t get lounge access unless you have oneworld status. If you have status there is a choice of lounges. American Airlines mainly fly out of Terminal 4 at LAX which is connected to the Tom Bradley International Terminal by an airside walkway. The walk takes around 10 minutes maximum. This means you can access the oneworld business class lounge and one of my favourite First lounges worldwide, the Qantas First lounge which has a great restaurant and 3 choices of champagne including Perrier Jouet.

Although I went on this particular flight when the AA lounge was being refurbished, I recently visited the newly reopened AA Flagship lounge. I will, therefore, review that instead since I have covered the other lounges in the reviews linked to above.

The new American Airlines lounges are located in Terminal 4, so they are the best option if you only have a limited time. If you are oneworld Emerald or Sapphire (BA Gold or Silver) you can get access to the Flagship lounge on a domestic flight in any class. The lounge is nowhere near the standard of the Qantas lounge but I would say it is equivalent to the BA First lounge at Heathrow. There is a special dining area if you are on an International or Transcontinental First class flight that has à la carte dining.

Champagne and wine bar area

The main area of the lounge has views of the airport, a buffet, self service drinks and a dining area. Elsewhere in the lounge are more seating areas, showers and soft drinks/coffee.

Flagship lounge Los Angeles

The lounge has help yourself food with a wide variety and it all looked tempting. There were hot and cold options, healthy salads and dips (wouldn’t be an AA lounge without some sort of hummus!) and sushi too.

For drinks, there is a champagne and wine bar that looks quite similar to British Airways’ ones. This sadly didn’t have the Bollinger that I had seen in the JFK Flagship lounge but a brand I hadn’t tried, Delamotte, instead. This is a fairly small Champagne house that is part of the Laurent-Perrier group. I am not a huge Bollinger fan so I wasn’t too worried. The Champagne was drinkable but nothing special. I was impressed with the wine selection though that had Miraval Rose (by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie) which retails at around £15-20 a bottle and a decent Albariño plus a red wine too.

Brangelina Rose

The spirit selection was equally impressive with Hendricks and Bombay Sapphire Gin and some interesting looking vodkas.

Spirits selection

There is also the famous Bloody Mary bar with assorted options to make up the perfect Bloody Mary, including bacon!

Bloody Mary bar

Honolulu lounge

Admirals lounge Honolulu

At Honolulu, the American Airlines lounge is the Admirals Club / JAL Sakura Lounge. It is a little tricky to find as you need to find the right set of steps up to it from the departure hall. It is situated in the central lobby of overseas terminal, across from central security checkpoint #3 and the Ralph Lauren store, located on 3rd floor above The Local @ HNL restaurant. It is not worth getting there early. It has been very crowded whenever I have been there and food and drink is pretty basic. The staff are friendly though.

Honolulu airport

The flights

I will cover both legs of the journey since they were on the same aircraft and the only difference was the food served.

Boarding drinks are meant to be served on American Airlines domestic but it is a complete lottery what you get in my experience. Sometimes you get nothing, sometimes you get a choice of any drink made for you, sometimes you get a bottle of water and sometimes there are pre-poured drinks. And you thought BA was inconsistent!

The seat

A321 seat and cabin

The seats on the A321 feel much thinner than the older seats on American’s less modern aircraft. The seats are configured 2-2 in 4 rows in First. As they don’t recline too much and there is a reasonable 38” pitch, it is not too bad getting out from the window unless someone is reclined and stretched out.

Legroom on A321

The seat is 21 inches wide and felt comfortable enough for a few hours but by hour 3, it was beginning to feel a bit hard. I prefer the older more padded domestic seats in terms of comfort. We were provided with a pack with a good size pillow and duvet but I couldn’t sleep in either direction due to the limited recline seat.

I advise booking your seat as soon as you book your flights. Every Hawaii flight I have been on has been full in First. On this flight I had already missed the front row so I went for 3C, an aisle seat for ease of getting in and out should I have a sleepy neighbour! I liked that there were two places to put drinks and bottles of water (see Bloody Mary photo below). There was a pull-out cocktail tray from the centre console and a flip down shared drinks tray on the back of the seat in front’s console. There was also a large seatback pocket but that was it for storage space. It was fine for this length of service though.

Food, drink and service

I always find service on America Airlines (or indeed most US based airline) rather puzzling. Considering that generally, America as a country gives great customer service, the airlines seem unable to do more than the basics (and sometimes not even that). I found most of the crew pretty unfriendly, they weren’t rude but they were very perfunctory. They seem to rush about getting the service done as quickly as possible, presumably so they can sit down. I can’t fault the efficiency though, everything was delivered correctly (apart from the take-off drinks) and in a timely way.

For the take-off drinks we got bottles of water one way and a full drink service the other. After take-off another drink order was taken with the meal order. There is no choice of starter but you do get a choice of main. You can also pre-order your main course to make sure you get what you want. There is still the same choice as onboard though. You can do this for domestic business and first class flights between 30 days and 24 hours before your flight online. I had pre-ordered and both crews were aware I had pre-ordered and checked that was what I was expecting.

I had a Bloody Mary since I quite like AA’s Bloody Mary mix with Tito’s handmade vodka. Drinks are served with a bowl of warm nuts which is always a nice touch, although I wonder how much longer this will continue given that many airlines are stopping serving nuts due to allergies.

Bloody Mary and nuts

The wine choices are pretty bad – they are just about drinkable but that’s as far as it goes. There is usually a new world Chardonnay and then a Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. The spirits are a better option with Bombay Sapphire Gin, Tito’s vodka and Woodford reserve bourbon. They do also have sparkling wine, usually Prosecco, which is fine as a Bucks Fizz. The meals seemed to be fairly consistent on both legs. A tray with a tablecloth is delivered with your starter and a small side salad. The starter on both legs was basically some sort of mush which could have been a pâté or a dip, it was hard to say. It was green, herby and not unpleasant but pretty unidentifiable. On the way back it was a pink dip which was some sort of fish, probably salmon or trout but hard to say for definite. The crew just said fish when questioned! A selection of bread was also offered with the starter and dressing was offered for your salad to be spooned over your dish for you.

Meal tray with starter and main

I had pre-ordered the prawns with coriander rice for the main course. The main course was actually very tasty. The rice was a bit more interesting with the coriander through it and the prawns had not been overcooked either. After the main course, there was a choice of dessert – cheese or ice cream. Being a fan of the ice-cream sundaes I decided to go for one of those with a chocolate crunch topping. Though by the end of this trip that involved 5 flights with AA, I haven’t touched one since! Bottles of water were also provided. Prior to landing we were offered a snack from a basket and another drink.

AA Ice cream sundae

On the way back I had selected the wasabi crusted chicken which was very good apart from the slightly overcooked Pak Choi. The chicken was still pretty moist and had just the right level of kick with the wasabi.

Return meal with strange pink ‘pate’

Entertainment

Map display on TV

This is one area that American excel in on domestic flights. Their WiFi is pretty good and you can buy a daily pass which means you can use it on more than one flight if you are connecting from a JFK flight for example. Passes start from $7 for an hour and $19 for 24 hours. I found the WiFi good enough to work with. Although it is not worth buying a pass just for the Hawaii flight as it doesn’t work for the majority of the flight until you are close to land.

The seat back entertainment has a large library of entertainment, plus live TV channels like CNN International, CNBC, BBC World News and Sport 24. There were plenty of recent release films and TV series to watch as well as some older classics. The screen was high definition and the controls easy to work either from the screen itself or the handheld remote. On many AA aircraft now you can also stream the entertainment to your own device using the onboard WiFi for free. You need to have the AA app to do this.

Headsets are provided and there is both a universal power socket and a USB socket so you can charge two devices at once.

Conclusion

The seats are not great for such a long flight. I found them comfortable for sitting in for a while but they started to feel a bit hard after a few hours. I also found it almost impossible to sleep with the limited recline. The food was OK overall and the drinks would be fine as long as you aren’t worried about decent wine. If you can get the flight from Dallas it would be more comfortable but it is a compromise with earning the extra tier points via New York JFK and then Los Angeles.

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News & offers: BA to lease Qatar long haul aircraft?, Qantas lounge change & BA/AA Miami changes

Michele — Thu, 03 May 2018 04:50:01 +0000

Qatar to lease aircraft to BA?

As reported by Bloomberg, Qatar Airways are considering leasing long haul aircraft to BA to cover the issues they are having with their B787s. B787s with Trent 100 engines were already having to go through a turbine replacement program and recently further concerns promoted more regular inspections and flying restrictions. This has left BA with a shortage of aircraft that already appears to be resulting in some cancellations in the last few weeks.

Qatar’s Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said in an interview (as reported by Bloomberg) that they could lend wide body aircraft to BA to help them out even if it meant a slight reduction in Qatar’s own schedule. Since the blockade by Qatar’s neighbouroughing countries they have had an excess of capacity, although they may have to reduce frequencies to some destinations to achieve it. Qatar recently reported a large loss which they blamed on the ongoing blockade.

During the mixed fleet strikes last year, BA wet leased (with crew) A320s from Qatar to cover the staff shortage and they very nearly leased some again this year to cover their short haul aircraft shortage caused by the extra Gatwick slots.

Qatar to fly from Belfast?

Qatar’s announced yesterday that they have their sights set on Belfast as a new UK launch route. CEO Akbar Al Baker was attending the launch of the new Cardiff-Doha route yesterday which featured as a one-off Qatar’s new A350-1000 with QSuites.

However, he mentioned that IAG, which Qatar have a stake in, have a long running dispute with Belfast which may impact the decision to go ahead.

Qantas lounge change at T3

The Qantas Gin Bar

I popped into the Qantas T3 lounge on Monday afternoon in anticipation of a quick G&T at the Gin bar before hitting the Cathay First lounge restaurant for some food. Imagine my horror to find that the Gin bar was closed! Since my last visit and review which you can read here, the Gin bar is now only open from 6pm. To be fair to Qantas I did count barely more than a handful of people in the lounge.

However, if they are going to do this they need to stock the upstairs bar better. The only Gin available was Beefeater! I obviously appeared so disappointed the barman did eventually offer to go and get me my choice of gin from downstairs, so you could always try asking them to do this, but it would depend on how busy they were.

BA and AA changing Miami flights

Miami

BA to Miami is often an easy Avios redemption in the early winter timetable as the aircraft switches to an A380. Currently there is quite a bit of Avios capacity in November and December in Club World. If you can’t find what you want though be ready to snap some flights up shortly. It has been reported in the US that American Airlines will be stopping one of their two flights from London to Miami as of 28 October to do London-Dallas instead. In return BA are adding a third daily flight between London and Miami at the same time.

As yet the flights do not appear to have been filed or loaded into BA’s system. I will report back as soon as this happens as there should be wide open availability for the 3rd flight at this time. As well as a gateway to Florida, Miami is also worth considering if you wanted to go to the Caribbean as it is only a short flight from Miami onto the Caribbean.

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Qantas First class and Oneworld business class lounges Los Angeles review

Michele — Sat, 21 Oct 2017 05:00:32 +0000

The Qantas First lounge at Los Angeles is one of my favourite first class lounges that I have visited this year along with the Cathay Lounge at Heathrow. Whilst I had a few hours to kill at LAX to/from Hawaii, I visited both the business and first class lounges available for oneworld customers. If you are flying BA or AA from Los Angeles I would currently recommend using these 2 lounges rather than the American Airlines lounge at present. The new Flagship lounge for AA is due to open fairly soon and if it is anything like the JFK it may well be worth a visit.

Who can visit and how to get there from Terminal 4 (American Airlines)

Even if you are flying with American Airlines domestically from Terminal 4 you can still visit the lounge if you have oneworld Emerald status with BA. There is a connector between Terminal 4 and the Tom Bradley International Terminal which opened last year. It will take you around 10 minutes to walk between the gates at T4 and the lounges so allow plenty of time to get back before your flight. The escalators that take you up to the connector are just to the right of security at T4, by gate 41. Follow the signs for Bradley International Terminal. Moving walkways are provided to speed things up, although the walk isn’t that far. You will eventually come out on level 5, the same level as the lounges.

Qantas First lounge

I received a warm welcome to the lounge but you will probably be asked for your BA Gold card to get access to the lounge, even if your status is printed on your ticket.

The lounge was incredibly quiet both times I went there which adds to its very civilised atmosphere. I loved the stylish furniture and decor here although I think the carpet may make your eyes goes funny if you stare at it too long!

As you enter the lounge you are in the main seating area which has plenty of chairs but charging points were few and far between. The areas are zoned into business and relaxing areas so there may have been more elsewhere. Fortunately, as it wasn’t crowded, it wasn’t an issue for me. There was a good choice of newspapers including a UK one but the magazine choice was rather limited.

If you just wanted a glass of wine or water, these were provided to help yourself to in the lounge area. If you wanted anything else you would need to go to the bar to order it. I actually like being able to help yourself to wine as often I like to have a small sip of a few before making my mind up. There were also a few snacks in jars and a good coffee machine too.

I was impressed with the Australian and US wine and Champagne selection in this lounge. The wines weren’t particularly expensive ones but they were good quality and there was a choice of no less than 4 champagnes. There was even a dessert wine from California too. I chose a glass of Perrier Jouët Champagne which I always enjoy. At the bar, they also have a selection of signature cocktails to choose from too such as Into the Forest with Gin, strawberries and basil.

Next, I headed to the 74-seat restaurant which features a Neil Perry Rockpool designed a la carte menu and a view of the open-style kitchen. This area has full waiter service from smartly uniformed staff. The menu is divided into small plates, sandwiches, main plates, sides, cheese, dessert and market inspirations. I loved this menu and wish that BA would do something similar. It’s great if you just want a snack as there are lots of options to choose from or you can have a 4-course meal if you like!

Dining area

I tried the salt and pepper squid with green chilli dipping oil and aioli. It was delicious, fresh and tender with a lovely spicy kick from the dipping oil. This was definitely first class dining!

The Qantas First Lounge also offers a business area, fast WiFi, wireless printing, cable television, two private work suites and if you want to freshen up before your flight there are several showers to use.

Access requirements: Departing first class ticket on a oneworld carrier or oneworld Emerald member flying with any oneworld carrier in any cabin. Arriving first class passengers are also granted access provided they are connecting on a oneworld carrier (in any cabin of service).

Opening hours: 06:30 to 23:30

oneworld Los Angeles lounge

Fire pit seating

If you are travelling business class or are BA Silver then you will have access to the business class lounge.

Bar

As you enter the lounge you will notice the attractive wine bar to one side offering signature cocktails and bar snacks, and a barista service. The wines are laid out on the bar so you can have a look at what’s on offer. There was nothing overly exciting amongst the wines but there was at least a good selection, including sparkling wine.

Wine selection

I then headed over to the dining area to see what was on offer. There was a nice selection of interesting and fresh looking salads as well as a good choice of hot food. I liked the way it was laid out so that there was plenty of room and you could access each dish from both sides. It was definitely a better arrangement than the rugby scrum that is the BA Galleries lounge buffet at Heathrow T5!

Dining area

I tried a few of the salad dishes and they were all tasty and hadn’t wilted too much either.

Salad bar

The hot options were:

Menu for hot food

The decor in the lounge is what I would call retro Californian and is a little bit dark and stark in places for me. However, there was plenty of seating and I liked the fact that it was divided into different areas and styles so it made it seem more intimate. There was no issue getting a seat except in the dining area which was busy.

The lounge has a few self-serve soda and coffee stations dotted around as well as a number of private shower rooms, with Aurora spa products. These are fairly functional looking but have everything you would need to freshen up.

Business centre

If you need to work there is a business centre with charging points and PCs to use.

Opening Hours: Daily: 06:30 – 23:30

Conclusion

Although the Qantas lounge doesn’t have a spa or super premium Champagne like the Concorde room, the service food, choice of champagnes and cocktails more than make up for this. If you are passing through Los Angeles airport it is well worth visiting for something to eat. The oneworld lounge is at least up to the standard of a BA Galleries lounge, although I didn’t find the wines as good as a BA lounge.

Have you visited either of these lounges at LA or the American Airlines lounge? What did you think of them? Let me know in the comments below or on social media.

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News: AA new bedding & EU compensation ruling

Michele — Mon, 16 Oct 2017 05:00:03 +0000

American Airlines new bedding for First, Business Class and Premium Economy

AA had been my preferred transatlantic carrier since they introduced the new seats on all their B777 fleet for London. You can read the reviews of the 2 different seats here. However, with BA’s new Club Catering and improved bedding rolling out to all routes by next year, I had been considering whether BA would be in the running again providing I could get an Upper Deck A380 or B747 aisle access seat.

Now AA have announced they are upgrading their business class product with new bedding, I am all confused. Their current bedding was my favourite business class bedding out there, so how amazing must the new stuff be? I’m now thinking about BA outbound for the food and wine and AA back to sleep with the aisle access and bedding!

Beginning in December, customers in long-haul international and transcontinental First, Business class and Premium Economy on AA will have new bedding designed by Casper. The Casper line of products will include a mattress pad, duvet, pillow, day blanket, lumbar pillow, pyjamas and slippers, with exact items variable by route.

American Airlines put these designs to the test with customers on some of its longest flights, including Los Angeles to Auckland. The airline also tapped into the expertise of some of its most frequent travellers and cabin crew, for advice.

Casper products will be available on these routes in addition to long-haul international and transcontinental routes:

Boston (BOS) – Los Angeles (LAX)
New York’s John F. Kennedy (JFK) – Seattle (SEA)
Miami (MIA) – Seattle (SEA)
Miami (MIA)– San Francisco (SFO)
U.S. to Hawaii
U.S. to Northern Rim of South America (MAR, MAO, BOG, CCS, CLO, GYE, LPB, MDE, UIO, VVI)

Here is a video of the new products:

Sleep so good it’s snooze-worthy! We’re teaming up with @Casper to get you your best flight’s sleep. Check it out: https://t.co/m5XWzwbAVV pic.twitter.com/1AKYqNliAH

— American Airlines (@AmericanAir) September 28, 2017

The official AA page about the bedding is here.

Landmark EU Compensation ruling

EU EC261 compensation for delayed and cancelled flights is pretty complicated at the best of times, but if you had a connection with a non-EU airline from the UK, some airlines were using this as a get-out clause to not pay compensation. EC261 says that if your flight is delayed by over three hours, even if the airline is not EU-based, you are entitled to at least €300 compensation.

The CAA has argued previously that five non-EU airlines – American Airlines, Emirates, Etihad, Singapore Airlines and Turkish Airlines should pay compensation to passengers who arrived at their destination late after missing their connection at a non-EU airport.

A court ruled this week in favour of the passengers who had missed their connecting flights and arrived late. This means passengers of non-EU airlines who have a delay on the first leg of a flight departing from the UK which caused them to miss a connecting flight outside the EU and arriving at their final destination at least three hours late can claim compensation.

The Court of Appeal agreed with the Court of Justice of the European Union that liability for compensation for delay depends on the delay in arriving at the “final destination”. I would assume this would only apply to flights on the same ticket.

You can find the CAA’s useful compensation page here.

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