Review: American Airlines Business Class, JFK-LAX

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Review: American Airlines Business Class, LAX-JFK

After flying up from Washington Reagan’s airport on a 6am flight, I connected at JFK to my transcontinental flight. Because the Reagan flight lands only about 10 minutes prior to the boarding of the 8am transcon, I arrived at my gate just as boarding was beginning, and boarding with the Business Class passengers in the Priority AAcess lane.

Upon boarding, I was warmly welcome aboard from the flight’s purser, making my way through the First Class cabin to my seat in the Business Class cabin. Business class is laid out in a 2×2 configuration, with each seat being fully-lay flat. In some respects, I enjoy sitting in the Business Class cabin more than First Class, since sometimes First Class aboard this aircraft feels a bit cramped.

Once seated, I browsed the inflight entertainment selection, which was quite extensive. Boarding was complete not more than a few minutes later, and we were ready for take off. Menus were distributed at this time, and I had a chance to take a peek at the breakfast choices on offer. Champagne, water and orange juice were also offered as pre-departure beverages.

Once in the air, hot towels and Bose noise-canceling headphones were distributed. A consistent complaint amongst AA flyers is that because these headphones are collected prior to landing, any unfinished movies or shows can easily be interrupted. On some flights, flight attendants are known to pass out disposable headsets at collection time, though my experience with this has been different each time.

I ordered the tomato, leek, and turkey bacon strata, as well as coffee and cranberry juice. The meal was actually quite tasty, mostly due to the addition of the salsa on the side, which I haven’t seen before. After the meal service, a selection of desserts were offered, and prior to landing, the traditional chocolate chip cookie with milk.

I had a chance to watch some movies as well as take a nap. Provided with each seat is a comforter and pillow, which make for nice additions to a nap. I have found I can generally fall asleep in this seat no problem.

As an FYI, there are media and charger outlets in an area by your headrest, in addition to a groove to store a small bottle of water.

My Take

I really like American’s transcontinental Business Class. They offer a solid product, and the seats are very comfortable. The food service on this flight is slightly upgraded from a domestic First Class product, however is still similar in many respects.