Review: American Airlines A321T Flagship First New York (JFK)-Los Angeles (LAX)
- Konrad Tillman
- Jul 29
- 9 min read
Intro
Welcome to the final portion of the trip, “Back East”. After hopping around Providence multiple times, driving around the East Coast, and taking a flight from Boston to New York with 12 people, it was time to head back to Los Angeles.
For the final segment, I would be flying once again, on American Airlines Flagship First. I have previously reviewed Flagship First from JFK to SNA, and LAX-JFK, but this flight was very different. Filled with getting a little tipsy at the Chelsea Lounge with a new friend from the UK, chatting with this hilarious French flight attendant on the plane, and meeting a model on the plane, it wasn’t good: it was excellent.
Let’s jump in.
Route- New York (JFK)- Los Angeles (LAX)
Flight Number- AA300
Seat- 1A
Aircraft- Airbus A321T
Date- September 17th, 2024
Flight Time- 6 Hours and 4 Minutes
Price Paid- 43.5K AA Miles+5.60$
How I Booked
As I mentioned in the previous post, due to having to babysit my niece at the last minute in Rhode Island, cash fares were extremely high. However, browsing around, I was pleased to find a saver fare in First Class for 43.5K AA Miles+5.60$ for the following routing:
AA4566- Boston-New York (Domestic First)
AA300- New York-Los Angeles (Flagship First)
Considering that Delta charges upward of 100K SkyShillings, and United charges 80K (once in a blue moon you will see 30K), American truly is the greatest bang for your point on these transcons.
If you are looking for the cheapest ways to book this ticket, cash fares can be about 12-1300 OW, while Finnair only charges 40K Avios…
Boarding
Heading over to the gate around 3 pm with my new friend from the UK, gosh, I love traveling, we strolled up to Gate 5 just as boarding for group 2 was commencing.
Due to being Flagship First, we jumped the queue and were onboard within minutes. Oh yeah, what a flight this would be!
The Seat/Cabin
While the American A321T is being phased out soon (well, who knows?), this airplane is truly a unicorn. First Class seats on this jet are laid out in a 1-1 configuration across 5 rows, totalling 10 seats. Further back, business class features 5 rows in a 2-2 configuration (reviewed here), while there are only 72 economy seats onboard.
It’s one of a kind…
The AA A321T FF seat is pretty simple. Each seat is in a reverse herrigbone layout, which means to the left of you lies the large surface area to store belongings, a small cupboard for more storage, and all of the necessities such as seat controls, a remote, headphone jack, charging port, and a USB plug.
And while the footwell is tight back in business, there is ample space up here in First Class. It’s definitely bigger than the 777 business class reverse herringbone seat.
Yeah, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t the most cutting-edge seat in the world, but I think it is the best way (consistently to get from NYC-LAX). Sure, Delta and United sometimes run their 787s and 339s, respectively, but these are not on all frequencies. However, the A321T is…
Departure
As I settled into my seat, my new friend sitting in 2F came up to have a chat with me. It was his first time flying “Flagship First” and he was confused to see no good champagne onboard 😂. It was quite funny, actually.
Boarding was wrapped within 15 minutes, at which point I looked across at this gorgeous woman sitting in seat 1F and figured I knew her from somewhere. More on that in a sec.
Roughly 5 minutes after settling in, the purser, Antoine, came around to take my lunch order for today, by name. There were plenty of options for today, but the interesting part was when he headed to the woman in seat 1F, and I heard “Ms Morrone”.
Yeah, like Leonardo DiCaprio's ex-girlfriend, aka the Argentinian model?? Yeah…
Enough for now, I don’t want to spoil it. Due to how light of a load the A321T is, we were well underway ahead of schedule, had a short taxi out to 13R, and rocketed out of JFK.
Also, how rare is it to see a 13R departure at JFK? I have taken over 250 flights out of JFK and only had 2 departures on 13R.
IFE+WIFI
Once airborne, I figured it was time to check out the IFE on today's flight. I will be honest, American drops the ball on both fronts, due to some of my older flights having broken IFE, and the amount of content falling behind UA. It’s good enough to get you through, but not excellent.
In terms of Wifi, while UA and DL consistently offer 8$ per flight for Domestic or free, respectively, American Airlines charges a whopping 29$ per flight.
However, their wifi is better. As an example, I was able to stream the whole F1 race on my last flight with 0 interruptions. Today, I managed to send 18 drunk texts saying “wyd, you up 😂” (I’m joking, I've matured a little bit).
Amenities
Yes, American Airlines does not offer the best IFE on these routes. However, bring in the amenities aspect, and the airline shines. Each passenger is treated to a beautiful bedding set featuring a comfy duvet, two pillows (now only one), an additional day blanket, a pair of slippers, and an amenity kit stocked with the essentials.
For a transcon route, these are the best amenities you will receive, as United bedding somewhat cuts down on these routes. B6 is so-so bedding, and Delta has a new partnership with Missoni, but it isn’t quite as sleek.
Keep in mind, at the time, the only difference between FF and J was the extra blanket and throw pillow, but this has since gone away.
Meal Service
We have already discussed the shambolic wifi prices and the fantastic bedding, but something that falls right in the middle is the catering on these transcons. I had pre-ordered the beef brisket on today's flight, but the menu looked as follows:
I will also add that the wines are certainly mediocre, but once again, much better than anything you will find with DL sparkling wine and United's sparkling wine. The champagne on today's flight was Vollereaux, but it is constantly on rotation. Last time I flew this route, there ended up being Ayala, which was a big step up.
Roughly 30 minutes after takeoff, Antoine came around offering passengers drinks and warm nuts. For some odd reason, flutes were not stocked on today's flight, but they usually are.
Another 25 minutes after takeoff, with the Englishman coming to my seat to complain about the champagne options (class 😅), my main course was brought around. I had informed Antoine that I wanted to skip the starter, and he brought me out plenty of pretzel bread. I finished up the meal with an Amaretto and the infamous ice-cream sundae. When in Rome…
All in all, it's certainly not a true “First Class” meal, but once again, American doesn’t price it like First Class either, as it’s often cheaper than DL1. The brisket was tender (not too fatty), the bread was delicious, and the sundae topped it all off.
Food coma time, or so I thought...
Mid-Flight Fun
Heading up to the galley to request another glass of Vollereaux, I began a conversation with Antoine. Now, usually I don’t speak to most people from France, as I am English and we know how that goes (not in a bad way, ha), but he was genuinely such a nice gentleman. He was from the North of France and had worked at AA for quite a long time.
Anyways, tangent over (or just beginning) as I hadn’t realized that Camila Morrone was just exiting the lavatory. A touch shellshocked, I said to her, “I’m so sorry to bother you, I am just such a huge fan of yours”.
Now, this is not the first time I have met celebrities on this route, as I met Adriana Lima, and Michelle Roxborough (very kind), and I usually would wait until I’m off the plane. However, she smiled at me and Antoine, so I figured: why not?
We began chatting for quite a while, and honestly, I was sort of gobsmacked. I’ll spare some of the details, but let’s just say she was quite sleepy 🥴. She offered to take photos, and since my mum is a big Leo fan, she took a video on my phone saying hi to my mum. Honestly, it was quite an otherworldly experience.
So if celebrity spotting is your thing, they usually tend to sit in Seat 1F, I am not sure why 🤔.
Nap Time
With my dopamine receptors firing up like the 4th of July, I knew it was time to get some rest. I put the seat into lie-flat mode, grabbed a snack off the top of 1F, and fell asleep for the next 3 hours.
I woke up 20 minutes before landing on a fine summer's evening in Los Angeles.
Lavatories
Arising from 35 feet under the ground, or so it felt, I headed off to the lavatory located near door 1L. I’ll keep this brief:
There is one lavatory for 10 passengers onboard in First Class (plus flight deck)
It’s very basic, no added amenities
It’s nice to have a dedicated bathroom for First Class, but that often means the galley can be blocked off when a pilot comes out to use it.
Arrival
With such a northernly route on today's flight, we didn’t end up descending until right around 6:10 pm. It was a tantalizing evening when we touched down right on schedule in Los Angeles and made our way over to Terminal 4.
Bidding goodbye to my new acquaintances Camila and Antoine, the Englishman from the lounge said his driver wasn’t there yet. With my driver on hold, I suggested we head for a glass of Piper in the Flagship Lounge!
As he headed out, I quickly decided to check out the old “Flagship First Dining” at LAX, before heading on my way back down to Orange County. What a time…
Final Thoughts
I’ve gotta say: I have almost no complaints from this flight on American from New York to Los Angeles, aside from the wifi prices and IFE. Considering that Flagship First can often be cheaper than United Polaris (not 757) and Delta One on this route, it truly is an exceptional product that I will be sad to see go. Chelsea Lounge access, efficient boarding, 1-1 configuration, actual champagne, celebrities all around, amazing staff (haven’t had a bad one yet on this route), okay-ish meals, and lounge access on arrival: there is a reason this is the best way to cross the United States.
Back East Series:
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