Review: American E175 Business Class Boston-New York (JFK)
- Konrad Tillman
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
Intro
Following an interesting time attempting to babysit my niece in Providence (attempt is the key word here), it was time to head back to Los Angeles to get back to school. While most people would have just flown Boston-Los Angeles, I am not most people 😅, so for this first leg, I would be flying down on an empty American Eagle E175 in Domestic First (Business Class, First Class, Cattle Class), from Boston to New York.
How was it? Nothing short of bloody sublime. I really mean this, it was one of my most enjoyable flights to date, primarily becasue there were 12 people onboard 😂.
Route- Boston-New York (JFK)
Flight Number- AA4566
Seat- 4A
Aircraft- Embraer E175
Date- September 17th, 2024
Flight Time- 1 Hours and 7 Minutes
Price Paid- 43.5K AA Miles+5.60$ (2 legs)
How I Booked
With the whole Tuesday allowing me to travel, I figured where is the fun in flying from Boston to Los Angeles? Why don't I hit up the Chelsea Lounge. Browsing around online, I found the following itinearary for 43.5K AA Miles+5.60$ in taxes. Not bad.
AA4566: Boston to New York departing at 10:37 and arriving at 12:00 pm
AA300: New York to Los Angeles departing at 15:35 and arriving at 18:35
So, yeah, for the same price, I could have flown direct in Flagship First from Boston to LAX, but I would have missed out on some of the coolest experiences I have ever had. Stay tuned, as I ended up meeting one of Leonardo DiCaprio's ex-girlfriends...
Check-In
Arriving at the airport in high spirits, the vibes flowing, and a big smile on my face, my Uber driver dropped me off at Terminal B for check-in. Due to being Flagship First, I printed out my boarding pass within seconds at the dedicated line, and was quickly through TSA precheck within minutes.
With no need to take anything out of my bags, I was through to the Admirals Club within 6 minutes after leaving the Uber. Talk about efficiency? Right up there with Aden, Yemen 😉
Boarding
Marching my way out of the Admirals Club at 10:00 am local time, I made the short walk over to gate B6 for our estimated boarding time of 10:07 am. There was just one issue, once I arrived, there was no-one there...
So, I headed up to chat with the gate agent, and she informed me that this was a re-positioning flight, and only 12 passengers were onboard, including non-revs.
Wow...
Boarding was delayed until 10:15 am, at which point the agent just basically said, "board" 😂.
Stepping onboard, I had to fight for space for my bag because it was so full! 😉
The Seat/Cabin
Due to such a light load, I had the opportunity to photograph both cabins on today's flight. Domestic First is laid out in a 1-2 configuration across 4 rows, totalling 12 seats as a whole.
While only 6 seats were taken in Business Class (I don't know what to call it, it's First, but it's not First to me), I had selected 4A, which is a solo seat on the port side of the aircraft. Each seat is pretty basic, no IFE, but good recline, a little drinks holder that pops out, as well as a tray table in the armrest.
Cutting edge? No, but perfectly acceptable for short hops.
I did peep into the economy cabin, which was laid out in a 2-2 configuration, and it looked quite pleasant.
Departure
I kid you not, boarding was wrapped up within 90 seconds, at which point the captain came on to announce our flight time of 50 minutes over to JFK, and that we were looking at getting in about 25 minutes early into JFK. This sounds way too good to be true.
At this point, the lovely flight attendant came around to offer us a pre-departure beverage consisting of water.
Boarding doors were closed 15 minutes prior to departure, at which point we waited a few minutes before we had pushback approved on this gorgeous Northeastern summer day.
Sun shining, it was a short taxi out to Runway 22R, where we were wheels up before our scheduled pushback time.
I want to make this clear: this is not normal, like almost ever, especially at Boston and JFK. However, the stars somehow just aligned today.
The Flight
With such a light load, we were past 10,000 feet in well under 6 minutes, at which point the lovely flight attendant working First Class came to take our drink orders.
With the grooves flowing, and music bumping in my Airpod Max's, a mimosa wasn't a choice, it was a rite of passage. Unfortunately, due to how short the flight was, no meals or snacks... I'm ready for a steak in Chelsea...
With no amenities, no seatback entertainment, and very spotty wifi (they do have content on these 170/175s, but it's such a short flight I didn't use it), I decided to gaze out of the window as we flew over my family's house on Long Island.
Pretty much 25 minutes after departure, the captain came on to announce our initial descent down into the New York area. He thanked the whopping 12 passengers for flying American, and that we would be on the ground shortly.
Arrival
We somehow had no hold for arrival into New York, and ended up touching down at 11:29 am local time with some views overlooking El Al's departure to Tel Aviv, and the whale heading out to Dubai.
From there, we had a 5 minute taxi, and pulled into our gate 26 minutes (yes, 26 minutes) early. Unheard of.
Bidding farewell to the cabin crew, it was time to begin the walk over to the Chelsea Lounge, as we had arrived at the annoying side to Terminal 8.
Final Thoughts
I want to go on the record and say that this flight is rather an exception than the norm. However, this was truly one of the most efficient and surreal flights I have ever taken in my life. Sure, the E175 doesn't feature the best amenities or IFE, but with good service, a cheeky mimosa, an empty plane, boarding within 90 seconds, and arriving 26 minutes early, I could not have asked for anything more on this day.
I suppose I could, maybe having the plane to myself 😅
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