This is a continuation of our recent First Class trip to India, a journey where we had Big Travel with Small Money!
Trip Report Index:
- Introduction
- American Airlines Admirals Club Lounge and Flagship Lounge – Kansas City & Chicago
- American Airlines Flagship/First Class – Chicago to London
- British Airways Concorde Lounge – London Heathrow
- British Airways – (New) First Class – London to Mumbai, India
- An Indian Wedding Extravaganza
- InterContinental Lalit – Mumbai, India
- Park Hyatt – Goa, India
- Jet Airways, First Class – Mumbai, India to London
- Jet Airways, Business Class – Mumbai, India to London
- American Airlines, First Class – London to Chicago
- American Airlines, Business Class – London to Chicago
The Flagship Lounge in Chicago was very close to our gate so we were soon walking down the jet bridge to get inside the plane.
The flight attendants greeted us at the entrance to the plane and asked us to “turn left” as we entered the aircraft. This was our welcome to American Airline’s Flagship service from Chicago to London!
We turned left and walked to our seats. We had chosen the middle 2 seats in the second row so that we could swivel our seats and have dinner together.
Each First Class seat occupied the space of approximately 4 to 5 economy class seats, which helps explain why a First Class seat cost so much (even though not many folks pay that price).
The cabin was clean and on the seats was a blanket, amenity kit, and a mattress pad.
Slippers and pajamas were not provided like they were on our later flights with British Airways and Jet Airways. The airline which, years ago, removed the olives from salad, had now removed the slippers and pajamas! What’s next?!
The seats looked a bit old, but that was likely because the aircraft was old too!
We went to our seats and chatted with the couple behind us. They, too, had redeemed miles for their flight from Chicago to Cape Town with a stop over in London!
We were soon served Champagne.
Unlike Emily’s trip back on Jet Airways, the Champagne wasn’t Dom Perignon and the bottle wasn’t left with us. But it was still Champagne!
We chatted for a while over Champagne and then took a few pictures.
Our flight was delayed for about 50 minutes, which meant that we would have less time to explore the lounges in London. Oh well, stuff happens.
Fortunately, we had a 3 hour layover, so we wouldn’t miss our connecting flight.
I took pictures of the amenity kit and reviewed the menu to pass some time.
Soon we were in the air and it was time to eat (my favorite activity!). Did I mention the time I ate an entire jar of Nutella while surfing the web? I haven’t bought Nutella since. Anyway…
Now, the good thing about American Airline’s First Class is that the middle seats can swivel and face each other and that you can join the tables together to have a private dining experience.
This is much more comfortable than in many other airlines where you have to sit on a little stool if you want to dine facing your travel partner.
To start, we had warm nuts and vegetable strips served with dip (ranch?)
We then progressed to the appetizers of “smoked salmon and (Emily is allergic to fish) citrus marinated shrimp accompanied by capers, red onion and sour cream.”
After the appetizers, it was time for what the menu described as “Fresh Seasonal greens with artichokes, red bell peppers, kalamata olives (the olives are back!) and cucumbers, offered with honey Dijon dressing or Sapori D’Arte olive oile and balsamic vinegar. Sliced lemon garlic chicken breast”
The salad tasted like a regular house salad.
For my main course, I ordered Coriander Lime Chicken which was described as “Breast of chicken flavored with coriander and lime, served with pumpkin sauce, tomato couscous and stir-fried vegetables”
I learned that “stir fried vegetables” = 5 asparagus stalks and 2 cherry tomatoes.
I preferred Emily’s steak! Why is she always right?!
Emily ordered the Chateaubriand with Red Wine Sauce which was described as “Grilled fillet of beef enhanced by a red wine and shallot sauce, offered with haricots verts and mustard mashed potatoes”
The steak was tasty!
For dessert Emily had the Ice Cream Sundae, described as “Vanilla ice cream with a choice of hot fudge, butterscotch or seasonal berry toppings, whipped cream and pecans.”
It tasted like any other Ice Cream Sundae.
I had the Fruit and Cheese, described as “A selection of gourmet cheese offered with flavorful dried fruit and assorted crackers”
The description was accurate because there was exactly one piece of dried fruit. See if you can spot it in the picture!
After the cheese and port wine, it was time to sleep (another of my favorite activities!). I helped myself to the mattress pad from the seat next to me since it was empty and placed it on my seat for some additional padding.
Soon I was fast asleep. We asked not to be awoken for breakfast, so I don’t have any pictures to share.
Our flight landed smoothly at London Heathrow and after 15 minutes we were at our gate. We got off the plane and made our way to Terminal 5, but not before paying homage to the security gods (lowercase “g” intentional) who evidently had not seen an Epi-pen (Emily is very allergic to fish and needs to carry 2 Epi-pens with her).
They performed all sorts of tests and measurements on said Epi-pen and wrote in secret diaries and conferred in whispered voices with colleagues.
But soon we were free (the Epi-pens too!) and we headed to the Concorde Lounge!
Bottom Line: It was nice to have a flat bed to sleep on for our journey to London – that’s Big Travel with Small Money!
But the American Airlines First Class seats need some major upgrades, and the staff need to be a bit more attuned to their customer’s needs especially when you consider the retail price of a First Class seat from Chicago to London.
We got the impression that we were intruding upon the Flight Attendants time by eating our dinner slowly and weren’t made to feel as welcome as we would on our other flights. But, this flight was much better than Emily’s flight back on American Airlines where a garbage bag was hung in front of her seat and she was yelled at when she took a picture of the hanging garbage bag!
The food, beverages, and service were nice (say, 6.5 out of 10), but would pale in comparison to what we received on British Airways. Then again, you pay higher taxes and fees to redeem AA miles for travel on British Airways.
Stay tuned for the installment where we experience British Airway’s First Class Concorde lounge in London Heathrow and get a 15 minute massage in the lounge!
What do you think?
What do you like the best about First Class travel? The bed, the food, the service, or the space?
Tell us about it in the comments!
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I have earned and redeemed millions of airline miles and hotel points to travel the world for free. Now I'm blogging to help more people do the same! 
Very nice! I travel on the first class vicariously through this blog and others’ blogs. For me, I would rank the bed, food, then the service
Thanks again for sharing your experience.
it looks like you had the first class cabin all to yourselves!!
@Nguyen – Thanks! I like the bed and then the space, followed by a tie between service and food.
@mike – We almost had the cabin to ourselves since there were 3 other passengers besides us. That’s 5 occupied seats out of a total of 16 seats!
What aircraft fron Chicago to London?
@John – It was a Boeing 777-200, which was at least 8 to 10 years old.
8-10 years old is relatively new!!
@John - I guess you are right – 8 to 10 years is not that old for a plane. But it is old for the seats, and AA should refurbish those seats like BA did!
Just wanted to say thank you for this post. I have never flown first class and I am hoping I will some day soon. I am trying to save up enough miles for my family (of 4) to fly first class to London on American. I have enough miles for business class but I am dream of first class. I hope before next year to earn enough miles to do so. I really appreciated all the pictures and info since the airlines will never actually let you see inside the cabins.
I’m really enjoying your blog and I’m glad to have found it. Thanks for sharing!
@Faith – You’re welcome! You could try churning the Citi Business cards in 3 to 4 months. It hasn’t worked for Emily or me recently, but there are reports of folks who’ve managed to do that.
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The food on BA even in Y is great on long haul.
Crews are warmer than on AA. AA Y cabins getting old, food mediocre, entertainment minimal.
BUT:
Good frequent flyer program
Good legroom; vs tight Y on BA on long haul flights.
@sami - Totally agree – BA has pretty good food in economy! AA’s product and service sucks, but it is relatively easy to earn miles via AA and the redemption value is much better than on BA.
I can relate to the fish allergy. It’s always a bummer not being able to eat what’s served, regardless whether it be on a plane or a party. I’ve never had any issues with my Epi-Pens when travelling though, so that might just be my luck, but I would recommend a note from your doctor to explain what they do and hopefully make security a little smoother.
@Henrik – Thanks for sharing. So do you eat any food on planes or do you bring your own food?
I rarefly fly anyways (something I hope will change after I graduate snd get a job), but when I fly longhaul I always find something to eat.
Most of my flying the last two years has been Intra-European morning flights, and unfortunately they usually serve a baguette with salmon and scrambled eggs, making it impossible to eat abord, so in those cases I just eat as soon as we get landside.
@Henrik – A baguette with salmon and scrambled eggs is MUCH more than what we get on US flights!
Great picks and info, I just travelled RT on Emirates to IAH, you must try the F Class Suites, it is just a class on it’s own, the service and suites were magnificent. The FC Crew highly trained and the cutlery, crockery and accesories were highly refined.
BR
GG
@Guillermo Gomez – I’d love to travel in the EK suites. Just have to find the time to do that! Thanks for the tip!
I know that you will find the way!!
All the best
Still laughing about the stir fried vegetables – funny stuff!
“Each First Class seat occupied the space of approximately 4 to 5 economy class seats, which helps explain why a First Class seat cost so much” = EQUAL NOT QUITE TRUE.
I just thought I would throw in my $0.02 worth – I did a design project for American Airlines Boeing 777 and while touring one that was in maintenance I was informed that the entire seat unit cost $120,000. If the wood paneling gets damaged, the whole seat unit is replaced and they need to replace it. So maybe in some sense the seat takes up more room, but I think the BIGGEST issue is said cost.
@Bryce – Very interesting! Do you know what a coach seat costs?
*TYPO: “first class seat unit is considered damaged and they need replace it”
I don’t know what a coach seat costs, but I do know how often they wash the coach seat covers – EVERY 4 YEARS!
I also found out that the cockpit window costs 40 grand–then again not very much of airplane equipment is cheap. My project was on the cargo locking mechanisms, which lock the containers in place in the cargo hold of the plane. They are not more than 6 inches tall, but I could not obtain one for my project since they cost 2 grand a piece.
Glad you enjoyed my tidbit of information!
@Bryce - I don’t think I needed to know that about the coach seat!
I thought those FC seats were expensive, but didn’t know that they cost the price of a very good car!
Or a decent house!
@Bryce - Yes, that too. I was just reading how Mercedes was discontinuing the Maybach, so I had expensive cards on my mind!
Thanks again for your wonderful blog and all your top tips.
I used to have the privilege of flying first class between New York and London on AA every few weeks, and seem to remember that those seats are actually only about 4-5 years old. I have to say I think those seats are quite lovely. On this route where many people will try to get as much sleep as possible, they are just about the best! I chose AA over virgin every time just for the seats.
If I wanted to be naughty I could mention the seats are showing their age rather better than the average AA F class flight attendant!
The prior seats didn’t lie flat and were a 2-2-2 layout. They looked shockingly worn out as though they came straight from the 70′s! They were replaced on the 5-6 year mark, so maybe we are due some new goodies soon….
The only thing I wonder is if they couldn’t spend a little more effort touching things up and repairing cosmetically, it could make a world of difference. Oh, that and hiding the garbage!!!!
@srpstraveller – Thanks for that detailed note. You’re right – those seats were large and comfortable, and certainly fits the bill if all you do is sleep (which you should be doing on an evening trans-atlantic flight!). Actually, AA has announced new aircraft with new seats, but I don’t know if they will actually follow through.
Great Review! BTW the staff on one of my AA flights (I was in Business Class) told me that the food was basically the same in International F class as in business class, although F class has one additional entree. (at least o the 777).
Been twice on AA F to LHR will be returning this fall. Choice of BA first on a 747-4 or AA 777, except as noted fees are $500 on AA for 2 & $1200 USD on BA. Always enjoyed the wine and seats on AA, but wanting to try BA. Actually never been on a 747. Anyone recommend one over the other, the money being a non-issue.
Yes, they have announced new 777 arriving this fall, starting DFW to Buenos Aires, then DFW-LHR. They have started taking delivery of the new 73-8, nice domestic flight.