Flight Review – American Airlines Sydney to Los Angeles – Business Class
Feb 22, 2016, 8:25 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Perth, Australia
Programs: QF, LM, USDM, AA
Posts: 209
Flight Review – American Airlines Sydney to Los Angeles – Business Class
Summary
What’s to like – Any airline that can supply a 1-2-1 arrangement in business class is always on to a winner and American Airlines (AA) does this with their Zodiac Cirrus seat which is also lie flat.
Could improve – It’s not that impressive to have flight attendants come through and collect the noise cancelling headphones off of passengers 20-30 minutes before landing and instead give them a cheap pair of ear bud headphones to continue to using the IFE, in fact I can’t think of another airline that I have been on that does that?
—————————————————————————————————————
Flight number – AA 72
Seat Number – 12A
Aircraft type – 777-300ER
Introduction – I had booked this flight because I saw some very cheap flights from Perth to Los Angeles via Sydney and I wanted to take my son over for a quick holiday before he returned to school. As an AA Executive Platinum I was eligible to freely choose from the Main Cabin Extra seats which I did as a backup, but I also put in some System Wide Upgrades to see if I could get my son and I upgraded to Business Class.
Having booked about a month out and being told that we would be added to the wait list and that nothing could be confirmed it was nice to ring up AA about a week before the flights to find that we had been upgraded and could now select our seats and our meal options.
Check in – We had flown into Sydney the previous day and stayed overnight and so on the day of the flight we arrived at Sydney’s International Terminal 1 to check in about 2 hours before the flight.
For some reason the check in agent wanted to see evidence of a return flight which I don’t recall ever having been asked for before even though I’d completed all the ESTA details including the address details in the USA on arrival. I had printed the flight list off but for some reason on the page our names didn’t appear on it so there was more having to get my mobile phone and get into the AA website to find the details.
Having duly proved that we were planning to return to Australia we were able to get the check in completed the hold-up wasn’t too long before we had our tickets and card to use the express path through security and immigration. Still just a bit strange though.
The express path allowed us to reduce the time needed to get through, although as tends to be the case I always forget something, this time the water bottle in my son’s bag that then caused more of a hold up.
Lounge – With the border security formalities completed it was off to the Qantas First Lounge which I was able to enter as an AA Executive Platinum/One World Emerald. The other options were the Qantas Business Lounge right next to the Qantas First Lounge and because I have at least one American Express Platinum or higher card we could have also accessed the American Express Lounge is located in the Terminal 1 departure level, adjacent to Gate 24.
But if you have the opportunity to visit the Qantas First Lounge in Sydney then that’s the lounge you choose and it lived up to its billing as being one of the best premium lounges around the world.
The full review of it is here but I have attached a few photos of our visit.
Seat – As stated in the what to like section AA use the Zodiac Cirrus seat in a reverse herringbone layout which is also a popular choice on other airlines such as Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Sri Lankan and Delta in various forms.
The seat has plenty of space and storage options around both in the sitting position and when in various states of recline and was comfortable to sit in.
AA have chosen in their 777-300ERs to have 52 seats in the Business Class cabin divided up into a smaller cabin of 2 rows of 8 seats (row 3-4) just behind First Class and then a larger cabin of 11 rows (5-15) with 44 seats with each row having a 1-2-1 configuration offering every passenger direct aisle access saving the late night gymnastics of getting over a sleeping seat companion.
The seat has a fully adjustable seat back, head rest, and leg rest that then extends into a fully lie flat bed approximately 198 cm or about 6’ 4” inches in length. Passengers are provided with a fairly thin mattress pad, a blanket and a pillow.
The seat has several different options for charging the devices us travellers all can’t leave home without these days including an AC power outlet and USB ports at every seat. The seat also has plenty of areas where you can store all the odds and ends that travellers bring along, sunglasses, passports, phones, cameras etc plus amenity kits which is handy.
Amenity kit – AA offers a nice amenity kit, not stocked with lots of high end brand names, but a good selection including socks, toothbrush and tooth paste, pen, comb, lip balm and hand and body lotion, eye mask, tissues, mouth wash and ear plugs all in a retro pouch branded with PSA – representing Pacific Southwest Airlines that formed a part of US Airways before that airline merged with AA.
While a nice tip of the hat to the past, those colours are pretty bright!
AA also offer pyjamas in business and first class on these trans-Pacific flights as part of an effort to match in-flight products with other airlines in this crowded and competitive market. They were handed out prior to take off and were of a decent quality and fit being 100% cotton.
Entertainment – Here are the controls for the inflight entertainment system and there is also a pair of Bose® QuietComfort® Acoustic Noise Cancelling® headphones available although these weren’t in their little closed cupboard like you would normally find them but were handed out by the flight attendants.
The inflight entertainments system in Business Class has a 15.4-inch touchscreen monitor that folds out to view it and has a good viewing area as well as controls to just various aspects of the picture. While it’s a nice screen it has two drawbacks, the first being that it is meant to be stowed for taxing, take-off and landing.
While you can probably pop it open if you so desire prior to the take-off roll once the FAs are seated, it has to be folded away 10-15 minutes out from landing whereas the people in Economy Class can watch it all the way up to the gate.
The second drawback is that it swings around into place, but has no tilt capability so that if you recline the seat close to the flat bed or into the actual flat bed the picture degrades because you are looking at it from an angle.
The system offered a good selection of films, tv shows etc, AA’s website states up to 250 movies, 160 TV shows, 13 radio channels, 375 albums and 20 games, I didn’t count them all, but it’s a decent range anyway.
Food and beverages – Once it was confirmed that we had been upgraded to business class I went onto AA’s site and selected our main meals which is a nice option to have.
Here are the food menus.
Often times when this sort of pre-ordering option is available and I choose from a separate menu of regular bookable dishes that are not necessarily on the menu of the actual flight, it makes me at least sometimes wonder if what is on the menu will actually be better than the pre-ordered meal and whether I might be able to swap once I see the menu on the day.
However, the dishes available for pre-ordering were exactly what was on the menu on the plane under the main meal section. This turn out to be a wise choice pre-ordering as the meal my son chose, the beef, had run out by the time they got to us, but because he had pre-ordered his meal was available.
The flight started with a drink and nuts shortly after take off and the seat belt sign went off.
Next came the starter of Vietnamese spring rolls and a salad. The rolls were pretty good, the salad just so-so.
The main I chose was Salmon, asparagus and risotto which was nice, the salmon was perhaps a touch dry, which I don’t really mind but others might.
Fe my son’s meal I had ordered the Riverine beef fillet and while I didn’t taste it I did cut it up for him and it was not tough but easy to cut.
Next came dessert, American’s take on an Australian Pavlova which was nice, perhaps not exactly how we do, but still tasty. Its nice that they are making a bit of effort to have some food attuned to the route though. My son would have chosen the sundae but was a bit full and so I asked if we could get it later and the FA said that would be fine so nice that they were willing to do this even though he ended up going to sleep and missing it.
I finished up the meal with a selection of cheeses which were satisfying.
Mid flight I ordered the Mezze plate which was decent and my son ordered a box with a mini slider and a hot dog in it. I tried the slider and well… Yeah…
Before coming in to land a pretty tasty breakfast was served up.
I just drank soft drinks and a couple of bourbons and cokes but here is the full wine and beverage menus.
Service quality – The crew, as is often the case with American legacy carriers, was a fairly mature one but the service provided was reasonable, delivered nicely but you wouldn’t call it fawning or continuous. I can handle that, calling an FA when I need something just as well as on other airlines where FA’s are continuously checking on how you are and if you would like anything.
So the service was decent.
On time – We departed about 45 minutes late but that I think was due to a Qantas plane being in the gate area of where our flight was departing long after it should have departed, so that can have knock on effects.
Whereas in other situations, especially involving connections, I might have been a bit concerned at this, it just gave us more time to relax and sample the Qantas First Lounge in Sydney so I didn’t mind at all in fact.
We arrived roughly on time and were able to clear LAX arrivals pretty quickly.
Conclusion – So rating the relatively new American Airlines Sydney to Los Angeles trans pacific service all up it was a nice flight that both my son and I enjoyed.
Yes on some other airlines some of the soft product might have been a bit more refined such as slightly better food and the service by the flight attendants slightly more attentive.
But then the hard product that AA has on this route with 1-2-1 fully flat beds is also near the top of what customers have to choose from. This is especially the case if travelling solo and is better than the 2-2-2 Skybed 2 seating arrangement that Qantas offers in Business Class if you are choosing from One World Alliance airlines for status and frequent flyer program reasons.
Have you flown them and if so what did you think?
Full report and photos is available here http://www.lifestobelived.com/2016/0...usiness-class/
What’s to like – Any airline that can supply a 1-2-1 arrangement in business class is always on to a winner and American Airlines (AA) does this with their Zodiac Cirrus seat which is also lie flat.
Could improve – It’s not that impressive to have flight attendants come through and collect the noise cancelling headphones off of passengers 20-30 minutes before landing and instead give them a cheap pair of ear bud headphones to continue to using the IFE, in fact I can’t think of another airline that I have been on that does that?
—————————————————————————————————————
Flight number – AA 72
Seat Number – 12A
Aircraft type – 777-300ER
Introduction – I had booked this flight because I saw some very cheap flights from Perth to Los Angeles via Sydney and I wanted to take my son over for a quick holiday before he returned to school. As an AA Executive Platinum I was eligible to freely choose from the Main Cabin Extra seats which I did as a backup, but I also put in some System Wide Upgrades to see if I could get my son and I upgraded to Business Class.
Having booked about a month out and being told that we would be added to the wait list and that nothing could be confirmed it was nice to ring up AA about a week before the flights to find that we had been upgraded and could now select our seats and our meal options.
Check in – We had flown into Sydney the previous day and stayed overnight and so on the day of the flight we arrived at Sydney’s International Terminal 1 to check in about 2 hours before the flight.
For some reason the check in agent wanted to see evidence of a return flight which I don’t recall ever having been asked for before even though I’d completed all the ESTA details including the address details in the USA on arrival. I had printed the flight list off but for some reason on the page our names didn’t appear on it so there was more having to get my mobile phone and get into the AA website to find the details.
Having duly proved that we were planning to return to Australia we were able to get the check in completed the hold-up wasn’t too long before we had our tickets and card to use the express path through security and immigration. Still just a bit strange though.
The express path allowed us to reduce the time needed to get through, although as tends to be the case I always forget something, this time the water bottle in my son’s bag that then caused more of a hold up.
Lounge – With the border security formalities completed it was off to the Qantas First Lounge which I was able to enter as an AA Executive Platinum/One World Emerald. The other options were the Qantas Business Lounge right next to the Qantas First Lounge and because I have at least one American Express Platinum or higher card we could have also accessed the American Express Lounge is located in the Terminal 1 departure level, adjacent to Gate 24.
But if you have the opportunity to visit the Qantas First Lounge in Sydney then that’s the lounge you choose and it lived up to its billing as being one of the best premium lounges around the world.
The full review of it is here but I have attached a few photos of our visit.
Seat – As stated in the what to like section AA use the Zodiac Cirrus seat in a reverse herringbone layout which is also a popular choice on other airlines such as Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Sri Lankan and Delta in various forms.
The seat has plenty of space and storage options around both in the sitting position and when in various states of recline and was comfortable to sit in.
AA have chosen in their 777-300ERs to have 52 seats in the Business Class cabin divided up into a smaller cabin of 2 rows of 8 seats (row 3-4) just behind First Class and then a larger cabin of 11 rows (5-15) with 44 seats with each row having a 1-2-1 configuration offering every passenger direct aisle access saving the late night gymnastics of getting over a sleeping seat companion.
The seat has a fully adjustable seat back, head rest, and leg rest that then extends into a fully lie flat bed approximately 198 cm or about 6’ 4” inches in length. Passengers are provided with a fairly thin mattress pad, a blanket and a pillow.
The seat has several different options for charging the devices us travellers all can’t leave home without these days including an AC power outlet and USB ports at every seat. The seat also has plenty of areas where you can store all the odds and ends that travellers bring along, sunglasses, passports, phones, cameras etc plus amenity kits which is handy.
Amenity kit – AA offers a nice amenity kit, not stocked with lots of high end brand names, but a good selection including socks, toothbrush and tooth paste, pen, comb, lip balm and hand and body lotion, eye mask, tissues, mouth wash and ear plugs all in a retro pouch branded with PSA – representing Pacific Southwest Airlines that formed a part of US Airways before that airline merged with AA.
While a nice tip of the hat to the past, those colours are pretty bright!
AA also offer pyjamas in business and first class on these trans-Pacific flights as part of an effort to match in-flight products with other airlines in this crowded and competitive market. They were handed out prior to take off and were of a decent quality and fit being 100% cotton.
Entertainment – Here are the controls for the inflight entertainment system and there is also a pair of Bose® QuietComfort® Acoustic Noise Cancelling® headphones available although these weren’t in their little closed cupboard like you would normally find them but were handed out by the flight attendants.
The inflight entertainments system in Business Class has a 15.4-inch touchscreen monitor that folds out to view it and has a good viewing area as well as controls to just various aspects of the picture. While it’s a nice screen it has two drawbacks, the first being that it is meant to be stowed for taxing, take-off and landing.
While you can probably pop it open if you so desire prior to the take-off roll once the FAs are seated, it has to be folded away 10-15 minutes out from landing whereas the people in Economy Class can watch it all the way up to the gate.
The second drawback is that it swings around into place, but has no tilt capability so that if you recline the seat close to the flat bed or into the actual flat bed the picture degrades because you are looking at it from an angle.
The system offered a good selection of films, tv shows etc, AA’s website states up to 250 movies, 160 TV shows, 13 radio channels, 375 albums and 20 games, I didn’t count them all, but it’s a decent range anyway.
Food and beverages – Once it was confirmed that we had been upgraded to business class I went onto AA’s site and selected our main meals which is a nice option to have.
Here are the food menus.
Often times when this sort of pre-ordering option is available and I choose from a separate menu of regular bookable dishes that are not necessarily on the menu of the actual flight, it makes me at least sometimes wonder if what is on the menu will actually be better than the pre-ordered meal and whether I might be able to swap once I see the menu on the day.
However, the dishes available for pre-ordering were exactly what was on the menu on the plane under the main meal section. This turn out to be a wise choice pre-ordering as the meal my son chose, the beef, had run out by the time they got to us, but because he had pre-ordered his meal was available.
The flight started with a drink and nuts shortly after take off and the seat belt sign went off.
Next came the starter of Vietnamese spring rolls and a salad. The rolls were pretty good, the salad just so-so.
The main I chose was Salmon, asparagus and risotto which was nice, the salmon was perhaps a touch dry, which I don’t really mind but others might.
Fe my son’s meal I had ordered the Riverine beef fillet and while I didn’t taste it I did cut it up for him and it was not tough but easy to cut.
Next came dessert, American’s take on an Australian Pavlova which was nice, perhaps not exactly how we do, but still tasty. Its nice that they are making a bit of effort to have some food attuned to the route though. My son would have chosen the sundae but was a bit full and so I asked if we could get it later and the FA said that would be fine so nice that they were willing to do this even though he ended up going to sleep and missing it.
I finished up the meal with a selection of cheeses which were satisfying.
Mid flight I ordered the Mezze plate which was decent and my son ordered a box with a mini slider and a hot dog in it. I tried the slider and well… Yeah…
Before coming in to land a pretty tasty breakfast was served up.
I just drank soft drinks and a couple of bourbons and cokes but here is the full wine and beverage menus.
Service quality – The crew, as is often the case with American legacy carriers, was a fairly mature one but the service provided was reasonable, delivered nicely but you wouldn’t call it fawning or continuous. I can handle that, calling an FA when I need something just as well as on other airlines where FA’s are continuously checking on how you are and if you would like anything.
So the service was decent.
On time – We departed about 45 minutes late but that I think was due to a Qantas plane being in the gate area of where our flight was departing long after it should have departed, so that can have knock on effects.
Whereas in other situations, especially involving connections, I might have been a bit concerned at this, it just gave us more time to relax and sample the Qantas First Lounge in Sydney so I didn’t mind at all in fact.
We arrived roughly on time and were able to clear LAX arrivals pretty quickly.
Conclusion – So rating the relatively new American Airlines Sydney to Los Angeles trans pacific service all up it was a nice flight that both my son and I enjoyed.
Yes on some other airlines some of the soft product might have been a bit more refined such as slightly better food and the service by the flight attendants slightly more attentive.
But then the hard product that AA has on this route with 1-2-1 fully flat beds is also near the top of what customers have to choose from. This is especially the case if travelling solo and is better than the 2-2-2 Skybed 2 seating arrangement that Qantas offers in Business Class if you are choosing from One World Alliance airlines for status and frequent flyer program reasons.
Have you flown them and if so what did you think?
Full report and photos is available here http://www.lifestobelived.com/2016/0...usiness-class/
Feb 22, 2016, 9:48 am
#2
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: UK
Programs: BA Exec club, VS Flying Club, SPG, Marriott Rewards
Posts: 46
Thanks for the report, really enjoyed reading about AA's offering on this relatively new route. Whilst not spectacular, the soft product does look competitive combined with an excellent hard product IMO. Good to see they have diversified their food and beverage offering somewhat, and added some market-appropriate touches.
Feb 22, 2016, 10:30 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Perth, Australia
Programs: QF, LM, USDM, AA
Posts: 209
I had a look at some of the reports out there on how AA has upped their offerings on this route, with food offerings, pyjamas etc before I got on the plane to get a bit of a sense about what the flights might be like and it was good to see that they looked to be going a bit above and beyond their usual service offering...
Maybe pushed up a bit by the competition which is a good thing and hopefully it keeps all the airlines competing on the Trans-pac routes standards up and looking for improvements.
I'll write up the return flight shortly..
Maybe pushed up a bit by the competition which is a good thing and hopefully it keeps all the airlines competing on the Trans-pac routes standards up and looking for improvements.
I'll write up the return flight shortly..
Feb 28, 2016, 11:28 am
#4
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Flatland
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold 1MM, BA Gold, UA Peon
Posts: 6,110
Sounds like you had a good flight, and that AA have a somewhat better food and amenity product than on most of their TATL flights, to be nearer in quality to the other carriers on the TPAC routes.
It's good that you were able to leave the icecream until later (even if you didn't take them up on it). I tried this on a US to London flight (in AA F, even, not J) last year and it didn't go well. The crew appeared to say I could leave it until later, but when I asked for it a couple of hours later I got a dismissive response that it wasn't possible and wasn't available any more. The rest of the service was also poorly delivered.
Your service experience seems to have been much better overall, more comparable with other carriers in Oneworld. It's good to see AA being more competitive with them.
It's good that you were able to leave the icecream until later (even if you didn't take them up on it). I tried this on a US to London flight (in AA F, even, not J) last year and it didn't go well. The crew appeared to say I could leave it until later, but when I asked for it a couple of hours later I got a dismissive response that it wasn't possible and wasn't available any more. The rest of the service was also poorly delivered.
Your service experience seems to have been much better overall, more comparable with other carriers in Oneworld. It's good to see AA being more competitive with them.
Feb 29, 2016, 9:54 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Perth, Australia
Programs: QF, LM, USDM, AA
Posts: 209
Hmmm, that sucks a bit, one thing i like about Qatar is there anytime dining, sometimes you just don't feel like loading up on everything at the start of the flight, so being able to leave something for a bit later in the flight can be much more sensible...
To then have FAs make you feel guilty or respond negatively, and in F of all classes, that is a bit mediocre...
Maybe having a young child who was pretty well behaved and all made them a bit more receptive as well...
But yeah, I haven't done an AA TATL so can't compare, maybe I'll have to book one sometime and try it out...
To then have FAs make you feel guilty or respond negatively, and in F of all classes, that is a bit mediocre...
Maybe having a young child who was pretty well behaved and all made them a bit more receptive as well...
But yeah, I haven't done an AA TATL so can't compare, maybe I'll have to book one sometime and try it out...