FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - American Airlines Flagship Suites First Class Transcontinental, MIA-LAX-MIA

Sep 25, 2014 | 6:43 pm

LPDAL

Join Date: May 2012

Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Programs: IAMAW Local 368/HAL 2 Star Mariner

Posts: 740

KLAX (Los Angeles International Airport)✈KMIA (Miami - International Airport / Wilcox Field / 36th Street / Pan American Field)

Airline: American Airlines
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Airline IATA Code: IATA Code # AA
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Airline IACO Code: IACO Code # AAL
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Airline Callsign: Radio Callsign AMERICAN
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Airline Flight Number: # AA 252
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Aircraft / Equipment Used for Flight : Boeing 777-223ER
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Aircraft / Equipment Registration: Registration # N751AN
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Airline Aircraft / Equipment Fleet Number: # 7BK
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Aircraft / Equipment Nationality: United States of America - FAA - Registered A/C / Equipment
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Aircraft Manufacturer: The Boeing Company
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Aircraft Sub - Manufacturer: Boeing Commercial Airplanes
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Aircraft's First Flight: March 26th, 2001
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Aircraft's Age as of Date of Flight: 13.5 Years Old as of September 20th, 2014
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Aircraft Test Registration: Test Registration N751AN
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Aircraft Config: F16C35Y194 (15 First Class Flat Bed Suites, 35 Business Class Angle Lie Flat Bed Seats, 194 Economy Class Seats)
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Total Number of Passenger Seats: 245 Seats (15 First Class Flat Bed Suites, 35 Business Class Angle Lie Flat Bed Seats, 194 Economy Class Seats)
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Aircraft Construction Number (MSN) : # 30978
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Aircraft Line Number: # 333
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Aircraft Delivery Date: April 4th, 2001
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Aircraft Powerplant (s) : 2x Roll's Royce Trent 892 High - Bypass Turbofan Engines
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Aircraft Owned by / Leased from: OWNED by American Airlines Group
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Cabin: American Airlines Flagship Suites First Class
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Fare Class: F (Full Fare Refundable / Flexible First Class Fare)
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Meal: Lunch / Dessert / Pre - Arrival Snack
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Seat Assignment: Suite # 4J (Last row of First Class), Window Seat, American Airlines Flagship Suites First Class
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Row Assignment: Row # 4 (Last row of First Class), American Airlines Flagship Suites First Class
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A/C Equipped with IFE: Yes, Personal Television Monitors in all Classes, Audio Entertainment in all classes
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A/C Equipped with Wi-Fi Wireless Internet Access: No
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Airline Frequent Flier Program: American Airlines AAdvantage
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Miles / Rewards / Points Earned: 14,037 AAdvantage Miles (2,342 Base Earned Miles + F-Class Mileage Bonus = 1,171 = 3,513 + Online Checkin Purchase Miles = 3,513 + Airport Kiosk Purchased Miles = 3,513 = 14,037 Miles TOTAL)
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Airline Flight Date: September 20th, 2014
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Boarding Call Time: 12:05 PM PST, September 20th, 2014
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Boarding Zone: Boarding Zone # 1, Flagship Services
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Departure Time: 12:52 PM PST, September 20th, 2014
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Departure Gate / Jetway: Gate / Jetway 48B, Terminal 4, KLAX (Los Angeles International Airport)
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Arrival Time: 8:12 PM EST, September 20th, 2014
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Arrival Gate / Jetway: Gate / Jetway D23, Concourse D, Terminal 1, KMIA (Miami - International Airport / Wilcox Field / 36th Street / Pan American Field)
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Time Aloft: 4 hours 20 minutes (260 Minutes)
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Filed Speed: 481 KIAS
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Filed Cruising Altitude: 39,000 feet
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Flight Distance: Direct: 2,340 SM | Planned: 2,445 SM | Flown: 2,492 SM
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Routing Waypoint (s) : LAX HOLTZ9 TRM PKE J78 DRK KA30Q KA30U IMMAS KF27Y KF24A KF21C KF15E KH09G KH03I LEV Q102 BAGGS SSCOT2 MIA
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Fare Cost: $2,500.00 USD

Boarding N751AA, the second unique 777 reg of the day for me.

Onboard the aircraft, however, an African-American J-class flight attendant stopped me and requested to see my boarding pass, claiming that since I "was holding two boarding passes, I wasn't on this flight".(I was holding my MIA-LAX boarding pass over my LAX-MIA ticket". After I showed her my valid LAX-MIA ticket and explain my mad dash to the flight, she profusely apologized and directed me to my assigned suite in First Class, Suite 4J, which was on the opposite side of the suite I came in on, 4A.

I usually choose the last row window seat in the premium class cabin on 2+ cabin airlines (exit row on non-2+ cabin airlines, such as 3M : http://www.airliners.net/aviation-fo...ad.main/257120 and B6 / UP : http://www.airliners.net/aviation-fo...ad.main/251162 ) for the best view of the engine+wing. In this case however, I would have a different view of both the right side Roll's Royce Trent 892 High-Bypass turbofan engine, but I would be seeing the same general scenery on the ground. This turned out NOT to be the case however, as the flight crew took us over a much more northern-aligned routing across the United States. Thanks, Captain George and First Officer Dan!

A tray of PDB's of Champagne, water, and orange juice, probably for the next flight this bird will take in MIA.

My suite, 4J with quilted duvet, pillow, and amenity kit, but no free earbuds.

Suzanne, a middle aged Caucasian female, is the chief purser serving Flagship Suites First Class on my return flight to Miami today, aided by Rick, who is soon to become a chief purser himself after acquiring years of seniority. Both of them are personable, happy, humorous, and most of all, professional, greatly exceeding my expectations on their onboard service. Just like Richard and Roxanne on the inbound MIA-LAX flight, both F/A's go to the nth degree to make sure every First Class passenger is happy during the flight, even joking with the passengers appropriately, of course.

I received three (plastic) glasses of Coca Cola Classic during the final boarding checks, even though I was very late.

First Class cabin during the final boarding checks.

PDB of coke, served up with a hearty smile by chief purser Suzanne.

Just before the L2 boarding door creaked shut, Captain George and First Officer Dan introduced themselves as well as their "nine Miami-based flight attendants" (Why do they always announce what city they're based in?) followed by Suzanne making a very clear point to ALL passengers to ONLY use the lavatory in their assigned cabin before starting the safety video. We pushed back for an on time departure (despite my lateness), and were soon taxiing to the active.

It seems I became spatially disoriented on the inbound flight. Along the taxiways, in addition to the normal phonetic alphabet taxiway direction signs, there were OTHER signs that read,

"DO NOT TURN BEFORE SHORELINE."

From the way were taxiing, it appeared that we would be taking off toward the mountains, so I assumed that we were taxiing down to the shoreline / beach end of the runway and taking off towards the mountains. Thus, these signs baffled me greatly until I saw lines and lines of parked cars at the hold-short marker, signifying that we were departing to the west over the sapphire-blue Pacific Ocean.

This flight's pilots did not seem in much of a rush to take off, slowly advancing the throttles to about 50-60%, letting them spool up about halfway, finally rotating after using about 65% of the runway. The blue sky was still obscured by an ugly gray cloud cover, but the deep blue Pacific Ocean was plainly visible, sparkling even though the sky was quite gloomy. The engine fan intake power was set surprisingly high, the pilots kept it at around 80% N1 as we turned around to the east over the shiny blue waters.
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VIDEO - American Airlines *777-223 Flagship First Class Suites Roll's Royce Trent 892 Takeoff out of Los Angeles International Airport over the Pacific Ocean (IATA: LAX, ICAO: KLAX) - VIDEO

*If you are having trouble viewing the above video due to slow loading times on Flickr, Click here / on this sentence to download it directly to your computer for viewing.*
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Pushback out of Gate 48B at LAX.

The other chrome livery at LAX, Aero Mexico (AM).

American Airlines Airbus A321T (I should hitch a ride on one of these in First Class one of these days...)

Horizon Bombardier Q400, the third thing you won't see anywhere near Florida.

The pilots throw the slats outboard as a shiny AA 738 rolls out past our own 777.

Sorry if you can't read it that well (or at all...) but the all-yellow sign reads "DO NOT TURN BEFORE SHORELINE."

United Express Embraer E120 Brasilia, this Brazilian sparrow was LOUD (I could hear the props chopping up raw air from my Flagship Suite!), and the propeller vibrations buffeted our aircraft! Another good report by one of my favorite reporters, Kevin: http://www.airliners.net/aviation-fo...ad.main/197933

Now you can clearly read one of the "DO NOT TURN" signs as our 772 lines up onto Runway 25 Right.

Lifting off past a menagerie of Delta, United, and other airlines' fleet workhorses, the most of interesting of which include the Delta 744 (747-400) United 788 (787-800), and Alaska Airlines 738 with Split-Scimitar winglets.

Airlines that I will try one day: Japan Airlines (JA / JAL) 777-300 Oneworld Alliance Special Livery, Singapore A380-800, Asiana A380-800, and a Korean Air (KE) A380-800. I've already been on Lufthansa (LH) on a 744 (747-400) ironically enough, doing MIA-FRA-CPH-FRA-MIA in July 2009 when my parents took my brother and I on a tour across Europe. Though, I will add Lufthansa First Class to that list anyway!

Hey, N780AA is still down there, right where I left it! :O

A large bout of wing flexing going on as we U-turn back to face MIA.

Blasting out of that pesky overcast shrouding the Los Angeles Metro Area.

Completing our eastward turn.

Rocketing past Catalina Island. Microsoft Flight Simulator X / 10 players know this location best from the Catalina Day Spa mission, where they must fly from the isle to the mainland, pick up a celebrity and her three poodle dogs, and shuttle them back to Catalina. Halfway through the mission, the single engine on the piloted Cessna 208 Caravan fails and players have two choices to successfully complete the mission: land on a nearby-sailing United States Navy aircraft carrier (earning them the Homeland Security Investigation Photo), or activate the fuel boost pump to restart the engine and continue onto California (earning them the Problem Solver Badge, although you aren't required to pick up the celebrity and her three pooches then fly them back to earn that reward).

A beautiful reflection of our fuselage onto the Roll's Royce Trent 892 as we intercept that darned cloud layer again.