American Airlines
Domestic First Class (J)
Cheapo Y Fare upgraded with SWU
AA151: CDG-ORD (Paris to Chicago)
30 April 2018
Boeing 787-8 (Two Class Configuration)
N816AA
Seat 1H
Departure: 12:10PM
Arrival: 02:15PM
First stop was the Cathay Lounge where I scored a passable bowl of chicken pho. I didn't have time to linger, so I slurped it down and made my way next door to the AA lounge to see what was on offer there.
The offerings at the AA lounge were a bit worse, though I did have a miniature croque monsieur that was quite good. I was in a huge rush, so no photos. I didn't plan on being delayed so long by the terminal transfer.
The agent at the AA lounge informed me that I needed to arrive at the gate early to undergo document verification. Of course. So, off I went to my gate at the farthest possible distance from the lounge while still being within the 2A building. Once I got there, they just wanted to confirm I had no checked bags and they promptly reissued my boarding pass. Ok then.
And then they told me to board the plane, even though boarding didn't officially begin for a further 10 minutes or so. Sure thing! So I was the first on board and I settled in the for long ride back to the US. Since this wasn't my first time flying the AA 788, I knew enough to pick a good seat to avoid the motion in the ocean issue. 1H was an excellent choice and it worked out quite well. I personally really like this seat, despite what detractors say.
Menu
Meals
I pre-ordered the chicken, which turned out to be a pretty good choice. Quite tasty overall. However, the FA did inform us that they had not been provisioned with linens for the meal service, so we had to do without. Not a huge deal, but a bit odd. Also, the blanket and pillow I was given had a ridiculous amount of black lint stuck all over it. Really a poor laundering job on the ground. Job not well done on that.
Pre-meal Nuts and Diet Coke
With the bright striped socks from the amenity kit. Very comfy. And some trashy TV downloaded to my iPad from Netflix. Don't judge.
Starter
I don't eat salmon and the orzo salad was so-so. Not bad, but not a lot of flavor to it. I ate less than half.
Main Course
The aforementioned chicken. This was really good and perfectly cooked. The chicken was tender, juicy and flavorful. Probably the best chicken I've ever had on a plane A+ for ground catering this time.
Dessert
I went with the cake and it was quite tasty.
For the next several hours, I spent my time bingeing on garbage from Netflix. It was thoroughly enjoyable. That said, the woman next to me in 1L was absolutely obnoxious. The phrase white privilege comes to mind. But basically, the kept her shade up the entire flight, even though the cabin was dimmed for every single other window and at least half the J cabin was trying to sleep. Really poor behavior there and very inconsiderate of everyone else. And it's not like there was even anything to see out the window. We took a route too far south of Greenland to see a single thing of any interest.
Pre-Arrival Snack
A couple hours before landing, a snack was served. I went with the sandwich and it was quite good.
A short while later, we were on the ground in balmy ORD and I made my way from T5 to the Flagship Lounge in T3 H/K. I camped out there for an hour or so and had some desperately needed vegetables. I also made good use of the Coca-Cola Freestyle machine, which is awesome. Soon enough, it was time to go to my gate to catch my final flight to BOS.