Sector - SFO-JFK
Flight number - AA178
Class - First
Seat - 3B
Aircraft - B767-200

AA operates SFO-JFK with a mix of 2 class F/Y and 3 class F/J/Y services. A DONE4 entitled F travel on 2 class services domestically. I'd picked this flight as it was originally a 2 class 763 service, which I'd hoped to be fitted with the angled flat NGBC seats. But shortly after I'd ticketed my booking, an EQP CHG occurred and AA had decided to operate this flight as a 3 class service. So I'd scored American Flagship Service, AA's enhanced transcon services ala UA's ps, in F.

My parents had inexplicably changed their domestic flights from F to whY at the last minute. I tried every trick in the book to get them out of whY. Unfortunately I couldn't use my 500 mile upgrades as they weren't ticketed in the correct class of travel. The age old method of giving up my seat didn't work either - they wanted to be seated together, and there was only 1 of me but two of them. I tried...

We'd turned up to the airport extraordinarily early. Even though I was flying F on this transcon I didn't have lounge access, which was only given to those ticketed in F or Z classes; I was ticketed in A per DONE4 rules. And unfortunately my PLT status did not allow lounge access when on solely "domestic" itineraries. The only way we could use a lounge was AC membership or a $50 day pass. Rather than spending $50 each to get into an AC, we'd decided to sit down at a cafe.

It was fun watching the upgrade list in action - epitomising the concept of upgrades being expected rather than the exception on US carriers. Boarding was hindered by an overwhelming number of gate lice. We flicked them away effortlessly and proceeded to our seats in respective cabins. I was urged by a number of people to go for seat 2D, a solitary seat in the middle of the cabin cutely nicknamed the Captain Kirk seat, but I thought it lacked privacy and I wasn't the biggest fan of isolated, single seats. FEBO logic meant that I ought to pick a seat in the first row, however the bulkhead row seems to have less legroom than the subsequent row. So an aisle seat in the 2nd row it was.


AA's AFS F cabin with Capt Kirk seat in foreground





Menus were handed out and I was offered sparkling wine when I took my seat - it happened to be a rose. With great difficulty I had to turn it down due to my month-long involuntary abstinence and went for some water instead. There was lots of space, and quite a bit of legroom.

The doors soon shut and we began taxiing for takeoff. It's always nice to visit NYC (though I'm not sure if I'd actually want to live there as it is so expensive and the pace is too fast for my liking), and even though this isn't my first time I began to get a sense of excitement as we were rolling down the runway, knowing that in under 6 hours I'd get to be in NYC again.


Personal entertainment unit

Bose headsets and portable DVD players were handed out after take off, and our orders for lunch were taken. I had some warm nuts with another glass of water. My seatmate chose to dip his dreadlocks into my nuts at this time. He almost made me regret not going for the Capt Kirk seat, but despite that initial hiccup - he turned out to be quite a nice guy and we had some rather interesting convos on the way to JFK.

Lunch started with some lovely mushroom soup, which was immediately followed by some salad. The main course was a choice between a cold platter and a chicken sandwich - I picked the sandwich but I couldn't eat more than a few bites of it as the sauce was exceedingly spicy for my palate despite the lack warning about the spice. I'd have normally washed down the spice with some bubbly or white wine, but did so with Coke this time. I declined dessert, and asked for some water to go with my pills. The AFS service was meant to be an international standard service, but I felt that apart from the champagne, menus and perhaps an additional course - the offerings felt no different from regular domestic F. The choice of main courses were especially uninspiring. I'd have felt rather cheated had I actually paid for full fare F.

View full menu here.







The crew was pretty good on this flight - friendly, chatty and obviously loved their job. They were also quite nice about sending rose back to my parents.

The rest of the flight was rather uneventful. I watched a couple of TV shows, and checked out Elizabeth: The Golden Age which I quite enjoyed despite several creative liberties (which are of course to be expected). I thought Cate Blanchett's performance was brilliant and rather deserving of her Oscar nomination; a pity she was beaten to the golden statuette by the chick who played La Vi En Rose and probably deserved it equally. I hate it when there HAS to be winners and losers!

We made a punctual landing at JFK, and had a longish walk to baggage reclaim. Our bags were first on the carousel, and we were soon braving the cold - quite a difference from the weather in California and Vegas! But all that didn't matter for a visit to one of the greatest cities in the world. I don't think one can ever get tired of visiting NYC.



Next: W New York-Union Square; NYC: Scenes of Freedom