AA 182 - a short hop LAX-LAS on the new A321
Feb 10, 2015, 12:06 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: YOW
Programs: AC SE, FOTSG Platinum
Posts: 5,726
AA 182 - a short hop LAX-LAS on the new A321
Hi folks,
Had the chance to try out American's new A321, and even in Y they're brilliant.
- Itinerary: LAX-LAS
- Airline: American Airlines
- Aircraft: Airbus A321
- Flight Number: AA 182
- On time departure: yes (17:55)
- On time arrival: early (19:05)
- Miles:
- Flight time: 1:10
- Seat: 24D
- Class: Main Cabin Extra
Had some time to kill connecting, which means a trip to the Admirals Club for a few yogurt-covered pretzels, a Diet Coke and another round of hiding "Easter Eggs"
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...ad-2015-a.html
I always enjoy a long connection at LAX or DFW around sunset, as that's when all the widebodies start to arrive, reload and take off on overnights to Europe.
On to the flight.
FAs seemed legitimately excited to be working on the new product - definitely light years ahead of some of the older 737s AA has on the same routes. I was surprised to see the Neo on such a short route as LAS-LAX, but given the time of night I assume it's repositioning for a red-eye from Vegas to the East Coast.
The new 321 has my favourite Y seats of any aircraft in the world. There, I said it.
Frequent readers will know I've got some serious back problems, and the lumbar support on this product is basically perfect. Also passed the YVRGary Headrest Test with flying colours; fully adjustable height means I don't spend the whole flight hunched forward.
I booked a Main Cabin Extra seat for free as an OW Sapphire, which meant about three feet of legroom. As on most bulkhead seats, it means the IFE folds up out of the armrest, which in turn means a slightly narrower seat, but not exactly a hardship. More on the IFE later.
During the *long* time it takes to load a 321 - AA have *got* to start enforcing carry-on rules - I was able to pop into the non-MCE seat behind me, and even its legroom was still pretty reasonable from my 6'1" point of view.
The IFE offering is pretty substantial for a medium-haul aircraft. I didn't run through the whole selection but a pretty solid offering of movies, TV and games. One serious downside was the seat-to-seat texting app, which would apparently let me have a conversation with 16F by tapping incessantly on the touchscreen that's directly behind the head of the passenger in front of me. I foresee air rage incidents in the near future.
USB, headphone jack and a 9-pin DIN connector all available at each seat.
AC power at every seat.
In conclusion, a really excellent product. I'm hoping to see more of it as soon as possible. Definitely didn't leave me remotely excited about the elderly US Airways 757 that followed.
On arriving LAS, it turns out I wasn't the only one in town for the weekend...
Had the chance to try out American's new A321, and even in Y they're brilliant.
- Itinerary: LAX-LAS
- Airline: American Airlines
- Aircraft: Airbus A321
- Flight Number: AA 182
- On time departure: yes (17:55)
- On time arrival: early (19:05)
- Miles:
- Flight time: 1:10
- Seat: 24D
- Class: Main Cabin Extra
Had some time to kill connecting, which means a trip to the Admirals Club for a few yogurt-covered pretzels, a Diet Coke and another round of hiding "Easter Eggs"
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...ad-2015-a.html
I always enjoy a long connection at LAX or DFW around sunset, as that's when all the widebodies start to arrive, reload and take off on overnights to Europe.
On to the flight.
FAs seemed legitimately excited to be working on the new product - definitely light years ahead of some of the older 737s AA has on the same routes. I was surprised to see the Neo on such a short route as LAS-LAX, but given the time of night I assume it's repositioning for a red-eye from Vegas to the East Coast.
The new 321 has my favourite Y seats of any aircraft in the world. There, I said it.
Frequent readers will know I've got some serious back problems, and the lumbar support on this product is basically perfect. Also passed the YVRGary Headrest Test with flying colours; fully adjustable height means I don't spend the whole flight hunched forward.
I booked a Main Cabin Extra seat for free as an OW Sapphire, which meant about three feet of legroom. As on most bulkhead seats, it means the IFE folds up out of the armrest, which in turn means a slightly narrower seat, but not exactly a hardship. More on the IFE later.
During the *long* time it takes to load a 321 - AA have *got* to start enforcing carry-on rules - I was able to pop into the non-MCE seat behind me, and even its legroom was still pretty reasonable from my 6'1" point of view.
The IFE offering is pretty substantial for a medium-haul aircraft. I didn't run through the whole selection but a pretty solid offering of movies, TV and games. One serious downside was the seat-to-seat texting app, which would apparently let me have a conversation with 16F by tapping incessantly on the touchscreen that's directly behind the head of the passenger in front of me. I foresee air rage incidents in the near future.
USB, headphone jack and a 9-pin DIN connector all available at each seat.
AC power at every seat.
In conclusion, a really excellent product. I'm hoping to see more of it as soon as possible. Definitely didn't leave me remotely excited about the elderly US Airways 757 that followed.
On arriving LAS, it turns out I wasn't the only one in town for the weekend...
Feb 10, 2015, 12:15 am
#2
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 565
Feb 10, 2015, 9:45 am
#3
Formerly known as caveruner17
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: ORD
Posts: 432
During the *long* time it takes to load a 321 - AA have *got* to start enforcing carry-on rules
When you charge $50 RT for checked bags, people are going to bring stuff on board.
Feb 10, 2015, 10:36 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: YOW
Programs: AC SE, FOTSG Platinum
Posts: 5,726
Feb 10, 2015, 11:21 am
#5
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: 6km East of EPAYE
Programs: UA Silver, AA Platinum, AS & DL GM Marriott TE, Hilton Gold
Posts: 9,582
Feb 27, 2015, 9:54 pm
#10
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Southern California/Los Angeles
Programs: Various
Posts: 2,778
AA is deploying this aircraft on longer routes, such as LAX-DFW, DFW-MIA, and MIA-LAX. Starting soon on LAX-ORD.
Hopefully they will continue to do that to more of the non-flagship transcons for a nicer ride (LAX-BOS, LAS-JFK, LAS-MIA, SFO-MIA)
Hopefully they will continue to do that to more of the non-flagship transcons for a nicer ride (LAX-BOS, LAS-JFK, LAS-MIA, SFO-MIA)