A321T Review: American Airlines Flagship First San Francisco to New York

Background

I often fly the American Airlines A321 Transcon in both Flagship Business and Flagship First, but mostly from New York to Los Angeles. This time, I got to try it out of San Francisco, and was traveling with a friend as we were heading back to New York after a wedding in Lake Tahoe. I didn’t like that all the nonstop flights from Reno or Sacramento were red-eyes, so we decided to visit some friends in San Francisco and fly out from there.

Some of my past reviews on the A321 Transcon include:

• Takeoff Points: American Flagship First February 2025 Edition: New York to Los Angeles/Santa Ana (February 2025)
• AA Flagship First Review Los Angeles-New York (September 2024)
• AA Flagship Business Review Orange County to New York (April 2024)

The A321T configuration is going to be retired, and the A321XLRs with no Flagship First, but the new Flagship Suite business class product will be introduced on this route. The first A321XLR is slated to enter service at the end of this year.

Flight Details: American Airlines Flagship First San Francisco to New York

American Airlines Flight 16
San Francisco (SFO) to New York (JFK)
Scheduled Duration: 5 hours and 36 minutes
Class: Flagship First
Aircraft: Airbus A321T
Seat: 4A
Date of Flight: June 2025

At the Airport

Flying in Flagship First or Business does grant you access to the Admirals Club here in San Francisco (SFO). Sadly, there isn’t a Flagship Lounge to use in SFO. But, I did only have about 20 minutes to lounge, and as far as Admirals Clubs go, it was pretty nice. You can see my quick review of the SFO Admirals Club here if you’d like.

AA Flagship First A321T Aircraft

The American Airbus A321 Transcon has a very premium heavy configuration. Essentially, half of the plane is taken up by First & Business Class. AA Flagship First has 10 seats in a 1-1 configuration, Flagship Business has 20 seats in a 2-2 configuration, and the Main Cabin is split with 36 seats for Main Cabin Extra and 36 Main Cabin Seats in a 3-3 configuration.

On the A321T, the Flagship First seat is 21 inches wide, and in lie-flat mode, the seat is 82.5 inches long.

Bedding & Amenity Kit

John Horsfall and American have collaborated on bedding made with recycled materials. It contains a duvet, a cool-touch dual-sided pillow, and a crepe weave blanket. It’s pretty solid bedding, just as good as the old Casper bedding (which I loved).

Flying Flagship First on a transcontinental flight gets you the equivalent of an international long-haul Flagship Business amenity kit. The kit comes with an eye mask, earplugs, toothbrush/toothpaste, and Joanna Vargas lotion and lip balm.

Wi-Fi & In-Flight Entertainment

Wifi is available for $19 for one hour and $25 for a flight pass. You can also get free Wi-Fi as a T-Mobile customer. 

The seat-back system is 15.4 inches, and it was clear and responsive with both a touch screen and a remote. There were plenty of movie options available, as well as TV shows and music. A power port and USB-A charging are available. Bang & Olufsen noise cancelling headphones are provided which is nice.

The Flight

Shortly after takeoff, nuts & olives were served. Love these!

Lunch was served on this flight, and for my small plate, I had the Poached Shrim,p which was alright. It also came with a salad and Butternut Squash Soup.

Main course options included Beef Filet, Cumin Rubbed Pan Roasted Chicken, Vegetable & Grain Bowl, and the Lo Mein Noodles.

I loved the Lo Mein Noodles from a previous flight, so I reordered that and it did not disappoint.

For dessert, I got my favorite Ice Cream Sundae. American has the best sundaes, and they use Häagen-Dazs ice cream.

A snack basket was left out in the first row of the cabin. Snacks offered included beef jerky, cauliflower chips, pistachios, chips & cookies.

I then proceeded to get some rest, and I woke up with a little under an hour left in the flight. Normally, I was used to them doing the warm cookie service around then, but today they did it earlier so I missed it! But the flight attendant was friendly and said he had extras when I asked and brought me one. 

They didn’t actually collect the headphones, which was shocking since they normally collect them well in advance of landing. 

We ended up getting to the gate about 10 minutes early, and then it was off to dinner at the Chelsea Lounge!

Dinner at the Chelsea Lounge

After deplaning, my friend and I had a nice restaurant-style meal at the Chelsea Lounge before heading into the city. The premium champagne offering this time around was the Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle, but I much prefer the Dom Perignon or Krug. The Tuna Crudo appetizer was great, and the cod was alright, but I have had better mains at the Chelsea Lounge before.

If you’re interested, you can check a prior review here on the first-class Chelsea Lounge.

The Verdict

Overall, flying on AA Flagship First on the A321T is always fun for me. On top of the in-flight experience with my favorite ice cream sundae, having a meal at the Chelsea Lounge is a nice experience. As the product is aging and retiring, I do look forward to try the new A321XLR suites, though I will miss this configuration.

Have you flown on the American Airlines Flagship First San Francisco to New York route before? Are you sad to see the A321T retire? Comment below!

Cheers,

Ty

Have any questions? Comment below or email me at takeofftotravel@gmail.com. You can also view all my other posts here! Thanks for stopping by!