Background
For Labor Day weekend, I needed to get back to New York City. I have flown on the American Airlines A321T in Flagship First many times before on the Los Angeles (LAX) to New York (JFK) route. Though the competition is fierce on this route, I find the AA Flagship First on the A321T to be one of the best ways to fly coast to coast, although it has room for improvement. The major plus that puts American ahead of the competition is the first-class lounge access that is granted with this route.
Flight Details
American Airlines Flight 2
Los Angeles (LAX) to New York (JFK)
Scheduled Duration: 5 hours and 38 minutes
Class: Flagship First
Aircraft: Airbus A321T
Seat: 2F
Date of Flight: September 2024
At The Airport
At Los Angeles (LAX), you do get access to the Flagship Lounge, which I like. This lounge has plenty of seating to relax and a solid buffet selection. They had scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon, smoked trip-tip hash, pancakes, sushi, and some more cold dishes. I wasn’t too hungry, so I just grabbed some fruit (and bacon) as a snack.
AA Flagship First A321T Plane
The American Airbus A321 Transcon is one of the coolest aircraft configurations to me. It’s almost like a private jet because it is so premium-heavy. 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.
The Flagship First seat is 21 inches wide and in lie-flat mode, the seat is 82.5 inches long.
This aircraft serves Los Angeles (LAX) to Boston (BOS)/New York (JFK), San Francisco (SFO) to New York (JFK), & Orange County (SNA) to New York (JFK). Supposedly, this configuration will be retired soon as the new A321XLRs are delivered.
Boarding & Seat
Boarding started 30 minutes before our scheduled departure time and was completed in just 19 minutes. The boarding door closed, and we left the gate about 5 minutes early. We ended up not taxiing for too long and took off 10 minutes after we left the gate. The captain told us that our flight would be exactly 5 hours long in the air.
The Flagship First seat on the A321T aircraft is similar to the reverse herringbone seat offered on the 777-300ER’s Flagship Business but modified for the narrowbody A321T aircraft. I enjoy the 1-1 configuration and the seat feels quite private, especially when flying alone. Interestingly, I‘ve sat in all of the rows (2-5) except for row 1 on this aircraft. I haven’t chosen row 1 yet because I don’t like the proximity to the lavatory and galley. But the seats I have sat in are all fine to me!
Waiting at the seats were the Bang and Olufsen headsets, a full-sized water bottle, and an amenity kit. I haven’t gotten this case before, and it is the Thirteen Lune limited-edition kit. Flying Flagship First on a transcontinental gets you the equivalent of an international long-haul Flagship Business amenity kit. I liked the shape of the case and the kit comes with an eye mask, earplugs, toothbrush/toothpaste, and Joanna Vargas lotion and lip balm. Compared to the previous kit, socks & a pen are missing.
Bedding
Plenty of comfortable bedding by Casper was provided (but I know that they have switched to new bedding). The first set contained a duvet and full-sized pillow, which is also featured in Flagship Business. The second set is exclusive to Flagship First and features a lighter blanket and a smaller pillow. I love the Casper bedding and think it’s the best compared to the offerings on United & Delta.
For lavatories, there is one at the front of the cabin for first-class passengers. I used the lavatory during the flight, and it was kept clean but no special amenities.
Wi-Fi & In-Flight Entertainment
Wifi is available for $20 for one hour and $29 for the whole flight. You can also get free Wi-Fi as a T-Mobile customer.
The seat-back system is a solid size at 15.4 inches, and it was clear and responsive with the touch screen and remote. There were plenty of movie options available, as well as TV shows and music. Charging ports/plugs, and USB charging were available as well. The only issue I faced was that the movies would pause/buffer every so often. The trick is to rewind it for 10/20 seconds and press play, and it will work again. This has happened on a few of my flights already on the A321T and is one of the quirks of this product. I assume the IFE needs updating but since they plan on retiring this configuration, AA is not doing any fixes at the moment.
A power port and USB A charging is available as well.
The Flight & Meal Service
After reaching cruising altitude, the flight attendant came around to take breakfast orders. About 20 minutes later, the breakfast service began with a hot towel service.
Breakfast Starters
Starters for breakfast included a cold-pressed juice & seasonal fruit plate. I inquired if they were able to make cappuccinos because they did at one point, but I was informed that they couldn’t make them anymore.
Next up came the seasonal fruit plate, as well as a choice of a biscuit, croissant, or cinnamon roll.
I liked the mango, though I wish there were a bit more of the other fruits.
Breakfast Mains
Then for the main plate, one could choose between:
- American Breakfast- scrambled eggs, bacon, roasted potatoes, herbed tomato
- Breakfast Toast- rye toast, sliced Chateaubriand, black beans, onion, tomato
- Steel Cut Oatmeal- blueberries, toasted almonds
- Egg White Omelet- wheat berry kale pilaf, nut-free pesto
You can pre-order dishes starting 30 days (and up to 24 hours) before flights. I didn’t preorder on this flight as I booked last minute less than 24 hours before departure and chose the Egg White Omelet when I was onboard.
Unfortunately, the egg white omelet was visually unattractive and it tasted bad. The egg itself was way too salty, and there was too much pilaf. Probably one of the worst meals I’ve had in AA Flagship First.
Snacks
After the meal was completed, the flight attendant came by with a snack basket. The snack basket had cookies, Cheese It’s, almonds, chips, gummy bears, and a few other selections. He brought it by twice during the flight, and it was also placed in row 1 if you wanted to grab anything during the flight. Service is a hit or a miss on AA Flagship First in my experience, but the flight attendant working this flight was very friendly and attentive. He kept passing through the aisle to refresh beverages and to ask if I needed anything.
The cheeseboard then came out 2 hours before landing, which was funny because essentially the whole flight felt like an extended brunch.
I liked the fruits from the cheese board, but oh boy were the cheeses a lot worse than the ones I had on Air France a few weeks prior. Too bad they didn’t have the great ice cream sundae offered on this flight since it was a breakfast flight…oh well.
An hour before landing, a warm chocolate chip cookie was served, which is one of my favorite parts! The flight attendant also offered me hot tea to go with my cookie. Then, the headsets were collected 40 minutes before landing, and he gave me a disposable headset so I could finish watching my shows.
Lastly, there was another hot towel service before landing which was a nice touch. We landed a little less than 30 minutes before our scheduled arrival and got to the gate 15 minutes early.
Dinner at the Chelsea Lounge
After deplaning, I headed to the first-class Chelsea Lounge for a nice restaurant-style meal before heading into the city. On this visit, I enjoyed a really solid meal. I enjoyed my main dish which was the NY Sirolin Steak. And they finally had Krug available as champagne. Yay! Recently, I’ve only seen the Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle, but I don’t care for that one much.
Certainly a luxurious arrival meal.
You can check a full review here on the first-class Chelsea Lounge from a prior visit if you’re interested.
The Verdict
Overall, flying on AA Flagship First is one of the best ways to fly coast to coast and I love having dinner at the Chelsea Lounge after the flight. Despite the subpar meal that I was served in the air, the steak at the lounge made up for it on arrival. While the product has it’s quirks, I will miss it when it slowly gets phased out as the A321XLRs come in.
Have you flown in AA Flagship First on the A321 Transcon before? How was your experience? Comment below!
Cheers,
Ty
Have any questions? Comment below or email me at takeofftotravel@gmail.com. I’ve also started working with a travel agency, Fora Travel, and can assist in booking hotel stays or planning trips. You can also view all my other posts here! Thanks for stopping by!
I really appreciate this perspective! Flying AA Flagship First sounds like a fantastic experience, especially enjoying dinner at the Chelsea Lounge afterward. It’s great to hear that the steak made up for the in-flight meal. I can see why you’ll miss this service as the A321XLRs come in—it’s tough to say goodbye to a favorite!