This is the plane you want when flying American Airlines domestic!

American Airlines domestic flights are usually handled by a an occasionally ragtag bunch (the old US Airways aircraft) of narrowbodies. This is pretty standard, with airlines in Europe, Australia and other countries doing the same.

It’s always wonderful when you find a nice international widebody servicing your flight. In my case, it was a Boeing 777-200ER and as I was in Main Cabin Extra, that meant I could choose what is normally Premium Economy on the seat map. These seats are basically the equivalent of the usual first class seat domestically.

AA994 – Miami to Charlotte (MIA-CLT)
9 February 2023
Boeing 777-200ER – N777AN
Seat: Main Cabin Extra 14A
Departure: 11:52 Arrival: 13:55

I boarded with Group 2 on this flight, which meant I was on board nice and promptly. While waiting, I was amused to hear a kid mention these seats and his Dad replied, “these people paid a lot more than us to sit here – we’re further down the back!”.

Main Cabin Extra Seating

As mentioned, you can choose what are usually the Premium Economy seats for Main Cabin Extra. I couldn’t tell you how much extra these cost, because I don’t need to pay for a seat due to my frequent flyer status.

There are no headphones passed out on domestic flights, but if you have some you can use the entertainment no problem. Back in December, I flew Premium Economy from Dublin to Philadelphia so here is what a normal flight in these seats looks like.

A LED Lightshow

The crew were doing some very good announcements during boarding, pointing out they were an international crew based at Miami. When boarding was complete, we got treated to a lightshow with the mood lighting that looked like this.

Apparently we had some veterans or people serving in the armed forces on board. The crew did the lighting like this to thank them for their service, which was cute.

American Airlines Domestic Catering

After the safety demonstration, we headed into the sky and the experienced crew began the service. We received pretzels and the ubiquitous Biscoff cookies plus a drink of our choice. You can see the full international catering on an overnight flight from Philadelphia to Dublin here.

As I had been partying with friends in Miami for a few days I decided to stick to soft drink. You are allowed free alcoholic drinks in Main Cabin Extra on American, just so you know. The cabin was cleared relatively swiftly and we landed in Charlotte on time.

Overall Thoughts

When flying American Airlines domestic, try to pick the widebody aircraft. They would be the Boeing 777 and Boeing 787, which are much better than the standard narrowbodies plying the routes around the US.

It’s not just the oneworld carrier where this rule applies. You should always select the long-haul aircraft on a short route if one is available. For example, Iberia sometimes run A330s and A350s on Madrid to London and Finnair often have an A350 on one of the flights from Helsinki to London. Keeps things fun!

What do you think of American Airlines? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please let me know.

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Featured image by Grant Wickes on Flickr via Wikimedia Commons.
LED Lighting by SANspotter.