To begin my OneWorld Twice To Oslo trip I needed to first get to London. For both trips I ended up booking the exact same flight East across the Atlantic. With each transatlantic crossing I booked American Airlines flight 98. I specifically booked this flight for both trips for two very specific reasons.
The first is that it departs Chicago at 10:10PM which means I don’t have to take any PTO to get out of work early to catch the flight. Secondly, I booked these flights because they were both operated by American (On AA metal). The importance of the second point will become apparent soon if it isn’t already.
Both Systemwide Upgrades Cleared!
For both flights I actually only paid for an economy class seat. However, thanks to my newly minted American Airlines Executive Platinum elite status I had four systemwide upgrade certificates burning a hole in my pocket.
After booking each of these round trips to/from Oslo I immediately called American Airlines to put in my systemwide upgrade requests. It’s a bit frustrating that you can’t put in these requests online, but the entire call to apply the upgrade requests to both reservations only took a few minutes. After requesting the upgrade the waiting game began.
About 7 days prior to each flight I noticed at least 6 (of 28) empty business class seats. That doesn’t 100% mean that 6 seats were available, but it’s a good sign. I called American and the phone representative confirmed that my chances for the first trip looked good.
Sadly though nothing changed in the days that followed. Upon checking in to my flight my upgrade had still not cleared. When I arrived at the gate I still had an economy class seat. It wasn’t until a minute before boarding began that my first Systemwide Upgrade cleared!
For the second flight my upgrade cleared about 24 hours before departure which made for a less stressful travel day.
Boarding The American Airlines 787-800
Literally seconds before the boarding process began for my first Atlantic crossing the gate agent called my name over the PA system. As I approached the desk she checked my passport and handed me a newly printed business class boarding card. At that point she directed me onto the jet-bridge to board the aircraft.
Lining the halls of the jet-bridge were huge Barclays US AAdvantage Aviator Red card ads. I guess on international flights American pitches credit cards ahead of time rather than onboard.
At the end of the jet-bridge we boarding the aircraft through the L2 boarding door. I presented my boarding card to the flight attendant who directed me to the forward business class cabin.
The 787-800 features two business class cabins. The forward cabin is 5 rows of 4 business class seats and the aft cabin, which is separated by a galley, features just 2 rows of seats. Going forward, it’s rumored that American will replace the “mini-cabin” with the new Premium Economy hard product.
Toward the front of the cabin one of the pilots was standing in the aisle welcoming guests as they entered the cabin.
Business class seats on the 787 are arranged in a herringbone layout. This means certain seats face forward while others face toward the rear of the aircraft. Odd row window seats face forward and odd row center seats face rearward. For both flights I ended up in center seats in row 1, so for both flights I faced the rear of the aircraft.
The American Airlines 787-800 may not be the most photogenic cabin out there, but I find the choice of colors and textures to be excellent.
Boeing 787-800 Flight Deck
As I settled into my seat the purser, Gina, introduced herself and asked if I needed anything. At that point I politely mentioned that I wouldn’t mind trying to get photos of the flight deck upon landing in London. She immediately responded by asking “why not now?” To my surprise, a few moments later she returned to my seat and invited me up to the flight deck.
At this exact point my phone (iPhone X which has never had any issues) decided to freeze completely. Each time I snapped a photo the screen turned off and the phone locked. Luckily the pilot and first officer were extremely nice and allowed me to restart my phone to grab a few more pictures.
After a few failed photo attempts the first officer suggested that I take his seat and pose for a photo. I obliged and have since posted that photo to my instagram account, but I definitely won’t be showing that here.
American Airlines 787-8 Business Class Seat
After an awesome visit to the flight deck I returned to my seat to settle in for the extremely short flight to London. For both flights I sat in rearward facing seats center seats in row 1. I personally really enjoyed these seats for reasons I’ll explain shortly.
On the shelf behind my seat were newspapers for passengers, but these were removed shortly after the boarding door closed. Business class seats on the 787 are fairly private. Once inside it’s easy to forget your sitting next to 19 other strangers.
Once seated it is quite difficult to see other passengers except those seated directly across the aisle from you.
Each seat on the 787 features a fairly large shelf on either side of the seat. For center seats there is a movable divider which can be raised or lowered if you are traveling with someone.
Window seats lack this center divider and therefore feel a bit larger when seated thanks to the curvature of the cabin walls.
Each business class seat also features a small cubby with an overhead light. This cubby also offers two USB charging ports and two 110v power outlets. While the number of ports may be overkill I appreciate how accessible each outlet is.
You’ll notice a small silver button in the bottom left-hand corner of the above photo. Pushing that button releases the in-flight entertainment monitor from the stowed position so it faces you directly.
Beneath the IFE screen is a small ottoman which also offers limited in-seat storage.
American Airlines 787 Business Class Seat Controls
As you settle into the seat you’ll quickly notice a panel to either the right or left of your head which houses the seat controls, the IFE handset, and a small reading lap. The seat controls are fairly easy to identify as they look like a, uh, seat.
Pushing any one of the four pre-set settings moves the seat to that exact position. I personally only found the takeoff/landing and bed button worth using. The other two settings weren’t exactly comfortable. Luckily, above the pre-set options is a “custom” button which allows you to move each section of the seat individually. Using the custom buttons I was able to find a comfortable setting for lounging and watching movies.
Also included in this area of the seat is a handset which controls the IFE screen. The IFE screen is touch sensitive, but who wants to have to stretch out an arm to control your content. Instead, you can simply pop the handset out of the housing and control the IFE screen with the handset.
Additionally, you can put the moving map and flight information on the handset while you watch a movie on the much larger IFE screen. I love this feature as I often like to see where we are on the map.
Under the center (or window) armrest you’ll find a small cubby which is where the headphone jack is located.
Under the three prong outlet is a single stereo outlet for anyone who brings their own headphones.
American Airlines 787 Business Class Amenity Kit
When I arrived at my seat there were two items sitting on the armrest. The first item was of course the Bose noise canceling headphones. The second item was a leather Cole Haan amenity kit.
For the first flight I received a black leather amenity kit whereas on the second flight I received a brown leather kit. The contents of both kits were exactly the same except for the in-flight socks. The in-flight socks from the black kit were black and the socks from the brown kit were, you guessed it, brown.
In addition to the in-flight socks, the Amenity kits also came with an American Airlines branded eyeshade, earphone covers, a small packet of tissues, earplugs, an American Airlines branded pen, a $100 of a $300 Cole Haan purchase coupon, a dental kit, and various C.O. Bigelow products which included lotion, lip balm, and mouthwash.
Of all the items included in the Amenity Kit, my favorite was the pen. It’s incredibly frustrating not having a pen when you need to fill out customs forms on arrival. I love when airlines provide pens in the amenity kits. You might not always need a pen, but when you do it’s nice to have.
Otherwise I was quite impressed with the Cole Haan amenity kit. The kit offered business class passengers anything they would ever need in-flight and more. I also think the case itself is quite nice and could be used to store toiletries on future travels.
American Airlines 787 Business Class Meal Service
After settling into my seat the cabin crew turned on the fasten seatbelt sign and we began pushing back from our gate. At that time the flight attendants distributed the pre-departure beverages and Flagship Business menus. Since the flight departed so late in the evening the taxi to the departing runway went extremely quickly and on one of my two flights I didn’t even have time to finish my sparkling wine.
The menu Flagship Business menu was a tri-fold design with meal options on one side and wine options on the other. The wine menu and introduction to the in-flight experience read as follows.
While the meal service menu featured these items.
As I mentioned, I took this flight twice, so for one of the flights the in-flight meal service menu differed slightly.
Oh, you can’t read that, yeah me either.
American Airlines 787 Business Class Dinner Service
On both flights, about an 30 minutes after taking off the flight attendants circulated the cabin with drink carts. I first ordered a beer, but as the flight attendant opened the beer the contents turned into a smoothie. This happened twice and I finally decided to order a mimosa instead.
The mimosa came with a side dish of warm nuts curiously similar to those found on American Airlines domestic flight class flights.
Shortly after distributing the post-departure beverages the flight attendants again circulated the cabin to take meal orders. Since both flights featured different meals I will review each one individually.
American Airlines Business Class Dinner #1
The dinner menu on the first flight began with a small plate of Fig and Goat Cheese Chicken Roulade. This dish also came with a peach and ginger chutney. Next on the menu was a Boston Bibb salad with grapes and feta. I requested both courses which showed up about 10 minutes later.
Well, what you’re looking at may be the absolute WORST thing I’ve ever eaten on a plane. I honestly think the lettuce of the salad was rotten because it was inedible. Then, the roulade, well, does it look good? It wasn’t. After taking a few bites of each I stopped eating. When the crew stopped by to collect the first courses I politely told them I was too full from the Flagship Lounge to enjoy the meal. Oh, actually the pretzel roll was good.
A few minutes later my Panko Crusted Prawns arrived. I know what you’re thinking, prawns on a plane? Well, my options were Prawns, “Filet of Beef,” Grilled Chicken, or Kale and Sunflower Seed Pesto Campanelle. In the end I chose the prawns because well, how bad can breaded shrimp be?
You guessed it. Terrible. I literally ate half of one of these suckers before throwing in the towel. I’m glad I ate a hearty meal in the Flagship Lounge because there was nothing appetizing about Dinner #1. Also, I skipped dessert and breakfast because I knew I at least had a good meal in London Heathrow waiting for me.
American Airlines 787 Business Class Dinner #2
Two weeks later I decided to give dinner on American another try. Trust me, I didn’t take this decision lightly after the terrible meal I was served prior.
Dinner #2 began with a Poached Shrimp Remoulade small plate and a Baby Spinach and Arugula Salad. I know, shrimp, again, on a plane, but trust me Dinner #1 wasn’t terrible.
Actually, the salad was quite good. The greens were fresh and the heart of palm and strawberries were a nice touch. Then, surprisingly the shrimp (obscured by the copious amounts of New Orleans Remoulade sauce) were also very tasty. I ate much more in the Flagship Lounge in preparation for this meal and still nearly ate everything on the tray table in front of me.
For my entree #2 I decided to play it safe and order the Korean Short Rib. American has a tendency to overcook their meat and this meal was no exception.
The short rib, which you can’t really see, was extremely overcooked. Even so, thanks to the delicious Bulgogi Sauce American adds to all of meat plates, the entree was quite good.
Dinner #2 was significantly better than Dinner #1, but neither option held a candle to the food offered in the American Airlines Flagship First Lounge.
If you’re ever on an American Airlines international premium cabin flight departing from Chicago do yourself a favor and eat in the Flagship Lounge beforehand. This way you can skip the in-flight meal service all together and try to get an extra hour or so of sleep!
American Airlines 787 Business Class Lavatory
Don’t read too much into the order of this post, I just figured now would be a good time to highlight the lavatory of the 787. For the business class cabin there are a total of three lavatories available to passengers. There is a single (quite small) lavatory near the cockpit door while the other two are located near the galley which separates the two cabins.
If possible, try to use the larger lavatory located next to the R2 door of the aircraft.
The lavatory is quite nice and, most importantly, spacious. There is ample room within the lavatory to change into PJs before sleeping.
Nearly everything in this lavatory is handsfree. You don’t have to push the flush button or a water button on the sink to wash your hands. Instead you simply waive your hand in front of a sensor to either flush to toilet or operate the sink.
The large lavatory also features a huge folding changing table. This is perfect for any parents traveling with infant children, but also for anyone who doesn’t want to put their clothes or other personal items on the toilet lid or counter.
Two Extremely Short Flights To London
Both of my flights to London ended up being extremely short. Flights from Chicago to London are typically blocked at well over 7 hours. I realize there is a lot of padding in those numbers, but even so, 7 hours is fairly standard for an eastbound flight.
This is what I saw a few minutes after taking off from Chicago! Our time to London was just 6 hours and 18 minutes. When you factor in the dinner service which takes the first two hours of the flight and the hour of pre-arrival activities only about 3 hours of sleep was left. I hoped to sleep for much longer than just 3 hours, but alas, that was all the sleep I got on either flight.
It’s worth noting that the first flight was quite warm. Luckily, in business class on the 787 each passenger has their own air vents above their seat.
This is actually surprisingly rare to find in premium cabins on other carriers. I can’t tell you how nice it is to be able to regulate your own seats temperature when the overall cabin temperature is high.
Landing At London Heathrow Airport
After two extremely short flights the cabin crew began circulating the cabin to prepare for landing. It was at this point that the flight attendants began transitioning the cabin into sunrise mode.
Around this same time the flight attendants began collecting the Bose headsets. Apparently American has had issues with their headphones walking off flights so they now collect them about 30-40 minutes before landing. This is rather frustrating if you’re relying on American’s headphones to watch the IFE, but doesn’t matter much if you chose to bring your own headphones.
At this stage in the flight I was extremely tired as I only caught about 3 hours of sleep so I asked for a coffee. Luckily it was not too late in the flight to receive a real mug.
Shortly after delivery my coffee the flight attendant returned with landing cards, fast track security passes, and American Airlines arrivals lounge invitations.
Finally, just before landing a video began playing which listed connecting flight information and arrival instructions.
The video ended with a sincere Thank You from American.
Final Thoughts
I’m quite ton regarding American Airlines 787-800 Business Class. The meal and beverage service on either flight didn’t come close to those offered on other carriers. The food was edible at best and the wine and liquor selection was not much better than that offered in economy.
However, the seat itself on the American Airlines 787 is fantastic! Sure it’s a bit narrow around the shoulders, but it’s a fully flat mostly enclosed seat. This business class hard product is as good if not better than any other business class seat out there today. I had no problem sleeping on either short flight. My only with for both flights is for them to be a bit longer so I could wake up better rested in London. Also, the Casper pillow and bedding were a nice touch.
Considering I only paid for an economy class seat for both of these flights I absolutely can’t complain. Also, considering the current business class offerings from United, British Airways, and Lufthansa I think American Airlines business class is the best way to cross the Atlantic at the moment. That being said, as other airlines improve their hard products American is definitely going to have to step up their catering.
