When planning our trip home from Australia and New Zealand we originally booked an economy class American Airlines flight from Auckland to Los Angeles that departed Auckland on Sunday afternoon. About a month before our scheduled departure I called American to check on the status of our Systemwide Upgrades and thankfully reached a fantastic American Airlines phone representative. While I was on the phone with the agent she informed me that the flight the next day had one confirmable seat and the second upgrade looked good. As I booked a non-refundable ticket I was worried the change fee might be too high to justify switching.
Surprisingly, the change fee was just $50/each and guaranteed at least one Business Class seat. So, after a few minutes on the phone with the American Agent we switched to a flight the next day and confirmed one of our upgrades. Just a week later, the second upgrade cleared and we were both confirmed in Business Class. Thanks to the Systemwide Upgrades we were going to be flying 13 hours in Business Class on American after paying just $350 for economy class seats. Not a bad deal if you ask me.
A few weeks after booking our return flight it was already time to head back to the US after spending just over a week in Australia and New Zealand. American’s Auckland to Los Angeles flight departs Auckland in the late afternoon. This allowed us to have a final half day exploring Auckland before heading to the airport.
An Unfriendly Airport Welcome
When we arrived at the airport we immediately made our way to the American Airlines check-in counters with our luggage to check. Since we were traveling for more than a week we both had suitcases that needed to be checked. Additionally, one of the bags was a few pounds over the 50 pound limit imposed by American Airlines.
Although one of the checked bags was overweight, we weren’t worried because American’s baggage allowance permits bags of up to 70 pounds for Business, First, and OneWorld Emerald passengers. This is where things got interesting.
Before handing over my passport to be checked in I placed my bag on the scale. The bag weighed just 55 pounds, but immediately the American Airlines agent informed me that I’d have to pay a fee for the overweight bag. I responded politely and informed her that as a OneWorld Emerald customer I was allowed up to 70 pounds. At this point I didn’t realize that the 70 pound rule also applied to Business Class passengers. The agent began by telling me that I was wrong, but continued the check-in process. A few moments later she printed out a bag tag, rolled her eyes, and tagged the bag.
I get it, I don’t look like your typical Business Class passenger nor would you assume I maintain elite status. However, assuming that I was wrong in my understanding of the baggage allowance and telling me that I was wrong before starting the check-in process was a bit annoying.
The Long Journey To The Gate
After our unpleasant check-in experience we made out way toward the security checkpoint to enter the terminal. Once we cleared security we ended up with about an hour left until our scheduled boarding time. Since we had some time we decided to head upstairs to the Qantas Business Class lounge. We had access to the lounge since we were flying in business class on a OneWorld carrier. However, we’d also have access to this lounge if flying in economy class thanks to my current OneWorld Emerald elite status.
After spending a few minutes in the extremely underwhelming Qantas lounge we decided to instead explore the rest of the terminal. Then, after exploring for about 30 minutes it was time to walk toward the gate to board our flight home.
We had been told at the lounge that the walk to the gate would be about 15 minutes, but we completely underestimated the distance. As we began the walk we saw the massive 787-9 that would be taking us to Los Angeles in the distance. It was the first of many clues that we had a long way to go.
Thankfully on our walk to the gate we did get some pretty incredible views of the huge Singapore Airlines A380 with old suites.
I have to admit, seeing the A380 from this angle puts the size of the aircraft into perspective.
American Airlines Business Class Boarding Process
After the 15 minute walk we eventually reached our gate. Prior to entering the gate area we had to first complete a short secondary screening as is common on US bound flights. This consists of a few questions about your trip and your luggage, but is generally very painless. After answering a few questions we were directed toward the boarding area where the agents had already begun the boarding process.
American boards all flights by group number. Since we were traveling in Business Class we were able to board with Group 2. However, since we arrived at the gate a few minutes late, we ended up boarding with Group 4 or 5. Still, we managed to board prior to all of the economy passengers which made boarding quite pleasant.
Sadly, because we boarded late in the process I was unable to get any photos of the completely empty. Still, one of the things that I’ve come to appreciate about traveling in a premium cabin is that you don’t have to board early. Instead, I’ve started to board last as I know I’m going to have overhead bin space, I will still get the same pre-departure drink service, and I don’t have to stand around and wait for anyone to get situated.
American Airlines Business Class 787-9 Cabin
Even thought we boarded late, the business class cabin on the 787-9 still looked fantastic. The seats are similar to those found on the 787-800, but the cabin features darker and sleeker finishes.
Personally, I love the darker colors and the large super diamond seats with ample storage found on the 787-9. Overall it’s a far superior hard product to that found on American’s 787-800 aircraft.
The cabin looks especially nice with all of the overhead bins closed Boeing’s signature led lighting effects on.
While the cabin is visually appealing, it’s also quite functional. The aircraft features a 1-2-1 seating arrangement in which all passengers face forward and have direct aisle access.
The two center seats face inward toward each other and are a great option for couples traveling together while window seats all face outward toward the windows and offer ample privacy.
In reality, there are no bad seats on this aircraft as every seat offers plenty of comfort, storage, and privacy.
American Airlines 787-9 Business Class Seat
The business class seat found on American’s 787-9 is among the best in the world. It might not be able to compete with Qatar Q-Suites or other Business Suites with doors, but it’s better than most.
What I love most about this particular seat is that it features ample storage, which is hard to find with many other seats. For the long flight back to Los Angeles I selected 6A while my girlfriend was in seat 7A. Not a great situation for us traveling together, but every center pairing of seats was taken by couples traveling together.
As I arrived at the seat I found a standard lie-flat business class seat with all of the storage compartments open. At the seat when I arrived was a Casper Bedding set and a pair of Bose noise canceling headphones.
Surprisingly, the business class seat on American’s 787-9 is extremely spacious. With the armrest down you can somewhat sit side by side with your travel companion.
However, I’d instead recommend grabbing two of the center seats. With the storage bins lowered it’s fairly easy to talk to one another. However, when reclined, your neighbor vanishes from sight thanks to the well positioned center divider.
Of course, the seat converts into a lie-flat bed which is fantastic. The casper bedding help makes this seat one of the more comfortable business class “beds” available today. If given the option, I’d recommend booking a flight on the 787-9 over the 787-800.
American Airlines 787-9 Business Class Seat Storage
Another reason I love this seat on the 787-9 is the ample storage available. For some reason or another in-seat storage is hard to come by in most business class seats. The first of these storage areas is toward the rear of the seat, just below the magazine rack. This area was large enough to hold personal items such as a wallet or passport.
In front of that storage area was yet another, much larger, storage area. This area held the Bose Headphones and the Amenity Kit when I arrived at the seat, but also was home to other items.
Specifically, inside this larger storage area is the power outlet, the IFE remote, a USB outlet, and the headphone jack. The lid to this compartment closes, but leaves a small gap which allows cords to pass under it without getting caught.
The power outlet is universal, but I often find that it’s hard to keep items plugged into this type of outlet.
Instead, I much prefer to use the USB outlet to charge my devices in flight.
Either way, you’ll have no problem storing items or keeping devices charged in this seat! Finally, and surprisingly, there is even more storage in the aisle armrest.
Yep, you can open it up to reveal even more storage. Trust me, this might not seem significant, but the amount of seat storage found in this seat is unprecedented.
After geeking out about all of the seat storage I decided to turn my attention toward the business class amenities.
American Airlines Business Class Amenities
First of all, located in yet another small storage area upon arrival was a set of flight slippers. These were a bit thicker and more comfortable than most slippers provided by airlines.
Next, after taking our seats, the cabin crew distributed flight pajamas.
Despite the bright blue packaging, the flight pajamas were actually quite attractive and extremely comfortable. It’s always nice when airlines provide pajamas, but I still always bring my own.
On our flight we also received very nice Cole Haan branded amenity kits. At first I thought this refreshed amenity kit seemed cheap, but I quickly realized how functional it is as a shoe bag for traveling.
Instead the shoe bag amenity kit were the standard in-flight amenities. The kit included mouthwash, C.O. Bigelow lotions, flight socks, an eyemask, tissues, a dental kit, ear plugs, and a pen.
Of all the items in the kit I most appreciated the pen. I usually forget a pen when traveling so it’s nice that American provides one.
Departing Auckland
After checking out the cabin and the amenities it was finally time to depart Auckland. The cabin crew prepared the cabin and we were ready to go.
The infamous American Airlines safety video played…
… and kept playing….
… and the jet-bridge started to pull back from the aircraft…
… but then the jet-bridge stopped, the safety video paused, and the jet-bridge came back toward the aircraft.
Ultimately there was a slight delay because prior to taking off the crew realized that there was not enough drinking water on board. So, they loaded a few more bottles and before we knew it we were back underway.
In total the flight ended up departing about 30 minutes late and we were easily able to make that time up in-flight.
A Little Plane Spotting In Auckland
As we taxied toward the run way I was able to do a little bit of plane spotting. One of the fun things about flying in and out of far away airports is that you can see aircraft and airlines not frequently found back home. For example, there were a few Virgin Australia planes sitting at the gates.
There was also a Qatar Airways 777 and a China Eastern A330.
But the most interesting of all was this ex-Singapore Airlines 777 which had all of the Singapore Airlines branding removed.
Finally, just before takeoff I caught a glimpse of a very small Bombardier Q300. You don’t see too many of those around the world.
After a fairly short taxi we blasted into the skies above Auckland. Thankfully I had a window seat as I had excellent views of the beautiful 787 wing.
I also was able to take a few last views of stunning New Zealand.
However, before long we were above the clouds and on our way to Los Angeles.
Of course we left New Zealand on one of the nicest days of the entire trip!
American Airlines Business Class In-Flight Menu
Just after take-off the cabin crew circulated the in-flight dining menu. The menu is a single handout which contains the dinner, breakfast, and beverage menus.
When you open the menu you’ll find a brief (like why didn’t they fill up the page, brief) message from the head chef. On the other page you’ll find the dinner options. For our flight, we had a choice of beef, chicken, fish, or vegetarian entrees.
As for the rest of the menu, there was a listing of mid-flight snacks, a breakfast menu, and a beverage menu.
On the rear of the menu booklet was a wine list which featured a sparking wine, two whites, two reds, and a dessert wine. If you are an aspiring sommelier, I wouldn’t recommend flying with American.
After browsing the menu for a few minutes I put in my dinner order and waited for a few minutes for the meal service to begin.
American Airlines 787-9 Business Class Lavatory
While I waited I decided to visit the lavatory and change into my pajamas to get more comfortable. I’ve found that American actually does a pretty good job with their premium cabin lavatories on the 787. The lavatory features a generously sized sink and counter area which is surrounded by a nice wooden backsplash. It’s not the nicest lavatory in the skies, but it’s far superior to many others.
The 787-9 offers business class passengers with three lavatory options. The first is located toward the front of the aircraft and is dedicated to business class passengers only. The other two are located near the aft galley and are unofficially shared with Premium Economy passengers. All three feature similar design, but one of the aft lavatories is ADA compliant and therefore offers additional room when changing.
One welcomed aspect of all of the lavatories found on the 787 is that they are all no-touch. To flush the toilet and activate the sink you only need to waive your hand. This is a welcomed feature of any lavatory, but especially useful on an aircraft.
American Airlines Business Class Meal Service
I returned to my seat just in time for the meal service to begin. To start the meal service the flight attendants opened my tray table and laid out a textured tablecloth. A few minutes later they returned with a small plate of warm nuts and a refreshing beverage.
A short while later the flight attendant returned with the starters. The menu listed the starters as “Queensland Crab Wraps” and a salad of “locally grown greens.” However, I mean… what the heck is that. There was no crab to speak of and I guess greens is all we got. Let’s just say the meal wasn’t off to a great start.
After I chomped down my salad and my other salad the flight attendant returned to retrieve my salad plate(s) and drop off my main course.
If you can’t tell… the main course was beef filet and it was no better than the Queensland Crab. The meat was exactly what you’d expect from an airplane steak (dry) and the potatoes were bland. I’m not sure why there was more green stuff on my plate, I definitely didn’t ask for that.
The one upside to the dinner service was the dessert(s). Since I wasn’t too pleased with my dinner I asked for both the cheesecake and the ice cream sundae.
One thing American does well is the ice cream sundaes, the cheesecake was average at best.
A Few Hours Of Sleep Followed By Breakfast
Shortly after the meal service American does what it does best, it dimmed the windows (and locked passengers out from opening them) and dimmed the cabin lights. Basically, the cabin crew puts the plane into darkness and hope everyone sleeps. This setup lasted majority of the flight.
I for one followed the visual cues and requested my seat be converted into a bed. I ended up sleeping for a few hours and before long I woke up to the gentle purple glow of the overhead lights.
It was at this time that that I woke up and began sitting more upright in my seat. This caught the eyes of the flight attendants who arrived at my seat to offer up breakfast. As I ate very little of my dinner I was surprisingly hungry. So, I requested several items listed on the breakfast menu. This did not seem like a welcomed request.
The first item I requested was the smoothie, which was very good, but only contained about 4 ounces of drink.
A few moments later, my coffee, fresh fruit, traditional American breakfast, yogurt, muffin, and croissant arrived.
I’ll admit, I maybe ordered too much food, but again, very little of it was good enough to eat. The eggs were… honestly, I’m not sure that they were eggs. The potatoes and bacon were… there.
That being said, I was pleased by the muffin, the fresh fruit, and the yogurt. However, I guess those items are a bit tougher to mess up.
One final note about breakfast, the croissant disintegrated into 1000 crumbs before I had a chance to taste it.
Arriving Into Los Angeles
After a fairly quick 11.5 hour flight we were in the skies above Los Angeles. We were arriving just as the sun began to rise over the city.
Because of the early morning arrival we had virtually no flow control issues and touched down extremely quickly.
After landing we taxied toward the terminal, past a fellow American 787, and parked at our arrival gate.
All in all, getting into Los Angeles was easy and the flight felt much shorter than I anticipated. After arriving and clearing customs I made my way to the American Airlines Flagship Lounge to wait for my connecting flight. Since I maintain Executive Platinum status, and was connecting from an international flight, I was allowed to use the Flagship Lounge. From the lounge I caught a great view of the Dreamliner that flew me across the Pacific Ocean and back to the United States.
What a truly incredible aircraft.
Final Thoughts
The thing I need to keep reminding myself is that I only paid $350 for this flight. I booked an economy class ticket from Auckland to Los Angeles for just $350 and then used a Systemwide Upgrade, well two, to upgrade to Business Class. So, from the point of view of a cheap economy ticket, this flight was amazing!
However, when paying cash, this flight could cost you $2,500 or more. For that price, this flight just isn’t a great deal. For the money, I’d much rather fly with Air New Zealand or Qantas and connect through Sydney.
See, the issue is that American has one of the very best business class hard-products (seat/cabin) in the world on their 787-9. Unfortunately, they also have among the worst business class soft-product (service/catering) across their entire network. So, while the flight might be excellent in terms of comfort, it could be terrible in terms of catering and service.
The flight attendants on my flight weren’t all bad. In fact, the two that I interacted with were great. However, as a whole, I just don’t feel the same warm and welcoming feeling on American that you get from other airlines. Unfortunately when traveling on American, you get the feeling that no one, especially the crew, want to be there. There is no sense of pride from the flight attendants that you see with other airlines. Instead, everyone on board has a job to do and that’s about it.
So, bottom line, if you want a comfy seat and don’t mind some truly terrible food, this is a great option. However, if you’d prefer a to fly with a world class airline, look elsewhere.
