Using American’s scheme for small and medium business, Business Extra, I was able to secure an upgrade from LA to JFK on their A321. I wrote last week about my preference for their business class cabin, but on this flight I had come in overnight from Honolulu and wanted some sleep. The privacy of the First Class seat – which is also used as the Business Class seat on the 777-300 I tried recently, is hard to beat.

I was on the 8am departure and the flight had checked-in full. The flights to JFK often leave close to the lounge and so I was able to board early.

The First Class cabin is set out as five rows of 1-1, the Business Class cabin is 2-2 and Coach is 3-3.

The seat I was sitting in was showing a little wear and tear where the foot stool cushion was coming away from its base:

Each seat had a standard AA pillow and duvet waiting at the seat.  There is plenty of room in the overheads for luggage.

Catering

The cabin was full. Bose headsets and menus were distributed:

I had pre-booked the Turkey Bacon Quiche, which I had experienced before on this route.

The parfait seems to have shrunk since my last trip:

The Quiche was tasty, if a little salty:

Biscuit and Bagels were offered.

The sweet offering at the end of meal was as shown below  – strawberry, a couple of biscuits and a small piece of cheesecake.

 

The entertainment system featured programmes which matched those I had seen over the Atlantic so I slept.

Snack baskets were left on the sides of the cabin close to the first row of seats. Cookies were distributed before landing. There isn’t a large amount of food served on this flight as I assume they expect people to eat before getting to the airport.

ARRIVAL

The crew were for the most part friendly, but I think were a little shocked when we hit bad turbulence on the way in to JFK and several of them ended up sitting in the aisles as they could not get back to their seats in time. It was bumpy for about 30 minutes and quite unpleasant.

We were on time, but parked at the midfield terminal of Terminal 8, adding 10-15 minutes walk to the exit.

This service continues to be fine, although it doesn’t change enough for my liking – I wish they would have more variety in the food offerings or a choice of three offerings in First Class.