American Airlines Flagship First, Los Angeles International – Boston Logan, Airbus A321T: Great product, but robotic and unsmiling service

Here came the time to board the last flight of this itinerary that brought me back to Boston.

As a reminder, here is the itinerary followed:

#TypeReview
1DiaryBusiness Trip in Las Vegas
2LoungeAmerican Airlines Admirals Club, Boston Logan
3FlightAmerican Airlines Domestic First, Boston Logan – Phoenix Sky Harbor, Airbus A321neo
4LoungeAmerican Airlines Admirals Club, Phoenix Sky Harbor
5FlightAmerican Airlines Domestic First, Phoenix Sky Harbor – Las Vegas Harry Reid, Boeing 737 MAX 8
6HotelThe ENGLiSH Hotel, Las Vegas, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel
7RestaurantThe Pepper Club by Todd English, Las Vegas
8RestaurantRamsay Kitchen at the Harrah’s, Las Vegas
9RestaurantRestaurant Guy Savoy at The Caesars Palace, Las Vegas
10LoungeAmerican Express Centurion Lounge, Las Vegas Harry Reid
11FlightAmerican Airlines Domestic First, Las Vegas Harry Reid – Los Angeles International, Airbus A321
12HotelThe Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey
13LoungeAmerican Airlines Flagship Lounge, Los Angeles International
14FlightAmerican Airlines Flagship First, Los Angeles International – Boston Logan, Airbus A321T
Today’s itinerary

Boarding

I arrived at the gate a few minutes before the start of the flight to Boston. The gate agents kept the passengers informed of the boarding sequence, and I was amongst the first in group 1 to board the aircraft.

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Cabin and welcome

American Airlines’ A321Ts are ultra-premium and positioned exclusively on certain transcontinental flights. This was the case for this Los Angeles-Boston flight, which will only had 102 seats, far from the 200+ seats offered on some of the more densely equipped A321s.

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The welcome at the gate was rather cold, I had to repeat my hello to get a response, and interactions with the flight attendant who was in First were rather unpleasant…

Which was a pity when you see this superb Flagship First cabin, impressive with a 1-1 configuration in a narrow-body. Admittedly, it was only a good Business seat, a Super Diamond. But you have to admit that it’s not often you see such a seat on an Airbus A321.

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The seat was already equipped with the expected equipment: a very thick comforter, a pillow, a comfort kit, and the menu of the day.

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A welcome drink is brought to me, I took a glass of Champagne (real Champagne!).

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The captain announced a flight time of 5h11, and we left the gate a little more than 10 minutes before the scheduled time.

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Service and catering

The service starts a few minutes after take-off. A glass of champagne was brought to me, followed by hot nuts and biscotti amaretti.

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The tablecloth was then positioned, then the tray served with the starter, ripe fruits – mango and strawberries.

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A basket of warm breads and pastries was brought in – I had a biscuit, which will be very good.

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Next came the hot dish I had pre-ordered, the traditional breakfast. It was of excellent quality, served by the plate, and the bacon was crispy without being burnt. Just excellent, and impressive quality for an American alirline.

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I spent the rest of the flight working and resting. I set up the bedding for a quick nap. I slept for about 2 hours.

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After my nap and for the rest of the flight, the flight attendant, despite her scowl, worked hard offering constant refills and I had several glasses of Bailey’s. A warm cookie was served on the side.

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Frequent plate clearing was be done throughout the flight.

Arrival and disembarkation

Due the traffic on arrival, we flew over Boston before landing about 20 minutes behind schedule.

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The cab was fast and the luggage arrived promptly on the delivery carousel.

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Bottom line

An excellent flight, with a very solid hard product as well as a soft product. The only thing missing was the politeness of the flight attendant who served in Flagship First, which is at least to answer the customers and to thank them, in short to “return” their politeness.

Olivier Delestre-Levai
Olivier Delestre-Levai
Olivier has been into airline blogging since 2010. First a major contributor to the FlyerTalk forum, he created the FlyerPlan website in July 2012, and writes articles with a major echo among airline specialists. He now co-runs the TravelGuys blog with Bertrand, focusing on travel experience and loyalty programs.
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