I seem to be enjoying a string of good fortune with American Airlines, as I experienced another great flight, this time on a Boeing 737-800 in first class featuring the dreaded “Oasis” interior.
American Airlines 737-800 First Class Review
For this trip, I chose American Airlines over United Airlines for two reasons. One, I might as well used my Executive Platinum status while I have it. Two, American Airlines was half the price of United…I paid only $71 for my ticket. In fact, I could have bought a $49 ticket departing an hour earlier and would have…but I saw I had a much better chance of an upgrade on the 7AM flight versus the 6AM flight and that risk paid off…I was promptly upgraded at my 100-hour window. For the extra $21, it was well-worthwhile. Amazingly, Spirit Airlines was charging over $100 (United was at $140) and the American Airlines ticket was not even a Basic Economy ticket…go figure.
My flight was delayed – that’s almost a given these days on American Airlines. Thankfully, the day was only 25 minutes: a flight attendant onboard decided she did not work and a reserve crewmember was summoned just minutes before boarding.
There were several sanitation stations at the gate…all were empty. Not sure what the point of them is if they are not refilled…
We finally boarded close to departure time and the boarding was remarkably efficient considering it was a full flight.
American Airlines 1958
Los Angeles (LAX) – Chicago (ORD)
Thursday, October 7
Depart: 7:00AM
Arrive: 1:14PM
Duration: 4hr, 14min
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Seat: 3F (Business Class)
Onboard, I smiled…I really don’t fly AA that often and when I do, it is a widebody aircraft. This was actually my first time flying in an Oasis seat, the latest generation domestic first class seat on American Airlines. It’s routinely panned as lacking legroom and comfort, but I thought it was fair enough for a four-hour daytime fight.
Seat
The cabin includes 16 seats: four rows configured 2-2. Legroom is a rather tight 37 inches, width is 21 inches, and the seat reclines 20º.
In-seat power is available in the center console (I was worried about this…thankfully it worked and I certainly used it) and there is also a USB charger on the seatback in front of you. There is no screen, however–just a holder for your tablet or mobile phone and a literature pocket behind it.
The tray table popped out of the right armrest and was activated by a push button.
There’s also a little drop-down table between seats that can accommodate two beverage glasses.
Food + Drink
American Airlines has recently brought back first class meal service to more routes and has also spruced up the presentation. Hot meals will return at an unspecified point, but a hearty cold breakfast was served.
Shortly after takeoff, a flight attendant took orders from front-to-back, offering a croissant sandwich with either turkey and cheese or chicken salad. Chicken salad on a plane is simply revolting to me, but that seemed to be the popular choice because that ran out before she reached the last row (though both my seatmate and I ordered the turkey sandwich).
Each component of the breakfast was wrapped.
Once unwrapped, though, I really appreciated the presentation–half the battle is just making it look appetizing.
The croissant was no French croissant, that’s for sure. Calling it stale would be unfair, but it was not flaky or buttery…it just tasked like white bread. That said, I ate the sandwich and found it satisfying. If American Airlines would just pop these croissant sandwiches in the oven, though, they’d be 10x better.
I skipped the cheese…more cheese after all the cheese inside the sandwich? No thanks.
The fresh fruit (grapes, blueberries, strawberries) was ripe and I also liked the nut and fruit bar.
American uses Fresh Poo Brew coffee and it left a lot to be desired. In fact, after one sip I moved to still water (kudos American for offering lime wedges). Like United, beverages are still served in disposable containers.
No other snacks were offered during the flight, but the flight attendant did a fabulous job of keeping drinks refilled. More on that below.
Service
One flight attendant worked the business class cabin while another worked the galley preparing drinks and meals. It was an efficient set up and I really appreciated how friendly the flight attendant was (I was wearing my United Airlines mask and she scolded me for it, in a good-natured way).
Rather than abandon the cabin after breakfast, she made frequent checks on the cabin throughout the flight, offering refits and top-ups on beverages.
IFE + Wi-Fi
AA does not offer seatback screens, but does offer complimentary in-flight-entertainment, including movies, TV shows, live TV, music, and Apple Music…a very cool feature if you don’t already have a subscription. I know most customers prefer screens (I do too), but I love having access to Apple Music. I ended up not connecting to the internet ($14/hour or $18/flight)…I had a writing project I was working on and then ended up having a long conversation with my seatmate.
CONCLUSION
We left 30 minutes late, arrived 30 minutes late, but the onboard experience was positive. I appreciated the friendly service onboard and the breakfast was acceptable. For $71, I really cannot complain.
I sat next to a celebrity and ended up having a great conversation…more on that in a future post.
How did you score a $71 first class flight??
I explained. This was the economy fare and I was upgrade for free due to my status.
Flew this plane from DFW-RNO this week and think it’s a good plane. Earlier in the day the food choice was an Everything Bagel with Turkey or Cheese for a Veg option. Only issue is the cream cheese is already on it so anyone who doesn’t like CC doesn’t have an option. Should be on the side like Mayo or other condiments IMO. Same fruit, egg and cheese sides you pictured.
The movie selection is up to date with multiple recent releases including Black Widow, Quiet Place 2, Nobody and more. I know some complain about the lack of seat back entertainment but most have an IPad or such and the selection is good. Also Live TV is back with multiple choices including news channels and 2 ESPN’s.
We left DFW about 20 minutes late due to weather but arrived within 5 minutes of scheduled time. Other than DFW issues all summer, I haven’t had your experience with AA being late in most cities I’ve flown to or through. As EXP I have been upgraded above 80% this year but I am seeing the upgrade lists getting longer recently which tells me more business travelers are back. Because I have been actively flying and spending through the entire “pandemic” I seem to be higher on the list. I can tell others are also EXP because they are boarding in Group 1 but headed to Economy. I assume many who didn’t fly this year will still keep their status next year using the $15k spend on a card but will still be down the upgrade list in 22.
Look forward to part 2 of the story on the celebrity.
When will airlines start calling domestic F as premium economy as that is what it is? It is not a business class product, much less a first class product.
Seems only WestJet has figured this out
There is no row 5 on an Oasis 737-800. If you were in seat 5F, it would have been the non densified 737-800.
Sorry, I was in 3F.
I’ve never had a bad experience with AA in first when flying JAX-DFW.
Regarding “flight attendant onboard decided she did not work”
Did you mean to say she decided she did not ‘want’ to work?
Was wondering that myself. Maybe she was over her rostered work duty hours?
Are those seats in the last row able to recline at all?
It does not appear so.
Can’t believe they even pulled the IFE screens from first class. So dumb…
A turkey sandwich at 0700? I can think of things less appetizing, but not many.
What presentation? LOL
Every morning, I make myself a lovely big cup of extra strong tea, log onto my computer and settle down to read any new posts on “Live and Let’s Fly” before I do anything. And I love it when there’s a new flight trip report to read. I’m so glad that the time has finally come in the pandemic, that you’re able to travel again! It makes my day. And hopefully soon, here in Australia, our international border will be open again and all of our States and Territories will open up their own borders to each other and the world, so that we can all fly freely, nationally and internationally once more. But in the meantime, I’ll settle for reading about your trips. Your reports always make me crave my next trip….
Have to disagree with you.American first class is a joke… compared to United or air Canada with pods. . Seats are not comfortable…. Entertainment doesn’t always work … no water or drink offered on arrival. No blankets, headphones and list goes on… certainly would not pay extra for a Turkey sandwich..
I guess I’m just thankful I did not get the pastrami!
The lady’s that serve us our drinks and snacks on dec 29th 2022 they where very rude while pushing there cart between the seats they hit my arm that’s in a bandage already didn’t even say sorry or excuse me need a little bit better word exchange, instead of hitting somebody’s arm, not saying anything and continuing to move on
have to say the newer american first class seats are bad. recline is a joke. hard to get sleep on them with such limited recline. also they removed all the inseat video. The US Air-ification of AA stinks.