TRIP REPORT: Sharpening Silver – AA164 San Francisco Worldwide to New York JFK (Transcontinental Enterprise Class)

AA164 San Francisco International Terminal 1 to New York JFK Terminal 8 (Transcontinental Business Class)
Polishing Silver

It’s time to go transcontinental on an A321T. With the fleet up for replacement in the near future, how is the product holding up? Do I get a semi-decent plane… or something unlikable?  And would like to swap my seat?

In this Tier Point-laden adventure

AA164 San Francisco International Airport Terminal 1 to New York JFK International Airport Terminal 8
American Airlines, Airbus A321T (Transcontinental Configuration)
Seat 6A, Business Class
2,568 Miles flown,
1,619 Avios Earned, based on £202.36 revenue fare.

I was welcomed aboard the Airbus A321 and turned right. This aircraft is one of the transcontinental Airbus A321 aircraft – meaning it has three classes of travel aboard – First, business and Main Cabin (with Main Cabin Extra).

I would be in the business class cabin – and I had selected the first row of business as an easy entry/exit point.

The cabin started to load out as everyone boarded. This is important, as I’ll get to it in a bit.

Let us be frank by now – this audience knows the following about seat assignments… and it’s pretty spelt out elsewhere and in booking:

• You either get them as part of your status or ticket and assign them at booking to secure the seat you want
• You pay for the seat you want.
• Otherwise, you roll the dice and pray what you get.

Now, when I checked the seat map before departure, I saw the seat next to me would be empty. I fully expected that to be filled out, and it did, as US airlines love to give out upgrades like candy.

That’s fine. However a few minutes in after I had settled down, my seatmate asked if I could move so I could she could sit next to their partner.

I explained to them that I required a window seat for this flight, and given their partner in an aisle seat, it would be a no from me. I got a bit of a sour face from them, but they didn’t make a second request. The lady then attempted to try the same trick with the person in the aisle seat opposite – again – they refused.

I’m going to be honest. If it was a mother and a child/father and a child, I would have had a lot more sympathy and at least would have considered a swap. But as it is two grown adults who will be separated for all of five hours…. Sorry. No.

Pre-departure beverages were offered. I was predictable and went for bubbles.

The rest of the cabin was filled, and everyone took their places. With that, it was time for the safety demonstration. Given this aircraft had screens installed, it was the current American Airlines safety video.

 

With that complete, our aircraft pushed back on time and taxied off to the runway – we would not be hanging around San Francisco International that morning.

Japan Airlines Boeing 787-9

Waving us back

More American Airlines aircraft parked

It’s almost a focus city

Air India Boeing 777 chasing us around

A United Airlines 787 in the distance

Empty Gates

United and Alaska airliens – sharing space

With a roar, the A321’s engines came to life and propelled it into the sky.

Now, I had reasons for a window seat – and here’s the first reason – our departure plot would give great views over the Bay Area.

And I wasn’t going to miss that for toffee or for a couple wanting to sit together.

 

With the Bay Area receding behind me, it was time to see how much Wi-Fi would cost for this transcontinental flight. I had steeled myself another $30 or so. Let us just say the previous flight had left me a little bit shy.

So imagine my surprise when Viasat wifi was offered onboard. With an inflight price of $9 for an all-flight session, payable via Apple Pay. That’s a big step up over the Pansonic portal and reduces the friction between purchasing and getting connected.

That, I could happily pay to keep both my phone and laptop online at that price per device. In the end, I kept just the phone going – my mind was somewhere else, to be honest.

In terms of performance – it’s exactly what I expected the Viasat solution to be in terms of performance, with videos and content downloading at speed.

Coverage again is mainly Americas-based – which indicates this using the older network, even though it is KA-based.

That’s good to see.

The cabin crew in the meanwhile commenced the in-cabin service. As I’m in business class, this would mean a first meal – that thankfully was 1) pre-reserved and 2) pre-loaded at this time.

Suffice it to say after the Philadelphia to San Francisco outbound flight, I wasn’t going to make that mistake again.

A hot towel came out, with some hot nuts to start with.

This was then followed by the starter – A Mozzarella and Tomato platter, with a side salad. I’ll be honest, I’m still not a cheese fan, and even less of a tomato fan when uncooked. The mozzarella was creamy enough, whilst the side salad was fresh enough, with crumbled feta and strawberries for some reason.

Those salt and pepper pots are adorable.

For the main, I had pre-selected Sea Bream, with mashed potatoes and carrots. Yes, I went against the classic “Airplane” advice of not having the fish… and had the fish.

The fillet was cooked well, with the sea bream flaky. The carrots were a nice feature, with them long cut as opposed to the chopped thinly within an inch of their life look you can sometimes see. The mashed potatoes worked well, with the sauce dippable and adding additional flavour to the dish.

The use of Enoki mushrooms was a solid move that made this one of the better meals I had with American Airlines (and one of the best inflight meals I’ve had in a while).

This was polished off with a choice of desserts – I went classic again, with an ice cream sundae and hot fudge.

It was a damn good thing I stocked up on Lactsaid when travelling.

As I was dining, we were travelling over Utah, and the salt flats of Bonneville were coming into view.

     

I turned my eye to the IFE system, which is a Thales-based system… and spotted 30 Rock on there. That would do perfectly for the flight. Give me 30 Rock or The Big Bang Theory on an IFE System and I can be very happy, whilst browsing the Internet on another screen

 

30 Rock. 

The Thales system features a handheld controller too

As usual, American Airlines supplies Bang and Olufsen headsets for its premium cabins

Also, something to remember is that the power outlets are behind you.

The flight progressed as the cabin settled down. I switched drinks to keep myself going, as well as sitting back and watching the world go by. And yes – that’s why I want a window seat – to be connected to the world.

With the skies changing and light fading, we were starting to close in on our target of New York.

But this being a transcontinental service, there was one little thing from the crew – freshly baked cookies.

Now that’s something I could have done on the previous transcontinental flight, even with the catering disaster that was there.

With dusk and night coming, the A321T began its descent for New York JFK, crossing over the state, then the city, before swinging out to sea for a circular approach to JFK Airport.