AA2652 New York JFK to San Francisco International (Transcontinental Business Class) – Summer Tier Points
In this… epic.
- When will I learn to jump on a fare?
- Wednesday Afternoon.. off to the airport
- EI273 Birmingham to Dublin Airport
- Into Dublin for some Donuts. And Pokemon
- The Travelodge in Swords, Dublin Airport
- Pre-Clearance fun at Dublin airport, 51st and Green Lounge
- AA291 Dublin to New York JFK – Business Class
- A Manhattan Char Siu Adventure
- Back in the Secure Area, Flagship Lounge and AAdmirals Club
- AA2652 New York JFK to San Francisco International – Transcontinental Business Class
- The Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport
- Do the BART into San Francisco, The Intercontinental Mark Hopkins, San Francisco
- Sausalito: Which ferry to take?
- Exploring some of San Francisco areas
- Food. Of all sorts.
- The Crowne Plaza, San Francisco Airport
- Early start at San Francisco airport
- AA168 San Francisco International to New York JFK – Transcontinental Business Class
- The joy of terminal swaps, BA Pre-departure dining
- BA174 New York JFK to London Heathrow – Club World (Business Class)
- Early morning swapsies at Heathrow
- BA828 London Heathrow T5 to Dublin Airport – Club Europe
- Donunts and coffee shops – Exploring Dublin
- FR666 Dublin Airport to Birmingham Airport
- 600 TP: Done
AA6245 New York JFK to San Francisco International
Leg 3 of… I’ve lost count already.
I was welcomed aboard the plane, and turned past the first class seats to my home in the 2nd to last row of business class.
Settling in again, I noticed the seats – which again is the B/E Diamond seat as seen on the Dublin to JFK segment. The major difference with seat is that a full Thales Avant IFE System had been integrated straight into the product as opposed to the Samsung Galaxy IFE fudge use on the 757s.
Boarding in progress
The B/E Diamond Seat.
Outlets. In a place where one has to be a contortionist.
Yep. Row 9 out of 10…
The control panel for the seat – a lot better shape than was on the 757….
Overhead panel. And yes – there are air nozzles.
IFE screen – a Thales AVANT system.
Legroom
One thing I did note was how far back business goes in this plane. I’m sure we’re all aware of how much First and Business Class consume. So I was rather surprised to find myself on the wing as opposed to the front of the plane.
I’m used to seeing this view in Economy Class.. not business…
It really shows how much space is given over to the premium cabins on this route, on a narrow body plane.
A pre-departure drink came around along with headphones. And this being a premium service there was only one drink to have,..
Bubbles!
Menus were also handed out.
With a configuration as new as this – I had to get to grips with where the emergency exits are. Gone are the cavernous rows of economy seats. I was confused as heck.
Ah. Got it.
With the plane boarding quickly, the cabin was buttoned up for departure. And we all know what that means – it’s time for that safety video.
Even though there was a wait on the ground whilst SFO control decided if they wanted us or not, eventually, we were allowed to push back for the slow taxi around JFK – and we got pretty much the full grand tour that day.
Off we go… at last!
Well, the sunset is pretty at least. Would had preferred to see it in the sky…
Cabin during departure.
Terminal 8
Of course, with the grand tour, there were a lot of planes hiding in the evening dusk.
Royal Jordan Boeing 787
Turkish Airlines Boeing 777-300ER
Aeroflot Boeing 777-300ER
Air France Airbus A380.
Air Italy Airbus A330.
More Delta Widgets
Etihad Airbus A380
The long taxi continued as we proceeded to the runway.
British Airways Boeing 747 heading back to London
JetBlue A321 heading off
Delta A320 heading off
Eventually AA2652 lined up for the runway, and powered down it for a quick take off. The captain was not in a mood to hang around it seems after waiting for clearance to depart.
Climbing out.
With the plane climbing to 10,000ft I decided to see what Wi-Fi connectivity there was on-plane. And interestingly to me, it wasn’t the Gogo wireless I was expecting – rather it was the Viasat solution.
Oh Hello…
This intrigued me to say least. I ponied up the $16 to use the service, and like most nerds, hit the speed tester.
Not too shabby in the least. With the Ka based service ready for anything I threw at it (be it Instagram posts, Tweets, Video playback, it seemed a reliable solution to use.
Meanwhile, the Thales Avant IFE system was its usual self. It’s pretty crisp and easy to use, and in business class, comes with a handset to control and select items with.
IFE at takeoff
Controlling the Big Bang Theory.
And with Bose Headphones. These won’t be around too long as American Airlines switch to Bang & Olufsen headphones
First service followed… and what is it? Oh, We should all know by now.
Hot nuts!
The dinner service followed, firstly with the starter tray.
The tray.
Duck Starter.
Salad with strawberries. This is a thing it seems.
The main course followed of the rubbed chicken.
Not a bad meal at all. Some rather fresh flavours… although I’m not sure with what’s going on with the cheese mash thing. But passable none the less.
After the meal, I was pretty tired. So I did the only thing I could really do – apart from watch The Big Bang Theory on a loop – which was put the seat in to the bed position and doze off for a few hours.
And I pretty much was out cold for around 3 hours. Guess that lack of sleep was catching up with me rather fast to put it bluntly.
I woke up as the plane neared San Francisco International – well pretty much when the headphones were due for collection and the sparkling water service began. Just a testament to how comfortable those B/E Diamond Seats are when trying to get some sleep in the air (its one that I don’t fail to grab some Zzz’s on ever).
Wake up – its time to land.
With the plane smoothly flying across North America, the plane looped out of the bay, before looping to make an approach on San Francisco International.
Like British Rail.. .we’re getting there.
With the landing preparations complete, the cabin was put into darkness for landing.
In darkness to bind them…
Coming in over the bay.
With ease, AA6252 landed safely at San Francisco International Airport.
With the welcome speech over, our plane continued to taxi straight to the gate, coming to a rest at the Terminal 2.
Cathy Pacific Airbus A350-900.
United Airlines planes resting.
Coming into the American Airlines terminal.
This way please…
With the bongs going off, the mass scramble for the exit begun, I gathered my two bags and thanked the crew.. and headed off into SFO.
Time to go!
I thanked the crew and wearily headed off the plane. The first part of the flying adventure was over for now.
Overall: The hard product is the real winner here on AA2652 – with the B/E Diamond seat being a star to sleep on. The crew was friendly and welcoming, and the food was more than passable. A shame that flow control came into play to mess up the timings – which delayed me by a good 2 hours 30 plus.
Whilst I’m not an advocate of EU261 everywhere – there seems to be room for service recovery here for the delays… even if the weather plays a part.
Next: The Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport.
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