TRIP REPORT: Polishing Silver - American Airlines AA723 Dublin to Philadelphia (Flagship Business Class)

American Airlines AA723 Dublin Airport to Philadelphia International Airport (Flagship Business Class)
Polishing Silver

It’s time to go into the first of the business class flights of this trip, with American Airlines providing the lift over the Atlantic. How does Concept D seat stack up, given the seats that are out there today?

In this Tier Point-laden adventure

AA723 Dublin Airport to Philadelphia
American Airlines
Boeing 787-8, Seat 1A (Concept D Seats)
3,272 miles flown. Revenue value: £447.90
140 Tier Points earned, 3,583 Avios earned.

I was welcomed aboard the 787. With that, I turned left. That still feels odd to type even after all this time.

Heading to the seats, it looked like a pretty reasonably full flight in the front of the aircraft, with only two seats free.

I took my place and settled into the space.

The Zodiac Concept D seat was the origins seat that American Airlines deployed on its 787 fleet, with a mixed reverse herringbone layout. These were replaced with the Collins Aerospace SuperDiamond. RunwayGirl Network has an excellent article about the history of Concept D, and why American Airlines switched seat suppliers.

After stuffing my baggage in the overhead compartments, I took a look around. There were

I settled in to find all the usual amenities, including triple screens – one in front of me, one remote control and one to control the seat.

It is dressed in an inoffensive grey fabric – a nice change from the leathers and eleathers you can see elsewhere on an aircraft.

Two USB-A and two mains outlets were present – and if you want to charge your phone at any speed – use the mains outlet and an adaptor.

Power outlets.

Well. Buckle up, kids.

With boarding still in progress, I was welcomed aboard and offered a welcome drink of water or orange juice.

Aer Lingus A321LR parked next door

I could deal with that.

The seat itself… is “fine”. Well, it’s better than any economy seat, but it did feel like it was “unfinished”. The touch control for example felt like someone had half-finished the design, rather than went for any tactitlity. And in a world, where accessibility is important, flat touch screens can be awful interfaces for those with limited sight.

As to the recline and bed functions, it was “fine”, but getting a comfortable position on it wasn’t easy. The seatbelt uses an over-shoulder strap for take-off and landing, which covers into the usual lap belt during flight.

With boarding completed, the cabin crew began to prepare the cabin for departure. It seemed that we would be getting an on-time departure – and with the aircraft pushing back two minutes late – that’s close enough on time for me.

The safety demonstration was then carried out. This is baked into the new video that American Airlines has for their fleet.

Given that a few weeks earlier, people have had to pay attention for their lives – it seemed the cabin was paying more attention to the video than usual.

With that out of the way, the captain navigated the aircraft through the traffic at Dublin Airport, as the aircraft taxied toward the new runway at Dubin Airport.

In most cases when I’ve been through Dublin Airport, the “old” runway is used to handle arrivals, whilst the new one is used to handle departures, with mixed-mode operations only occurring when needed.

With ease, the GEnx engines powered up and propelled the Boeing 787 into the sky.

With the aircraft airborne, the first thing to investigate was the In-Flight Entertainment system (apart from the map). I do things classically here.

The TV mix was… passable for my tastes. Whilst there was no Big Bang Theory, there was a lot of 30 Rock. That’s a good start. However, I found gold in the films section – with 2001: A Space Oddesy loaded on the system. Good enough for those who want trippy segments, deep enough for those who want to find meaning in anything and musically enough for the Johann Strauss lovers to hum along to the Blue Danube.

As well as spot the Hilton in Space, and the Pan American Airways rocket jets operating from Earth to the Space Station.

Do do do do… do do do… (A shame Pan Am isn’t around any more to fly these…).

Edging closer to this sort of border clearance…

Hilton Can only dream. I’ve got an article I started writing called 2001: A Passenger Experience Odyssey. I’ve got to get around to finishing it one day.

I also had the desire to be connected to the world. Thankfully, this Boeing 787 was connected to the skies as well, allowing for internet connectivity.

Sadly, it seems that American Airlines is sticking to its premium pricing for international travel, with them partnering with Panasonic Avionics for internet connectivity.

Pricing was at $25 for two hours or $29 for a flight. Slightly better than the $35 charged between London and Chicago, but still more than a little ouch to pay, considering other airlines can do it cheaper.

Performance on the internet connection was more than acceptable, with all the tests seeming to indicate reasonable enough bandwidth – at the cost of latency.

And in some applications, (from simple web browsing to video streaming), it can be felt.

I’m sorry Dave, I can’t do that..

Hot towel first.

A first service had appeared, with transatlantic hot nuts. Ahhh. Yes. I’m on a US carrier in a premium class.

This was followed by the starters – with a choice of oil dressing.

The Prawn Salad was a nice fresh start, with the prawns nice and bouncy, with the hummus underneath giving texture. The salad was fresh and dressed well – a good start.

For my main, I went with a flat Iron streak. Now, I know many like to have their steaks pink, red or even rip the horns off and put them on a plate. I’ve mellowed on my stance over the years from murdering a steak until it’s dead and then stabbing it, to letting a bit of pink in my life.

Yes, I’ve had too many servers look at me as if I am the devil incarnate when I ask for a well-done steak.

This steak had a little bit of pink in it – how I like it these days if I’m honest.

The potatoes and sides were cooked well, with the gravy adding a nice flavour and touch to the meal.

And let’s be honest, aren’t we all glad inflight food doesn’t look like this?

And to end, well, there’s only one real dessert to have on American Airlines – and it’s an Ice Cream Sundae with hot fudge. No further questions will be entertained in that matter.

With the meal service done and dusted, and the Star Child gazing over the earth, it was time to switch to one of the more entertaining sci-fi movies in the collection they had – The Fifth Element.

KORBEN DALLAS!

I know some will not like it (be it for the outfits, Chris Tucker or some of the themes), but I just find this a romp of a film, not to be taken with much deep meaning – but as a fun science fiction film.

And besides. It’s still Super Green.

As I covered some years ago, American Airlines switched from Bose Headphones to Bang and Olufsen units. These are your typical noise-cancelling over-the-head, ear-covering headphones… with a lot of weight in them. You’ll certainly know the weight it’s there on your head.

Although they provide enough isolation to knock out a lot of the world.

Those of you thinking these would look good at home, firstly, tut-tut. Secondly, they have the usual three-pin array for audio (left, right and power). Thirdly, they’re collected at the end of the flight.

The lighting in the cabin dimmed down as the crew seemed to want a quiet cabin for the flight. I took the time to watch, giggle and enjoy a good film.

I dropped in and out of sleep – thankfully The Fifth Element is one of those films that used to live in my DVD player – so I can wake up and know exactly where I am in the film, And rewind it if needed.

As for the Wi-fi – it was a little rocky as we crossed into Canada and headed down the East Coast – to be expected, but again, latency and response weren’t what I would describe as usable.

It was enough to pump out an article on the road – even if it had enough spelling mistakes for an Economy Class and Beyond. It’s how we roll on this blog.

With the sun coming through the blind, it was time for the pre-arrival snack. This was a choice of pies – either vegetarian or meat-based. This was accompanied by fruit, a packet of crip and a cheesecake in a pot.

And yes. Cola. I do drink other things than alcohol occasionally.

30 Rock kept me entertained as we entered the last phases of the flight. As there’s no Big Bang Theory on rotation at the moment, 30 Rock works for me.

I also caught up with my connecting flight. I had realised a little too late that I would be having an extremely long connection in Philadelphia. Therefore I decided to check if the flight onward flight had been moved up or delayed.

Well, it seemed we were landing at 11:24 local time. That’s the good news. The bad news – the onward San Francisco flight had a 45-minute delay posted to it, taking it to a 20:30 departure.

We’re getting on for an 8-hour layover at that point – and if you think I’m enjoying the Admirals Club for 8 hours nonstop, you’ve got another thought coming.

As we crossed north of Atlantic City, the aircraft began its final descent phase. As such, it was time to put bags back up in the overhead bins and clean up the cabin. The headphones were collected at this point (I guess American Airlines is just as protective over the B&O headphones as they were with the Bose ones they used to offer).

One improvement was that as passengers were asked for their posh B&O headset, they were offered wired earbuds for arrival. That’s a good touch – especially if the crew start collecting them a good hour in advance (like they used to with the Bose headsets).

With ease, the aircraft looped south of Philadelphia Airport, as it made its final approach to the airport, landing with a bump.

The Boeing 787 pulled off the runway and waited its turn to cross the active departure runway, before turning for the Terminal Complex.

Hello Philadelipa Airport.

This being an international arrival, it made steady progress to the A Gates – and the A-West Gates, turning near the cargo pad – it seemed we would be going for the gate farthest from the main terminal core.

UPS Base.

Waiting for a whole different animal to go by

Wonderful.

With the aircraft parking at Gate A21, the engines shut off. There was a jetbridge drier waiting for us, so it was a quick connection to the terminal.

Parked.

I took the time to gather my trash (and ensuring I had my passport). I thanked the crew and headed out of the aircraft and into the terminal.

Overall:

A rather good performance here by American Airlines, with an above-average meal offering, combined with some genuine warmth from the crew. That makes a big difference to me, as a good crew anticipates, rather than reacts. And this crew anticipated well.

As for the Concept D seat – it’s “fine” for a lie-flat business class seat. I found it to be reasonable – but sleeping was a little more difficult than I would have liked on this seat.

But overall, solid enough over the pond to be good.

Climbing Rocky’s steps. Do doo dooo. Do doo dooo.

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TRIP REPORT: Polishing Silver – American Airlines AA723 Dublin to Philadelphia (Flagship Business Class)

American Airlines AA723 Dublin Airport to Philadelphia International Airport (Flagship Business Class)
Polishing Silver

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American Airlines AA723 Dublin Airport to Philadelphia International Airport (Flagship Business Class) Polishing Silver

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American Airlines AA723 Dublin Airport to Philadelphia International Airport (Flagship Business Class)
Polishing Silver