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TRIP REPORT: Polishing Silver – AA164 San Francisco International to New York JFK (Transcontinental Business Class)

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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?

San Francisco Trip Report "Polishing Silver" Trip Report

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.

a seat with a pillow and a pillow in it a seat with a screen and a bottle of water in the back

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.

a glass of liquid on a table

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.

 

a hand holding a blue and white book a book with instructions on it a close up of a book a hand holding a booklet with instructions

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.

an airplane on the tarmac
Japan Airlines Boeing 787-9

a man walking on a runway

Waving us back

an airplane parked on a runway
More American Airlines aircraft parked

airplanes parked at an airport
It’s almost a focus city

a plane on the runway a white airplane on a runway
Air India Boeing 777 chasing us around

an airplane on the runway
A United Airlines 787 in the distance

a large airport with a runway and a building
Empty Gates

an airport with a mountain in the background
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.

a city by the water a city by the water a city in the clouds a city by the water a city on the water a cityscape with water and mountains in the background a city with water and a body of water an airplane wing and water with land and buildings in the background

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

an aerial view of a city and water an aerial view of a city and a river  an airplane wing and the sky above clouds a view of clouds from an airplane

an aerial view of a city and a river aerial view of a river and land from an airplane

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.

a screen shot of a device a screenshot of a phone

a screenshot of a phone a screenshot of a phone

screens screenshot of a phone

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.

a screen shot of a phone

a screenshot of a phone

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.

a speedometer with numbers and a number a speedometer with a white arrow a speedometer with a white and blue line

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.

a person holding a white paper a hand holding a piece of paper a menu open on a table

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

a hand holding a white towel a bowl of nuts on a napkin

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

a plate of nuts and a glass of water on a table

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.

a plate of salad and a glass of water on a table

a plate of food on a table

a plate of salad with strawberries and cheese

salt and pepper shakers on a table
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.

a plate of food on a table

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).

a plate of food with sauce

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.

an aerial view of a landscape an airplane window overlooking a landscape  an aerial view of snow covered mountains  an aerial view of snow covered mountains an airplane wing and a snowy landscape  aerial view of a snowy mountain range

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

a screen on a table

 

a screen on a device a screen on a seat

a screen on a vehicle

a screen on the back of a vehicle
30 Rock. 

The Thales system features a handheld controller too

a hand holding a remote control

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

a pair of headphones on a laptop a black headphones on a laptop

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

a bottle of water next to a bag

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.

a drink and a glass of water on a table

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

a window of an airplane a view of clouds from an airplane window

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

a cookie on a plate

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.

an airplane wing and a city at night  an airplane wing at night  an airplane wing and a city at night  a city lights at night  an airplane wing over a city at night  a city lights at night a city lights at night a city lights at night an airplane wing and a city at night

The cabin was secured for landing as our descent.

With ease, the Airbus A321T landed in New York.

After landing, it was a short taxi towards terminal 8, where the journey slowed down a lot – as the aircraft started hunting for its assigned gate.

an airplane on the runway at night
Delta Boeing 767 

a highway at night with lights on
Over the bridge and far away 

an airplane at an airport
Approaching the Terminal 8 Satellite 

Eventually, it was assigned one, and the aircraft was guided in.

a truck parked outside of a building

People took the chance to get ready to get off the plane… however, the jetbridge wasn’t moving… and there was no sign of life there.

Uh oh.

Eventually, the captain announced that there was a delay, as the jetbridge driver was in the wrong place. A lot of people took that as a sign to sit down. I took it as a sign to dive into the small room.

With the world a slightly better place, I headed back to my seat to gather items. In the end, took the best part of 20 minutes for a jetbridge driver to manoeuvre the bridge to the aircraft.

As the doors were opened, I thanked the crew and headed through JFK Terminal 8, with this one message still haunting me.

a screenshot of a phone 

Overall

The crew delivered a friendly service for the rather pleasant flight from San Francisco to New York JFK, with an excellent catered menu, with attention paid throughout. Combined with an active IFE system with good content – it made for a more than enjoyable flight.

The hardware is getting on sadly – with reports of seats broken (although I didn’t see it on this flight – there is wear and tear I saw), so it’ll be interesting what American Airlines does with its upcoming Airbus A321XLRs which will be dedicated to transcontinental services – as the transcontinental service elevates.

Connectivity remains a strong point, with the Viasat system delivering to the seat – and at a very low cost too.

Not a bad flight at all.

Next:

Transiting within a terminal – and the British Airways Greenwich lounge.

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Comments

  1. jsm says

    The takeoff from SFO on 1L or 1R (I think I have that right) provides great views if sitting in seat A, Frequently the planes fly south of Yosemite and provide wonderful views of the park especially Half Dome,

    Landing in SFO is normally from the south over San Jose. The plane gradually descends over the Bay right up until landing. Depending upon when Google Maps has loaded new data, a viewer can scan southeast of the runways and come across one or more airplanes (and shadows) approaching the airport.

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