Review: American Airlines First Class 737-800 (MIA-LGA)

November 4, 2015

American Airlines First Class 737 Review

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This article is part of a broader Aruba & NYC trip report from October.

After a very nice week in Aruba it was time to head for a few days in NYC and, because the upgrades for the flight between Aruba and Miami didn’t clear, we found ourselves on another American Airlines 737 in Economy Class. I’m not about to review a nearly identical product to the one we had for our Miami-Aruba flight but I did want to mention the cabin crew who were very pleasant indeed.

Notably these were newer hires to American and obviously didn’t have years of pent-up grievances built up inside them….so they were smiley, cheerful and actually seemed to give a damn about their customers. Note to American: Can we have more of the same please?

Our next flight, between Miami and La Guardia, was in First Class (upgrades finally cleared!) and that’s the flight I’m reviewing today.

Boarding

Boarding started around 15 minutes late but the doors were closed by 2:11 (just 4 minutes after our scheduled departure time) and we pushed back at 2:15 – not too bad.

There were no major issues during the boarding process. The gate agents were good at making sure that passengers boarded only when it was their turn but they were as lax as usual when it came to ensuring that passengers weren’t bringing on oversized “hand baggage”. I saw some truly colossal cases brought onboard.

After taxiing around Miami for another 15 minutes we finally turned on to the runway…..

….and we took off around 25 minutes late.

There was reasonable visibility in the Miami area that afternoon so we got some pretty nice views of the city and coast as we headed towards the clouds:

Cabin/Seat

The American Airlines 737 First Class cabin is laid out in a 2-2 formation:

And with just four rows (which for some reason are numbered 3 through 6) it feels small but not too compact.

The leg room should be more than enough for just about everybody and, while the seat width of 21″ isn’t exactly luxurious, it’s a lot better than what’s offered just a few rows back:

There was plenty of room for my knees…..

And even when I stretched out, my 6ft frame had ample room:

But I think I’d want the seats to have a little bit more padding if my trip was any longer than a 2-3 hours.

The tray tables are in the armrests in First Class on the 737-800 and they’re big enough and sturdy enough to hold an 11″ MacBook Air without too much drama.

Tables are something that the 737-800 has in abundance and you’re unlikely to ever go short of somewhere to place a drink…something that’s especially useful if you’re using the main table to get some work done. There a small table between the two seats in front (to be shared by you and your seat mate):

And then each seat has its own pop-up small drinks table too:

Like I said, table space is definitely not an issue!

Connectivity/Entertainment

Just like on both of our flights between Aruba and Miami, this 737 had “WiFi Onboard” signs above the seats….

….the only difference this time is that the WiFi actually worked. Sort of.

I’ve never been that impressed with GoGo WiFi and this trip didn’t do anything to improve my impression of their service.

For a start, $19.95 for internet access for a sub 3 hour flight seems expensive when I can get internet access for the full journey between Los Angeles and London for 95c less. It feels even more expensive when it cuts out every 10 – 15 minutes….which it exactly what it did for the duration of the flight. A brief email to GoGo upon landing at LaGuardia saw them refund the cost but that’s not the point.

American Airlines’ 737-800 First Class seats come equipped with regular power ports which can take both US and UK plugs (and possibly a few others):

Unfortunately I fell foul of a reasonably well-known issue when using airline power ports like these and they simply didn’t work for my MacBook Air.

As you can see from the green lights in the photo, both power ports under our seats were working but, when I plugged in my MacBook Air magsafe charger, the green light went out and there was no power.

I used to think this was an airline issue and, although sometimes it can be, it’s more often the charger that’s “blocking” the power. Plugging in certain power adapters to airplane power ports can cause the adapter to trigger the in-built surge protection and shut down the power supply. Sometimes unplugging the device and trying again will work but, in this instance, it was just as well I had a full battery!

As usual I paid little to no attention to the entertainment options (I had work to do!) but I can report that there are no personal TV screens on these aircraft. It’s all drop-down mini-screens:

Food & Drinks

The crew didn’t serve any pre-departure beverages and, while I know that this annoys some people, I can honestly say that I couldn’t care less. I can wait until we’re in the air for a drink.

As soon as we had levelled off, the crew brought around hot towels and, fifteen minutes after that, they took our lunch and drink orders. Drinks and warm nuts were soon served:

No, that’s not a bad 1980’s cocktail…it’s cranberry juice.

Joanna was clearly in the crew’s good books as she got more pistachios in her small ramekin than I’ve seen in my last twenty flights put together 🙂

Lunch was served around 45 minutes after take off and the choice was chicken salad or lasagna.

I wasn’t at all hungry (neither was Joanna) but, for the purposes of letting you guys know what the food was like, I ordered the chicken salad:

Not exactly gourmet is it?!

Despite the unappetising appearance the chicken was fine and the salad (with edamame beans, red cabbage, bean sprouts and bell peppers) was a lot more interesting than most of the salads I’ve been served on American Airlines. In fact, it’s thanks to the bland and dry salads that I’ve had on American that I’m pretty sure I know what it would be like to be a herbivore on the prairies in summer!

The sesame oriental dressing was a lot better than the balsamic or ranch that I’m usually offered…although, as the principal ingredient appeared to be high fructose corn syrup, it’s never going to make the grade as a healthy option.

The breads on offer were Wheat or Sourdough and the wines I saw being poured were a Chardonnay and a Cabernet Merlot.

Lastly, dessert was the unmistakable American Airlines chocolate chip cookie:

Amenities/Service/Other

Being a daytime flight of under 3 hours the only “amenity” you get in First Class is a blanket, and if you’re not feeling cold, it’s quite useful for making the seat slightly less rock-like.

The cabin crew were friendly enough and service was mostly performed with a smile. Before we landed, each person in First Class was thanked for flying American…which I always find a bit uncomfortable but, as their intent is good I don’t mind that much.

Overall

Power and WiFi issues aside (neither of which had much to do with American Airlines) it was a perfectly ok flight. We had some nice views departing Miami and saw some beautiful fall colors as we got closer to New York.

The food was edible (despite initial appearances to the contrary) and the service was better than what we received on our flight from Miami to Aruba.

Would I pay a premium over an economy class fare for this product? Almost certainly not. For a sub-three hour flight the cost of a First Class ticket would have to be very close to that of an Economy Class ticket before I considered paying the extra. And even then I’d probably think twice.

As I’ve said before, I’m not on a plane to drink, I can eat in the lounge or at the airport and, if I have an exit row seat in the economy cabin, I have as much leg room as they do upfront – it’s just the seat width that’s significantly different.

So the flight was fine but I can’t imagine paying for the product with my own money – that just about sums it up.