I’m a fan of American Airlines (AA). They have great customer service, especially on Twitter, and I love the fact that they haven’t gone to the dark side with their frequent flier program by going revenue-based instead of mileage-based (Boo Delta and United). But everyone in the industry knows that that will switch over once their merger with US Airways is complete, sometime in 2015. But for now, I’m still giving AA the majority of my business so I can earn as many miles as possible and keep my elite status.
LAX to South Florida
That’s why, when asked to speak in Boca Raton at the Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism, I chose to fly into Miami (from L.A.) this week instead of flying into one of the closer airports like PBI or FLL. American does have a nonstop to PBI from LAX but it’s seasonal and doesn’t start up again until November. I didn’t want to fly Virgin America, JetBlue or Spirit to FLL since I wanted my AA miles and besides, MIA is just 25 miles down the road. (You can see actual driving distances on AlternateAirports.com.) Also, I could use a free UBER ride. If you are a first-time Uber user, you can get $30 off your first ride and I will get $30 off of my next ride if you sign up here.
Main Cabin Extra
So I booked L.A. to Miami on one of AA’s brand spanking new A321, which is so new that SeatGuru.com and SeatExpert.com don’t even have it listed. That meant I wasn’t entirely sure which seat to choose. Since I have Platinum status with American (I fly at least 50,000 actual miles a year), I was definitely choosing one of their Main Cabin Extra seats that have extra legroom. They cost an extra $78 to $90 to the general public but for frequent fliers it’s free.
Best Seats To Choose
I’m an exit row aisle kind of guy but they didn’t have any available except in the way back of the plane. Instead, I chose seat 12A, a window seat in the second emergency exit row towards the front of the plane. Normally, that seat is golden but I learned the hard way that it’s not if the person in front reclines and you plan on working on a laptop. It’s so tight that it makes it really difficult to work, even with my small 13.3-inch Acer Aspire S7 laptop. My suggestion is to choose row 8, 11 or 24. Or seats 12F, 25A or 25F, since none of these have a seat in front of them.
Slim-line Seats
As for the A321 – it’s no doubt a beautiful plane but American put one (or three) too many rows in it. I will say that it felt and smelled brand spanking new since it was just shipped 30 days ago (according to the flight attendants). Its beautiful slim-line, black leather seats look cool but aren’t all that comfortable since the seats are too tight together (even in Main Cabin Extra). They also come with the most ridiculously small mesh pocket that replaces the old, germ-filled seatback pocket. I would have given it high marks if they had just made it a few inches bigger so it could hold more stuff instead of just one bottle of water or a can of a soda. It didn’t even fit my laptop comfortably, that’s for sure.
Entertainment Systems
The best part about the plane is the 8.9-inch HD-capable touchscreen monitors with a variety of options: “In Theaters Now” movies cost $8, “Best of the Big Screen” (older movies that include Moneyball and Captain Phillips) for $6 per movie, a “Premium Package” for $5 that includes unlimited 150 network shows on demand and 300 albums, 20 games and audio books. There’s also a Disney option for $4 that includes a variety of kids movies, TV shows, games and music. Finally, they have “Complimentary Programming” that has NBC Universal on American and American Airlines Radio network.
NOTE: The floor storage below the window and aisle seats have the Inflight Entertainment (IFE) systems which prevents many carry-on bags from fitting under your seat (mine included). Why they didn’t store these below the floor panels is beyond me.
Electrical Outlets and WiFi
Every traveler will appreciate the 110 volt universal AC power outlets and USB jacks at every seat and of course, Gogo inflight WiFi, which makes everyone happy since they can stay connected at 35,000 feet. FYI: Currently Gogo only works over the Continental U.S. and if you buy in advance, it costs $16 for a day pass, which will save you some money.
Overall the A321 is a very nice plane but it’s difficult to get any work done unless you are in the rows/seats mentioned above or first class. It’s so tight that the flight attendants agreed with me and even told me that they hope more passengers will write complaint letters to the execs so they will take some of the rows out. If they don’t, I would go out of my way NOT to fly American’s A321.
Have you flown on this plane? Do you agree or disagree with me? Let me know in the comments below.
I just flew from Philadelphia to San Juan round trip on a American Airlines A321 business class.
No entertainment, noisy, uncomfortable seats, old, to sum it up “No Class”. Previously I flew to Miami and Punta Cana from Philly on US Air A330 business class, what a difference. AA NEVER AGAIN.
Worst headset. The wings that fold outward are so small – there’s not chance your head can actually rest on it without rolling off. Do they do any design testing with real humans before they put these things out to market
Agree with all mentioned. The Armrests are a joke. The pocket is worthless except to hold the plane brochure. Could not even fit a bottle of water in the pocket.
Just flew on one of these AAL A321S aircraft from ATL to DFW. Got one of the “exit” row seats you mentioned…that still lets the real exit row seat in front of me recline into my space. Glad I wasn’t intending to watch a movie/show on the entertainment screen…who the heck thought that it was good idea to NOT make the screens tilt adjustable? I’ve been on other aircraft where if the seat in front tilts back, you can tilt the entertainment screen back up a few degrees to make viewing easier. On this extremely poor design, the viewing screen tilts down with the seat back making the image very poor. Otherwise, I thought it was a pretty good aircraft…but again, I had the little extra leg room.
I just flew back from Philadelphia to Loa Angeles on an A321 – Miserable configuration and I was First Class! First Class? No pillow, no power, no foot rest, no entertainment!!! Don’t book through American for USAir until after October 27 I was warned. They have too many glitches in their booking system now. I am going to Tampa and again the only planes are A321s… horrible prospect of two flights, a race to the plane in DFW and again no pillow, no power, and no footrest or entertainment…. If I didn’t want to keep my frequent flyer designation I would travel on any other airline but I’m compulsively attached to American – which used to be easier and roomier and more accomodating. Please also notice the staffing… cutting down a little, aren’t they?
The A321 you flew on sounds like it was originally a US plane, not a new AA one. There’s no glitch. The website shows you which carrier is operating the flight when you book. If it’s US, it won’t be a new plane and it will suck, even in first.
The seats are very “Spirit Airline-y” small, slim, uncomfortable. The AC plug and USB are great. The headphone jack on the touchscreen is kind of a bad design if you are not in a window seat. They have to be unplugged when anyone in the row wants to leave his or her seat. Also, I flew yesterday on Virgin SFO-DFW, taking me over 30,000 miles in 2015 so far (btw an awesome experience EVERYTIME) I had my normal every-flight carry-on roller with me like always. Today I was stopped, rudely I might add, at the gate telling me I have to check my bag. I did, but now I have added time and hassle at my destination. By the way I see about 15 bags the same size in front of me. If the one thing I do like about american , the aadvantage program, does change there will be nothing unique about AA and I will go out of my way, and even pay more for flights on other carriers, like Virgin.
A320 family are the best narrowbody aircraft ever made, much better tan B737, very thin and uncomfortable for passengers. I always choose A320 family if possible. Great error by Boeing no to build a clean sheet B737MAX wider !!!!!!!! They gave more tan 60% marketshare to Airbus. I hate 737s, easy to get claustrophobia in flights longer tan 2 hours. A32 family: grat aircraft, congratulations to Airbus, and American Airlines to buy “European”
Just flew in one of these ribs trip LAX to Tampa and agree with everything you said. The seats felt smaller than normal and we’re far more uncomfortable. Talk about sardines.
For fat guys indeed, the seats are too small
Uhmm, so what you mean is, don’t fly ANY of American Airlines short-haul plane. Because it’s all the same with their B737 aircraft or B757.
I wonder why the IFE boxes are under the seat….I guess it’s an Airbus thing, I don’t recall the same issue on the new(ish) AA 777-300’s, that have the same system.
I hate how the ‘premium’ economy sections of most of the major airlines are really just the same as ‘regular’ economy a decade ago, at least in terms of space, and now even that seems to be getting squeezed. Not sad to see the MD80’s getting retired though, those things were really starting to look worn out.
Alaska Airlines had these same seats (minus entertainment system) in the planes I flow to Las Vegas and back in. They were terribly uncomfortable. So much so I swore I would never fly Alaska again…and here is America using the exact same crap.
Hey Johnny, just an FYI, that is a 737 in the top picture, not an A321.
Doh! I loaded the wrong pic. Thanks for pointing it out