As soon as we had walked off the plane from our flight from Sydney to LA, our  express boarding passes for our next flight to New York were stuck on the wall with our names on them.  It was just as well as because by the time we got through security and immigration, it was time to board our plane.

Airline and Flight #

American Airlines|AA0002

Aircraft 

Airbus A321

Departing Airport and Terminal

LAX, Los Angeles, California, USA| Terminal B

Scheduled Departure Date and Time

Friday 4th May 2018 | 09:00am

Flying Time

5 hours 53 minutes

Luggage Allowance

Checked Luggage

2 checked in bags up to 23kg (50lb) each with total outside dimensions no greater than 158cm (62 in).

Carry-on Luggage

• 1 piece of carry on luggage up to 7kg (15.4lb) and not exceeding  56x36x23 cm (22x14x9 in) including the handles and wheels. The bag must be able to fit in the sizer at the airport.
• 1 personal item which must fit under the seat in front of you.  Dimensions should not be exceed 45 x35x20 cm (18x14x8 in).

Fun Facts

• American Airlines is the world’s largest airline when measured by fleet size, revenue, scheduled passenger kilometres flown and number of destinations served
• American Airlines is a founding member of the Oneworld alliance
• American Airlines has its headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas

Website

• To select your seats log on to the American Airlines website www.aa.com and select My trips/Check-in.  Enter your first name, last name and airline booking reference.  Your flight details will come up with the option of allowing you to select your seats.  Some Economy seats you have to pay for including those with extra leg room and priority boarding ($143-$171) and also those seats categorised as preferred.  These include aisle and window seats up towards the front of the plane and these cost between $86 and $93.

Check-in

• Check-in for your American Airlines flight can be done using the following options:
  • Online check-in via the American Airlines website 24 hours to 45 minutes prior to departure.
  • Mobile check-in 24 hours to 45 minutes prior to departure.  You cannot use this form of check-in if you are travelling with an infant.
  • Curbside check-in at the airport – 4 hours to 45 minutes prior to departure.  You will need photo ID and flight details.
  • Self-service kiosk check-in at the airport 24 hours to 45 minutes prior to departure.  Here you can get a printed boarding pass.
  • Ticket counter check-in at the airport 4 hours to 45 minutes prior to departure.  You can check in bags and select or change your seat.

As we had already checked in from our previous flight, our express boarding passes were waiting for us when we hopped off our plane at LAX.  We then made our way to the automated passport kiosks where we scanned our passports, answered some questions and had our fingerprints and photo taken before proceeding to immigration to have more fingerprints and our thumbprint taken, passports checked and answer more questions.  At a security checkpoint further up we handed in the photo taken at the passport kiosk, showed our passports and made our way to Security.  Here, we joined another queue to have our bags and ourselves scanned. Each time we’ve been to the US it’s been a requirement to take off our shoes so they can be scanned also.  We then made our way to the lounge number listed on our boarding pass not realising it had been changed.  We soon discovered what had happened and made our way to the correct lounge just in time to board our flight.

Seating 

• American Airlines run a few versions of the A321 and this one was the 32B Transcontinental, used mostly for routes to and from New York to the west coast of the USA.  The A321 is a narrow bodied jet with a 3-3 configuration in Main Cabin (Economy) and Main Cabin Extra.   The aircraft has 102 seats divided into 10 first class suites, 20 flat bed business class seats, 36 Main Cabin Extra seats and 36 standard (Economy) seats. We were seated in row 14 of 22 .
• There were no pillows, blankets or head sets on the seats.
• Seat pitch in Economy was 31 inches (79cm), seat width was 17.3-17.7 inches (44-45cm).   The leg room was better than on our long haul flight from Sydney to LA in AA’s 787-9 Dreamliner.
• Trays weren’t folding but with sufficient leg room it didn’t matter.

Cabin Comfort

In-flight Entertainment

Electronic Devices

Personal electronic devices can be used throughout all parts of the flight, gate to gate.  Devices should be put into flight mode prior to take-off however and until landing.

Power

AC power is available on this flight.

Reading Material

In the seat pocket in front were a couple of magazines, a menu and the safety booklet for the A321 Transcontinental.

 

WiFi

WiFi service is available for all personal portable devices.  Internet access is available for a fee.

Entertainment System

Each seat in Main Cabin (Economy) is installed with 9 inch HD capable touchscreen monitors with a range of movies, TV shows, music and games.

 

Catering

Menus

The menus American Airlines used on this flight were attractive showcasing some of their healthy food options on the cover.  Prices as expected were a little on the high side so we were grateful cabin crew came around with a choice of two complimentary breakfasts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Food/Drinks

I chose the cheese and fruit plate which consisted of a selection of tasty cheeses including Camembert, four Salada biscuits, some grapes and a strawberry.  I enjoyed it and the continental breakfast looked good too.  This was a bagel, cream cheese, jam, yoghurt and granola.  Complimentary drinks were also served throughout the flight.

 

Restrooms

This aircraft had four toilets.  One in First Class, one in Business Class and two in the rear of the main cabin.  These were fairly basic and there wasn’t a lot of room inside.  The metal sinks used don’t tend to stain as much as the plastic coated ones so tend to look a bit nicer.  Apart from bottled soap, no other other personal amenities such as moisturiser or toothbrushes were provided.

Service

The service on this aircraft was decent.  Staff were friendly enough but there lacked the personalised service which some airlines do better which make you feel special.  It was good not having to pay for food like on many domestic flights within the US unless you wanted something extra from the menu.  Drinks were served regularly although I would like to see bottled water on the seat or the first round of drinks served earlier.

Pros

• There was a choice of two complimentary breakfasts
• Leg room was good
• Individual screens offering inflight entertainment were located at every seat

Cons

• No bottled water on the seats meant we were quite thirsty by the time drinks were served
• No hot breakfast
• No pillows or blankets

Conclusion

On this flight with American Airlines between LAX and JFK, I was unsure what to expect.  I was pleased to find individual screens were fitted at every seat offering inflight entertainment and that there was a choice of two complimentary breakfasts.  Leg room was also surprisingly good.  I would be happy to fly with American Airlines again within the US.  For a review of the flight back from JFK to LAX with a different airline please see here.