Review of American Airlines 777-200 07/16 revision Flagship Business Class New York JFK to CDG Paris

Not all American Airlines premium cabins experiences are created equally.  If you’re looking for a top-notch seat, you’ll want to stick to business and first class on American Airlines Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft.  

Here we review the 777-200 Flagship Business Seat from JFK to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG), also known as Roissy Airport.  Always remember that American Airlines is known for their expensive Europe business class product.  However, booking a separate ticket out of JFK is frequently your best option for a reasonable price.  To accomplish booking an international trip with separate tickets smoothly, we recommend taking a carry on only. Your Flagship Business experience starts at the airport...

1. Flagship Lounge

The 6 hour layover (because of limited number of flights from hub in Charlotte? Really?) went by quickly. Look at our review of the Flagship lounge here. You are only eligible to enter the Flagship lounge if you are flying international business or first class. The only restricted part of the flagship lounge is the dining area where only first class passengers on a three class service plane.

2. Boarding

Efficient and plane was actually fully boarded long before doors closing. Flight attendant greeted me immediately by name and offered sparkling wine or other refreshment. I asked for an additional pillow which I was assured several times was being looked for but never provided.

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Is Your Favorite US Airline Among the Highest Quality In America? Here are the 2019 Rankings!

For The Second Year-in-a-Row, Delta Maintains the Highest Quality Rating by the ARC 2019 scores and American continues to be Among the Lowest.

The Airline Quality Rating (AQR) is the most comprehensive study of performance and quality of the largest airlines in the United States. 

To calculate the rankings for this year's Airline Quality Rating report, researchers at Embry-Riddle looked at four key factors to rank air carriers: On-Time percentage; Denied Boardings; Mishandled Baggage; and Customer Complaints. Each of the categories is also weighted; On-Time performance takes the highest precedence when calculating an airline's score while the volume of customer complaints is the least important factor.  The AQR industry score for 2018 performance shows an industry that improved in overall performance quality over the previous year. Six airlines (Delta, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Southwest, Spirit, and United) showed improvement in AQR scores in 2018. Spirit Airlines had the largest improvement in their AQR score in 2018.

Three airlines (Alaska, American, and Frontier) all had a decline in their 2018 AQR score from the previous year. Frontier Airlines had the largest decline in their AQR score for 2018.  Taking all 9 rated airlines together, the AQR score for the industry improved in 2018, and the 2018 score is the best AQR score in the 29-year history of the rating. The industry AQR score has improved each year for the past four years (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018). Improved performance was seen in three of the four areas tracked.

Here are some of the facts:

The industry mishandled baggage rate was better, decreasing from 2.46 per 1,000 passengers in 2017 to 2.43 per 1,000 passengers in 2018.

Involuntary denied boardings by the industry improved to 0.14 per 10,000 passengers in 2018 from 0.34 per 10,000 passengers in 2017.

The consumer complaint rate across the industry declined to 1.04 per 100,000 passengers in 2017 from 1.35 per 100,000 passengers in 2016.  Of the 8,865 complaints registered with the DOT regarding all U.S. domestic carriers, 72% were for flight problems, baggage problems, reservation, ticketing and boarding issues, or customer service problems. The 23% decrease in the rate of consumer complaints in 2018 suggests that improved performance in areas important to consumers has been noticed by the flying public.

As an industry, the AQR criteria show that on-time arrival percentage was down (80.2% in 2017 compared to 79.6% in 2018).

Where does your favorite airline rank?

Bottom Line:  

This year Delta Air Lines had the best score among all of its peers. The carrier edged out low-cost carrier JetBlue by a narrow margin to take the number one slot after two years in second place behind Alaska Airlines, which dropped to fourth place this year probably reflecting the acquisition of Virgin America. In 2009, Delta was ranked as low as 15th place out of 18 carriers in the study, but over ten years, it has slowly climbed the charts to its current leading position. The carrier also beat its legacy competitors of American and United, which were ranked as 8th and 6th respectively out of 9 carriers surveyed. Only low cost carrier Frontier Airlines was ranked behind American this year which is sad news for the struggling American Airlines.

Compare this Ranking to previous years by clicking here!

When you fly one of the most helpful things to make your flight more comfortable are compression socks. We recommend at least 20-30 mm Hg compression.  For the price, these are a great option with many colors and patterns available.  Click the photo to learn more!

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The Centurion Lounge in DFW Dallas Fort Worth gets a Well-Deserved Expansion and Face Lift

When Traveling through DFW use your American Express Platinum Card to gain Access to the Centurion Lounge Near Gate D12 for a good meal and refreshment before your flight.  

The American Express card comes with a hefty fee, but the luxury provided can be offset with using their offers. The luxury you gain can be oh so nice!

It is worth taking the Skylink to this location if you have time.  Allow 10 minutes walk and time for Skylink to get to the Centurion lounge if you are not arriving or departing from D Terminal.  

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American Airlines Premium Economy

Look for new premium economy routes on American Airlines to get your elite status sooner. 

At 1.5 Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM) per mile flown, you get just as many EQM buying a premium economy seat on American than you do buying a business class seat on most partner airlines, for less than half the price.  Since Premium Economy is new to American Airlines, expect many reduced fares.  Here are the planes being fitted for Premium Economy:

A Premium Economy ticket includes special amenities with seats behind Flagship®, Business or First. You can buy a ticket on these aircraft with more coming soon:

777-300s
787-9s
A330-200s
Select 777-200s flying internationally and to Hawaii.

The markets targeted for these flight right now are US to Europe, Hawaii, Asia and South America.

Recently I looked at a flight from Charlotte to Rome in premium economy using Google Flights.  The cost for a trip in March 2018 is about $1500 for around 15000 EQM.

Not a great deal, but better than the cost of a business class ticket if you are only looking for miles.  Plus you get to go to Rome! Look for our review of American Airlines premium economy soon!

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Review of Royal Jordanian Airlines Crown Class 787 Chicago ORD to Amman AMM

Royal Jordanian crown class 787 Chicago to Amman and Return

The first offering is not Champagne, but Turkish coffee, water and juice - The couple across from us complained and questioning if there would be alcohol!  Yes, be patient.

Seats narrow and a hair on the opening next to me

Viewing screens very large but limited options for movies were available.  For example in late October of 2017, the only movie that interested me was King Arthur: Legend of the Sword and on the return 2 weeks later was War for the Planet of the Apes was added. I do not know if this was due to lack of access, lack of paying for better programming on the part of the airlines, or religious concerns.  Fortunately I had 5 seasons of Downton Abbey downloaded on my iPad.  

Arrangement is 2-2-2.  This is awkward for the window seats since you would have to crawl over a stranger potentially to get to the bathroom and with lie-flat seats, this is difficult.  Fortunately we had center seats. Suggest reserving these early.

See what I packed for Jordan and Israel.  LTD suggests being respectful and protecting yourself from the sun! 

Good selection of wines and meals options.

Barista espresso selections is a nice touch

Flight attendants very helpful and courteous and even allowed me extra pillows and blankets.  Try asking for that on an American flight!!!

Poor overhead storage.  I had to store my bag two rows ahead as did many business class passengers on the flight to Amman.  I made sure I was on the flight quickly for the return to secure overhead space.

They use mirrors everywhere to make spaces appear larger.  Never seen a full size mirror in a bathroom but the bathrooms are small for a 787.  For example the rear business class bathroom is very large on the American Airlines Dreamliner.  I don't like the smell of the products in the bathroom, but this brand appears to be a common middle east brand.  

Slow service

No hook for jacket/sweater in cubicle.  The amenities case was adequate.

Dinner service is a la carte. They ran out of most food by our row 3.  Only pasta or chicken with vegetable and rice left out of four choices.

Pasta and vegetables were good.  Desert was fair.  

A small bottle of water was provided at each seat prior to departure.  This could not be replenished but could be refilled from a larger bottle.  This does not seem very sanitary!!!   I did not feel that snacks or drinks were readily available for this 13 hour flight.

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