Review of American’s 777-200 (Business Class)


American Airlines 777-200 at Sunrise

I previously wrote about my trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil that was amazing!  The beach was huge, the cable cars up to Sugarloaf Mountain were intense, and the airplane landings were epic.  Overall it was a great trip considering American Airlines was offering $550 round-trip flights, likely as a result of the Zika virus (FYI I did not even see any mosquitoes during my trip).

Another highlight of the trip was my flight to Brazil which was upgraded to business class at the gate.  A teenager was also upgraded at the gate–best day ever.  You can also request an upgrade by using miles and points for $350 and 25,000 miles (one way).

Boarding and Amenities

As I boarded, I recorded my walk-through of the business class cabins.  You can see the business class seats are split into two cabins, separated by restrooms and a meal preparation area.

The amenity kit is pictured below:

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Lie-flat Seats

The updated 777-200 features American’s lie-flat business class seats with direct aisle access.  The seats are organized in a 1-2-1 configuration so the seats on the edge feature both a window and aisle access–clearly the best seats in the cabin.  I prefer the rear-facing seats because they come with two hard surfaces (as opposed to an armrest and a hard surface) and does not require a seat-belt harness during takeoff and landing.

The only downside was my seat moved every time the person seated in the row in front of me moved.  Thankfully he slept most of the time, but the seat was not as sturdy as one would hope.

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Window seats definitely have their perks.

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The seat folds flat by pressing either the touchscreen display to the left of the seat or the hard buttons.

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The seat itself is not terribly wide but the leg room is excellent.  I’m over 6′ tall and my feet barely touched the foot rest.  The screen popped out from the wall, but it must be retracted during takeoff and landing.

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The touchscreen on the left controls the seat recline level and the remote on the right controls the tv screen.  The space-age silver button is actually a reading light.

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Each seat features two universal 120 volt plugs and two USB charging ports.  The storage near the plug is large enough to fit cell phones and laptop power bricks.  Convenient.

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Food and Drinks

The food and drink selection definitely exceeded my expectations given what American serves on its domestic routes.  It is worth noting that the food was served at designated meal times (as opposed to on demand) and the beverages were free and bottomless.  The food included:

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Beverages included:

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I solved the age old question, American’s port is better than its sherry.

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After takeoff, I was served assorted nuts and sparkling water.

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For dinner, I ordered Beer Braised Beef Filet.  The meat was tender and nicely seasoned.

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For dessert, I ordered both the ice cream, coconut cake, and the cheese plate.  I mean, the cheese plate is hardly dessert material.  The cake was a little dry but it was not a problem that the ice cream could not overcome.  The port was deliciously sweet and paired nicely with the dessert.

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The grapes had seeds and it was no easy to eat those huge chunks of cheese with only three crackers.  Good cheese though.  I tried the sherry but it was not as good as the port.

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For breakfast, I ordered the cheddar omelette.  The fruit was mushy but the omelette and sausage were good enough to make up for the fruit.  I was adventurous and ordered both OJ and coffee on the side.  I wish American would follow Jet Blue’s (Dunkin Donuts coffee) lead and served better coffee.

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Conclusion

Highly recommended and a huge improvement over the angled-flat seats, even if it was a bit shaky.  The seat was excellent and the food was better than expected.

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