Well the time has finally arrived! I’m about to write my first ever long-haul trip report on Jetsetting Jam. The flight in question is AA 156 which is American’s direct flight from Seattle to London Heathrow. Unfortunately by the end of September, this flight will be discontinued, which is a shame because I enjoyed this flight to London. In addition to this, I will cover the return leg from London to Phoenix on BA 289 so stay tuned for that as well. But enough of that, let's get into the flight.
Terminal
Our flight from Seattle departed from the N gates which is great because then I get to do some plane spotting before I leave all while trying Costa Coffee for the first time, a real treat. The plane taking us to London was an American Boeing 777-200ER. So I waited till we boarded at around 10 pm. In the meantime, I was able to catch a British Airways 787-10, which would be a foreshadowing of what’s to come.
Flight
Once we boarded, I settled into seat 19A, which was American’s Main Cabin Extra product, offering extra legroom along with complimentary drink. I was able to have the whole row to myself on this 8 hr 37 min voyage to the UK. I really liked the tray table for how sturdy and adjustable it was. The IFE system was very intuitive and didn’t crash at all, and had a decent variety of choices. I was able to watch 65 and Puss In Boots: The Last Wish with no issues. American also provided headphones but they were meh so I used my own.
About 50 min into the flight, dinner was provided which included a salad with olive oil dressing, pasta and a cinnamon bar. I accompanied this with a cup of red wine which was absolutely delicious. After that, I took a tour of the plane; economy class was in a 3-4-3 layout and premium economy was in a 2-4-2 layout with business class in a 1-2-1 layout. Once I was finished with walking as well as watching my movies, I decided to sleep on the plane and it was so comfortable sleeping in my seat. In addition I even tried premium economy and I liked how practical the seat was with a drink tray, storage and footrest. However I feel like Main Cabin Extra for American felt like I got a ton of “bang for my buck” for what it offered as I only had to pay $14 for a regular main cabin ticket along with 30,000 miles (about 48280.32 km) with Alaska. But for Extra, I had to pay an extra $156 and I felt like I got great value for money with it.
Eventually, I woke up from my nap and about a couple of hours before landing was breakfast, which was yogurt with a fig. Very underwhelming but the fig was tasty. Then at 4 pm (16:00 GMT) we landed at London Heathrow and I was blown away by how many planes there were at the airport. I felt this sense of gratitude after finishing this flight that I was able to get a good deal out of this. It felt good going on a long-haul route like this and this flight was very satisfying.
Verdict
So with all this said, I’ll be utilizing this admittedly subjective matrix known as the “Jamscore” for how I enjoyed this flight based on these metrics: Terminal, Seat, Food, Entertainment and Service.
Terminal
The N concourse at SEA is one of the best terminals in the US with a great selection of foods, a great lounge for Alaska as well as many places to sit and just watch the planes take off and land into Seattle. (5/5)
Seat
The seat was excellent. Ample legroom and pitch that allowed me to sleep well and not once did I feel cramped in the seat. (5/5)
Food
The catering was a mixed bag. On the one hand, the dinner was great and well prepared with the salad being the main highlight of the flight. However, the breakfast was very underwhelming and could have been better. (3/5)
Entertainment
The IFE UI was very intuitive and the selections were the latest movie releases in addition to offering in-flight maps. But the screen wasn’t adjustable so at times, I had to slouch and watch. (4/5)
Service
The service was adequate and got the job done but unlike Alaska, I feel like American could have been better here. That being said, they weren’t rude and did their job well. (3.5/5)
That gives American’s Main Cabin Extra a 20.5 out of 25 stars. Good value for your money if you want to fly directly to London and it’s a shame that American is discontinuing this flight. But what do you guys think? Have you flown on Main Cabin Extra on American Airlines for long-haul? Be sure to let me know in the comments below, stay tuned for my British Airways trip report and keep looking to the sky!
Good to see AA is upping their game!