The Classic American Airlines First Class Experience: Miami to New York on the 737-800
by Krish Patel
If there’s one mainline domestic aircraft American Airlines relies on more than any other jet, it’s the Boeing 737-800. The 737 operates several key routes to major hubs and large cities, making it an important workhorse for the airline. It’s also the most common aircraft type in the mainline American fleet, so your chances of ending up on one are pretty high if you tend to fly with American frequently. A recent hub-to-hub hop across the coast gave me the perfect opportunity to put American’s most iconic medium haul aircraft to the test in First Class.
The Ground Experience at MIA
Flying First Class domestically on American Airlines will grant you several perks on the ground, such as priority check-in and pre-boarding. Unfortunately, the ticket does not include complimentary lounge access, but I was able to access the Amex Centurion Lounge as a guest since I was traveling with someone who has the Platinum Card from American Express ($895 annual fee).
If you have the time, I highly recommend visiting the Miami Centurion Lounge, particularly in the morning. It offers a solid breakfast buffet, two bars, and plenty of comfortable seating. The food options are certainly much better than what you’ll find in a typical Admirals Club.
I spent some extra time enjoying the lounge that when I got to the gate, boarding for Group 4 had already begun. The boarding process for flights operated by 737-800 aircraft typically begins 40 minutes before departure, with First Class passengers being called ahead of Group 1, but after Concierge Key members.
American Airlines 737-800 First Class Cabin and Seat
American’s Boeing 737-800 features 16 First Class seats arranged in a 2-2 configuration across four rows. The seats are 20 inches wide and offer a spacious pitch of 37 inches. I found the seat cushioning to be soft and decently plush. However, the padded adjustable headrest and spacious Sky Interior overhead bins were welcome touches.
The cabin’s color palette utilizes light and medium gray tones, paired alongside simple accents. American’s consistent choice of gray helps give the seats that “classic” feel. You won’t find any bold colors or vivid textures; the design is just modern and understated.
Separating First Class from Main Cabin is a black divider, printed onto which is the American logo. It helps create a sense of exclusivity for the 16-seat First Class cabin.
Rather than seatback screens, each seat includes an individual device holder, which can easily support a phone or tablet. Adjacent to the device holder is a USB outlet, allowing you to charge your device while streaming entertainment to it at the same time.
Immediately beneath the device placeholder is one of two seatback pockets, with this one being for personal storage. Larger personal items such as backpacks can easily be placed under the seat in front of you, for which there is plenty of space.
The center console houses an extendable drinks table, as well as a small storage cubby and seat recline button. Built into the cubby is an AC power outlet, which didn’t function properly. I had to hold my plug in place in order for my phone to actually charge.
The outer armrest houses the tray table, which is composed of two light gray panels. Built into the table is a second device placeholder, although it’s less sturdy than the one in front of you.
A cocktail tray pops out from the central console opposite of the side table. It’s a very practical feature that allows you to keep your drink in handy while working on your laptop.
Just behind the cockpit is the First Class lavatory, which is a typical bathroom on a Boeing narrowbody. It’s not very modern and feels somewhat cramped, with a relatively low ceiling. However, I loved the D.S. & Durga liquid soap. It’s great how American considers its customers when deciding on premium brands to use for the First Class experience.
American Airlines Food and Drink in First Class
Only one meal was served on my nearly three hour-flight: breakfast. Two options were presented to me via email a few days before departure, one of which was an omelette and the other was a fresh fruit bowl. I selected the fruit bowl, which was a nice healthy option.
Service commenced with a beverage of choice, for which I opted to drink water. Since this was a morning departure, warm nuts were not served.
The fresh fruit bowl was light and refreshing. It came alongside vanilla yogurt, granola, and banana bread. The banana bread was packaged, which didn’t feel very premium for the standards of domestic First Class. Aside from that, having a proper linen napkin and metal cutlery was definitely a plus on this domestic hop across the coast.
Amenities in American Airlines Domestic First Class
The amenities AA provides in First Class are pretty standard offerings on a short haul flight. AAdvantage members can count on free high-speed Wi-Fi sponsored by AT&T, which is currently available on most domestic American flights.
While this First Class recliner offers a good flight experience, it’s not perfect. The American Airlines domestic seats lack seatback entertainment screens, which I find disappointing.
American Airlines also provides complimentary streaming entertainment, which includes an extensive array of movies and TV shows. There are also several channels of live TV and curated playlists via the entertainment system. To connect to the inflight entertainment service, simply go to aainflight.com.
Booking & Pricing for American Airlines First Class
One-way rates for American Airlines First Class between Miami and New York usually range between $600 and $800, though prices can exceed this range during times of peak travel demand. However, it’s also possible to book using your airline points.
Specifically, you can book via American’s own AAdvantage program, which uses dynamic pricing, or through a partner program like Alaska & Hawaiian Airlines Atmos Rewards. The Atmos program uses a distance-based award chart for flights operated by partner airlines, and the route between Miami and New York costs 15,000 points one-way to fly domestic First Class. Note that this rate represents saver-level award availability. If American Airlines doesn’t release saver availability to partner carriers, Atmos will show either no available award space or a higher award price.
You can transfer your Bilt rewards to Alaska & Hawaiian Airlines at a 1:1 ratio in increments of 1,000 points. If you have a credit card such as the Bilt Obsidian or Palladium, you can earn transferable points on rent and everyday purchases. These two credit cards were part of Bilt’s 2.0 program and allow for mid-tier and premium credit card options.
Overall Thoughts
American Airlines domestic First Class is a solid choice to fly premium on a short hub-to-hub hop. The offerings on my flight such as friendly, attentive service and a fresh fruit plate were both pleasant. While the seatback device holder is an innovative amenity, I wish that AA followed the same path as Delta and United by offering seatback screens on domestically-configured aircraft. If there’s solid award availability through a partner airline such as Alaska, then I’d certainly look to fly American Airlines First Class again on this route. However, the 737-800 in the AA fleet isn’t able to compete with Delta’s A321neo or United’s 737 MAX jets in terms of onboard tech and reliability.