Review: American Airlines Business Class – B737-800 (MIA-PTY-MIA)
This post will review the round trip experience of a flight from Miami, FL (MIA) to Panama City, Panama (PTY). Images of the food consumed will be posted for both segments of the flight.
Boarding: Boarding seemed smooth, the flight was not too full. Boarding on American is done by groups, starting by business class, elite flyers (including oneworld elites) and then groups 1-4. Upon boarding the plane I proceeded to stow my carry-on luggage and take my seat. My seat had a black blanket for comfort throughout the flight, most airlines do this on long international flights in all cabins.
In-Flight Amenities: Like I previously said, once you sit down you will notice that you get a nice blanket to use during your flight, some passengers actually keep these for future use. The business class seats also had some red headphones for the inflight entertainment program, they were red and look nice. You can keep the headphones if you want. Those in the main cabin can purchase blue headphones for $5USD.
Business Class Seat: Though there is obviously a difference between the main cabin seats and the seats in business class. They were quite comfortable, the plane I was on seemed to have been renovated on the inside and also repainted to show the new American livery. There are 16 business class seats with a width of 21.0 and a pitch of 40.0.
Inflight Entertainment: The inflight entertainment was not the best, they played two shows on the overhead television screens. They showed the same episode both ways – Miami was my layover and on the way to MIA and back to DCA the episodes were the same… whoever is responsible for the inflight entertainment at American needs to diversify their options. I have noticed that inflight entertainment is one of their biggest drawbacks.
Food & Beverage: A few minutes into the flight the flight attendants came around with a warm towel. After a few minutes we got warm peanuts and drinks, I got some white wine. The meal was very good, on the way to PTY we got some steak, filet of fish, mashed potatoes with cheese, salad, bread w/ butter and a delicious cheesecake! On the way back to MIA we got some salad, chicken, cauliflower with cheese, bread w/ butter and a three-milk desert. Since I was in business, all alcoholic (and non-alcoholic) drinks are complimentary. A few minutes before we began our descend we got hot towels again to clean up.
Food on the way to Panama City, Panama:
Food on the way back to Miami, FL:
Inflight Service: The inflight service was not bad, the flight attendant from PTY to MIA was a bit rude. They came around with hot towels twice during the flight so we could clean our face and relax a bit. The flight attendants were nice (for the most part). The captain gave us a brief summary of what to expect once we were above 10,000ft and then again when we were preparing to initiate our descend. A flight attendant from the main cabin helped out in the business class cabin too – she was super friendly and would stop anyone from using the business class lavatories who were not supposed to be using it.
REVIEW SCORE: 8/10 [OKAY: The inflight entertainment needs to be diversified]
