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There are 2 different seats. I’ve flown both. Here’s you can tell which you’ll get.
If you’ve done much flying on American you already know that their business class seats come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Luckily, these will be all retro-fitted to lie flats by sometime in October, but the 772, in particular, will continue to operate two different retro-fitted products. Originally the contract was with Zodiac. The reviews weren’t great once the seat was put into operation and AA canceled their order and placed a new one with B/E Aerospace for a fantastic seat called the Super Diamond. Depending on the route, you could end up with the Zodiac or the Super-Diamond. Here’s a helpful, simple guid to which business class you’ll get on a retro-fit AA 777-200.
The clear and simple way to tell is by the seat map.
Here are the two different seats.
This is the seat map for the Zodiac ( from an LAX-LHR route) booking on the AA website.
This is the first retro-fit that AA installed on their 772. I reviewed it last year from London to Chicago and enjoyed it quite a bit. I noticed none of the complaints of others.
- As you’ll see below. Pay attention to the rear business class cabin. There are 6 rows. This signifies the first retro-fit.
If you use Seat-guru it’ll look like this…
- Notice how there are 5 rows in the forward cabin in a 1-2-1 arrangement with one seat in the 6th. This is followed by 6 rows in the rear cabin all 1-2-1.
- Some of these seats face backwards
- Notice the Economy cabin. Configured 3-3-3. This is the 1st retro-fit economy. The later one is a dreadful 3-4-3
Again you will get this seat:
This is the business class seat map for the Super-Diamond. An incredible seat and cabin.
Two cabins. The first has 5 complete rows of 1-2-1 and 1 loner seat in 6. If I were flying alone I’d most certainly snag that seat. The rear cabin is 4 rows ( 7-10) all configured in 1-2-1. Personally I think the forward cabin is more private as the rear cabin is separated from coach with a curtain. I walked through a couple times and the noise isn’t filtered as much as I’d like.
If you use seat guru it would look like this.
- If you look at economy…you can see that it is laid out 3-4-3. This automatically means its the newer retro-fit
You will get this seat.
Quick Recap:
- Check the difference in the rear business class cabin. If it goes to row 12 then you’ll get the old cabin
- If the economy cabin is 3-4-3 then you’ll have the newer super diamond seats in business class
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card went through a major refresh in 2026 adding new bonus categories, travel protections, statement credits, and remains one of the best travel starter cards in the market. It earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott. Note that Hyatt is now a 4:3 transfer partner
Welcome Offer
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
Earn
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on gas and EV charging
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on vacation homes at top brands
- Cardmembers will earn 3x points on vacation homes at these top brands: Airbnb, Vrbo, Plu Guide, HomeAway, Homestay.com and Vacasa.
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- 2x on all other travel
- 1x on everyday purchases
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Benefits and Credits
- $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- NEW: $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS fee credit Cardmembers will receive one statement credit of up to $120 every four years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to the card.
- NEW: Complimentary Apple TV subscription for one year
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is great starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Chase Ink Business Cash® , Chase Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into the Sapphire Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee remains quite low at $95 a year and if you use the $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠ you’ll wipe out that annual fee every year. It has great bonus categories and other useful statement credits to enhance your travel.
One thing that is a bummer is Chase lowered the transfer ratio to World of Hyatt from 1:1 to 4:3.
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