We may receive a commission when you use our links. Monkey Miles is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com and CardRatings. This relationship may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Monkey Miles is also a Senior Advisor to Bilt Rewards. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
We explore another AA business class configuration: 757-200
I’m going to tell you a secret. Until I was sitting in the Amex Centurion Lounge in the Las Vegas airport I had no idea my aircraft was going to be configured with lie-flat seats. Terrible, I know, I’m supposed to have researched all the specifics. Here’s the thing: I was so focused on changing this routing to a single connection from LAX to Miami that I hadn’t really looked at this itinerary as one I’d end up flying. Sure enough…here I was, and I pulled up the seating arrangement and found something spectacular! I’d be on one of AA’s retrofit 757s with lie-flat seats.
There is a lesson here. Had I just done the due diligence when I first booked the flight, I’d have actually preferred this itinerary because of this specific leg. I haven’t flown AA’s 757 business class/first class with this seating configuration, and I’ve really wanted to do it for the review. I should have just treated my own itinerary like a client’s and I would have discovered it at booking, but alas, I was more focused on beating AA’s married segment policy, and getting a great long haul, than I was the specifics of my connecting flights.
Flight Details:
- When: November 2018
- Where: Las Vegas to Miami
- Airline: American Airlines
- Aircraft: 757-200 – International Configured
- Flight Number: 2823
- Class: First / Business Class
- Seat 2B
- Miles used: American, part of LAX-LAS-MIA-EZE 57.5k + $5.60
AA flies two different configurations of a Boeing 757. Look for 4 seats vs 3 in the forward cabin
If you’re wondering how I knew in the lounge that my aircraft would feature lie flat seats, it’s very simple. If your 757 has 4 seats in First Class, or business on long hauls, you’ll have Rockwell Collins Diamond seats w/o seatback screens in business. If it has 3 seats, you’ll have a what you traditionally think of in first class on domestic flights, recliners.
What kind of lieflat seat is used on AA’s 757?
The seat is from Rockwell Collins and is a part of the “Diamond” family. Here’s the basic version found on their site:
While it’s not my favorite seat, this is a narrowbody plane ( meaning just a single aisle ) and it’s quite comfortable, and arguably as good as it gets on these smaller aircraft. You’ll find them on AA’s A321 Transcon, Ethiopian Dreamliners, and on most KLM business class cabins. Hands down…it’s an incredible way to fly a short domestic flight.
The Flight:
While I’d been remiss in exploring flight details until arriving in the lounge, once I saw I’d be flying on an internationally configured 757 I was curious to see how the IFE situation would work. AA made the decision to reduce weight by eliminating seatback screens on these 757s + the 767s, so I wasn’t surprised when I boarded this 757 and saw this:
Looks odd, am I right?
Still, it’s a pleasure to be able to fly this comfortably on a 4h+ flight between Las Vegas and Miami.
The Seat:
The overall design of these seats is the same as what you’ll fly on their Transcon A321s.
If you look in the upper right corner you’ll see how narrow the footwell is in order to fit under seat in front. I’d recommend choosing a bulkhead seat which offers a larger place for your feet
Food + Service
I had the oatmeal with yogurt.
The seat goes to full lie-flat position.
My big issue with removing the seatback screens…
The IFE never worked on my devices. I notified the crew and asked them to reset it for the plane, they tried ( although with a bit of annoyance), but it failed. It never connected. I couldn’t connect to the WIFI. I couldn’t buy a package, nor could I connect to the free entertainment that is offered to those who have devices which are WiFi enabled. So I was suddenly in the situation that I had hypothetically argued could happen: no seat back screen meant complete reliance upon the in flight entertainment populating to your device.
Also…They don’t provide tablets on domestic flights unless it’s a transcon.
In the future, if I have the the option of flying a competitor that offered a similar product but with seat back monitors…they’d steal my business from AA.
The obvious solution is for me to download material onto my device prior to the flight, but what a pain when there are airlines out there that don’t belabor their customer with this backup plan. Anyways…
Overall:
This is a great way to fly domestically, and on the international routes serviced with this plane you’d receive Bose headphones, better catering, tablets, and hopefully an entertainment system that works. Is it the best way to fly in international business class? No…but its a big step up from a recliner, and competitive with quite a few carriers widebody configurations. I’d highly recommend downloading movies/tv shows/podcasts prior to your flight as a back up plan.
If you can find this plane flying domestically, book it and don’t look back. It’d also be a fantastic use of a Business Extra segment upgrade. Read this article to find out how to earn Business Extra Upgrade Awards.
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
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 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)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
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® is exceptional 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: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.