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AA currently flies two different versions of their Boeing 757, domestic and international. Their International version sells its business class seats as first class when it flies domestic routes, and offers an outstanding way to fly within the US. It’s limited service, but it features B/E Diamond seats much like you’d find on AA’s A321T ( picturd below )flying coast to coast without the IFE.
I recently had the pleasure of flying this plane between Vegas and Miami on my LAX-LAS-MIA-EZE itinerary. I had booked the route with the intention of changing it to fly to Buenos Aires with one connection, but that routing never opened up. Since I hadn’t been paying a ton of attention I’d selected a seat in first class, and forgot about it until the day before flying.
I was pleased to discover that an AA 757 with 4 rows in a 2-2 configuration is their lie-flat product. So if you see this:
You’ll get this:
A couple of tips
- You won’t get a tablet like you would on an international route
- If it’s a transcon…you will lax/sfo to boston, jfk, DC, etc
- You won’t get Bose headphones either
- You’ll be given standard in ear headphones
Lack of in-seat (seatback ) IFE
This was a big issue for me. For some reason the AA app wouldn’t load, and despite updating my flash plugin – I couldn’t watch a single movie utilizing their tech on my laptop. Personally, I favor aircraft that have the IFE built in that way I can start watching as soon as I get on ( most times ) and if delayed, keep watching, but most importantly – never have to deal with WIFI, etc issues which can completely change the experience of a flight.
Where to sit:
If you notice in the picture below, the bulkhead seats provide the largest footwell, and where I would personally choose to sit. Compare that to the footwell above where I did sit, and you’ll see the bulkhead passengers enjoy a few more inches for their feet. I wear a size 12 so those couple extra inches help out quite a bit.
Hope this helps!
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
$300 Chase Travel℠ Credit + 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
- $300 Chase Travel℠ Credit + Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- That’s worth $750 when redeemed through Chase Travel℠. Plus, get up to $300 in statement credits on Chase Travel℠ purchases within your first year
- 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.
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