Earlier this month I teased that American AIrlines would reveal a new champagne partnership. And they’re now out with the news that they’ll start serving Bollinger.
- Bollinger Special Cuvée is now available in business class Flagship lounges in Dallas, Miami and Chicago with rollout coming over the next few weeks at LAX and Philadelphia. (Presumably New York JFK lounges are not mentioned because those are in partnership with British Airways.)
- It will be available for sale in Admirals Clubs.
- And starting in October it will be offered in business and first class on Paris flights, with “broader rollout… in the months ahead” across long haul business class and above.
United now serves Laurent-Perrier La Cuvée but more importantly has invested in a real wine program beyond just champagne. Delta serves Taittinger.
Bollinger is certainly competitive! The irony, though, is that champagne is arguably something American was already doing competitively. American even greets each customer in their business class Flagship lounges with champagne.
Two years ago they had eliminated proper champagne in business class and was serving something embarrassingly bad in first. No more!
American has been serving Nicolas Feuillatte Reserve Exclusive Brut in business class and Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Millesime 2018 in Flagship First. Both bottles are very respectable – maybe the business class bottle has been a bit below United’s and Delta’s champagne investment depending on taste, but certainly close enough.
It’s the rest of American’s wine program that’s excruciatingly awful. They’ve been serving $8 wines in first class and reached a new low with undrinkable wines on my latest London to Dallas first class flight. Inexpensive wines can still be delicious. They can also drink so badly as to literally send a shiver down your spine.
Hopefully along with champagne, which gets the press, American Airlines will be revisiting its wine program – not just investing more, but investing more thoughtfully.
Next up: American should be replacing FreshBrew coffee. The very first customer improvement United made when Oscar Munoz replaced Jeff Smisek as CEO was to get rid of FreshBrew and introduce Illy (along with stroopwafels). It was symbolically very important. American has continued to serve FreshBrew. But something new is brewing here…
If you’d like a bespoke, thoughtfully curated travel experience, please consider Delta.
Are you talking domestic first? Because last time I checked other than a few transon routes most meal service in domestic first is Wawa food.
I would be that most people could not tell the difference between most expensive wines and champagnes and inexpensive ones if participating in a blindfolded taste test.
It’s been far too long, @Matt! cc @1990
We missed you, @Matt. Never change.
Will Flagship First receive an upgrade Champagne experience? Perhaps the NV rose, or even La Grande Annee? I can’t imagine they’d splurge for the R.D…
Gary,
You harp on that close out price for the Mon Frere Chardonnay every other day. That is not a retail price for Mon Frere Chardonnay. It’s an inventory reduction clearance price. I know what the retailers pay and it’s not a $5.99 retail bottle. However, even at regular retail prices it’s still not acceptable for international business class.
TrueJeff
There is a difference between expensive wine and good wine – the two are not always the same. If you shop the world, finding good sub-$20 wine is not hard, at wholesale prices I imagine it’s half that price. (As long as you don’t insist on California wines, which are pricey for what you get.) The problem is scale – outfitting an entire airline with the same wines is probably difficult.
I think that AA should launch an advertising campaign along with their wines. Maybe they could change their business class wines and go with something like “Two Buck Chuck – Because You’re Worth Every Cent To Us”.