Tag Archives for international first class.
American Airlines is eliminating Flagship First Class in favor of more business and premium economy seats on its fleet of Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. The end of first class on the last U.S. carrier to offer it internationally is sad to me, but the project has been pushed back. As American has planned to wind down the offering, they’ve really let the product slide.
Lufthansa first class appears to have gone from 121,000 to 154,000 miles each way per person – meaning that a saver award now costs 308,000 miles roundtrip. That’s a 27% increase. And these are tough awards to book, because Lufthansa only makes them available to United’s program members within a few days of departure.
Meanwhile ANA first class from the Midwest and East Coast appears to have jumped to an eye-popping 242,000 miles – an instantaneous doubling in price.
Cabin crew on this flight were great. Sometimes not proactive, and I had a drink order simply forgotten, but they tried to work with what they had and that was really appreciative. When they apologize for it, I sympathize with them. They are being given business class tools (and a photocopied menu isn’t even that) for international first class, but that’s not their fault at all.
I was actually excited to fly American Airlines Flagship first class. It’s been been several years since I’d done so. And with the introduction of new business suites with doors on new Boeing 787-9s, American will be eliminating Flagship First Class retrofitting their Boeing 777-300ERs to offer just business class. I knew this roundtrip might be my last time flying American Airlines long haul first class ever!
American still has an international (“Flagship”) first class. It’s not a competitive product. And they’ve basically already given up on it. American no longer even sets the table for first class passengers and now just delivers trays with flatware already on it.
When American Airlines introduces new business class suites with doors in 2024, alongside taking on new Boeing 787-9 aircraft, they’re going to reconfigure their Boeing 777-300ERs to have these seats as well. In the process they will eliminate ‘Flagship First Class’ and business will be the top cabin on the aircraft.
At an internal meeting this morning, a recording of which was reviewed by View From The Wing, senior executives at the airline laid out the two basic reasons they made the decision to drop Flagship First Class.
American Airlines will no longer offer Flagship First Class. However that doesn’t necessary meal they’ll no longer offer a seat that’s better than business class – indeed, that’s better than their new business class suite with doors.
You should expect a better seat in row one of widebody business class:
It would be a shame to see Flagship First Class disappear from American Airlines. I’d far rather see them invest in a truly first class product. They have Flagship First Class Dining, Five Star service on the ground, and aircraft selling the product already. And it’s a market that few airlines compete against them to service. Modest tweaks would go a long way, but unfortunately signs point in the opposite direction.
This week we got word that there would be a new Air France first class suite. Details were slight. There’s now a rendering that’s been shared from an Air France deck, which allows us to piece together an understanding of the new product.
With just six seats, first class will be arranged in two rows of 3 seats (1-1-1). The suite will feature a separate seat and bed (as we’ve seen from Etihad and Singapore on the Airbus A380, and Lufthansa had at one point on its Boeing 747s). With an aisle between seats there’s no divider to bring down to share space with a traveling partner, however.
The new Qantas first class seat will feature a 32 inch HD screen, a wardrobe to store clothes after you’ve changed into pajamas and a mirror on the door. The seat will be controlled via iPad, and most innovative will be individual temperature and humidity controls.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
