American Airlines is planning a massive new Admirals Club at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). And once it opens, it’ll be the largest Admirals Club in the airline’s network.
The new lounge will span more than 40,000 square feet. Construction is expected to begin later this year, although American hasn’t announced an opening date.
The new Admirals Club will occupy the mezzanine level overlooking Charlotte’s central atrium.
American says the lounge will have separate areas for dining, working, and relaxing, along with bars, food service areas, and spa-style shower suites. The design will also incorporate elements inspired by Charlotte’s tree canopy and textile heritage.
Charlotte is American’s second-largest hub, where the airline operates more than 650 flights on peak days to over 180 destinations across 27 countries. Given the number of passengers connecting through the airport, the additional space should be a massive improvement and help ease crowding at American’s existing lounges.
What Happens to Charlotte’s Existing Lounges?
American currently operates Admirals Clubs in Concourses B and C/D, along with its newer Provisions by Admirals Club location near Gate A1.
All three locations will remain open during construction. However, American hasn’t said what will happen to them once the new lounge opens.
There’s also the matter of Charlotte’s first Flagship lounge, which will offer a more premium experience for eligible international premium cabin passengers and certain elite members. American hasn’t announced where that lounge will be located or when it might open.
In the near future, American Airlines will introduce another payment method for booking flights: cash and miles.
American announced on October 2 that “in the coming weeks eligible AAdvantage members will be able to combine cash and miles when booking flights on aa.com and American’s digital app.”
Even though this feature isn’t live yet, American has already published enough details to give us a pretty good idea of how it’ll work.
Cash and Miles Will Show Up During Checkout
There won’t be a separate cash and miles search.
Instead, members will log in to an AAdvantage account and search for flights using cash as usual. After selecting a flight and getting through the trip insurance prompt, American will display any available cash and miles options.
A slider will let members choose from the available combinations. Move the slider, the price updates, and whatever is left gets paid in cash.
But American’s cash and miles terms reveal that there won’t necessarily be a single exchange rate between AAdvantage miles and dollars.
The airline says the rate can vary depending on the destination, itinerary, flight, or service. American will also decide which combinations of cash and miles are offered, and those choices can vary based on how many miles are in an account.
So, 10,000 miles could theoretically knock a different amount off one ticket than another. We won’t know what those numbers actually look like until cash and miles bookings go live.
It’s also not yet clear whether the option will be limited to flights operated by American and American Eagle or extend to eligible partner-operated flights booked through American.
TYLER GLATT / POINTS INSIDER
You’ll Still Earn Miles and Loyalty Points
Using miles to cover part of a ticket won’t stop the remaining cash portion from earning AAdvantage miles.
American says members will earn base miles (and therefore Loyalty Points) on the part paid in cash. That includes the base fare and carrier-imposed fees, but not government taxes and fees.
There are a few other quirks buried in the terms. Taxes and fees always have to be paid in cash, and cash and miles won’t necessarily be available for every destination, fare, itinerary, flight, or seat.
Once one of these tickets is booked, it can’t be changed, either. If plans change, the reservation needs to be canceled and booked again.
If a ticket is eligible for a refund, the miles go back to the AAdvantage account. The cash portion follows the normal rules for the fare.
For someone sitting on, say, 15,000 AAdvantage miles without enough to cover an entire flight, cash and miles gives that balance another potential use. Those miles could instead knock down the cash price of an eligible ticket.
Whether that’s worth doing is a question for a little bit later on.
American already made clear that the value of those miles can change from one booking to another. Until the feature goes live, we don’t know whether using 10,000 miles might save $100, $150, or something else entirely, for better or worse.
But once cash and miles starts appearing on aa.com and in the American app, we’ll check some actual flights and see what American is offering.
Airline status matches aren’t anything new. But using better onboard Wi-Fi as the reason to uproot and switch loyalty programs is.
United Airlines launched a limited-time status match aimed specifically at Delta and American elites, and there’s really no ambiguity about how it’s pushing the offer.
On the landing page, big, bold font reads, “Don’t keep buffering: switch to United and get the fastest Wi-Fi in the sky.”
But United isn’t the only airline making a play for Delta elites right now.
American is also promoting a status match that includes Delta members, along with elites from United, JetBlue, and Southwest. And while American doesn’t have Starlink onboard yet, nor does its status match really emphasize Starlink at all, it’s taking the moment to try to woo travelers anyway.
The timing isn’t the least bit random.
Delta is taking a different approach to its next generation of onboard Wi-Fi. The airline selected Amazon Leo, which won’t begin rolling out until 2028. That decision generated plenty of chatter on social media this week, and United and American are now trying to capitalize on the moment.
United isn’t disguising this as a routine status match.
The offer is built around Starlink, which United is already rolling out across its fleet. Eligible Delta and American elites have through October 22 to apply and submit proof of their existing status.
If approved, the corresponding United Premier status kicks in for 90 days.
Keeping it through January 31, 2028, comes down to how much is spent on United or United Express flights during that period:
Premier Silver requires $1,500
Premier Gold requires $3,000
Premier Platinum requires $4,500
Premier 1K requires $7,000
The status match itself isn’t particularly unusual. Airlines have used them for years to give another carrier’s best customers a relatively painless way to switch allegiances.
And with this offer, United is betting that its onboard experience, and faster Wi-Fi specifically, might be enough to get some Delta and American elites to give it a try.
American Wants Delta Elites, Too
American’s pitch isn’t nearly as pointed.
Its current status-match offer is open to eligible elites from Delta, United, JetBlue, and Southwest. Delta members can match all the way from Silver Medallion to AAdvantage Gold, up through Diamond Medallion to Executive Platinum.
Approved members get four months of matched AAdvantage status through American’s Instant Status Pass. Keeping it requires hitting a Loyalty Point target every four months, with thresholds ranging from 13,000 Loyalty Points for Gold to 67,000 for Executive Platinum.
There’s no formal deadline to apply.
Unlike United, though, American isn’t selling its status match on Starlink. It can’t quite do that yet.
Starlink installations aren’t scheduled to begin until the first quarter of 2027. But once they do, American plans to equip more than 500 Airbus narrowbody aircraft, including its A321neos and new A321XLRs. It’s not yet known if or when the airline plans to extend that coverage to its Boeing 737 and 787 fleets.
So, for now, United is the only one of the two that can legitimately use Starlink as part of the pitch. But both airlines are courting Delta elites at the same time they’re making Starlink part of their onboard experience.
Whether Wi-Fi is actually enough to convince someone to change airline loyalty programs is another question. United, at least, seems interested in finding out.
American, Delta, and United are all adding new transatlantic flights next year. And a look at the schedules and current pricing turned up three worth knowing about this week, including a trip to Portugal from just 21,000 miles.
But Philadelphia doesn’t have to be the starting point to get that price.
POINTSYEAH
On March 29, for example, American is selling an itinerary from Boston (BOS) to Porto for 21,000 AAdvantage miles plus $5.60 in economy. The trip connects in Philadelphia before continuing on American’s new nonstop to Portugal.
Change the date to April 4, and the same 21,000-mile price is available out of Los Angeles (LAX).
It’s already bookable with MileagePlus miles, too.
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On April 28, the nonstop costs 40,000 United miles plus $5.60 in economy. Eligible United cardholders can book the same flight for 36,000 miles plus $5.60.
Luxembourg probably isn’t the first airport that comes to mind for a trip to Europe. But its location is part of the appeal. The country borders France, Germany, and Belgium, putting the new nonstop within easy reach of several places that might otherwise require a connection anyway.
On July 20, Main Basic starts at 35,000 SkyMiles plus $6 one way. Eligible Delta cardholders get a 15% discount through TakeOff 15, dropping the price to 29,700 miles plus $6.
There is a tradeoff for taking the cheaper option, though.
Main Basic charges a fee to cancel or change the ticket, doesn’t include advance seat selection, and charges for the first checked bag. Main Classic on the same flight costs 45,800 miles, or 38,900 miles with the cardholder discount, and offers more flexibility, advance seat selection, and a free checked bag.
That’s a difference of 9,200 miles for cardholders. On a trip being booked nearly 10 months ahead, paying more miles for the extra flexibility could make a good amount of sense.
Search for Your Own Trip
These prices are snapshots of a moment in time and can move up or down as the wind blows. Changing the dates, departure airport, or cabin can also produce very different results.
That’s particularly useful with new routes. United’s Luxembourg flight starts in Newark, while American’s new Porto nonstop starts in Philadelphia. But as the Boston and Los Angeles examples show, itineraries don’t necessarily have to start there.
American Airlines and STARLUX have officially launched their codeshare partnership. But for anyone with American miles, the more interesting part is what could come next.
American says the airlines are working toward mileage redemptions and additional benefits. If that happens, STARLUX would become another way to use AAdvantage miles to get to Asia.
That’s already one of the more useful aspects of American’s program. AAdvantage miles can be used on American’s own flights across the Pacific, along with partners including Japan Airlines and Cathay Pacific. Malaysia Airlines can help with trips farther into Southeast Asia, while Qantas opens up additional possibilities through Australia.
STARLUX could add another piece to that network, with flights from several U.S. cities to Taipei and connections throughout Asia.
The codeshare is the first step. American is now selling select STARLUX flights from Los Angeles (LAX), Ontario (ONT), San Francisco (SFO), and Seattle (SEA) to Taipei (TPE), with Phoenix (PHX) expected to follow pending approval.
AAdvantage members can earn miles and Loyalty Points when those STARLUX flights are sold under an American flight number.
What isn’t possible yet is booking a STARLUX flight with AAdvantage miles.
American says the airlines will work together on future opportunities including “mileage redemption and additional travel benefits,” but hasn’t said when that will happen, what flights will be available, or how many miles they’ll cost.
STARLUX isn’t the only potential addition, either. Philippine Airlines is preparing to join Oneworld, the airline alliance that includes American, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, and several other carriers. Its membership should eventually create another way to use American miles for flights in Asia.
There’s plenty left to learn about both additions. But the direction is pretty interesting. AAdvantage already offers several ways to cross the Pacific using miles, and that list looks likely to get longer.
Australia isn’t exactly a quick trip from the U.S., but American Airlines is offering a cheaper way to get there for anyone with some flexibility this fall.
For a limited time, American is offering one-way economy award tickets to Sydney (SYD) for as few as 25,000 AAdvantage miles. That’s 10,000 miles less than the 35,000-mile starting price on American’s award chart.
There’s one big catch, though: both booking and travel need to happen by October 31, 2026.
That leaves just over a month to make the trip happen.
What to Know Before Booking
The offer covers Main Cabin awards between the contiguous 48 states and Sydney. These tickets start at 25,000 AAdvantage miles one way, plus applicable taxes and fees.
American says availability is limited, and the mileage price can change depending on the flight and date.
There’s another important restriction. The discounted awards must be on flights marketed and operated by American Airlines or American Eagle. Codeshare flights aren’t eligible, so don’t expect the 25,000-mile price on a Qantas-operated flight just because it appears on AA.com.
The offer can’t be applied to an existing reservation, either.
That gives this deal a pretty narrow window:
Book by 11:59 p.m. CT on October 31, 2026.
Complete travel by October 31, 2026.
Fly in Main Cabin.
Travel between the contiguous U.S. and Sydney.
Stick to American-operated flights.
AA.COM
A Long Flight, but a Lower Mileage Price
There’s no getting around the obvious part. Australia is a long way to fly in economy. American’s nonstop from Los Angeles to Sydney spends roughly 15 hours in the air.
At 25,000 AAdvantage miles one way, though, the savings are pretty meaningful. A round trip at the lowest price would cost 50,000 miles, although finding that rate in both directions from a home airport isn’t guaranteed.
It’s worth searching from American’s major gateways, too. If the deal doesn’t appear from a home airport, a positioning flight could open up more options.
But the bigger limitation here isn’t the long flight. It’s the calendar. Anyone who can make Australia work before the end of October has a lower mileage price available for a limited time.
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom and CFO Devon May sat down with investors this week at Morgan Stanley’s annual Laguna Conference. The majority of the conversation centered on revenue, fuel prices, and profitability, but there were also several updates that could affect the experience of flying American over the next few years.
Here’s what stood out.
American’s Premium Push Is Still Just Getting Started
American has spent the last several years pushing its product upmarket, with upgraded lounges, more premium seats, and the launch of its new Flagship Suite.
There’s a pretty simple reason why.
Isom said just 30% of American’s seats now account for 50% of the airline’s revenue. And despite all the attention American has placed on premium cabins recently, the airline still considers itself relatively early in that transition.
By the end of the decade, American expects its number of premium seats to grow by roughly 50%.
Some of that growth is already underway. American’s first retrofitted Boeing 777-300ER entered service with a larger Flagship Suite cabin, while Isom said work on the airline’s 777-200ERs will be “moving before you know it.” Airbus A319 and A320 reconfigurations are also beginning to roll out.
The result should be considerably more premium seating across American’s fleet over the next several years, on both its domestic and international jets.
American also appears to be preparing for one of its biggest periods of lounge investment in years.
Isom said customers will see “more new lounge openings at American over the next couple of years than we’ve done in decades.”
Several lounge projects are already underway, but the comment suggests there’s plenty more happening behind the scenes.
That’s worth watching as American puts more emphasis on the experience before a flight, not just the seat onboard.
Free Wi-Fi Is Also Growing AAdvantage
American’s rollout of free Wi-Fi isn’t just about making the flight better.
Isom said AAdvantage enrollments are running at record levels, with much of that growth driven by free Wi-Fi. An AAdvantage membership is required to use the service.
More members also gives American a larger pool of customers for other parts of AAdvantage, particularly its credit card partnership with Citi.
The onboard upgrades still have some distance to go. Isom said a “significant chunk” of American’s fleet will have high-speed Starlink Wi-Fi as the airline moves through 2027. Seatback entertainment will take several years to spread across the fleet.
Some Flights Could Be Trimmed
There was one less exciting update.
Higher fuel prices are causing American to reconsider some of its planned flying. May said the airline will make adjustments to its December schedule and now expects to grow somewhat less in 2027 than it anticipated several months ago.
That doesn’t necessarily mean widespread route cuts. American still sees room to grow its network over the longer term.
But schedules could get a little thinner in the near term as American adjusts to higher fuel costs.
In the aggregate, the comments point to an American that will look different over the next several years. More premium seats and lounges are coming, Wi-Fi and seatback entertainment are spreading across the fleet, and some of that investment is already starting to show up. The immediate question is how much higher fuel prices slow the airline’s plans to grow the network around it.
American Airlines has made no secret of its interest in premium customers of late.
New planes are arriving with private business class suites, existing ones are being reconfigured with more seats up front, and the airline is investing in lounges and other parts of the experience meant to convince people to spend more when they fly.
Which makes the slow disappearance of the Airbus A321T a curious thing to watch.
For more than a decade, American has flown a small number of these unusually configured planes primarily between New York and Los Angeles and San Francisco. There are only 102 seats onboard, and 30 of them turn into beds, an almost absurd amount of space to devote to premium passengers on a narrowbody flying within the United States.
Now they’re disappearing.
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American’s new Airbus A321XLR is taking over more transcontinental flying, and individual A321Ts are already being pulled out to be reconfigured with much more conventional interiors. Earlier this week, yet another flew to El Salvador to begin that process.
The following day, I was sitting in business class on another A321T headed across the country to Los Angeles.
It was a good place to consider what American is replacing, and what it isn’t.
The A321T Was Never Meant to Be Normal
When American introduced the A321T in late 2013, the airline was fighting hard for premium customers flying between New York and California.
Its answer was an airplane built around them.
At the front were 10 first-class seats, each with direct aisle access and enough room to turn into a bed. Behind them were 20 more lie-flat seats in business class. Even economy was unusual, with 36 extra-legroom seats and only 36 standard ones.
It was an extravagant use of an A321, but that was the point.
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American wasn’t alone in lavishing attention on these routes. United and Delta had their own premium transcontinental products, and JetBlue would bring Mint into the fight. But American’s solution was particularly unusual. Nearly a third of the people onboard could go to sleep in a bed.
The result was a narrowbody that felt almost deliberately underfilled.
More than a decade later, American still wants those premium customers. But the airplane built specifically for them is another matter.
But sitting a few rows behind it made the focus on first class seem a little incomplete.
American changed its complimentary elite upgrade policy on August 25. On domestic routes with a distinct premium economy cabin, complimentary upgrades from Main Cabin now stop at premium economy rather than jumping directly to business class. More broadly, complimentary upgrades move passengers forward by one cabin.
The A321T doesn’t have premium economy. It has Main Cabin, business class, and first class, which meant my complimentary upgrade from economy could move me one cabin forward into business, but not into first.
That landed me in what may have been the more interesting cabin all along.
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The A321T has 20 lie-flat business class seats behind first. They gave American a sizable second cabin full of beds without requiring everyone who wanted to lie flat across the country to buy the most expensive ticket on the plane.
By 2026 standards, the seats themselves aren’t particularly cutting-edge. They’re arranged 2-2, so half the cabin lacks direct aisle access, and years of flying back and forth across the country are beginning to show.
Mine certainly had some character.
TYLER GLATT / POINTS INSIDER
A gate agent let me know before boarding that something at the seat wasn’t working correctly, though it was never entirely clear whether she meant the entertainment screen, its remote, or something else. One of the armrests had also developed a considerable amount of bounce.
Once we left New York, though, I put the seat into its lounge position and settled in. Later, it went completely flat.
There are newer and more private ways to cross the country now. But lying there, the thing that stood out about the A321T wasn’t really the seat. It was how many lie-flat seats American had been willing to install.
TYLER GLATT / POINTS INSIDER
Thirty Beds on an Airplane With 102 Seats
That’s what makes the A321T difficult to replace, even with something newer.
American’s A321XLR has plenty going for it. There are 20 Flagship Suites with direct aisle access and privacy doors, plus 12 premium economy seats. The airplane can also fly international routes that were never part of the A321T’s job.
And it carries 155 people.
The comparison says more about the A321T than it does the XLR. For all the attention paid to its first-class cabin, what really made this airplane unusual was the amount of room American was willing to devote to relatively few passengers.
That has practical consequences as these planes disappear. There will be fewer lie-flat seats on each flight. That doesn’t mean awards will suddenly cost more or upgrades will become impossible. There are too many other factors at play. But for anyone accustomed to using miles or status to get into one, there will simply be fewer places to land.
American says Flagship First will stop being sold on transcontinental routes as more XLRs enter the fleet. And unlike a traditional retirement, the A321Ts themselves aren’t necessarily going anywhere. They’re being reconfigured and returned to American’s fleet as much more ordinary A321s.
That’s perhaps the strangest part of watching them disappear. The airplanes will still be around. What made them special won’t be.
American still wants the premium customers the A321T was built to attract. It just doesn’t need an airplane quite this extravagant to get them anymore.
The partnership had already been watered down considerably in 2025, when American and Hyatt eliminated reciprocal bonus earning on flights and hotel stays in favor of rewards tied to each program’s elite status qualification system.
Now, those benefits are going away, too.
For the moment, little is changing. Members can continue earning and redeeming eligible benefits through the current earning year, with parts of the relationship stretching into early 2027.
American and Hyatt Are Going Their Separate Ways
American and Hyatt have worked together since 2019. Initially, eligible elite members could earn bonus AAdvantage miles on Hyatt stays or bonus World of Hyatt points on American flights after linking their accounts.
That arrangement changed in 2025. Rather than earning bonus points or miles whenever they stayed or flew, members began unlocking benefits in the other program through AAdvantage Loyalty Point Rewards and World of Hyatt Milestone Rewards.
Those are the benefits now headed for the exit.
American and Hyatt issued nearly identical statements Wednesday, saying the decision came “after careful consideration.”
“We have mutually decided to not continue our enhanced relationship.”
The initial announcement didn’t offer much more explanation than that. But an American spokesperson provided Points Insider with some additional context, confirming that what it described as the “exclusive loyalty partnership” with Hyatt expires in November and won’t be renewed.
American said it’s focused on partnerships that provide AAdvantage members with “global scale and premium experiences” while also building relationships that are beneficial to customers and the airline’s financial outlook.
The reference to exclusivity is what sticks out.
Air Canada and Hyatt recently announced a new enhanced partnership between Aeroplan and World of Hyatt, giving members opportunities to earn rewards and access status benefits across the two programs.
We specifically asked American whether Hyatt’s new Aeroplan partnership played a role in the decision not to renew its exclusive relationship. The airline didn’t address that question.
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Current Benefits Aren’t Disappearing Immediately
Members who already leverage the American and Hyatt partnership have some time before the biggest changes take effect.
AAdvantage members who link their American and Hyatt accounts by November 15, 2026, can continue earning World of Hyatt awards through AAdvantage Loyalty Point Rewards through February 28, 2027.
World of Hyatt members who link their accounts by November 15 can continue earning AAdvantage awards through Milestone Rewards through December 31, 2026.
Benefits already earned won’t suddenly disappear, either. Both companies say members will receive the usual amount of time to select an award after earning it.
One American and Hyatt Benefit Is Sticking Around
Not everything is going away.
AAdvantage members will still be able to earn 500 AAdvantage miles on eligible Hyatt stays after the broader relationship ends. Members can choose to earn the miles instead of World of Hyatt points by providing their AAdvantage number at check-in.
It’s a much narrower tie-up than what American and Hyatt once offered, but the two programs aren’t severing ties completely.
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Why End the Partnership Now?
That’s still the big unanswered question.
American’s response offers a glimpse at what the airline wants from its loyalty partnerships, including global scale, premium experiences, and relationships that make financial sense. But it doesn’t explain why the Hyatt relationship no longer fits that strategy.
The timing of Hyatt’s new Aeroplan partnership, coupled with American’s description of its Hyatt agreement as exclusive, makes the question particularly interesting.
For now, though, there’s no confirmation that the two developments are connected.
And the practical impact won’t be immediate. Members have several more months to earn benefits before the relationship winds down, and the option to earn AAdvantage miles instead of Hyatt points will remain.
But the broader partnership has been shrinking for some time. It lost reciprocal earning in 2025, will lose its remaining cross-program milestone benefits over the coming months, and its exclusive contract expires in November.
There’s a lot of business class on American Airlines’ newly retrofitted Boeing 777-300ER.
Seventy suites, to be exact.
Ahead of a special charter flight from Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) to New York (JFK) on Wednesday, American’s Chief Commercial Officer Nat Pieper described it as a “sea of business class” that seems to go on and on.
He’s not wrong.
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The Flagship Suite cabin stretches through a huge chunk of one of the largest passenger aircraft in American’s fleet. Add 44 Premium Economy seats, and the airline’s newly retrofitted 777-300ER has 114 seats across its two premium cabins.
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American didn’t start the project with 114 as some magic number.
Pieper told Points Insider that the configuration was driven in part by the physical geography of the 777 itself.
Door locations, galleys, and other fixed parts of an existing airplane helped determine where cabins could begin and end, alongside American’s desire to meet the market’s insatiable appetite for premium travel.
The result just happens to be the most premium-heavy aircraft American has ever flown.
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And after spending a few hours aboard the first one, it’s also an airplane that feels remarkably different from the 777 American has been flying for more than a decade.
Today, the fleet regularly crosses oceans and borders on flights to cities including London, Tokyo, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, and Sydney.
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American isn’t ready to move on from them.
Instead, it’s investing heavily in all 20 aircraft with the expectation that they’ll remain in the fleet for roughly another decade, if not longer.
Pieper said someone walking onto the first completed aircraft wouldn’t be able to tell that it didn’t just come off the factory floor. It’ll even have that new-car smell, he added, though perhaps the smell of an expensive new car given the amount American has invested in the project.
That sounded like the sort of thing an airline executive is supposed to say about a newly refurbished airplane. But after walking onboard, it wasn’t much of a stretch.
TYLER GLATT / POINTS INSIDER
The first impression is just how open everything feels.
The 777 is already a big airplane, but the new interior really emphasizes that size. Gone are many of the lighter surfaces of the previous cabin. They’ve been replaced by darker dividers, different shades of gray, wood finishes, and restrained red and white accents.
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Lighting helps.
Raphael Girardoni, American’s managing director of customer experience product and design, told Points Insider that lighting was an important part of the design and something he’s personally passionate about.
It’s noticeable throughout the Flagship Suite cabin.
Small sconces and accent lighting illuminate the individual suites. One of the more thoughtful touches is the way the light from the sconce plays off the design surrounding a storage cubby beside the seat.
Even the cabin dividers look more considered, with darker finishes and not-so-subtle Flagship branding.
TYLER GLATT / POINTS INSIDER
Seventy Flagship Suites Upgrade the 777
Of course, the biggest upgrade is the seats up front.
American is removing the eight Flagship First seats and 52 business-class seats found on its previous 777-300ER configuration. In their place are 70 Flagship Suites, including eight larger seats that the airline calls Flagship Suite Preferred.
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They’re the same seats American introduced on its also-premium-heavy Boeing 787-9P last year, outfitted with sliding privacy doors and direct aisle access.
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The sheer number of them really is a sight to behold. But what stands out most is how little of that enormous cabin is visible once you’re seated.
Even with the suite door open, I couldn’t see another passenger from my seat beyond the occasional top of someone’s head. Movable dividers between adjoining seats add yet another layer of privacy, too.
TYLER GLATT / POINTS INSIDER
There are also plenty of small touches that become more useful the longer a flight gets.
There’s wireless charging, a drink ledge, a small compartment well suited for a wallet or watch, and various other nooks for keeping things nearby rather than throwing everything into one larger storage bin.
The tray table is enormous. It slides out from beside the seat before rotating into place, leaving plenty of room for a laptop, meal, or whatever else ends up accumulating during a long flight.
The entertainment screen is similarly large and highly responsive, but doesn’t feel oversized for the space.
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And yes, American kept the individual air nozzles.
That’s a win.
Can American Fill 70 Business-Class Seats?
Putting 70 business-class seats on a single airplane naturally raises another question: Can American consistently fill them?
Pieper doesn’t appear particularly worried.
He said American is comfortable with the configuration and has more tools at its disposal than selling every seat outright at its initial price. Upgrade offers give the airline another way to fill otherwise empty premium seats as departure approaches.
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And then there are Systemwide Upgrades, one of the perks available to some of American’s most loyal customers. Those could come in handy on this kind of plane, too.
With 70 Flagship Suites to work with, there are simply more seats that could potentially clear as upgrades.
That flexibility matters when these airplanes will be flying some of American’s biggest long-haul markets for years to come.
It also helps explain the underlying strategy.
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Airlines have spent the past several years adding premium seats as demand for higher-end travel has soared. American is doing the same with its new 787-9Ps and Airbus A321XLRs, and the 777-300ER retrofit takes that strategy to another level.
The airline didn’t necessarily set out to hit a particular percentage of premium seats on the 777. But the combination of the aircraft’s physical layout and American’s push toward a more premium experience led it to a configuration with a whole lot of them.
Economy Feels Surprisingly Small
Walk far enough through the Flagship Suite cabin and eventually the airplane starts looking more familiar.
There are 44 Premium Economy seats, followed by Main Cabin Extra and standard economy.
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Economy itself isn’t revolutionary. But the cabin has a new lease on life.
Browns and blues replaced some of the older finishes. There are new entertainment screens, in-seat power, and the other updates expected from a modern widebody interior.
A short charter flight isn’t enough to say much about how those seats will feel after 10 or 15 hours.
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What’s more notable, though, is how little economy there seems to be.
For an airplane as large as a 777-300ER, the two economy sections feel surprisingly small. That’s not because American has done anything unusual within them. It’s because the majority of the airplane’s real estate comes before them.
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The premium cabins stretch almost to the end of the wing.
That might be the most effective way to understand just how different this configuration is. The 777-300ER can hold an enormous number of seats. American has chosen to devote a remarkable amount of that real estate to the front of the plane.
Retrofitting a 777 Isn’t the Same as Building a New One
Some things didn’t change.
The overhead bins, for example, look just like they did before. So does the view through the well-traveled windows. And when the engines spool up for takeoff, this is still very much the same 777 that has been flying for American for years.
The challenge was putting a substantially different passenger experience inside it.
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From a design perspective, Girardoni said there weren’t any particular challenges with bringing Flagship Suite to the 777 that stood out during the project. American was also working with a familiar product, using the same Flagship Suite seat already flying aboard its 787-9P.
But there are still operational tradeoffs.
One flight attendant aboard Wednesday’s flight mentioned that the new layout leaves crews with somewhat less room to maneuver in parts of the galley, particularly when passengers are trying to squeeze around carts. It could make things a little trickier, although she said that adapting to different aircraft and working conditions is part of the job.
Passengers give up a little space elsewhere, too. The new configuration has fewer lavatories than the 777-300ER it replaces.
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American expects to complete the remaining 777-300ER retrofits by the middle of 2027.
The aircraft will also get free high-speed Wi-Fi for AAdvantage members, sponsored by AT&T. That’s a meaningful upgrade for airplanes expected to spend much of their lives on long international flights.
The first retrofitted 777 already has it.
A Look at Where American Wants to Go
American describes the new 777 as more than a refurbishment.
Pieper called the aircraft an embodiment of the airline’s ambitions as American works toward what he described as becoming a premier global airline.
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That’s a lofty goal.
But the 777 offers a tangible look at what American thinks getting there requires.
It’s eliminating its eight-seat international first-class cabin while dramatically expanding business class. It’s adding privacy doors, better technology, more thoughtful storage, and a much more contemporary interior. And it’s making similar investments across new aircraft, existing widebodies, lounges, Wi-Fi, Flagship airport check-in, and other parts of the travel experience.
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The first retrofitted 777-300ER begins commercial service between New York (JFK) and Buenos Aires (EZE) on September 2.
It won’t be a novelty flying around the network for a year or two. American expects this airplane, and eventually the others like it, to spend roughly another decade flying to some of its most important destinations around the world.
The first one shows just how much American thinks it can get out of an airplane it already owns. And now it has 19 more to rebuild.
