Good morning from Barcelona. While I’m about to conk out thanks to the 48 hours of straight flying I’ve done (flying Tampa to Chicago to Las Vegas to Los Angeles to Miami to New York to Barcelona), I did want to quickly mention what a great flight I had on American. I know, I know, American business class can’t be that great, but this was a really good flight.
For one, the flight was less than 40% full in both business class and coach, apparently thanks to the Superbowl.
Second, since this was a 767, American has an enhanced meal service compared to business class on the 777. Their logic is apparently that since they don’t have a first class product, everyone deserves a bit better of a meal than business class on a three cabin plane to compensate for it.
That means that instead of just nuts you get nuts and a cheese antipasto.
Then instead of the small starter and side salad being served together you get a separate starter consisting of shrimp and salmon.
Then you get a full sized salad, as opposed to the side salad served in business class on 777s.
Then instead of the main course being in a small pre-plated dish, it’s actually plated onboard and served on a proper plate. This steak happened to be really good, surprisingly.
Then for dessert you get an ice cream sundae instead of just a scoop of ice cream.
But what really set the flight apart was the crew. There were three guys working business class, all with completely different personalities. The purser, Mauricio, was one of the funniest flight attendants I’ve had in a long time. He was sarcastic at almost every interaction, but in a funny way. The guy in front of me asked if he could hang his coat, and he said “of course I can, I have two hands. Why do you ask?” When my travel companion got a bit demanding he was reminded (jokingly) that’s he’s an Executive Platinum and, only Concierge Keys can be that demanding. Yet despite his humor he was also incredibly professional, and greeted every passenger both on the way in and thanked each business class passenger for their business before landing.
Then the flight attendant working my aisle had to be one of the most professional I’ve had on any airline. At every single interaction he addressed me by name, and constantly asked how everything was, if he could get me something, etc.
Truly a fantastic flight, though now it’s off to bed for a few hours…












February 6th, 2012 at 2:04 am
Rocky said,
when booking such a crazy flight plan do you book it all as one ticket or as multiple? Do you find it to be A lot more expensive vs just going TPA to BCN and back? what site do you book it through that allows you to put in so many stops or do you call the airlines?
February 6th, 2012 at 2:06 am
robert said,
I had the same ‘enhanced’ meal service on a 763 on DFW->FRA the other week … great food, staff & service in general … they really need to rip out those outdated seats though .. even BA’s old Club World seats are better than these …
February 6th, 2012 at 2:25 am
Andy Bluebear said,
48 hours of flying, just to get to Barcelona? Can we say addict?
February 6th, 2012 at 3:00 am
Kris Ziel said,
Just another reason to stick with United: pre plated meals in business class aren’t the norm
@Rocky
I think he said TPA-LAX was one and LAX-BCN was another
February 6th, 2012 at 4:05 am
Tony said,
Glad to hear the crew was so great. I’m worried that morale at AA will plummet thanks to the latest cuts.
February 6th, 2012 at 4:40 am
Sean said,
Is it just me or did you say the exact same thing after your LAX-PVG in AA J?
February 6th, 2012 at 7:35 am
lucky said,
@ Rocky — I’ll have a post on that soon.
@ Sean — Except I actually mean it this time. Truly exceptional crew.
February 6th, 2012 at 7:37 am
Scott said,
Great to hear! I’m on the same JFK > BCN flight on Wednesday and I hope the crew is as good as what you had. Have a great time in BCN!
February 6th, 2012 at 9:09 am
Pete said,
@Andy I believe Lucky is beyond an addict, well at least the Über Addict.
It’s nice to see that some carriers in the States are aiming for quality and customer sevice; instead of the US Agony/CheapWay. Hopefully for just a little bit more on the fare, we can get more legroom, no baggage fees, and warm nuts, diet coke and lime, all around as a standard. Well a flyer can dream right?
February 6th, 2012 at 9:41 am
Sean said,
@Lucky know that you meant it, just trying to imply that American can be pretty great and that it does’t always have to be such a surprise
February 6th, 2012 at 11:47 am
Deb said,
I have a goal to collect enough miles to get 3 seats to Barcelona next June 2013. I live in southwest florida. I’m thinking that I should book out of Miami….any thoughts? Thanks so much.
February 6th, 2012 at 11:59 am
lucky said,
@ Deb — Are you hoping to fly coach or business class? Do you have any miles as of now, and if so, with which programs?
February 6th, 2012 at 1:36 pm
Pete said,
@Lucky any plans in Barcelona? Will this be a mini-vaca?
February 6th, 2012 at 3:22 pm
Jorge said,
Sorry to tell you this lucky…. but if the picture you have in TravelSort is you….damn you are a Hotty.
No wonder those guys gave you the royal treatment.
February 6th, 2012 at 10:34 pm
Jeff said,
Wow, good to know the on-board staff will treat you based on how good looking you are. Fat and/or unattractive people, good luck! lol
February 6th, 2012 at 10:52 pm
Simon said,
@Jorge: That’s an old photo. This is recent: http://bit.ly/z9DTek
February 7th, 2012 at 9:20 am
Jorge said,
@Simon: I am LMFAO !!!!!
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