Yesterday, I wrote about our flights to Japan in Premium Economy on Japan Airlines. Coming back to the U.S., my daughter and I flew from Shanghai to DFW on AA in Premium Economy. I was dreading the 14-hour flight home, partly due to the length but also because I assumed the food and service on American Airlines would be subpar compared to the international carriers I’ve been flying lately. Well, I was pleasantly surprised by both the food and service on our flight!
Booking AA Premium Economy
Originally, I booked our award flights on American Airlines in Premium Economy for 91k miles each. A few months later, I decided to extend our time in China due to the country relaxing its transit visa rules. When I re-booked for a later date, I paid 61k miles + $30.50 in taxes for each seat. I accumulated most of those AA miles from credit card signup bonuses (see Beginner’s Guide: 7 Steps to Free Travel with Miles and Points.) Note: I’ve seen these seats for as low as 45k miles, but not for the dates I needed.
AIRPORT EXPERIENCE
At the check-in counter at Shanghai PVG airport, Premium Economy passengers could enter the Priority lane along with business class passengers. It was nice to have the shorter line.
While AA Premium Economy did not come with lounge benefits, we had several lounge options due to my Priority Pass membership from my Capital One Venture X card. We ended up in the China Eastern lounge since it overlooked our gate.
The lounge wasn’t crowded. It had plenty of different seating options, and the food selection was adequate.
My daughter and I could see our airplane pull up to the gate while we were in the lounge. Premium Economy passengers got to board with Group #4.
AA PREMIUM ECONOMY SEATS
My husband and I experienced AA Premium Economy seats a few years ago (see this post), so I was familiar with what we were getting. Our aircraft was a Boeing 787-9, and the layout in the Premium Economy cabin was 2-3-2. We were in the last row of the cabin in a row of 2 by the window.
The seats are 19 inches wide with a pitch of 38 inches, and they recline 6 inches. Each seat has a footrest that pulls down from the seat in front. The middle armrest is double wide with a pull-out drink rest. The side armrests have a pop-up folding tray table.
When we arrived at our seats, we found a bag containing a pillow and a blanket plus a set of noise-cancelling headphones.
In addition, we received a small amenity kit that included socks, eye mask, dental kit, lip balm, moisturizer and ear plugs.
Below the center armrest, each seat had a cold bottle of water in a small storage compartment:
Each seat had a power outlet in the arm rest compartment, and there was also a USB-A charging port on the IFE screen.
Even though the seat pitch was smaller than on our JAL Premium Economy flight, my daughter and I still felt like we had ample legroom. The IFE had plenty of movies and tv shows, and I was pleased to find a “true crime” section.
Unfortunately, like on most flights, my butt hurt after a few hours, which made it challenging to sleep. I had to get up frequently to stretch and walk around. But, I did manage to sleep around 3 hours, and my daughter slept a few more hours than me.
Food and Service on AA Premium Economy
My daughter and I pre-ordered our main meal online. I ordered pumpkin mushroom ravioli:
And my daughter ordered chicken:
The meals included a cold meat appetizer, a quinoa/feta salad, roll and dessert. Both of us were surprised at how tasty this meal was! I was glad we ordered in advance, as the passenger in the seat across the aisle from me wanted the ravioli, but they ran out. He was given the choice of the chicken, or the economy cabin choices (fish, tofu).
A few hours later, flight attendants served a roast beef sandwich, egg salad on lettuce and a small chocolate bar:
I looked behind me to see what the economy passengers were served, but I could only see that they received a small snack box.
The final meal, served about 90 minutes before landing, was chicken spaghetti with a salad and apple crumble dessert. This was my least favorite meal of the 3 we were served, but it was still decent.
In addition to the food exceeding our expectations, I was surprised by the friendliness and attentiveness of the flight attendants. They frequently came by with drink refills, and their demeanor was positive and upbeat. I haven’t experienced this level of service on all previous flights on AA, so it was nice to see. (There has also been some recent controversy on attitudes from AA flight attendants–see this post and grab your popcorn!)
Overall Thoughts
Flying to and from Asia from the USA is grueling on the mind and body. I’m happy that our flight on American Airlines in Premium Economy exceeded our expectations. The smaller cabin, larger seats, upgraded food and included amenities helped make the long flight from Shanghai to DFW more bearable.
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