American Airlines 777 International First Class Review - October 28, 2005

First, I want to say that this review will be moot in a year or two, as American Airlines announced that they are converting their entire fleet of 777s to the flagship suite. But, in the interim, hopefully this review will help some folks out when choosing what configuration they want.

AA Coffin configuration thoughts:
The pros are definitely that it “feels” longer than the flagship bed when both are in bed mode.  Also, it definitely feels more “secure” and “isolated” from the aisles/other passengers because of the high walls on either side.

Cons are that it is much smaller space than the flagship, there is no real “work” area.  You are forced to cram your laptop and meal on the food tray in front of you, and although it’s possible to fit both on the tray, it’s sort of a squeeze and a pain to put everything away if you want to get up for any reason.

There are 3 windows per seat, so you have plenty of viewing options.

I have heard people comment that the coffins are better if you are traveling with a companion for non-business purposes (e.g. – Loved one or whatever).  I agree with that only to the extent that the coffins are definitely “closer” together but still, neither configuration is very conducive to snuggling up with someone.  That being said, I would still prefer the flagship configuration if traveling with a friend as they can always sit on the ottoman and eat with you which, although it’s cramped, unless you are both 6+ foot tall, it’s definitely a nice configuration for socializing.

Pictures from the Coffin Configuration

AA Flagship Suite configuration thoughts:
By far the best configuration, I would prefer this configuration in all travel instances (business, pleasure, traveling with someone, or traveling alone).  There is considerably more room in the flagship configuration.  The 3 seat swivel positions are great stuff.  Swiveling from facing forward to 90 degrees to the right makes you feel like some sort of bad guy in the evil headquarters swiveling atop your penthouse floor at the big desk to face outside… Aside from that fantasy, it’s actually practical to have a separate work area from the dining area...

There are 3 windows per seat, just like in the coffin config. The window shades 100% block any outside light from coming in. It's very nice for sleeping and the flight attendants make sure that every share is closed in the first class cabin.

There are 3 positions the seat can face:

0 degrees: Which is facing forward is for takeoff and landing.  There is really not much point to being in this position at anytime during the flight as there is more legroom in the 45 degree angle.  But, for the record, there was ample legroom for me to fully extend my legs, and I am 6’1” tall.  I think it would probably accommodate someone up to 6’3”, more or less.

45 degrees: I was on the starboard side so this is rotating clockwise by 45 degrees.  This is where most people will spend most of their time.  This is also the only position where the seat controls will work.  When I say the seat controls, I mean the lumbar (4-way), the recline (2-way) and the leg rest (4-way).  As such, this is the only position where you can lie in a fully flat position (i.e. – the bed).  This is the position I watched movies in, ate my meals, and slept.

90 degrees: This is facing directly out the windows.  It is also the “work” position.  When facing in this way, my only complaint was the lack of room to stretch your legs.  However, given that you are facing the side of the plane, there really are no options unless they are going to modify the fuselage.  However, I was comfortable for up to an hour sitting in this orientation working on my laptop.  After an hour though I felt like I was sitting in coach or something so I had to swivel the seat and stretch my legs a bit for a few minutes.

There is a work table which folds out and also slides about an extra 2” out.  I would have liked it if it slid out maybe an extra inch or two as I felt myself stretching ever so slightly to reach my keyboard sometimes.  But this is easily remedied by simply having your laptop an inch or two over the edge.  When I was writing in my notebook, I did the same thing, but still, the extra inches would have been nice.  Something else to note when sitting in this configuration, is that you can swivel the monitor so that it is facing you.  I did this and left it in the “Flight Information” mode so I could see our progress flying, ETA, etc…

There is also a “mood light” which is pretty pointless.  I found that it was not bright enough for anything useful.  Maybe if you are scared of the dark it could act as a night light?  Who knows… Anyway, I left if on cause it looked cool.  It’s a hyper-white light, like xenon headlights, so it was a night touch in a plane full of yellow halo-like lights…

The biggest negative was that when you are in the fully flat lying down bed position, and you lower the armrests, there is really nothing between you and the aisles. Meaning, your arm can hang off and people can bump it. If there were food carts, they could maybe hit you if the flight attendant was very careless. All this being said, I think it's completely isolated from the aisles, and it's more just a psychological feeling that there is nothing between you and the aisle. Had I not flown in the coffin configuration I probably wouldn't have even though of this, but the coffin is definitely more protected and once you fly in that, you will feel a bit exposed in the flagship configuration. I can imagine that this would be a plus for claustrophobic people.

Pictures from the Flagship Suite Configuration

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