Review of American Airlines flight from New York to San Francisco in Business

Hi everybody,
This flight marks the conclusion of a wonderful weekend trip that I recently had in New York. It was great to meet some members of the Flight-Report.com community and get to see the faces behind the names. As an aviation enthusiast, it is a gratifying experience to share this passion with other people around the world irrespective of language and cultural barriers.
New York means a lot of different things to many people. For me, it symbolizes culture and sophhistication, and no other part of the city represents these concepts better than the Upper East Side. This area not only contains world class museums and exclusive shops, but also some architectural gems that are set against a background of restrained elegance. Its charm is best discovered by walking slowly through its many streets and corners.

The MET

Temple of Dendur

Hidden charms

New York might as well be the most Parisian city in the U.S.

One of the highlights of my trip was a visit to Petrossian restaurant with a very special friend. We took a very enjoyable lunch on a sunny afternoon.
Petrossian restaurant

The restaurant is well known for its caviar

Interior of restaurant

Foie gras with apples accompanied by an excellent Beaumes de Venise

Duck confit risotto with black truffles and wild mushrooms

Maine crab cakes with apple and red cabbage remoulade

Chocolate mousse cake with coconut sorbet

I took the subway from midtown to the AirTrain station at Sutphin Av. just before the Jamaica stop. The Airtrain was a couple of meters from the station and once onboard I took advantage of some plane spotting as we got into JFK airport.

AA Terminal

Separate check-in area for Elite and Premium passengers

Since I was in F, I used the Priority desk and was helped right away since nobody was using the desk when I arrived. The area inside was spacious with a few tables and chairs to sit and relax. It had the air of a mini lounge that certainly gave it an air of exclusivity.
Once I went through security, I decided to visit the Admirals Club located nearby. The check-in was efficient and I was welcomed to the lounge. Unfortunately, since I was flying F on a 2-class cabin (only F on 3-class cabins are allowed), I didn't qualify to enter the Flagship lounge and resigned myself to wander around the rest of the lounge.

The lounge was very ordinary with a bar in the back and a few computer stations in one corner. The food offering was poor as expected of domestic lounges, consisting of fruits, cookies, yogurt pretzels and salty mix.

Spotting from the lounge

I then decided to take a shower and asked one of the lounge receptionists for access to the showers. I was escorted almost right away. The shower rooms had plenty of room and I appreciated the bench area nearby. Toiletries were available from dispensers and featured the Dermalogica brand.

Right after showering I went to the gate. When I arrived at about 30 min. before departure, it looked like most people have already boarded, so the flight must not have been too full. Unfortunately that was not the case in F. I was greeted by a FA upon boarding and proceeded to my seat.

Pre-departure drinks were offered consisting of water, orange juice and sparkling wine.

Flight attendants were proactive and smiling, offering to hang coats. Once we took off, service started at around 1610 with the distribution of Samsung tablets and Bose headphones. The tablet that I received was malfunctioning so the FA quickly changed it for me.

Afterwards menus were distributed along with oshiboris.

AT 1630, the first beverage service started with warm nuts. I ordered my usual 1/2 orange juice, 1/2 cranberry mix. The purser who was excellent offered refills for both drinks and nuts frequently.

I ordered my meal online and had the grilled fillet with haricots verts and mashed sweet potatoes. The purser acknowledged my choice and minutes later distributed the appetizers. There was already a piece of bread on the tray and there was no basket of bread offered during the meal service. Perhaps a problem with catering.
The shrimp was fresh and the contrast between the sweet grilled pineapple against the refreshing cucumber slices was delicious.

Salad was fine. Nothing too excited about it.

The fillet was not too overcooked and was good. The mashed sweet potatoes added an interesting touch.

Then I ordered the cheese plate and a sundae with chocolate fudge with whipped cream. Originally I wanted to pour Kahlua coffee liquor on top of the ice cream but the FA advised me that they did not carry the liquor. I hope this is not a cutback from the new AA. The cheese plate contained a couple of spicy choices, like a peppered one that was very pronounced and another one that I thought was Monterey Jack. New World cheeses I guess.

Water bottles were distributed and after the meal service there were baskets with fruits and snacks in the galley area. This is definitely an enhancement and the quality of the snacks were comparable to those offered on intl. flights.

About 1 hr. before arrival fresh baked cookies were offered. There was a choice between cranberry oatmeal or chocolate chip with milk.

Arrival was on time and the flight was a very pleasant one thanks to a great purser that was on top of things.