The Lounge: AA Flagship Lounge
Flying in international business class short haul on AA grants you access to the Admirals Club, but, by a happy coincidence, I had access to the Flagship Lounge today due to a promotion on AA that I had signed up for which gave me 4 flagship lounge passes to use. So I used those for both me and my work colleague. I’ve reviewed the Miami Flagship lounge previously, and decided not to review it again, especially since I was traveling with a coworker.
I like the Miami Flagship Lounge because it has excellent views of the tarmac and runway, and has Tattinger Champagne on offer.
Boarding, the Cabin, and Seat:
We left the lounge in just enough time to head to the gate. Though you should note that Miami is filled with passengers who are… less experienced with travel in my experience. So, I’d add on an additional few minutes to whatever walking time the AA app tells you because you might get sick behind some slow movers.
When we arrived at the gate, business class was already boarding. Upon boarding, we got stuck in the jetway because there was a maintenance issue on board. So we stood in the jetway for aboute 15 minutes. And it was hot.
After a while, we boarded the plane, and I was greeted by two friendly flight attendants who apologized for the delay.
I quickly found my seat, 4A, a window seat in the left side of the aircraft: it was also in the last row of the cabin, so it offered some amount of privacy.
The seat had two windows, unlike the seats in row 2, which only have 1.
The seat has a small storage cubby under the center armrest, and the tray table folds out from the other, with a universal power outlet.
Pre-Departure, Taxi, and Takeoff:
At 12:17, a pre-departure beverage was offered of either water or orange juice.
At 12:21, the captain came on to welcome us aboard and announce our flight time of 2 hours and 27 minutes.
We pushed back right on time at 12:24, andthe safety demonstration was done in both English and then again in Spanish.
At 12:50, we began our takeoff roll down runway 27.
Cruise:
At 12:57, we reached 10,000 feet and were well on our way to San Salvador.
At 1:10, hot towels were distributed, demonstrating the beginning of service. As she handed me the hot towel, we hit some rough air and the seatbelt sign came back on.
At 1:29, the flight attendant came around with the drink cart. She asked what I wanted to drink with a big smile on her face. It was served with a ramekin of warm nuts.
I went with a gin and tonic. She gave me the can and an additional bottle of gin.
At 1:34, the other flight attendant came around to confirm meal orders. On offer today was a short rib with Mac and cheese or a chicken enchilada. I went with the enchilada.
At 1:43 Miami time, my meal was served. The enchiladas were quite good. Honestly, one of the best meals I’ve ever had in domestic first class. The cheesecake was okay. And I didn’t even touch the olive and tomato salad that it was served with. It just didn’t look that appetizing to me.
I then decided to switch my clock to El Salvador Time, so the rest of this review will be in that time zone.
At 1:04 pm, my tray was cleared. The flight attendant asked if I needed anything else. I declined because I was honestly fine.
The seatbelt sign came on for the remainder of the flight, which was a bummer because I really needed to use the lavatory at this point.
Descent and Arrival:
At 1:52, we began our descent into San Salvador, with about 20 minutes remaining in flight.
We touched down at 2:15 p.m., and parked at gate 19 at 2:21 p.m., about 7 minutes ahead of schedule.
