Review of American Airlines flight from New York to Los Angeles in Economy

Happy new year! I believe this is the first flight report of AA's new A321XLR, which is currently operating between JFK and LAX but soon to expand to the JFK-SFO and BOS-LAX route, as well as the JFK-EDI international route. As a Platinum member, I was able to choose a Main Cabin Extra seat for no additional cost. But as you can imagine, the flight was nearly full and I had to go for a middle seat in row 14 (the bulkhead). The seats are leather and provide decent support.

First impression: virtually unlimited legroom which is great! Although having the TV monitors mounted to the wall is a bit awkward for me, I'd prefer having them pop out below. The resolution was pretty sharp. Initially, I thought I had to plug in my headphones to the monitor, but there's an audio jack at your seat. The monitor also includes a USB-C and USB-A port for charging your device, and I believe the seat also has power below. The aisle did feel pretty tight when I passed through the Business Class cabin and Premium Economy (a new cabin class for this route). The seat also felt VERY tight as well. I did use my Sondur travel cushion which helped with comfort. Also, the seat includes an adjustable headrest, which did help with sleep as I had forgotten my Cabeau neck pillow.

Before takeoff, the captain and flight attendants briefly discussed the new aircraft and asked us to enjoy the technology. It definitely felt like there was a "new plane" feel. I glanced at the in-flight menu - one area of improvement is they could list out the menu items for this route specifically. These were the items available: a turkey cobb sandwich, hummus, and a fruit and cheese plate. I went with the hummus and still water. 

The hummus is a relatively solid option, but not nearly filling enough for a flight this long. I do wish they would use cardboard instead of plastic for the container. The tray table itself is decent sized, and folds neatly into the seat's arm.

Opening up reveals the red pepper (?) hummus, flatbreads, carrots, celery and one piece of Lindt truffle.

Quick trip to the lav (at the rear of the plane) reveals that it's pretty clean but basic.

Definitely not as cramped as the Boeing 737 but still felt a bit tight.

As far as the IFE - I watched the last two films of the Star Wars original trilogy and the resolution was pretty great. The moving map was also a nice feature. It's a neat system but if you're in the bulkhead you will have to lean forward to make selections, as there isn't a remote as far as I can tell. The flight itself other than that was uneventful - we landed early at LAX. Flight attendants were courteous and came around with water refills, and maybe I missed it, but there was no offer of Biscoff cookies or pretzels. I was super hungry after landing.

Quick note: there was no WIFI available on this flight - not even a free option. But starting 1/6, AA will offer free wifi to AAdvantage members.

I wish I could take more pictures of the cabin but the flight was completely full. I will say the new Business and Premium Economy cabins looked pretty spiffy, although upgrading to PE was about $645 - more than I was willing to pay. Overall, the plane is a nice upgrade from the A321T, but it definitely feels "tight". I wouldn't want to spend 7 - 8 hours on this in Economy going across the Atlantic. Service was solid if unspectacular, from a crew on the younger side.