I booked this fare using AAdvantage miles and paid cash for the upgrade to First Class. Flying out of JFK gives you access to the Chelsea Lounge. It had been a couple years since I accessed the lounge, and pleased to report the service was very courteous and the food choices restaurant-quality. Taking a seat at the bar, I got started with a glass of Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle (retails for about $250 and up).
For an appetizer, I chose the Pommes Anna with caviar and chives, which was delicious.
For the main course, I chose the Chicken Schnitzel sandwich. This was just okay - the chicken was dry, although the flavors were there.
For dessert, I tried the strawberry shortcake, which came in a unique presentation.
Onboard waiting at my seat was the Flagship First menu and a cold bottled water. The seat itself feels more like a business class than first class seat.
The side panel of the seat is showing its age, between the peeling stickers and scuffs. One thing to mention is that the headphone jack wasn't working properly. I had to keep adjusting the Bang & Olufsen headphones because sound was only coming out of one side of the headphones.
AA recently introduced these amenity kits by Brandon Blackwood - nice design, but they could have used leather or even faux leather to give it a more premium feel.
Inside the amenity kit were an eye mask, lip balm, lotion, dental kit and earplugs. With the size of the amenity kit, you'd think there'd be room for some additional items.
The seatback monitor needs replacing as its definitely not high-resolution. I watched one movie, Man of Steel, and slept the rest of the flight after the dinner service.
Below is the menu - I was stuffed from the lounge so I asked for just the main course - Seared Sea Bass and the butter cake for dessert.
The sea bass was very good, as were the accompanying vegetables. AA's pretzel roll is always a good idea.
The butter cake for dessert was decent, but it didn't come with vanilla ice cream. I was asked if I wanted whipped cream instead?
I didn't partake, but below is the wine list.
The flight was delayed for about 30 minutes, so we landed behind schedule in LA. Our bags also took a while to come out o
