Review: American Airlines First Class A321, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport – Miami International Airport

This flight was the continuation of our journey to Curaçao. We had arrived into Dallas Fort Worth on American Airlines Business Class Vancouver – Dallas Fort Worth and were later continuing onwards on American Airlines Business Class Miami – Curaçao.

We left the American Airlines Admirals Club Lounge Dallas Fort Worth – Terminal C, and wandered immediately across the concourse to Gate C20 at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.

Locating the American Airlines Lounge Under the American Eagle
Dallas Fort Worth Terminal “C” Gate C20

American Airlines

AA 1042 – First Class

DFW – MIA (Dallas Fort Worth International Airport – Miami International Airport)

March 29, 2022

5:18 AM – 8:57 AM

Booked: Airbus 321

Flown: Airbus 321

On Board American Airlines First Class:

We boarded with Group 1 and settled into American Airlines First Class on their Airbus 321 product.

American Airlines First Class – Airbus 321 cabin

The American Airlines Airbus 321 is set up in a 2 – 2 configuration in First Class with five rows occupying the front of the cabin. The American Airlines First Class cabin features a total of twenty seats.

American Airlines First Class – Airbus 321 cabin

The cabin is set in a pleasing grey tone, which is easy on the eyes. The sleek look is very professional looking and will likely wear well over the years.

American Airlines First Class – Airbus 321 seat profile
American Airlines First Class – Airbus 321 cabin
American Airlines First Class – Airbus 321 cabin

There is a reasonable amount of leg room space in the seat while seated and are fairly roomy for First Class. They offered more seat room than my last Alaska Airlines First Class flights.

American Airlines First Class – Airbus 321 cabin leg room
American Airlines First Class – Airbus 321 cabin legroom

The American Airlines Airbus 321 seats are similar to the First Class seats found on the American Airlines First Class Boeing 737 product. The seats on the Airbus 321 offered seat recline through a lever in the centre console.

American Airlines First Class – Airbus 321 cabin – seat recline

Similar to our earlier flight, there was no seat back monitor in the seat ahead. Instead, there was a location for device storage which was through a fold out cradle in the seat pocket in front of you.

American Airlines First Class – Airbus 321 cabin – Entertainment Console

The seats on the American Airlines Airbus 321 also featured air nozzles above your seat. This was a comfortable way to travel, as you had the opportunity to adjust your seat climate.

American Airlines First Class – Airbus 321 cabin – Air Nozzles

The seats offer in seat power and a convenient laptop storage area in the arm rest. The storage space on the Airbus 321 is much more compact than on the comparable Boeing 737. I was just able to fit a 13 inch MacBook Pro in the space on the Airbus 321. If the laptop was any larger, it wouldn’t have fit.

American Airlines First Class – Airbus 321 cabin – Laptop Storage Compartment
American Airlines First Class – Airbus 321 cabin – Laptop Storage Compartment with a 13 inch Macbook Pro

Pre Departure Services:

A Pre-Departure Beverage was offered for this early morning flight. I ended up with orange juice. It was served in a plastic cup, which is a slightly low rent touch, but pretty common for beverages that need to be taken away fairly promptly.

American Airlines First Class – Pre Departure Orange Juice

We were also presented with a small towel service. This is something that’s always appreciated, even if the towel isn’t of high quality that you’d expect in a spa. These towels were a little limp and similar to what you might expect at a discount motel like Motel “6”.

American Airlines First Class – Towel Service

Captain Dudley made a public address announcement of the continued Center for Disease Control (CDC) mask mandate and also provided some general flight information. He announced a 2 hour and 10 minute flight time with a planned cruise altitude of 35,000 feet.

We had an on time departure and departed DFW on Runway 18L over a dark Dallas Fort Worth.

The Meal: A Light Breakfast.

The meal service on this shorter flight was a choice between a charctuterie plate or a fruit plate with overnight oats (oatmeal). They had run out of the oatmeal by the time they had gotten to Row 4.

Fortunately, the charcuterie plate was the better choice. American Airlines had not returned the pre-ordering of meals after the pandemic so we were left with whatever was left by the time they arrived to our row.

I started off the meal service with a serving of Ice Water, which was served in a proper glass.

American Airlines First Class – Meal Service

I was then served the Charcuterie Plate, with Sliced Fruit and the Ice Water

American Airlines First Class – Charcuterie Place
American Airlines Charcuterie Plate

The Charcuterie Plate was pretty tasty, and a refreshing alternative to many of the tougher doughy breakfast items we’d usually come to expect on a North American Carrier during the breakfast hour.

In Flight Entertainment:

The “in flight entertainment” was offered through the American Airlines wifi. There was a substantial amount of movies available on the flight. As there were no seat back monitors, you had to bring your own device with you.

American Airlines On Board Wifi Options

While there were no i-Pad’s passed out like Alaska Airlines, I was able to access the entertainment through the American Airlines in flight wifi and app.

American Airlines – In Flight Entertainment

Sometime during this flight, I crossed my one millionth mile flown. It is certainly a bittersweet milestone that I may have anticipated being ensconced in some fabulous business class pod. Instead, I was flying on a short haul narrow body in domestic first class. I wrote a separate post on my thoughts on that and how travel isn’t always as glamorous as we might think.

Arriving into Miami, Florida:

As our flight drew to a close, we had some picturesque views arriving into Miami International Airport. Our flight path took us in on a westward approach, which had us having beautiful skyline views along downtown Miami.

Views from the Wing – On Final Approach to Miami International Airport
Views from the Wing – On Final Approach to Miami International Airport

We arrived into Miami International Airport and headed off to kill off our layover at the American Express Centurion Lounge Miami.

Arriving into Miami International Airport

We would later continuing on with our connecting flight on American Airlines Business Class Miami – Curaçao.

My Thoughts on American Airlines Short Haul First Class:

The American Airlines First Class product on its short two hour flight between it’s two southern United States hubs of Dallas and Miami in the United States was surprisingly well equipped for such a short flight. We were treated to a lounge that was open at the crack of dawn, a towel service, and a light snack plate all set against a new aircraft interior cabin. The product was better than I expected and I also celebrated that special one million mile segment as I landed in Miami.

If you travel on American Airlines, do you find that the catering has improved recently ?

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Review: American Airlines First Class A321, Dallas Fort Worth – Miami | World Traveller 73