On certain domestic routes, American deploys B-767s and 777s, its international workhorses. These planes have its top Business Class seat (171-degree recline, 20 to 23.5 inches wide, 54 to 61 inches of pitch) and First Class (180 degree recline, 30 inches wide), which turns into a 78-inch long bed.
The chart below shows the American routes and flight numbers with these seats. You’ll notice that the seat may be found on only one leg of a route, for instance New York-Miami, but not Miami-New York. That’s because the plane goes on to an international destination, in this case to South America. Two cities, New York and Dallas, monopolize these aircraft, with Chicago, Honolulu, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami accounting for the rest. The planes are no longer on two routes; Boston to Los Angeles, and San Diego to New York. On the flip side, they are on three new routes: Dallas to Miami, and Honolulu to Chicago and San Francisco.
Where to find American’s International Seat
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For a connection: Keep these flight numbers on your laptop. For example, when flying from Omaha to Los Angeles, book via Dallas to catch AA2421.
Getting the seat cheaper: With domestic First Class fares on the rise, using miles for an upgrade is the way to go: the cost comes down and the return on miles is high. On the Dallas to Los Angeles route, for instance, you’ll easily pay about $1,750 for a First Class seat. American charges 30,000 miles for an upgrade, or 4.3¢ per mile. (We got that number by taking the cost of an economy ticket, $450 round-trip, subtracting it from the cost of a First Class one, $1,750, and dividing the result, $1,300, by the miles required, 30,000.) Transfer 25,000 Starwood points, and you’ll see a 5.2¢ return because of the transfer bonus.
Mileage upgrades: Spending 30,000 miles to upgrade a three or five hour flight on a plane with these seats is usually a good value; doing the same for a 10-hour flight to Hawaii is a no-brainer, even with the $350 surcharge round-trip.
Access to upgrades: We surveyed the domestic routes and found upgrade space to be good both directions, all flights, with the exception of Hawaii, which is scattered.