I Just Flew the New American Airlines Flagship Suites on the A321XLR. Here’s What It’s Like.

American Airlines is the launch customer for the Airbus A321XLR in the U.S., and the first commercial flight of this aircraft for a U.S. carrier took place on Thursday, December 18, from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), operating as American Airlines Flight 3.

I had the opportunity to experience the service firsthand and try out all the features — here’s what you need to know about the Flagship cabin on this new aircraft.

American Airlines’ New Airbus A321XLR

Upgraded Points attended a media preview for this airplane earlier, and I was on it as a paying passenger on the inaugural flight.

I booked this flight using 100,000 AAdvantage miles the day the inaugural flight was announced, and I managed to secure seat 1A in the Flagship Business cabin at the front of the plane. Cash fares in Flagship were priced out at over $1,800.

Keep reading for my thoughts from the inaugural flight!

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1. The Seats Have Lots of Storage

One thing that impressed me as soon as I sat in the seat was the numerous storage compartments around it. On the right side was a holder specifically designed for a laptop or tablet. In front of that was the first of the 2 bottle holders. On the main console, there was storage for headphones, an amenity kit, and a mirror.

To the left of the seat was a storage bin that flipped up, allowing me to store jewelry or other items I wouldn’t want to misplace (however, this would be an easy place to leave something behind, so be sure to check your seat before exiting the aircraft).

I think the number of places you could place loose items during your flight was well thought out, but there was no defined storage for the provided blanket and pillow, which was slightly annoying. On each seat, I saw a pillow and blanket in a zippered bag, but there was no good place to put this kit during taxi, takeoff, or landing. Many customers attempted to place it in the footwell of each seat, but the bags were too large to fit there, and I observed several quickly slip out. Really, the only option was to put it in the overhead bin, but on a full flight, you may have limited availability.

On the inaugural flight I was on, there was plenty of bin space, but I could see it becoming an issue if passengers bring multiple bags.

2. Aisle Space Is Limited

Practically speaking, there’s not a lot of room to move around on this plane outside of your seat. If you’re up and about in the aisle and the flight attendants are coming through, you have to step into someone else’s suite to let them by. Since each suite has walls and a door, it’s harder to maneuver around than in the A321T cabin.

On the 321T, there are 3 galleys: one in First Class, one in Business Class, and one in Main Cabin. This new aircraft has only 2 galleys: one up front and one in the back, so there’s no mid-cabin area to stand in, stretch your legs, or let people by.

I would highly recommend refraining from using the restroom while the service is in progress, so you can keep the aisle clear for the flight attendants who are hard at work delivering meals and beverages.

Premium economy passengers use the lavatory located at the rear, with the forward restroom reserved for Flagship customers. There are 20 seats in the Flagship cabin, matching the number of seats in the business class cabin on the A321T, so the passenger-to-bathroom ratio remains the same for the premium cabin.

Because of the suite walls, the service from the flight attendants is slightly different from that on other aircraft, where they can carry trays lower. I heard a few flight attendants mention walking sideways down the aisle to perform the meal service.

3. It’s Hard To Look Out the Window

The A321XLR features herringbone Flagship suites, meaning they face toward the aisle and away from the windows. On takeoff and landing, when most people want to look out the window, it’s hard to see outside. You essentially have to turn your whole body in your seat toward the window, and depending on the seat, you may have only 1 or 2 windows to look out of.

On my flight, though it wasn’t impossible to see out the window, I really had to crane my neck. On a “normally” configured plane where I wouldn’t be facing away from the window, I would likely have been looking out the window for the whole takeoff and landing. On this flight, I found myself glancing outside, but not necessarily glued to the window, as it was quite uncomfortable to stare out for an extended period.

I would have far preferred these seats to be reverse herringbone and face the window. I think the flight attendants would agree with that sentiment, as it makes the service easier for them (more on that in a moment).

That said, it was nice to have my feet along the aisle so my head wasn’t there. During overnight flights, it’s nice to have your head closer to the windows, making it easier to sleep instead of being right next to the aisle noise.

4. The Inflight Entertainment Screen and Service Is Awkward

One of the most awkward parts of this seat is the location of the inflight entertainment screen. It swings out from the wall to the side of the seat, allowing you to face the screen head-on. In this position, it essentially separates you from the aisle, making service extremely difficult for the cabin crew.

Someone didn’t think this through. The flight attendants can’t set the tables or serve meals without stowing the TV monitors. So every time they come by, they need to push them back. You can clearly tell the FAs are frustrated at the design. pic.twitter.com/ZSyr0diDWu

— Jamie Larounis (@TheForwardCabin) December 18, 2025

Flight attendants are instructed not to hand food or beverages over or under the screen, and there’s little room to hand it around the side. Because of this, you essentially have to close the screen so the flight attendant can hand you anything.

This is normally a very easy task, but consider that flight attendants have to do this for 20 Flagship passengers, and that flyers not used to sitting in this seat likely find it cumbersome and confusing. During meal service, there’s an initial round of beverages, followed by an appetizer, an entrée, and a dessert course, each requiring access to the tray table. This may require opening and closing the screen multiple times.

On the inaugural flight, I recall the flight attendant circulating with the usual bread basket. With the flight attendant not knowing how to hand me the roll, and it being too far away to place on the tray, I grabbed the bread with my hands from the tongs.

You could clearly see the flight attendants were extremely frustrated by this design, and at times, they purposely disobeyed the guidance to not hand meals over the screen, as there was no easy way to place dishes on the tray without doing so. Still, I think there are ways to redesign the service so it doesn’t require closing the screen so often, though American will have to ensure that this doesn’t detract from the premium experience of the cabin.

5. Bulkhead Seats Add More Privacy and Storage

I was in seat 1A, the bulkhead suite on the port side of the plane. I had a chance to try several different seats on the flight, thanks to friends who were seated a little farther back, and I far preferred the bulkhead seats.

First, because I had a wall next to me, I felt a sense of additional privacy, which I think would be especially valuable on a longer overnight flight. To be clear, however, the bulkhead seats do not offer additional footwell space, unlike those on the new American Airlines Boeing 787P aircraft.

In addition to there being a little more privacy, there was a kind of shelf on top of this wall that I could use to store the pillow and blanket kit. Although it was not officially sanctioned for takeoff and landing, it was a suitable place to store the kit during meal service and other times during the flight when I didn’t necessarily need it, but still wanted it within arm’s reach.

6. Premium Economy May Be a Sweet Spot

Although I was in Flagship Suites for this flight, I did have the opportunity to check out the coach and premium economy cabins. I concluded that, for a transcontinental daytime flight, the premium economy cabin is a nice compromise. It’s cheaper than Flagship but offers an experience like domestic first class.

The one downside is that there are no dedicated lavatories for this section, and premium economy is closer in service to economy than it is to business. In other words, you’re forced to use the lavatories all the way at the back of the plane.

Taking a quick gander at this cabin, I noticed large inflight entertainment screens, footrests, wireless charging, and winged headrests, providing a little more privacy. For a roughly 5-hour transcontinental flight, I think most customers would find this type of seat perfectly pleasant.

For an overnight flight, however, there would be no question that the Flagship Suites are where you want to be, thanks to the lie-flat seat.

7. Service Is the Same

With a new plane doesn’t necessarily come new service. Having flown the A321T many times, I knew what levels of service to expect, and I found a very similar offering on this plane. The meal service was exactly what I had expected, but I noticed the flight attendant ran fewer items by hand thanks to the length of the cabin.

As for food, it was a typical transcontinental catering offering. You could preorder your meal, or you could select from a few hot entrees. Not knowing how hungry I’d be, I preordered the cheese plate, but there were also chicken, beef, and pasta dishes on board. Of course, American also offered its traditional ice cream sundae to finish things off (and let’s be honest, that’s the only reason to fly!).

8. New Inflight Entertainment System

I really liked the inflight entertainment system American installed on this plane. It had much better responsiveness than the older versions, and the layout was much more intuitive. I could either use the screen as a touchscreen or the remote in the console.

This new inflight entertainment system was installed throughout the plane, but Flagship customers got the largest monitors.

One small thing to note is that, on my flight, the pair of noise-canceling headphones provided to me did not work. Luckily, they had a spare set they were able to swap mine out for, but I think it’s important to note that, as nice as the hard product is, American still needs to be careful in offering a top-notch and well-maintained soft product.

Final Thoughts

I’m really glad I had a chance to try out this new aircraft on its inaugural flight. Still, I’m not sure I’d go out of my way to book this particular plane over the older configuration on the A321T (knowing well that configuration is being phased out).

For the time being, I wouldn’t mind being on either plane. Although the A321XLR has growing pains to work through and tighter space than its older counterpart, the hard product features well-thought-out storage and amenities.