As I mentioned in Thanksgiving Trip Planning, our trip to Scottsdale was three years in the making. We started exploring it in 2019 but it got shelved due to the pandemic. So when we decided to book it for 2022, I wanted it to be special. About nine months before Thanksgiving, I used 120,000 American AAdvantage® miles to book four seats in First Class from Chicago to Phoenix. Besides it being a great deal, I mainly booked it because the aircraft was a Boeing 787-9, a.k.a the Boeing Dreamliner. We’d have lie-flat seats and enjoy everything First Class has to offer.

Unfortunately, as sometimes happens, there was a plane change a few months after I booked. As a result, our Boeing Dreamliner became an Airbus A321, which has a more standard First Class cabin without lie-flat seats.

I thought about calling American to complain, but 30,000 miles per seat in First Class was still a great deal. At booking, these seats cost only a few thousand more miles than economy seats on the same flight. In addition, every other flight that day charged almost double for First Class seats. Finally, when I checked prices about a month before our departure, American Airlines was asking 75,000 miles per seat in First Class.

So even with the disappointment of the aircraft change, I still feel good about redeeming those miles. It was still a fun way to make the trip a little more special!

Check-in and Boarding

Flying the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we gave ourselves extra time in case the airport was packed. We arrived at O’Hare Airport about two hours before our flight and got through security very quickly. We had a 7am flight, which helped a lot. I’m sure the airport got busier and busier as the day progressed. The other bonus of being on one of the first flights of the day is that the aircraft had arrived the night before so there were no delays.

Being First Class passengers, we were in boarding group 1 and were greeted warmly by a flight attendant as we boarded.

First Class for the Family: A Review of American's Airbus A321 from Chicago to Phoenix — Enjoying First Class!

Cabin and Seats

The First Class cabin consists of 16 total seats in a 2 by 2 configuration. The seats are 21 inches wide, making them about 3 inches wider than the Main Cabin and Main Cabin Extra seats.

The seats themselves were spacious and very comfortable. I’m 6′ 1″ and there was enough room to comfortably cross my legs when I wanted.

When reclining the seat back, the seat cushion also slides forward. This configuration makes it so your personal space is not affected much when the person in front of you reclines.

Overall, this seat is great for medium-haul flights, but for longer-haul flights I’d much prefer lie-flat seats.

Amenities

Unfortunately this route didn’t have any special amenities. As with most aircrafts these days, there’s no seat-back entertainment, so you need to use your personal electronic device to watch TV or movies. There’s a USB plug and a contraption to hold your device right on the seat back in front of you.

There’s one lavatory available to First Class passengers located at the front of the cabin. It wasn’t any different than a standard aircraft lavatory but it’s nice to have one just for the 16 people in the cabin.

Food Service

Shortly after takeoff, the flight attendants came by to confirm the breakfast orders. After a hot towel, the meal service began.

Some of the available choices included a vegetable frittata and yogurt with granola. I pre-ordered an omelet that came with turkey sausage, potatoes and a side of fruit. The omelet was actually quite good! They also came by with a bread basket offering cinnamon rolls, biscuits or regular rolls.

Bottom Line

Overall, we had a great experience flying First Class. It was nice to be pampered a little and the comfortable seats made it much easier to get some shuteye. Unfortunately this trip didn’t satisfy my goal of flying First Class on Dreamliner, but it was still quite nice.