I have not been paid by any entity in any way (financially, benefits) to write this American Airlines Flagship Suite Preferred review. Any airport, airline, lounge, hotel, or loyalty program policies may have changed since then.

Trip: IAD-LAX, LAX-ORD, ORD-LHR, LHR-CDG, CDG-FRA, FRA-CPH, CPH-BOS, BOS-NYC,

As a United Airlines loyalist, I typically look for deals on Star Alliance carriers for my international travel. However, when I saw that I could snag a seat on American’s new Flagship Suite Preferred, I had to jump on it. So for the first time ever, I flew American Airlines in their Flagship cabin in their newest premium offering. After having flown in from LAX in their regular Flagship Suite, I was curious to see how this larger space and product compares.

Quick Take: American Airlines Flagship Suite Preferred Review

Category	Rating (Out of 10)
Seat Comfort	✅ 9/10
Dining & Beverages	😐 6/10
Service & Crew	✅ 9/10
Lounge Access	✅ 10/10
Value for Points/Cash	✅ 8/10

The Flagship Suite Preferred is currently only offered on American’s 787-P. The space and amenities make a difference, but is it worth it?

Flight Details

Airline: American Airlines
Flight: AA 98
Route: Chicago (ORD) – London Heathrow (LHR)
Cabin Class: Flagship Suite Preferred
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9P (N842AA)
Seat: 10D
Booking Method: Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Award
Cost: 55,000 miles (one-way)
Date: July 11, 2025
Flight Time: 7h 5m

Preflight

After my LAX flight, I made my way over to the Flagship Lounge in Terminal 3, which is American’s premium lounge for passengers flying in Flagship Business or First. The Flagship Lounge is also connected to the larger Admirals Club, which I had the opportunity to explore.

You can access the Flagship Lounge if you’re flying in a business class or higher cabin with a Oneworld carrier on a long-haul international route. Additionally, if you have oneworld Emerald or Sapphire, you can also enter the lounge (except for Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan members).

Once at the gate, the boarding process was straightforward. Flagship Business called to board shortly after military and ConciergeKey. I was excited to experience the Flagship Preferred Suite on American’s new B787-9P, their premium heavy aircraft. The plane features 51 lie-flat business class seats, 32 premium economy seats and 161 economy seats. Funny enough, this was the exactly same aircraft that flew me in from LAX.

American Flagship Preferred Seat & Suite Design

Flagship Cabin

The Flagship Business Class cabin on the Boeing 787-9P is in a 1-2-1 configuration, and holds 51 new lie-flat business class seats across two cabins. Each suite comes with its own privacy door, a first for American, which is a response to Delta One and United’s upcoming Polaris refresh.

Flagship Preferred Seat

The first row of each cabin holds the airline’s flagship premium product, the Flagship Suite Preferred. Identified by its larger space and darker finishings, this upgraded seat offers more bed space than the other suites, as well as more living area. Today I started off my night in seat 10D, but migrated to 11A one I cleared with the crew that nobody else was boarding and they were ok with it.

The similarities with the traditional Flagship Suite include the small storage unit in the armrest area of the seat, the vanity compartment that serves as the Bang & Olufsen noice cancelling headset storage area, the wireless charging pad, and the seat controls along with the monitor controls. The reading and ambience lamp are also configured exactly the same, along with the moveable armrest.

Amenities

Waiting at each seat was a whole host of amenities, which included a cushioned seat cover, what I believe was the Nest mattress topper, slippers, a throw blanket, two pillows, and an amenity kit with the menu. More on all those amenities later.

From every angle, it’s clear that these amenities are quite bulky and can consume a significant portion of the suite’s space. Our flight was actually pretty light, which meant there were several business class bins and seats left open. I took that opportunity to switch my seat over from 10D in the center to 11A, which is the window. This also meant there was space to fit these amenities in the overhead bins.

There was also a bottle of water waiting at each seat, and the flight attendants came by with champagne as a pre-departure drink. It was then when I realized that the console table has a light installed inside it, allowing it to glow. There is also the silhouette of the American Airlines logo, which is a very nice touch.

Space & Storage

These suites offer excellent privacy, courtesy of the sliding door. You can definitely feel the extra space and storage. Here, you can see me stretch out my legs and still have plenty of space left in seat 11A; for reference, I’m 6’1″. Additionally, there is a neat space carved out under the footrest which acts as a perfect shoe storage area. Next to the footwells of the suites, you’ll find extra storage you won’t find in the regular suites. Although its lack of depth makes it a slightly less functional, it is still useful for laptops or other smaller items.

There is also extra counter space, which is useful for placing service items that haven’t been picked up. In my case, my dessert items weren’t picked up after meal service, so I placed them on the counter space near the monitor so I could get some sleep.

American Flagship Suite Preferred Amenities & Bedding

Flagship Preferred Bedding

One of the key amenities for the Flagship Suite Preferred is the additional bedding that each of the eight passengers will receive.

In the smaller pack, you will find your pillow.

And what I believe to be the mattress topper.

In the larger pouch, you’ll find this absolutely soft blanket.

This really chic lumbar pillow.

And the mattress seat cover, which makes the seat more comfortable for sleeping. It’s definitely quite a handful of amenities, so hopefully you can find some bin space to store them if you don’t make your bed right away.

American Airlines Flagship Preferred Amenity Kit

Another one of the signature upgrades Flagship Preferred customers can expect is the amenity kit. It’s upgraded compared to the regular amenity kit.

In the kit you’ll find products from both Relevant and Joanna Vargas. From Relevant, expect to receive their One & Done refreshing hand towel and lip balm. Additionally, from Joanna Vargas, you’ll get their lotion and facial mist. From American, you’ll get an eyemask, socks, earplugs, and a dental kit.

I personally found the kit to look nice, and although it doesn’t feel like it would last more than a few trips (if that), I’m willing to give it a go and will report back.

Bang & Olufson Noise Cancelling Headset

Although I didn’t use them, American issues Bang & Olufson noise-cancelling headsets, which look sleek and work well (so I’ve heard).

Lavatory

The restrooms on this plane seem standard, a tad roomier, but lacking any premium products or amenities for their Flagship passengers. United stocks its lavatories with premium products, such as face mist and moisturizer, which I was expecting to also see on American.

Furthermore, the restroom located over by door 2L, between the two business class cabins, has a larger space that is more suitable for those looking to change clothes during the flight.

I’m not a fan of the sky wallpaper; it makes the space feel very unserious.

Dining & Beverages

Menu

The menu for the flight was already at my seat when I arrived, and I quickly took a look to get an idea of what was in store. Unlike the upcoming United Polaris Studio update, Flagship Suite Preferred doesn’t include an enhanced menu.

The starters on today’s flight included a pan seared shrimp, and an arugula salad.

The main plates included a smoked beef brisket, seabass, crusted lamb, and a vegetable tagine.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the ice cream sundae was offered. Additionally, an Express Meal service is offered.

If you get peckish after dinner service, there were some snacks available. For breakfast, you could get a frittata or a fruit bowl.

For all the wine connoisseurs, they had their list on the back.

Starter

The crew walked around, kicking off dinner service with a hot towel, which was actually quite drenched.

Next, I received a tablecloth for my table.

Afterwards, the crew passed by with drink carts, offering tableside drink service. Now, for all the things American and in general, other U.S. airlines do wrong, I actually am endeared to the tableside cart. It is reminiscent of the golden age of aviation in the U.S., when PanAm was serving up meals at your seat.

I politely asked for small pours of two red wines, and the flight attendant happily obliged, which was accompanied by warm mixed nuts. The two wines reminded me of the old United Polaris wine flights.

Dinner

Now, on today’s flight, I opted for the smoked beef brisket entree, which was edible, but just barely. I mentioned earlier that the Express Meal service available, but I didn’t assume that we had all been opted into it. But that was exactly what we all received.

This choice by U.S. airlines takes away the allure of being in a premium cabin, given that the service is almost identical to what we receive in domesti That being said, on a late-night flight like this, I appreciate receiving our meals all at once so we can go to sleep as soon as possible. The shrimps were the best thing on this tray, with great flavor. The salad was, well, a pretty uninspiring salad.

Now my smoked beef brisket was supposed to come with broccolini, not green beans. I have to assume that catering ran out of broccolini or made a mistake, but that didn’t answer why the green beans had such a mysterious yet pathetic sprinkling of cheese on them. The romesco sauce was bland, beef was dry (as expected), but the star of the show were the mushrooms, which were really tasty.

Dessert

Next up was dessert. I opted for and ice cream sundae with berry compote, nuts, and whipped cream.

I also asked for the cheese plate, which they kindly obliged.

The sundae was fantastic, despite the ice cream nearly being frozen solid. The cheeses were ok, and were accompanied by grapes and a deliciously sticky fig spread. All in all, the meal service was adequate, but nothing spectacular.

In-Flight Entertainment & Connectivity

American’s 787-9P is equipped with an in-flight entertainment screen at each seat, offering a variety of movies, TV shows, music, and other options to choose from. My personal favorite is the flight map, but to each their own.

American also has wifi equipped on this jet, ranging from $20 for an hour pass to $25 for the whole flight.

Service & Crew

The crew working the Flagship cabin on AA 98 was absolutely lovely, warm, and seemingly happy to be there. I will say that they were a little inattentive at times, but were enthusiastic and truly pleasant to interact with.

That being said, I did not get breakfast despite having asked to be woken up for the service. Please note that having the door closed in the Flagship Suites will be interpreted as a “Do Not Disturb” sign, and you may be skipped over. I was full from dinner so it wasn’t a problem, but I would go over this with your crew if possible.

Value & Redemption

I am very grateful to have found this Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan award ticket to experience this brand-new product on American Airlines. 55,000 miles is hard to bear, which was just about the same you would find for one of American’s transcontinental Flagship routes, such as JFK to LAX.

To redeem, I transferred over 55,000 American Express miles to Hawaiian Airlines before the June 30th cutoff, and then transferred those points over to Mileage Plan to complete the booking. Unfortunately, this method of transferring Amex points to Alaska is now closed, but it was great while we had it.

I found this deal using PointsYeah.com, a very free and helpful tool that conducts comprehensive award ticket searches across multiple programs. It has room for improvements, but I’ve overall found this program to be more useful for regular award searches than other sites like points.me or Seats.aero.

American Airlines Flagship Suite Preferred Final Verdict

Is it worth it?

The Flagship Suite Preferred is a spacious seat that offers a slightly enhanced experience, centered on your in-air comfort. The suite also just looks good, looks premium, and feels spacious. That being said, I cannot find a good reason to go out of my way to book this seat outright again once American starts to charge a premium.

What should change?

The experience associated with this seat may need further enhancements to make it worth chasing. Some improvements top of mind are adding Flagship First check-in, Flagship Dining, and an enhanced onboard menu with quality food. Throw in some complimentary Wi-Fi, and we’d be on the right track. As of writing, American isn’t charging extra for the Preferred Suites, but that will change sooner rather than later. Once that happens, I’d have to see some legitimate premium perks to consider this product again.

What could’ve been better?

Sure, the amenities are great, but I didn’t find them particularly useful. In fact, all the bedding would’ve been a nuisance had there not been ample bin space to store it away when not in use. No doubt this issue will resolve itself when American inevitably rolls back the bedding. Furthermore, the space you get in the Preferred Suite versus the regular version is great, but I can’t envision this mattering all that much to seasoned business travelers that are looking for rest.

What were the highlights?

So, what does this seat do well? The privacy provided by the door is a huge plus for American’s business class passengers, as it really gives you a more secluded and private space. The extra room this seat gets when its fully reclined makes it possible to get good rest without feeling like you have to scrunch up. I’m 6’1″ and not thin, and not once did I feel cramped while trying to sleep.

The small storage compartments make it easier to keep track of your belongings, whether it be earbuds, your travel documents, or chargers. Also, a shout-out to the designer or engineer who installed USB-C, USB, and AC outlets. There is no excuse for a low battery after your flight. Also, this is neither here nor there, but there isn’t any “marble” to be found in any of the suites, the surfaces and counters are non-slip plastic.

So, would I book this seat again? Sure, if the price is exactly the same as any other Flagship Business seat. However, I wouldn’t be open to paying a premium for a seat that, in the end, offers me only slightly more space.

Overall Rating: 8.4/10

What are your thoughts? What do you think about this American Airlines Flagship Suite Preferred review? Let me know in the comments!

As always, Live Life One Trip at a Time!

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