The stars finally lined up again to hit up a product inaugural. Way back in 2017, I attended Southwest’s launch of the Boeing 737 MAX-8. Or should I say, attempted to, because that flight…didn’t go according to plan. This time, I set out to get on American’s inaugural flight on the new Airbus A321XLR. I found American A321XLR Premium Economy a nice if pricey ride. Pricey enough to where I question the economics, at least on transcontinental routes. I paid cash for this ticket…way too much, frankly. The total fare for coach from Dallas to New York, and then Premium Economy to Los Angeles, clocked in at $1,179.
Incidentally, if you thought I left – you’re not imagining things. Yours truly is returning to Travel Codex. All of the content that used to be here will be reactivated over time.
American Airlines (AA) Flight 3
- Thursday, December 18, 2025
- Depart: New York – John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Terminal 8, Gate 12, 11:02, 2m late
- Arrive: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Terminal B, Gate 151, 14:42, 24m late
- Duration: 6 hours 40 minutes
- Equipment: Airbus A321XLR
- Seat: 12A
Pre-Flight Inaugural Party
I turned up at the gate about an hour and a half prior to departure. As I expected, I found a thumping gate party in progress, with a live DJ, decorations, and an XLR backdrop.
A fellow passenger was kind enough to take my photo with the XLR backdrop and sign.
From what I could tell, most of the passengers were AA employees, along with a smattering of avgeeks and bloggers. And a handful of really bewildered people just trying to get to LA and wondering what the fuss was about.
Also at the gate were a few propaganda posters highlighting the new cabins in the XLR.
I also took a few minutes to grab a couple of photos of the brand-new bird from the windows.
Captain Hall then joined a handful of AA execs in a ceremonial ribbon cutting.
Boarding began exactly on time at 10:20 am. American even laid out the red carpet for everyone on the jetbridge.
Before I get into the actual review, I’ll spend a few minutes discussing the basics of the A321XLR. The plane serve two purposes, to service thinner routes to Europe, and to replace the aging “A321T” transcontinental configuration. The plane features a less-dense 155-seat configuration. This includes 20 Flagship Suites, 12 Premium Economy recliner seats, and 123 standard Main Cabin seats. Somewhat surprisingly, the XLR includes just 12 Main Cabin Extra seats, and only at the exit rows (14 and 15). This strikes me as a pretty big miss. As I’ll discuss later, there’s a significant price premium for Premium Economy. You’d think that would create higher demand for Main Cabin Extra. But for those who don’t like the exit row, or have young kids and can’t book the exit rows, you’re SOL.
Initially, American has the XLR scheduled on two flights per day between New York JFK and Los Angeles. Later this year, American plans to expand the XLR to the JFK to San Francisco and Boston to Los Angeles routes. Meanwhile in March, the XLR enters Transatlantic service from JFK to Edinburgh. Eventually, American plans to operate all premium transcontinental routes on the XLR, along with shorter, thinner European routes.
So how do you know if the new XLR operates your flight? Look for the “32Q” identifier in the equipment section. BUT make sure it specifically says “Airbus A321XLR”. American uses “32Q” to generically refer to any Airbus A321neo. You’ll also know it’s the XLR if “Flagship Suite” appears as an option.
While heading back to my seat, I did try to grab a photo of the new “Flagship Suites”. The cabin looks nice enough, but I have to admit, seems kind of tight. The aisle also felt noticeably narrow. I have another flight scheduled in Business next month and will report back.
While walking back, I overheard a passenger complaining about having to lean back to look out the window. And apparently, AA will require Business Class passengers to stow their TVs during meal service. That’s hardly a premium experience, so hopefully they backtrack. (But it’s AA we’re talking about, so don’t be surprised if it sticks around.)
Anyway, back in Premium Economy, the cabin consists of 12 Recaro R5 recliners in a 2-2 configuration. The seats feature a generous 21″ of width, and 37″ of pitch. My first impression is these look strikingly similar to Delta’s new First Class on the A321neo. Which isn’t bad, because that’s actually a pretty good seat. The main difference? The divider between seats isn’t nearly as wide. That results in less privacy than Delta’s First Class, though it also makes it easier to converse with your neighbor if traveling together.
As far as seat comfort goes, back support felt fine, though my posterior started getting numb after about an hour’s nap. I tend to slide down when sleeping, so that’s pretty typical for this type of recliner seat in my experience.
Finally, there is a small storage area underneath the armrest, where the IFE controller is stored.
In-Flight Entertainment
American’s new A321XLR comes equipped with all the usual bells and whistles you expect on a long-haul aircraft. Front and center is a 13.3″ 4K touchscreen display with Bluetooth capability. I didn’t try to connect my earphone to see if the Bluetooth worked, but will do so when I try Business Class next month and report back. Note that if seated in the bulkhead row (Row 11), the screen is fixed into the bulkhead wall. And looks quite a bit larger. American equips its IFE screens in Premium Economy with both USB-A and USB-C charging ports. I did find it a bit hard to remove my lightning cable from the USB-A port. It required a bit of jiggling and force to pull out. That concerns me that these may break easily over time.
American A321XLR Premium Economy – Food, Beverage, Service, Flightseeing
Food & beverage service in Premium Economy follows a pretty standard Main Cabin protocol. About 40 minutes after takeoff, the FA offered a choice of chicken or a quinoa salad. I ordered the chicken, which was…surprisingly not bad. First, the bad – it was the exact same chicken with pesto sauce American’s been serving forever. But it wasn’t dry this time, and I found the plantains a nice bonus.
But after lunch service? Nothing until about an hour before landing, when the drink cart came back through again. In fact, the drink glass from my lunch remained on my armrest the entire time. I figured the FAs might be on their best behavior with a number of AA bigwigs onboard. But nope, they disappeared for a good 3 1/2 hours. Don’t get me wrong, the crew was courteous, but there’s little to distinguish the service from coach.
Beautiful weather most of the way made for some fine flightseeing, though. As we departed the gate, FDNY gave us a water cannon salute as we headed to the taxiway. (The captain gave everyone a heads-up before pushback. Smartly, he didn’t want any of the non-avgeeks to panic if they saw fire trucks spraying us with water.)
Final Thoughts
So what’s my final verdict on Premium Economy on the XLR? In terms of hard product, it’s good. The seat in particular more closely resembles a domestic First Class seat, rather than American’s current Premium Economy standard. But the price of admission seems really high here. The random weekday dates I posted above show a nearly $700 premium over Main Cabin (not Basic). On some dates, the premium is more like $900, which gets you within a few hundred dollars of Business. That’s a heavy price to pay for a domestic First seat with coach service.
Which is why I think American erred here with the lack of Main Cabin Extra seats. Personally, I don’t like exit rows even when traveling solo, so the choice is to either stay in the back or fork over an extra $800. That’s the whole point, I guess, though we’ll see how many takers American gets.
