Devil's Advocate
⠀⠀⠀
Here's a follow-up of AA's Premium Economy over the Pacific.Thanks for your post and the pictures. The meals certainly look appetizing and the plating of the food is well done. Even the fruit dish looked very attractive.
As expected the hard product is very similar to AA's Domestic First with a few more inches of pitch and recline. It may not sound that comfortable but I kept nodding off and sleeping for a few hours. As usual for PE seats the AC port was difficult to reach and under-seat storage was limited. The USB charge port was broken on this flight but everything else worked as expected. One unexpected feature was a double-sized lavatory between the W and J cabins. It was possibly the largest lavatory I've seen on a 787 with plenty of room for changing. As for IFE the Movie selection was good but TV options were just a few episodes each. The Airshow had a good mix of views to chose from.
First meal service was a lunch/dinner setup with a choice of Chicken Teriyaki or Veggie Risotto. I tried the Chicken. Although it may not look that great as delivered the ceramic plating made a noticeable improvement after the plastic tops were removed. Seems like a potential lesson of catering to expectations for Amtrak. The quality was not fantastic but good enough. The veggie salad was fresh and tasty, the chicken teriyaki acceptable and filling, and the (unknown) dessert was surprisingly good. The bread was cold (boo!) and I did not try the seafood dish.
Second meal service was a choice of Western Breakfast or Noodles. I went with the Breakfast. The fruit was perfectly ripe and sweet, the yogurt was good quality, and the entree was reasonably tasty. I think the bacon could benefit from an upgrade or replacement with sausage.
The experience wasn't anything special but it worked well enough and I could see myself in AA's PE again in the future. I've only been in a few PE cabins so far and the original (EVA) is probably still the best, but AA's version is a reasonable option. In coach JL blows AA out of the water but in Premium Economy they're honestly pretty close. AA has better plating and a more comfortable seat while JL grants PE business lounge access* and has a longer drinks list. Both versions board at roughly the same point and use plastic cups with no PDB.
*If you upgrade from coach at the airport lounge access is not included.
Last edited: