Introduction

Flight Details:

• Date of flight: February 22, 2020
• Where: New York LaGuardia (“LGA”) to Montrose Regional Airport Colorado (“MTJ”)
• Flight time: 4 hours 39 minutes
• Departure / arrival time: 8:25am-11:10am
• Flight #: AA1559
• Seat: 6A
• Paid flight / points: Paid – economy / upgraded

It was time for my annual ski trip with my giraffe friends. This year I chose Telluride Ski Resort in Western Colorado. Conde Nast Traveler ranked Telluride Ski Resort as the top ski resort in North America. If you want to avoid long lift lines it’s really the place to go. American has a once-a-week direct flight to Montrose Regional Airport from New York LaGuardia. I booked economy and was thrilled when my upgrade cleared 2-days out from the flight.

Cabin

The First Class cabin on American Airlines 737-800 is setup in a 2-2 configuration with a total of 16 First Class recliner seats.

I’ve reviewed First Class on American Airlines 737-800 before, but this time I’ll highlight a different cabin feature. Between the seats you’ll find a small table ideal for holding drinks.

Recommended Seats

The seats in the First class cabin have a respectable 40-42″ of pitch and are 20.4″ wide. Seats 4A-F and 5A-F are the sweet spot on this aircraft. Seats in row 3 have slightly less leg room due to the proximity to the bulkhead and should be avoided. Seats in row 6 are adjacent to the economy class cabin and should also be avoided. I was seated in row 6 on this flight and it wasn’t that bad.

In-Flight Entertainment

The in-flight entertainment system (“IFE”) has a 12.1 inch touch screen display. I got giddy seeing Montrose on the map. We didn’t get much snow in NYC this year and I was eager to hit the slopes. American is in the process of eliminating IFEs from their aircraft as part of Project Oasis. You can check to see what’s playing on your upcoming flight here.

Service

Service on this flight was on point. The purser welcomed passengers on board with a smile. The First Class flight attendant came around and offered to hang coats and a full pre-departure beverage service was offered. I decided to kick off my ski vacation with a Bloody Mary. It was excellent.

Food and Beverage

Shortly after takeoff the flight attendant came around and took drink and meal orders. I ordered the oatmeal, which came with Chobani yogurt, dried fruit, fresh fruit and milk. Breakfast bread was offered including a butter croissant, cinnamon roll and a southern style biscuit. American Airlines First Class breakfast offerings are generally really bad, but I find the oatmeal to be consistently good. It’s hard to mess up oatmeal.

My friend ordered the egg and cheese omelet and a mimosa. He enjoyed the omelet, but it looked a bit oily for my taste. This was his last mimosa as they ran out of sparkling wine. Apparently the plane was under catered.

Overall Verdict

First Class Giraffe Approved

This was a lovely flight. The service was excellent, the food was good and the views flying over the mountains were stunning.