First impression: American’s luxe Flagship Suite Preferred completes inaugural flight

It's the day that American Airlines flyers (and investors) have long been waiting for.

The Fort Worth-based carrier has officially inaugurated its snazzy Boeing 787-9P, the next-generation Dreamliner that's poised to help American finally compete more fiercely in the arms race for premium travelers.

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This new Dreamliner doesn't just boast the signature new plane smell. It's also got a ton of improvements on the inside, starting in the pointy end with the new Flagship Suite and Flagship Suite Preferred products. These are American's first-ever fully enclosed business-class suites and its replacement for international first class, respectively.

Even the premium economy and economy cabins received some upgrades, too. Better yet, the sheer number of premium seats on this plane — 83 — will (theoretically) help American improve its yields from long-haul flying and also give frequent flyers a better shot at finding upgrade or saver award space.

After all, this represents a whopping nearly 65% increase in premium capacity compared to the airline's existing 787-9 configuration.

But while the airline already showed off the new Dreamliner at a media event in Dallas, it's now time for travelers to experience these products firsthand. I was among the first 200 people to experience this new plane on Thursday's inaugural flight from Chicago to Los Angeles.

Here's what it was like on day one.

American Airlines Boeing 787-9P inaugural ground experience

Pulling up to Gate K19 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD) was the first moment that I sensed that something was different about this otherwise routine domestic flight to Los Angeles.

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Lining the gate area were some red, white and blue balloons, as well as some signage about the new 787-9P and its unique features and configuration.

But even more noticeable than the celebratory posters were all the aviation geeks and American Airlines enthusiasts who specifically booked this inaugural flight back when it went on sale earlier this year.

This group of visibly excited passengers lined the windows to catch their first glimpse of N845MD, the factory-fresh 787-9 Dreamliner that'd be ferrying us to L.A. They then all stood up well before boarding was called to be among the first to step on board the jet.

As for me, I'm used to this type of fanfare for inaugural flights, and as far as it goes for U.S. airlines, American's celebration definitely felt among the most muted. There was no cake, no speech from an executive, no giveaways at the gate. (Contrast that with what Delta Air Lines and United Airlines do before their inaugural flights, and you'll quickly see the difference.)

Nevertheless, my fellow passengers brought the vibes and hype, and that's all the caffeine I needed at 8:30 a.m. to get me excited about boarding this flight.

American Airlines Flagship Suite Preferred impressions

Before long, it was my turn to step on board the Dreamliner.

Lining the entryway is the illuminated American logo etched into slatted black paneling, a luxe touch that quickly sets the mood for boarding the airline's most premium jet yet. This was my first time seeing the logo illuminated (mechanical issues prevented me from seeing it turned on last week), and I'm even more impressed with the entry galley than I was before.

At this point, I turned left to head into the forward business-class cabin — a last-minute surprise that I wasn't actually prepared for.

When I first booked this flight, many of the business-class window seats were already taken. (American had been selling this flight for a while before announcing the inaugural schedule, so those passengers who had already booked this flight seemingly selected many of the window seats before I even booked.)

As a window seat flyer, I decided to book myself a pod in the rear mini-cabin, but I kept a very close eye on the seat map to see if something better opened up.

Well, thanks to some luck and my persistence, I noticed that a seat in the forward business-class cabin opened just a few hours before departure. And not just any seat, but one of the Flagship Suite Preferred pods.

At this point, I felt like I hit the jackpot — I'd be one of the first eight passengers to try American's new "business-class-plus" seat that's designed to replace international first class.

Better yet, I wouldn't need to pay anything extra for this privilege because American hasn't added any surcharges (yet) for the Preferred seat. (As such, I'd recommend locking in a business-class seat in the bulkhead row now if you're booked to fly on the 787-9P.)

Once I settled into the customized version of the Adient Ascent seat, it became clear that this is undoubtedly American's most advanced and premium business-class seat yet — and arguably even nicer than the now-dated Flagship First product.

For one, the amount of personal space is simply unrivaled for American. Thanks to the position of the bulkhead, the seat offers a massive faux marble-lined table underneath the TV screen, as well as a larger side table and footwell.

While I typically prefer to keep my belongings in enclosed storage compartments, the seat offers ample space to stow travel essentials.

There are some partitioned storage compartments on the side of the seat, which turned out to be a great place to stow my laptop, water bottle and shoes.

There are also two enclosed storage areas: a small closet next to the silver sconce, with a tilting mirror and a headphone hook, as well as a smaller drawer, which is where I kept my wallet and AirPods during the flight.

All in all, American says that the Flagship Suite Preferred offers 19% more bed space and a whopping 42% more living space than the regular business-class pods.

The 22-inch-wide seat itself was supremely comfortable. It wasn't too soft or too firm, and both the cabin and seat finishes felt incredibly premium, especially relative to some of the drab and outdated cabins that you find flying on older American jets.

I loved the pop of red lining the storage areas, the faux wood-lined suite doors and the contrast in color scheme between the darker Flagship Suite Preferred and the lighter Flagship Suites.

Even the faux marble cocktail tray and the tan-colored leather headrest, both accented by an etched logo, felt like design choices you'd more likely find on Qatar Airways than American Airlines.

The real question, however, is how these luxe touches will age over time. After all, I already noticed some chipping along the sides of the seat and on the bulkhead walls, and this was only the first passenger flight on this plane.

Once seated, I tried to close the suite door, but unfortunately, it's (temporarily) locked in the open position. At least American owned up to this well in advance.

At the media demonstration last week, the airline confirmed that it was still working with the Federal Aviation Administration to secure the necessary permissions to offer sliding doors. And about 12 hours before the flight, I received an email from customer care with an apology that the sliding door isn't currently functional, along with 5,000 bonus miles (or $50 in trip credit for non-AAdvantage members) as compensation.

I'm not sure if American will continue offering 5,000 bonus miles to each of the 51 business-class passengers on upcoming 787-9P flights because that liability might get quite pricey for the carrier — 255,000 AAdvantage miles per flight is equivalent to $3,825 in compensation, per TPG's June 2025 valuations.

Even without the suite door closed, I found the 1-2-1 reverse herringbone configuration offered plenty of privacy for this solo traveler. Because I didn't face the aisle, I wasn't disturbed by what my neighbors were doing, even when I reclined into bed mode.

And even though I was in a center seat, I closed the privacy divider between the two seats and said goodbye to my neighbor, aviation journalist Chris Sloan, for much of the flight.

As we taxied out for departure, I started playing around with other aspects of the new seat.

The seat controls are simple and intuitive — there are two customizable settings for the legrest and seat recline, as well as three presets for bed mode, recline mode and upright mode.

I also loved that the aisle armrest could be raised or lowered to multiple different heights. Oftentimes, airlines make you choose between raising the armrest all the way or lowering it down to seat level without any graduations between the different heights.

The only negative about the aisle armrest is that it doesn't feature a built-in water bottle holder like you'd find on other airlines.

The next big upgrade is all the tech that American installed on this 21st-century jet.

It starts with a 17-inch 4K TV for each business-class passenger. While some pundits have noted that American could've gone with a larger TV screen, I found the screen plenty large for enjoying some movies and TV shows. That said, I do wish American had installed a tilt and swivel function for the TVs, as the fixed angle of the screen makes it next to impossible to watch while in bed mode.

The screens, made by Thales, are loaded with a custom next-generation user interface that feels far more modern than anything American has offered to date. From the 3D flight map and accessibility mode to new features like watch party mode that lets you and a seatmate watch the same content together, I'm bummed I only had 3 1/2 hours to enjoy these touchscreens.

Another bummer is that American only offers cheap earbuds on domestic flights operated by wide-body jets. (The good news is that each of these new 787-9Ps is only doing one domestic round-trip before flying on long-haul routes — an FAA requirement for the registration process of these new jets.)

At least these new 787-9Ps are the first to feature Bluetooth connectivity, which allowed me to pair my AirPods Pro to the screen in just seconds.

In addition to the TV, there's a 4 1/2-inch touchscreen remote that could also be used to control the screen and display limited content, like a miniaturized version of the flight map.

Next to the remote are the charging ports, where you'll find a universal AC outlet, a 60-watt USB-C port and a USB-A port.

While all of these ports worked, the design of the AC outlet means that you won't be able to charge bulky devices, such as power banks — a big bummer for me as I blew through my battery pack with all the content I was capturing.

Another bummer is the design of the Qi wireless charging pad. While it's theoretically positioned for easy access during the flight, the airline didn't account for smartphones larger than the iPhone 16 Pro Max (who knows what larger devices Apple and Samsung are designing for the coming years), nor did it provide enough space for the camera array on the back of larger phones. That meant I wasn't able to wirelessly charge my phone on this jet.

The final tech upgrade you'll find on these planes is high-speed Viasat Wi-Fi. While the $29 flight pass was certainly overpriced for a domestic flight (at least Wi-Fi will be free for all AAdvantage members next year), the 34 Mbps download and 2 Mbps upload speeds were quite impressive.

After departure, it was time to recline the seat into bed mode. (I had woken up super early to hit the gym before a long day of travel.) I had no problem getting comfortable on this 74-inch-long fully flat bed, and I loved the open footwell design, which made it really easy to spread out without feeling confined.

Of course, no bedding or amenity kits were offered because this wasn't a Flagship-marketed flight, but if it was, those seated in Flagship Suite Preferred seats would enjoy the works — duvets, pajamas, mattress pads, multiple pillows, slippers and more.

The only type of amenity kit waiting at my seat was one that'll certainly become a collectible for aviation enthusiasts on the flight. The white paper bag contained a welcome letter, along with an inaugural flight tag, some American stickers, red and blue jellybeans, and a sugar cookie with the American logo.

Before long, the crew sprang into action with the meal service — a traditional domestic first-class breakfast offering.

Choices were either a cold fresh fruit plate with yogurt or an omelette. I went with the former, which was refreshing (but not filling enough), and it was served alongside a choice of a warm croissant or biscuit.

During the meal, the friendly and excited flight attendants came through the aisle with beverage carts. No other food or drinks were offered on this flight, but obviously that would be different on a true Flagship-marketed long-haul flight.

For those feeling peckish, there's a small walk-up snack bar near the midcabin galley that would be stocked between meal services on long-haul flights.

Between napping and networking with some industry friends, I had a few minutes to use the tray table to catch up on some work. The tray itself is quite large — it measures 19 1/2 inches wide and 14 inches long — and it can be moved forward and backward for additional comfort.

The final seat feature that I tested was chaise lounge mode, which allows you to sit like you're on a beach chair when the seat is reclined. American has a second seat belt in case it gets turbulent while you're in chaise lounge mode, but I don't think it matters because I didn't find this position to be comfortable at all.

There are three lavatories for the 51 business-class passengers. They all feature the standard Dreamliner finishes with a unique cloudscape wallpaper that I haven't seen before on another airline. I tend to think this looks more tacky than premium, but presumably American can just remove it if my opinion turns out to be how most passengers feel.

Before long, it was time to land in Los Angeles. We landed on Runway 7R and had a short taxi to Gate 41.

Several of my fellow passengers were turning around and flying back to Chicago, but I had another connecting flight to catch.

Bottom line

As I walked to my next flight, I reflected on American's Flagship Suite Preferred experience.

The seat itself is impressive, not just relative to American's existing mishmash of premium products, but also in comparison to some of the other top seats on international airlines. The amount of personal space you get is unrivaled for American business class, and once the sliding doors are working, the level of privacy will be unprecedented for the airline and its premium passengers.

Other bells and whistles you enjoy in Flagship Suite Preferred include additional storage areas, larger tray tables and more luxurious amenities.

It'll be interesting to see how much American eventually charges for this experience on long-haul flights, but for now, there's no question this is American's best business-class product — and in some ways is even better than the Flagship First pods that it's designed to replace.

I, for one, can't wait to try it on a long-haul flight soon.

Related reading:

• Your ultimate guide to American Airlines AAdvantage
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• The best credit cards to reach elite status
• American Airlines basic economy: What you need to know about bags, seats, boarding and more