I took a nostalgia flight in American Airlines’ soon-to-be-retired international Flagship First: Here’s where you can still find it

19.10.2024 - 13:19 / thepointsguy.com / John F.Kennedy / Leonardo Da-Vinci

I've had a soft spot for American Airlines Flagship First for more than a decade. It's the last true international first-class product being flown by any American carrier. But Flagship First has been around since the early 2010s, and American plans to formally retire the product in the coming years.

In fact, from what we've learned, the first of the Airbus A321T planes with first class that American flies between cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles and Santa Ana in California and New York and Boston in the Northeast have already been retrofitted and returned to service in a more typical A321 configuration.

But for now, you can still fly in true three-cabin first class on both the Airbus A321T and the Boeing 777-300ER jets. These planes also offer Flagship Business, but there are some fun differentiators between the cabins.

The American Airlines Flagship First cabins remind me of the glory days of my early entry into the points and miles hobby. I'll never forget being able to upgrade to Flagship First on a flight from New York to London, and how excited I was about that flight.

That nostalgia still in mind, I jumped at the opportunity when I was offered a good price to upgrade from business class to first class on an American 777-300ER from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport (FCO).

Here's what we know about how long these fun cabins will be around, what the replacements are, how the product is different from business class and where you can still find these throwback seats.

American is eliminating its first-class cabins for an overhauled business cabin — one that will expand the number of premium seats — on all the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in its fleet. The Airbus A321T's unique first-class cabins will also be going away at some point in favor of all-new aircraft, with the premium-heavy A321Ts being converted into Project Oasis-style layouts with more coach seats.

American has previously said that it would ditch the true first-class product on both the A321Ts and the 777-300s by late 2024, but that timeline has slipped. I asked American for an update on the retirement timelines, but AA said it had nothing more to add at this time. The airline has said the overhaul came, in part, because of customers' desire for a more premium experience.

The 20 remade 777-300ERs will have 70 Flagship Suite business-class seats and 44 premium economy seats. Currently, those planes have a total of 60 seats between first and business class.

AA's newly delivered Boeing 787-9s will see the rollout of a new business-class cabin, and eventually, the three-class 777-300ERs will be retrofitted with the new cabins, and the distinct first-class cabins will be