• Introduction: Vacation Run to Santiago, Chile
• Review: American Airlines First Class – DFW to Santiago – 777-200
• Review: Grand Hyatt Santiago – Executive Suite with Terrace – the Shakespeare Suite
• Enjoying some of the must do’s of Chile
• Review: American Airlines First Class – Santiago to DFW – 777-200
• Conclusion: Vacation Run to Santiago, Chile

Our positioning flight Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) was pretty standard, so I won’t really mention it a whole lot, other than to say that it happened. We ended up spending a couple of hours in the American Express Centurion Lounge, which is always enjoyable, and meandered through the terminal to board our flight.

Once onboard, we were informed that the flight to Santiago would be just shy of 9 hours. In my opinion, that’s barely enough time to have dinner and a movie, and to get a full nights rest.

The Seat

What can one say about the 777-200’s Flagship First Class seat? Well, it’s an older product, but it is a lay flat, that offers enough room to spread out. The seat is more than sufficient for an 8-10 hour flight, and in fact, we flew this same seat to Seoul last year.

An added benefit, that I don’t think United is doing in their International First class, is a mattress pad. It isn’t very thick, but, you do notice that it’s there, mostly in a positive way.

The Amenities

American Airlines provides pajamas to First Class passengers. This is a huge benefit in my opinion, because I like to change into something more comfortable when I fly. After all, the airline is selling you on the lay flat seat, and the idea that you will arrive well rested. Wouldn’t you like your clothes to be fresh too? I sure do.

I will note though, that American has changed their pajamas since the last time I flew First Class with them. They seem to change them every year or so, first it was a grey pinstrip design with a red v-neck top, then it was the same design with a navy blue crew neck top. Now it is completely different, mostly black, but with different colored arms on the shirt. The new ones are perhaps more stylish, but personally, I found the previous two generations of PJ’s to be more comfortable.

The amenity kit is nothing to write home about, it has the standard things you’d expect, although I was impressed with the weight of the socks. Usually they feel cheap and like if you aren’t careful, you could put a toe right through them. These have some more weight to them, which was nice.

In Flight Entertainment (IFE)

I only ended up watching 75% of a single movie due to the short nature of the flight. I ended up watching Trainwreck, which I didn’t expect to enjoy as much as I did. I felt the selection was reasonably thorough, however the actual screen is pretty sad. It’s the small pop-up design, that, quite honestly harkens to an era that should be long past. It’s not like American doesn’t know it, they’re trying to refresh the 777-200 cabins (and take First Class out), but they are having issues with their seat manufacturer and taking a different course. Bose over ear headphones were also provided, which make a difference in the quality of the IFE, and in general are pretty comfortable.

The Food

The food was unremarkable at best.

Really, the part I remember most, was the overcooked beef fillet.

Of course, that was quickly made up for with American’s trademark ice cream sundae (which for me, includes a generous helping of butterscotch!)

Wrapping up

Overall, the flight was more than sufficient. We arrived refreshed, and ready to wander Santiago. We particularly appreciated seeing a flight attendant that we’d seen on a couple of other flights, JC, on board. Despite flying as much as I do each year, I still find that the most memorable parts of travel are the people you meet and get the chance to interact with.