Well, my plans to fly the 787-9 Flagship Suite Preferred on American Airlines from Chicago to London never got off the ground thanks to a mechanical issue that required taking the plane out of service. While I ultimately made it to my final destination on time, it was not in the manner in which I had hoped…

American Airlines Flagship Suite Preferred Review That Never Happened

American Airlines has a beautiful new fleet of Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners featuring business class seats that I would argue are superior to both the Delta One and United Polaris suites. But these new planes have experienced a lot of growing pains. Thus far these aircraft have been operationally unreliable and my own flight from Chicago to London last Wednesday, AA46, was yet another casualty.

It all started so well. I boarded the flight, where I was very warmly greeted by the crew. One lovely flight attendant even wanted to pose for a picture with the new suites and the purser, Terry, was such a nice man.

The Flagship Suite Preferred, located in rows 1 and 11, are a big upgrade over the regular seats: not only is there more room for your feet, but there’s an upgraded amenity kit and most importantly, extra bedding including a mattress pad and a very soft additional blanket, plus two extra pillows. I was so happy to fly on this seat and in this aircraft to London.

We pushed back a few minutes late, and then came the bad news. The captain announced a nose gear issue. We returned to the gate where maintenance staff boarded the aircraft to address the issue. I think it may have been software-related, but every time the system was reset, the issue would reappear. Ultimately, the plane had to be taken out of service. We were asked to deboard and await an update, though the captain mentioned that American Airlines had a spare aircraft in the hangar.

I retreated to the Flagship Lounge where, over the next few hours, we experienced a rolling delay. Ultimately, it became too late (the crew timed out) and the flight was rescheduled for the following afternoon at 5:00 pm. The flight ultimately departed at 5:51 pm the following day.

Now I had a choice: take the hotel voucher, sleep, and go the next day in my preferred seat or jump on AA98, the late evening departure to London. If I took that, I’d be able to make my original connection to Basel and have a day in Germany with my kids before flying back to Los Angeles.

As much as I wanted to experience the Flagship Suite Preferred, I had to do it…even though it meant seat 9L, which was a regular Flagship Suite.

Reviewing flights may be my job, but I could not disappoint the kids…there will be future opportunities to fly the Flagship Suite Preferred but I wasn’t going to miss this chance to be with my children as summer wraps up.

In a sense, at least I got half of a review out of this Flagship Suite Preferred…good pictures, 90 minutes in the seat, and I can attest the seat is great and the bedding is excellent.

As for my alternate flight to London, it too was delayed, but by midnight we finally took off. The slow-roasted pot roast was an amazing meal and I always love the ice cream sundae, though the ice cream was rock hard. I did manage to sleep for a few hours.

Looking back, I’m very happy I took this flight…after landing in London I stopped in the Qantas lounge for a couple flat whites and a shower before proceeding over to T5 for my BA flight to Basel. I arrived in Germany in time for dinner and a beautiful evening walk.

Had I kept my original flight, I would have just missed he morning flight from London to Basel on Friday, then arrived in Basel in the late afternoon on Friday, only to have to turn around and fly back on Saturday morning. Ultimately, the trip may not have worked out the way I wanted, but it worked out…

Let’s hope AA can iron out the issues on its new Dreamliners sooner rather than later.