To Tokyo with American [American Airlines] AA 169 LAX-NRT (Los Angeles->Tokyo/Narita) trip report

AA 169 LAX-NRT (Los Angeles->Tokyo/Narita)

DEP LAX 11 DEC 2016 11:00
ARR NRT 12 DEC 2016 16:15

Flight Duration: 12:15

Aircraft: B777-200

Flight route map courtesy of www.flightaware.com

I had a chance to travel with newly rebranded American Airlines abroad to Tokyo/Narita on my way from Los Angeles to Busan, South Korea this past December.  The trip itinerary was LAX-NRT-PUS both ways, with the outbound flight of LAX to NRT being the only American Airlines segment and rest of them being operated by Japan Airlines. This was my first time ever traveling with the airline since the merger with the US Airways and the rebrand, and also my first time trying their new economy class product, so I was looking forward to the trip. 

LAX Sunday morning scene

All of the terminals were busy, Terminal 4 (American Airlines terminal) was especially busy.

There were many Asia-bound passengers checking in that day. All of the lines were incredibly long.

I had assigned myself a window seat at 38A, but later I was able to switch to a better seat up front, a premium economy seat at 14L.

The agent at the self-check-in booths was a bit rude. She was trying to keep everyone from going to this additional assistance counter.

Busy scene at Terminal 4 departures.

Security lines were a bit long as well. It took us 30-40 minutes to pass through the security.  Here's a shot of the American Airlines B788 bound for Tokyo/Haneda.

American Airlines Lounge in Terminal 4 was impressive.  The lounge was very spacious and even had shower stalls.  The food offerings during the breakfast times were very basic, with cereals, breads, juices, coffees, and oatmeal.

Children's lounge at AA Admirals Lounge at Terminal 4.

Cereal and fruits offerings.

My boarding passes for today and tomorrow's flights.  I ended up going to the lobby of the lounge and getting myself new boarding passes printed on the hard green and white paper.

More breakfast offerings.

Lounge bar.

Aircraft for my Tokyo-bound flight: B777-200.

The flight was due to board at Gate 48B.

The aircraft interior at the premium economy section.  The newly reconfigured American Airlines economy section was 3-4-3, which meant lesser width.  It wasn't a problem for me.

My seat was originally assigned to 14J, but I later traded the seat with a girl seated on the window seat at 14L.

Seat 14J is the seat with bigger legroom on the right.  14L window seat on the left.

The premium economy seats' legroom was generous.

View toward the window.

View toward the business class section.

Looking toward the Delta terminal.

I had an opportunity to watch the new American Airlines safety video. It felt almost like a Virgin America's musical style one, but a bit less crazy. The safety video was played twice: once in English and once in Japanese.

Push back was 40 minutes later than scheduled.

TBIT Scene

Terminal 1 progress was clearly visible. They seemed to have completed the façade of the east side.

Take off was uneventful.

I started watching "Snowden" right away.

Snack services commenced not too long after.

I got a Pinot Grigio along with the pretzels.

In-flight announcements would be made in both English and Japanese.

First meal of the flight. Choices were pork and rice or chicken with mashed potatoes. I chose the pork.

Pork was accompanied by teriyaki sauce. There were also edamame, salad, brownie, and bread roll.

AA Boeing 777-200's bathroom.

In-flight snacks were available at the rear of the plane.  There were potato chips, Biscoff Cookies, Milano Cookies, pretzels, juices, and water.

Mid-flight cabin scene.

I was able to stream an NFL game, but the quality and streaming wasn't too good.

About 6 hours in, snack was passed out along with ice cream.

Snack box had a cold (really cold) sandwich and a rice cracker mix.

What I meant by "really cold" was.. the sandwich was literally frozen.  I took couple bites before realizing this so I saved it up for consumption later.

Sun was still shining bright outside, as the aircraft was following its direction.

Trying to stay awake and bored, I decided to play some trivia games.

About two hours before landing, the second meal was distributed.

I chose the chicken and rice. Along with the main dish were fruits and water bottle.

The aircraft started its descent around 40 minutes before landing.

The flight landed into 16L, the shorter runway.

This was my first time seeing the newly built Terminal 3.

The aircraft pulled into Gate 90 of Terminal 2.

Thanks for reading my post!