How to fly AA’s best lie-flat business-class seats without needing a passport

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information.

American Airlines’ fleet is frustratingly inconsistent, especially on U.S. domestic routes. Some long domestic routes will lack power outlets and inflight entertainment screens — even in first class. Meanwhile, you can find lie-flat business-class seats sold as economy on one-hour flights. So if you’ve got some flexibility in your travels, knowing American Airlines’ fleet schedule can mean getting a superior experience.

The problem is: AA’s fleet schedule varies widely from month to month. So, we at The Points Guy dig into it regularly to unveil where you can find these excellent seats.

Whether you splurge on a first-class award or paid ticket, get a free upgrade using 500-mile upgrades or get a complimentary upgrade as a Platinum Pro or Executive Platinum member, here are the ways to fly on American Airlines’ best business-class seats without having to bring your passport.

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777-300ER Zodiac

As one of the best business-class seats in the sky, American Airlines’ Boeing 777-300ER (77W) is a great way of traveling anywhere. However, it’s typically expensive to buy an international round-trip on this aircraft; award availability on these flights is especially hard to get and upgrades on these premium routes are highly sought after.

If you’re looking to try it out without a passport, the good news is that the aircraft returned to domestic routes earlier this year. In December, you’ll mostly find this aircraft operating on cross-country flights between Miami (MIA) and Los Angeles (LAX), but there are also some one-off flights between Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and Miami:

Spot-checking these flights, AA isn’t selling premium economy as a separate cabin. Instead, premium economy seats are available to economy passengers as Main Cabin Extra seats — meaning these seats are free for Platinum, Platinum Pros and Executive Platinum elites.

777-200: B/E Aerospace Super Diamond or Zodiac Concept D

American Airlines has two different business-class seats in its 777-200 fleet — the “rocking” Zodiac Concept D seats and the much-better B/E Aerospace Super Diamond seats. You can’t tell these apart from looking at the seat map. And, even if you do book a particular version, equipment changes mean there’s no telling which type will show up at your gate.

However, both versions are lie-flat business-class seats and all of AA’s 777-200s have been retrofit with premium economy. While sold as premium economy on international flights and flights to/from Hawaii, these seats are labeled as Main Cabin Extra on mainland domestic routes. That means that these seats are free for Platinum, Platinum Pros and Executive Platinum elites. While you won’t get any extra service while sitting in premium economy seats on mainland domestic routes, these seats are a definite upgrade over the rest of the economy cabin.

So, looking for 777-200s on domestic routes is sure to provide a better-than-average first-class experience and a better-than-average Main Cabin Extra experience. Here are the routes on which AA is using these aircraft within the U.S.:

787-9 B/E Aerospace Super Diamond

While American Airlines mostly keeps its fuel-efficient 787-9 Dreamliners on international routes, periodically it will have to position these aircraft between hubs due to scheduling needs. This opens up a golden opportunity to try out AA’s newest business-class seat for yourself.

From December 2019 to February 2020, you’ll mostly find these three-cabin (economy, premium economy, business) aircraft flying a triangle between Chicago O’Hare (ORD), Dallas (DFW) and Los Angeles (LAX). In addition, AA is also operating this aircraft at least daily between DFW and Honolulu (HNL):

Upgrade didn’t clear? Or, don’t want to pay for first class? AA has made the decision to not sell premium economy on domestic routes (except to Hawaii), so the premium economy seats found on these 787s are sold as part of the economy cabin. However, these seats are labeled as Main Cabin Extra, so you’ll need AA elite status to choose them for free.

A330 Envoy Suite

While not the newest business-class seat in the fleet, the legacy U.S. Airways A330s provide a solid business-class product — and are certainly more than sufficient for a domestic flight. There’s an important difference to keep in mind through. The Airbus A330-200 have been retrofit with premium economy and Main Cabin Extra, but the Airbus A330-300 aircraft still won’t be retrofit.

From December to February, both the A330-200 (332) and A330-300 (333) aircraft are flying domestically. The premium economy retrofit A330-200 will be flying between Charlotte (CLT) and Orlando (MCO) and between Philadelphia (PHL) and Boston (BOS), Las Vegas (LAS), Los Angeles (LAX), Orlando and San Francisco (SFO):

And the Airbus A330-300 will mostly be on routes in and out of Charlotte (CLT), Las Vegas (LAS), Philadelphia (PHL) and Phoenix (PHX) — with flights between Phoenix (PHX) and Honolulu (HNL):

787-8: Zodiac Concept D

While it’s certainly not my favorite American Airlines business-class product, the lie-flat seats up front on AA’s 787-8 are definitely worth booking over a standard domestic first-class seat. You’ll find this aircraft frequently flying between Dallas and Chicago (ORD), Honolulu (HNL), Las Vegas (LAS), Los Angeles (LAX), Philadelphia (PHL), Phoenix (PHX), San Francisco (SFO); between Chicago and Honolulu, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Phoenix and San Francisco and between Philadelphia and Dallas, Los Angeles and Chicago.

767-300

The sixth and final aircraft on the list is American Airlines’ old Boeing 767s. While these are far from the best AA business-class seats — actually, these are #7 in our rankings — at least they’re lie-flat, meaning they’re significantly better than your standard domestic first-class options. Here’s where you can find them from December through February:

In addition, AA is adding a 767 to its route between Miami and Los Angeles once daily from March 29, 2020 through June 3, 2020.

A321T & 757

Although we’ve focused this post on widebody aircraft so far, it’s important to note that AA operates lie-flat seats on its specially-configured A321T aircraft and certain 757s. The trouble with both of these aircraft is that they can’t be distinguished from the standard recliner-seat versions of the A321-200 and the 757-200 without looking at individual seat maps.

However, the A321T can reliably be found on these domestic routes:

• New York Kennedy (JFK) — Los Angeles (LAX)
• New York Kennedy (JFK) — San Francisco (SFO)
• Los Angeles — Miami (MIA) between Dec. 18, 2019 and Jan. 6, 2020

Featured photo by JT Genter/The Points Guy.