Consider yourself an absolute legend for searching out a detailed American Airlines A321 economy review. This means you’re as desperate as you are serious about giving it a try.
I understand your apprehension. The legroom is tight, there are no video screens, and the snack and drink service will be frustratingly minimal.
Then again, it *will* help you to build up your tolerance for mediocre economy class products. In that case, go for it!
AA1543
Chicago, IL (ORD) – San Diego, CA (SAN)
Friday, April 11, 2025
Aircraft: Airbus A321
Registration: N153AN
Duration: 3 hours 36 minutes
Seat: 20C (Economy)
My full review of American Airlines A321 economy from Chicago to San Diego
I arrived at ORD on a flight from West Palm Beach approximately 2 hours before this departure to San Diego. I know. Flying from West Palm Beach to San Diego with a connection in Chicago sounds idiotic.
Then again, so does flying American Airlines A321 economy all the way across the country. But I was desperate. And serious.
The boarding process
They kicked off the boarding process ight on time at 4:20pm. It was one of the smallest gates that have ever flown out of at O’Hare, and it was mildly amusing watching everyone trying to figure out when and where to board.
I was lucky. With my peon-like group 6 boarding pass, I had no choice but to stand back and wait my turn.
that it wasn’t even worth slowing down to look at these extra legroom seats on my way back to basic economy. IYKYK.
American Airlines A321 economy class seat overview
Not going to lie. These days, if you’ve seen one American Airlines domestic economy review, you’ve seen them all. The economy seats on the Airbus A321 are the same basic Oasis seats they’ve stuffed into every other mainline narrowbody aircraft type in their fleet.
These seats do not have video screens built into them. Seat pitch is about as minimal as they can legally get away with, and you’re probably not going to like how hard they are.
The departure from ORD
I have no idea how they managed to get us pushed off the gate 5 minutes early at 4:50 p.m. This flight was probably 95% full, and it was a struggle to find space for everyone’s carry-on bags in the overhead bins. But they did it. And I’m not complaining.
It was a 15 minute taxi over to runway 9C, and we departed 10 minutes late at 5:15 p.m.
In-flight entertainment
You’d never know how good the in-flight entertainment is in American A321 economy just by looking at the seats. It’s hard to be optimistic when there are no video screens.
That said, the streaming in-flight entertainment product is really good. It’s loaded with all of the TV shows and movies most normal people would probably want to watch. Apple music is completely free. And the best part? It’s extremely fast (even on a full flight such as this).
Snacks and drinks
Even on this 4-Hour flight from Chicago to San Diego, all we got was one small snack and one drink. They only came down the aisle with the snack and beverage cart once (unlike Delta and United who do it twice on longer flights such as this).
More substantial food items such as sandwiches, snack boxes, and fruit and cheese plates are available for purchase. Alcohol too.
A few words about seat comfort
The American Airlines Oasis seats (the ones installed here on the A321) are some of the worst airline economy seats in existence. They are very hard and extremely sparse. To make matters worse, it seems as if they decided to crank down the leg room just to tick us off (as if we weren’t ticked off enough already).
The lavatory
I like the fact that there is a mid cabin lavatory for economy class passengers on the A321. It (just like the ones all the way at the back) isn’t very large (or well designed), but it’s convenient for those seated in the front half of the cabin.
The descent and arrival into San Diego
All of the time that we lost during the taxi and takeoff at O’Hare was made up in the air. We began the descent into San Diego 10 minutes early. Just in time for a beautiful sunset! Too bad I was stuck in an aisle seat and I didn’t see any of it.
We landed on runway 27 at 6:51 p.m. and the taxi to the gate was a scant 2 minutes. I guess that’s one advantage of flying American Airlines into San Diego. Their gate placement in Terminal 2 west is highly ideal!
Pros and cons
If this review wasn’t enough to convince you to think twice about American Airlines A321 economy, you’re either really weird or should probably read it again. Both Delta and United offer a far better economy product for the same price IMHO. For now anyway.
Pros
- The in-flight entertainment is quite good. There’s a wide variety of interesting stuff to watch and listen to.
- The mid cabin lavatory is a game changer on longer flights. I wish all airlines offered this!
- At least they’re still serving free snacks and drinks.
Cons
- You’re probably not going to be satisfied with the leg room on longer flights (no matter how tall – or short – you are).
- Don’t expect anything more than one quick snack and drink service. Those of you who refuse to accept this should fly Delta or United instead.
- Wi-Fi isn’t free at the time of this writing. It’s coming though (probably by late 2026).
There’s not much to say that I haven’t said in your other AA reviews lol. It’s said to see that they’re going for mediocre, when they actually used to be pretty solid before the pandemic (although I will say that at least their cabins are a lot more consistent nowadays).
I’ve flown this product twice, on A321’s with the ex-US Airways cabins. While those were even more basic, at least the seats were more comfortable than the Oasis ones. My second flight on it was quite special, as it was my part of my first post-pandemic trip and my first sunset flight in over a year, which was great to see after ~6 months without traveling at all.
Oh and yeah, the mid-cabin lavatory is great! It’s convenient, and it also breaks up the monotony of just rows and rows of seats.
The mid cabin lavatory was by far the best part. It’s so convenient! What I didn’t mention in this review is that I actually had Covid and I didn’t know it. I was starting to feel bad just before departing Chicago, and was pretty much a wreck by the time we arrived in San Diego. I tested the next day and it was positive.
I hope I didn’t get anyone else sick…