My recent American Airlines A321 Main Cabin Extra experience was a perfect example of what it’s like when an airline half asses nearly everything.
Although they did come through on their promise of an economy class seat with extra legroom, snacks and drinks were minimal. There were no video screens. And Wi-Fi? I had to pay extra for that.
It’s almost as if they want us to fly other airlines.
AA1055
San Diego, CA (SAN) – Dallas-Fort Worth, TX (DFW)
Monday, April 7, 2025
Aircraft: A321-231
Registration: N126AN
Duration: 2 hours 28 minutes
Seat: 9A (Main Cabin Extra)
Arrival at SAN (and checking in)
This flight to Dallas was scheduled to depart at 7:05 AM from Terminal 2 East. That’s quite the change of pace for a guy who normally flies out of Terminal 2 West.
Main Cabin Extra passengers don’t get any special treatment when checking in. You have to use the kiosk like everyone else. Or better yet: check in online to avoid the lines (like I did).
The boarding process
Despite having a seat assignment in Main Cabin Extra, I ended up with a cattle-class “Group 6” boarding pass. As a reminder, there are 9 boarding groups on American Airlines.
I achieved such a high number by purchasing a basic economy ticket and then paying extra (after the fact) for a better seat. Go me!
The boarding process began exactly on time at 6:40 AM. Being relegated to boarding group 6 made it feel more like 9:43 (and 47…48…49… seconds)
American Airlines A321 Main Cabin Extra seat overview
The first five rows of the main cabin on the American Airlines A321 are Main Cabin Extra seats. These are standard economy class seats with approximately 6 inches of extra legroom. Seat width (18”) is exactly the same. They’re narrow.
The most important take away so far: this isn’t all that different this is exactly the same as what it’s like in American Airlines 737-800 Main Cabin Extra. At least they’re consistent.
Our departure from San Diego
The APU on this particular aircraft was refusing to cooperate during the boarding process, so there was a bit of delay getting off the gate.
By the time they got that APU issue all sorted out, it was 7:21 AM (nine minutes behind schedule). I’ll bet they absolutely loved the fact that there was someone onboard counting every second.
It wasn’t until we got to the threshold of runway 27 that the Captain announced that they were holding our departure due to arrival congestion at DFW. We ended up sitting for 14 minutes (which was fine because it gave me more time to count).
I also recorded a full video of the taxi and takeoff process, which you can view below:
In-flight entertainment
There are no video screens in the Main Cabin Extra seats (or any other seat on the entire airplane for that matter). The American Airlines streaming in-flight entertainment product is pretty good though, so it’s not a total loss.
All of the movies, TV shows, and podcasts you’d have access to you on any other US airline are included (as they should be). That’s a nice consolation for the lack of video screens in the seats I guess.
On a positive note, they do provide access to Apple Music for free. However – Wi-Fi access is not free at the time of this writing. It is coming though! Or so they say.
Snacks and drinks
Just like all the other US airlines, American airlines does not serve premium snacks to their “premium” domestic economy passengers. Alcohol (beer and wine) is complementary though. Food was also available for purchase, but I passed on that.
A321 Main Cabin Extra seat comfort
If your sole reason for purchasing a Main Cabin Extra seat is to take advantage of the extra legroom, you’re probably going to be very comfortable. Those of you hoping for more padding, deeper recline, and extra width are going to be disappointed. It’s no different than basic economy.
Thinking back on it, my American Airlines A319 economy experience wasn’t much more uncomfortable than this. Main Cabin Extra isn’t a huge upgrade over basic economy IMHO.
The arrival in Dallas-Fort Worth
It was a beautiful day in the Dallas-Fort Worth area as we began the approach. Not everyone was able to appreciate the nice weather though. Our delay out of San Diego made it so there would be some very tight connections being made once on the ground. Not a big deal though considering how low DFW minimum connection times are.
We touched down on runway 36L at 12:38 PM. This was 28 minutes behind our scheduled arrival time, but hey. The skies were crystal clear. In Dallas!
Pros and cons
American Airlines A321 Main Cabin Extra just isn’t as good as the “premium” domestic economy products of both Delta and United IMHO. It’s not horrible, but you’ll get more perks on those other airlines.
Pros
- The legroom is really good (and totally worth paying extra for if you’re over 6 feet tall).
- Free booze!
- Although extremely basic, the seats are very stylish. I like.
- Having access to both USB and 110 V power outlets is nice.
Cons
- No video screens. None. Zilch. Nada.
- Premium snacks? Hahahaha!
- Wi-Fi isn’t free. It’ll probably be coming within the next year or so, so there is hope on the horizon.
Ugh. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to fly from Southern California to Dallas and back, or as a stopover to and from the East Coast, for business, for school, for vacation, etc. It doesn’t look like American has improved at all on this route in 25+ years. It’s just a giant, flying Greyhound with marginal services. And not even any nuts anymore…just that gnarly Biscoff sugar biscuit with an aftertaste. Perfect for the quick sugar high that makes you crash shortly afterwards as your ancient 737 (or A321, my bad!) crawls its way to or back from the West Coast.
Thanks for the review! Being so excited to see Dallas that you have to piss sums up this experience better than Robert Frost describing a snowy evening in New England.
You and me both brother! SAN-DFW (and DFW-SAN) has been the same ‘ol same ‘ol for as long as I can remember. Not only that, American Airlines is really good at making me loathe certain types of aircraft. Back in the day it was the MD-80. Today, all we get out of SAN is the A321 and 737. Over and over and over again.
It should be noted that alcohol is supposed to be free in MCE on AA on domestic flights above like 350 or 500 miles… shocked it wasn’t. Or did you not order/try? Just curious!
Dang it, I should’ve asked. The cabin announcement was “alcohol is available for purchase”, and nobody around me asked for alcohol (so I assumed it wasn’t an option). Oh well. Next time.
Oh wait. I don’t plan on flying American Airlines again anytime soon lol.
It’s a shame how American isn’t going for great anymore, but rather they’re trying to be as mediocre as possible. The project Oasis seats are quite literally the Legacy US Airways seats but with device holders and are worse than the 2013 seats (no IFE screens, the tray table doesn’t fold in half, and the AC power outlet under the seat instead of in the seatback), their buy-on-board menu is ridiculously small (and they removed all fresh food after the pandemic), and the IFE is worse (not only are there no longer screens, I’m pretty sure their streaming service doesn’t have a map, and their wi-fi is the most expensive of the Big 3).
So yeah, while United is trying to compete with Delta & JetBlue, American is in a limbo where they’re better than the LCC’s, but completely unremarkable. Honestly, based on what I’ve seen, they seem like a larger, more expensive version of Breeze nowadays.
I was just looking at one of my older American Airlines economy reviews, and I was shocked to see video screens. I totally forgot they existed! These Oasis seats are a far cry from the seats of old.
And you’re right – there is no map screen as part of the streaming in-flight entertainment. They do have weather though. Kind of a pointless feature when you’re flying to San Diego though, right?
Good analogy about it being like Breeze! I hadn’t thought about that, but it works.
The pic below the one where your phone says 8:24… know why that fellow looks miserable? HE FLIES ECONOMY! I can see it!
In Norebbo news, I created a BOAC Concorde image and through using fuzzy select, gave the fuselage the Andy Warhol ‘movement’ that characterized his portraits.
I really enjoy flying. But for an avgeek like you is the charm drained out like a dead espresso drink w/milk?
The amount of profit these airlines (wh. were bailed out w/our tax $) make makes the prison food they hand out seem cretinous and venal. Maybe because it IS cretinous and venal, eh?
He’s probably just as miffed as I was about the lack of video screens lol. Not too many people happy to be flying American Airlines these days.
And thanks for the preview of the illustration (via email) – very Warhol indeed.
In regards to your final question, I actually still enjoy flying. Almost as much I did way back in the day (as sick as it sounds). It’s just different now. Some things have become worse, while other things have become better. It all balances out I guess.