Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.bonus From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: bonus Thu, Feb 20 1992 Date: Thu, 20 Feb 92 06:16:57 EST Message-ID: BONUS: Business class has pleasures USA TODAY Update Feb. 20, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network Passengers lean back in their sheepskin and leather seat, raise a glass of red wine and wonder when the fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookies will arrive while they pluck chilled zucchini slices, artichoke hearts and button mushrooms off a china plate. That's what it's like to fly American Airlines' new domestic business class, begun this month on non-stop flights between Los Angeles and New York's JFK airport. "The service in this section is really like first class," says passenger and 1960 Olympics gold-medalist Rafer Johnson. And much more comfortable than coach. IS DOMESTIC BUSINESS CLASS NEW? Domestic business class isn't new - TWA has had it for a decade -but its popularity is clearly taking off. Recently, United and Delta also have added business class on some domestic routes, although American says it's pushing the envelope further. "We don't think there's been a true international-equivalent business-class product in the market ever," says Michael Gunn, an American senior vice president. DOES THE SERVICE HAVE AN INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR? American's new transcontinental service does carry the look of an international flight. The 10 remodeled DC-10s on the Los Angeles-New York route have the same first- and business-class seats that American uses on overseas flights. Even the seats back in coach are cushier than they used to be. WHAT DO YOU GET FOR THE MONEY? When you pay $998 one way for a business-class seat, you expect to be coddled, pampered and treated like the president instead of just another anonymous flier. Give American an "A" for effort on that score. In fact, the service and space are so good that American's first-class seats - at $1,325 one way - will seem a waste of money to many fliers. WHAT STANDS OUT IN BUSINESS CLASS? The first thing you notice here in business class is that the flight attendants are bubbling with enthusiasm. They greet you warmly and take your coat. You've barely stowed your bag in the roomy overhead bin before someone else is offering you champagne, orange juice or a mixture of the two, known as a mimosa. After you sit down, the newspaper and magazine cart rolls by. With the perfect timing of a Swiss watch, hot towels are dropped in your hands just in time to wipe the ink from the morning newspapers off your fingers. HOW'S THE FOOD SERVICE? Seems it's always time to eat or drink something on this five-hour flight. That's not a complaint. In coach, eating passes the time or is passed up with little regret. But business-class food is created with imagination, served with aplomb and not to be missed. AND THE FOOD ITSELF? Business class is more like a flying restaurant. Soon after boarding, you get printed menus with three entree choices. Well before meal time, flight attendants take your order. The trays are covered with royal-blue linens, meals are served on china plates. No casserole dishes or plastic cups up here. The choices are smoked-salmon omelettes with apple potato cakes, whole-wheat pancakes with fresh cantaloupe and honeydew-melon relish or cereal and fruit. HOW'S THE WINE LIST? The wine list is impressive, too, featuring some good California wines and one import - Graham's Six Grapes Port, a dessert wine. The white wines include Ferrari-Carano Alexander Valley fume blanc; among the reds are Chimney Rock Stag's Leap District cabernet sauvignon. ("Very savvy choices. I would be happy to be served that lineup on an airline flight," The Wine Spectator's Thomas Matthews tells me later). DOES BUSINESS CLASS HAVE MORE SPACE THAN COACH? Compared with coach, business class has about twice as much space per passenger in the overhead bins plus two closets for hanging coats and garment bags. The cubbyhole beneath the armrest is good for storing headphones, tapes for your Walkman, a paperback or, if you're a reporter, a notebook. WHAT OTHER PERKS DOES BUSINESS CLASS HAVE? The tray tables beat the ones in coach hands-down. Instead of folding down from the seat in front of you, the ones in American's business-class section pull out from the armrests. They slide forward, backward and swivel so they can be adjusted to fit fliers of all shapes and sizes. They fold in half, too, as do the trays in coach, which gives you room to cross your legs when all you have in front of you is a glass. DOES COACH HAVE ANY ADVANTAGES? The coach section does have one advantage. On lightly loaded flights, passengers in the coach sections of DC-10s can push up the armrests in the center row of seats, stretch out and take a nap. It's tougher to do that in business class because there are fewer empty rows. HOW DOES THE PRICE COMPARE WITH COACH? Nice as American's business class is, though, it seems overpriced. The regular fare, $998 one way, is nearly a third higher than the $752 full-coach fare. True, frequent fliers don't have to pay that. They can upgrade from coach for a full-coach fare plus $65 worth of upgrade stickers. But it's hard to beat TWA's business-class fare of $550 one way. MGM Grand Air is a good value, too. It has a discounted first-class fare of $998 one way between the coasts, and its coach section, which costs as little as $639 one way, has all the feel of business class. WHAT'S THE BUSINESS CLASS SCHEDULE? American's strength is its schedule - seven flights, all with business class, in each direction daily between JFK and Los Angeles International Airport. That will increase to nine flights this summer. TWA has no more than four daily non-stops each way. MGM makes just two flights a day in each direction. Delta has three business-class flights a day on the route. United will offer one starting April 5. IS AMERICAN'S BUSINESS CLASS WORTH THE MONEY? Depends on how much you value time and comfort and how strong your loyalities are to American. "You can't eat or drink enough to justify the fare. It's the room that makes the difference," says Los Angeles trial lawyer Bob Logan, a business-class passenger on my flight. "If you're going to get any work done, business class or first class is the way to go." Bonus Editor: Michele Coleman. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. 08:0002200000T2030 US01- R - USA-TODAY............................. A T2030 02-20 0000 cc cc Feb. 20, 1992 This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM