American Airlines has the leading market share on flights to the Caribbean from it’s hub in Miami International Airport in the United States. Being located on in the Pacific Northwest, it’s an area that had escaped our travels. We would test out American Airlines Business Class service from Curaçao to Miami from the Southern Caribbean on their Boeing 737 – 800 series product today.

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This post is one chapter on our trip during the pandemic to Curaçao in the Southern Caribbean. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status and Hertz Gold Plus Rewards. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.

If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.

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Review: American Airlines Business Class B737-8, Curaçao Hato International Airport – Miami International Airport

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This flight was the start of a lounge journey home from the Carribiean to the Pacific North West. We were on a series of flights today starting with American Airlines Business Class Curaçao – Miami, followed by American Airlines First Class Miami – Los Angeles, lastly to American Airlines Business Class Los Angeles – Vancouver.

We flew down to Curaçao on American Airlines Business Class B737-Max 8 Miami – Curaçao, so please feel free to check out that review to see what the flight looks like on the way down to Curaçao.

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We left the Curaçao VIP Lounge Hato International airport and headed to gate 4 located right across from the lounge. We were departing Curaçao after a seven day trip. Unfortunately, there was no where to change my last Dutch Gilder currency, as there was no currency exchange at the airport that we saw.

Our American Airlines Boeing 737-800 series aircraft was parked at Gate 4 when we arrived. At the time of our trip, there were two flights a day between Miami to Curaçao. One flight was on a Boeing 737 Max 8 product, where as the other flight was on their Boeing 737-800 series that is the subject of this review.

We boarded at Gate 4 with Group One boarding. MrsWT73 got sent into additional security screening thanks to an “SSSS” on her boarding card. This was affected immediately after a scan of the boarding card right at the gate.

While she was undergoing that screening, I wandered down the jet bridge where they held us for a little while prior to actually boarding the aircraft.

American Airlines

AA 1014 – Business Class

CUR – MIA (Hato International Airport – Miami International Airport)

April 5, 2022

2:40 PM – 5:55 PM

Booked: Boeing 737-800

Flown: Boeing 737-800

On Board American Airlines Business Class:

Todays’ flight was on American Airlines Boeing 737-800 business class product. It is set up in a 2 – 2 configuration with 4 rows of “First Class” or “Business Class”, depending if you are flying internationally or domestically through the United States on this equipment type.

The seats offer in seat power by Empower seat power or also by USB plug in.

Pre-Departure Services:

There was no pre- departure beverage offered today. American Airlines now boards in up to nine boarding groups. As a result, we had plenty of fellow passengers stream past us as they headed down the cabin towards the back.

Flying to international destinations always offers the chance to see interesting aircraft. Our plane happened to be parked next to a Jet Air Fokker F70.

Our cheery purser in charge promptly arranged for everyone to get seated and we were underway out of Curacao on Runway 11. Once airborne, we had an immediate U turn to head toward a westerly direction. We said good bye to Curaçao with some last glances at the Caribbean island.

The Meal: A Light Snack

Once we had arrived to cruising altitude, the meal service started right away. We started off with a towel service, which was presented with a very tired looking towel.

The dinner service started with a drink offering and mixed warmed nuts. I had my usual Gin and Tonic, which was served with Aviation American Gin and Canada Dry Tonic Water.

The lunch offering was a choice of a vegetarian sandwich or the charcuterie tray we had on our earlier flight. Being seated in row #2, I actually had the opportunity to get my first choice of the vegetarian sandwich.

The vegetarian sandwich was served on a croissant with spinach, cheese and tomato. It was paired with the broccoli salad with sesame seeds and cranberries in a cream dressing  It was actually tasty.

In Flight Entertainment:

The “in flight entertainment” was offered through the American Airlines wifi. There was a substantial amount of movies available on the flight. As there were no seat back monitors, you had to bring your own device with you.

While there were no i-Pad’s passed out like Alaska Airlines, I was able to access the entertainment through the American Airlines in flight wifi and app similar to on our previous flights.

I ended up settling into Casino Royale for me as one of the better Danial Craig James Bond films for the balance of this flight.

Arriving into Miami:

Towards the end of our flight, we descended into Miami International Airport over Interstate Highways of the United States. We eventually arrived into Miami International Airport at Gate D45.

We deplaned and passed though US Customs and Border Protection among a whole series of Caribbean flights. It was a very bust and darker arrivals area, with low ceilings and heavy amount of baggage changing hands. With Global Entry, we were through pretty quickly.

We headed out over to the Car Rental Center and into a Hertz Rental on our way to the JW Marriott Miami for the night.

My Thoughts on American Airlines Business Class from the Caribbean:

The American Airlines Business Class product on its flights to the southern Caribbean was a more comfortable way to travel. While I was happy to get our first choice of meals this time around, it wasn’t all that filling. American Airlines Business Class is a step up against economy class, but it wasn’t super luxurious or amenity filled.

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If you travel on American Airlines, do you make sure you fly up front when flying around the Caribbean ?

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