Review: Aeromexico Clase Premier B737 Mexico City to Los Angeles

Aeromexico 646
Mexico City (MEX) – Los Angeles (LAX)
Boeing 737-800
30 May 2016

I spent a wonderful, long weekend in Mexico City visiting a friend and sadly Monday came which meant I’d have to fly back to Seattle for one more week of uni. I mentioned about how I couldn’t find any award flights on this Monday back to Seattle and was considering flying back to Seattle via Europe, but later I thankfully realised that would be a waste of miles.

Because miles are boundless (for the most part), I remembered I had some Aeromexico Club Premier miles/points (that are mostly useless) from the US Bank Visa Credit Card I got a few years ago just for fun. Thankfully I was able to redeem those for a ticket in Aeromexico Clase Premier (Business Class) from Mexico City to Los Angeles and then from LAX to Seattle in Alaska First Class (since the two airlines are “partners”). It took forever to get it booked and needless to say, I will never be going through Aeromexico Club Premier again (although I don’t know if it is their fault or Alaska’s since Alaska isn’t the best partner – and it is mostly Alaska’s fault).

My friend took me to the airport at about 04:00 and we made it there at around 04:30 for the 06:30 flight to Los Angeles. I really wanted to be on the ~09:00 flight to LAX, because it is operated using a Dreamliner.. and there was space available! Just no space from LAX to SEA later in the day… oh, well… life goes on.

Check-in was quick and I decided to visit the Aeromexico Salon Premier and the AMEX Centurion Club in Terminal 2. Both lounges were horrible. The AMEX Lounge had zero people – and therefore was nice and quiet, but they charge for just about everything other than light drinks – which I really find confusing. The Aeromexico lounge was super crowded, but did have some better food options – though no place to sit. So, overall, both lounges suck.

Boarding began around 06:00 for the flight to Los Angeles, beginning first with passengers travelling in Aeromexico’s Clase Premier and Sky Priority passengers. I must stay that I’m quite impressed with Aeromexico – the check-in process, boarding, etc. were all quick and the ground staff were very friendly. Our flight to LAX was operated by a Boeing 737-800 with four rows in Clase Premier, in a 2-2 configuration.

Aeromexico’s Clase Premier is basically an enhanced version of the regular, U.S. domestic First Class product. Aeromexico has IFE on most aircraft, their seats recline significantly more, the seats are comfortable, legroom is great, and there is a footrest!

What was a bit strange is that some seats had blankets or pillows… not both, but one or the other. Some people asked for the other “component” and the flight attendants were happy to provide it. The lead FA working Clase Premier also distributed complimentary earbuds, followed by a pre-departure beverage of either water or orange juice.

We pushed back about fifteen minutes behind schedule and made it to the runway about ten minutes later, where we queued for departure. Eventually, we departed about 30 minutes late, with a slightly delayed arrival into Los Angeles.

Once in the sky, we were presented with very unclear views of Mexico City and once we were past the smog, it was a beautiful day in the sky.

All of the flight attendants were super friendly and the lead FA addressed all of the passengers by name and asked if we would like to have breakfast and what we would like to drink. I speak Spanish and therefore I communicated with them better than if I had spoken in English.

There were two choices for breakfast: fruit, cereal (without milk?!), yoghurt, and bread and the other option was huevos rancheros with a similar fruit plate. Since no milk was provided, I mixed the yoghurt and cereal and they were both delicious. The fruit was also tasty and fresh. I asked for some Tea to go along with my breakfast.

After breakfast, I reclined my seat and extended the footrest and felt very comfortable and actually was able to sleep for about two hours and woke up about thirty minutes out of Los Angeles.

We landed in Los Angeles about fifteen minutes late and arrived at the gate thirty minutes late. I had about a two-hour connection, so it wasn’t an issue for me. Overall, I really enjoyed Aeromexico and it does make me want to fly with them more when I go to Mexico. The flight attendants were all great and everything was served with a smile, we were addressed by name, etc. The food was also tasty and definitely a better breakfast than I would’ve been served in domestic U.S. First Class. The seat was also significantly more comfortable and the fact that it had a footrest was a huge plus.

It was quite nice to fly a non-U.S. airline, no threats were made when passengers used the lavatory when the seatbelt sign was off (some even got up a few seconds after we departed and even during the final descent). It isn’t like the crew was irresponsible and didn’t tell them anything – but rather, they politely reminded the passengers to take their seats. Oh, how I miss this service. It was so nice to see a contrast to U.S. airlines and how the crew basically threaten you for everything and the FAs assume they have ultimate control over the passengers.

I will definitely fly Aeromexico in the future, just probably not using their miles 😉 – they’re a bit hard to redeem!