American Airlines Business Class to Australia (LAX-SYD)

In this video I fly from Austin (AUS) to Los Angeles (LAX) in American Airlines domestic first class, then onward from Los Angeles (LAX) to Sydney, Australia (SYD) in American Airlines Flagship Business Class.
Special thanks to ‪@noelphilips‬ for his intro!
I booked this with 80,000 American Airlines miles and $31.50 in taxes and fees one way. US airlines get a bad rap, especially in premium cabins, but I found this hard product to be quite good (even though it's not particularly pretty or private). The service was also excellent and friendly from the Austin Admirals Club to deplaning in Sydney. The food however, was not good, with the only exceptions being the Sundae and the pretzel bun.
What you're paying for here is not fine dining, and it's not even for the airport lounges either, you're paying to have a lie-flat bed on a 15-hour flight, and if you understand that going in, you won't be disappointed.
Timestamps
0:00 - 3:08 AUS-LAX
3:08 - 6:43 LAX Lounges
6:43 - 14:47 LAX-SYD

[@stetson999]

Most underrated KZbin travel channel.

[@ThePhilShow]

Thank you! This means a lot

[@therealchuckyg]

only 740 subscribers is criminal. This is better production quality than an MCU movie these days.

[@ThePhilShow]

Haha kind of you to say. I promise to limit my use of CGI

[@sp4263]

😂😂 Love the "...doing some more consulting " on the laptop

[@ThePhilShow]

Thank you, thank you. Someone has to keep the world turning 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@things971]

I spit coffee all over my phone screen when he said that 😂😂😂

[@ppj1115]

First time seeing one of your reviews. Selected one for a flight I have done many times to assess your observations. Your thoughts align so closely to mine. Attention to detail is rock solid. Love your dry humor. I will look out for more of your content.

[@ThePhilShow]

Thank you! You must have some good observations. Glad to have you around.

[@mikezaccheo1903]

Love this. I found this video as I’m taking this flight soon and wanted to know what to expect. Your sarcasm, lounge and premium cabin appreciation is on point 🤌

[@ThePhilShow]

Glad you liked it! Have a great trip!

[@jillk8291]

Excellent review of the AA business class product and a great sense of humor. I assume you just started posting recently with your low subscriber numbers. And if you really are a business consultant, I guess you don't have much free time to post a lot of videos. But I will look for them in the future!

[@ThePhilShow]

Thanks so much! I’ve actually been posting these at varying frequencies since 2016 - don’t scroll too far back! You’re right about the schedule, but I have some I’m working on in the pipeline.

[@zestd3722]

Your editing and humor is on point good sir. Subscribed!

[@ThePhilShow]

Thank you!

[@stevenhickey1800]

Thankyou. Great review. Had a lot of laughs along the way.

[@ThePhilShow]

Thanks for saying that! Really glad you enjoyed

[@davidhamilton1881]

Great video - loved the drone shots! I am flying this route next year but on UA. By comparison, the food didn't look that bad on AA. Thanks for uploading....

[@ThePhilShow]

Thanks, David! United has a lot better Pacific coverage than American does. I'll be curious to hear your thoughts on the experience. Safe travels!

[@rem05033]

Wow! You are good! I will subscribe based on this video. I follow all the usual suspects in aviation reviews. Best of luck to you.

[@ThePhilShow]

Thank you very much! Glad to have you aboard!

[@airplane190]

Brand new to your channel but I gotta say, your travel vlog is so unique and so refreshing. Keep up the awesome work.

[@ThePhilShow]

Thank you! Your encouragement goes a long way!

[@arknal7828]

Doing this flight in 2 weeks and good to know I should probably enjoy the food in the lounges than more than what they’ll have on the plane

[@ThePhilShow]

Yeah I think that’s the move. Pack plenty of snacks you enjoy and have a great trip!

[@luisa2371]

Wow! I travelled the same flight and same business class seat in Jan 2024. I had a great meal at the flagship lounge, no need to eat on the plane but I had a strawberry tart with chocolate ice cream. I enjoyed my the flight except for the snack bar options was pretty bad though, plenty of awful no takers of various chips. . . definitely, a let down, not even a selection of fruit to hydrate well, sugary sofas, for sure heaps. The meals were equally bad, I was served an economy class breakfast with a frozen scramble eggs in the middle. . .microwave, but usually in business class they cook breakfast well. I even reported to the Aadvantage membership office, equally lousy service, what a domino effect. The business class cabin crews were great but back in economy class when I asked for snacks, a middle age cabin crew just looked at me and turned around. They don’t go around every few hours to give out snacks and water like Qantas does to ensure you are hydrated well. I rated my flight a 7

[@ThePhilShow]

Thanks for sharing your experience. Would love to compare to Qantas.

[@billywong9997]

Welcome to Sydney - Great showcase of AA - I have had many good experiences with AA

[@ThePhilShow]

Thank you! Every Australian I’ve encountered has been so welcoming and friendly

[@dkil]

Hilarious and underrated KZbin content for sure 😂

[@ThePhilShow]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed!

[@SAFFY7411]

For a channel of this size the content is top notch. You have good energy in front and behind the camera. Keep going!

[@ThePhilShow]

Really appreciate the encouragement here! Lots to learn and improve upon.

[@Julian-ck6lf]

Great video subbed today, done that route in reverse with QF it’s a long one!

[@ThePhilShow]

Thank you! I was originally supposed to fly this on QF from DFW but had to change plans. Would still really like to try biz and first on Qantas!

[@nelsonnne8831]

hey bro, havent been very active cuz of school but your vids are amazing!

[@ThePhilShow]

Thanks, Nelson! Good to hear from you and hope school is going well!

[@Traveltheme706]

Welcome to Sydney my home city thats about what id expect for American Airlines you just want a comfy bed on those late night flights out of the west coast, btw i just subbed to your channel

[@ThePhilShow]

Thank you! Yes bed is definitely top priority on any long or ultra-long haul flight.

[@LMays-cu2hp]

Thank you for sharing your trip. You made about the First Class and Business Class to set up the bedding in your seats. Ypu are right about the Flight Attendants will make the bed in First Class but you, yourself have to fix ypur own bedding in Business Class.😊😊😅

[@ThePhilShow]

Thanks for watching! Glad you can confirm this experience

[@LMays-cu2hp]

You are welcome.

[@Jlabibs190]

incredible video... but I have to say, we need to see the gucci, hermes, montclair store selection, thank you.

[@SW-bw4xk]

Freaking hilarious 😂 😃

[@ThePhilShow]

Thank you!

[@jackbaldwin3649]

WHAT?? $30 for a shower and no food? That's a RIP. Thanks for sharing that.

[@ThePhilShow]

I should clarify here, the lounge is free to enter for Priority Pass members and has a very bare bones snack bar but the shower costs $30 extra.

[@user-ms5ri5zb6u]

to be honest with you you have 721 subscribers this videos look like a video by a 5 million subscribers

[@ThePhilShow]

Thank you! You got here early, I guess the rest of the world is still catching up!

[@thatextempguy8267]

Here before a 1000000 subs!!!

[@ThePhilShow]

Well before! Thanks for coming along for the ride

[@jenniferbooth9348]

I cannot eat airplane food at all. It’s not appetizing to me. My sister just got back from Sydney but flew Qantas from DFW direct and Qantas from Sydney to LAX. She fell in love with the A380.

[@ThePhilShow]

Agreed. Only very rare cases where airplane food is better than even fast food on the ground

[@jenniferbooth9348]

@@ThePhilShow so true. I’ve been on long haul flights and I make sure I have enough snacks on me bc even the smell gets to me.

[@jillk8291]

Qatar Air Business Class was pretty impressive. Even on the short flight from Doha to Kochi India they had similar menu as the US East Coast to Doha.

[@jenniferbooth9348]

@@jillk8291 I have heard good things about their food

[@jackbaldwin3649]

That meal looked awful, so bad, in fact, I tweeted a picture to AA. I'm glad the dessert was better. Funny, the snack bar food looks better than your meal.

[@ThePhilShow]

Haha the snack bar does look better but doesn’t taste much better.

[@jackbaldwin3649]

@@ThePhilShow That's a bummer.

[@akneemoose3383]

That food looked like gruel

[@ThePhilShow]

Prison food fr

[@The_Turd_Ferguson]

good review. aa still sucks though

[@ThePhilShow]

Haha thank you. Who would be your carrier of choice direct from US to Australia?

[@The_Turd_Ferguson]

any asian or ME carrier. being the points whore that I am, ill take the long way or a repositioning flight to make it work. i wont even redeem my AA miles for their flagship trash. However, once they start upgrading their cabins id reconsider. The catering will still be terrible and the service, sus, but at least a better seat. anywho, appreciate the honest, witty and entertaining review. More please@@ThePhilShow

[@MrFloydSaunders]

This vblogger’s commentary really is annoying.

[@ThePhilShow]

Sorry to hear it, Floyd. Not for everyone I guess. Maybe you could put on some music of your choice and watch it on mute?

[@Jlabibs190]

that's quite a rude comment, please do not speak to my friend philip that way MrFloydSaunders

[@Alorio-Gori]

The Consultant!