It can change your onboard experience if you choose the best seats in your cabin class. The best Premium Economy seats on any American Airlines plane are the bulkhead seats. This holds regardless of the aircraft. Although Business Class seating varies on American Airlines depending on the aircraft, the Premium Economy seating is identical on every plane.
Almost all of American Airlines’s widebody aircraft feature Premium Economy, and you can read my comparison of Coach Vs. Premium Economy and if it’s worth it.
Which Planes Don’t Have Premium Economy?
The Boeing 767 and the Airbus A330-300 don’t feature Premium Economy, plus there are currently some Boeing 787-8 aircraft that have been retrofitted with the new Premium Economy seats and some that haven’t.
American Airlines’ planes that do feature Premium Economy are the Airbus A330-200, Boeing 777-200, Boeing 777-300, Boeing 787-8 (some of them!), and the Boeing 787-9.
Note that it is only these planes on international flights and flights between Dallas, Hawaii, and Anchorage that feature Premium Economy. Strangely, you can book the Premium Economy cabin and seats but not service on some international flights like those from the US to Canada, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America.
The Premium Economy cabin on American Airlines planes is laid out as 2-3-2, while other aircraft have a 2-4-2 layout. The middle seats are the worst in the cabin unless you travel as a family of 3 or 4, making sitting in a row convenient. They are even worse for a lone traveler; the middle seats are awful as you have no window and no access to the aisle.
Seat recline is only a few inches greater than what’s offered in Main Cabin Extra, American’s extra legroom product in standard economy. This means that if the passenger in front of you reclines, you will still be able to use your laptop and not feel claustrophobic like you might in Economy.
The Best Seats
Bulkhead seats are some of the best seats in the cabin, with a real legrest instead of a footrest and slightly more room.
Because the same Premium Economy product is used on every American Airlines aircraft, pick a bulkhead seat if you want the best seat in the cabin regardless of what aircraft you are flying.
It is also worth checking out the seat map and avoiding seats close to the toilets due to passing traffic and toilet flush noise.
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