AA delivered a strong performance on this flight from LAS to DFW and much of it was related to the Boeing 787-8.
Boarding: I was Group 1 Priority. Of note, two of my fellow business class travelers jumped the Group 1 boarding cue purporting to be Concierge Key members, gate attendant in a tough spot — call them out but run the risk of offending an elite flyer, she let them board ahead of other G1 folks. Rating ****
Seat: Rear facing (2L) on right side of aircraft with two windows. Seat had some crumbs on table, cheap blanket and no pillow. Seat comfort was very good, Iphone like control was not exactly intuitive but you could set it in custom to various positions including lay flat. Foot rest area was already worn but overall seat comfort was very good. One drawback of 2L is your are facing the individual across aisle and lose a fair degree of privacy as a result. Seat guru misses this fact and I would choose a forward facing seat like 1A on this 1-2-1 configuration. Infotainment was good as well with large screen. Hand controller has a screen but manual buttons don’t light up as a result accidentally hit call button, luckily flight attendant was cool, more on that later. Rating ****
Food. Standard AA oatmeal with yogurt, milk, minimal amount of dried fruit and random toppings. No hot rolls were served. Had a mimosa and water. Fairly underwhelming. Rating (borderline) ***
Service: Shockingly good. Young fresh faced flight attendant was great. Fast friendly service, seemed to enjoy his job. Offered drink refills multiple times, took tray away quickly. Most importantly, he was at my seat within 10 seconds after accidentally ringing call button and (again shockingly) not giving me the wtf do you want look, so commonly associated with our domestic carriers. If only AA could replicate on all flights and dare I suggest, all classes (gulp). Rating *****
Aircraft. The Dreamliner 787-8 was most impressive. Quiet, powerful, fast and a modern engineering feat inside and out. Liked auto dimming windows, larger baths, wider aisles and lots of overhead storage. Rating*****
Cleanliness: The plane could have been cleaner, noticeably rushed job associated now with almost every domestic turnaround flight. Seat pockets worn/dirty. My whole seating area needed a deep cleaning, bring wet wipes. Rating **
Overall rating****