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American Airlines turns 100 years old on April 15, 2026 — making a century of flight for the Texas-based carrier.
To celebrate, the airline is bringing the party to passengers throughout the year, from painting new liveries on some airplanes to offering themed onboard meals and amenity kits. It’s part of the carrier’s strategy to rebrand itself into a premium U.S. airline, as it competes against rivals Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.
I booked a flight for April — American’s centennial month — in American’s Flagship business class from New York to Los Angeles to check out how the airline is celebrating 100 years. Here’s what it was like.
Boarding the aircraft
Earlier this year, American revamped its boarding process, adding business and first class passengers to the preboarding group. That made the boarding process seamless, which is exactly what you want when paying premium cabin prices.
As I was boarding, I couldn’t help admiring the two new decals at the plane’s boarding door commemorating two big milestones this year. One decal was American’s slick centennial logo and the other recognizes American’s role as the “Official North American Airline Supplier of the FIFA World Cup 26.”
Onboard the plane
For my flight, I was traveling on one of American’s A321Ts, where the T stands for transcontinental. American is unique in that it’s the only U.S. airline to still offer a three-class configuration with first class, business class and economy.
However, American has said it plans to phase out its first class cabin. Eventually, the airline plans to replace its aging A321Ts with American’s newest A321XLRs on select transcontinental routes.
I headed to my lie-flat business class seat, where I found a bundle of bedding, a bottle of water and a pair of Bang & Olufsen headphones, which I was excited about until I found out during my flight that audio was coming out of only one side.
At my seat, there was also one of American’s centennial-themed amenity kits, which come in three designs based on different eras in travel: Astrojet for the early jet age, Silverbird for the golden age of air travel and Forward for what American calls its “momentum and future focus.”
I loved the design of my blue Astrojet kit with a striking bolt of orange lightning running across. Inside, there was a dental kit, earplugs, an eye mask, socks and some Joanna Vargas skincare products. While I wish my kit was made of more premium materials, those flying in Flagship First or Flagship Suite Preferred get upgraded amenity kits with more offerings, including mouthwash and a comb.
During the flight, I also got to try out American’s Wi-Fi. While the airline calls it high-speed Wi-Fi, I found I often had to wait a while for things to load (but at least it was free!).
Centennial-inspired dining
Earlier in the year, American proudly proclaimed it would be offering special entrees and appetizers for premium cabin passengers to preorder, designed with the 1920s in mind. In April, the carrier said, passengers in international and transcontinental business class would get to enjoy an appetizer featuring caviar, blinis and a deviled egg — something you might expect to see in international first class, but typically not business class. Needless to say, I was excited.
Immediately after booking my flight, I went into the American app to preorder one of the centennial options, which were beef Wellington and chicken florentine. Beef Wellington has a reputation for being hard to prepare on the ground, let alone 30,000 feet up in the sky, so I knew I had to try it out.
The online menu said it would come with an appetizer course that included a prawn cocktail and a Waldorf salad. The fact that caviar was nowhere to be found on the menu should have been a red flag.
Shortly after takeoff, the flight attendants began the meal service, which I had been looking forward to. The flight attendant came by with a centennial-branded menu, which I thought was a nice touch.
After she confirmed my preorder, I asked her about the caviar service. Much to my dismay (first world problems, I know), she confirmed my suspicions; there was no caviar onboard. She apologized profusely for the confusion, and the purser even came up to me later to apologize. The crew’s excellent service more than made up for the missing caviar.
For the meal, I was quite pleased with the beef Wellington. While the meat was a little tough, the puff pastry was soft and flaky.
Afterward, I capped off my dinner with a delicious pecan tart. Luckily, I had read some online reviews of the centennial meal options, so I knew to ask for a scoop of Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream on top of the warm tart. If you like desserts, I highly recommend that combo.
Following my flight, I reached out to American’s corporate communications team to find out what was going on. They told me the caviar appetizer — which is only available for those who preorder the centennial menu and replaces the prawn cocktail — wouldn’t start until their next menu cycle change on April 8, just a few days after my flight, and would last through early May.
If you’re flying in Flagship Business or Flagship First, you can expect to see these special menu items through August 2026.
How I booked American’s Flagship Business from New York to L.A.
It’s fun to fly in business class, but it comes with a price. My one-way flight from New York to Los Angeles would have cost roughly $1,500 if I paid using cash.
However, there are ways to book Flagship Business on American Airlines using points and miles that won’t break the bank. Two great options are using American AAdvantage miles and Atmos Rewards points.
Atmos Rewards is the joint loyalty program for Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines. Because Alaska and American are both in the Oneworld alliance, you can use Atmos points to book American flights.
If you have American miles, you can book this flight for 40,000 miles and $5.60 in taxes and fees. You can easily earn American miles by opening an American Airlines credit card or an eligible Citi credit card that earns Citi ThankYou points, which can be transferred to American’s AAdvantage program.
Instead, I paid 35,000 Atmos points and $18.10 in taxes and fees. The cash portion is higher because Atmos Rewards charges a $12.50 nonrefundable partner award fee. To rack up Atmos points, consider opening an Alaska Atmos credit card or transferring Bilt Points to Atmos Rewards.
American’s 100-year onboard celebration
For premium cabin passengers and aviation geeks, American’s centennial celebrations offer a chance to score collectible amenity kits and try upgraded dining options. This is a huge milestone, and it’s fun that some passengers get to participate in the experience.
If you’re lucky, you might even get a chance to have some caviar onboard your next American business class flight (as long as it’s flown by early May). I wasn’t so lucky, but I appreciated all the fun touches onboard, as well as the excellent crew members on my flight.
(Top image courtesy of American Airlines.)
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