How To Fly American Airlines' Best Business (and First) Class Seats Within the U.S.

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Flying in lay-flat seats within the U.S. isn’t just a dream — it’s reality across dozens of American Airlines routes. In August 2025 alone, American Airlines is scheduled to operate 1,595 domestic flights with fully flat seats in business or first class using internationally configured aircraft like the Boeing 777 and 787 Dreamliner, plus the airline's unique Airbus A321T.

This post breaks down every domestic route with lie-flat service by aircraft type, including detailed route maps, photos of the seats, and searchable tables to find exactly what you want. Whether you’re flying coast-to-coast or jetting to Hawaii, you may be able to fly in style without ever leaving the U.S.

And you don't have to pay out of pocket for these flights. We’ll also show you the best ways to book these lie-flat seats using points and miles.

American Airlines Routes With Lay-Flat First-Class Seats in August 2025

In August 2025, American Airlines scheduled an Airbus A321T or Boeing 777 or 787 (Dreamliner) on 29 domestic routes. Don't care which aircraft type you fly on? Here's the full list of all domestic widebody and A321T flights for August 2025, along with filters and sorting:

Image generated using Great Circle Mapper

But you don't need to be an AvGeek to care about which aircraft type you fly on. As the onboard product can vary between aircraft, let's break down these routes by aircraft type.

Airbus A321T

One of the most unique aircraft configurations flying the U.S. skies is the American Airlines “A321T” aircraft. Unlike its other Airbus A321 aircraft — which have 190 seats — the A321T has just 102 seats, including 30 lie-flat business and true first-class seats.

The first five rows of the plane consist of just ten lie-flat Flagship First Class seats — arranged with just one seat on either side of the single aisle.

As if that wasn't enough premium seats, American Airlines installed another 20 lay-flat Flagship Business Class seats across the next five rows — arranged in a 2-2 configuration.

That leaves the back half of the aircraft with 72 economy seats — half of which are extra legroom “Main Cabin Extra” seats.

In August 2025, American Airlines is flying this unique aircraft on four round-trip cross-country routes between:

• Boston (BOS) and Los Angeles (LAX)
• New York Kennedy (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX)
• New York Kennedy (JFK) and San Francisco (SFO)
• New York Kennedy (JFK) and Orange County (SNA)

Image generated using Great Circle Mapper

Here are the exact flights that are operating in August 2025 using the A321T, according to American Airlines' schedule:

Boeing 777-300ER (77W)

American Airlines' true “Flagship” aircraft is its Boeing 777-300ER. On international flights, this aircraft operates with four different cabins: economy, premium economy, Flagship Business class, and Flagship First class.

On domestic routes, the options are condensed to economy and (domestic) first class. Passengers who book early enough may be able to select one of the eight Flagship First Class seats in rows 1 and 2.

If you can't snag one of the first-class seats, the business-class seats in rows 3-15 are excellent too.

On shorter flights (e.g., Miami to New York), you won't get any of the amenities you would get on long-haul flights — such as the Casper bedding, noise-canceling headphones, and other amenities found in the picture above. That said, you will get some of these amenities on transcontinental flights (e.g., Miami to Los Angeles) and on flights from Dallas/Fort Worth to Hawaii — when those flights operate.

American Airlines is operating its Boeing 777-300ER on one round-trip domestic route in August 2025: New York (JFK) to Miami (MIA).

Boeing 777-200 (772)

American Airlines' Boeing 777-200 aircraft are arranged with three cabins: economy, premium economy, and Flagship Business class. However, business-class seats vary between aircraft. Some are situated with a combination of forward- and rear-facing seats:

Others have all forward-facing business class seats in a reverse-herringbone seating arrangement:

You can find the American Airlines Boeing 777-200 operating on just three round-trip domestic routes in August 2025:

• Charlotte (CLT) to Miami (MIA) — and reverse
• Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) to Honolulu (HNL) — and reverse
• Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) to Los Angeles (LAX) — and reverse

Image generated using Great Circle Mapper

And one two one-off flights:

• Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) to Miami (MIA) on August 6 — flight #2959
• Miami (MIA) to New York (JFK) on August 6 — flight #2026

According to American Airlines' schedule, here are the exact flights that are operating in August 2025 using the 777-200:

Boeing 787-8 (788)

Business class on American Airlines' Boeing 787-8 generally have the same forward- and rear-facing seats that you'll find on some of the 777-200s:

However, the newest American Airlines 787-8 Dreamliners have much better Super Diamond seats:

You can find the Boeing 787-8 operating on four round-trip domestic routes in August 2025:

• Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) to Chicago O'Hare (ORD) — and reverse
• Los Angeles (LAX) to Miami (MIA) — and reverse
• Los Angeles (LAX) to Philadelphia (PHL) — and reverse
• Miami (MIA) to Philadelphia (PHL) — and reverse

Image generated using Great Circle Mapper

Plus one one-off flight:

• Philadelphia (PHL) to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) on August 6 — flight #2533

According to American Airlines' schedule, here are the flights that are operating in August 2025 using the 787-8:

Boeing 787-9 (789)

Meanwhile, business class on American Airlines' older fleet of Boeing 787-9 aircraft have all forward-facing seats just like you'll find on the other 777-200s:

You'll find this version of American Airlines Boeing 787-9 operating on just one round-trip route in August 2025 — and only through August 6 — Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) to Philadelphia (PHL).

According to American Airlines' schedule, here are the flights that are operating in August 2025 using the 787-9:

Boeing 787-9 (78P)

American Airlines' brand-new Flagship Suites took off for the first time in Jun. Before launching this new business class product on international flights, American Airlines is starting off with domestic runs for this new aircraft configuration. This month, you can try out American Airlines' new business class product on the route between Chicago (ORD) and Los Angeles (LAX).

Credit: American Airlines

According to American Airlines' schedule, here are the flights that are operating in August 2025 using the 787-9P:

Related: Which Citi American Airlines AAdvantage Credit Card is Right for You?

Best Ways To Book American Airlines Lay-Flat Seats With Miles

American Airlines AAdvantage^®

It's a good idea to start your search with American Airlines. AAdvantage uses dynamic award pricing for award flights on American Airlines. So, you may be able to book some of these flights for pretty cheap using AAdvantage miles. However, AAdvantage may charge a premium for nonstop flights — particularly on these nice aircraft.

The best option that we can find during August 2025 is from Charlotte (CLT) to Miami (MIA) for 18,500 AAdvantage miles. Surprisingly, American Airlines is pricing these lie-flat flights at the same rate as recliner-seat options on some days:

Screenshot of American Airlines

Alaska Mileage Plan

For shorter American Airlines flights, your cheapest mileage option might very well be booking through Alaska Mileage Plan — particularly after a recent British Airways partner devaluation and Qatar Airways partner devaluation.

One of the best Alaska sweet spots is booking American Airlines flights under 700 miles in distance. That's just long enough to cover the route between Charlotte (CLT) and Miami (MIA). You'll only need to pay just 9,000 miles for domestic first class!

Credit: Alaska Mileage Plan

The trouble with this sweet spot is how hard it is to accumulate Mileage Plan miles on the ground. This makes transferring Bilt Rewards points to Alaska, earning miles through the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature^® credit card, and transferring Amex points to HawaiianMiles and then from HawaiianMiles to Alaska critical to taking advantage of this sweet spot.

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Chase Ultimate Rewards

The cash rates for business class aren't cheap. But, using Chase Ultimate Rewards to book a cash flight through the Chase Travel Portal could be the best way to snag one of these lie-flat seats. Just do the math to ensure you're getting the most use out of your Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

Learn More: Benefits of Booking Award Flights via Chase Travel℠ Portal

Final Thoughts

Trying out a lay-flat seat when flying domestically is always nice, and American Airlines offers some of the best options. If you're traveling this month, look out for these internationally configured and specialty aircraft when booking flights. And make sure to consider all of the ways — miles, points, and cash — that you can use to book these tickets.

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