Review: Aeromexico 737 Business Class Mexico City to San Francisco

I flew Aeromexico 737 business class en route back from Central America, taking the five-hour ride from Mexico City to San Francisco before heading back home to Vancouver with Air Canada.

Normally, I don’t always review all the regional business class cabins I step foot in. Instead, I might prefer to simply sit back, relax, and enjoy the journey. 

However, Aeromexico’s Boeing 737s happen to be a commonplace product that connects many North American cities with other parts of Central & South America on a convenient one-stop routing, often with reasonably priced fares in “Clase Premier”.

So, I thought a quick review might be useful for readers who might be considering a similar journey with Aeromexico through Mexico City. 

Aeromexico 737 Business Class – Booking

This itinerary with Aeromexico was one of the rare occasions that I actually paid outright for a business class fare.

The fare was around $600 (CAD) total for Managua–Mexico City–San Francisco, with a long layover in Mexico City.

$600 is nothing to scoff at of course, but it ended up being the best option because economy class fares were not cheaper by much, given the strict pandemic-induced controls around flights in and out of Nicaragua at the time of our trip in November 2021. 

I’d note that I observed some interesting quirks with Aeromexico’s business class pricing when booking this flight. If I had chosen a more direct journey without the overnight in Mexico City, the fare would’ve been much higher, well into the $1,000+ region. 

By adding a 17-hour layover in CDMX, which is always a good idea in my books, we were able to bring the fare down significantly.

Moreover, a similar fare was actually available on the Mexico City–Vancouver flight on this day, also on the Boeing 737.

However, I hesitated in booking it for a few days, and then the last few business class seats ended up being taken, so I missed out on the more direct route back to Vancouver and had to settle for a stop in San Francisco instead. 

I paid for the tickets with my Amex US Platinum Card, which earned me 5x US MR points on airfare. We value Amex US MR points at 1.8 cents/point (USD), so that was equivalent to getting a ~9% return on the spend.

Aeromexico 737 Business Class – Ground Experience

Mexico City International Airport was a bit of a zoo on the morning of our flight, especially since the US had implemented new proof of vaccination requirements only a week ago. 

After struggling to locate Aeromexico’s priority check-in desks at Terminal 2, we were then directed to complete two separate attestation forms: one for Mexico City Airport departures and one for US-bound flights. Only then were we permitted to enter the security queue. 

In an ideal world, I would’ve liked to review Aeromexico’s ground experience in advance of boarding their flight.

However, pretty much all accounts indicated that Aeromexico’s lounge isn’t much to write home about and that I’d have a superior experience in the Centurion Lounge Mexico City instead, so that’s where we spent our time before boarding.

We had a bit of uncertainty as to whether our Switch Health RT-LAMP tests would be accepted by Aeromexico for a US-bound flight, but it turned out to be a non-issue, as an airline representative quickly glanced over our test results without seeming to notice that it was self-administered. 

From there, we were invited to the priority boarding queue and were among the first to make our way onboard.

Aeromexico 737 Business Class – Cabin

Aeromexico’s regional business class cabin follows a standard configuration for Boeing 737 aircraft. There are a total of 16 seats arranged in a 2-2 layout across four rows. 

There isn’t much variation at all between the seats, with the exception of Row 1 in the bulkhead, where you wouldn’t be able to store your items under the seat in front of you. 

I had picked Seats 4A and 4B in the last row, which ended up being a very slight disadvantage (as I’ll explain below). 

Aeromexico 737 Business Class – Seat

Aeromexico’s Boeing 737s offer a typical recliner seat that you’ll find at many other airlines around the world. I’m flown virtually the exact same seat on the Fiji Airways 737, the Shenzhen Airlines A320, and Air Canada’s A321s and other narrowbodies more times than I count.

The seat back is equipped with a modernized in-flight entertainment system that comes with a headphone jack and USB outlet.

Other than that, most of the seat features are concentrated on the armrest between two adjacent seats, where you’ll find the seat and entertainment controls, as well as a small surface for drinks. 

Even though the entertainment screen itself is high-resolution and responsive, the controller is still the older-generation type with a seven-segment display.

The tray table swivels out from a hatch in the armrest, before folding over into its fully deployed position.

Shortly after taking our seats, the crew presented us with the choice of orange juice or still water as our welcome beverage. 

Boarding was soon completed, with a full 16 passengers in business class this morning. We pushed back from the gate and began a smooth climb on the northwesterly heading to San Francisco.

Aeromexico 737 Business Class – Meal Service

I dozed off for a nap during takeoff, and awoke to the crew beginning to prepare the breakfast service. 

From what I could tell, the crew took meal orders row-by-row from front to back, without prioritizing certain passengers due to their Aeromexico or SkyTeam elite status.

Thus, I was disappointed to hear that the crew had run out of the omelettes by the time they made their way to us in Row 4, and that only pancakes were available for breakfast as a result. Having only had chilaquiles and a fruit salad in the lounge earlier, I was hoping for a heartier omelette instead. 

I made a note to myself that meal availability can often be a reason to choose a seat closer to the front of the cabin than the back, and dug into the portion of pancakes. 

Despite being a little bit dry, the pancakes were certainly tasty with just the right amount of sweetness, and I liked it more than I would’ve expected for a dish that I rarely order on a plane. I also appreciated Aeromexico leaning into its national food specialties in the form of the papaya slices on the fruit plate. 

After clearing up our plates from the meal service, the crew followed up with another round of drinks service and a snack for each passenger: a packet of chips with “exceso calorias“.

Aeromexico 737 Business Class – In-Flight

The standard recliner seats on this product can be moved back by a few inches, adding only a minimal level of comfort for relaxing during the flight.

In addition, a leg rest pops out from the seat’s underside for further support. 

I also paid a visit to the restroom, which came with a baby changing table that folded out into full-size. 

Aeromexico 737 Business Class – Wifi

I decided to connect to the in-flight wifi for the remainder of the flight. Aeromexico offers three wifi options, including a free one:

• Free messaging with iMessage, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram DM
• Browse Pass for MXN$119 for an hour
• Stream Pass for MXN$190 for an hour

Since I didn’t have too much work to do, I decided to connect to the free wifi and catch up on messages. 

Aeromexico 737 Business Class – Entertainment

Aeromexico’s in-flight entertainment seems to have gotten a hardware upgrade not too long ago. I was happy to find a responsive matte screen and an intuitive user interface (except for the fact that a film is listed multiple times for each language that it’s dubbed in). 

The selection is also extensive enough for a five-hour flight, but still has some way to go before catching up to the world’s best airlines in terms of the variety of in-flight entertainment. 

As I typically do, I put on the airshow to track our flight, which helped to situate the spectacular window views of Mexico’s plains and forests passing by as we progressed towards San Francisco. 

Conclusion

Aeromexico’s Boeing 737 represents the backbone of the airline’s regional fleet, connecting multiple destinations in North, Central, and South America with a convenient stop in Mexico City.

While it won’t win any awards for luxury, this product will get you to your destination on a reasonable schedule for a reasonable price, in a market where more luxurious options are few and far between.

Indeed, I found the Aeromexico 737 experience to be very much on par with the airline’s closest competitors like Copa Airlines’s Boeing 737s and Avianca’s assortment of narrowbodies, with arguably stronger onboard catering than the aforementioned peers too. 

I’ve seen enough from Aeromexico to hopefully give their Boeing 787 Dreamliner business class a try in the future, perhaps on a longer-haul itinerary to, say, Buenos Aires or São Paulo that lets me fully sample their lie-flat seats.