DIY Lie-Flat: American Airlines 787-8 Main Cabin Extra From Chicago to Beijing

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The first Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was delivered to the first customer, ANA, in 2011 and quickly won over passengers with its large, dimmable windows and healthier design. American Airlines flew its inaugural 787-8 flight in early 2015, and now has 20 787-8's (the shortest variant of the 787 family) in service.

When my husband, TPG Points and Miles writer JT Genter, reviewed American Airlines' 787-8 Main Cabin Extra product in 2015, I was on board with him. Although many parts of that experience still ring true today, TPG decided it was time for an update almost three years later.

Here's my refreshed take on the American Airlines 787-8 Dreamliner in Main Cabin Extra from Chicago (ORD) to Beijing (PEK).

Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Center with points and cash, paying one Ultimate Rewards point plus $500 per person. We used our Chase Sapphire Reserve for the cash portion to get the card's travel protections.

We checked the fare rules when purchasing our flight and expected that these would qualify as special fares. Less than 12 hours after landing in Beijing, we saw that the fares did indeed post as such.

As an American Airlines Executive Platinum elite, I could select Main Cabin Extra seats — economy seats with more legroom — for free at booking. Platinum and Platinum Pro elites can also select Main Cabin Extra seats for free, while Gold elites can select these seats for free at check-in. If you're not an elite member, Main Cabin Extra seats will cost you between $164 and $181 each way from O'Hare to Beijing, while the route is still around, that is. Make sure to check out TPG's beginner's guide to choosing seats on American before paying to select seats.

Airmule suitcases each.

Although our passports and visas were checked at SFO, we were stopped during boarding in San Jose for another passport and visa check. And we were stopped for a third visa check while boarding the flight to Beijing in Chicago. I've flown AA to China many times, and this wasn't normal: Usually my China visa is only checked at check-in. It's unclear whether the system was malfunctioning or the agents were just being overly cautious.

Flagship Lounge in Chicago (ORD) during my layover. So, during my layover in Chicago, I made sure to check out the space.

The Chicago Flagship Lounge was large (it's rated to hold almost 600 people at once), relatively new and sleek. We had a fresh, filling meal from the buffet and then worked at the window-side desks for a few hours.

The lounge also had a self-serve bar, quiet area, sleeping area, TV room and showers.

it's coming soon to this aircraft type.

Main Cabin Extra seats were near the front of the cabin and had a 36-inch pitch. Standard economy seats had a 31-inch pitch.

There weren't any entertainment or power boxes under the seats, so there was plenty of room to store personal items and stretch our legs out under the seats.

My seat had 17.25 inches of width between armrests, which felt really tight, especially on such a long flight. And the armrests were so low that my arms couldn't reach them even when I slouched.

My assigned seat was 12J, an aisle seat. I picked this seat in hopes that I'd get a row to myself for the flight, but also so that I'd still have an aisle seat if the cabin filled up. The cabin stayed mostly empty, so I sat in 12K, a middle seat, for the majority of the flight.

Each seat had its own universal power outlet and USB port. The universal power outlets were designed to keep your charger from falling out if you slightly twisted the plug to the right. There was also a remote for the IFE, but I found that the just-under-9-inch touchscreen responded well to my touch. (Call it the Brendan Dorsey test.)

The headphone jack and USB right beneath the IFE lit up when you touched the screen, making them easy to spot in darkened cabins. Another headphone jack was on the end of each armrest.

The tray table at each seat was 16.5 inches by 10.5 inches. It folded in half before being stowed, so you could use the tray table as a 5.25-inch table as well.

The economy seats featured a surprising amount of recline, which was good for sleeping but uncomfortable for working on a laptop when the person in front of you reclined. I've found them comfortable enough to sleep in on past AA 787-8 flights, thanks to the bendable wings on the headrests, which could extend upward to better support tall passengers.

On this flight, I lucked into being the only passenger in my three-seat row, relatively common for this soon-to-be-discontinued route. So I slept flat on a poor man's business-class seat — no Skycouch necessary. The armrests went up completely, which was great, but slightly problematic was the fact that the seat belts weren't nearly long enough to comfortably secure me while I slept. JT found an easy solution, though: He asked the flight attendant for a seat belt extender.

Seats in the last row of each economy cabin couldn't recline much.

Bulkhead seats had ample legroom, but the window bulkhead seats looked especially cramped and didn't even have a window.

As this was a Dreamliner, the windows were plenty large. I usually enjoy the dimming feature on Dreamliner windows, but the flight attendants kept the windows locked at their darkest setting for the entire flight except taxi, takeoff and landing.

Row 26 had no windows on either side of the plane.

Dreamliner aircraft are supposed to be healthier. Between pushback and landing, my hygrometer registered humidity between 51% and 6% and temperature between 69 degrees and 76 degrees. I rarely see the humidity drop below 10% on Dreamliners, and it should hover around 25%, so the fact that it dropped to 6% on this flight meant the cabin settings were likely set incorrectly.

There were four lavatories in the middle of the economy cabin. I never had to wait long for a lavatory on this flight, since this flight wasn't near capacity, but it seemed like a line could quickly form on flights at full capacity.

Panasonic Wi-Fi was unusable for much of the flight. I figured I'd have the same experience on this flight, but, to my surprise, I found that the Wi-Fi worked for most of the flight. Wi-Fi cost $12 for two hours, $17 for four hours or $19 for the entire flight. I bought the entire flight package and was able to switch between my phone and laptop (logging into one would simply log me out on the other device).

the one from almost three years ago, it's apparent that the economy seats on AA's 787-8 Dreamliners have aged. Although the seats look worn, they're still relatively comfortable. But they are narrow, and this alone may make the flight uncomfortable for many passengers. Plus, the armrests are too low to provide any support even when slouching.

The Dreamliner itself has large dimmable windows and lighting that can simulate sunrise and sunset, but the flight attendants can lock the windows to prevent passengers from making adjustments. I found AA's food and snack selection on board to be decent and ample enough to keep my hunger at bay during the nearly 14-hour flight. And I appreciated that the Panasonic Wi-Fi worked for most of the flight, so when I wasn't sleeping, I was able to work.