American Airlines

Flew Business Class from Santiago Chile to Dallas/Ft Worth on a 777. I fly First and Business Class on airlines around the world and I don't have a problem at all with these Biz Class seats and amenities. Even though the seats are angled and not lie-flat I slept like a baby and found the different positions very comfortable. The IFE selection is minimal and not competitive with other airlines but it was decent for the 9.5 hr flight - besides meal time and sleeping took up a big chunk of the flight anyway. Dinner was good with the traditional AA sundae served at the end. This was an 11.10pm departure on an overnight flight so the meal time is odd but I was glad they offered full options. The crew were fine - your average run-of-the-mill crew who have been flying for 40+ years. They don't make any effort to make the Biz Class experience special. AA service levels are average at best and can't come close to what is offered with the international airlines. The Admirals Club in Santiago was crowded and food selection poor. Not recommended.

PAN-MIA-LHR. This flight was delayed and delayed with no information forthcoming. We were eventually informed that it was due to a late incoming flight. The delay was so long that we were eventually told that the flight had to be cancelled because the crew were out of time and they did not have a replacement crew available. We were then told that we would be taken to a hotel room for the night and rescheduled for the next day. The staff did not follow this up with any action and eventually we found out why. They had miraculously found a replacement crew so the flight was back on. Even then we were given the option of flying or staying in a hotel. By now the flight was 6 hours late. We were promised by AA staff that when we got to Miami our onward flights would be rebooked and that there would be buses to take us to a Miami hotel for the night with transfers back to the airport. The flight to Miami was appalling no hot food surly crew. I was given two bags of nuts as a "comp." When we finally arrived at Miami the ground staff were useless one particular individual putting on the best display of passive aggression towards customers that I have ever seen. We were left to fend for ourselves. I got a taxi to a motel and paid my own way. Luckily the hotel had a free airport shuttle the next day.

I was at the priority check-in line for flight 169 LAS to NRT scheduled departure 9.15am. I arrived 2 hours early I thought the priority line should be fast however I waited for 1 hour and was still waiting. From early morning there was only one 1st class counter opened the 2nd one was opened at 8.15am. The line was very long slow and chaotic. One agent tried to organize it so that the passengers waiting would not obstruct the walkway she had to repeat the same message again and again to every passenger that joined the queue. What a waste of man power and inefficiency.

CDG to JFK. Flight bought at the last minute at a very reasonable price. Of course you get what you pay for. The plane (B767) looks good from the outside (new painting). Inside it's so old that I can't even remember the last time I've been in such an outdated plane. The overhead compartments were so small that even my bag pack could not fit in. No need to talk about inflight entertainment as there's barely any. It's just a few central screens with two movies played. The funniest is that business class seats apparently don't have inflight entertainment either as before we landed the crew mentioned that they would be collecting portable devices in business class. The seat was of course quite worn out and not that comfortable. At least the food was not that bad. I expected much worse after boarding the plane. Maybe it's because it was made in CDG but the pasta I ordered were tasty (even though the portion could have been bigger). What struck me was how non existent the flight attendants were during the flight. They showed up to bring the main meal and the snack before arrival in JFK and that's about it. AA had reserved the last three seats of the plane for them. Two of the FA's spent the flight on those seats while the third one remained hidden behind the curtain in the galley. You didn't feel welcome to ask for refreshments during the flight. Anyway all in all American clearly offers a substandard product. The worst product I've seen I think is that of US Airways. I can't imagine what the merger of the two will produce.

DCA-LAX-DCA. 737-800. Outbound: Flight on time. Pre-ordered steak dinner was quite good. Staff efficient and reasonably friendly. Drinks service OK for flight length with a mini pre-packed snack basket (sweets chips nuts etc.) served closer to landing. Seat and entertainment system simply awful for so-called First Class with no foot rest or individual video screens. Only a video via the ceiling mounted screens and cheap earplug type headsets given free. This seat is not comfortable for a 5.5 hour flight. I hope the new seats that are advertised work better when these planes are retrofitted in the future. Inbound: Had access to the AA LAX Flagship Lounge (inside Admiral's Club) due to my OneWorld Emerald (BA Gold) status. Almost empty in the early morning with a reasonable spread of food and drinks. Flight on time. Staff more friendly than the outbound flight. Pre-ordered omelette breakfast quite good. This aircraft had the new sky interior but the same awful seats and entertainment. Looking forward to trying out new AA domestic seat and video products in the near future. Bags delivered slower than expected at DCA.

LHR - DLW - Reno. Major complaint is seat allocation. Booked flight for 6 including 2 children under 7 6 months ago. Online checks appeared to show a group of 6 seats allocated together. At check in for return flight we were told that no allocation had been made and that only 3 groups of 2 seats were available. I thought that seating for family groups were a prime consideration. How naive of me. Other airlines such as Virgin can manage this simple task! DFW to Reno leg used an old Mcdonnell Douglas 80. In each direction the family were placed right at the rear where the engine noise was fearsome throughout the trip. Incidentally why not load the rear first to avoid the constant queuing to get on board and luggage stowed when loaded from the front?

I was booked from JFK to GRU on AA 951 on Jan 3 2014. American Airlines cancelled the flight without explanation and provided no alternatives. I scrambled to find a replacement flight on my own and got a seat on AA 919 from JFK to GRU the next day Jan 4 2013. I checked in more than 3 hours prior to the flight and went to the gate where staff were simply milling about. No boarding announcements until one of the American Airlines staff said that "The plane (which had arrived a day earlier) was at the hanger" when it should have been at the gate. Time of departure was pushed back 30 minutes then another 30 minutes then another 30 minutes and so on until it was 3 hrs late! As a result we could not go anywhere but had to stick around in case the flight suddenly started to board. When it was time to board the famous rudeness of American Airlines staff reared its head. The gate staff started barking at passengers about boarding the aircraft efficiently. The head of the cabin crew made a similarly rude announcement that passengers should take their seats quickly. The only saving grace was I finally asked for an upgrade and got one. Still even in a higher cabin the service was poor by notoriously grumpy flight attendants. We landed several hours late in GRU and had to wait a long time for ground staff to bring the moving bridge to the plane! The only reason I stay with American Airlines is for the frequent flier miles.

RDU-LHR return in Y. Outbound check-in and bag check handled smoothly no complaints. Boarding somewhat chaotic but this was mainly due to the layout of the gate area. Aircraft on this route are older 763s with no IFE but seats and toilets seemed in decent condition. Food decent enough and FAs - while not terribly friendly - were diligent about offering drinks. Entertainment was pretty miserable but what do you expect when you have no seatback system and have to rely on the overheads? Pretty laughable for an international leg. Return flight check- in at LHR was a breeze but boarding was infuriating! Pax with group 3/4 boarding passes rushing the gate during pre-boarding gate attendants barely speaking above a whisper when announcing boarding groups. Really ridiculous. FAs on return flight much friendlier. Main Cabin Extra proved worthwhile as the legroom was plentiful. All in all worth the competitive fare but not nearly at the standard of other nations' flag carriers.

LHR-DFW-SJO return via JFK. I set out with middling expectations of AA in economy and was pleasantly surprised. New 777 is great seats a little narrow but what can you expect? Flights to and from SJO on old 757s but crew made both flights quite enjoyable. If only JKF immigration would work a little better. Everyone's experiences are always different but on this occasion AA looked after us nicely.

Recently landed from DFW-LAX-SFO. On my initial flight from DFW to SFO most things in comparison were fine however the quality of first class compared to Virgin is excessively disappointing. There were a lot more passengers in the first class then ever the FA was running around endlessly and even forgot to give us a cookie or even a snack with our drink. On the return trip the service was much better but did not offer any pre-flight beverages. On the last leg they even failed to grab my coat and hang it up for us. Overall Virgin America still has true First Class seats the new AA first class are more like business class with amenities. The food is quote mediocre but better then before.