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BA F vs AA F - my recent experience
Just flown BA F and AA F, both in paid F. BA came out as worst and by far.
BA 747 :
Cabin : old and dirty. Seat narrow,power plug not working. And 14 seats in 747 nose sold as F? Come on, NZ sells the same amount of seats in same space as C!BA offering is way overcrowded and lacks privacy to be called F.
Service : atrocious. At entrance you find your way to your seat on your own.Asked if I wanted newspaper, politely replied that I'm like some magazines. Has been told to go and grab those myself. FA stepped on my feet while poring the drink and did not even thought about excusing herself.
General appearance of the crew : untidy, ... and clearly not interested to be there.
Food : OMG. I won't even start on this, it was simply worst F food I ever had on any airline, in both quality and presentation.
One of the bags got lost, another one torn.
AA 777 :
Cabin : Old and well used but 1x2x1 config is offering space expected from F.Actually, after BA it was a pleasure to be able to stretch. Weird EmPower plugs (same as BA), but crew swiftly got me an adaptor. Loved the seat that can be rotated.
Service : As expected - lacks finesse required in F. But crew took good care of passengers, offering constant drink refills, passing by and checking if anything was needed.Generally made you feel welcome and that your business was appreciated.
Food : AA does the right thing by sticking to basic but good stuff.Unlike BA, who's attempt to proper F food using cheap and not-so-fresh ingredients makes passengers laugh.
So while both carriers are FAR from world-class F product, offered by SQ, CX and EK, AA's F comes out as acceptable. BA's "F" is a poorly executed marketing trick, selling very mediocre C at F prices.
Hope this will be useful for FT'ers making the choice for transatlantic travel. If you are paying for F and want to stick with OW - neither of carriers will offer very good value, but AA will not make you feel cheated.
If you are spending miles - AA F will offer far better value due to better overall product and far less taxes and surcharges.
Regards,
El Puerco Volante.
Last edited by JDiver; Dec 8, 12 at 5:17 pm..
Reason: redacted unnecessary characterization
Interesting and rather refreshing report. Although, whilst fuel charges are deplorable, the taxes are neither BA's fault nor any different from what AA have to charge.
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Thanks for the experience-based report.
As to fees, the fees have been reported to be MUCH higher using AA awards on BA than on AA, Passmethesickbag, when it comes to surcharges. The basic taxes and APD are the same, of course.
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Just flown BA F and AA F, both in paid F. BA came out as worst and by far.
BA 747 :
Your profile says BA Gold - was that your first flight in F?
Also while NZ does also have 14 seats in the nose (I agree a dense F configuration) a large chunk of the middle space is taken by a storage area for carts. The BA F seats while far from suites are considerably more roomy than NZ J however as you note, not close to other airlines in terms of spaciousness.
Cabin : Old and well used but 1x2x1 config is offering space expected from F. Actually, after BA it was a pleasure to be able to stretch. Weird EmPower plugs (same as BA), but crew swiftly got me an adaptor. Loved the seat that can be rotated.
I don't think you encountered an EmPower plug on an AA plane; AA was the one airline I can think of that never went down that silly path. Instead, AA installed 15v DC cigarette lighter-style plugs (exactly the same as an automobile) and is now installing 110v AC plugs in certain aircraft.
I flew BA First (new) for the first time JFK to LHR a couple of weeks ago. As it was a last minute upgrade (from paid J using AA miles), I got stuck with one of the middle seats. Whilst the cabin was nice and new, I wasn't actually impressed with the seat comfort and it certainly was not very spacious - agree that it's crazy to cram 14 seats into that space in what is a new Intl F product. Cabin too hot as usual. Wine was reasonable, service good, food ok. Overall pretty disappointed though and wouldn't bother to upgrade again with miles provided I had 62 or 64 A/k upstairs. Certainly a long way behind CX F or QF A380F. I think AA F seats - despite being old - are actually more comfortable and certainly happy to continue to use SWU on the existing AA product until the new planes arrive.
Programs: AA PLT,A3 Gold,TK Gold,BA Gold,FB Gold,EK Silver,SPG PLT,HH Gold
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Quote:
Originally Posted by elitetraveler
Your profile says BA Gold - was that your first flight in F?
Also while NZ does also have 14 seats in the nose (I agree a dense F configuration) a large chunk of the middle space is taken by a storage area for carts. The BA F seats while far from suites are considerably more roomy than NZ J however as you note, not close to other airlines in terms of spaciousness.
I am BA Gold via BD status match.I never put a single mile into this account and never will. Similarly,never flown BA F before and hopefully never will again.
As somebody who flown BA F and NZ C on 747 I tend to disagree. Amount of personal space is certainly comparable, service and food are way better on NZ
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FWAAA
I don't think you encountered an EmPower plug on an AA plane; AA was the one airline I can think of that never went down that silly path. Instead, AA installed 15v DC cigarette lighter-style plugs (exactly the same as an automobile) and is now installing 110v AC plugs in certain aircraft.
My bad, you are certainly right - it was cigarette lighter plug.
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I agree with the posts on BA F. New F is not that great. Seats are too cramped. Service and food are not up to competition. The only positive about BA F is CCR in JFK and LHR. Even that is not worth the YQ surcharge especially if you are using an award.
I am BA Gold via BD status match.I never put a single mile into this account and never will. Similarly,never flown BA F before and hopefully never will again.
As somebody who flown BA F and NZ C on 747 I tend to disagree. Amount of personal space is certainly comparable, service and food are way better on NZ
Oh, OK. My experience with BA F - I generally eat in the Concorde Room ex JFK or LHR so onboard I may just have an appetizer. Unlike AA, BA has a full assortment of special meals which I order from - typically I just have an appetizer from the main menu anyway - which many times are more interesting than AA and actually very good - lobster salad is one I remember as well as foie gras.
Also the BA style is a la carte - they serve whenever you want (AA FAs seem to resist this) - if you want two appetizers instead of a main it's fine (AA seems to stock one meal per pax with no spares). They almost always offer me the menu as an alternate to my special meal.
There is generally a 'catch of the day' which is generally pretty good and there are all sorts of alternatives if the menu doesn't turn you on. They generally have an excellent cheese plate or you can order pasta, sandwiches and so forth.
NZ J is fine but the meals are served in J style - the seats are also considerably narrower - or at least that is the perception with a wall on each side - and facing into the cabin. It's a good J seat - it doesn't approach F. BA is one of the tighter F seats - however the 777s seem more spacious with new F.
Most loyal BDers are sorry to see their airline swallowed by BA. Like BCal or VS BD offered a different product and different style which is why they all had a loyal following, although unfortunately not financially strong.
It really sounds like you are grieving a bit for BD. However based on your many airlines with elite status it sounds like you will have no problem avoiding BA.
I think that the OP's critique of the crew (other than no apology for the stepping on of his foot) are minor and wouldn't influence my decision that much. However I understand how starting a long flight off with minor annoyances can spoil the rest of the trip.
My impression of the 744 nosecone on my one BA F flight was "damned if you do, damned if you don't" because in order for it to feel properly spacious you'd have to remove one of the two blocks of center seats but doing so only really leaves one pair of seats for couples. Back when F seats were all in pairs it was easy to have only one set of center seats in the nose as couples could take any pair of seats anywhere. I did, however, like the privacy afforded by the seat (as compared to AA's seat), thought I find AA's more comfortable.
Sounds to me as though the main issue was that the OP had ratcheted up his expectations of BA while keeping them realistic for AA. However he'll be happy to know that these days it's not hard to find AA selling F to LHR as low as $3k each way.
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My response to the question AA vers BA First Class.
I will confine my contribution to my experience Buenos Aires- Miami.
The staff were rude beyond belief. Their reply to most issues was:" I am just doing my job as directed by the company " followed by a very sarcastically delivered - "If you have any issues with American Airlines I suggest you contact www.aa.com and they will be only too pleased to discuss any concerns that you may have".
That was in response to my meal choice denial(sitting in 2A on an even numbered flight number) and also being served a cold cup of tea. Same response - sarcastically delivered.
Food was indescribely bad - and all served cold. (trouble with the ovens!)
The worst experience on AA ever.
Second meal choice of pizza - agin served cool - trouble with oven - same sarcastic response ( 3 rd time)
I am presently in an overcrowded Admiral Club lounge waiting for the flight to LHR.
Will this be any better?
OH! and by the way AA PJ's better than BA.
AA bed far too hard - BA much better.
Pillow and duvet poor quality and too small - BA much better.
Only good point about my AA flight was the rebooking after the missed connection to LHR. It was carried out quickly and efficiently.
Last edited by Discovery Bay; Dec 8, 12 at 5:06 pm..
Reason: spelling
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Having flown in both carriers' F cabins lately, I might as well throw in my 2 cents/1.25 pence.
Seat: BA's new F cabin has the best ambience, privacy and general feel. BA NF tends to be in the best condition, has the best cabin lighting, and seats 1A/K on the 747 are absolutely excellent. I am however not at all a fan of BA's old F.
AA's current F cabin does have the most personal space and is actually the most usable (in terms of seat space, storage space, table/desk space, and the swivel seat - I frequently fly with my fiance and the ability to share a dining table by swiveling the two middle seats toward each other is a huge plus). AA's F seat is not the most cushioned, but that issue is mitigated thanks to the 'mattress' provided. And of course, AA's F seat is getting a huge upgrade with the 77W.
Service: AA's service tends be quite average. On a bad day, AA's crew can be very indifferent to passengers, and service suffers. Also, I find that the crew tend be be a bit too casual for an F cabin, and sometimes border on unprofessional. BA's crew, when good, are absolutely excellent. However, when bad, they can be atrocious (and worse than AA at its worst, in my experience).
Food: AA consistently scores higher than BA on this. That being said, I have heard that BA is stepping up their premium cabin catering, and look forward to trying it out next month.
Wines: BA wins out.
Lounges: Again, BA easily wins out here thanks to the CCR. The fact that AA doesn't even have an F lounge in major hubs like DFW and MIA is a huge letdown.
Ground handling: On the flip side, AA's ground handling of passengers (both F pax and others) is far superior to BA, particularly in IRROPs. I had a great experience at LHR recently when an LHR-JFK was cancelled, and I was rerouted through DFW, no questions asked. My brother (BA silver) has a similar issued with an IAH-LHR being cancelled, and BA actually wanted to collect a fare difference to reroute him via DFW.
One thing is true though, both carriers have a ways to go to catch up with the likes of EK, EY and CX, particularly in the area of catering and service. As for the question of fuel surcharges on BA, I personally don't think it is at all worth it to pay the difference to fly BA over AA. Others may disagree though.
One thing is true though, both carriers have a ways to go to catch up with the likes of EK, EY and CX, particularly in the area of catering and service. As for the question of fuel surcharges on BA, I personally don't think it is at all worth it to pay the difference to fly BA over AA. Others may disagree though.
I would tend to agree. AA vs BA is pretty much a battle of the has beens imo when it comes to comparison against the 1st products. I wouldn't say that it is just service and catering but also in terms of comfort and( in some cases IFE and transfers to/from airport )
Neither BA nor AA offer a 1st class product which I will actually pay for
Here is recent BA F trip reports - certainly a much more interesting menu than AA, and as mentioned the starters Ive had on BA F are very good…that said there are other trip reports that definitely indicate the mains can be hit and miss.
