Dread Pirate Jeff

I actually voiced those complaints in a much less ranty manner to AA itself, only to be ignored, as I mentioned. That's part of why even thinking about flying AA gets me into a ranty mood.

But feel free to add some snark, I've gotten a good laugh out of a couple of the replies so far, I enjoy some snark. I especially enjoyed JDiver's treatise on the Geneva Accords.

Dread Pirate Jeff

I loved this. But despite the smug superiority that you AA fans have, not one of you has actually provided any actual reasons why AA is so great aside from _kurt who agrees with me that the frontline staff is, indeed, excellent.

So here's an item by item breakdown where I happen to think US flights are better, based on my admittedly limited experience of 60K miles domestic and international each year, OH EXP Gods...

1: Seating. All Y seating sucks, yes. But every US flight I've been on in the last four years internationally has been on a 773 or A330 and the seats are still more comfortable than on the 772 and 763 I flew on AA.
1.a: AA's MCE IS the best thing for Y right now but it's sad that you have to view legroom that used to be NORMAL in economy as some sort of Industry Leading benefit.

2: Food. Y food sucks all the way around. I'll grant that. the ONLY food served on my AA flights that was palatable was on the return ZRH - JFK, and that's because the food was from a .EU company that actually makes tasty meals. Ever had the food on BA, LH or Swiss? Even the Economy passengers get good food.

3: Customer Service outside the FAs and Counter agents. Any time I've had issues on a US flight, US Customer Service has been attentive and responded quickly. So far, my experience iwth AA has been: Platitudes "Oh we're sorry, we are great and just hate that you had a bad experience." Hoops: "Oh, yes, our contact form sucks, we know, so just send us several referencing this number and they'll all just get threaded together so we can get a good picture of what's going on" So I filed no less than 8 to explain everything I experienced as their modern web form only seems to have space for twitter length posts. And finally, Silence. No response. No follow-up. No response to MY followups.

4: Condition of the planes. Maybe I did just luck out and get the two worst long haul planes in the fleet. But the 772 and 763 I flew to PEK and ZRH respectively looked and felt like the grandparents of anything I've flown internationally on US in the last 4 years. The LAST time I flew ANY US flight internationally on anything smaller than a 777 was a 763 to LHR back in 2010. My last three LHR flights were on a much nicer A330.

5: Sorry you Jest about IFE boxes, but what exactly IS the purpose of an IFE box and remote control in a seat that HAS NO IFE SYSTEM IN THE SEATBACK? That's like having a remote control and a Satellite Dish or Cable receiver in your home and not owning a TV. Or having a car that has a clutch pedal with an automatic transmission.

6: Poke fun about the one that DID have an IFE system, but it had 12 movies, only three of which were made in the last 3 years. EVERY OTHER international flight I've been on in the last 5 years has had a modern IFE system with a LOT of choices in both movies and TV. And that little bit matters a LOT when you're stuck in a metal tube for 14 hours, especially when the freaking lights are broken so you can't read the book you packed along.

So yes, I was ranting a bit, but the complaints are legitimate and I really would like to know what makes AA so special that so many of you are looking down at me with your sense of superiority, given that I've now flown about 25K miles on AA metal in the last month and have had an absolute horrible time of it.

If AA is so great, I should think that people would gladly point out the GOOD points rather than simply being snarky and "Holier than thou". (though I DO enjoy well crafted snark).

I've flown mostly US for 5 years now, and I would certainly agree with anyone who says it's a crap airline, but I've also flown several .EU and APAC carriers to compare it to. It's just IME that US is the lest crappy of the big 4 crappy US carriers.

tom911

I'd love the opportunity to upgrade on a partner but I don't see Cathay or Qantas making those seats available for upgraders from AA.

United does have something set up with Lufthansa using systemwide upgrades, but isn't that the only Star Alliance partner their systemwides are good on? I don't know what the fine print is to use them, but it is something available there. Use them on UA metal and you need to buy up to a W or higher fare, an issue we don't have at AA for those with systemwide upgrade instruments. Did US have a similar arrangement with Lufthansa?

JonNYC

Why would anyone here even bother-- in aid of what, exactly?

If only I hadn't misspelled "if"!!

tkelvin69

I guess you don't think free upgrades, in my case 100%, a reason why AA is great.

Dread Pirate Jeff

Had to go back and look, it was Eva. I've bought three upgrades from Y to whatever code Premium Laurel is on flights to/from LAX - TPE. I've also bought them on US from PHL to LRH but that doesnt count as it's US metal.

That was all via Star Alliance and AFAIK, it's systemwide on SA members: http://www.staralliance.com/en/benef...ow-to-upgrade/

AA flat out told me that it doesn't matter if I come in as a OW member, I am NOT ALLOWED to buy class upgrades using miles.

tom911

Isn't that because the two mileage programs are not merged yet? You want to use US miles to upgrade on AA metal?

AA does have some very limited mileage upgrades for partners, but it generally involves full-fare economy to start with. We don't see too much discussion about them here. I can't use them because of the fares required. In the case of BA, you would only upgrade to premium economy.
AAdvantage Participating Airlines Upgrade Awards

ubernostrum

Because there aren't any, really. The OP hit the nail on the head: AA flies rattling ghetto sardine cans on all but a handful of routes, and somehow a bunch of people have deluded themselves into thinking that means "premium".

I picked US when I moved to my current location, largely because their hubs were convenient and they flew comfortable planes. But it looks like the merger is going to push me onto duct-taped-together Mad Dogs connecting in the well-known luxury premium world city of Fort Worth, or cram me into disgusting RJs into ORD.

And I'm apparently supposed to welcome this, and a worthless piece of crAAp of a frequent-flier program, as a huge improvement over actual customer service, actual benefits, actual planes with actual mainline service and an actual airline instead of a couple of nice birds and a bunch of run-down old junkheaps that make the 1970s NYC subway look wonderful by comparison.

JonNYC

You're really getting in touch with your inner-Grandpa Simpson.

carlosdca

Because there are no GREAT reasons to fly AA/OW.

It is just an airline. Some people prefer it for number of reasons. And it's their reasons. They probably don't apply to you. It is pointless to let you know. Because for every person that comes here to post their reasons of why they prefer AA, you will come back and refute them and rationalize your preference for Star Alliance. You are just whining that you are not part of *A due to US joining OW.

What I know is that really, the "best" alliance does not exist.

One chooses what is best for his particular scenario, travel patterns, priorities, etc.

If you ask ME, as an EXP I enjoyed the very efficient EXP desk, and the 8 SWUs, which always cleared for me.
I started using AA because they were the only ones that could get me to places then in South America.

Since I don't fly much anymore, nowadays I fly based on price . Differences with other airlines are really minimal.

tom911

Guess I should have declined the 8 systemwide upgrades they gave me this year and flew in coach instead on all those trips to Asia and Europe, or moved my flying over to UA where I could play the upgrade lottery, plus pay a few hundred dollars extra, for a W fare to use them there. Could also give back the 8 systemwide upgrades I've already cleared for 2015. That'll show 'em.

Yes, we have a horrible program here. Every time a flight attendant offers me a snack and beverage in coach I should turn them down. Might as well turn down all those domestic upgrades, too, because the program is so horrible.

I'm sorry the AAdvantage program is not kind to you. I hope you can find a program that better meets your needs.

cmn.jcs

If you were on a 773, you weren't on US.

bhomburg

Well... now, why do I fly AA? Because they offer the best balance of product and price for the routes I fly to and within North America. And becasue their FF program provides a real value to me, something that cannot be said for LH's program (which I defected from) any more.

My one and only US experience (leaving out the USAir days in the '90s) ever was ZRH-PHL on a 762 a few years ago, followed by a domestic flight to LAX via PHX.
Compared to that ride, the AA 763s as I have gotten to experience them are heaven. Now THAT was a rickety and dirty old plane - and US flew these until last month when the route was suspended for the winter. The worst was the seats: dismal pitch and very cramped.
I had LH status at the time which did not allow me to select an exit row seat in advance. Managed to get one at the airport, but my initial joy was quickly replaced by disappointment about the lack of any significant extra legroom. What an unpleasant surprise. That's what I got for not checking on the 'net beforehand... It was bitter cold as well, and NO BLANKETS available. Grumpy FAs with generally nonexistent service. They would not even try and locate a blanket for me.
And then the nickel-and-diming. You want wine to wash down that 'meal' - that'll be $$. I forgot to take a two-prong adapter for my headphones, and they charged $$ for a set of the cheapest earplugs imaginable that quit working on the connecting flight when I tried to use them again. And on the domestic legs that followed, they charged extra for anything, even water and coffee!
Needless to say, I stayed away from US ever since.
When my AA ZRH-JFK flight was delayed a few hours one time this summer I was offered the choice to be rebooked on the US flight. As I was in business on the refurbished 763 (Did you check out the business cabin on that 763 flight? brand new lie-flat seats!), continuing to LAX on the new A321 with equally nice lie flat seats, I happily declined and rather waited three hours. I might reconsider this when they restart the route next May using an A332, should that plane have MCE.
I don't care about anything as much as I do about space, especially legroom. And as far as that goes, the MCE mini-cabin on AAs 767-300 is as good as coach travel gets in my opinion. Having space is paramount for me - everything else is icing on the cake. I happily trade IFE and new-plane smell for an extra few inches of space. AAs MCE (and the equivalent over at DL and UA) saves me from having to pay significantly more money for a true premium economy seat on other carriers, and getting it for free with FFP status is the biggest incentive to stay loyal to AA for me.

Well, I wouldn't say BA, LX or LH Y food is 'good'. On average, it's a tad better than what AA provides and edible, but no more.
You have a point with the catering ex-EU being better, though. But that's the case on all carriers. I flew LH/LX/UA for 15 years before switching to AA/BA/oneworld, and on all of them the food going westbound was better than the meals going eastbound.

Well, I definitely do have a better experience there. The few instances where I did complain (for things like flying my dog to NY without me on my second-ever AA itinerary when I had no status etc. That DFW GA will remember this one for a long time to come) CS did take care of those complaints in a timely and satisfactory manner. And the EXP desk is truly wonderful. Old-timers say there have been cuts and it isn't what it used to be, but I can't complain about the service at all.

Wholeheartedly second that.

Thumper

For me, my biggest complaint is that I did not know this was an option.

Flying in back is tough! As i sit here with 97,000 EQM (yippee- 9 previous years I was EXP) and complete my first year as a PLT in 10 years, I never want another year like this again.

That being said, I am currently looking to change my hotel program.And I keep hearing mine is the worst, except in comparison to everyone elses. I think that maybe true of flying. No question that "beaming" will kill flying when introduced. But Mr Scott hasn't been born yet.

I fly AA because 28 years ago when my son was born and my wife had complications, AA bent over backwards to get me home. In ways that could not be duplicated today. Met me at entrance to airport and walked me on, upon arrival drove me to my car, etc.....

When I fly overseas, I use a partner.They are better geared for trans Atlantic and the service and metal is better. And there does seem to be a correlation betwen spending the money to sit up front and the guarantee of sitting up front.

Don't like it here? Leave. But to declare that everyone else on earth who likes something you don't like is inconceivable says more about you than us.

mre5765

This thread is true art.

To US's credit, I usually get upgraded. But after I'm upgraded and feel my knees jam against the F seat in front of me, I wonder what the foxtrot Dougie did. Hope he leaves the pitch alone on pmAA metal.

You do understand that US decided to leave *A, US decided to join OW, US decided acquire AA, and the previous management of AA wanted nothing to do with US, right?

So aren't your complaints in the wrong forum?

Besides why would an AA top elite pay full fare Y to upgrade on another airline when he can, 8 times a year, pay fully discounted Y and upgrade on AA? It just makes no sense.