andymcdonnell

Hi all

Looking for feedback / advice on AA J, specifically 772 & 773 and even more specifically LHR-JFK-LHR.

I've flown the route many times with BA and loved the upper deck but have decided to try out AA later this year. Fares were €300 cheaper than BA, I want to experience their 773 product and I want to something to compare to, to see how far BA have slipped versus the competition (I know technically AA aren't competing)

So, does anyone have recent AA experience? Opinion on AA v BA? Advice on seating on 772 / 773 (overnight on 773) with a partner. New AA lounge in JFK etc

Thanks

NWIFlyer

As this is mostly raising questions about AA, we'll move it into their forum - the members there also have considerable experience in flying with BA and should be able to help with comparisons as well as having greater expertise on AA seating and lounges.

/mod

kb3535

From a hard product POV, American have a slight edge for me. The current J seats on AA's 772s and 77Ws are more modern and featured than the BA seat, although the HD screen updates BA have made on some of their 744s help to close that gap. The new amenity kit on AA is also far superior to the cloth bag BA gives you

From a food POV, I prefer BA. While American's portions are larger, and their desserts (i.e. the sundaes) more decadent, I prefer quality over quantity. But everyone has their own perspective on this. One thing that's not up for debate is tea - AA can't make a proper cup of tea to save their lives! For wines and boozes, they're about equal.


Crew really depends on the day and where you sit. I've had mostly good luck with both BA and AA crews on that route, but once in a while you get a really stinker with an attitude, or someone so disinterested, it's painful.

For me, at this point in history, they're about equal when you add everything up (AA has gotten a lot better in the last 3-4 years). What really sways my choice is if I'm connecting at LHR from somewhere else in Europe - I tend to choose BA for all flights in that case so I can stay in T5, or AA if the euro connection is into T3 (i.e. when I connect from Lyon).

Hope that helps.

KB

darthlemsip

LON-JFK and back is my most frequent route, and I've mixed and matched all the available BA and AA combinations.

For me the top three goes:

AA 77W
BA CWLCY (I appreciate this isn't from LHR)
BA 747 UD


After that I don't care for AA 772, BA 772/W or BA 747 LD.

I really, really don't like that seat on the AA 772 - it feels like a cramped coffin to me - I'm very glad it will be replaced in due course

fly747first

While BA overall delivers a classier experience than AA, its Club World hard product is awful. On the AA 77W (and soon all 772s) you get a much better 1x2x1 configuration.

kb3535

For the 772 seating, are you talking about the old angle flat abominations, or the current fully flat all aisle access one. If the latter, while I do agree it's not as nice as the 77W version, it's still a pretty good seat, and feels private - although perhaps private for me can mean coffin for others.

darthlemsip

The latter - the one where some of them face backwards (Zodiac?). I'm 6' 3, so the narrow footwell is an issue for me, plus the movement in them when the person on the attached seat gets up, sits down etc is horrible. Just my opinion of course, but I'm glad they're going

wrp96

I don't think they are replacing the Zodiac seats that are already installed. They just aren't installing any new planes with those seats, but instead using the better quality Super Diamond seats.

darthlemsip

One's already been replaced when they fitted PE - I'm sure I read on here that they're doing the rest eventually

DFW DL

You'll enjoy trying out AA. I've flown both airlines quite a bit and I think that the AA J hard product on the 77W or the 772 (with the BE Super Diamond seats...facing forward) is head and shoulders above BA CW. The CW seat was great when it was introduced but now is woefully out of date. Paying J prices and not getting direct aisle access is not good value for money these days. I won't travel BA unless a) I know I can get 62A/K, or b) there is no good alternative to get to where I need to go. Perhaps the recently announced CW enhancement will fix this shortcoming.

The unmodified AA 772s (angle-flat seats) are to be avoided at all cost, but I think that most of them have now been modified. I have avoided the Zodiac-equipped 772s due to bad reviews, so I can comment on how these are as yet.

As others have noted, the cabin service can be hit or miss on both carriers. Usually the BA crews are polite and efficient but they do tend to disappear between meal service times. AA crews are more proactive but one can suffer the occasional surly FA.

Meals are very much in the eye of the beholder and luck of the draw. I've had truly dreadful stuff on both carriers, as well as some notably good meals. AA wins for me due to the ability to pre-order the main course (and perhaps more importantly, preview the menu so that I know if I have to eat before getting on the plane!).

Back when T5 opened, staying with BA for ease of connection might have been sound logic. Now with the advent of the B and C gates, pretty much any connection at LHR is painful.

Happy landings!

rfrost

I fly that route about 10 times a year and have been on all those planes. I find the AA 77W seat vastly superior to any of the others. I don't like he BA CW seat very much, but I do enjoy the BA 747 Upper Deck. I despise the Zodiac 772 seats on AA even though I've managed to avoid those with the motion problem: I find them cramped (and I'm only 5'3") and lacking in storage space. (I've liked the AA Super Diamond seats on other planes, but have not yet flown a 772 that has them.) The BA 777 CW section feels like a flying dorm to me.
While I preferred AA's food with its former caterer (the current one now presents every culinary cliche of the last 20 years, often in one dish), I think it's still way better than BA's, but BA clearly trumps AA with its wines. I generally find BA's inflight service more professional, but there are always exceptions on both sides. BA's IFE, particularly on the super-high J 747's, is much better, and, though AA's headphones are better, their collection an hour before landing is an ongoing annoyance.

Fraser

Personally I find the AA 77W and BA 747 upper deck window seats (particular 62A/K and 64A/K) to be very close.

Whilst CW is lagging behind now in terms of hard product if you are able to cherry pick the best seats it can still be very pleasant...

LonghornSF

Hard product
AA is the winner now with the 77W and retrofitted 772s. If you get any of AA's old 777s then BA is the clear winner. The legacy 777 angle flat product is terrible.

I actually like BA's rear facing club world seats, but the interior has looked extremely worn out on all of their 777s I've flown recently. The screens are also really low quality.


Soft product

There's obvious a lot of variance here, but on average I've had better luck with BA's crews. They seem to at least take the concept of service seriously and have minimum quality standards, whereas on AA I've met far too many of the "we're primarily here for your safety" types.


Food / booze / other stuff
I actually feel that AA has pulled ahead slightly in terms of food, especially with the ability to order in advance. BA's breakfast menu is disgusting, but I really like their dinners. BA tends to have better wine selections. Liquor is basically the same for both.

AA's new amenity kit beats BA's. Personally this isn't on the list of things I care about though.

no2chem

BA J (CW) is horrible, but better than most other european J, IMO. The amenity kit is kinda of a joke (stupid bag), but I don't put much weight on amenity kits. If you like soda, they serve it from dinky little 8oz cans (you get the glass... but still, make sure to ask for multiple). Crew can be really annoying sometimes, enforcing things like having your seat belt visible at the slightest amount of turbulence, window shade up during landing (will wake you up to make sure) and having the stupid monitor stowed away which means you can't watch anything.

AA has a much better hard product which I'm sure you've read about and I don't need to elaborate on, and has mostly nice/super lazy flight attendants, both which I prefer over the overattentive BA ones, and much better for sleeping since they don't bother you. Also they serve regular 12oz sodas, and Do the mini-cabin in 3/4 and you'll have a nice flight. I also like the food choices better, even though I find myself just eating at the lounge and skipping the plane meal these days.

T4 oneworld lounge options are much better than T5 imo unless you have CCR access, AA FL serves Taittinger, much preferred over the stuff in BA F lounge (rest of the lounge is meh though) and CX has dining in both F and J (noodle bar).

The AA arrival lounge is also much nicer than the BA arrival lounge. I think the spread is better too, and the showers are definitely much nicer.

In short, I'd probably pay significantly more to be on AA, so you should just go on AA. (BTW though, that's a bit odd, since the way the JV fares work I've noticed unless you're making a connection, usually the fares are equal or BA ends up being slightly cheaper due to relaxed last minute purchase rules).

wrp96

Since when is BA J all aisle access?