halls120

For me, the UA F seat beats the B6 EMS seat in any situation. I'm 5'9" so seat width is more important than seat pitch.

Superguy

I dunno, I don't think AA is any worse than the UA I left 5 years ago. Operationally, AA has been pretty good. I've had a mechanical hear and there, but I've also had some IRROPS service that was as stellar as I used to get as a 1K at UA.

Meals? Meh - I've had good and gross meals on both AA and UA. Some of the worst had been in UA C. Most of the time, it's decent enough to eat, but far from premium.

I probably miss UA's network and *A the most. I liked most *A carriers and UA's network overall worked better for my needs. But being BWI instead of IAD based, they're not that far apart.

Dougie, overall, certainly hasn't been that good for AA, but I attribute the general downslide in service due to market conditions more than any one airline's management (though I DO think SMI/J was much worse than Doug). When you have little competition, there's no incentive to be great.

My upgrade percentage has definitely dropped over the last while, and is a far cry from what I used to get on US flights. I get about 50% of the ones I ask for. However, AA's difference in fares to F haven't been that much over the fares I normally buy (mid-tier refundables), so I've been taking advantage of that for the comfort and 2x EQPs. In many cases, the cost to upfare has been less than the value of required stickers. Then again, my upgrade percentage is probably better there than what I'd see at UA these days, especially as a mid-tier elite.

I flew DL once on a rebook, but I can't bring myself to make the jump. SkyPesos aside, I don't see the perks they offer as significantly better, and their treatment of other ST airlines, with no MQM earning at all on some like KE, is a deal breaker for me. It's either an alliance or it's not.

Hopefully with the latest haul before Congress, the airlines will focus more on customer service and improving things there. However, I don't think Congress's threat to fix thing if they don't is all that serious.

I've been watching UA lately since their fiascos to see if anything improves. I'm not holding my breath, but I'd consider coming back if things actually improved.

When all are pretty much equal, there's no real incentive for pax to move either.

It's sad - travel used to be much better than what it's become. The only glimmer of what used to be I see on foreign airlines the few times I fly them.

TCD

Don't look too closely at those foreign airlines, especially for their equivalent of domestic rather than international travel. European short-haul first class is a joke.

SeaProf

I'll take NZ domestic over anything American any day of the week. It's not special by any means, it's just more pleasant. The trivia questions on the video screen help pass time, the wine and cheese flights in the evening are a nice twist and boarding an A320 (or whatever is being used) in less than 20 minutes is a breath of fresh air.

controller1

My last UA flight was 10/7/2014. I had been flying UA almost exclusively since 2002. After several customer service miscues I said goodbye and have been flying AA exclusively since that time. Recent UA SNAFUs have only made me realize how much I do not miss UA (except for their website).

tphuang

That's interesting, I also find the same when flying on A320 EMS or AA's MCE and comparing it to AA's F. That extra width makes a pretty large difference.

On the other hand, have you tried B6's E90 EMS? The seat is a little wider than A320 seats, no middle seat and everything just feels a little more spacious. I have to say one of the most comfortable Y class ride for me.

And then when you tack in the additional IFE options on B6, it's a pretty good option.

Totally agreed on AA's food, terrible.

But AA allows much higher upgrade opportunities compared to Delta. There is no way AA's F is worse than Delta's comfort+. By the way, comfort+ is just a regular Y seat on B6.

BearX220

This. If you luck into a B6 EMS seat with a vacant middle, it's as comfortable as most domestic F products, and with more legroom than most, too. And when you're Mosaic the pay-with-points upgrade process is high-value and straightforward.

kmersh

That is entirely possible, I just don't fly frequently enough to qualify for status and thus upgrades, for me, if I want to sit in F, I have to buy F.

My Wife flew AA First DFW-SFO and said that her Egg/Canadian Bacon Biscuit sandwich was a soggy mushy gross mess and inedible.

televisor

I would argue that boarding duration has nothing to do with the airline, and everything to do with the local peoples.

A lot of people commenting on intra-europe/NZ flights seem to forget that most NZ/European flights are of the order of 1-2 hours (slightly longer if you're BA and starting in London), so seating is a lot less important. That said, I still prefer first or E+ as available on e.g. UA because even a 90 minute flight is enough to get some work done (good luck using a laptop in E-).

SFO777

LOL. Good one. Yeah, NZ one class domestic is so much better than 2x2 38-40" pitch US domestic First.

findark

Short stage length and nice lounges go a long way to helping the experience, especially the former.

Maybe it's my west coast bias talking, but I feel like US domestic Y would be a lot less terrible if all flights were <800mi. When I was flying a lot of WN up and down California I really had no complaints. But the US is a big place. A seat I'm happy in for BUR-SJC is not something I'm willing to put up with flying to ORD or EWR.

jasonvr

I think I have finally resigned myself to giving up on UA. Member since 1984. Been every level except GS over the years. Gold right now. About 300k from MM, so not like I'm going to get there soon (and it will probably change again before I get there).

Started doing a lot of WN flying in the latter half of last year because of the targeted CP promo. WN is so much more convenient for me to go to Sunnyvale from Orange County (much better than trekking to SFO, and less prone to delays). Once I got CP and A-List, it was kinda over.

I've still done 2 flights on UA since then though. One was to HI using the MP Visa free companion cert (of course WN couldn't get me there). The other was a business trip to MCO,, and really, I should have probably done it on WN. Have a trip to MCO this week and this time it is on WN. It will put me close to A-List+.

Already used CP twice and it is a huge money saver for me. When I fly for non-business, my wife is always with me. Flew home to Chicago for XMas using it. Also had to fly back for a funeral. And this July we're flying to PUJ to meet up with friends for a week at an all inclusive. Saving me a ton on airfare from just those 3 trips (especially since I'm using points for my tickets to PUJ).

It's actually possible I might get to Silver again this year (I'm at 12k PQM right now and will get 5k PQM from the credit card), but I don't think I'm going to push for it. Kinda sad, I think I've had some sort of status on UA for all but 2-3 of the last 13 years.

findark

Can't blame you. WN is much more reliable and convenient for California short-haul ops, especially if you want endpoints that aren't SFO or LAX.

Kacee

WN is measurably faster than the legacies. (In part b/c they allow free checked bags).

But you're right, Americans loiter in the aisles like no one else. It's that rugged individualism

DENviaLAX

To me the no seat assignment thing would seemingly make boarding go slower, as people spend time searching for a good seat vs going straight to their assigned seat and (theoretically) sitting right down. But you're right, the checked bags is a huge factor as well. Legacies having to gate check so many bags and there simply being more bags in the cabin in general definitely slows things down.

That said, WN is still absolutely horrendous in getting their flights out on time. UA was #1 again in that department in May, and a full 20 percentage points ahead of WN (who is always last behind the legacies in that regard).