randidliyo

Well, after flying nearly two million miles combined over the past 15 years, I finally had the opportunity to fly US TCON (SFO-CLT) yesterday. I got an automatic upgrade on my coach ticket, and was happy.

But, no entertainment? Really? for 5 hours? At least I got some breakfast. Weird to say, but DL has spoiled me I guess.

Also, maybe this has already been posted, but are the free snack and drinks for EXP now gone for those in coach? I didn't see it in the in-flight magazine like I had in months past.

randidliyo

sosfo

Yup, it's pretty sad. Overall it's a pretty mediocre first product. Don't know why anyone would pay for it. Flying CLT-SFO tomorrow and have an iPad full of movies prepared!

CMK10

I wouldn't mind the no entertainment as much if there were power ports.

arlflyer

Yeah the downside of US F is that it's not that great. The upside is that it's pretty easy to get into. As an AA gold I'm up front probably 75% of the time on US flights.

pmblinn

Yep. No F in-seat power is a back-breaker for me. Others' mileage may vary.

GNRMatt

I agree not having power is the biggest issue. However, there is a solution. Purchase a portable USB Battery charger. That should get you through the longest flight in the US system without your device dying.

Superguy

Very true. If you subscribe to Fry's daily deals and hit some of the tech sites, you can usually find some killer deals on battery packs. I've picked up a 15000mAh battery for as little as $15 on Amazon.

Fry's has at least some sort of battery pack on sale every day, and many of the deals can be had online as well as in store.

Also, if you happen to be on a 319 and sitting in 1A, you can take advantage of the vacuum power plug there. It's a standard US AC socket, but it runs at 400 Hz. Some power bricks can tolerate it just fine. I've used it on multiple occasions to charge my cell phone with no problems.

Isn't US deploying streaming video now?

andrewjs18

for us taller gents, sometimes flying first is the only way to be comfortable on longer flights. I'm going to do PHL-SFO next year and will probably do first class for both the depart and return flights.

for me, I'm not willing to have the back of a seat on my knees for 6+ hours. I deal with it for the 5 hour flights from PHL-LAS, but I won't deal with it for 6+ hour flights.

JDiver

We will likely see fleet rationalization over 2016-7. Some of it has been announced, some not. That would mean in-seat power, more AVOD and / or streaming entertainment.

As long as we don't get what BA came down with last year, we're still good. (BA Club Europe is standardised at three by three across with middle seat blocked - and a truly miserly and awfully uncomfortable thirty inches of seat pitch! What were they thinking?)

CMK10

My Dad's done the RDU-LAX service on US since it switched over from AA. He's pretty picky and demanding but he said he had no issues with the service.

Oaxaca

Also had my first experience of US domestic F yesterday. Fortunately my expectations had been lowered sufficiently in advance that I wasn't disappointed, though have to agree that neither entertainment nor power on a 4.5-5 hour flight isn't great. However, the service was good and the food was better than expected also (maybe my expectations were very low). I have a red-eye from PHX-JFK coming up, let's see if I'm still positive after that...

Not that I agree with what BA have done (fine to do it, but not at business class prices), but I guess a slightly different situation in that none of their European competitors offers a short haul business class seat like that found on domestic F in the U.S., so their risk was a bit lower. It allowed them to squeeze a few more rows of seats in, which helps competing with the low cost carriers (there are some aircraft types that have escaped, either temporarily or for their remaining life in the fleet). BA also regards the short haul product as a feeder for long haul, it has always struggled for profit. If one of the big 3 U.S. carriers made such a move, I would think it would carry more risk, so you guys might be ok...

Often1

I like UA's streaming service and hope that is what AA adopts for sUS aircraft. As to the rest, the US F product is generally good value. It all comes down to what you pay.

Seat and pitch are good and that's all I care about.

grahampros

The ideal combination to me would be AA equipment with US flight crews. Well noted deficiencies in no power and tight pitch on US F class, but i've generally been pleasantly surprised to find the flight crews superior on US ( all from the east side given my destinations).

arlflyer

^

Agreed 100%. And some of the best service I've encountered is consistently on the PSA and Air Wisconsin RJ flights going up and down the East Coast. Absolute professional, enthusiastic FAs.

SDLFlyer

Am I missing something here? Almost every US operated flight I've been on lately has had Gogo streaming video with many free movies. For some reason it's not advertised by the FA's, but it's there if you are on an Airbus.