Originally Posted by
hillrider
Somebody has been flying to Africa too much. To Europe, the rule is lie-flat: BA, LH/LX, AF/KL have been lie-flat for a long time, all with better seats than AA's. And on the Asia/Pacific market I can't even think of a single airline that's not lie-flat (am sure there are still a few from some underdeveloped countries).
zman's comment is spot on. Many FTers (me included) don't fly AA J when paying for J, but it's a fine Econ+ on upgrades or awards (when there's no choice).
I'm in Hillrider's camp -- I love AA domestically for the ease of upgrades, but I try to always fly BA CW (BA goes where I need to go most of the time) for long haul international in J so I can sleep. I can't imagine why anyone would pay for J on AA for international long haul when they could pay for a flat bed seat on another carrier. I would be surprised if there are many paid J customers on AA for those routes. My hunch is that to the degree that there is paid J for these routes on AA, it is coming from corporate accounts with AA, not individuals on their on dimes.