I recently flew STL-LGW in coach because I couldn't get upgraded and I couldn't get bumped.

"Man, I had a dreadful flight!" - The Beatles, Back in the U.S.S.R.

The plane was filthy. And I mean filthy. There is no way all the lavs could have become that dirty that quickly. We waited on the ground for 90 minutes while the maintenance crew worked on the lavs but all 4 coach lavs were a mess when we took off. The rest of the plane was pretty dingy as well. There was one nice FA and about 5 pretty surly FAs who stayed in the back and ignored call lights. I finally got up after 30 min to ask for a drink and got the "rolleyes" smiley from the FA. This was after a pre-dinner drink and a glass of wine, so it's not like I was in the middle of a heroic intake of cocktails or anything. Breakfast consisted of a muffin and a glass of juice. Worst international redeye breakfast ever. I had a MUCH better flight back on AA metal with an AA crew (granted in J so it's like comparing apples to say, rusty nails but coach on the AA flight looked a lot better than what I got on the TWA flight).

So, for me it's AA metal or nothing on the international flights. No complaints about TWA domestically so far, but the trip to London on TWA was less enjoyable than a DL coach flight.