Originally Posted by
corporate-wage-slave
My limited (once only) experience is that in fully flat mode the seat is not as comfortable as CW as a bed, it juts out in the wrong places slightly. Also window seats in CW have better privacy, particularly upper deck. Otherwise I can certainly see your point of view. And I certainly agree that JFK T8, along with SFO T2, are the best big airports in the USA. However there are 3 things that stop me from booking this service:
1) The lack of consistency on the hard product, especially if there is an equipment change, the alternative is quite dire. With BA that is hardly ever an issue.
2) AA's staff / soft product is not as good as BA at its best (yes, there is consistency issue there I admit).
3) CWLCY.
Good points. I found the seat dug into my hip slightly, but it didn't stop me sleeping. Like I said, they're pretty much brand new so might improve with use. Privacy is good in CW I grant you, but unless you're in the 4 golden seats upstairs on a 744, you still have to climb over someone else to get out which I've always disliked.
Equipment change would be a major concern if I were to do this route regularly, and I guess over time we'll see how often this happens. I think AA are planning to roll out the 77W on TATL routes pretty quickly - it's hard to see how they can justify charging the same for the dreadful J product in the older planes. TBH, I don't rate the staff quality too highly. On an ideal flight they serve me when needed and that's it - if I have to interact with them for more than 10 minutes then something's not right. The crew on my flight last week were nice enough, one in particular was chatting with any passengers who wanted to catch his attention.