I admit it - I've become one of AA's biggest fans. With 98% of my work travel being domestic, it's not surprising as I think AA is leaps and bounds ahead of UA on the domestic front.
However, I flew AA J international, for the first time since making the switch to AA, this evening (DFW - LIM) and I was so underwhelmed and it left me baffled as to why UA isn't dominating the international space for customers flying US carriers as they should be.
On food: AA salad was slightly better but the steak while juicy was quite rubbery so I'd call it a draw with UA's international food (and worse than some domestic F meals I've had on AA)
On service: AA was very mediocre - the FA who was handing out customs cards accidentally gave me one in Spanish (which I can kinda sorta read / speak). When I realized the issue I went up and asked an FA if there was an English one. Four hours later she got back to me to inform me there wasn't. This is as an EXP in J (Y ticket + SWU), really it took 4 hours to get an answer? Overall they were pretty meh - and I definitely was treated worse for looking young despite being in my mid-twenties (you can tell - not calling you Mr. Flyerdude88 when they're calling everyone else Mr. XYZ and Mrs. XYZ, not refilling your drink when they're refilling everyone else's, etc.). So I'd say it was on par with UA's mediocre crews
On the seat: Not even close. Granted this is AA's older NGBC however since that seat is on almost every route still, it's a valid comparison. I'm thin and about 5'11/6'0 it still felt narrow and short and obviously doesn't even lie-flat. UA's seat blows it out of the water, even the 2-4-2 version on sUA 772s and definitely the 2-2-2 on a 763 (which is what I was flying)
If UA could just find a way to improve their service somewhat and food somewhat they could really find success in the international space. It doesn't even have to be by that much - AA isn't that much better. I obviously don't have access to the numbers or models they use but surely spending $5-7 more on food and service would yield a solid return. The seat is better and they do have a better route network than both DL and AA.
It blows my mind that they've managed to squander both advantages - since they only have the lie-flat advantage until AA and DL complete their refurbs with arguably better lie-flats and definitely better configurations