Ok...here’s my full awesome AA experience.

AA 1285: get on board and find the arm well area where the power plug is located filled with trash from the occupant on the inbound. Plane obviously wasn’t cleaned. Tweet at AA, they don’t care. Added bonus the normal “international business” service of one snack basket pass and a glass of water.

MIA Layover: zero complaints, all staff in Flagship First Dining were great. Thankfully I was able to use that oasis, Flagship Lounge was so overcrowded it was unbelievable.

AA 1061: Lovely non-lie flats for the transcon. Slept the whole flight, no comment on service.

LAX Flagship: popped into FF Dining for a drink before 193. Served greeted me, I asked how he was doing and his response was “this is my Friday night...at least it’s almost over.” Awesome attitude.

AA 193: as mentioned IFE didn’t work, the purser who was a short, bald asian man that really didn’t speak English (perhaps someone recognizes him? Didn’t wear a name tag) told us it was probably broken, too bad. Very gruff and attitude from the get go. Of the two power ports in my seat only one worked. The purser told me my pre-ordered meal was not available because the menu was now different. I picked a new choice. He seemed annoyed and was encouraging people to opt for a cheese plate then bed and not the full meal service. When he took my order he tried to skip over courses, presumably with the intention of not having to serve them.

As mentioned the “amuse bouche” was some almonds and olives. Purser brought out salad with the wrong dressing which he had to replace, brought out wrong side with main, never offered cheese (I would have passed, but still) then brought out the wrong dessert. Come on...at NO POINT during the meal service did they offer beverages. I said I wanted water, and I guess they assumed since they gave out water bottles, that was sufficient.

I suspect there was an issue with the catering because having flown AA F TPAC before this was even worse than their usual offering and as mentioned there were no rolls just sliced white or dark bread. My salt shaker was also broken and the top had to be unscrewed to get salt out.

After the meal I slept for a while. After waking up, I noticed there were no snacks or water or other beverages in the galley and walked back to the fully stocked biz galley for water. Obviously since at no point in this 14h flight did the crew proactively offer a drink, expecting them to be on it would be too much.

I came back to my seat and the other drama unfolded with 1D also going to the biz galley then complaining to an FA who got the purser. Then the same gruff purser yelling at him instead of owning his awful service.

sometime around 5-6 hours before arrival when everyone was sleeping the purser came around woke people up, asked if they were staying in HKG and gave out landing cards. Baffling. Maybe 2 hours later, the other FAs who I almost never saw for the duration of the 14hr flight gleaned that 1D was mad and thought it was appropriate to stand in the aisle between 1A (my seat) and 1D and chat with him, hoping perhaps to cajole him into not complaining. The FA’s loud convo with 1D made it impossible to sleep. It was around 2am at this point. I finally asked them to please keep it down so I could sleep. They did and I went back to bed.

i woke up 1.5h before landing and got up to change out of PJs. Crew were of course not in the cabin or doing breakfast service. I found one FA strapped in and the purser slurping congee from the F catering menu.
Good of them to eat passenger catering before all passengers have been offered breakfast. At this point the one decent FA realizes I haven’t had breakfast. She asks the purser what they have left. With an agitated sigh he stops eating and finally looks. They frantically ask me what I want and I explain i’m waiting for the lav, can I please tell them after I use the bathroom.



After changing, I consult the menu and ask for the American breakfast and then ask if the breads have been loadeded (valid since they clearly weren’t for dinner) purser says NO. The nice FA says yes there are breakfast breads.



I ask the purser if they have hong kong milk tea, he says OK. As the FA is walking out w my tray, she walks past my seat, the purser claps his hands and whistles at her and tells her she went too far. No jam or anything for the croissant (had to ask) and the “milk tea” is just hot water with a tea bag. Just pathetic. The breakfast was more shorthaul domestic F than TPAC 3 class F. Instead of broken salt and pepper none were offered at all. I asked for water it never came.



Since the yelling incident the only time I have seen any crew, other than sitting in the galley ignoring passengers is when they stop by to chat up 1D in hopes he won’t complain. The people in the Row 2 middle have been drinking beverages they brought from LAX presumably since the crew never offer anything.


Not only is this THE worst F flight I have ever taken on any airline, I am hard pressed to think of any BIZ flight on any airline I have flown longhaul that was this bad. The closest I can come is an SAA JNB-ACC flight in J on an ancient A340. So this is “going for great?” Your “Flagship” prestige route international F is marginally better than SAA biz on regional intra-Africa routes. Well done!



Perhaps the most galling thing is that this is much worse than being in AA J on the same plane. I’d like my SWU back. I likely would have had a pleasant, quiet and hassle free flight back in 3A. Kick in the teeth to burn a SWU for the “privilege” of this nonsense.