I was on flight 52 to Prague on Oct. 2 and wanted to share the experience. AA has been receiving negative press recently and I thought it would be somewhat balancing to relate a good story. My traveling companion and I arrived ahead of time from LAX on flight 1799. It was scheduled to arrive at PHL at 3:55 PM but arrived about 20 minutes early. Since the AC near gate A15 was closed for renovation, we made the trek to the AC near gate A6. Needless to say, it was quite crowded at that time of day especially since the other AC is undergoing conversion to a Flagship Lounge. Didn't even attempt an entry at the BA Club since my traveling companion has no status with AA. At any rate, we managed to find a table with two chairs and were quite content with the arrangement. Left for gate A22 at 17:50 and found that boarding had already started when we arrived at the gate. We soon boarded and deposited ourselves in seats 1A and 2A. At the seat, there were a pillow and duvet and an amenity kit.
Our purser came by offering a PDB of sparkling wine, sparkling water, flat water, or OJ. Another FA came by handing out newspapers. Pushback from the gate occurred at 18:39 ahead of our scheduled departure at 18:50. Dinner service began soon after takeoff. I had preselected the smoked brisket and it was quite tender and tasty. However, the real star of the meal was the first course which consisted of a fresh salad and a small plate described on the menu as "Latin shaved beef". That small plate was delicious and could be served at any fine restaurant.
After dinner I read for a bit and then racked out for about four hours. When I woke, it was just getting to be sunrise and we were somewhere over the European Union.
The service throughout the flight was quite good with the FA's making many passes through the cabin asking if we needed anything. Breakfast was served about an hour and a half before landing. Arrival in Prague was 45 minutes ahead of schedule and we had to wait about 20 minutes for gate 3 to open. All in all, this was a very nice flight with a crew that was friendly and attentive.