Originally Posted by
steveholt
I've found that the big difference between AA F and AA J isn't the food or the seat or the privacy, which is often the case for other airlines. It's the service. And of course, the service is always erratic on AA, so I've had some great service in J and middling service in F. But if I was to evaluate service on a 1-to-10 scale with 1 being IB Y flight attendants who were essentially striking while operating the flight and 10 being SQ F service, AA J ranges from 2 to 5, and AA F has ranged for me from 3 to 8. I've had some really wonderful, almost shockingly good service on flights to/from LHR in AA F.
I have only flown AA international F on two flights, DFW -> LHR (overnight) and LHR -> JFK. The service on both was as you described as "shockingly good". Aside from one dish that was saltier than a typical DMV employee and the very blah cheese/fruit plate the food was impressively good as well, including the soups that differentiated F from J. Wine selection was meh but port is a great way to wind my insides down before sleeping so it worked out. One of the FA's - the purser coming back from LHR - has been an employee for 30 years (ex US Airways via acquisition) and he was actually the best of all we encountered in either direction between the connecting flights and the long hauls.
It sounds like I just got lucky and hit the FA jackpot.