Originally Posted by olimaspecto
I actually think that AA.com is pretty good. UAL.bomb is horriffic and AA.com is reliable, fast, and easy to use. Its not the prettiest website in the business and lacks some functionality (i.e. open jaw or partner award trips like Alaskaair.com or continental.com) but I find it quite useful.
Im not sure that even if AA.com were not the best website that I would not book trips on AA metal just because of that. Remember you can always book on orbitz or travelocity, etc (albeit at times for a higher price).
I second this and use both all the time. AA is better for many reasons:
1) More reliable (it usually works).
2) Can change seats and view seat maps any time (only at purchase on UA).
3) Much faster (no annoying interstitial displays telling you to wait interminably).
4) Fewer quirks (many times, depending on your navigational path, you can get into dead-end states that break united.com until you restart your browser).
The only thing better about united.com, in my experience, is better support for upgrades.
usairways.com is another dog of a web site that is much worse than aa.com (though I haven't used it since they reworked it after the America West merger).