Well I have just done JFK-BUD-JFK and I must say it was good considering the low price. The seats are not BA CW but they are comfortable. I would say 55-60 inch pitch and slightly less recline than the old AA Business class seats. In fact there was more legroom and recline than I was expecting.

The IFE is main screen which is a bit behind the times.

At JFK you can use the Admiral club and at BUD Malev have a small lounge near the departure gate. The Malev lounge was much better than the AA T9 Admiral club- but that’s not hard!

I was however impressed by the in-flight service. Full dinner on the JFK-BUD flight. Dinner included a starter, main course, cheese, fruit, desert then coffee and liquors. All portions were very generous - maybe too much food!!
Drink selection good and all wines if I remember were Hungarian. A continental breakfast was served before landing.

On the BUD-JFK the Lunch again was substantial and I only had the starter and main course. When I declined the rest of the meal the FA looked quite surprised (I needed to sleep - a long weekend!!!). Before landing a cold plate of meats and fruit was served with bread and drinks and coffee.

On both flights crew were good and very friendly.

Both flights were only 15 mins late arriving. Outbound due to long taxi at JFK (Thunder Storms). Inbound strong headwinds. So no issue.

All in all a good experience and for the price well worth the money. It’s a very good option if you are connecting to other arts of Europe as it seems the ticket price is the same for all destinations.

I would recommend it as an option and is on par with the Old AA Business Class. Interesting point is the JFK-BUD flight is a code share with AA - but to fly under the AA code share was at least another $1500.

A surprisingly good experience over all – considering the fare paid.