JFK/FCO As terrible as some reviews say???
 

I am booked on AA going form JFK to FCO end of May. I have been reading some reviews on an airline review website and all reviews of AA are just terrible. I have flown them domestically but never internationally. Is it as bad as they say?
I will be gold before we go so at least I can get the preferred seats.

Y on virtually every airline is nothing great, particularly on a longer flight however U.S. airlines tend to be worse in Intl Y than foreign carriers such as BA, CX, AF, LH, LX, etc.

I would bring a book or your own digital entertainment - your flight WILL NOT have individual seat back monitors so the only video will be on overhead monitors. If you are a picky eater, pick up some food at the airport.

Try to sleep and you will be in Rome even sooner. :D

What review site was it? If it was SkyTrax, please read those with a HUGE grain of salt. They are commonly done by "kettles" with very little travel experience and grand expectations of the airlines (I just defined a kettle, right?). I read those reviews for entertainment value only--they nearly invariably end with the declaration "I will never fly [insert airline] again!" :rolleyes:

Take the above advice, or even better, upgrade with miles and money and really enjoy the flight--it's worth it.

One should take reviews with a grain or gram of salt, and be aware of who is reviewing. AA is no worse than any other airline I have taken in coach on a route like that - it's coach that sucks; I'd trust FT a bit more. (I've been flying AA and a goodly number of other airlines - many defunct now - since the mid-1940s in all classes of service.)

The truth is that AA does not have the amenities that most European airlines offer as a standard in Y, such as personal movie screens with on-demand video and audio (AA has it only on selected airplanes, none of which are on this route), free wine/spirit with your meals, free checked-in baggage, and, if I read the latest press release correctly, the ability to sit in an aisle or window at the front of the cabin without having to pay a fee. On board crews vary in their professionalism, with many, as you have surmised, having very little of it, while others being some of the best in the air.

I flew that a few years ago in coach when I first started flying AA. It was fine for coach. Not appreciably different than other long flights in coach.

Actually I find Y on carrier such as BA, AF and LH to be not too good either. I recently flew EY ORD-AUH-KHI and was fortunate to have ORD-AUH on an exit row but AUH-KHI probably had the worse seat pitch I've literally ever flown (no exaggeration). Fortunately 10 minutes into the flight some lady was courteous enough to exchange seats with and give me her "bulk row" seat (seat between J and Y doesn't have a physical separator so there is a lot of leg room).

- Last Oct neither of my DFW-LHR or LHR-DFW upgrades cleared and I flew Y in completely full 767 cabins both times (almost 5,000 miles each way). The service and seats were fine. Actually, I do like AA Y service and seats better than BA, IB, or JL I flew recently in Y.

I think people are just shocked when they are in a transatlantic flight that doesn't have personal TVs.

I flew AA JFK to FCO in May, riding in coach. There was a movie or two played on tiny overhead monitors (I watched a movie on my laptop then slept). Blankets and pillows at every seat. Food was better leaving FCO than leaving JFK, I had a gluten free meal and was reasonably content. Very senior crew (all gray haired) but friendly and service was fine. I was quite happy with the flight for 40,000 AA miles and $49! It's all a matter of attitude.

Try to get an swu from coupon connection, will make the flight much better in J

Free booze, (relatively) better service and PTVs on every plane....

People love to bash the Y product for US carriers. I know this thread is about transatlantic travel, but based on four longer segments (6-7 hours) on JL during the past year, I would take AA any day. Yes, on AA the booze isn't free, the IFE sucks and the service in a completely league, but I find the new JL Y cabins to be excruciatingly cramped compared to what AA offers on the 767s and 777s.

If you are gold before your flight, try to snag an exit row and you will be all set.

I fly AA LHR-LAX-LHR at least once a year, sometimes twice, and always in Coach. My Pioneer Ancestors crossed the Great Plains in covered wagons. My father walked through the Arkansas snow* to school, uphill both ways, as a boy. Somehow I manage to survive 10 hours in Coach.

I pretty much ignore the IFE and just concentrate on my Kindle, iPod and Killer Sudoku book.


*I've always suspected Dad was pulling my leg about deep snow in Arkansas in August.

Try it on Airitalia.