A few basic AA service questions
 

Hi guys,

I'm flying out to SFO this summer on BA for a few weeks and I'm hoping to fit in a couple of days in LAX and LAS while I'm out there. I'm not too fussed about which airline I go with for such a short trip, but seeming as AA fly SFO - LAX - LAS for a decent price I may as well get some BA miles to boot.

I've got a few questions about the service on board though, I've not flown AA before and I can't seem to get any definitive answers to these:

1) The SFO - LAX sector seems to be mainline AA. I've checked the seat pitches on SeatGuru so I'm happy with those. But what is the difference in on-board service between Y & F? Does F even get a meal or is it just something like nuts? Does Y get anything above drinks at all?

2) If I was on an F ticket, what lounges would I get access too? I have no OW status (BA Blue). What are the lounges like in terms of food & drink?

3) The LAX - LAS sector is operated by American Eagle. They seem to be all-economy. What food/drink service is available there? If I had F class between LAX - SFO and economy on LAS - LAX, would I still get lounge access at LAS?

4) What exactly is a YUP fare? I know they're cheap ways of upgrading Y->F but how much do they cost?

5) How easy is it to get decent seats? I see that AA have some form of OLCI/SSCI system, but does it work?

6) I want to do SFO - LAX (1 night) - LAS (1 night) - LAX - SFO. What is transitting like at LAX, and how long should I realistically give to connect?


Thanks in advance for any help you can give!

I'll answer the questions that I know the answer to fairly well:

1) On a flight that short, the difference between F and Y is the larger seat and free booze in F. There shouldn't be a meal service in F, and meal service in Y on AA is long gone.

2) I don't believe that a paid F ticket on AA gives lounge access automatically, but I could be wrong.

3) The Eagle flight will have a drink service, and that's about it. There may also be some sort of salty snack involved. ;)

4) YUP is essentially a F fare at a Y price. For the SFO-LAX-LAS route, expect to pay somewhere in the neighborhood of US$600 for a return ticket.

5) AA allows you to reserve seats at the time of booking. A lot of the premium seats (such as exit rows), however, are blocked for AA's elites, and others (the non-exit row bulkheads) are held for airport assignment.

6) The Eagle-to-AA transfer at AA will involve a terminal change, which will require you to take the Eagle shuttle to Terminal 4. It's a relatively painless transfer, but you probably should allow at least 45 minutes to do it, IMO.

Mike

In addition to the information posted above:
1. Drink service in Y is free for non-alcoholic drinks. There is a charge (I believe $5) for alcoholic drinks. Selection of alcoholic drinks may be less extensive than in F. Unlike business class in Europe (at least in my experience), you do get a larger, cushier seat in domestic F in the U.S.
2. If you had OneWorld Emerald or Sapphire status on an airline other than AA, you would get lounge access (nice how AA discriminates against its own, isn't it?). A domestic F ticket does not get you lounge access in the U.S. :mad:
6. While you might do that transfer at LAX in 45 minutes, I would allow longer. The shuttle bus service is sometimes not as prompt as I would like it to be.

Except full-fare first class on transcontinental AA flights. Obviously not an issue here...

Actually, you would get lounge access if you were a oneworld elite (Emerald or Sapphire) on the day(s) of international flights (unless you belong to a oneworld airline that arranges entry to AA lounges on status alone,) or a Premium cabin ticket on limited nonstop transcontinental flights, AFAIK. Meaning on SFO-LAX-LAS, it wouldn't happen (and there is no Admirals Club in LAS anyway.)

SFO-LAX is often under an hour (regardless of what the schedule says) with an MD-80, two seats on each side of the aisle in domestic First with 38" pitch, soft and alcoholic drinks with snack - like a small sack of pretzels, or mixed nuts. The seating is much more spacious than comparable Club Europe sectors.

The Regional Jets are rather cramped and all coach, with a LAS service meaning a service with courtesy soft drinks and for-pay alcoholic drinks.

A YUP fare is an Economy fare that books into domestic First; to find one on aa.com, use the "More Options" on the booking form and request a "business or higher with restrictions" fare and sort on fares to get the lowest ones displayed first. Click on "show detailed fare rules" to see what the fare is - if it starts with YUP or YxxUP, that will be it. Not all routes have YUP fares; some are bargains and some are not.

SFO-LAX-LAS might not be worth the freight for an F fare, in my opinion, since you are talking about two short flights with only one sector having better seating.

Correct, although it's not a matter of selected oneworld airlines having a special arrangement to allow elites access to the Admirals Clubs. All oneworld Sapphires and Emeralds have access to Admirals Clubs prior to any flight on a oneworld airline, except if the elite status is with AAdvantage. For non-AA oneworld Sapphires and Emeralds there is no international flight requirement.

Not that any of this helps BAW845_Matt, who will not have access unless he buys a $50 day pass (or joins either the Admirals Club or Qantas Club). Personally, I don't think it's worth it.

Ah, leave it to an Aussie mate (in the Capital, no less! ;)) to clarify things! In my next life, I will emigrate from Latin America to Oz, and not be confined to life as a "septic." :D Thanks, Alan!

(I wonder how we at AA got so lucky... Must be the "septic" thing!)