SNAGold

^ ^ So true.......

downandup

I have to agree with the Original Poster, AA like all the other airlines have degraded the worth of their first class service. I was recently on the last flight out of DCA to MIA. The value of sitting in first was a waste of my upgrades. If I'd known that going into the flight I'd have exchange them for a sandwich.

pdb

Lots of posts for the OP to search on why getting into FC--even domestic--for the price of economy makes obvious good sense. No need for baiting or taking things personally. Yes, US domestic FC is improperly labeled, but fly BC intra-Europe and you don't see that great a difference.

Meanwhile, pre-flight beer or not, I'm looking forward to upgrading to FC on AA283 (MIA-LAX) and AA1520 (LAX-MIA) later this year when they are temporarily serviced by a 777--oh yeah...I may even obsess a little.

Efrem

I came to AA from Delta because I hated the idea of having to pay extra to get an upgradeable fare - and then, having paid the extra $$, not getting the upgrade (usually as Gold Medallion) anyhow but not able to get a refund either. To make it worse, the letter they wrote me when I dared mention this to them was a total blow-off. I wish I had saved it - I could use it in my MBA classes (I'm the prof) as a classic example of how not to treat a good customer.

Granted, they've backed off on a few of the most outrageous policies since then, but not on all of them. And from what I saw of both carriers' F at the time and more recently, there isn't a heck of a lot to choose between them. To paraphrase the OP, you have little option in the Atlanta or Cincinnati markets, but why does anyone applaud this lousy service from a 2 bit airline that seems to do all it can to p¡ss off its best customers and drive itself into bankruptcy? (I haven't seen anyone start a "Save AAdvantage" movement yet. I don't think I will.)

vasantn

I can't understand why so much bandwidth has been wasted on answering this ridiculous question.
Wild guess: could it be because it's better than coach on any other airline?

Fly AA J all the way

Not quite. F isn't that much better than Y, Y is just that much worse than F. And yes, there is a difference between those statements .

clarkef

One huge advantage of domestic first is that you dont' have to worry about the person next to you crowding into your space. I'm a big guy and I like the fact that domestic first is big enough that I don't have to worry that I might encrouch into someone else's personal space.

rrgg

Who's obsessing? Do you have OCD?

Domestic first is not international first. It's funny that you think so.

pkerr

Warning - Thread HiJack
Speaking of whining about the sundae service on the HNL flights... have they "fixed" that yet?

AuAAdvantage

Bingo!! I too am a Delta refugee. I was Silver Medallion (BFD). I NEVER got upgraded because if you were on a cheapo fare, you weren't entitled to diddly squat, other than priority boarding/checkin and other meaningless crap which cost DL nothing. They then changed to half credit towards elite status on cheap fares and touted this as an "enhancement". Every degradation to their FF program was an "enhancement". This, along with the almost total lack of Skysaver award availability was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. Bah-bye DL, hello AA. Let those who remained loyal to DL help fund the DL pilot's sky-high salaries. My future airfare bucks would go (and still go) to AA.
At least DL will save thousands of dollars in costs by not having to provide folks like me with a crack at exit row seats and the chance to board a few minutes earlier than others. Unlike you, I never wrote to Delta regarding how I felt about their program changes. Any company who can screw you over and then tell you that getting it up the behind is actually an enhancement and something you should welcome, is too delusional to reason with or complain to. YMMV

chsb

Let's also not forget. I have not personally flown DL F in several years since they close their DFW hub. Oh speaking of running from the competition it was DL that did that, not AA. Anyway, I have had several people tell me that on domestic flights in F drinks are serve in plastic cups. If that's the case whose F product has won the race to the bottom.

Flyer23

I flew DL F on a trip about this time last year -- I purchased a YUP fare for a last-minute trip when AA was sold out. On four segments (SFO-ATL-CMH-CVG-SFO), I don't think the FAs ever served pre-departure drinks, although there was a small bottle of water at each seat when we boarded.

Honestly, I don't obsess about getting into F on any domestic airline. It's nice to have a bit more elbow room when I'm working on my laptop, but I can also survive quite nicely in coach.

Now my most recent trip, in BA Club World, first time on the top deck of a 747... that I obsessed over

Jumpcut

On a 757, I find that AA always offers a predeparture drink when boarding through 2L (as they do in FLL). It's hit & miss when boarding through 1L, but if the aisle is cleared of boarding coach passengers in time, they usually offer it then as well. Not that I would make this the determining factor on whether or not I fly F.

YMMV.

DallasAudiGuy

I'm going DFW-LAX-HNL and back in July. I will report my findings

chsb

I have found that as well. I think one of the probs with predep drinks now days, is with the planes as full as they are it is just difficult to do a consistent drink service as it seems to me on my last several flights the isles were full of people until they closed the door for departure.