777 First vs Business - major differences? (consolidated)
 

I am looking to fly DFW to LHR on an award flight. F and J are available. A friend told me just book J as F is not worth the extra miles. I have the miles to burn so I am not worried about using the miles. I've done many searches here and the only difference between the two I can tell is the larger seat and the meals served on plates instead of trays. I see the seat as a plus and minus, more room but farther away from each other. I know a lot of you have pro's and con's for each seat. I only fly 757's and MD80's, never been on a 777 and my wife has never flown in First at all. Am I missing any perks between the two.

I did search the WIKI and other threads and got a lot of useful information, just wanted to see if I missed anything.

jm62, Welcome to Flyertalk,

Since both awards are available and you have a lot of miles, I'd go for F. It isn't that many more miles (12,500) and it is a better flight experience. The issue between the two isn't a "bigger seat" but rather a lie flat seat vs. an angled seat.

However, you could do F on the outbound/overnight flight (so that you have actual lie flat seats and thus the potential for better sleep) and do J on the return.

Either F or J on the 777 are considerably better than F on the MD80 or 757, so no matter what you'll be much more comfortable.

You need to take a look at www.seatguru.com to find where the best seats are on your flight.

The service very likely will be similarly bad/grumpy/unhelpful as normally on AA. The food is very similar (just somewhat bigger plates and a little nicer setup in F).
The main difference is the seat: really flat with reasonable privacy and space and nobody to climb over/climbing over you. Travelling alone I can sleep fairly well in AA F for several hours, but in J usually don't sleep well. I would spend the extra miles. If you travel with your partner you are close enough on the middle seats to talk, but holding hands is difficult.

While I agree with everything BDEMARIA says, if I were in your shoes, I would opt for F. While J is nice, F is a much better experience. 36 nice seats vs 16 very nice personal pods. better service with greater comfort. This sounds like something of a "special" trip, so make really special.

To me, this is a no brainer. You're total time in the air is ~ 19 hours, the availability in F is there, the extra miles aren't many and you've got plenty to burn, you've never been on a 777, and you're wife has never been in F.

At the end of the day, and after a few hours in the air, I wouldn't want be in J looking forward and thinking "For a few extra miles, we could have been up there". Not to mention what my wife might be thinking.

Go for it and enjoy your trip.

I have flown LAX-LHR many times in F and J.. IMHO.. THERE IS NO COMPARISON... F ALL THE WAY.. The personal suite is worth all the miles... I also feel that the meal service is far superior...

I have over 1,000,000 BIS miles on AA. I can count on one hand the number of AA FAs I've encountered who fit this description.

Although AA is NOT Cathay Pacific or Singapore Airlines in terms of service, I agree with bdemaria in that I have very RARELY had normally bad/grumpy/unhelpful inflight service. If service were that bad, AA would not stay in business. :rolleyes:

I completely agree. Rarely do I meet grumpy sourly international FA's even in coach. I think mostly the europeans are not used to the more casual service, calling you sweeite, making small talk, etc. Ok, they tend to be a little more senior, but so what? They make far better conversation than the clueless young bimbo's flying around.

I must say, I did J on CX in July, and I am so glad to be back on AA J. Poor on-time performance (stuck over night in HKG, then almost again in LAX), missed baggage connection, ignored my priority tags, terrible seats, and a very warm front 4 rows of upper deck. The FA's only know to apologize. So those who complain about AA, try your own favorite carriers again, and compare.

IMO, the F seat is considerably -massively, actually - more comfortable than the J. It's true that the F seating is slightly awkward for a couple, and I would rather sit at the window than in two middle seats-- still, these issues still pale in comparison to the fantastic F seats in which I can sleep 10x better than in J. The only time I'd consider J over F is traveling with Mrs. KFM and Bay KFM so we could flank the kid and also provide a little less baby to our fellow passengers...

Go for it. I'd be stunned if you found the extra miles to be anything but well-spent. The F seat on the 777 is unquestionably the best seat in the entire AA fleet-- might as well experience the top banana...

Welcome to FlyerTalk.

I also recommend checking the Users' Guide for links to threads and even to off-site photos and videos, as well as aa.com.

In F you get a suite with a swiveling seat with ottoman (you can have guests for meals, as the ottoman is set up with required seat belts,) desk surface, AVOD, which turns into a 6'6" lie flat bed. Yes, there are major differences between F and J... and the suite is perhaps the most significant difference.

This boils down to an upgrade of 12,500 ow- a no brainer. Much more private and no climbing. Get a window seat.

For space the AA F is one of the best (but it is NOT SQ or CX F)
but J is below space average due to 2x3x2 seating.
The window or middle has to crawl over someone to get out.
Many airlines now have either 2x2x2 (CO & DL) or 1x2x1(SQ) or CX 1X angle for 777 business.

The real difference comes down to space vs. miles tradeoff. Clearly you get more space in F, but food is exactly the same--take a look at the menus, precisely the same meals, albeit plated differently. Amenity kits are the same also. If miles are no object, go for F. I just did r/t to NRT in J and slept like a baby on both flights. Would F have been preferrable, sure--but J is perfectly fine if you want to conserve a bit on the miles. I'd go with the previous suggestion: J one way, F on the other to compare & contrast....

The worst thing about F on the 777 is that when sleeping, your head is right by the aisle with no protection, so you feel the draught from passersby, or even the odd skirt flapping over your head!
I would definitely NOT want to be in row 4 as your head is right by the galley curtain, so chatty FAs can be disturbing, and you can forget about sleeping when they start breakfast prep about 2 hours before landing.
(That's why I prefer CX J, because your head is as far from potential disturbance as possible.)

Also the video screens are small and very poor quality, so bring your own IFE.
(The video screens in J on 763 are actually much better than F on 777; not sure which screens are used in J on 777)

Happy Travels.