First time on AA
 

Ladies and Gents I'm looking for your advice on AA. I've got a mileage run coming in January to top up my BA status and five of my flights are operated by AA which I've never flown before - I'm quite excited. So if you knew at the start what you know now what would you tell me are the things to do when flying AA? What to order? What seats to avoid? Things in the lounge you prefer? Anything at all ! I've posted my itinerary below.

DUB - LHR - Business (D) - BA Operated
LHR - CLT - Business (I) - AA Operated
CLT - LAX - First (A) - AA
LAX - HNL - First (P) - AA
HNL-PHX - First (P) - AA
PHX - PHL - First (A) -AA
PHL - LHR - Business (I) BA
LHR - DUB - Business (D) BA

Well, don't set your expectations too high, for one. As far as hard product, on the long domestic legs you're going to get a recliner seat, so better than Club Europe but not an international-style business seat. The LHR legs should be on an A330 with a decent biz seat. Service and soft product can be inconsistent - very good to very bad. What to order? Tito's vodka is tasty. And then in-flight food is getting better, at least in my opinion.

In the lounge? Uh, the soup and brownie nuggets are pretty good. And if you can find a bartender to pour you a drink, that's a bonus. Again, expectations.

Please have pity on us.

Yikes! I see the dreaded Hawaii - Phoenix routing on there lol

I've heard from friends that american operators are pretty dissapointing but is it really that bad? Bearing in mind I'm only doing this for the points?

Hey, it will be a good war story. OP recounting over a glass of JW Blue in the Galleries First lounge about how they roughed it on the "real AA" to earn that status!


It is and it isn't. I was being a bit of a joker there to some extent. A lot of it is highly variable. Domestic F seats will be better than Club Europe. Int'l seats will not be as good as the new Club World products. Hawaii flights will be on domestic product.

FAs can be fantastic or grumpy. Lounges will not be up to the standard of BA LHR lounges, except if you have access to the Flagship Lounge in LAX, which will be analogous to a Galleries biz lounge. In-flight food is not going to be as good as BA IMO.

It's not going to be horrible for a mileage run, but it's not going to amaze you either. Going in with that mindset, you will probably have fun!

What the Feck have I let myself in for....

Acceptable Beer:
Sam Adams vs London Pride (BA take this one IMO)

Almost water:
Budweiser/Dos Equis vs Heineken/Tiger (who cares)

BA serves better in-flight food, wine and champagne for sure.

Seats - The F cabins on any of the domestic AA flights are likely to be much better than the Club Europe seats.

I noticed that you are also flying the Legacy US route from LHR to CLT which is probably on the A330. I think you'll enjoy this flight. The seats on that is better than most Club World seats IMO. It's an earlier generation of the same seats that you can find on AA's 77W J or Cathay's J. The reverse herringbone in 1-2-1.

Admiral Clubs - well they suck in terms of food, drinks, champagne compared to the premium lounges in Europe. Other than that they are okay. Good place to relax or work.

No, if you are used to BA, it is not much worse. The same mix of good and couldn't-care-less staff.Well, I am not sure the service will be any different because of that.

I originally wanted to fly to IAD on the BA A380 but there was no availability on that weekend which is the only dates I can do. So I'm looking forward to the a330...a more intimate business experience

PS if you're spending anytime in Honolulu check out The Modern (a hotel)....it's my fave hotel there and has a great pool scene and is still walkable to Waikiki etc

I have a 10 hour layover in HNL - any suggestions as I don't need a hotel ?

Be careful putting your passport on the little cocktail table on the A330. My passport fell between the seat and the bulkhead prior to leaving LHR and we had a bear of a time getting it out. The A330 is a nice plane though.

If PHX-HNL is on the old PMUS 757, it's an old, tired bird. You should have the old Envoy barcaloungers there. They're very tired. However, they're also more comfortable than the typical domestic F seat. I've slept fine on these during long MRs.

Service should be more or less the same these days. However, it looks like you're on mostly pmUS routes, so you should be more likely to get the PDB service than on pmAA metal.

As for things to do, you may be able to get to the Polynesia Cultural Center. It's a nice place and I believe it's free. You'd probably get a good 4-5 hours out there with transportation time. Plus there's always plenty of beach and shopping - lots to do. Try parasailing. :D

For food options, you should be able to call or tweet AA up to 30 days before each flight to find out the menus and preorder, if you care.

You asked in a different thread about lounges. It sounds like this will be a straight through trip, so you'll have lounge access in all the airports you're flying through. Be aware the the legacy US lounges (PHL, CLT, PHX) do not have showers.

Pearl Harbour (although in the 15+ times I've been to Oahu I still haven't done this), beach time, there's a great booze cruise on a catamaran that leaves at sunset right from Waikiki (I've done that before my red eye back to LA and passed out on the plane lol)