Chances of 77W
 

I booked round trip business class award flights from DFW to LHR back in August for April 2018. When I booked the flights, I specifically picked flights that were the 77W. The planes have since switched to 772's. I see now that that there are now other flights that are 77W's. Is it worth setting up alerts on Expert Flyer to change the flights to the 77W's or should I wait in case there is an equipment change once again? The flights are AA80 on April 10 and AA79 on May 2. I don't want to keep switching flights if they are going to keep switching out aircraft. Thanks.

Which class of service?

The 772 can get switched between two configurations with Zodiac J and one with Super Diamond J with minimal notice if it’s necessary to substitute another aircraft, and for now a Premium Economy vs non-PE switch is possible too.

But 77W vs 772 is usually only when there is a formal schedule change.

Only 77W has F, so if you have an F seat that is a problem.

Congratulations on finding award flights (I assume that they are saver-level) to Europe!

As an equipment change qualifies for re-accommodation (even if award seats aren't available on the 77W), agents can oversell the 77W to give you two seats.

You might want to do it if you want the consistency of the 77W business seat versus the toss-up between the two 772 Zodiac/Super Diamond seats that JDiver highlighted.

Have a great trip!

They are business seats. There was no schedule change on flight 80 and only a 10 minute change on flight 79. It seems that the flights that were originally the 77W are now the 772 and the original 772 flights are now a 77W. Since the flights are such a way out, I'm wondering if there is any way to figure out which plane I will have based on flight history so I don't wind up constantly changing my flights back and forth.

I had this same issue last year with MIA-LHR. They kept switching 77W and 772 between 38/39 and 56/57. I switched my reservation each time I saw the aircraft change. Didn't want to get shut out of a full J cabin.

That is a “schedule change” if they’re changing equipment normally assigned to particular flight numbers / routes. It happens all the time due to revenue requirements, aircraft configurations and loads / predicted loads / etc. Flight history isn’t necessarily useful in predicting aircraft utilization unless you work in “Dispatch” or Revenue Management.

You do have options and you may want to exercise them. Enjoy!

I'm not sure your reasoning for wanting the 77W specifically, but to me in J class, there is no longer a reason to avoid the 772's since all NGBC 777's have been converted. All are lie-flat now.
As JDiver said above, there are two 772 seats - the Zodiac seat, which is basically the same as the 77W seat, and the Super Diamond seat which some (myself included) think is superior to the Zodiac seats.

If it was me, I'd hope for the 772 with super diamonds, but overall the seats are 95% alike, and all lie flat/aisle access/etc. Take the schedule that works best for you.

Just to clarify and expand on my comment and JDiver's comment, in case you didn't know, the equipment change from 77W to 772 is deemed a schedule change which allows you to change your flight without charge.

They have just done the same to me .... 77W to 772. They brought the seat assignment across as well.....the problem being that the seats on the 77W don’t exist on the 772. I found this out by chance as they didn’t bother to tell me. I was livid and complained. I told them I could accept the aircraft change (reluctantly) but their incompetence with the seat assignments was disgusting. The response was “lacking” to say the least.

I've been relocated during an equipment swap from a bulkhead which I was put into by AA due to my disability (and so it was noted in the reservation) to something like 26E without any notification. Had I not been checking regularly, someone would have been very unhappy to have been displaced.

Expert Flyer Alerts
 

I agree... the 772 Zodiac seat is awful. Even if you manage to get one of the non-connected seats, it still isn't very good. The Super Diamond is outstanding!

ExpertFlyer alerts for equipment changes are very useful. Also, set an alert for the seat you're assigned to so you'll know if it opens up (meaning you were moved!).

I had 7L I think on the Zodiac this past year -- the rear-facing unconnected "bulkhead" seat in the second cabin, and thought it was totally fine for a redeye/sleeping and actually pretty private as your head is away from the aisle. Obviously the motion issue in other seats could be huge, and then I think the other drawback particularly on day flights is less "counter space" in the seat due to the yin-yang configuration. The benefit is your feet aren't in a cubby, but on a day flight I like the space to spread my stuff out. The 77W and 772 Super Diamond both have that.

In any event, I image by T-3 months the schedule should be fixed in terms of 77W vs. 772, but with the 772 you never do know what you'll really get. I think you can tell from the seat map that if it has 12 rows of J you'll be getting Zodiac, but with 10 rows it could be either, and I would imagine that is subject to substitution until the last minute.

No, that is simply not accurate.

If you are booked in business class on a plane with a lie-flat and it switches to one without one, you are entitled to a free flight change (not sure if that's an official AA policy, but AA will do it without problem). But the 772s all have lie flats now. No free change (or, in this case, no forcing award availability).