GuardMusic

@timfucius I cannot tell you how appreciative I am of these photos! Would really like to hear a bit of advice (from anyone reading this!), please?

Headed to BCN (Barcelona) next May. Planned in biz (cash, no status), but the fares just jumped 30% overnight(!), so now considering PE. (My only point of comparison was last flying UA 777-200 in 2+4+2 lay-flat biz.) While there are lots of benefits we'd (all!) love, my 2 primary aspects are 1) being able to sleep and 2) comfort for my back that I've twice injured running. (So at this point I have to not care about lounge, dishware/glasswear, etc.!)

My question centers around Bulkhead or Not? I'm 5'7" with most of my height being longer legs (32" inseam) LOL. So it "appears" the bulkhead would be better to stretch out my legs, probably just with the legrest? I've experienced those regular footrests (on Disney buses) and they just get in the way, especially trying to sleep sort of on my side. Yet, I also travel with my own iPad for IFE, which I usually lean against the seat in front of me - obviously not an option with bulkhead. Plus BFF and I usually don't do bulkhead so we can stow our backpacks (full of tech & snacks!) under seat in front of us. With a bulkhead, are we permitted to put our backpacks on floor in front of us after takeoff/before landing? (We would definitely do 2 seats by the windows & never the middle!)

Again comfortable sleep is my focus. (I bring my own eye mask, ear plugs, & OTC drugs!) Thoughts?

AAdamE

Is the food (noticeably) better? It seems like the same as Y?

laagima

Might be the same as Y but the plating and cutlery, larger tray and cloth napkins do make a difference

laagima

The exit row/bulkhead is definitely better for legroom - substantially more legroom to stretch your legs out. The leg rests provide only minor comfort to your calves while the footrest is useless, in my opinion. As suggested earlier, use your backpack as an ottoman after take-off to straighten your legs out. And depending on the cover on your iPad, you can drape it over the pull -out TV screen (that is what my seat mate did). And yes, you can put your backpack on the floor in front of your seat after take-off and then stow it again for landing. They do provide a small amenity kit with an eye mask and earplugs and PE seats have better headsets than Y (quite good since you avoid the fuss and drama over the Bose sets in J). The pillow and blanket are also better than Y.

GuardMusic

Awesome! Thanks for adding this input!
P.S. I bring my own Bose! LOL!

AAEmpireState

I have no personal experience, but from every picture I've seen, the food is definitely better than Y - and appears to identical (i.e., exact same offerings) as domestic F dinner service.

laagima

Oh, and the flight attendants are consistently nicer than in J! Perhaps because there is less service involved, maybe (and they are not tense about doing the Bose roll call )? They smile a lot more and will ask you twice if you say no to food.

laagima

There is a snack bar but it is common with Y (unlike Cathay PE). There were some Lay's kettle chips, cookies, berry clusters, rice crackers, juice and water set up in the galley on my last trip HKG-LAX.

living near shamu

What's the drama over Bose headsets in J all about?

carlosdca

That the FAs have to give the headset to each person, keep track of them and then collect them before landing (sometimes a good 1 hour before landing?).

The PE headsets are not Bose but they are at the seat when you board and nobody collects them at the end of the flight, you just leave them on the seat.

laagima

And if a Bose headset goes missing, which happens often enough, then everyone has to suffer through several announcements asking for the headset back and no one is allowed to leave the aircraft until the rogue headset has been found...

ckx2

No, for the first meal you get one of two selected J meals as an option.

laagima

Ah, may be that is why it looked just a bit nicer.

The nicest part of my PE ticket on AA to HKG was that Cathay upgraded me to Business both ways on my continuing/connecting flight in Asia - 6 hour flights so it was much appreciated ( I am EXP and hence OWE).

NJRadioGuy

Well worth it. I flew back home LHR–JFK on AA105 in June 2018 in seat 18A and loved it. Wasn't thrilled about the fixed armrests, but that was very minor. Nice recline, plenty of legroom and I was fortunate to not have anybody sitting next to me, so I got to sprawl out a bit <grin>. I'd use this cabin again in a heartbeat for a trans-Atlantic flight.

View from 18A. Middle section offset from side sections.


Plenty of legroom, decent size screen.


I absolutely loved the "flight director" mode on IFE. Only thing that would have made this perfect for me would have been a front-facing camera and ATC audio.

snic

I just completed an overnight flight in PE. I chose the bulkhead row and found it to be quite comfortable. It would be nice if the seat reclined just a little more and the leg rest came just a little farther up, but I surprised myself by sleeping (fitfully) throughout most of the flight. This was impossible in the only other PE seat I've tried (TK), so AA wins hands down with the seat. (It helped that the cabin was nearly empty and no one was in the seat next to me.)

Service was, I guess, typical for AA - gruff and brief. Wine was in plastic cups, but the meal was on china (served all at once). The "beef filet" was surprisingly tender and tasty, and the accompanying asparagus was surprisingly not overcooked, but the quinoa pilaf was utterly tasteless. And the lemon cream cake, courtesy of Dow Chemical, was abhorrent. So, a step up from Y and only a small step down from J (in that there are only 2 meal choices, and a few other minor differences).

In all I was quite pleased. The Y cabin was pretty much jam-packed (both PE and J were nearly empty), so the couple of hundred dollars extra were well worth it.