mcrw00

It was a question posted as part of a public forum discussion. I have the right to contribute my two cents.

If SteveinA2 wanted to hear from econometrics exclusively, he would have PM’ed them.

ijgordon

The sky is blue.

FlightNurse

When it comes to FFD, if the airport doesn't have it, Lounge Hop, at LHR you have access to Qantas and CX, at DFW you are basically SOL unless the "The Club" is a nice place.
The F suits swivel and it's nice if you are traveling with someone to dine with, I feel the seats are better then J, I like the J seats but at times they feel like a coffin.
AA only flys F on long haul flights.

I wish there was better ground service at LHR, the walk from the Flagship lounge to the 40's gates is quite long, a nice buggy ride would be nice.

sam2k2002

Thoughts on the value of using a 2021-expiring systemwide to go J->F on LHR-LAX? With no flagship dining / no lounge benefits at all (on top of EP) at LHR, I’m wondering if it’s worth it. The 12-hour flight has me leaning towards yes but I’ve never been in the seat before so looking for opinions.

econometrics

You'll get a lot of different answers on this. I've burned an SWU on LHR-DFW a couple of times. In fact, I just used a 2019 expiring SWU to do this in early March, since the space was available.

My $0.02 is that if you're not going to use it, burn it. I really only like the F seat during the daytime flights. I don't sleep as well in them as the 77W J seat. I like the extra space, and the swivel function to have a "desk" workspace for the daytime flights.

That's really the only motivation for me. The food/drinks in F vs. J is a marginal improvement that holds little value to me.

econ

If you have no other use for the SWU, then I'd do it. In my case, I wouldn't on that route since I just don't think J to F on 77W is worth it when I can usually find enough C space on TPAC/TATL, or even JFK-LAX/SFO throughout the year to use up my SWUs that way.

On the other hand, if you were to go from J to F on LHR-JFK-LAX, then I think it's borderline worth it since you get FFD at JFK. But that means more overall travel time.

Antarius

Agree with this. Not really worth it, unless the SWU is expiring.

Ive found more C space this year than the last few years, so definitely would keep them for a impromptu vacation.

ikwia

and also FFD at LAX

Finsup72

Used a SWU to go from J to F on DFW-LHR earlier this year and was incredibly disappointed. I've had better service, more enthusiastic, and far nicer flight attendants from CLT-LGA. The F flight attendant could not have been more abrupt and unenthusiastic to be there. He did the bare minimum to get by, it was incredibly disappointing. It's wild that there's such a variation between flight attendants because I'm sure if I took this flight a day before or day after the service would've been far superior (and then terrible again another day before/after).

jcatman

Of course the service will vary from one flight to another, based upon the crew you receive. That doesn't mean you have to change YOUR expectations or standards. Remind the F flight attendant that you have service expectations, and keep reminding him.......for the entire flight.

george 3

I’ve used SWUs to go up from J to F on JFK GRU JFK flights and it was well worth the experience even though I was asleep for 2/3 of flight. Much more comfortable seating (for me at least). Somewhat better food and I did like the turn down service.

footballfanatic

In J

No soup for you

ikwia

It certainly will. I think people rightfully have higher expectations when in F vs J, and hence are a bit more picky and observant of small details. I have also seen many reports, here and elsewhere, that they have had their worst crews in F on the 77W. If you're expecting an elevated experience and instead have your worst crew, that's going to leave an impression. The first time I flew in AA international F, the crew was one of the worst I could recall from any of my domestic or international J experiences. On my second experience, I thought the crew was great, but the plane was badly mis-catered, which put a damper on things; still, the crew did a good job of working with what they had. On my most recent experience, I had one of the best crews I have ever experienced. Everything was "just so" as far as service. Someone came to check on drinks every 15 minutes throughout the entire flight, they offered to bring back snacks from the bar so people didn't need to adjust their seats to get up, they proactively and enthusiastically made beds, etc. The flight even ended with a handwritten note from the purser, which was more than just boilerplate.

In all seriousness -- how do you suggest doing this? I am not someone who minds speaking up, but it doesn't seem like annoying someone you're looking to get good service from for the next 10+ hours is a good plan, and nowadays, I'd be a bit afraid of being branded a disturbance or threatening.

jcatman

Speaking up does not mean you are being annoying.....even inside a metal tube with wings.

ikwia

Maybe this is just a semantic disagreement, but I interpreted your post to mean that one should tell the FA that you expect certain service standards to be met. I think that this would at a minimum lead to an awkward flight, and nowadays could lead to an even worse result for the passenger. I would agree that proactively asking for expected service items (e.g., drinks, turndown service, etc.) should be fine.