enviroian

Like I've said at the end of the day it boils down to 2 differences "Flagship" (LOL) F offers over J:

1. Bowl of soup
2. 2" more of legroom on the seat.

embarcadero1

I paid $4K to fly F SFO-JFK, JFK-SFO this week. I’m sitting in F as I write this. First time since the pandemic.

The food isn’t merely inedible, it was served cold. And covered in plastic. No ice cream.

Some of us do pay extra with the expectation of enhanced service. AA seems to be laughing at us.

I can’t see paying to fly F on this route. F on this route was a real treat before COVID. Now it’s just sad.

I’ll try Delta and maybe even United before I fly AA again.

Antarius

Even before COVID, I wouldn't pay 4k to fly JFK-SFO.

Simply not worth what you get in return.

ijgordon

I do think broadly that AA F had been deteriorating and J had been improving over the long term. You do have to go back to pre-9/11 when F had a salad cart served seatside with lobster (ex-NYC at least, the way back, whether from LHR or Brazil, was always chicken), the there was also caviar service. Yes, on AA in F. And rack of lamb. Of course that was still when F was 62” pitch recliners and flat beds were just starting to show up on the 763s and new 777s. And at that time, J was heated casserole slop with portobello mushrooms as an appetizer, in a seat not much better than today’s PE. When they dropped F from the 763s they improved the J catering and ultimately harmonized the “better” J catering fleetwide across both 2- and 3-class J. Then there was a period 5-10 years ago where the J-F difference was minimal. Maybe a soup course but otherwise the same as J. Then they improved F with completely different menus, and importantly for some, more flexible dining. They were serving LPGS champs in F for a while, that’s $125/bottle retail. Definitely a superior wine list to J. Bottom line, the offerings change, they widen and narrow between J and F, and a lot has to do with the state of the economy and importantly business travel. That’s still in the toilet so the meals will be also.

stupidhead

I wouldn't necessarily call WN a scam. Southwest's fares out of DAL are extremely competitive with AA up the road out of DFW, and WN doesn't have a billion silly gotcha fees, never charged change fees, and gets me to my destination with minimal hassle and in moderate comfort (WN offers more pitch on their 737s than AA does btw). Southwest does simple very well, and built the 4th largest airline in the country and a 47-year profit streak on that business model. They know their market and serve it well. Apparently that market is big enough to fill 700+ 737s flying nationwide. I won't comment on those other three because I refuse to fly them for obvious reasons.

AA is basically America West Airlines dba American Airlines. Actually, I flew America West before, their planes were way nicer than the AA torture chambers. I can't tell if AA wants to go after the Spirit crowd or be a proper network carrier.

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

I really don't understand this obsession with airline food, which hasn't been very good in decades. Most people sitting up front are doing it for free (upgrades), copay with miles, award or a cheap F fare. Think what a transcon in 1970 dollars would cost today-in coach.

Personally, I think it's sad the major airlines decided to go after market share and therefore compete with the bottom of the barrel. GM doesn't target Chevy owners for it's Cadillac line and if it did the Cadillac would soon be another Chevy.

apeortdz

Bolding is mine. Respectfully disagree. Do you really believe this?

Woofbite

Personally, I think it's sad the major airlines decided to go after market share and therefore compete with the bottom of the barrel. GM doesn't target Chevy owners for it's Cadillac line and if it did the Cadillac would soon be another Chevy.[/QUOTE]

GM doesn't give you a big discount for buying a fleet of Chevy's and then deliver top of the line Cadillacs either.

sfoeuroflyer

For heavens sake, by all means DO NOT FLY DELTA. However bad AA may be at the moment, it is far worse on Delta with their comically bad boxes. These boxes are small, cold, outfitted with wooden cutlery, and only plastic glasses for drinks are offered. Frankly it represented the worst food I have ever seen in F on any airline. And to make matters worse, the inside of the box was filled with self congratulatory sentences about how "safe" Delta was making us. AA may not be at its best at the moment, but Delta is worse. The grass is definitely not greener elsewhere.

tomj888

I don’t believe anyone expects Michelin star experience. If you’ve flown TK in the past and currently you get a chef on board. AA is the polar opposite. Maybe they can use some of the bailout funds to bring back some semblance of food. It will never happen but one can dream?
in the end our dollars talk. If you or I don’t like it we can travel on a different carrier.

HiAperture

You don't even need to leave the US. Jetblue Mint is well beyond anything I have ever received on AA.

carlosdca

On flights with separate business and first, I also wonder, who buys straight into "F"? (Particularly, AA F)
Precisely because there are not many of those F buyers, airlines have eliminated F in many of their aircraft (including AA)

uanj

During the last 20 years the meal service has been degraded on the US3 while all three have improved their international business/first class seating. You would think by reading flyertalk that the US3 got it all wrong, that all people wanted was very good food since the people complaining here make no comments on the improved seats. I think the airlines actually got it right, most long haul passengers want to be able to sleep better more than they want excellent meals.

Antarius

I don't disagree. The unfortunate part about the US3 is that it took them till the mid 2010s to finally figure this out. BA had lie flats in 1999, yet Arpey was touting "next generation" business class 7 across angle flats in 2006.

They've finally figured out the hard product (at least AA and DL have), but they're still a ways behind the rest.
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skylady

Ice cream hasn't been served since Covid, and the same reason is why your food is wrapped in plastic.