bgasser

A lot of people are complaining on this thread. You are not paying La Premiere pricing to fly AA F. Match the expectations with what you are paying, which is a $500 upgrade. You will have a pleasant flight, ample space, and a good experience. Is it equivalent to a Middle East airlines experience, no. Will you be served your food courses, have a lay flat bed, quality booze, and a nice lounge experience, yes.

BlooJoo

What is this mysterious $500 J->F upgrade option on AA you speak of?

ckx2

Maybe that's how he values an SWU

RichieMc

Last 2 times I flew on AA LHR-JFK on a cash J ticket, I was offered upgrade at check in for $500. Seems to be the going rate. It's steep for what you get and in many ways not worth it. But I had long layovers in both LHR and JFK, so the CCR and FFD got me to pull the trigger. In future, I'll skip it as you're probably better off spending like $250 or so to go J->F on transcon if that is part of your itinerary.

FlyerBeek

"Quality booze" in International Flagship F? Since when? Are you referring to the liquor (exact same as offered in domestic F) or the numerous $10/bottle wines currently on the Flagship F wine list? The quality of the wines has gone noticeably downhill in the last several years.

-FlyerBeek

VegasGambler

AA F and BA F are about the same price on this route. If you think that the service / food / seat are better on BA then book BA.

It's not like there aren't options. It makes no sense to book AA and then complain about how much worse it is.

Antarius

The only addition that I can tell is Cognac. Although that's also available on long haul J.

The wine on AA is bloody ghastly. I gave up years ago (and I usually top out at 10-12 bucks a bottle at home, so it's not like I have particularly high standards).

I've seen it even lower occasionally. 350 USD.

My last LHR trip, a roundtrip in J was 110k miles and in F was 112.5k miles. We ended up taking J as the seat is way more comfortable.

CappuccinoAddict

I recently booked a paid F ticket for July—it was around $600 more than AA J, and about $5k less than Air France La Premiere!

CommittedLurker

you would think so, but for some reason QR uses plastic glasses PDB and also in flight the whole time in business (Even q suites) to from DOH-DEL

i have experienced it 6x this year

it’s a cost cutting move now, and not because of Covid

even their food choices and service are nothing to speak of on this route

and it is 3 1/2-4 hour flight

golfer20

Thinking back 10+ years, anyone with a positive memory / experience on international F?

Antarius

Back when AA was still flying that joke of a NGBC business class, F was a significant step up.

Ever since the 77W and 772 refits, not really. It's just throwing away money in the name of supposed "better".

ijgordon

Well, pre-9/11 AA had a caviar cart (don't ask me what kind of caviar), and then a salad cart where they would make a salad to order with desired toppings, which ex-JFK at least usually included a chilled half-lobster protein option (back to NY was usually chicken). I don't think the main courses were any better or worse than they are now. Then there was a cheese and dessert cart, which I think included both ice cream sundaes and a cake/tart. (IIRC it was really "OR" not "AND", but if the FA was in a good mood they would give you both cheese and dessert). Unfortunately, the hard product was significantly worse back then - the 762ERs (and A300s/DC-10s IIRC, which were on their way out) were 2-1-2 deep recliners with 62" of pitch, so close to flat but not quite (you could sleep on your side but not your stomach), with pneumatic recline but electric legrests. The 763ERs had just installed flat bed "coffins" (also 2-1-2), and I think most of the 777s came with the coffins (2-2-2), although at some point there was a differentiation between the "atlantic" and "pacific' fleet of 772s, with the Pacific version getting the flagship suites, which is the prior iteration of the current 77W product. I think in the mid-2000s they upgraded all 772s to flagship suites (and angle flats in J). Of course also around this time, J was standard recliners with either 50" of pitch (762ER) or 60" in MRTB (More Room Throughout Business) (763/772). At some point the 762ERs moved off int'l and only served flagship transcons before their replacement with the 321T; once that happened, F was guaranteed flat bed on either 763 or 772.

Around this time (shortly pre-9/11) I did both AA F and JL F on the JFK-GRU route, and to be honest, JL wasn't significantly better. Yes, the style of service from the FAs was different, with all the bowing, but catering wasn't so different. I don't remember the booze (I wasn't as knowledgeable about champagne back then), though I know I have the hard copy of the JL menu somewhere...

In terms of the current F seat, the key difference is that the bed is wider and longer than the J seat and your feet don't go into a cubbyhole. It's significantly more comfortable for taller/larger passengers, but if you're under, say, 6' with shoe size smaller than 13, those benefits are minimal. The swivel function is novel but you lose legroom when facing the window so I wouldn't normally bother with it.

enviroian

I wouldn't.

BlooJoo

Great review and great memories. I can't recall 100%, but I don't think the "coffins" were truly lie flat? I think they were like the deep recline 762 F seats with "walls"?

NickP 1K

UA and AA F pre-9/11 were actually pretty dang good. Flew both often enough as worked for a company that paid for Business class so VIP/SWU and UA SWU's only ever got used for upgrades to F for me. The hard product was an acceptable recliner which I found fine, the IFE was mediocre at best but the food service and attention from the FA's was way better back then. Seems that may have more to do with staffing have one extra FA in first (for both UA and AA)

At the time I flew JL and LH a lot too. Found LH F to be an edge better, with JL on par, but AA and UA were not far behind.