FlyerTalk Forums - Compare AA first to AS first

FlyerTalk Forums (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/index.php)

- American Airlines | AAdvantage (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-airlines-aadvantage-733/)

- - Compare AA first to AS first (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-airlines-aadvantage/2215530-compare-aa-first-first.html)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eujeanie (Post 37681838)

...timing is the most important issue because we will be getting off a cruise in FLL and AS only has an evening flight, so a PITA to fill the day.

Some cruises offer land excursions on arrival for this very reason. Last time I was on a cruise, we took an fan boat tour of the Everglades on our disembarking at FLL pier.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. HFH (Post 37682681)

Some cruises offer land excursions on arrival for this very reason. Last time I was on a cruise, we took an fan boat tour of the Everglades on our disembarking at FLL pier.

Yes that's true, and it is an option we are considering. But we know ourselves and we're usually just anxious to get home.

Quote:

Originally Posted by asnovici (Post 37681500)

Very frequent AA and AS flyer. I book F so all my observations are based on that.

AA F: predepartures are hit or miss and if they do happen it's water or juice in most instances, food is mostly inedible, drink list is uninspiring. FA service depends on FA, no consistency. Their hand towel is prepackages cold version that has nice smell and I prefer. IRROPs are handled better than on AS but its likely because I am CK on AA and just a First class passenger on AS. Lounge agents with AA can be helpful and lounge agents at AS lounges just send you to the customer service desk.

AS F: predepartures are a lot more consistent and now they offer full bar in most instances, food is better but smaller quantities for the main tray. AS does offer snack basket on longer flights where I haven't seen it on AA after the main tray in a really long time even on their longest domestic flights. They do serve hot towels on meal flights and its just wet cloths. AS cheese plate is my go to which is the opposite with AA where it's inedible processed chunks. Drink list on AS is lot more interesting. FA service always depends on a person but I see more friendly FA on AS by a long shot. AS lounges offer far superior food and drinks compared to Admirals lounges.

Overall I am much more excited to get on AS F but need to have the right expectations and hope for no IRROPs in the process.

AS Lounge agents are zero help during irrops and that's intentional for some reason... They are not trained reservation agents and pretty much can only offer basic gate and arrival/departure information. I tried to get them to print a paper boarding pass recently and after much effort by at least two agents they said they couldn't do it...lol.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PDXPremier (Post 37684347)

As I noted above, AS is strictly a leisure airline. They do not have a culture of catering to high end, frequent business travelers. This includes the small stuff like hanging jackets to the big stuff like working magic on a full fare Y or J ticket to get one home quickly, on an earlier flight, during IRROPs, etc, etc. Not to mention the network, which is SEA, SEA, and SEA.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheDudeAbides (Post 37685286)

which is SEA, SEA, and SEA.

So where did the reference to Alaska come from? ;)

"As I noted above, AS is strictly a leisure airline."
100%

I started flying AS in the mid 1990's when I resided in Seattle. Back then AS was a pleasure to fly with. Endless upgrades and top-notch service was the norm. Their routes were mostly SEA/ANC/PDX/LAX/LAS. I had their top tier status at the time (MVP Gold) and was treated like royalty. I was upgraded damn near ALL the time. I recall annual Christmas gifts ("Moose" crunch, cookies, etc...) and free upgrade certificates. Hell, I even recall personal invitations to private corporate and shareholder's meetings. When AS started their first expansion to cities like ORD/MIA/MCO/EWR/DCA their coolness quickly faded. They were not prepared for primetime.
AS has since expanded to many other domestic cities and with the purchase of HA now has an international footprint. IMHO, AS is not wired for this massive expansion and is venturing into unchartered waters. While I wish the best for AS make no mistake....it is a small fish in a shark tank.
BTW, AS will always be a leisure airline to me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catbert10 (Post 37681230)

In theory, eastbound and southbound flights are supposed to take orders front to back while westbound and northbound flights are supposed to take orders back to front.

This was true until last year, when AA changed the policy again:

Quote:

Meal preferences should always be taken from forward to aft, regardless of the time zone or flight direction.

Flew IAD-SEA in F last fall on AS and it felt very similar to AA. That said I thought the AS crew was much more proactive on keeping your glass full during the meal service.