ahmetdouas

What are you talking about?
Of course they have EU rights! It's a flight to EU!

Geordie405

I don't disagree that if you're paying for MCE seats then it can be costly: AA100 JFK - LHR has them priced from $137 to $149 per seat. However, to reiterate the point I made above I would still choose AA MCE over BA WT as I think it's generally a better seat. I would also choose the 77W over the 747 if flying in economy.

In terms of BA charging for seat selection, I was under the impression that all classes of travel (except First) had the potential for advance seat selection for a fee - from extra legroom seats, to pairs of seats, to individual seats. Then again, I may be wrong.

Can I help you

The economy seats on the super J B744 are the best economy seats on any of our aircraft.

Andriyko

Neither BA, nor AA charges for seats during OLCI for regular economy seats. BA charges for seats when people want to select them in advance (for example, to guarantee that they sit together or to be at the front of the cabin). AA has a separate section within the economy section - MCE - where seats are paid for unless one holds status or is travelling on a full fare ticket. AA also charges for 'preferred' seats within the standard economy section. One does not have to pay anything to select a seat on BA if one waits until OLCI opens, but one does have to pay something to sit in MCE. BA charges US$30 to select a seat in WT (which one does not have to pay), while MCE starts from US$ 130 (a few bucks) on AA. One can pay a 'few more bucks' and upgrade to a proper premium economy cabin on BA. Now, I do not want to decide what is or is not small change for other people, but I think the discussion would be more honest and fairer if people used actual figures for the purposes of comparison and did not only bring the arguments that help their case. For example - why would anyone fly BA in regular economy if for only US$130 one way you can fly in MCE on AA? A 'few bucks' mean different things to different people.

Which is why only passengers on Community carriers are covered. AA passengers are covered only on flights from the EU.

World Traveller Fuss

Indeed. American can't brew a good cup of tea.

wrp96

EU261 only applies to AA when flying from the EU. But as AA is not a European community carrier, EU261 does not apply to AA when flying to the EU, unlike BA where it applies both directions.

xenole

If i had to pay $130 for a MCE seat, i would more realistically be looking at a WT to WT+ upgrade on BA for little more and perhaps the lure of TPs and extra Avios might sway it.

Does AA let you sit in these for free after boarding?
Noticed that some seat shifting does occur on BA especially if you've a lovely bulkhead seat pair to yourself someone suddenly jumps on there after the "boarding is complete" announcement.

Skipcool3

Ahmetdouas, as a poster here for many years, and having worked at Gatwick, LHR and Stansted, you will understand that I do know what I am talking about.....

Andriyko

That's what I would do as well. Many people would stick with the regular economy though. But this kind of changes the perspective, does not it?

NWIFlyer

No, only flights originating in the EU count for non-Community carriers.

If that's the balance, you'd have to take into account MCE and TSA Pre-Check for those who are eligible - which will be a small subset of passengers. In the time EC261 has existed I've had only one instance when it would have applied - both in terms of delay compensation and duty of care. FR charges a minuscule amount in their fares to cover their expected costs. Based on those two premises, and given US airlines will generally provide some duty of care for mechanical issues, it's a reasonable bet that the benefits on AA for status holders in Y will outweigh the risks.

For non-status holders who don't want to buy up to MCE the balance may well be the other way.

xenole

I personally wouldn't pay for seat selection on any airline.
If I end up with something bad, I'll try and suck it up and think about how much I've saved and the benefits at my destination.
Yes I'll use my status to hopefully grab the best of the bunch but up to now, I've been pretty lucky in getting good seats on various airlines on which i am statusless.

At the end of the day, it's all about what suits me.
A highish price differential and I'll fly AA over BA.
Similar and I'll look at merits of each, check seat maps to see if it's worth looking for a paid upgrade (could only be middle WT+ seats compared to a nice spacious bulkhead), how many TPs I require, whether there's a chance of an upgrade to CW and so on.

Have found that AA are slightly more likely to oversell a flight which could mean the chance of a transportation voucher (said before, they did it awhile ago out of JFK and were offering a hotel + meals, flight next day and a $1000 transportation voucher).
But as with everything, no guarantees anywhere and hoping for EU261 could be appealing to some.

obduro

This is a real stretch. On the overall thread title point, I agree it makes sense to go AA MCE if you are in the back.

Time traveller

https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/...nes/planes.jsp

As per AA's website, MCE has 36" pitch on the 77W and 35-36" on their 772, 788 and 763 planes, which is quite generous for any long-haul flight in Y, as long as you have OWE/OWS status or pay a little extra for the MCE seats.

I think if the airfare was similar for BA WTP and AA MCE, then WTP definitely has an advantage. However when comparing BA WT and AA MCE airfare, it is hard to not give the thumbs up to AA MCE.

golfmad

You may use AA.com to search for Avios availability. Make sure you look only for MilesAAver awards as these are the ones that are bookable with Avios on BA.com or by calling BA.

Andriyko

No one was arguing with the obvious fact that a MCE seat is better than the regular economy seat in terms of legroom when the cost is the same (which it will be for status holders but for others it won't be a 'little extra'.). If I am not mistaken, WT on all BA planes is currently 9 abreast, while it is 10 on AA (772 and 77W), which in MCE brings you to BA's 9 in economy. So, in effect, MCE only gives you more legroom, but the same lousy food and paid for (most) alcoholic drinks.