mmogdan

My bank uses Voice ID where the agent asks you about your day and has technology that can verify who you are by voice.

eefor jfp

Agreed. With the exception of one short flight from MIA to MCO 4-5 years ago (where the FA's just sat in the galley the entire time), Ive never had bad service on an AA flight or a BA flight. But I would say the best crews on AA have been amazing. Maybe it's also that I've never been on a short BA flight (my shortest has been two hours) so I haven't seen the way BA crews hustle the way AA crews do on hops of 35-45 minutes. Which made the above-mentioned flight from MIA to MCO really stand out as a glaring exception to the general rule of good service.

Haven't yet flown the NCW suites but I love biz on the AA 777-300; best biz seats in the air in my opinion.

So far my calls to the Gold line have been answered quickly and AA calls me back, so both have been fine. And I haven't been through IRROPS recently so I can't compare the recovery process and whether AA's automation makes a difference. But the sheer volume of complaints raised in the BA forum certainly dwarfs the complaints in the AA forum, so something negative is going on with BA service right now.

RichieMc

Lol! No I don't underestimate how hard it is. That's why I think having it should be enough. You are simultaneously suggesting that is easy to get when an agent calls you at work (is this on your mobile? Or did you ask the agent to call on the company switchboard?) and a colleague answers and the agent imediately blurts out your name and booking ref??!??!, but also very hard. If there was a rash of fraudsters changing people's flights under these fantatically unlikely scenarios, then AA wouldn't be using this system. And I can't log into my bank "easily", I need a password, a pin, and I get a text message to my phone. And then there's more verification to do stuff like make payments. It's mega secure. Data protection in this country is a load of nonsense in the BA case. It's just annoying theatre that doesn't keep anyone safe.

Tobias-UK

This part of the forum can be a little misleading in that respect, when you read through the topics of poor BA service you will quickly realise that much of the noise in each of those topics is emanating from the same group of people! BA has its faults and its failings but it also does some things right and the vast majority of trips are uneventful with service delivered to the expected standard.

BA is certainly left wanting in its Club World (and to a lesser degree First) catering and it's ability to answer phone calls is hit and miss. Like many other airlines (and airports) it is struggling with staffing levels coming out of the covid restrictions but hopefully that is in hand and we should see gradual improvement as we move through the summer.

mmogdan

I find in some large organisations, data protection and GDPR is always an excuse used to not to be innovative or change. It's hardly like BA has been good at protecting our personal data anyway with all the leaks, hacks and IT failures.

PUCCI GALORE

I second every word that he writes. It is always a particular group - who should be with you now at AA as they are constantly flouncing out the door for all sorts of reasons. This is no excuse for poor service but I read just as many complaints here about PDBs, Horrid food when there is food at all, cancellations, and anything else major or trivial. Two wrongs do not make a right but one needs a little perspective.

Yesterday I discovered that a MAD-LHR-ORD-LHR-MAD all AA ticketed on AA codeshares had, for some reason had the MAD-LHR sector vanish from a booking.. At first I thought that it was my addled, aged brain that was not processing information but a check at BA revealed the same. I was certain that the flight concerned was a cancellation as that is practically de riguer chex BA these days if there is a Y in the spelling of which ever day was concerned. However, even though this was just over two weeks away, I had not heard a word from AA. There was no email - I checked my junk box as well. So I poured a large glass and started on War and Peace expecting to peruse half the Classic before someone answered. I have no status AA phone numbers just the regular. After the usual blah about how I could do this so much better on aa.com - the phone was answered. I nearly spat and choked as what I was drinking was fizzy and the bubbles nearly choked me. The agent confirmed that it was a cancellation - bless him - and I told him which flight would suit me and he did it. Reader, I was not even put on hold. I then asked him to sort out an AA flight from BOS - ORD which he did in a friendly and cordial manner.

I do however ponder what would have happened had I not kept my eye on the booking as I thought that not telling me was distinctly off. Maybe I jumped in too quickly, but I suspect not. So, I am not sure that BA needs to learn too much from AA as they seem to be neck-and-neck in the customer experience. I am flying to ORD and back with AA and have low expectations unless Transatlantic service is better than Domestic as there things have gone totally west from my own experience. We will see - I am keeping an open mind

Anonba

I’m not saying an agent would give out the reference.Im saying that they could discuss details of your booking with someone else in error, without data protection checks to confirm it is you.

RichieMc

Thankfully, here on planet earth, this doesn’t happen.

eefor jfp

Please report back. In some ways, ORD is the weakest hub in AA's system, both in terms of lounges and in terms of aircraft. But it's still pretty good on most days.

choosethedrew

Complaining about no lounge access flying F within the USA is like complaining about intra-europe J class being Y seats with the middle seat blocked.

AA.com says that gluten free meals are available on most domestic F flights 'when a full meal is served'. Presumably the affected poster is subjected to the snack basket of doom, but even then it looks like coeliac options are available, and none of it is especially satiating, even for wheat lovers.

None of which is the main point, being that the original post was almost forensically detailed and deserved more of a response than being dismissed as not being comprehensible, which it patently was.

choosethedrew

Forgive my impertinence, but doesn't one love expectations being smashed. Yes, I would extend the same gratitude to BA if it happens to me.

PUCCI GALORE

I agree wholeheartedly -what I was trying to point out was that the same complaints are levelled at both carriers. I have not had to call BA yet, but I can only speak as I find at AA and I was well pleased. I had rung the Spanish line a week or two ago and was told a lot of nonsense about fare classes. However, as people on here were kind enough to point out, it is always best not to argue but to hang up and ring another time. I did exactly that.

Geordie405

I definitely thinks the OP makes some good points about AA. I fly with them a lot, primarily out of choice and not because I'm in a "captive" hub situation. They have their downsides - frequent schedule changes is certainly one. Our early afternoon flight from LAX to LAS yesterday had been cancelled months ago by way of a schedule change and so we were rebooked onto the 5.36 pm flight. Not ideal when your train from Chicago arrives more or less on time and you end up with a seven hour wait at LAX. We'd been hoping to get on the mid-morning flight by way of a same-day change but it posted a nine hour maintenance delay. Bang went that option. Our booked flight had multiple gate changes - initially to TBIT, so we traipsed over there to use the OW Business Lounge (where the agent would have refused us access if she could as we weren't coming from a long-haul flight, and it was only my persistence in stating we had access via our BA Gold / OW Emerald status that saw us allowed in the door) and then it changed back to 42A so we headed back to the Flagship Lounge for the 2nd time that day.

Boarding was well policed. There's always a scrum around the gate ahead of boarding but most agents are pretty diligent in sending people packing if their group hasn't been called.

I do like the call back feature if AA's call centres are busy. The time estimate is usually accurate. Staff tend to be very competent and, best of all, there's usually never a need to have a ticket sent away to some mysterious back office to have it reissued. It's usually all done there and then. I have never used Twitter to make booking alterations so can't comment on that aspect.

We flew LAS - ORD on Thursday in domestic F with AA. Service was excellent. Full PDB offered before departure (and this was a 6.45 am flight) so we had a mimosa as we were off on holiday. Meal service was excellent. Food was hot and tasty and well presented. We'd pre-ordered and got what we wanted. Drinks came in proper glassware. Bread was served from a bread basket. Trays were cleared away promptly. The FA working the First cabin was friendly, engaging and professional. Our friends, who rarely fly AA and for whom this was their first F experience, were impressed.

Yesterday we used the kerbside Flagship First check-in at LAX for our flight home. First time we've done that as LAX is under construction again and the premium / TSA pre-check end of the terminal isn't available. The real perk is being escorted literally to the front of the queue for TSA, much to the annoyance of the one other passenger in line and much to the amusement of my wife! It's a perk offered by AA, and we decided to make use of it. We were in the Flagship lounge twice and it was an oasis of calm. We were offered champagne as we walked in the door which is a nice touch. The lounge was well staffed, clean and tidy, decent food options, plates cleared away in a timely fashion etc. Showers were bright, airy, modern, with hot water, good water pressure, and no incessant gurgling from the plumbing. It was a significant step up from the OW Business Lounge at TBIT. It's a shame that the Qantas First Lounge remains closed (but apparently will reopen in June) as that was our lounge of choice when at LAX.

All in all I think AA do a pretty good job when it comes to the customer experience. Like BA they do have their flaws. I think there's definite room for improvement on both sides and only time will tell how both AA and BA manage on that front.

mmogdan

I have been waiting with great anticipation to know how your AA adventure went…

steveholt

I have had wonderful experiences with AA customer support and truly baffling interactions. I've had lovely interactions (with no status) with BA customer support and utterly useless interactions. I suspect that is true for many of us who have to interact with multiple airlines on a regular basis. With regards to the OP's post, I can think of a recent terrible overbooking experience I had on AA and an experience where as a EP in first class I asked for one of those precious sodas and was given a full roll of the eyes because the flight was only an hour long. I don't think those are necessarily representative of AA's experience.

OP isn't complaining here, of course, but just about every well-trafficked FT forum has people complaining about how things used to be better on XX airline and how they're going to switch to YY airline because they had a positive experience. I think trying to focus on the positives, recognizing the negatives from broader experiences, and planning accordingly is always going to be the smartest move, regardless of airline.