MCO Flyer

AA with their project "Oasis" on the A321s and 737s is removing the bulkhead between F and MCE and replacing it with a soft bulkhead just like DL so this benefit wouldn't have lasted much longer on AA.

Nuhusky

oasis is terrible no doubt. They are fixing oasis for first class so perhaps that will result in the wall back but oasis also isn’t happening at a quick rate now due to the max. I also am quiet certain aa got the idea to yank the wall from delta as Parker follows everything delta does

on WiFi yes their superior internet is fleet wide save some regionals but that is being resolved this year I believe

delta has many positives. The WiFi isn’t one of them. Every jet I’ve been on so far has WiFi shutting down at 10k

Nuhusky

One other interesting find today. I was searching flights to Hyderabad from the us. Work related. Sky team doesn’t even fly there

kind of surprised by that one. Anyone have a tip for hyd and collecting delta miles and mqm?

LDNConsultant

I think most of the individuals whom switched from AA to Delta will echo the same sentiments, but as a NYC based AA Executive Platinum (for the past 4 years) and now a Delta Diamond:

Pros:
1. Staff and Service: In more cases than AA, when I fly upfront - I've been been greeted (with a smile) and always welcomed by my name. 100% feel that the staff at Delta are more "proud" of what Delta Airlines provides and that reflects on the service.
2. Operations: Any airline has a share of delays and operational mishap - but I believe Delta is more upfront with operational expectations. From LAX - JFK, Delta Pilot stated that "due to mechanical issues that requires 2-3 hours to fix, we would de-plane you to ensure that you can stretch your legs. Apologies for your delay" but the same time during one of my JFK - SFO flights on AA F, I was just sitting on the ground with limited information from AA behind the rationale and why we can't leave on time. To me it just sounds more like an excuse rather than them trying to do anything about it.
3. Delta App: This is my personal opinion but the app and the UI is just better built and more user friendly
4. Domestic Lounge: The SkyClub in terms of food/drinks is better than your normal AA Admirals Club

Cons:
1. Business Class Seats: Outside of the Delta Suites that are being integrated, the domestic Delta One as well as the Delta One seats on the 767 are just horrible in comparison with the AA flagship as well as reverse herringbone seats on the 777. The Delta One seats are too narrow for me and somewhat uncomfortable
2. International Business Class Lounge: With the flaghship lounge that opened up in JFK, I was frequent visitor of Flagship Lounge/Dining at JFK. The international business class lounge AA/United are miles ahead.
3. Upgrade Coupons: This is probably what I'm going to miss most about AA. I usually fly 175-200k MQM a year and when I was at AA that generated anywhere between 6 to 8 System Wide Upgrade coupons a year. Yes there are limitations to where I can use them (e.g. no code share flights/non AA metal) and yes Delta allows GUC to be used on some partner flights (e.g. Korean, Aeromexico, KLM, AF - but you would have be on an expensive fare class for it be allowed) but AA was just much easier to find availability (a quick search via AA website or Expertflyer) as well as use (I can use them on any AA metal flight for anyone including individuals whom weren't on the same flight as me).

LDNConsultant

I actually go to HYD often. When I was EXP on AA I often did either (JFK - DOH - HYD or JFK - HKG - HYD). Before the collapse of Jet Airways it was possible to do JFK - LHR - BOM/DEL - HYD, but with the collapse the best way is probably to fly with a SkyTeam carrier to BOM/DEL and just get on an Air India/IndiGo flight.

Nuhusky

Going to bom is kind of the only option. Shame sky team doesn’t serve hyd

Nuhusky

I can’t comment on long haul j class yet but if the 767 is anything like the old aa 767 config then I’m sure it is of no compare to aa hard product. That said the soft product on aa long haul sucks. I had one amazing 330 to clt from lhr and the cabin crew were fantastic, equal to an Asian airline.

Anytime I’ve been on a 777 with aa the cabin crew were proper dragons. Smiling must have been physically painful for anyone serving the 777

LDNConsultant

Oh yeah agreed the old AA 767 I had the pleasure of it flying once from PHL - DUB. But mostly my experience with AA International J was in 777 (probably 90% of my flights were JFK - LHR)

HDQDD

AA uses viasat on most aircraft. Viasat’s uplink (per plane) is many times larger than Gogo’s best product.

ekozie

Sorry yall, I stand corrected.

ijgordon

I agree that on average AA int'l J does beat DL. The 767s were roughly comparable, but they're almost all gone (or they are all gone) at AA, and most aren't going anywhere at DL (and not sure if the 764 refurbishment helps much). If you can avoid DL's 767s, I think it's a much more level playing field in terms of hard product.
Flagship lounge is a pretty key advantage to AA, but the JFK T4 lounge does have a fairly substantial food offering in the evening. I think if they gave D1 pax premium drink coupons it would level that playing field by quite a bit.
On-board service I've found variable on both. I've had VERY good crews on AA J. And lackluster ones in D1 (but also some excellent). But I don't have enough data points to make a definitive conclusion. I've also had good and bad catering on both.

My biggest problem with AA is that every trip seems to involve *some* sort of snafu. Mechanical delay, ticketing issue, seating issue, upgrade clearance issue, etc.

xliioper

For DL-marketed, KL/AM/VS operated flights, GUC's can be used on any coach fare class (including the cheapest which is V). You might be able to upgrade KL flights if not DL marketed, but I believe they require Y/B/M fares in those cases (perhaps that's what you were running into). AF and KE flights do require pricey Y/B/M fares even when DL marketed (KE flights require DL marketing for GUC application). You can also use them on AF W/S PE fares (which may be cheaper than Y/B/M).

Flying_Duck

I am a Delta Guy pretty much all the way near 30 years, but once 2 years ago, traveling with my family of 3 to a Caribbean destination for Scuba diving, I purchased FC for the 3 of us on AA for the price of economy tickets on Delta, further facilitated by not having to stay overnight in ATL to get to SLC on the return. When purchasing, the AA FC cabin was wide open with 12 seats. When the time for departure came, equipment had been changed to a FC cabin with 8 seats, and two of us were involuntarily down-graded, with AA clearly prioritizing their own status paxes having made reservations later than us, over those of us without status, even with seat assignments (now to non existing seats!!). The dismissal of, and indifference for how wronged we felt when trying to fix this prior to departure was astounding. The "we are happy to refund you the fare if you are unhappy" was meaningless, as there is no way to get any reasonable international FC (or Y for that matter) fare 2 weeks before departure. We now have 2 worthless $1,000 AA non-transferrable vouchers (expired) for this involuntary downgrade to show for it, at the time knowing that they would never be used as we vowed never to fly AA gain.

This has never happened when traveling paid FC as a family on Delta (or any other airline), despite often being on different record locators.

I guess you can take this story as a support to become a status flyer on AA, but the experience certainly soured me to straying from what may not be perfect, but good enough for me and my family, specifically DL who I know is doing better than AA in almost any parameter you care to compare in published comparisons!.

Nuhusky

Aa equipment swaps are pretty common. As an exp I missed the upgrade but was fine as I had selected the exit row on a 321. Tons of leg room. Went to bed to find out just as I was getting on the plane they had an equipment swap. They moved all pax back by one row. Row 10 became 11 and so on. So I lost my exit row while whoever had selected the row just in front which sucks as a seat as they don’t recline won the lottery and got exit row

aa Twitter team response. Sorry

happened to me far too often

i must say I hate the 767 as a plane. Way too unreliable and always seem to be in the news for some kind of emergency landing. I have had a few of my own on that craft

HDQDD

FWIW, apparently they are still using Gogo on about 140 of their aircraft.