United Express vs AA 738- First Class
 

Booking a flight from Newark NJ to Dallas Texas. My 2 options right now are a United Express flight which is a Embraer ERJ-170 aircraft. Or an American Airlines 738 aircraft. Don't travel much at all and will be going first class. Anyone have insight as to which is the better aircraft for first class cabin. Also is the AA 738 aircraft the 737-800 series?

Welcome to FT!

I'd go with the American (which I believe is a 737-800). The seat is roomier in every way and probably has a bigger tray as well. And if it's one of American's newer domestic first class seats (which is common but not universal throughout the American fleet) it has the nice feature of sliding forward even as it reclines, so that the person in front of you doesn't recline back into you much.

The one superior feature about the United option for this route is that on the left side of the plane the seats are stand-alone, so you're not sitting next to anybody. Still, as much as I personally like that feature, I'd go with American for this route.

I'd also suggest a non-bulkhead seat on American as you can then store a small bag in front of you and in effect have more legroom than bulkhead. But opinions vary on this.

Thanx for the reply! I was just looking at seatGuru and it's showing the first class United flight has 24inch seats compared to the 21 on the AA. Anyone else care to weigh in ?

The UA seat is 3 inches wider but also has up to 6 inches less legroom. This can be important if you're tall or wide.

Another thing to consider is that the ERJ-170s don't have ovens so no hot food on the UA flight. AA will have ovens on their 738s and on a 4 hour flight most people like a snack or meal.

AA will have the more traditional domestic first class service but the UA flight will be just fine. I do enjoy the 1 lone seat on the left side of the UA ERJ-170s when traveling alone and find the service to be fine. United will have Wifi on their ERJ-170s if that is important to you. UA has an edge of afternoon frequency travel which may fit your travel plans well.

Oh my...my apologies for saying the AA seat is roomier in every way. This seems to be my week for getting things wrong...I predicted Rubio would have a great debate :o and that the Panthers would crush the Broncos. :o:o

I guess I'll leave it at, having recently flown both planes, the AA seat feels roomier to me in every way. But yeah, you're right to want to get more accurate sources to pitch in here.

LoL!!!! Panthers blew it

Think I'm taking Thunderoads advice and going with AA.