Mods: As an NW Plat and a NW Forum regular, I'm purposely posting this here on the NW Forum, not the AA Forum.

Well, I just completed my first RT on AA this past weekend, an MSP-LGA itinerary. Here are my experiences:

(1) I think I vaguely recalled a while back that AA had added the MSP-LGA RT non-stop service, but I had forgotten about it until I shopped this itin and found that AA's fare was a full $200 cheaper than NW's for the same dates/times. No brainer to book it.

(2) Obviously as an NW Plat I was disappointed that with no status on AA I had to fly in cattle class (yep, I'm working on an AA challenge now, but don't think I'll make it because of too many already-booked NW itins over the next 90 days ). Furthermore, until day of flight I couldn't snag a "preferred" coach seat. However, by being diligent on day of flight, I was able to get an Exit Row aisle on the outbound, and the best-coach-seat-on-an-AA-MD80 7D bulk aisle on the return.

(3) I found the GA and FA service on both ends to be pleasant, courteous, and attentive (with one exception: While checking in at LGA at the kiosk (I had to check a bag), the process locked up in the middle of the transaction and the floor agent wouldn't reset the kiosk until I basically berated her for thinking that I would just walk away with my personal info still on the screen when she suggested I just do nothing else with the open transaction and move to another kiosk. She finally got the message (the native NYer in me came out in full bloom; it wasn't pretty) and she used her key to reset the kiosk.).

(4) Most importantly, I was THRILLED that AA boards the plane by Zones instead of the coach free-for-all that is NW's coach boarding process. By just making sure I was among the first to board when my Zone was called, I had no problems/issues with The War for Overhead Storage (TM). Furthermore, AA *clearly* posts the one-plus carry-on policy on ALL its gate screens, and the GAs enforce it.

(5) Upon return to MSP, the checked baggage was on the carousel within 10 minutes...a far cry better than usual baggage claim service there on NW. Of course, our flight was a late-evening arrival with no other AA arrivals happening at the same time, so not sure where this stands on the exception/rule scale. Still, it was another positive.

I'm sure many others here can cite their less-than-positive experiences on AA (and certainly a few weeks back with the MD80 wiring fiasco it would have been no fun to have been an AA flyer), but based on my one RT sampling, I won't hesitate to fly AA again, and will continue to work to achieve status in AAdvantage once I've ensured my Plat status here on NW WP for another year. (Having said that, IMHO NW's elite upgrade process and availability, and its web site and airport kiosks, are still far superior to American's.)

YMMV, FWIW...

Yup, if DL/NW becomes the "worst of both worlds" and CO goes over to Oneworld, CO/AA will only make sense for many of us.

thanks for the AA-report. ^

Well, Delta also boards by Zones; so, if the evil merger does go through, I'm going to guess that Zone boarding will be the common procedure for the new DL/NW.

Perhaps; we can only hope. I agree that I do find that to be a more pleasant feature of flying DL as compared to NW, when I have to fly with the unwashed masses in the back of the bus...although as a NW Plat I'm able to board in an early zone even on DL.

Thanks for the report... Gives us more info to consider.

D

I wonder when NWA thinks their process results in quicker boarding, do they take into consideration of their FTers having to deal with all the pax blocking the gate at once?

I mean while something *might* save a few minutes, it sure is a hell of a headache for us, especially when the GA has no interest in using the elite carpet.

NWA? Zone boarding? Prior to the merger? Please?

this FT'er experienced an interesting Int'l flight on AA ... on an A300... IFE was a big tube tv (not kidding) on the front bulkhead... the lav's still had slots for razor blades guess I've been spoiled with all my A330 flights...

"The War for Overhead Storage" (tm) will be getting worse soon with the imposition of second bag fees. I expect pax to be stuffing the kitchen sink into the overhead bins and under the seat. I am hoping that the airlines will be enforcing the carry on rules, but I'm not really optimistic.

The A300's are definitely not the norm for AA International. Their 777's are actually quite pleasant.

My hope is that now that there is an incentive to enforce carryon limits (with more revenue from checked bag fees) that this will soon change. Of course, it will still be an ugly transition. Expect a rough summer....

Better not be basing your decision off of MSP-LGA: nonstop AA service is ending June 1.

Heh, that would explain why the flights were not full! Thanks for the info; no, as you can see from my home location (<---see left), MSP-LGA was a side trip for me. We'll see how other samplings go.

I was wondering about that, but you never know sometimes.

While no one can predict the future, this AA elite prefers NWA as a non-elite member of the cattle class. NWA is simply a better airline in regard to customer service.

I'll second and, possibly, third that one. Not a fan of getting nicked with seat assignment and ticketing fees on AA even as a Plat. Oh, and their version of TTU is pretty useless. Got a sweet "we need to charge fees in light of rising fuel" form letter response when I griped about being nicked with a telephone ticketing fee on a military fare. What an airline. Yup, it's NWA for me... ^