AA first - unimpressed.
 

I’m usually a United traveler and over 90% of my trips are ORDLHRORD but due to certain circumstances I flew LHRORD last week in 2J on an American 777 using a miles F ticket.

I can't say I was particularly impressed. First and business class check-in counters at T3 were scruffy (as, indeed, were the agents manning them) and cramped, with no redeeming features. AA limits checked baggage weight to 50 lbs, whereas UA allows bags up to 70 lbs for first class and business travelers, and I was charged $50 for one of my bags that weighed over 50 lbs.

No welcome aboard greeting upon entering the cabin, although a FA did eventually come around and offer champagne, orange juice or water and inquired if I wanted a newspaper. Newspaper selection was not laid out on a cart where they could be seen. A FA also took my jacket and coat, but did not take my ticket stub to identify them. There was no walk-through by cabin staff to ensure bags were stowed, seats in upright position and belts fastened prior to take-off. I was left nursing my empty plastic glass and napkin during take-off to stop them sliding off the side table.

While I'm sure it was an attempt at being friendly, the purser addressed everyone by their first name when taking luncheon orders and thereafter. I certainly don't care for the lack of formality.

The cabin was very bleak, with a rather drab and dowdy color scheme of dark red, black and taupe fabric on the bulk-head walls and dark blue leather seats with gun-metal grey fixtures and fittings. (I don’t fly TATL on AA that often, maybe this is an old seating scheme)

The seat was slightly pitched forward in the upright position and rather uncomfortable, particularly as the head rest pushed my head even further forward. The seat had to be turned towards the window before it would recline or the leg rest could be operated. There was nothing intuitive about this and no directions proffered, verbal or written, to assist. The small pop-up screen was a fair distance from the seat, which made things a tad difficult because some functions were operated by touch pads at the bottom of the screen which were not duplicated on the hand controller! The connection for the headset was also difficult to find, with no label or guidance as to where it was, and location was not easily accessible. The Bose headsets were great but again, no indication that there was an on/off switch on one of the ear pieces that needed to be turned on to get sound. So, needless to say, I had numerous questions, which I felt were largely met with answers delivered with more than a tinge of "what kind of imbecilic first class novice traveler are you" attitude! (They were right, I usually travel UA C)

The fact that the fixed foot rest had a separate seat belt and the fold-out table was large enough so that two passengers could dine across from each other was a nice touch. The leather seat did go completely flat and was quite spacious. It also appeared that the seat could swivel around to face the side shelf under the window, which would be useful for anyone wanting to use a laptop during the flight.

There was only one service of wine before lunch, brought individually and not on a cart. They asked me which wine I wanted from the menu and handed me a glass brought from the galley. Not even on a tray. The option of a marinated cheese antipasto was a welcome and delicious alternative to the usual bowl of mixed nuts. Food was reasonable, but the way it was served, from table set-up to actual service, did not convey any serious attempt to make it an interesting and enjoyable dining experience. The bread basket was only brought around once. The menu said smoked salmon and honey ginger shrimp, but I was only offered one or the other. The salad was fresh, chilled, quite large and nicely presented in a glass bowl. The seared scallops and lime-marinated shrimp with jasmine rice and something called sambal sauce was tasty, but over-cooked. The dessert sundae of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and chopped nuts was excellent.

There was no offer to replenish my wine glass after the initial pre-lunch service or when the appetizer and salad courses were served. The trend seemed set to continue, so I ended having to ask for a refill before the main course came up. There was no attempt to refill wine glasses during the main course or offer of a post-prandial libation with the dessert service, so again had to ask. The wine, an Italian red (Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino), was excellent, at least when you could get some! Coffee was served after the meal but, yet again, no offer of a refill was made. A large bottle of water was also handed to each passenger after the meal. Perhaps to avoid water runs.

The first class galley appeared to be the main gathering place for quite a few of the crew and there was a large amount of chatting amongst themselves from the beginning of the flight, which most probably explains why the service level one normally expects in first or business class was sadly absent. The first class restrooms had no amenities, just a bottle of no-name brand liquid hand soap.

We had landed and the aircraft door opened without any attempt to return my coat - I had to ask twice! When I first asked, they came out with a jacket belong to an employee traveler in the seat across the aisle from me. He had not realized they had even taken it in the first place and thought he must have left it back at Heathrow. Given the fact there was a purser, and two FAs to look after seven passengers and three employee (I think) passengers, I dread to think what service would have been like if all sixteen seats had been occupied. Anyway, overall quite disappointing and the experience really nowhere near as good as my most recent UA first class or business class trips in a remodeled 767 cabin for either ambiance or service.

Eastbound, when one is sleeping, I can tolerate a somewhat less attentive service, but westbound in first I was anticipating way more than this.

AA, you had the opportunity to at least give a United traveler a possible future alternative – sorry it didn’t work out.

I've had similar experiences many times on AA in longhaul F.

That says it ALL.

I am resigned to the fact that US based airlines are good for getting from point A to point B and no more. I take them when I must!

First name basis with a complete stranger?
Extremely tAAcky.
Some would say disrespectful.

Well, they ARE used to having their own employees flying up there, so it would be odd that you wouldn't know the routine.

Being called by your first name is disrespectful???


What is that smell? is it DYKWIA???

I think it's more a matter of "if you're going to call a customer by his name instead of just Sir or Madam, use their title and last name unless the customer instructs otherwise."

Some customers are very sensitive to that (including some that aren't at all DYKWIA) whereas the worst that will happen if you start with the last name is that the customer will say, "Oh, hey. Just call me (first name)."

When I was growing up, my parents taught me that you only call someone by their first name when you are invited to do so.

1apreferably - Thank you for this informative TR. I agree, as you say, at least all 16 F seats weren't taken. :eek:

1apreferably - I agree with you that AA F class is often less than it should be. AA's 50 LBS policy is uncompetitive and would be the easiest thing for AA to fix. Employee behavior is much more complicated.

- I have experienced much better in AA F

- I have experienced much worse in UA F

I hope if you ever do find yourself flying AA again, you will get a more professional crew.

I agree. The only thing worse is when someone thinks they are calling you by your first name, but they are actually using your last name to address you.

That sucks but it's not always obvious even without considering some cultures use surnames before given names. For some reason, my employer often reverses the names of contractors from India, or at least the Active Directory people do. Not sure why that happens if typing from a form with separate fields but it does, and the names could easily go either direction. Made more complicated when some of these contractors prefer to use their surname for casual communication.

I can easily see this screw-up happening on a ticket - though thinking about it now, then they'd just call someone "Mr. <Given Name>" so at least that'd be an honest mistake.

I have only flown flagship first once and I thought I had a good crew and was still disappointed flight overall.

Name Rules are Tough!
 

Generally, that's the safer course. When I was at my first job, I called a 30-ish "Mr. so-and-so" He was from Hawaii and scolded me, "Call me (first name)!" I don't think he was offended to the point of holding it against me, but he just preferred being called by his first name. Some places, like the American south and west coast (except for addressing an older person in America) , Hawaii, and the Philippines seem to favor easy first-name familiarity. Other places like Mexico, Japan and Korea, I would definitely stay with last names until invited to change.

US based airlines should be just that...US based...I've yet to see one U.S. carrier be as good for the longhaul cross the pond travels, as their offshore competitors.. (even, BA ehhehe)

Whenever I fly international, I always make use of the partners and avoid any U.S. based carrier(s).

Like my local Macy's store, they JUST DONT GET IT! :td:

In some countries outside your own (the US), it is QUITE disrespectful. Sorry if you can't grasp the concept that there may be cultural differences. Not everyone flying AA is from the country.

And please don't jump to conclusions by using acronyms like "DYKWIA". You don't know me.

Names issue apart, what is it like when FAs spend their sweet time in their galley chit-chating with themselves? Isn't it cheating their employer who pays them for work and not for amusing themselves?

I have not had an asian airline would call me by my first name, not even UA ! So you can see if this practice is acceptable or not. I don't believe there is one airline would train their FA to call their pax by their first name. It is simply not a proper way to do this.

AA First
 

As a UA 1Ker, lately I have ben flying AA PHX-MIA-PHX. I have to say, the service on this route is FAR BETTER then what I have gotten on UA. The food is miles ahead then what is served on UA for the same distance. But then again I have never flown international on both airlines so I can't comment of that service. But I find it hard for anyone to make a judgement call after one flight...

hmm...let's see...my screename is Spanish...yep, the American Culture is not my culture. Like you said, you don't know me. I can certainly grasp the cultural differences.

I always ask FA's to call me by my first name. The fact that I'm flying in Business or First does not mean I'm better then them. I don't fill my head of ideas of grandeur just because I fly in the front of the plane. Looks like a few of you could learn some humility and be thankful you fly in the front.

This whole post doesn't seem to me to be so much of a trip report but something of a comparison of carrier services. Not really fun to read at all for this regular TR forum reader. No photos, no menus, no other interesting detail. I would suggest moving it to AA forum...

I agree personally, but I also get that some may not like it.

Those two statements seem fairly contradictory to me. Like others, I was brought up to call strangers (and people older than me) by their surname unless invited to do so.

I'm frequently addressed as "sir" at a coffee shop, let alone when flying anything other than Y. The next step would be Mr. Estate, and finally by my first name.

Addressing someone by their surname doesn't mean you they're better than you, it's just a level of repsect that should be automatically afforded to a customer, especially someone who has paid a lot of money to be there. If you think calling someone sir or madam, or even by their title and surname makes them better than you, I suggest you try your hand at some form of hospitality work - you'll soon realise it's simply not how it works.

For the record: I often ask FAs to call me by my first name, but I greatly appreciate that they first address me by my surname.

Call me new age, but I think the over formalization of society has run its course. My new doctor even introduced himself as "Hi, I'm Frank", no more "Hi, I'm Dr. So and So". I actually prefer it, instead of putting himself up on a pedestal, it shows me that they are there to be my partner. I think last names should be reserved for government forms. But at the same time, I completely understand where you are coming from, I have family from an asian country and they call each other by their last names, not first. So instead of say, "hey first name, come over here", they say "hey last name, come over here". It was weird to me at first, but I've grown used to it.

Spoken with true humility. A man of the people. Do you hang your own coat and hop up to the galley to cook your own meal as well? :rolleyes:

Be careful with your phrasing. Addressing someone by his surname alone obviously means that you think he is your peer or social inferior. Title and surname is rather different.

cheers,

Henry

Seems to be far from CX F.:D

Exactly. I'm as apple-pie american as they come, and I resent the service industry's slouch towards familiarity. It comes across as fake-folksy at best and lazy at worst. Whether in Y, C, or F, I expect Mr. followed by an attempt at my last name. Any attempt will do.

And to steer back towards relevance, I would add that UA sounds like they do a beter job at this than AA.

Difference between paying for the service and expecting it as if it were your birthright. I don't look down on the service industry as it once filled my own pockets when at College. I openly engage in conversation and enjoy getting to know them. I'll take it you want your food and beverage and can't wait to get rid of the FA from your sight.

Not at all. I just particularly appreciate FAs serving F/J and other service providers at luxury hotels or fine restaurants who take their profession seriously and endeavor to provide a high standard of service. Addressing pax in an F/J name by surname is an appropriate way to begin the interaction, that's my only point. A pax can certainly ask to be called by their first name if that is they way the pax prefers. Nobody is talking about birthright, but customers expect a different experience at Le Cirque than Jack in the Box and the same goes for when they are flying F than if they choose go EasyJet.

I think what the OP's report highlights is the single factor that keeps AA's premium service from ranking higher than it otherwise does - inconsistency in the delivery of service (or non-delivery, in this case).

The hard product is what it is - better than some, well behind the market leaders (personally, I find the seat very good, don't care about the AVOD and don't use the Bose (I carry my own, better, of each)). :) Catering, as long as it's basically good and served hot, is fine with me - I don't expect an Escoffier experience in the air.

But the service can range anywhere from stellar to uncaring/uninvolved, with most flights somewhere in between. And this has nothing to do with the age of the staff - the very best TATL flight I have ever flown was served with a group of senior cabin staff who clearly enjoyed their jobs and took pride in delivering world-class service. The OP, unfortunately, had a crew from the opposite end of the service spectrum. International travel in 2010 is full of these kinds of inconsistencies - whether one less-than-excellent experience will forever turn the OP against AA forever, only he/she can decide.

It IS disrespectful and it is NOT a case of DYKWIA syndrome. In any class, unless the FA knows the pax it should NEVER be done!

On a completely separate note, US airlines placing their crew in F when there are undoubtedly full J paying customers (even if they aren't elites) is improper. If I travel full fare F/J (and I usually do) I would expect that if AA didn’t want to upgrade their frequent passengers or full fare J passengers, they should have left the cabin partially empty (which happens to me often on European and Asian carriers). It is outrageous that AA (and other US airlines) allow this for any crew.

I'd also go as far as to say that the treatment from many American carriers F/J cabin staff is downright rude (taking the "we not waiters" attitude). I don’t care what they want to call themselves, they shouldn’t fool themselves into thinking there aren’t three classes of service and their lifesaving skills can be used in all of them equally. If they want to provide the "bare-bones" service and read People magazine for 7 hours after serving dinner, they should go back to Y and do their jobs there. CX, NH, BA, LH, SQ all have professional cabin crew who convey warmth and seem to enjoy their jobs IN ALL CLASSES.

AA and UA seem to forget that they compete with foreign carriers on many routes, often from the same alliance, and who charge nearly identical prices for their tickets. If the price is similar, what could ever possess me to want to fly AA F to NRT when I could take JL F or UA F to FRA when I could take LH F? I may be Chairman’s Preferred on USAirways but after 3 ill fated voyages (all in the past 2 years) I have had my share of their transatlantic service. As far as AA F and UA F I have tried both their international F products on several flights and am amazed about how much the experience resembled going to the DMV or some other state agency.

With such level of service, they should go back to 60' & 70' with their price structure. To those uncertain what I mean: those days F was priced 2-3x economy, today's 10-15x was unheard of.

I just did UA C over to LHR and AA C back this past week. I was about to write the total opposite. I think UA has some updating to do, but it is planned. Will try the new UA C in the future.

Can't say I had the same experience as the OP.

Just returned from ORD-LHR in First Class and had an experience consistent with all prior 777 Flagship trips to LHR (at least 5) which is why I choose AA - then having the miles to do it with Mrs. FrAAmer annually helps.

I usually fly LAX-LHR as I prefer to be on the plane longer so I can get a full 7 hours sleep plus dinner/movie. ORD- LHR is just too short - though the crew was friendly, attentive and supportive. There were 3 empty seats in First Class plus the crew seat - and Mrs. FrAAmer was the only woman passenger. And, at least 3 of the other passengers opted for no food service and went to sleep as soon as we took off so lots of crew attention, service from the carts, wine label presented at pouring etc.

Flagship lounge at ORD was excellent as were food offerings (huge shrimp).

I guess I am just loyal to AA and resign myself that Flagship on a 777 is the best they have to offer, and for an award ticket, I can't complain.

Since I have lots of AA miles, is there a "better" way to get to Europe in First Class using only AA miles?

+1 Well stated.

Can't really say that for SQ. Well, yes, they are very well trained but their "robotic" service is definitely cold.

My last First trip was JFK-EZE. Crew was either very lazy or very poorly trained. I agree with the OP in every respect. International First is supposed to be something special. On AA it certainly is not.

I can't believe I'm reading these posts. Do you refer to your boyfriend or girlfriend's parents by their first name the first time you meet them? Do you refer to your interviewer when looking for a job by his or her first name? I certainly hope not.

Listen, everyone at my local starbucks knows me and refers to me by my first name, but there are certain cases in which it is just not appropriate. Think back to college. You probably had some professors who requested you refer to them by their first names, but I hope you wouldn't just assume you should drop their title and surname without their specific request to do so. I thought these things were just common sense, but apparently not.