New Years in Buenos Aires and Mendoza via American Airlines 772 Flagship First Class
 

For the past few years, we've been spending New Years traveling with our good SoCal friends. Last year was Sevilla, the year before Salzburg. This year we decided on South America and Buenos Aires. Despite warnings of heat and humidity and the reality of mostly crappy flight options to South America, we decided to roll the dice. Oops... believe it or not, this is an improvement over last night's forecast. :eek:

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And memo to self: no matter how hot it gets, stick to the pools.
Pirhana attack in Argentina leaves at least 70 injured

And then there are our flights. No 5* or even 4* airlines on this trip, although I had flirted with and booked KE's LAX-GRU 77W. But leaving a day early and spending 8 hours in transit just didn't seem like it was worth the effort. That plus I waited until it was too late to safely send passports off for a Brazilian visa. What sealed the deal was we are now on the same DFW-EZE flight as our SoCal friends who are connecting from LAX.

American Airlines Admirals Club at DEN
American Airlines First Class DEN-DFW
American Express Centurion Lounge at DFW
American Airlines First Class DFW-EZE
Alvear Palace Hotel Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Aerolineas Argentinas Premium Economy AEP-MDZ
Park Hyatt Mendoza
Mendoza and Wine Country
LAN Chile Economy MDZ-SCL
Santiago de Chile
San Cristobal Hotel Santiago
Delta Business Elite SCL-ATL
Delta SkyClub at ATL
Delta Business Elite ATL-DEN

Easy drive to DIA this morning and we were at check-in at T-90, where the agent told told us that the fight was running about a half hour late. That's AA speak for at least an hour. "Thanks for getting us here so early" was the first of many witty comments from the Princess today.

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One look at the 50 pax deep line at the South Pre-Check line, we headed to North Pre-Check where it was much better with only a few kettles in the line. A quick train ride to the first stop, Concourse A where the Princess came up with another good one, "Are we going to another club or the crappy one?" Sorry dear, we are going to "the crappy one" aka The Admirals Club, which IMO is better than the only other option here, the United Club, north or south.

More mostly recycles pics of the DEN Admirals Club.

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And today's arrivals and departures, now with a more realistic but still optimistic 65 minute delay.

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With the delay and no "lunch" on our DEN-DFW, we or rather I decided to have something at the AC and took a chance on the Cuban Pork Panini. Either I was really hungry or this was one very tasty panini. Mrs. SFO took one bite, exclaimed "wow" and proceeded to share my panini.

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At T-20, we headed out to Gate A51 where boarding was just beginning.

AA 109
DEN-DFW
MD-80
11:55A-2:55P (sked)
1:20P-3:50P (actual and ETA)
December 28, 2013
Seats 5AB
Refreshments

Not much warmth to this crew today. No PDB and self-serve hang your coat.
Drinks and the furthest from the truth "Gourmet" Snack Mix.

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First time in ages I've been on the AB side. I'll miss the Mad Dogs when they are retired.

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Coming up: Our first look at the DFW Centurion Lounge

Do you never stop flying :p
Looking forward to this one as always. ^

1,000 calories and 51g of fat in a pannini? Wow indeed.

I noticed that too! I don't want to know what it would be for the UA chicken hot pocket they serve as the pre-landing snack on long BF flights.

Son.....Of.....A.......... Here i am having a great day.....and then i refresh the trip reports thread....and what pops up?????? ANOTHER.....SFO......TR..... I think the most depressing thing is.....you're not even in retirement......if you're doing this many TR's now......how many are you going to make when you enter retirement... :o(

You won man....i dunno what....but you won....lol.

Is it about time to have your own forum?..... you do realize you're creating addicts.....and if you so happen to slow down with TR's.....Phizer will have to make a drug to treat our accute SFO-TR-Itis....with the commercial that asks if we're suffering from it....and then the creepy guy in the middle describing all the nasty side effects while showing people having fun.....

Bravo sir......BRA-VO

It's incredible... When your day gets boring, just open FlyerTalk and you'll find another SFO777's trip report.
I love Argentina, hope you can have a beautiful stay there!

Just as shocking IMO is the sodium in it!
Then again, keep in mind it is America...
For SFO777- I hope that you paid for the flight to Santiago in pesos before the restrictions came into effect...
(at the blue/black market rate.)
(then again, I don't have much experience with those flights as I have only used those flights as part of an international itinerary. If I were going by myself, I would use the bus.)

Was super curious what you were doing in 5A/5B, knowing you, it's always 3E/3F or 6E/6F ;)
And I'm guessing MDZ-SCL is an Avios ticket? :confused:
Glad to see you are doing Santiago de Chile as well ^

Bahaha, can you imagine SFO777 fully retired? :D
I think most of us want to still see his and the Mrs. adventures :)


Having met Mrs. SFO777 prior, I legit can't see her taking a bus nowadays, that is a divorce waiting to happen if so ;)
Maybe the bus when there were still in college :p

If she lived in HK, then maybe she would rethink that as the costs of maintaining a car + fees for driving (petrol duty and tolls) would likely mean there is no money left to go on holiday (not to mention how much more difficult it is to collect mileage there compared to America.)
Then again, with BIS miles, it could be doable-though not 6-7x/year.

Not necessarily, I can think of a couple HKG people on top of my heart that I personally know that are equally like that.
Might see them taking the subway in traffic jam but definitely no bus.
They hired drivers to drive them in their luxury vans, have a couple Ferraris sitting in the garage, have multiple maids for housekeeping and still do 6x vacations (mix of short/long haul) in F/J a year.

I went to hong kong on our way to SGN...... We took a tour with Bigfoot Tours (highly highly highly recommend them)....i would love to move there if i was loaded...they told us how expensive it is to get a drivers license.

Wow another SFO777 report! I just barely finished the other and got some more leisure reading to do as I'm on my own mileage award.

Wait - SFO777 in Business on Delta again? I'm surprised you (or more correctly so Mrs SFO777) would be willing to fly in J and not F. :)

For those that haven't been here, DFW is huge. I'm here 2, 4, sometimes 8 times a month and it grows on you. AA occupies 4 of the 5 terminals and the Skylink is clean, fast and efficient way of navigating your way around. We arrived at C17 and a few minutes later were on the Skylink for the long winding way around to the D terminal. One would think C and D would be next to each other but alas the progression here is A, C, E, D, B and a blank space presumably for a future F.

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The D terminal is the newest and most attractive terminal. It also serves as the main international terminal.

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AA has an Admirals Club in all four terminals. Been there, done that. So i was eager to visit the new Centurion Lounge. Amex is opening these lounges at a few airports (LAS and DFW so far). All one needs to gain entrance is an Amex Platinum or Centurion card.

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Other than a few primo seats in the far end of the lounge, the non dining seating areas are actually fairly limited and not that comfortable. The U-shape design has most seating right near and beside foot traffic. All four of DFW Admirals Clubs are much larger with bigger and more functional business centers.

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But no Admirals Club has a spa. Very nice.

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The best feature and biggest draw is the open bar and the delicious food offerings.

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All in all, a good addition to the DFW lounge scene. Despite its small size and tendency to get very crowded at times, I'd rank it high on the domestic lounge scene but only for the free food and drink. Without that, there is no reason to come here if you can access the Admirals Club.

Up Next: Pleasantly surprised by AA's International Flagship Service. They are really trying, but it's tough to teach refined Asian/Gulf service subtleties to a NA cabin crew. But all in all, even with old First, food, service and crew were worlds better than BA First.

Thanks Jenzo.

But, but... look at the protein. And at least I only ate half of it. ;)

OMG, probably off the charts.

LOL. Thanks very much Tony for your kind comments.

Thank you themapelligroup.

Ha! Yeah SHF nailed that one right. No way for the bus with the Princess.

All the double EF seats were preselected so 5AB it was. No Avios, but I did get a semi "reasonable" fare for the 121 mile trip.

For sure. :D

Thanks shounate03. Yeah, yeah I know. But there are just not a lot of great options to/from SA. Plus I get to burn some otherwise useless SkyPesos.

For 1020 calories and 24g of saturated fat, that better be one damn good sandwich, :D

Did either of you try any services at the spa?

Really looking forward to this one, as Buenos Aires is high on our list of places to visit soon. Enjoy your trip!

IST lounge for another insane 6 hours TK layover, and here is when SFO777 comes to rescue me. I'm seriously thinking to skip yours, SHF and Seat 2A TRs at home, keeping them jealously for lounge and IFE purpose.
Waiting the follow up, wish you and Princess a great 2014 to be ridden at this TR pace.

Happy New Year
 

Happy New Year SFO777. Looking forward to another great TR!

Up Next: Pleasantly surprised by AA's International Flagship Service. They are really trying, but it's tough to teach refined Asian/Gulf service subtleties to a NA cabin crew. But all in all, even with old First, food, service and crew were worlds better than BA First.

You are killing me.. Two weeks until BA A380 F and I'm still second guessing my decision. But I am going to be optimistic. :)

Eric

I am still gutted that BA did not deliver to a standard (I am talking about the CC comment rather than a tech 380 which can happen with any carrier) that we know they are capable of and you expected on your little sojourn before Christmas.

It is funny because I would not personally touch a NA carrier long haul at all in a premium cabin (as you hinted at also) and would class BA in a better league than DL, AA et al.

I do fear that in the future for a truly proper F or J experience ME3 carriers will be the only option.

As always SFO777 a fantastic read and one that makes me very jealous of your adventures.

Another SFO777 TR. It's like Christmas morning all over again!!!

A TR report just before the New Year by SFO777! I feel like a kid on Christmas morning~!!

I'm dreading my BA F back from LHR to ORD.....but I really want to see for myself.

To be honest.....AA has been extremely positive for me flying in domestic F....I think they're trying they're hardest with International F......it really comes down to the crew....if you have a crew just having a bad day....then even emirates or Qatar F will be crappy

Isn't DFW - EZE on the 772 for senior FA's?

SFO777, I am a long-time fan of your trip reports. Funny coincidence, I, along with not-quite-mrs AAJones, arrive in Mendoza on 12/31 for NYE, and then a couple of days later head to Santiago before pointing south to Patagonia/Tierra del Fuego. We too will be at the Park Hyatt for some of the time (and are also taking DFW-EZE in AA F).

I'm eagerly awaiting details in F to EZE. (I'm currently booked on my first int'l F trip ever on AA in a few months.)

At around T-50, we decided to head out for the long walk from the Centurion Lounge at D18 to D33. Although most gate area seats were taken and we had been sitting for a while we decided to be gate lice tonight. Spacious concourse produced few other gate lice as we walked up the front of the Priority AAccess line for a brief wait.

American Airlines AA 997
Dallas/Ft. Worth DFW to Buenos Aires EZE
777-200
7:30P-8:50A (sked)
7:30P-8:45A (actual)
December 28, 2013
Departed 14/15
Seats 4DG

Less than 5 minutes after we arrived, boarding commenced with First Class. None of the "passengers with small children or those that need a little extra time" nonsense on so many other airlines. For an old cabin, it was still in excellent shape. Plenty of space in the overheads for carry-ons. The seats were comfortable and there was a massive amount of counter space in the area between our seats and two table. No cubbie storage compartment, although 4DG did have an extra open space immediately behind the seats.

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Very cool feature is the ability to swivel the D and G seats to angle towards each other and then face each other or use as a desk, if you are so inclined.

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So far so good, although the PDB was the first reminder that it is still AA. Yes, the ever classy plastic champagne glasses. Although the champagne and mimosas were properly chilled.

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Yay, I can actually put my feet up on the buddy seat without reclining the seat.

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Each seat was stocked with blanket and pillow kits.

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One of our two F FAs handed out PJs.

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With Mrs. SFO giving her blessing to the comfy AA version and deciding to change before we departed.

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AA's basic amenity kit, but one which doubles as an ipad case after the flight.

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Menus were also at our seats when we arrived.

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Not sure why other but a separate dessert menu.

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Wines? OK, there is no confusing AA wines with EK, MH or even BA for the matter. A wine list and wine tasting list. Not sure what the point it since they are the same wines.

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And a breakfast menu to fill in like hotel room service. Seems a little tacky but I guess it helps determine who wants breakfast and who doesn't.

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More pics around the cabin as we get ready to depart.

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On time departure and we are on our way to EZE, only 9 hours and 45 minutes away. IFE? Yikes, not so good. Reminiscent of LH Old First and BA old or new First. At least they didn't cheapen out like EY and MH and went Bose and at we don't have to watch on an overhead.

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Our FAs jumped into action shortly after take=off. Hot towel? Kind of puny.

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On the other hand, just like BA.

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Beverage service starting with warm mixed nuts and water in a cool glass.

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And my usual G&T to start.

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Mrs. SFO went with the Trimbach Pinot Gris, but OMG what's with the generous pour?

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And showtime with a nice tablecloth and place mat on the huge table.

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Tonight's Amuse Bouche, a very nice Corn and Grits cake with Cajun shrimp.

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For the starter, I went with Thai Chicken with grilled five spice pineapple, watermelon and Asian style mint dressing... wonderful.

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Next up, the Poblano Asiago. OMG, one of the most delicious soups I have ever tasted, anywhere.

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Mrs. SFO agreed although the angle of her table was a little more severe and worn than mine. Yikes.

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Excellent salad although dressing tossed would have been nice, instead of drizzled on top.

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For my main, I decided to go with the Grilled Fillet of Beef hoping that it wouldn't be well done. Nice presentation.

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Although it was medium and little dry, it was still very good.

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Mrs. SFO went with the Manchego chicken which she enjoyed.

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And for dessert, the classic AA Ben and Jerry's ice cream sundae.

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All in all, a surprisingly, indeed shockingly excellent meal. Not impressed with any of the wines although the one I did try, the Antu Ninquen Syrah was passable. But while the food was excellent, the service was not well paced and seemingly rushed. The old battle ax on AD aisle seemed to think that she needed to deliver each course within 30 seconds of removing the previous course. Jeez, is it that difficult to have someone with restaurant experience spend an hour with your FAs.

After dinner, I watched a bit of The Internship, the best of a bad lot of limited rerun movies most, including this one, of which I'd already seen.
One of the better scenes...

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Since I'd already seen the movie, I decided to get some sleep and went to change into my very comfy PJs in the comically small and depressing loo, while one of our FAs made my bed... including mattress pad.

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While LH, SQ or MH beds are more comfortable, the bed was quite nice and amazingly I slept well four hours before getting up and working on pics

At about T-90, breakfast was served. This was delicious and, except for last month's Etihad steak and eggs, one of the best breakfasts in a long time. Presentation could have been better and more paced, as everything was packed onto a tray and delivered all at once.

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Almost there...

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And an on time arrival at EZE. In summary, I was pleasantly surprised with my AA flight. Other than the crappy IFE and tiny lavs, I enjoyed the hard product. The seat was comfortable and there was more than enough space. The DG middle seats are very pleasant for a couple. Food was excellent and the service generally attentive, although far from polished. And no way will AA FAs be confused with Asian FAs. AA's biggest handicap in the service game is union seniority rules that let battle axes cherry pick routes instead of assignment by merit. Nevertheless, even with unpolished FAs, this was far more enjoyable than any recent BA flight... better hard product, better food and even unpolished, better service. And no one threatened to have security meet me at EZE. ;) Indeed, even the battle ax was amused by my taking food pics wanting to make sure I'd got all the close ups I needed. :)

More than before, I'm looking forward to our AA 77W flight next May... just hoping for a more polished, less jaded crew.

Can't wait for the rest of the report. I've been trying to convince Mrs. greg99 to take a trek south, and if this TR will be like any of your others, this will definitely serve as encouragement.

Greg

I thought I didn't like to sit still. Thanks for taking us on your journey again!

I believe the concept here is, in true Macabus style, you're supposed to have 5 wine glasses on the table at the same time with the card as the placemat so you don't mix them up.

Swiss Business also used the "room service check sheet "for breakfast on our Nairobi Zurich flight in November. I guess they think it's efficient enough for their staff to keep things organized.

Haha Forrest Bump, only 6 Hours :p
I'm not sure anyone can finish my latest TR in that time span, might need to download it a.la PDF version and reading on a non-wifi plane :D

Safe travels to 2014 :)

SFO777 strikes yet again ^^^
Happy New Year!!! :)

That appetizer shows pretty well even with a small catering budget, all you need is creativity and not always Balik Salmon or Caviar to have a good appetizer

Did they do away with the salad cart? They always did toss the salad next to you while it was a 762/772 F, been years... since I've done 772 F though.

I've been arguing/discussing that service issue with Mama SHF, I guess it's all depends on the passenger.
Both of us have been saying we hate those 6.5 - 9 hour red-eyes, you can either sleep/eat, but can't really do both.
Some case, she prefers J>F just to get more sleep.
11+ Hours flight is always F preferred

F is always going to be a 2-3 hours meal service, and only 9 3/4 flight hours, it probably wasn't a super bad thing to speed the service up a bit for extra snooze time for the pax.
By the looks of the crew, they probably try to give you 6 hours sleep, both meals include takeoff/descent, which I think would be a good performance for a shortish 3 Class F flight like

However if your flight was a TPAC, then it would probably be annoying as hell since it's way longer of a flight

Your 2nd Meal (Breakfast) looks like 100% same as those on AA TPAC Business

Very cheap desert menu (cheap ice cream) unlike european airlines which offer real desert.

Isn't that illegal in this country? Cuban...Hmm..:p

Do you know how much does it cost? I don't think AMEX will do that for free...:D

Hmmm. I had the same thought :confused:

I'm in Buenos Aires now and it is unbelievably hot down here. Weather gets better in 2 or 3 days. I hope you enjoy you trip ^

Nice report --

- the champagne seems to price around $25 and the Pine Ridge $15 for a bottle -- and the Antu is under $20.

All in all while I think AA is 'attempting' to step up its F, these seem really weak unless i am pricing the wines incorrectly.

Just looking at an EK J trip report puts the AA F menu to shame.

If AA truly does sell some F pax (outside of deeply discounted corporate fares), it would be great to see them actually get someone who knows what they are talking about to advise them -- may I suggest to Parker/Kirby they hire SFO777 as AA's 'First Class Consumer Ombudsman' :) @:-)

A few random comments:
(1) Nice report. I'm surprised that BA F is worse than this. On the other hand, I haven't been on a BA plane since 1981. ;)
(2) I'm quite familiar with the "room service" breakfast cards, and they make a lot of sense, given that the FA can have the meal ready and let you sleep longer. However, the offerings are paltry. In LAN's J cabina, it is a quite extensive menu re: what sort of beverages, breads, spreads, sweeteners for your beverages, etc.
(3) The wine list. Oh the poor wine list. This is not an F wine list. That said, I've had NV Moutarde and it is delicious - I'd expect the vintage one to be better, and it is probably a great value for the airline and a very good product to serve. The rest of the list is weak. Price doesn't necessarily = quality, but I drink a lot better in LAN's J cabin (and some of their wines are at a similar price point).
(4) "Ask about our premium turndown service" is tacky, on a menu, in an F cabin. Not only should turndown service be standard in an F cabin (and not premium), it should just be offered. Why should you have to ask?

All in all, this looks substantially better than my last (2 years ago, before things even slid further) UA F flight. As far as "battle ax" crews, I find the senior crews to either be the best or the worst. I don't fear them :D

2- My thoughts exactly. It looked like the choice was 'chicken' or 'chicken' so to speak. Somebody saw this being done on another carrier and thought it would be a great addition to AA F 'amenities' but then blew it by making the choices so limited.

3.- Not a wine expert, but I was surprised/shocked that the 'retail' prices for the inflight F wine list was so low -- and then to offer a 'tasting.'

Both of the above show me that the past regime that created all this 'marketing/communications' bluster was more focused on PR than product. It's shocking that AA can't make a run at offering a World Class F product on some key routes. I can't imagine it would be high on the Parker/Kirby list - however they do seem pretty attuned to throwing out stuff that engages the work force -- i.e. - choose the tail paint; get rid of executive parking. Having a 'real' world class F product would certainly be a halo if they do want a premium carrier. And with 5-star Service at their key gateways they certainly could significantly UP the ground experience without much incremental cost. In fact they could probably show ROI if offering 5 Star service to F pax increases paid ticket sales. That said, until they ax F on the 777s there are probably too many upgraders floating around the system to make it work effectively.