Astronomer

A change in schedule had me flying AA91 (LHR-ORD) last Thursday in First (SWU'd from Business). Wasn't really expecting much in terms of service having traveled in AA First numerous times before. However, I was looking forward to having a flat bed and aisle access. At the very least, it would be a rather comfortable space to read a book after what had been quite a draining few weeks at work.

The airport experience at LHR T3 was nothing to write home about. It's an old terminal, probably overdue for a bit of TLC. The Flagship Lounge, while decent, isn't by any stretch of imagination among the better ones in the world. The rent-a-cop outside the gate, apart from asking for the purpose of my visit to ORD, also wanted to know what hobbies I had (...?!?!). To which my response was, "none at all, I am a very boring person and all I do is work."

During boarding, "Key Concierge" was called followed by First class.

Turning left on boarding is always a special feeling, no matter the airline. The First seats were showing their age on this 772. I went and took my seat, always a window seat. So far, everything had been as expected, but then, things started to change...

The FA (let's call her S) who would be taking care of our side of the F cabin came and introduced herself. She brought me a glass of champagne, the amenity kit and pyjamas. Definitely hadn't received PJs on board AA before. This was a welcome improvement even on a daylight flight. She then saw me sitting with a guidebook on Italy and proceeded to ask me if I was traveling there in the near future. She then talked to me about her visit to Italy the previous year. Throughout the flight I saw her having engaging conversations with all the passengers (those who weren't asleep at least). My wine glass wasn't allowed to be empty for a single minute. She'd just know when my glass was close to empty and she'd bring a refill.

The meal service was perfectly timed - neither rushed nor too slow. I don't think I sat with an empty plate on my table for more than a minute. And the food tasted amazing. Probably amongst the best airline food I've had in recent times. Of course, I usually choose the chicken on planes and never choose beef. Nevertheless it was great.

After the meal service, she kept walking the cabin and topping up people's glasses, bringing snacks from the snack bar. I had a number of conversations with her about travel, her work etc. etc. She definitely seemed to love her job. I don't think I saw her rest once during the whole 7 hr 30 min segment.

Was this really AA? I haven't seen service like this in CX F or QF F.

This was definitely one of my top three flights of all time. It is true that while hard product is important, it really is the service from the crew that makes or breaks the experience. In spite of being on a rather old 772 with a fairly tired hard product, I had one of the best flights ever.

Thank you AA for an awesome experience and thank you S for one of my best flights ever!

WRCSolberg

There's always a few bad apples in the bunch, but for the most part, I've had great cabin crews in the premium classes.

hiima

I've always had crews that did at least the bare minimum, some were absolutely exceptional. I had CDG-ORD flight in the a new 767 and the FA introduced herself and taught everyone how to use the new J trays. She was absolutely on point, minutes after take off, I gave her a above and beyond coupon thingy, just knew she would be excellent already.

Astronomer

This is generally true and the range I've experienced is typically from the indifferent (bare minimum) to very good.

However, this particular group was truly exceptional. Truly world class.

sombrachinesca

I have generally had pretty good luck with crews in/out of Chicago as compared to some of the other intl gateways.

fly747first

They are generally much better than the JFK and MIA-based crews.

brewdog11

Most int'l crews are at least decent. Can't say I've had a terrible one in a while, except for the hostile DFW-based crew I had on AA137 DFW-HKG at the beginning of the year. NYC-based crews are the most inconsistent, in my opinion.

It's too bad that BOS-based crews don't do much int'l anymore. They are some of the best IMHO. Always receive outstanding service from them on BOS-DFW runs.

matrixwalker2012

As much as I've flown now, my idea of great service, at least from an AA crew is to simply park food where I can find it, and basically let me be in my own bubble for the flight. Yeah, I still enjoy the social interactions, but I prefer to be left alone, just less stress for me...

The less they fuss over me, the more they can fuss over other pax, so win win


Now, a Cathay pacific crew, I wouldn't mind chatting them up

Microwave

Thanks so much for sharing your experience!

I'm going to go ahead and shift this over to the Trip Report forum.

~Microwave
AAdvantage forum co-moderator

supermintyfresh

Glad to hear about your positive experience on AA. Just came back from a LAX JFK transcon in J that also had great, attentive service from a truly enthusiastic crew. Wish flights like these were the norm and not the exceptions.

Why's that? Is it because you view Asian women as more exotic?

Not to sound condescending or to bring a pitchfork to the table -- genuinely curious about your views on AA vs CX crews.

matrixwalker2012

It's just a consistency thing for me. For AA, the crew moods vary so widely from flight to flight that I'd rather not bother with trying to scope out if the crew is going to be friendly or not. I find the CX crews to be overall more consistent in their demeanor, so it's easier to talk to them.

btw, I'm Asian myself, so I don't think the exotic things applies here.

Madone59

Service sounds amazing, thanks for sharing ^^

TPJ

I recently had amazing F/A's on B77W JFK-LHR (in C, eVIP didn't clear - they said they are EWR based) and absolutely terrible F/A's on B772 (also in C).

DoctorORD

Great trip report, but... can you talk more about this? I am really concerned that a non-immigration official can ask about the purpose of your trip. Who was this? Someone working for AA? Is this allowed?

TheTakeOffRush

A security hireling may ask. If you feel uncomfortable answering, you certainly may say so. From other threads about this on FT, you may or may not get any blowback. Apparently, being normally indignant is one reason they may move on to the next mini-interrogation.