weasel

I havent flown much with AA as our corporate policy was to use VS for transatlantic travel; but recently this changed. So there I was at LHR, with no F/F status on AA, so I had to queue up to check in with everybody else in Y. Queues moved quickly so this was not a problem. Our corporate deal does give us access to Admiral's club, even without any F/F status, so the wait was pleasant enough although I was disappointed with the range of snacks available (maybe I've been spoilt by VS). Boarding was on time and I took my alloted seat (30F) - row 30 is a good row to have on a 777 as it is an exit row and so has loads of legroom. I had been sat for a few minutes when a flight attendant asked to see my boarding card and then gave me a new one for seat 12G. This is great; I have no status with AA and get an upgrade, and all these years with VS, I managed it once with (and I'm VS Gold), but who am I to complain?. Take-off was uneventful and I was pleased to discover that the drinks service on AA was as attentive as on VS upper class. I had only to half-drain my wine glass and there was somebody to re-fill it. The meal choice was chicken, salmon, filet mignon or vegetarian. I chose the beef to go with the rather excellent Burgundy I was quaffing. The flight itself was quite without notable incident and we were on-time on the ground in JFK. The only thing to spoil an otherwise A+ flight was the 45 minute wait for the luggage - c'est la vie.

I have yet to experience Y class so was rather spoilt by my unexpected upgrade. I suppose I'll be in Y for the red-eye on Thursday.

All in all a jolly good experience, but I have two small quibbles:
- The seats in C seem to be reclined too far back for my taste, even when fully upright
- In flight entertainment could have had more variety
neither of these spoiled my enjoyment of the flight and I am almost looking forward to the return trip in Y - where I have again got a seat on row 30. I have had the hotel laundry wash the clothes I was wearing o Sunday - maybe they are my "lucky upgrade" clothes

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Chris Elvin

[This message has been edited by weasel (edited 08-27-2002).]

[This message has been edited by weasel (edited 08-27-2002).]

SK

Interesting report.
I am in a reverse position, i.e. flying mostly AA, but had a VS trip recently. These were my observations, on Y, from a relevant posting on the VS board.

jongar

Hey Weasel,

You realise that I left the company entirely because og the change dont you - all that crap about working NYC hours in Manchester was just a cover story. How much are AA charging for the routedeal ticket - is it a lot cheaper than the VS deal ??

Jon

777Brit

That's too funny! Most people complain that they don't go back far enough!
Glad you enjoyed AA J. Welcome to American.....

Y is a decent product too, much nicer than VS Y, primarily because you fly on a nice 777 and secondly because you get 34-36" legroom in Economy, over the measly 31" that VS give you.

jongar

VS has an economy section - heck us gold card holders get upgraded to often - thats the bit at the back on the plane, no ??

weasel

Ha Ha - I only ever got upgraded Once on VS!!! - route deal with AA is about 35% cheaper than VS


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Chris Elvin