andymcdonnell

I've flown transatlantic J quite a bit with AA & BA. While the BA food is generally a bit better than AA (and they're currently improving it), in general I find the AA cabins comfortable, often more so than BA. That said, the A330 isn't the newest kid on the block. Aer Lingus offer a better transatlantic J experience than either, but if you're connecting from Europe it means an economy flight to Dublin

C W

Thanks for reading! I tried to eat it so you don't have to

It was indeed. I came in with low expectations and was still disappointed.

This is the question I wanted answered when I wrote the TR. The answer sadly seems to be yes.

I've been delighted overall with Delta. Sure, they're not as extravagant as the ME3 or polished as many foreign carriers, but I've found their staff to be very kind and competent, the food always readily edible, and excellent elite treatment. I'd also commend Delta for having a better international Y experience than any other airline I've ever flow, including the ME3. They have better food and full-sized bottles of water, the latter of which is extremely important to me.

Crappy it was indeed! Thank you for reading and for the kind words

Thanks for reading!

I'd say your meal looks quite a bit better than mine. At lease goat cheese and beets makes sense. And you got a salad too, which I would have quite liked.

That's a hilarious thread. If I somehow get stuck on AA again I'll play. But seriously, the system is moronic especially if you have to get begging for them with an international F or J ticket.

I'm glad I haven't had the misfortune of trying one

Thanks for reading! Enjoy your trip.

I did think the breakfast was the best part. If was filling, if nothing else. Thanks for reading!

3 September 2017

Whatever he's doing doesn't seem to be working

Eek none of those sound especially appealing. I've never ridden in BA Club World and I don't fancy trying it unless it's literally completely free. I can't imagine how awkward that seat must be, and I further don't want to pay hundreds of dollars to reserve one that sucks a little less.

CHOPCHOP767

The drink ticket system shouldn't be confusing for the GA who checked in the OP; how hard is that? LOL! But then again, attention to detail isn't one of AA's strong suits

Personally, I love the PMUS A330s, but for the same reason I love the PMAA mad dogs. Yes, they're old, but the seats are so comfortable.

But I do agree: nice report! Thanks for sharing!

C W

Thanks very much for reading and the kind words.

Can't say I completely agree on the A330 seats though. I found the privacy terrible, the lounging mediocre, and only the sleeping decent.

flatlander

That "salad" is bad - especially if you don't eat cheese! It has been common on AA for quite some months and it keeps coming back to haunt me - I had it coming back from LAX to LHR a few days ago. Not only is it cheese-covered but if you invert it and try to eat from the bottom up, you discover the pasta is soft and almost tasteless. Some sharp pesto sauce would greatly improve it.
The AA main courses are usually OK (for example, my panko-crusted prawns with steamed vegetables was pretty good) but these slight variations on boring orzo pasta with bad cheese need to go. Who in AA's operations department has position in orzo pasta futures ?
I have no idea why the crew would take your menu; no AA crew has ever taken it from me, I have brought more than 95% of them home with me after travel.
The crew experience to/from CLT is very US Southern; the crews are clearly local to CLT and they're pretty talkative if you want to have a chat. I think they generally do a pretty good service, my experience hasn't been the disorganised service that you had.

C W

Thanks for reading!

I'm not sure what was up with the menu confiscation. It was in the magazine pocket and was snatched as the FA passed without comment. She didn't even stop walking. It peeved me a bit as I collect them as well and wanted to both know what I was eating and to photograph it. I was beaten down enough already from the preceding ordeal that I didn't bother to ask for it back.

I found the CLT crew to be quite kind and personable, just terribly unpolished at actually conducting the service. Maybe just bad luck.

HMPS

Perusing and photographing menus is fine ...but taking it home is a no no ...costs and all that !

Eastbay1K

I'll call your Poor First Experience in AA J and raise you a meal on AM J.

I will win the Poor Experience bet.

Count your blessings

C W

Is this really AA policy?

I've never had a long haul premium flight where I couldn't freely take the menu home. The idea of them not being catered fresh is a little gross, honestly.

I'd love to see pictures!

Honestly, as long as I can eat the food I'm ok, and I'm not a picky eater at all. This was the first premium cabin meal and maybe the third overall that didn't meet that very low bar. Once I can't eat it, the objective measurement of quality becomes largely irrelevant as I'm not getting any food regardless. No fun going to bed hungry in J.

Annalisa12

Agree. I don't think I have ever had warm nuts up the front of the plane.

Thanks for posting.

CurbedEnthusiasm

It's funny to me how airline catering departments seems to get fixated on certain food "trends." Over on AS, we've been laughing for some time at how ubiquitous kale and polenta is on F menus .

C W

Thanks for reading!

I was honestly surprised about the cold nuts, warming them is a signature AA thing. They have been heated on my last few Delta One flights and it really is quite nice.

I'd happily have taken an AS F meal over this one!

Thanks for reading!

CurbedEnthusiasm

Great trip report. I think you definitely had a weaker-than-normal meal service which is unfortunate.

With regards to the service, this is where I think the constant AA vs. BA J comparison misses the mark. Yeah, we all know that BA has a dense J cabin, but I've never had truly bad catering on BA (long haul), and while I've had one or two crews that were less than enthusiastic, I've always had professional and attentive service. On AA, it's just too hit-or-miss, with the many outstanding crews overshadowed by the many lazy and unprofessional crews who don't seem to have a clue or care about how to provide international-standard service in a premium cabin.

It's like two extremes on AA with no middle ground, and having a bad crew spoils my flight far more than not having direct aisle access.

enviroian

This. HP was about as big as he could handle. US drove him cheap, AA drove him cheaper.

enviroian

That chicken dish looks absolutely disgusting. How on earth can you pull that out of the oven and say "wow this looks great!".

The cheese dish is also very sad for a J class. It looks identical to the cheese plate I had lax-dfw last week--down to the cracker brand and cheese types.

What weed does one smoke to think that black olives and pomegranate seeds go together?