JMN57

I am AA Plat and 0 on US - homes in NYC where AA is great and PHL where it's OK but there are places you just can't get to. I've been staying on AA to cross 1MM mark and just did so now I am open to switching and thinking of buying up to Chairman's. Couple of questions:

1) How reliably do upgrades occur on US? Always, often, toss up, rarely or never?

2) How good is the first class domestic product? AA's isn't great but I am used to it and it's probably pretty representative of what the domestic product is these days? How does US stack up?

3) Upgrade certs to EUR - hard or easy to do for both high and low seasons?

4) How good is the biz class product?

Thanks in advance for your input.

javacodeguy

There are threads where you can get more varied info about these.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/us-ai...onal-jets.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/us-ai...er-thread.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/us-ai...er-thread.html

Here's what I think though.

1) Often, but of course depends on routes. Some I can guarantee I'll get the upgrade. (PHL-MCI) Some I can pretty much guarantee I won't. (PHL-PHX)

2) It's gotten a lot better. Service is good maybe 50% of the time, decent 45% of the time and bad 5%. The hard product itself depends on the plane. Express First is a pretty nice product and first on the newer 321s is pretty nice as well. Probably around the same as most domestic first products.

3) I've never had problems with using my CP certs. It requires persistence up until a few days before the flight possibly, but you should be able to get it. This is definitely an area US can work on. It's really annoying, but not impossible.

4) Envoy again depends on the plane. Service is usually decent and can be very good if the FAs are good. The new suites are an excellent business product. The food is pretty good and talking to a higher up on an Envoy flight last week it sounds like that's the next thing they plan on improving more.

PHL

I think the AA domestic F product is a bit better than US.

Since you are well familiar with AA, I'll tell you what US has/doesn't have in comparison in first class:

1.) wifi only on the A321 fleet
2.) no power ports in any seats except 757, 767 and 330 aircraft that fly the longer/intl. routes. There are some 757 flights out of PHL to the islands and CLT, but no transcons or other domestic markets.
3.) notably tighter seat pitch on single aisle family (737, A319/320/321)
4.) Fewer seats in F than AA for a similar aircraft (12 seats 737, 319, 320 and 16 seats in 321)
5.) no overhead/in flight entertainment except Europe/Hawaii/Rio flights
6.) meal service is about on par. No ice cream sundae though.

As a CP you would probably have a good upgrade success, but of course that depends on your routes.

Biggie Fries

The recent "hidden secret" is that the extension of FC to regional jets (E170s and E175s, CR9s), especially within the Republic (US) system, has led to an enormously improved (service, seat pitch) and available (frequent upgrades from lots of places out of PHL, for example) product for elites.

JMN57

Hey - thanks both for the quick replies.

Good point on the wifi - I have a gogo subscription and AA is reasonably good on availability. 738 are getting better, MD's not bad - transcon 767 are a real dilemma - 200's have wifi but product is nicer on 300's but no wifi.

I have a light 18000 mah battery and my laptop is pretty energy efficient so the power/entertainment problems won't be an issue - occasionally have slingboxed stuff when nobody is using the bandwidth and something riveting on.

AA seat pitch isn't great but I can usually get an exit row - am assuming CP would get me that reliably.

Again, thanks again for the quick reply and also the quality of the info - appreciated.

JMN57

Thanks for that info (I posted and then saw your reply). The AA CRJ700 FC product is a nice add - been flying that a lot through ORD. Good to see that US is doing this as well. With FC, the RJs are not too much of a compromise.

ronniefastback

With CP Status, you'll get the upgrade more than not. The Envoy product is great, speaking of the new suites that is. Avoid the 767 on long haul flights. The new suites are the best I've flown, food is very good IMO. I'm not a fan of AA and the MD80's.... just a personal thing.

I assume MM on AA gives you lifetime status. Why not get status on another airline (Star Alliance) and then you are really covered for just about anywhere you want to go.

JMN57

Yes - MM on AA gives lifetime gold (Plat kicks in @ 2MM). I don't think at this point in my life I'll do another MM on AA (because of different places I've lived/worked, my miles have been split between UA/DL/AA/CO/EA/TW...)

If I was strategic, I would focus on DL (LT ~700k) or UA (LT ~650k) but I don't care that much. Right now, I just want to be able to fly my 80k per year and be in FC as much as possible without paying through the nose for the privilege. It's a pain to be buying upgrades all the time on AA so I'd rather just sink the cash into the CP buy up - my company will pay for it.

ronniefastback

I think US is definitely your best choice to get the freebie.

JMN57

Worth a try for one year. I already have 20k EQM on AA in January so I can always roll back and nail PL on AA if I don't like the experience. If it's good, CP buy up will be a lot cheaper next year.