AA Business Class seats from DFW to CDG and back to ORD - quality?
 

Purchased tickets for a March/April trip to Paris. Factors included a significant sale, and that the information I searched for revealed the largest complaint was that the seats were angle lie flat seats. Now found additional reviews that make them seem as though they are ancient logs in which I'm expected to sleep.

Has anyone flown either of these legs in the last year or so? The airplanes are 767-300's.

I flew the 767-300 in Business to South America recently and had a lie flat seat, which was pretty comfortable in all positions. I thought service and food were of good quality as well.

The AA763s are being converted from 2-2-2 with 165 degree flat seats (great for those of us with post nasal drip sleep apnea) to 1-2-1 configuration with very comfortable fully flat seats and good inflight entertainment. Even though the majority of the 763s have been converted, it is impossible to predict which aircraft you will be in. (Chances of getting a new configuration are better on the highly competitive CDG-ORD leg.) To be certain of an aisle seat, regardless of configuration, get a seat in the center two rows. As you appear to have your booking already, you can do that on the web site by accessing your record locator.

I flew one of the converted 767's from MIA-CDG, it was okay but I don't think the older ones are that bad. Plus for the new is the all aisle access as mentioned above, but I did find the seats a little narrower than before and the cushioning seemed a little thinner. Although on the older version the seats don't go completely flat, they do go close enough (for me).

One thing for both versions is that they give you a tablet to watch your movies, it's not set in the seat (although you can place it there). It's a little annoying with the cables but better than coach where they still have the screens in the aisle ceilings (both old and new).

They have been slowing converting the planes one by one, I would think by March/April yours should be done. Just keep checking the seat plan and can also check here for good updates http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...2014-a-53.html

Regardless of the seats, I find that riding business class in the 767s is very enjoyable from a service point of view. Unlike the 777s which have a first class cabin, you're the top class in the 767s, and the level of service approaches first class on the bigger planes - more attentive, etc. I suspect it's because the ratio of crew to pax is more favorable, but it's also more intimate and people seem more accessible.

A valid point is that with most airlines, you never know what specific plane you will get until departure. Airlines change planes because of maintenance or a fault of some kind, all the time. Also as pointed out, converting their fleet doesn't happen overnight so you may get an older configuration or a newer one.

So you will get what you get and since you can do nothing about that, it kind of makes your question pointless.

Gardyloo, I can remember the days when flight attendants spoke to you by name in first and business class since they only had to serve a small number of passengers per flight attendant. They knew from the passenger manifest that Mister Brown was in 2A and addressed him as such.

>>Gardyloo, I can remember the days when flight attendants spoke to you by name in first and business class since they only had to serve a small number of passengers per flight attendant. They knew from the passenger manifest that Mister Brown was in 2A and addressed him as such.<<

When I fly business the attendants/purser always address/greet the passengers by name.

Yes janisj, I'm sure they look at your ticket and greet you by name when you board the plane. Whoopeedo.

Not quite what I was talking about though.

True, with most airlines you don't know what specific plane you will have until departure. However, there are some airlines which will give you a flat-bed seat in long-haul Business irregardless of the specific plane assigned to your flight. British Airways is one of them. No angled lie-flat long-haul Business seats in their fleet.

Say what you will about BA, and people have plenty to say about their forward-facing/rear-facing seating plan, the need to step over your neighbor's feet to access the aisle if your neighbor is in the full-flat-recline position - none of which bother me in the least, by the way - the plain fact of the matter is that if I spring for the cost of Business on a 10-12-14-hour overnight flight, I want to be sure that I lie flat and sleep! That's what is important to me, and that's why I fly long-haul Business on BA, CX, Emirates, etc.

And I agree with Janis. I too remember when FAs greeted me and addressed me by name in First and Business - and they still do when I fly European and Asian airlines. Not just when I board, but also when they come by to bring me a newspaper, ask for my drink and meal orders, ask if I'm ready to have my bed made up, bid me goodbye as I deplane, etc.

It all comes down to the particular airline, the standards they have, and how they train their staff. In my experience, Delta is one of the few American legacy airlines that measures up to the best of the airlines in the rest of the world. The others can be very good or they can be very bad on a flight by flight basis, and you never know which you're going to get.

"It all comes down to the particular airline, the standards they have, and how they train their staff."

I agree julia1 and unfortunately, many airlines no longer have the standards they all once did.