How is American Airlines Transatlantic Service?
 

I'm looking into flying American into LGW and out of CDG. I've not yet flown them transatlantic and was wondering how the seating and service is in economy class.

Statia, hello!! So good to see you again.

The best advice I can offer is bring snacks. We all know airplane food isn't the best but IMO AA is a little worse than the others and portions are very small. Bar drinks are not free and you must pay with a card as cash is no longer accepted. Otherwise it's no better or worse than any other coach flight.

You're not flying into LGW on American. They stopped flying into Gatwick a couple of years ago. You'll be flying into Heathrow.

Most AA flights to LHR are on 777 equipment, depending on where you're flying from. The 777s are more comfortable than the other AA flights on 767s - slightly wider seats and a little more legroom, individual video screens (767s have overhead screens.) Service is generally okay in economy - you'll have to pay for alcohol unlike some other carriers, otherwise the food and in-flight entertainment are average.

They just won an award for outstanding First Class--According to AA, however, there are only 12-15 people up there. Business Class is considered average because most of the seats are flat but slope down, giving one the feeling that they will slide off. Economy Class is quite poor. Seat size is average, but entertainment is poor, with only the 777's having individual screens. As mentioned, booze is extra and flight attendants are a mixed breed, some being quite nice and some being quite rude. Do you collect Frequent Flyer miles? I'd recommend BA in a heartbeat!!!! Video on demand, free booze, and very professional flight attendants.

http://www.fodors.com/community/air-...n-comments.cfm

You may want to check out this link.

www.airlinequality.com/Airlines/AA.htm

ok not great might check with www.seatguru.com

try to snag the best seat aisle exits my fav

most legroom...

prefer www.ba.com or Virgin personally

got 200000 FF miles getting 2 credit cards

with them last year so have taken 2 nice

Transatlantics with them recently.

Good luck getting the best seat aisle exits. Those seats are for their Frequent Flyers. With BA, you can pay extra to get one.

If you are using award tix:

As wally mentions BA would be a much nicer flight, but be prepared to pay a lot more in taxes than you would pay on an AA award ticket. I know this because I've recently checked both using award tix. Also with BA you won't get a non-stop flight from CDG to anywhere but LHR, then you would connect to the transatlantic flight. While BA would be nicer, for your plans I would stick w/AA.

I thought that AA and BA were now charging the same for award tickets?

Some AA trans-Atlantic flights are on 757s, which I'd expect would make an awful experience in economy (single aisle, smaller percentage of aisle seats than any other long-haul plane).

I can't imagine what the standards would have been for AA to have won a "best 1st class" award, unless the only other contestant was United.

Wally, that was not the case for the trip I was researching.

<i>I thought that AA and BA were now charging the same for award tickets?</i>

No, AA is passing through BA's fuel surcharges on BA-metal flights, something that they didn't do before. AA isn't adding additional fuel surcharges to flights on its own metal.

Quite unpleasant - the whole experience is not nice, food is not good, pay for wine/beers etc, crew are old - I mean really old well past retirement age, I can't really say anything nice about the experience, entertainment system is old, its all a very drab experience. Maybe business or first is better, but walking through those cabins, they don't seem to look up to scratch either.

Except for accumulating miles, or using miles, AA is a poor option internationally. Poor in flight entertainment, poor food, older planes and simply little attention to passenger service. I was on an AA 777 the other day and in speaking to one of the stewards we got to discussing their transatlantic service. He was very incensed that AA was now using 757s on some transatlantic flights. Poor experience for all involved, and asked that everyone who thinks likewise email the airline.

I have flown them from BCN-BOS and back and forth from BOS-CDG. They are fine - nothing special but also not terrible and generally have very competitive prices if not the lowest. Lufthansa blows them out of the air, though, as far as equipment, amenities, food & wine, and Air France & Iberia are definitely superior but I would not pay extra for those things since the flights are so short.

I have flow AA from NYC to Tokyo too and it was great. Not as great as DC-Tokyo on ANA (for the same price) but I wouldn't avoid AA for international travel. I would not pay extra for AA though.

Thanks so much for all the info!