American Airlines

As part of a One World American Airlines codeshare with Malaysia Airlines my family and I traveled on AA from West Palm Beach (B737-800) Chicago (B767-300 winglet) London 2 Jan and was completely satisfied despite the delays due to weather in Chicago. 3.5 hours delay in West Palm Beach and another 2.5 hours delay in Chicago. Both flight were packed. The super friendly hospitality of their Cabin Crew made the journey pleasant. The breakfast prior to landing in London was made up of just one tiny croissant and a small cup of yoghurt. Their aircraft's are old and their IFE very ancient. Do not have a high expectation and you will be fine.

Flew from McCarron (Vegas) to Chicago to Manchester (England). After delays Vegas to Chicago (because of snow) staff at Chicago did everything they possibly could to get us a flight to Manchester. Ended up flying on time due to their professionalism. Worked hard for all passengers. The cases were delivered next day at least we were on time and cases delivered to the house.

FRA to DFW on 1/10/14. Wife and children (well behaved and quiet) coming back home. No special meal request. Cabin crew went past them on two occasions once during the beverage service and once during the meal service without stopping to ask if they wanted something to eat or drink. They were not even sleeping. Worse was when my wife called them back the flight attendants acted all surprised that my wife and children actually wanted to eat or drink anything! Yes on a 11 hour flight. Incredible.

Trip from Hamilton Bermuda - JFK-IND on January 2 2014. Flight arrived at JFK at 10.40 am and supposed to take- off to IND at 3 pm. Without any announcement or explanation flight has been delayed until 8pm when snow storm started then airplane was de-iced after which it returned to the gate and pilots left. Passengers were given alternative flights the next day - we got 2 tickets on Delta and told there are no vouchers for the delay. We booked on our own a hotel in NYC and next day all flights were still grounded. AA kept us on the phone for hours until we called Delta who changed the ticket for us and we flew the next day home.

Flew from Recife Brazil to Miami. This airline continues to live up to their reputation that they have earned for being terrible. The check-in experience was such a demonstration of incompetence and bad manners by the counter staff. Both the ground and cabin staff were not helpful and rude. They seriously need to undergo training in customer service. They were 11 passengers in Business class cabin and they'd already run out of Beef and seafood by the time they asked me for my choice of food. The food was very bad. The seat was old and the entertainment system did work for some passengers. The staff disappeared by the time they take away the food.

ORD-YYZ-LGA-ORD Jan 3-6. Flight out to Toronto was fine. Delayed a bit in Chicago but landed on-time. Flight attendants friendly and love AA's new E-175 jets. Return was on the day the huge freeze hit the Midwest. Morning flight to ORD cancelled and put on 9.15am flight. That was delayed a few times then cancelled. Went back to the ticket counter where the agent put me on the next available flight Tuesday night (36 hours later). I asked to be routed through NYC but she said I had to deal with the ExPlt desk for that. After 2 hours on hold for the ExPlt desk (completely ridiculous but with the storm issues expected) I got a friendly agent who booked me on the 12.55pm to LGA then Tuesday flight to Chicago. YYZ-LGA flight an hour late with only 8 passengers aboard. Great flight attendants - lots of humor. Landed in LGA and went to AA desk to see if there was any flight leaving for ORD that night. Only one was scheduled (6 cancelled) and she got me a seat in coach - was very happy. At the boarding gate got my upgrade by an excellent gate agent who had a fun attitude in dealing with all the craziness at the gate. Good flight to ORD - had a nice squash gnocchi and salad. Cookies offered also. Landed 15 min ahead of schedule as there were no planes landing at ORD. It was a bad weather period but I think AA did a good job.

Flew Business Class from Santiago Chile to Dallas/Ft Worth on a 777. I fly First and Business Class on airlines around the world and I don't have a problem at all with these Biz Class seats and amenities. Even though the seats are angled and not lie-flat I slept like a baby and found the different positions very comfortable. The IFE selection is minimal and not competitive with other airlines but it was decent for the 9.5 hr flight - besides meal time and sleeping took up a big chunk of the flight anyway. Dinner was good with the traditional AA sundae served at the end. This was an 11.10pm departure on an overnight flight so the meal time is odd but I was glad they offered full options. The crew were fine - your average run-of-the-mill crew who have been flying for 40+ years. They don't make any effort to make the Biz Class experience special. AA service levels are average at best and can't come close to what is offered with the international airlines. The Admirals Club in Santiago was crowded and food selection poor. Not recommended.

PAN-MIA-LHR. This flight was delayed and delayed with no information forthcoming. We were eventually informed that it was due to a late incoming flight. The delay was so long that we were eventually told that the flight had to be cancelled because the crew were out of time and they did not have a replacement crew available. We were then told that we would be taken to a hotel room for the night and rescheduled for the next day. The staff did not follow this up with any action and eventually we found out why. They had miraculously found a replacement crew so the flight was back on. Even then we were given the option of flying or staying in a hotel. By now the flight was 6 hours late. We were promised by AA staff that when we got to Miami our onward flights would be rebooked and that there would be buses to take us to a Miami hotel for the night with transfers back to the airport. The flight to Miami was appalling no hot food surly crew. I was given two bags of nuts as a "comp." When we finally arrived at Miami the ground staff were useless one particular individual putting on the best display of passive aggression towards customers that I have ever seen. We were left to fend for ourselves. I got a taxi to a motel and paid my own way. Luckily the hotel had a free airport shuttle the next day.

I was at the priority check-in line for flight 169 LAS to NRT scheduled departure 9.15am. I arrived 2 hours early I thought the priority line should be fast however I waited for 1 hour and was still waiting. From early morning there was only one 1st class counter opened the 2nd one was opened at 8.15am. The line was very long slow and chaotic. One agent tried to organize it so that the passengers waiting would not obstruct the walkway she had to repeat the same message again and again to every passenger that joined the queue. What a waste of man power and inefficiency.

CDG to JFK. Flight bought at the last minute at a very reasonable price. Of course you get what you pay for. The plane (B767) looks good from the outside (new painting). Inside it's so old that I can't even remember the last time I've been in such an outdated plane. The overhead compartments were so small that even my bag pack could not fit in. No need to talk about inflight entertainment as there's barely any. It's just a few central screens with two movies played. The funniest is that business class seats apparently don't have inflight entertainment either as before we landed the crew mentioned that they would be collecting portable devices in business class. The seat was of course quite worn out and not that comfortable. At least the food was not that bad. I expected much worse after boarding the plane. Maybe it's because it was made in CDG but the pasta I ordered were tasty (even though the portion could have been bigger). What struck me was how non existent the flight attendants were during the flight. They showed up to bring the main meal and the snack before arrival in JFK and that's about it. AA had reserved the last three seats of the plane for them. Two of the FA's spent the flight on those seats while the third one remained hidden behind the curtain in the galley. You didn't feel welcome to ask for refreshments during the flight. Anyway all in all American clearly offers a substandard product. The worst product I've seen I think is that of US Airways. I can't imagine what the merger of the two will produce.