Gosh, American Airlines First Class is Bad Compared to Delta – The Grass is Not AAlways Greener on The Other Side!

I recently returned from flying American Airlines business class round trip to Jamaica to revisit the Hilton Rose Hall All Inclusive resort. First and foremost, the reason I flew AA was because they were cheap comparaed to burning award points on Delta (about 90,000+ points less per person). That said, there is a reAAson that AA is so cheap — because, gosh, they are so bad and this “free agency” thing does not mean you will get an amazing experience just booking first class with another airline. Let me share with you my experience.

My wife hates—I mean hates—getting up at “dark-30” to get on a flight. She would rather stay overnight than get up early. Well, for our flights down to Montego Bay, Jamaica, there was a connection via Dallas-Ft. Worth (DFW) that resulted in an afternoon flight, then an overnight flight, and a lunch flight the next day. Perfect! We had a chance to visit Hard Eight BBQ, and we had an IHG card free-night cert about to expire anyway, so we used it for the overnight.

The flight down to DFW with the AA regional partner was interesting. The only pre-departure beverage offered for our 5 PM flight was water. Then, when it came to snacks, the only option was a “breakfast basket,” and the flight attendant was keen to point out, “You just never know what you are going to get or if you are going to get anything.” Swell. At least the service was good, and it was a great start to the trip.

We arrived early in Dallas. But then, due to the overnight, we had to claim our bags. Those bags took over 45 minutes to come out — and there were only 5 checked bags on the entire flight. We asked if there was any way to check our bags for the next day’s flight but were told the system will not allow that (not surprised and really fine with it – just was curious).

Dinner was great, but sadly, the Holiday Inn near Hard Eight has discontinued shuttling guests to and from Hard Eight as it has for years.

We’re on our lunchtime flight down to Jamaica the next day.

After a pleasant breakfast in the Centurion DFW, including a massage, thanks to our The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, we boarded on time. No pre-departure beverage as offered (I am seeing a pAAtern with AA). I wanted a glass of water and a senior flight attendant rolled her eyes at me (a first class passenger) for requesting a cup of water. I know on-time departures are all-important to AA but they had plenty of time  as the flight had nearly 100 seats open so a VERY light flight.

One nice thing AA does is a pre-meal service of hot-ish nuts and drinks before lunch. The flight attendants did their jobs but not much else. Let me illustrate.

We pre-ordered the beef short rib. It was dull and unremarkable and nothing compared to the similar meal that Delta offers. Plus we did not get any bread or was the butter for something else? After lunch, the flight attendants did this:

They, as I have come to expect from AeroMexico flight attendants, pulled the curtain and hid up front for a long time ignoring the first class cabin. After a long wait, I pushed the call button, and the flight attendant was kind enough to service the cabin as we were not the only ones wanting something. Also, while I can not confirm this, it seemed like (due to conversations) that two off-duty AA flight attendants were seated in the front row and spent much of the flight with their feet on the wall – yuck. I can, however, confirm they were liberally provided with a number of beers! Now the return.

This round, my wife and I paid the 2x$5 fee to make sure we could at least get into what still remains one of the saddest Priority Pass lounges in the system. The fast track security was nice but at 1PM on a Thursday there were no lines anywhere to speak of so we could have skipped it. Same goes for getting into the lounge.

While service has picked up, the food offerings have been scaled back and were meh, including a surprise chicken bone in my jerk chicken roll. At least we had a place to sit (upstairs) away from the crowds. Our AA return flight made the ride down look opulent by comparison.

The preflight service for this flight was water or OJ – at least there was something this time, I guess. But then that was that. Once up in the air, the lead flight attendant showed from her phone the meal choices to those who had not pre-ordered and when she came to our row simply barked “pre-order: what do you want to drink?” and was gone. After quite a long wait, meal service began and it was all on one tray:

This crew seemed not to want to be friendly or helpful. The warm nuts were sorta-kinda warm and served at the same time as the meal. We were given a tiny splash of wine and had chosen the chicken burritos this time and they were equally as uninspiring as the short ribs on the way down. When my wife, after finishing her meal, asked for a refill on her wine the flight attendant seemed upset at the request. OK, then…

Our final flight home from Charlotte to South Bend just put the cherry on top of my AA experience. Our lead flight attendant was late arriving and thus delaying boarding and the flight. AA regionals all but force you to gate-check your roll-aboard bag even if they fit (ours do fit and fit on the way down just fine). The rude attendant said, “Our rules do not allow roll-aboard bags.” To that, I answered, “I promise it will fit,” but I was not allowed to even try. Please do keep in mind the flight attendants roll aboard was welcomed onboard as well as a pilot traveling in coach also had his roll aboard welcomed onboard but a premium passenger – no way – not gonna happen! Oh, and the only snacks offered were pretzels for this flight. Sigh…

The one thing that the flight attends did, at boarding, during the flight (for what felt like 15 minutes or more) as well as just before landing was a VERY long speech like the one below:

Bottom line: this free agency thing has saved me a bunch of points flying AA vs. Delta first class but my gosh: what a contrast in just about everything from the attitude of the flight attendants (both mainline and regional) to the quality of the seats and lack of seat back entertainment to the clear difference in food quality truly shows that while AA is much cheaper than Delta in spending rewards points – you do get what you pAAy for. – René