American First Class EWR to ORD

[Kings over Queens]

Anyone have experience with American Airlines cabin options? Looking to fly to Chicago from Newark and what I can best tell their first class option (main cabin, I think) is half the price of United's First Class, and a little over $100 cheaper than United Economy Plus.

American lists beverage service as included. Wondering if its actual "first class" or just wider seats.

 

[RunningBum]

Use seatguru.com to see what the actual planes are and you'll usually find comments on first class service in the user comments. The United one could possibly be one with first class pods rather than just wider seats with a little more leg room.

You also board early, so you're guaranteed to have overhead space. Two free bags checked. Free drinks usually including something while the plane is loading. Sometimes a meal or better snacks than coach. Quicker access to a bathroom.

 

[EastWest Gal]

It depends on the flight. I have flown American Airlines flights, and it will tell you if first class/business class is available on that particular flight. I am flying out of Harrisburg to Kona DFW business/first class in December, so I know that flights of that length have First class. I have a trip also to Vancouver in March, and the return flights are First/Business, with the last leg from Philly to Harrisburg, which has no first class due to it being a regional airline. I've flown first class on American Airlines, and yes, it is first class-comfy seats, 4 seats across total.

When we booked our Hawaii flight, United was insanely expensive and American was about half of insanely expensive. I'm not sure why, but it is definitely first class-free checked bags, priority boarding, roomy seats, and a First/Business class style cabin.

 

[audreyh1]

I use flights.google.com or https://www.google.com/travel/flights to compare options. You have to specify first class if that’s what you are trying to compare across airlines. Google Flights searches across multiple airlines.

 

[Kings over Queens]

Thanks for the tips!

 

[Kings over Queens]

Seat Guru was very helpful. Looks like were giving American a try. What could go wrong?

 

[LateToFIRE]

What I do is use google to determine the various flight/cabin options and then use the type of plane (ex. Boeing 737, Airbus 320) to check out the configuration of the 1st Class/Business Class cabin. Seat Guru is helpful, as Kings noted. I also use ThePointsGuy who often reviews 1st Class offerings.

 

[MichaelB]

Seat Guru was very helpful. Looks like were giving American a try. What could go wrong?

Agree with using seatguru, it gives you seat dimensions specific to the flight and seat you are considering.

As for what could go wrong, plenty. We went from Chicago to New Jersey for a wedding and booked AA “first class”. On the outbound they cancelled the flight an hour before departure due to weather, even though no other carriers cancelled. It was too late to cancel the hotel without penalty,so we were stuck. They then flew us into La Guardia instead, telling us the contract allowed them to impose the alternate route. Once in NY I couldn’t get a rental, so we had to take an Uber to Newark to pick up our reserved rental.

They cancelled the return for the same reasons, weather, even though, once again, other airlines were flying the same route with no problems. It took us 3 days to get a return flight home due to continued rescheduling, all out of pocket to us, and the flight back was back of the plane. They eventually refunded about 1/2 of the difference between coach and 1st.

Dealing with the AA terminal crew was a memorable experience. They clearly do not like their jobs and have no motivation to be helpful or friendly.

Domestic first class with AA doesn’t get you much. A less uncomfortable seat and faster check-in. Certainly no better service in the terminal and, when things mess up, you’re pretty much on your own. All their attention is rescued for high flying status.

 

[braumeister]

they cancelled the flight an hour before departure due to weather, even though no other carriers cancelled.

That's not too uncommon, and it drives people crazy.
What happens, as I'm sure you know, is that the weather problem is in a distant city where your plane is coming in from, and has nothing to do with the weather between your departure airport and destination. If your plane can't get to your departure point because of weather somewhere else, and they can't or don't want to find another plane to substitute, you're hosed and they can wash their hands of the problem.

I have to add that AA is my least favorite airline.

 

[Aerides]

I have been luckier than most using AA as my primary choice for many years. But domestic 1-leg first class is rarely worth it. Unless going something like JFK>LAX. It is nothing like an international upgrade.

But we've all see the seats as we walk by to board. Bigger, (2 instead of 3 across) maybe get a drink or three if that's your thing. Really not worth the usual upcharge of 3x the price of main cabin.

 

[marko]

Maybe 4 or 5 flights of my 4 million miles were on American. Even 40 years ago, I found them to view the passengers as an annoyance and not customer focused at all either in policies or face to face.
( except for that one flight attendant who hit on me way back in the day)

 

[audreyh1]

American and United both fly out of our local airport (McAllen). We flew American a couple of times but have mostly flown United, especially once we started gaining status/perks. Really didn’t like flying through DFW although IAH sometimes has weather problems, but not more than AA and I did deal with a non-weather related flight cancellation on AA once which was kind of a shock. I don’t recall a cancelled flight with United except for the hurricane Harvey aftermath. That was handled well and we got to enjoy two more days in Amsterdam.

I also think the direct Houston to Amsterdam flight helped us stick with United. American started having a direct flight but only through the summer months, otherwise flying through London and I always avoid flying through the UK.

I think folks find certain airlines work best depending on their location. You’ve got to just try things out for a while.

I notice some airports like Austin TX have lots of airlines and huge price competition. I’m always amazed at the low cost of flights and how many direct options there are.

 

[nwsteve]

Agree with using seatguru, it gives you seat dimensions specific to the flight and seat you are considering.

As for what could go wrong, plenty. We went from Chicago to New Jersey for a wedding and booked AA “first class”. On the outbound they cancelled the flight an hour before departure due to weather, even though no other carriers cancelled. It was too late to cancel the hotel without penalty,so we were stuck. They then flew us into La Guardia instead, telling us the contract allowed them to impose the alternate route. Once in NY I couldn’t get a rental, so we had to take an Uber to Newark to pick up our reserved rental.

They cancelled the return for the same reasons, weather, even though, once again, other airlines were flying the same route with no problems. It took us 3 days to get a return flight home due to continued rescheduling, all out of pocket to us, and the flight back was back of the plane. They eventually refunded about 1/2 of the difference between coach and 1st.

Dealing with the AA terminal crew was a memorable experience. They clearly do not like their jobs and have no motivation to be helpful or friendly.

Domestic first class with AA doesn’t get you much. A less uncomfortable seat and faster check-in. Certainly no better service in the terminal and, when things mess up, you’re pretty much on your own. All their attention is rescued for high flying status.

Exactly my experience with American--very last of carriers I will fly and United is just above them

 

[rodi]

I book through AA on other airlines. We flew BA London to San Diego biz on our last trip and this Jan will be flying JAL biz nonstop San Diego to Tokyo.

Agree that straight AA domestic is meh and biz class really is not worth it. Even to South America biz class is equivalent to domestic first.

Trip next month is Delta comfort plus because biz was just to expensive and my sister prefers Delta.

 

[NoiseBoy]

To the OP's question, if you use Google Flights as your initial search tool, it will tell you a little about the seat in the cabin once you expand a particular flight option. This can give you a tip as to whether or not it's a true first/business class seat, or just a seat at the front of the bus on an otherwise commuter flight, which I see that a lot on flights between cities in Europe. Seat Guru is very handy too, although it can put you into analysis paralysis!

Regarding American Airlines, I flew to London in Premium Economy last month on AA and I would describe their PE service level as efficient, but they skip the little things that I like. For instance, there was no welcoming beverage while boarding and no hot towel before they served dinner. The beverage cart came around after they served dinner instead of before, and my wine was served in a plastic cup. We did receive bottles of water, but there weren't any water bottle holders in their PE seats, so you just had to tuck it in somewhere. I did get to check-in using the priority lane (I checked a bag) and I boarded in Group 3.

On the other hand, I saved about $400 flying American/British Air over the price of a more direct route on LOT which has a higher level of service in their PE cabin. On the other, other hand, while killing nearly 5 hours in Heathrow on the way over, I began to think that maybe paying $400 more for the better flight times and service is one place where I can start to BTD