What are AA like?

[penlanspice]

I can't decided if we should hold out in case Virgin have a sale soon for our November holiday or go ahead and book with AA?

We need to fly into Miami for our cruise but had hoped to fly back from Orlando, at the moment Virgin are £408 with miles plus money!! or we could go with AA and we would have to drive back down to Miami but the flights are cheaper at £349, saving nearly £250 for the 4 of us. Another bonus is we would fly back into Heathrow meaning we could take the car and also save an hour driving time on our return.

We have flown with AA on internal flights so just after a bit of insight as to the international flight.

Thanks
Sam

 

[Pootle]

First a disclaimer: I've used Virgin 3 times in just over a year but I haven't used their economy service for many years (and have no plans to do so ever again). However, I am going to use AA in November myself (economy) because we got a great fare and I'm travelling with a (short) friend for whom leg room is not an issue.

Whenever I've used AA they have been fine. Food sometimes 'iffy' - but love the pizza you get before you touch down in the USA (once did business class with them and was devastated about no pizza!). Cabin crew all ages and sizes generally and pretty helpful in my experience - but then I'm low maintenance. You have to pay for alcoholic drinks; again, not an issue for me.

The legroom isn't what it used to be, and hasn't been for some years. They had to compete with the other carriers and so the "34 inches in economy" had to go alas (they sent me a lengthy personal email when I expressed my disappointment at this change). I think it's 32" now on many routes but you can check that on seat guru for your particular flight.

The biggest benefit of travelling with them for me, is the ability to sit in pairs rather than 3s. Another good point, is by looking at their website, you can see before booking which seats are still available on the flights you are considering.

For the price I've paid, I've always been happy with American (despite missed connections ) and hope I'm still saying that after November.

FWIW though, I dislike Miami airport and am none too keen on Heathrow either, although it's a much shorter drive from where I live.

 

[wayneg]

Used then a couple of times, most recent last Oct MAN-LAS then home from LAX-MAN no problems. They are not the best in the world but not the worst. Agree with Moira the pizza is great, its the only pizza DW will eat. They could probably retail AA pizza and make more money from that than flights.
We were offered upgrade to PE at check in for £100, declined as I sleep like a log in economy.
Would not hessitate using again but there is only BA we have had a bad transatlantic flight with, as long as they get me from A-B I don't care about drinks, pitch, entertainment etc.

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

We had our first flight with AA last October - LHR to Tampa. We were pleasantly surprised how good it was. There is more leg and bum room than VA/BA economy; the cabin crew (whilst more mature) were friendly and very helpful and like above, the pizza was superb, as were the breakfasts (choice of an omelette or pancakes and fruit - both tasted real and nice!).

The only disappointment was the entertainment system which was like the old Virgin films on a loop one, but with less on offer. However, given our last four flights with VA (to San Fransisco and Boston) the entertainment system was practically non-existant, iPods, DS' and books were at the ready.

All in all, we would definitely consider using AA again if the price was as good as last October (a terrific saving -v- BA/VA).