He usually can't simply because he's so recognized that he won't get regular service even if he's paying for his own flight. Every flight attendant on a major carrier is told "if you see this guy on your flight make sure he gets extra special service, we don't want a bad review". This was probably one of the rare instances where the crew didn't recognize him. That's why Sam has mostly shifted more towards showcasing special flights rather than just flight reviews.
@@WRic86 LMAO, yeah. He also paid $80 for a business class seat and used up a load of air miles and expected to still be in business when his flight got cancelled. He has never heard of ticket codes given to passengers bookings, they vary and if paying $80 and using up air miles, then don't expect to be treated like someone who paid $4000 for their ticket, different code.
Hi Sam! Long time viewer here and a retired AA Captain. When I came with AA in 1985 things were very different. I flew our service from DFW through HNL to SYD on the DC-10 years ago. Our First Class passengers enjoyed Champagne and caviar and in the morning fresh eggs cooked to order on a hotplate in the galley. Sadly when I retired in 2020, the service had declined to an embarassing level. I flew the B-777 from DFW to HKG in my final years and the service you describe on your LHR-DFW trip was not much differenct than we provided at the end of my career. It's true that AA depends on its frequent flying program and its large network as you disucssed. Look forward to more of your videos and wish you all the best in your travels.
I honestly miss that HKG straight to Dfw , they don’t have it any more 😢 do you know why they never started it again . I know it stopped when covid happend. But always wondered why it never came back
@@brciii6287 Like most decisions in the airline business, they are driven my yield. Yield is the amount of money made per passenger mile and if it is fractionally better on one flight over another…decision made.
Interrrresting. To a man I never ever ever heard anything but AA had the worst service ever, and I'm going back to the seventies. Hey, I could be wrong. But let's put it this way: If I don't have YOUR phone number prior to departure and am unsure whether I'm going to be coddled, made up perfumed and pretty, I'm staying home. I have for years. I . Just. Can't. Deal. With . The. Nonsense. And I'm not saying your were not top notch 'cause ya probably were. I DID go from PDX to LAX in the now defunct Virgin America 1st class and I got the hand cooked breakfast and fully reclining seats WITH footrest. I landed with MORE energy than that which which I departed. 160 buckaroos round trip. Gimme some mo', please!!!
@@silasmarner7586well, I’m glad you breakfast was hand-made on Virgin, and robotic Automation hasn’t crept in yet , like it’s starting to make inroads at Mc Donald’s now….
I believe you sam..there is really huge difference if I am to compare this airline with SQ, KE, CX, EK, EY AND QR..their business class meal is just an economy for major mid east airline.
The Lowkey sad thing is that for Americans who never travel overseas or only do it once or twice as leisure, they'll never understand how good the asian/Arab airlines have been for decades.
All American companies lack lack lack and getting worse! Why fly??? Got time? Take a train which can be ‘delayed’ hours and days never on schedule!!! Greyhound bus is decrepit gross and derelicts mental cases old folks and unknowing use-it’s a NIGHTMARE!!! No more customer service of quality sadly 🥲
Look at price difference from bc to ec shows your making a clueless/baseless point.
Месяц назад+4
@@robwyyi Aaaagh, have a drink and SIT DOWN, Robbie. Here, come sit next to me. Maybe we'll have a few laughs! ...and put that account book & calculator away. We're here, to have a good time, not wear ourselves out with facts & figures. 😅🤣😂This flight is soon to land, and I want to be in the right frame of mind when we do.
Your American Airlines experience was my United Airlines experience just last year. After they cancelled the first leg of our flight to Vietnam from EWR, we had to drive to the second leg after they told us to do so. We arrived and they had already given away our seats to other folks whose flights were also canceled and we spent 4 hours trying to get rebooked, which we lost 3 days of vacation because of it. The kicker is this, after an hour, the desk attendant found us seats in business class which he was ready to give us free of charge, but was overridden by a supervisor who didn’t think upgrading customers whose flights were canceled by the airlines is warranted. So, we watched the flight leave with empty seats in business class. The supervisor just didn’t care. Long story short, my family and I will pay whatever higher costs there are to avoid UAL (and all U.S. carriers) when traveling to Asia.
Continental was a superior airline in all around service, domestically and international. They merged with United and at that time United already had less than stellar customer service. When United took control of Continental they lowered the standard of service Continental always provided its customers. All airlines today are just Greyhound buses with wings.
Bottom Line: If you want to have a better probability of enjoying your vacation or travel, fly one of the Asian airlines. Flown International Business for 30+years, American Flight 169 1:13am LAX-HND Seat 1A was the worst flight service I have ever experienced. Red Head flight attendant was swearing in the galley with the crew and loud talking the entire flight, ear plugs did not help. She would just walk to me and stare, and hold something out (roll, napkin etc) not talk or smile. The crew accused me of taking the headphones at end of flight, told the gentlemen to look in my seat, which he did, as I said there wasn't a headphone in the seat to begin with. 15 minutes later he apologized as they found the missing headset somewhere on the plane. Absolutely the worst airline, crew, food, sleep, stress I have had on plane. I am a loyalty member with 2million miles and I have yet to cash my miles since I don't want to fly with American.
I have been flying AA for the majority of my career and I can clearly vouch for the massive decline in customer service throughout AA’s culture. It has grown so anti-customer that my wife and I will never fly them again now that we have retired.
When we flew with AA this past summer and had issues with baggage counter personel, I had the distinct impression that I was interacting with a third-world beauracracy instead of an American corporation. This was in Orlando. They had four people sitting there doing nothing, while the only one who could string a sentence together politely lied to us about where our luggage my be, causing us to wait around for hours for no good reason. It felt like an interaction with a state employee in the Middle East, or in Latin America, or or in the Indian Subcontinent, but not America. Maybe they should change the name.
I am big on Sam Chui and his being an aerophile. I do not know what the penalties are for international service but they are huge here in the States (up to 4x the cost of the original fare plus food and lodging). I refuse to fly American not only because of anecdotal reports but because I had their credit card at one point only to have them cut me off with no fanfare over a simple mistake on my part. I have no respect for American Airlines whatsoever.
I flew from Texas DFW to Florida, paid extra for Premium economy, window seat, flight delayed for hours, sent me to another terminal about 15 min. away, when I got there, the rescheduled back to the terminal I just came from. I have to rush, only 15 min. to make it; finally got on another flight, downgraded to economy, middle seat, accepted it because I just wanted to get home. Total nightmare. Now to AA credit, I complained, sent out a couple of emails, I was given 23k miles. I gave you the shortest version but trust me when I tell you it was a pure nightmare.
Did you file a complaint or a refund request ? next time file one and never take the first offer typically I ask for 500 and always get at least 300-350 flight credit
He has been doing it before, but not on spot like that fraud wannabe Aussie with a fake accent. On the spot, he mentions the areas of improvement. But detailed feedback is done separately.
I’m a retire airline employee from the mid 60’s. Travel was very different and catered to the passengers exclusively and a bit over the top. I believe the downfall of all of the local carriers, AA, UA, Delta, etc was when frequent flyers were allowed to demand and disrespect the airline and their crews. People who didn’t have the means for airfare were now taking advantage of extreme credit card spending just to fly. Unfortunately their lack of appreciation for this privilege was rudeness and irresponsible behavior. I’m old so I can finally say what I have been feeling about this since the 90’s…LOL!😂😂
I also wonder how much employees are paid. That could have something to do with it, in addition to promoting middle management types according to quotas.
I started flying with American in 1973, but of course that was an entirely different era. In the last 15 years, I’ve avoided American at all costs because every single flight - EVERY FLIGHT - had a problem. It ranged from lost luggage to the FAs unable to open the stuck exit door to missed connections to an abandoned landing because they sent an aircraft with defective brakes to land at an airport where it was snowing. When we returned back to our departure airport, PHL, no staff offered any suggestions on how to rebook. Passengers were actually crying. The first officer finally helped us rebook. On one flight, I carried a tiny corp logo pouch around my neck from a seminar - the gate agent acted as if I had a bomb. She screamed, “stuff that pouch in your carryon,” so I did. I cut my hand in the process, and I take blood thinners. I needed a roll of paper towels to stop the bleeding, and they said we can’t board you because you’re bleeding. I hollered back, “YOU CAUSED IT!” When they merged with USAir, my son said, “Two s__t airlines now become one s__t airline.”
@@wotan10950 that's what happened to me but no one came to rebook us. They literally said sorry flights are booked to Burlington all today and tomorrow and I don't think anything is available the day after that either.. I was like, how can you just sit there and tell me your not gonna get me home. And then they refused to let me take a flight into a state I didn't have residency in. Despite being so close to home in NY it I got into new Jersey the only flight available. But they said they don't allow passengers to fly to a state different from the one they are scheduled to arrive at. Now I saw at least 5 people (their were 200 of us stranded) got flights into NY, NJ, and Burlington Vermont. I was supposed to be dropped in Vermont by the plane and only 2 hour drive for my momma. Instead they said I'm not getting home on a plain. Or a rental car, I wasn't given hotel voucher transportation voucher or food voucher like the 70 people that were in front of me. And when I said that they stranded me here they should also provide me a room since my home was nowhere close. I overheard a seat on flight to Jersey which would have brought me a few hours from NY. Rather than trapped down in Atlanta
American Airlines lost my luggage in Charlotte, New York JFK, in the middle of the damn winter, Tampa, Santa Ana, and Ontario, on top of being at least 30 to 45 minutes late every single time, i’ve had three rude flight attendants back to back, and gate changes in terminal changes every single time. they’ve left me stranded in Charlotte. I’ve always had to rebook with Southwest and Delta without a single refund from them. American also did not treat me well when I tried to fly them after surgery, and I ended up rebooking on Southwest because I had had enough.
I'm Retired now, but I traveled a lot with my job, i found that I tried to use foreign airlines instead of US carriers, got much better service with them, I didn't travel like you do, and my company paid my fare, so i didn't get the top tier service you get with all the travel points, I traveled in economy and business class and all airlines offered free food and beverage service including alcoholic drinks as well. But it seemed the foreign carriers had better quality compared to their American counter parts as far as food and presentation, and the attendants were friendlier. I realize that everyone seems short staffed nowadays .
Delays and cancellations are not airlines fault. They can be caused by many factors (like the weather, the traffic, late passengers, technical issues, microsoft outage…). Please stop blaming airlines for that.
on the other hand they are very flexible with rebooking... AA rebooked my LHR-MIA flight to fly on Qatar Airways via Doha and LAX, so it made up for the cancellation haha
AA just did this to a famous rapper named Juvenile. Him and his wife were up in VIP. They came to him and said he was downgraded to couch but his wife was not. He simply got off the plane. They even do it to celebrities
I will never fly with American Airlines ever again. I flew from London to Dallas, and what was supposed to go to final destination Albuquerque. In Dallas the flight was delayed and finally cancelled to Albuquerque. The AA staff told us that we were now stand-by ticket holders and that we might be lucky and be able to leave the next day, they day after that or some other day that week. We were on vacation from Sweden so we could not be hanging out in the Airport for days so we Asked to get our luggage and we would rent a car and drive to Albuquerque our selves. The staff said that we should not leave the air port, and btw all rental cars and hotel rooms were all taken any way. The luggage was not given to us either, since that was impossible since that had made on to the flight that we were supposed to be on, but was cancelled. We were told that we would get rwimbursed for the Dallas - Albuquerque leg since AA was not able to fly us as we paid them to do. On the way out we heard the AA staff providing a few blankets to some lucky recepients, and the AA staff went around in a golf cart throwing blankets. They said to each other "this is the bets part of this job, to see these stranded people fighting over blankets like animals", cheering each other on... We left the Airport and raced in a rental car to Albuquerque, some 629 miles (sleeping a few hours in a Motel on the way) to make it to ABQ before our luggage got confiscated (see our luggage was able to make it from DFW to ABQ) and our rental car in ABQ was going to be cancelled (24 HR late). We finally got our luggage and the correct rental car, some 24 hrs late but at least we didnt spend the vacation on DFW. Needless to say this ordeal cost us quite a bit of money, stress and anxeity. We went on our road trip and had a great time the rest of the vacation (after catching up on sleep and schedule a few days) thinking we would be greatly reimbursed and helped retroactivley by American Airlines. I sent a complaint to AA and they didnt even get back to me. I sent again and again. No help, nor reimbursment. I finally sent to the president of AA, a bunch of board members and to the BBB in the US to try to get some help, but I never got a dime, or even an apology for all that AA cause and the way the acted and handled the situation. That is why I never will fly with American Airlines again. As a comparison. Last year we were late five hours with BA from SFO to LHR and we got reimbursed almost the whole cost of the tickets....
@@roamaroundgisg7362 Actually, I think UA and AA are in a race to the bottom. Either one can honestly claim that prize on any given day. If you want a reliable airline whose airplane won't fall apart mid-flight, then fly Delta. Sure, Delta has cut many corners, too, but at least their service is reliable and the personnel are both friendly and helpful.
When they said they were getting rid of first class I knew that they threw out their standards. Such a shame that most American carriers have thrown their standards out of window.
With is a bummer as the US sure has had some good airlines. I used to fly NWa transatlantic and they where always so friendly to fly with. Like they really did there best to make you feel welcome. Even Delta when they took over NWa for a time was still fine. Now if I would fly the route (Amsterdam to Portland Org) I fly Icelandic. the flight is nice plus the stop over at Iceland is at the best point as it's at the point that it's nice to have the ability to just walk around a bit.
Sam, The FAA prohibits the use of glass containers before takeoff primarily for safety reasons. Once the plane reaches cruising altitude, glass containers may be allowed, depending on the airline's policy.
Sam, you missed one important fact on that 777 AA flight, the economy cabin has 3-4-3 seat configuration. AA reconfigured all their 777 economy cabins from 2-5-2 to 3-4-3 about 10 years ago. They had to squeeze in one more seat per row to make more profit over passenger comfort and safety. I am a frequent AA flier having over million miles with AA. I have travelled a lot in the past 25 years and have flown many airlines in the world. AA and United are the only airlines having 3-4-3 777 economy seat configuration while rest of the airlines I have flown have 3-3-3. I try to avoid AA as much as possible but it is difficult to avoid AA as DFW area residence. If AA truly care about passenger safety as they claim in cabin announcement, they should not try so hard to squeeze as many passengers as possible.
Virtually all 777s are now 10-abreast in Y class. If not mistaken only JAL and ANA still have some 9-abreast 777s. Just like the 747s in the early years that were 9-abreast an quickly change to 10-abreast, and DC-10s and L-1011s that were 8-abreast and changed to 9 abreast. The 787 was also really designed for 8-abreast Y class but virtually all operators (except JAL) operate them with 9-abreast.
@@kinennsa even if Boeing performs bad in the consumer market like their passenger planes, their defense sector will carry them on with absolutely no problems. From missiles, drones to air tankers, to experimental jets and fighter jets. Boeing can lose millions of dollars on their passenger plane fleet but will gain tens of billions of dollars through anything military related. If Congress keeps approving aid to foreign countries in the form of money/arms/equipment/vehicles, the military industrial complex (i.e Boeing) will have to keep making more, keeping them in business... as well as making Congress even richer... So yeah, Boeing unfortunately is not going away anytime soon or anytime in the future
Here's the problem with AA. They keep economy fares at the same level as low-cost airlines like Spirit, Ryan Air, etc. AA must make up for lower revenue by cutting costs. The first area for cuts is service-related labor costs.
Same for ALL too big to fail companies. They all need to be allowed to go bankrupt and out of business, now that they are considered "people" they can be treated like the rest of us and be expected to learn from their mistakes. There is ALWAYS a medium size company ready to step in and not make the same mistake.
July 23, 2001. I booked a flight from New York to San Salvador, El Salvador via Miami. It was a 1 way. I was heading back home to live cause I was about to start college. The lady at the counter in JFK told me I needed a flight back which I explained I didnt cause Im also a salvadorean citizen. I showed her my documents. They MADE ME buy a round trip tkt that at the time cost me $938 dollars which is all I had in cash at the moment (I was 19 and had no credit cards) long story short, I took the flight, and cried my entire way home to San Salvador. I arrived and the next day i filed a complaint and demanded they give me back my money. This was before 9/11, so I was lucky they processed my refund. Ever since, i have NEVER, EVER taken another flight in that god forsaken hell of an airline nor will I. I rather WALK that step foot in any of those planes ever again. The food is disgusting, the service is a shitshow and even worse, the prices are so ridiculous for the awful service u get. No thanks. Next->
@@BookSuburbia they are supposed to refund my hotel room and any costs I incurred due to leaving me stranded their. I am on disability and I never mentioned it till I was told they were so sorry I should have been given accommodations not left stranded and to send receipt for hotel stay and any other receipts from costs I had to pay due to ignorance of the airline. I was grateful to get the 400 dollars back from the hotel I should have been given a voucher to stay at like the other 200 people stranded on my flight delayed 3 different times for 3 different reasons. Excuse me 4 reasons unrelated. Just a space cadette that forgot he needed fuel another space cadette that mislabeled lugage or something and had to go deal with paperwork, then the weather turned really bad and delayed another half hour and then when ready to go they said we were last in line for take off and we all boarded that plane at least a half hour before the others that were all taking off. We were last then we got rerouted then had to wait in the air doing circles waiting a 40 minute wait for our turn to land. And when I found out that they are only refunding 150 dollars for that hotel room I couldn't believe it
It's been since mid April and I still haven't seen that stupid 150 dollars. The damn hotel room I needed was 400 which overdrew my account because disability doesn't pay enough to feed myself for the month let alone pay my bills and have 400 dollar surprise hotel rooms. I was promised refund of ANY COST I INCURRED FOR BEING LEFT STRANDED. So you better believe this is when I pulled the card I shouldn't have. "I can't believe this is how you treat your disabled guests with disabilities limited income and an entire airline oblivious to their own protocols when it comes to making passengers miss flights
@@BookSuburbia Delays and cancellations caused by us When your flight is canceled, significantly delayed, or a delay could cause you to miss your connection, we’ll rebook you on our next flight with available seats at no additional cost. If no American Airlines flights are available until the next day, we’ll rebook you on one of our partner airlines at no additional cost. In cases where a delay or cancellation is caused by us, upon request we’ll give you: A voucher for an approved hotel with available rooms if you are delayed overnight if you’re away from your city of residence. Transportation to a hotel and back to the airport by hotel shuttle / third-party transportation service, or a transportation voucher. Meal vouchers if your delay is 3 or more hours after your scheduled departure. If we can’t provide you with a voucher for an approved hotel, we’ll reimburse you for reasonable hotel costs. If a hotel shuttle / third-party transportation service isn’t available, or we can’t provide you with a transportation voucher, we’ll reimburse you for reasonable transportation costs."
American airlines own handbook is where I pulled that little speech about how they promise to take care of hotels food and transportation if they delay you. And they straight up refused to book me a flight with another airline
Robert Isom is the reason this airline is plummeting to the ground. He refuses to give his flight attendants an industry leading contract- almost took a strike to get their pilots contract, cut corners be operating international flights with the bare minimum of flight attendants, all while Isom and upper management is pocketing tens of millions of dollars. Once the public calls him out and many of the upper management is replaced with management who makes their employees feel valued thus making their customers feel valued this poor service standard will continue to happen. It starts from the top. AA has such the potential to be an amazing airline but all management cares about is lining THEIR pockets
Did Boeing learn from American or American learn from Boeing? If I go across the pond I would first look at Asian carriers e.g. SIA (Manchester- Houston) or Air India etc Never considered an American carrier due to the feedback I get from those who give them a chance.
I think Doug Parker started the downward slide before Mr. Isom took over. The stockholders should take over the airline and hire executives who will restore it to the legacy that Bob Crandall built!
@@amazer747 i hear Air India is still pretty bad, many Indian co-workers say they would rather take a US airline than Air India to India. Maybe it got a bit better recently but AI used to be very bad
The "no more charm" also comes via the "courtesy" of our fellow travelers. Rude, crude, loud, entitled and obnoxious. Civility and good manners have long gone out the window. Ugh.
We travel frequently to and from England. Our experience with BA has always been positive, good food and service. American Airlines who partners with BA has the filthiest planes, rudest staff and the worst food and because of that we go out of our way to avoid AA.
Small tip. In business take the time to glimpse under your seat and between corners. You will get plenty of food for free. Seats are never ever cleaned. Remember this when you fit snugly into it. Bon voyage
AA management is taking corporate greed to a breaking point. Care for passengers’ needs has vanished a long time ago. Crews are usually condescending towards passengers if you need them for anything. It annoys me when they try to push their credit card program after having despised the customer during the entire flight… I avoid flying AA as much as I can.
My seat in business class from GRU(Sao Paulo) to DFW did not function at all. The touch panel for the seat control did not work. I complained and asked for some compensation either cash difference for business fare and economy or a systemwide upgrade. All they ended up providing was 5000 miles in compensation. They did not recognize that a faulty seat in business class on an 11 hour overnight flight was a big deal. They claimed that I had a private space where I was seated, lounge access, priority baggage handling and fine dining. So they downplayed the faulty seat. What a shameless airline they have become.
I can’t believe they claimed that you should be happy with a broken seat because you got the other perks of business class? lol That’s terribly shameless and a total rip off for you. Sorry to hear that.
wow, thats really bad, like lounge access and better food is nice, but on 3 - 4 hours flight, on 11 hours flight the seat is the most important thing for which you are paying for as you want to sleep and be comfortable, for me hard products is way more important than soft product when flying business class thats why Emirates 777 are terrible in my opinion because of 2-3-2 seating, I prefer not so good service and 1-2-1 seating instead. Really shame on American Airlines for this, if they weren't able to reseat you, you should have got free upgrade voucher (or the amount of mile needed for upgrade and 5k miles is not enough for sure)
This is why I ALWAYS use my AMEX Platinum. This happened to me not long ago. I argued with the Airline and they kept refusing. Amex challenged them next saying the service/seat I paid for was not provided. AMEX charged the airline back from "false advertising of service"
I had the same problem with Iberia from Madrid to LAX. A 12 hour flight with no electricity on my row of seats and the one behind. I got a 10% discount voucher for my next flight. No matter which airline you fly with there are always issues. Too many people, too many flights.
I've flown American 4 times in economy between LHR and LAX, the last time being this May (and for 350 usd roundtrip may I add, including a hop from and back to Prague). And I can't say one bad word against them. They're always on time, food in economy is decent, IFE is good (they put seasons of shows in, not just a few random episodes), their crews are consistently friendlier than any of the European airlines I've flown on before, connection at Heathrow is super easy as Prague BA flights and all AAL flights are within T3.. I always end up going back to them for one reason or another.. be it the price I got the last time or convenient departure times (namely the late night departure out of LAX for London). Objectively, you'll have a better experience flying KLM (service, food, AMS is a great airport to fly thru as well). Swiss would be my 3rd go-to. Air France flies out of CDG and that's not gonna happen again, Lufthansa is a hot mess (constantly delayed, planes not cleaned in between long haul flights, IFE not working on one 11hr flight, and not working audio on the way back, rude staff, disgusting food on board,..)..
We need to understand that many American businesses are operated with one objective: grow the C-suite bonuses. Someone slipped up here and scheduled one more flight attendant than exit doors. Why pay for 15 flight attendants when you can get by with 10? Fortunately the days of neoliberalism seem to be coming to an end with employees gaining more influence and sensible government regulation starting to take hold. About time, the travel experience on U.S. flag carriers has been in a race to the bottom since the 1979 introduction of airline deregulation.
Too long of a story to write not as crazy as yours, but just flew on the 18th from the Caribbean to Charlotte from Charlotte Las Vegas Charlotte our flight was delayed to Las Vegas and then canceled with no resolution until the following afternoon at 3 PM then they expected us to stand in a five hour line to get to customer service. We were unable to get a hold of American Airlines via phone. I finally walked up to a random gate, and one of the agents helped me change my flight. They were boarding in 10 minutes. She was extremely helpful. It wasn’t her flight or anything, but that’s a way to do it. Walk up to a random gate not busy and one of the ask one of the gate attendants to help you change your flight if possible.
Hi Sam🙂 I am writing from Japan. I recently flew business class from Toronto to New York (LaGuardia), although it is a short-haul route. I usually fly Japan Airlines(JAL) mainly for both domestic and international flights, and I can say without a doubt that JAL's service level is the best in the world. Therefore, I expected the level of service on American Airlines to be at the same level as I had expected, so I was not disappointed but rather felt that the service was as expected. I also would like to strongly emphasize that JAL's excellence was even more pronounced, especially since after the American Airlines flight, I flew in First Class on JAL's new flagship Airbus A350-1000 on a 14-hour flight from New York (JFK) to Tokyo (Haneda)✈ I believe JAL has climbed to even higher heights by adding Airbus A350-1000 the latest technology (hardware) to the already excellent service level (software). I think it is fair to say that JAL is now on par with Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines, two of the Skytrax 5-star regulars. I look forward to seeing your videos of JAL's Airbus A350-1000 First & Business class.
I stopped flying American Airlines in 2008 when I encountered the rudest flight attendant in 38 years of flying to 62 countries. I'll NEVER fly American again. That experience was just that awful.
Unfortunately, they are all the same now. And having 3 airlines monopolizing 90% of the routes doesn’t leave with much of a choice. Sad thing is that we invented luxury flight travel. And look where we are. A bus ride in china or Japan feels more luxurious than first class in an American carrier.
Two year ago I had a three-leg (Sydney - Los Angeles - Miami - Bogota ) international flight from Sydney to Bogota (Columbia). The second leg of the flight is AA. AA is undoubtedly the worst airlines i have flown in my 50 years of air travel. During the whole 6-hour flight I got only one bottle of water. The cabin crew disappeared soon after handing out the water. The toilets were very dirty and the toilet floors was wet and slippery (I don't think the cabin crew had cleaned the toilets during the flight) . I will never fly on AA again even if I am given a complimentary air ticket.
We had the same situation with JetBlue Airlines from Seattle to NYC. They changed planes and downgraded us, and instead of refunding us the difference between economy and premium economy, they gave us "store credit". I had to call them and was on hold for 4 hours and at the end of the conversation the customer service agent manager said out of the goodness of her heart she would refund me the difference. Which was rightfully mine and not theirs I seriously believe that American-operated Airlines needs to take a lesson in customer service with the top 10 airlines in the world.
People often forget, AA is now owned & being operated by the old America West which was a LCC so its no wonder that a legacy carrier is now operating like an LCC if not ULCC
Absolutely correct. The management team of America West (i.e. US Airways) took over after their bankruptcy filing in and simultaneous merger with US Airways in 2013. That's when it really started to go downhill. There was a very ambitious and impressive program to improve service standards with turndown service, etc just prior to the bankruptcy, but it was quickly watered down by the new management team. Very recently they even announced that they wanted to be primarily a domestic premium carrier. International standards was not one of their priorities. The serivce level now is spotty at best. It's so sad what happened to this carrier.
@@stephanthien4666I don’t understand? So America West bought U.S. and then also bought American? Then why is the airline still called American? Not America west?
I'm a Gold member in both American Airlines and Emirates. Being a resident in Dallas, I fly AA in all domestic destination and Emirates for International. I think Sam is spoiled by the high-quality that Emirates offers 😂 Emirates always raises the bar when it comes to quality and service. BTW, If you think American Airlines provides poor service, just wait until you try Delta or United!
I was recently stranded in Charlotte due to multiple delays and I missed my connection. There were over 20 people with me and we ended up sleeping by the food court sofa area , which was freezing. No help whatsoever from the counter and even more delays the day after. I will never fly with American again on that route…
@@flyski7473 That is if you can find staff. Last time I went through CLT after a four hour delay, there was no gate agent. You are on your own with American. I have executive platinum status and can't get a refund after a downgrade from business to economy in June. American sucks!! I never travel without a problem. We are just money to them.
I tried American Airlines once and had a string of cancelled and rescheduled flights. I had a week off from work and AA literally destroyed my Florida vacation- I never did make it to Florida. Never, ever again will I do business with them.
I won't relate my "experience" to the UK over 9-11 .. Let's just say, the UK operates at 99.99% capacity on all infrastructure. Except when it comes to letting moslems in.
Just flew from Japan to DFW on AA; had the casper sleep set and the food was decent (maybe because made in japan?). After the meal I asked them to spread the Casper padding and they said "no you need to do it yourself" and I asked how to do it, the flight attendant, also wearing bright orange union/protest accessories said "i dont know how to do it, i have never been a passenger in business class". Its pretty comical and even as executive platinum, US-based carriers for long haul are the last on my list for a reason.
Wow, that is kind of insane. I flew to Japan in ANA business, and the flight attendant INSISTED to make the bed for me, even when I only asked her to show me how so I could do it myself. The difference in quality of service is astounding.
When booking a tour, I always ask my agent to try to avoid American. The crew is always sour and/or indifferent. I've seen crew roll their eyes at passengers. I flew LHR-LAX last November and the crew on our aisle was saying awful things about their fellow crew on the other aisle, as if we couldn't hear them. My friend in the aviation industry calls them bitter Dallas cows🤣.
I flew with AA recently from LAS to DFW to CMH, and it was fine for the most part. We got an A321 to DFW, smooth and comfortable plane as always, and then when we got to DFW, our flight was delayed by about 15 minutes, no biggie, we eventually get on the plane (737-800) and sit on it for an hour before the captain announced that he didn’t deem the plane airworthy and didn’t feel comfortable flying it, so we had to switch aircraft. Now I’m completely fine with this, for one reason, and that’s that safety was put first. I asked to see the flight deck and when I was in there I noticed on the EICAS that the issue was with hydraulic pressure, so definitely not airworthy. But again, I’m okay with this because safety was put first. We could’ve flown out on that plane and something bad could’ve happened, but instead the pilot said no, he’s not flying it for our safety. Our replacement plane (another 737-800) pulled up from DTW in around an hour and we were on and boarded within another 45 minutes and ready for departure, and again flight was fine, so overall I’m pleased with my experience with AA, because again they put safety first, and worked hard to make sure we got home safely.
737-800 doesn’t have EICAS, and there wouldn’t have been any hydraulic pressure at the gate because the pumps aren’t on. Other than that you’ve closely assessed the problem perfectly.
I’m sorry, but former cabin crew member here: when we’re short-staffed, usually service takes longer, not shorter. Also, I never understood why some crew are rushing to crew rest when the flight time is over 10 hours. Like, sweetie, where do you think you’re going? These customers aren’t going anywhere and people will naturally get thirsty and hungry. A 17 minute service up front, if the Express Dining option is not chosen, is simple laziness and bad taste. Customers want an experience, unless we’re told otherwise.
😂 well I do fly more than a dozen domestic but it is mostly uninspiring with hardy any special features so I never really care to make a video about it!
Stopped flying all US carriers long-haul ages ago…just flew Cathay Pacific yesterday from ORD-HKG - new A350-1000 - superb food, seats and service in Premium Economy. EVA my other fav, top notch across the board.
We fly AA due to my wife points. We recently spent 2 days due to weather and a mechanical delaies, flying from Tampa to Cleveland. We used a service through my wifes Platnum American Express card to navigate the system and get us home. Kudos to AA for getting out lugage to our destination as it flew out on a earlier flight, that was delayed at the connection. Unfortunately, the AA staff appears to have no interest in helping the customers. I recently flew Vistara from Delhi to Mumbai, about a 2.5 houd flight. The plane was clean and new. The staff was very friendly. We even got a meal! What a difference.
Being retired BA staff I have to say that no, I don't like the new uniform. Nothing would induce me to wear the jumpsuit version! So sorry you have this terrible experience with AA but pleased that BA sorted out your delay in BCN.
I flew AA/British Airways to London last year. Never again. We tried to reach British Airways on the phone in London before heading home. We were never able to connect to a live person at BA to answer our flight home questions. Customer service was non-existent. Our BA flight was 3 hours late leaving London for the USA due to a problem with the aircraft. We finally arrived in Austin at 10pm having missed our connecting flight home. No one was at the counter for BA and AA said they couldn't help. We had to go to a hotel that night at our expense when we wanted to be home. BA did book us on another flight the next morning so we got home. I did submit all our expenses from the missed flight. The hotel, meals, etc. BA did reimburse me for those missed flight expenses. However, the lack of customer service from BA was startling and I'd never fly them again. Like most of us know, flying today isn't exactly a fun experience. From crowded airports, delayed or canceled flights, having to pay for everything now (bags, drinks, emergency aisle row seats) and packed airplanes with shrinking legroom. My contention is American corporate greed is killing customer service in the airlines. The C-suites only care about profit margins, their stock price and the impact it has on their PERSONAL compensation packages. American capitalism has gotten out of control and no one in government is holding these executives accountable. Why? these politicians get elected by these companies donations to their election campaigns. What a great, corrupt system for the 1 percenters.
And then there’s also the lack of a true national “flag carrier” in the US. Most other countries have a national carrier that represents their country and they tend to go the extra mile to advertise in this way.
Heathrow is one of the worst airports because you have to take and wait for busses. AA has a decent hard product but their soft product and stews are on the bad side. The almost negative attitude permeates the entire product line.
100% agree, Heathrow is the worst airport - staff with shitty attitudes, confusing and non-functional amenities...oy vaye, I avoid that place like the plague.
I live ~30 minutes west of LHR so obviously have never needed to transfer there. The Tube also runs between the terminals and is free. T5 to T(1/)2/3 is one stop. Tap on, tap off with your phone, you won't be charged unless you go past Hatton Cross into town. T4 is a change and go back, but still free. Whilst talking transfers, why don't Americans understand them? I flew LHR-JFK-GRU (Sāo Paulo, Brazil) and had to collect my luggage, do the full immigration thing, and found myself on the street in NY. I walked to the entrance, checked in my bags and myself for my second leg... Only to end up boarding the aircraft which was next to the BA one that took me there. A 90 minute process could have been reduced to 90 seconds.
I flew from Dublin to Charlotte on a 777 with the old rear facing seat. Aircraft was tired but not as old as the cabin crew. I’m 67 and they made me feel young. They too wanted to get you on seated, fed and then disappear. I was told off for not setting my table up quickly enough and for failing to read the menu so she had to come back. It was far from being a premium service. This was like flying Ryanair, especially when my previous flight had been on Qatar in Q suites. I have to say the American Airlines business / first experience nowadays can only be described as “we do the bare minimum”. As you said fortunately for them being part of the one world alliance keeps feeding them customers
@@LandParkColby Agree, I'm trying to avoid Ryanair, only exception is when I fly to Vienna as they are using their Lauda subsidiary which is way better.
I totally agree with you. AA's business class food is one of the worst in the industry. I wonder if AA executives bother to take other airlines such as Singapore, ANA or JAL to find out what other airlines are serving. As for business class service, it is one of the worst in the industry. Most of time, they don't greet you and they don't say goodbye. One time, I had a flight attendant throwing napkins. It wasn't just me as he was doing it to everyone. I have been flying AA for several decade, but I see no desire to improve whatsoever.
European airlines are no better than North American airlines. They are actually worse. European airlines are so atrocious that their international business class seats have no lay flat bed and they just leave one empty seat beside you when you pay business class fare and you can’t lay down!! Make No Mistake, this is the standard of European airlines (except Turkish) INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS class fare. Even on USA DOMESTIC First class (there’s no Business class for domestic North American), we have lay flat seats. What a joke that you included European airlines as “better” when you swiped US carriers. It is obvious that you hardly ever fly international. Source: I am Asian frequent flier, and I’m emerald status with One World
I just flew American from Phil to Las Vegas in premium economy and we had a fabulous crew. In December 2023 I flew from Phil to Orlando on American and we parked 1 hr before boarding stressed we weren’t even going to check our bags and make the flight and American staff reassured us they could take our bags (at this point it was 30 min until boarding) and they helped us get to security and made sure we made our flight. Maybe the Phil crews for American are just the exception but I’m happy to have had a great experience with them in the last 6 months :)
I’m not surprised. Even since Doug Parker took over, AA is a legacy LCC now. I’m a EX PLAT member, and waiting on helpline 30-90 minutes is the norm. That was unheard of before merge with US Air. My last flight LAX to HND, they ran out of premium economy food, and gave my daughter regular economy food. At least they apologized and offered double portion.
Although I have Platinum level with AA, I decided not to pursue status renewal after being abused by AA staff at DFW. Clearly the customer is a burden to AA and their customer care department manages to make things even worst by sending you meaningless form letters that don’t even address your complaint. I will, from now on, only fly AA when there is no alternative. AA truly sucks!
I tried to take AA, after years not flying. Had a panic attack. There is NO room, they pack every square inch with an extra, very narrow seat. I'm 5ft 7, and 130 pounds, but they stuck me in the back row, with a woman about 400lbs. I was further squished, when she took about 1/3 of my seat. I couldn't even put my tray down for something to drink. Then I had the panic attack. I couldn't breathe, and felt like I was being buried alive. Flight attendants were nice and quick to respond. But it was just the most uncomfortable I been in a flight. Frontier may be budget, but at least they have the larger old seats.
Firstly, British Airwsys' new uniform is ghastly. They went from having one of the most classical uniforms that stood out from other airlines to the absolute worst. Secondly the business class meals look like cafeteria food or economy class terrible for business class passenger.
It’s a good thing the flight attendants were clothed. And there was food. Many can’t fly and don’t even have food on the table if they even have a table.
As a retired 30 years line maintenance mechanic enjoy ur videos. Keep up good work. One time installed 5th pod B747, Heard passenger tell other on jetway , we are lucky extra engine lol.
Welcome to 2024 where everyone’s lowering their standards across the board. Have you seen what you get for the more expensive Big Mac? It’s everywhere, especially in hospitality. Rooms aren’t what they used to be my guy.
I’m a simple person. For one thing I from a food perspective I don’t really eat anything fancy so just simple sustenance. I’m always find the cheapest flight type of guy. Recently $540 from Indianapolis to Switzerland. Happy if I get a meal, but I’ve usually got some snacks in my backpack maybe some baby food. My number one thing is just asleep and get to my destination Safely without too many noises and sounds to wake me up. If I could ever get a bigger seat that would be great. But actually if they could just stop with entertainment and lights altogether, that’s what I would prefer. Like a sleeping section where everybody just wants to sleep overnight on the long haul and not partake in anything essentially.
Well, you can clearly see this lowering standards in the domestic fleets of the US3 airlines: Delta and United is committed to keeping and installing inflight entertainment on every seat, while American insists on removing them, thinking that it's a good idea to bring your own device, when in fact it is not. Really stands out at which one is the worst.
My AA flight on June 25th from Athens to Chicago in business class on a 787 was the best flight in terms of service, seat, cleaniness, and food I’ve experienced in many years on AA. I travel both domestic and long haul quite often on AA and Delta. The flight attendants were courteous, professional and just enough fun to create a pleasant flight. It was a pleasant surprise and honestly it gave me hope for American to standout again.
I have to echo your comment. They have the right amount of professionalism without being starchy and ultra formal. I think that Sam needs to fly them again. American has close to 7,000 flights per day. The chances for things to go sideways on a few is always a possibility.
American Airlines is the absolute Worst airline on planet earth. All of their employees are Rude, Obnoxious and Hate their jobs. They really need to quit and find another job. The food in First and Business Class is inedible. I avoid American Airlines like the Plague. The management at AA should all be FIRED!!
Flying EU airplaines means you are protected by Montreal Convention and Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 . The food, hotel and indemnity are the least they could offer. Companies usually gives BS reasons why the flight is delayed to avoid to pay indemnity tough.
American Airlines needs to step up their game. Pay your employees better so that you can retain quality employees. Quality employees brings better service. Better service means happy customers.
Actually flew AA from terminal 3 LHR yesterday with my son. I liked the experience in business class, the flight attendants were WONDERFUL with my son and very helpful and aware. Enjoyed the flight 100% and would definitely fly AA again. Connecting flight to LHR was thru BA and that was horrible, BA is now a “NO GO ZONE” for me.
I flew AA JFK to Athens Greece in business class and it was NOT worth it. I switched back to Delta since I fly to Greece every summer. delta is way better for international in my opinion.
@@csaracho2009 How so? Look, I won't deny that Boeing's management has been horrible, profits over quality. But how does that affect American? Or are you just talking about how it destroyed their company's image as well? In which case I agree 100%. Even though, the delayed plane deliveries and American's premature retirement of the 767s, 757s and A330s has hurt them a good bit.
@AG-Consulting Two Boeings 737 Max crashed with all passangers and crew. 'Designed by clowns…supervised by monkeys:’ Internal Boeing messages slam 737 Max Also, 10 whistleblowers from which 2 of them had died (coincidentally). And a long etc. (This is what I was referring to)
Sam I know this is the smallest detail but serving plastic cups is a practicality for airlines based in the USA, as the FAA requires that all welcome drinks be put away before pushback, a plastic cup alllows customers to retain the drink longer as it doesn’t have to be thrown away until takeoff
I flew with American Airlines recently via domestic. during boarding they ask you if their is electronics in your carry on then they put a red tag and you have to give up your carry on at the jet bridge with another employee. My carry on did not have a lock because who would have thought. Proceeded inside the aircraft and we took off. Landed a few hours in Wichita. Picked up my luggages and drove home. When we arrive home I checked my hand carry and guess what my laptop was gone. the rest of my items was still in my carry on but my laptop went missing. American Airlines policy is that they are not LIABLE for Electronics under their conditions of carriage. So a warning for everyone. Do not leave your electronics in your carry on if you are forced to give it up at the jet bridge when flying with American Airlines. They will not help you nor compensate you.
Westjet tried that with me before and told me I’d only get 15% back for the downgrade. Meanwhile economy was 1/4 the price of what I paid for business. Had to dispute the charge through my Amex and was refunded. Rebooked with another airline and will never look back to Westjet.
Most people would rather take economy on the next flight than wait for another day or two for business class, especially if it’s on lousy intra-European “business class”.
They assumed he wanted to get there the same day, most people aren’t taking flights just to post RUclips videos they’re actually trying to get somewhere.
When my family wants to go international, we pick American Airlines economy. And I have to say… it’s not bad! One time the crew gave us a small cup of ice cream and the meals taste pretty good.
I just flew AA long haul business class from Doha to Philadelphia a few days ago. The cabin crew was down a member in business class. They were outstanding though. I generally find that to be true and it’s sad that such great staff work for an airline that has made a business decision to suck.
Sam, I couldn't agree more. I've flown all Delta, United, and American, and by FAR the worst travel experiences I've had were with American. Even when things go smoothly, their customer experience in first class was absolute crap compared to first or business in United or Delta. I'll never fly American unless I absolutely can't avoid it.
Im still traumatized by the unbelievable rudeness I used to experience when they were my only option for over a decade in the late 90s to 2008. I avoid them like the plague to this day decades later. What I remember most was that they gave rotten customer service from country to country and from top to bottom. When you stumbled on a good employee it was rare and if you were treated badly and wanted to complain or get what you’re supposed to get, they’d all close ranks and there was no accountability whatsoever. In one station I won’t bother to name, if there was a major delay or cancellation they’d simply close the counter and disappear, leaving passengers helpless. Some of them would even provoke passengers for no reason and cause things to escalate needlessly. I really hope they get it together one day. But if recent TikTok commentary is anything to go by, they’re hitting rock bottom again.
I flew economy class from DFW to LHR on a 777 within the last few weeks and it was one of the most uncomfortable and annoying trans-Atlantic flights I've ever been on.
@@eliahyo6551Turkish is great. Flew business A300 and an A321 and service/food was awesome. Free WiFi that worked well also. Planning also to go to Barcelona in Summer 2025 and choices are United or AA premium (business is outrageous) or go the extra time and distance to fly Turkish.
Hello! I'm an active reservations representative xd and yeah, we are currently having problems with the crew, i don't really know why because i work with calls. Defenetly si something that AA has to fix because trust me in a regular day with no travel alert we have some IROPS (irregular operations) abour crew shortage. I'm not an AA fanboy tbh but take in account that depends on the reason of the cancelation we have different policies. It's not the same a delay or a cancelation because of weather or air traffic than a cancelation for a problem with the crewvor the planes. Defenetly there are some things that i don't like abt AA but we try to make sure that the passangers have a Nice trip, i cannot talk about everyone of My fellas working at AA but we try to do our Best. Just to make sure, just because i work for them i'm not gonna deffend everything that we do, so i try to make this comment the neutral as possible. (Sorry if i had any mistake in My English, it's not My native language xd) Just a little reminder, we just had a new System in the reservations desk bia phone, thats why we take a LOOOOONG time to take ur call, i hope AA fix that i'm the future xd)
I’ve taken AA in both Econ and business to Spain and it was a really good experience for me minus the one time when we had a delay due to previous flight crew not having done paperwork delaying the next flight. But the delay just meant I got to experience extra time in my business seat. Now I mostly take AA for traveling when I can cause I haven’t had any bad experiences with them.
Hi, I've flown with American last week in business LAX-LHR.. I appreciated that the flight attendant asked each passenger during the boarding how they want to be addressed and took orders for dinner. I was really surprised by their sundae/icecream service and also the bar in the galley with snacks/appetizers. On the other hand there was no mattress/pyjamas and the crew werent really nice.. I felt like the service could've been much nicer giving that they don't offer on demand menu- so they only do after take-off service and before landing service and that's it lol... (especially on red-eye flight where everyone sleeps)... I'm sure there is a potential but AA will have to try harder to reach the true OneWorld standard as given from Qatar, Finnair etc.. (even BA were nicer lol)
I had something similar happen with a domestic flight. My first flight was delalyed which made the connecting flight impossible. I was automatically rebooked on a direct flight but downgraded from first class to economy. I paid for the original flight with miles. I requested a partial reimbursement for the downgrade. They denied my request. Lesson learned: if using miles to purchase a ticket, do not purchase first class.
Update: I filed a compaint with the US Department of Transportation. 10 weeks later I received a 50% refund of the miles. This is not quite the difference between miles required for economy and miles required for first class, but it's better than nothing.
They need a lot of improvement. I was rebooked by united airlines with American airlines when I missed my connecting flight. I was looking at my ticket, couldn't see where my confirmation number and gate number. I had a hard time figuring it out,unlike United airlines, easy to understand the itinerary or the ticket.
I’ve flown AA for years as a frequent traveler. Never a bad experience, all classes. Nobody’s perfect. I have had great and not great flights on most all carriers. I don’t care about welcome drinks.
I always am in two minds about things like this. I fully sympathize with the customer and wanting what they paid for (or redeemed or what have you), that makes perfect sense. But having been on the other side of the hill before, I do really sympathize with the customer service workers who I know are in a shitty spot. I’ve worked at places that were really understaffed too and we already had a high individual workload, which only increased with the lack of people. While being rude and unhelpful isn’t okay, there are also times where I had to be like “I’m genuinely sorry but there is nothing more which I can possibly do,” and people went off. Sorry for the vent. Just a shitty situation for all parties is the TLDR
Being on the other side as well, totally understand what you are saying. Every airline employee strives to give the paying passenger what they payed for, but there are so many reasons they simply cannot when things go wrong. I'm sorry to say, but you just become a number.
If it’s just so inherently problematic then why is it so much more efficient flying on foreign carriers? Why are the gate agents and flight attendants so much more helpful and not rude at all.
5:29 they are doing that because they don’t get paid when the plane is boarding, they get paid while the doors are closed. They stop being paid for that flight after the door opens. So, I understand why they want to rush with boarding.
Its funny how you and nonstop dan seem to have money to travel all over and complain but here I am and just keep a smile through the delays and actually loving the airlines even more after my delays.
I flew American recently on long haul from Chicago to Athens and then Athens to Chicago for return after my vacation. I was on a Boeing 787 for both flights. There were 8 flight attendants on each flight. What struck me the most was how disgruntled (and a few of them downright rude) the flight attendants were on both flights. On the return trip to Chicago there was one friendly flight attendant. She and I spoke a lot. I mentioned to her that I definitely sympathized with them on their union seeking better pay. I explained that my dad also worked for a major U.S. airline (not American) for 30 years and had since retired. The one friendly flight attendant thanked me for my support in their negotiations with upper management. I told her that the flight attendants have every right to strike. The airlines are making money hand over fist. The corporate executives need to stop being so greedy and show some respect and support for the people who are in the trenches (flight attendants and gate agents, etc). I think it’s every airline anymore that has bad service. I did fly Delta a few years ago to Rome and had friendly and attentive flight attendants.
Sam, this is why you need to review non-sponsored flights occasionally to understand how they treat regular passengers.
Sounds like he got normal service, and he's upset!! maybe being a utube star didn't impress them
He usually can't simply because he's so recognized that he won't get regular service even if he's paying for his own flight. Every flight attendant on a major carrier is told "if you see this guy on your flight make sure he gets extra special service, we don't want a bad review". This was probably one of the rare instances where the crew didn't recognize him. That's why Sam has mostly shifted more towards showcasing special flights rather than just flight reviews.
@@WRic86 Are you a Merican or Americanophile?
@@WRic86 If that's a normal service on american airlines its worst then economy of cheapest airlines
@@WRic86 LMAO, yeah. He also paid $80 for a business class seat and used up a load of air miles and expected to still be in business when his flight got cancelled. He has never heard of ticket codes given to passengers bookings, they vary and if paying $80 and using up air miles, then don't expect to be treated like someone who paid $4000 for their ticket, different code.
Hi Sam! Long time viewer here and a retired AA Captain. When I came with AA in 1985 things were very different. I flew our service from DFW through HNL to SYD on the DC-10 years ago. Our First Class passengers enjoyed Champagne and caviar and in the morning fresh eggs cooked to order on a hotplate in the galley. Sadly when I retired in 2020, the service had declined to an embarassing level. I flew the B-777 from DFW to HKG in my final years and the service you describe on your LHR-DFW trip was not much differenct than we provided at the end of my career. It's true that AA depends on its frequent flying program and its large network as you disucssed. Look forward to more of your videos and wish you all the best in your travels.
I honestly miss that HKG straight to Dfw , they don’t have it any more 😢 do you know why they never started it again . I know it stopped when covid happend. But always wondered why it never came back
@@brciii6287 Like most decisions in the airline business, they are driven my yield. Yield is the amount of money made per passenger mile and if it is fractionally better on one flight over another…decision made.
@@mikefendel thank you for the reply , have a great 😊 day
Interrrresting. To a man I never ever ever heard anything but AA had the worst service ever, and I'm going back to the seventies. Hey, I could be wrong. But let's put it this way: If I don't have YOUR phone number prior to departure and am unsure whether I'm going to be coddled, made up perfumed and pretty, I'm staying home. I have for years. I . Just. Can't. Deal. With . The. Nonsense. And I'm not saying your were not top notch 'cause ya probably were. I DID go from PDX to LAX in the now defunct Virgin America 1st class and I got the hand cooked breakfast and fully reclining seats WITH footrest. I landed with MORE energy than that which which I departed. 160 buckaroos round trip. Gimme some mo', please!!!
@@silasmarner7586well, I’m glad you breakfast was hand-made on Virgin, and robotic Automation hasn’t crept in yet , like it’s starting to make inroads at Mc Donald’s now….
if Sam Chui says it's bad, it is REALLY BAD
I try to keep it constructive. There are lot of rooms to improve but AA has a good network and AAdvantage is still a valuable frequent flyer program.
@@SamChuiso positive! Keep it up Sam!❤
maybe not sponsored?
@@SamChuiI see what u did there 😂
I believe you sam..there is really huge difference if I am to compare this airline with SQ, KE, CX, EK, EY AND QR..their business class meal is just an economy for major mid east airline.
The Lowkey sad thing is that for Americans who never travel overseas or only do it once or twice as leisure, they'll never understand how good the asian/Arab airlines have been for decades.
All American companies lack lack lack and getting worse! Why fly??? Got time? Take a train which can be ‘delayed’ hours and days never on schedule!!! Greyhound bus is decrepit gross and derelicts mental cases old folks and unknowing use-it’s a NIGHTMARE!!! No more customer service of quality sadly 🥲
Mental cases and old folks?
The American corporate and media will call arab airlines misogyny and doesn't respect women
I worked at both Etihad Airways and Emirate Airline. I know very well what the differences are and it's a real shame.
The US carriers just can't compete with the international carriers when it comes to the passenger experience.
I think you're just experiencing air travel like a regular person. Welcome to the party pal.
Yeah, have a drink and SIT DOWN, buddy! 🤣😂😆
So sorry you had to drink from a plastic cup...just unacceptable
Look at price difference from bc to ec shows your making a clueless/baseless point.
@@robwyyi Aaaagh, have a drink and SIT DOWN, Robbie. Here, come sit next to me. Maybe we'll have a few laughs! ...and put that account book & calculator away. We're here, to have a good time, not wear ourselves out with facts & figures. 😅🤣😂This flight is soon to land, and I want to be in the right frame of mind when we do.
What’s wrong with you.
Your American Airlines experience was my United Airlines experience just last year. After they cancelled the first leg of our flight to Vietnam from EWR, we had to drive to the second leg after they told us to do so. We arrived and they had already given away our seats to other folks whose flights were also canceled and we spent 4 hours trying to get rebooked, which we lost 3 days of vacation because of it. The kicker is this, after an hour, the desk attendant found us seats in business class which he was ready to give us free of charge, but was overridden by a supervisor who didn’t think upgrading customers whose flights were canceled by the airlines is warranted. So, we watched the flight leave with empty seats in business class. The supervisor just didn’t care. Long story short, my family and I will pay whatever higher costs there are to avoid UAL (and all U.S. carriers) when traveling to Asia.
I agree with your assessment of UA. They suck at customer service.
Did you sue? You should!
It's weird as I find United is often very helpful. But I get it, I would be furious.
One of the many reasons why I refuse to fly ANY U. S. airlines internationally
Continental was a superior airline in all around service, domestically and international. They merged with United and at that time United already had less than stellar customer service. When United took control of Continental they lowered the standard of service Continental always provided its customers. All airlines today are just Greyhound buses with wings.
Management of AA should watch this video
I'm sure they will.. but it won't bother them because of the monopoly they already have in the US
They will eventually. Sam is one of the largest aviation RUclipsrs so this will make its way up the ranks in the staff.
They really don't care
Exactly, they just care about their whiny stupid ass unions.
They are more concern on profits than the value of customers and customers experience. Look at there company stocks is pretty low….
Attendant : Why are you taking pictures?
Sam: I am Sam :)
@@Tun--Tun Does your mom even know?
@@Tun--Tun does your mom even alive
Sam I am.
I was just about to post this!
I'm surprised they didn't recognize him!
Bottom Line: If you want to have a better probability of enjoying your vacation or travel, fly one of the Asian airlines. Flown International Business for 30+years, American Flight 169 1:13am LAX-HND Seat 1A was the worst flight service I have ever experienced. Red Head flight attendant was swearing in the galley with the crew and loud talking the entire flight, ear plugs did not help. She would just walk to me and stare, and hold something out (roll, napkin etc) not talk or smile. The crew accused me of taking the headphones at end of flight, told the gentlemen to look in my seat, which he did, as I said there wasn't a headphone in the seat to begin with. 15 minutes later he apologized as they found the missing headset somewhere on the plane. Absolutely the worst airline, crew, food, sleep, stress I have had on plane. I am a loyalty member with 2million miles and I have yet to cash my miles since I don't want to fly with American.
I have been flying AA for the majority of my career and I can clearly vouch for the massive decline in customer service throughout AA’s culture. It has grown so anti-customer that my wife and I will never fly them again now that we have retired.
Thank you for that candid opinion.
When we flew with AA this past summer and had issues with baggage counter personel, I had the distinct impression that I was interacting with a third-world beauracracy instead of an American corporation. This was in Orlando. They had four people sitting there doing nothing, while the only one who could string a sentence together politely lied to us about where our luggage my be, causing us to wait around for hours for no good reason. It felt like an interaction with a state employee in the Middle East, or in Latin America, or or in the Indian Subcontinent, but not America. Maybe they should change the name.
Guys, think about it, if you’re not an influencer with millions of followers like Sam, how would they treat you for the same case scenario?
Tbf, Sam isn’t as well known in the US as compared to Asia and the Middle East
you're giving youtube way too much credit. Most people in the "real" world have no clue who this guy is.... curb your enthusiasm.
I am big on Sam Chui and his being an aerophile. I do not know what the penalties are for international service but they are huge here in the States (up to 4x the cost of the original fare plus food and lodging). I refuse to fly American not only because of anecdotal reports but because I had their credit card at one point only to have them cut me off with no fanfare over a simple mistake on my part. I have no respect for American Airlines whatsoever.
They treat you like crap that’s how.
I expect the identical service - But I know I shall recieve much less service than Mr. Puffball.
I flew from Texas DFW to Florida, paid extra for Premium economy, window seat, flight delayed for hours, sent me to another terminal about 15 min. away, when I got there, the rescheduled back to the terminal I just came from. I have to rush, only 15 min. to make it; finally got on another flight, downgraded to economy, middle seat, accepted it because I just wanted to get home. Total nightmare. Now to AA credit, I complained, sent out a couple of emails, I was given 23k miles. I gave you the shortest version but trust me when I tell you it was a pure nightmare.
@@Blue_Angel.555 pretty much had the same situation, waiting on refund for the main cabin extra, also gonna ask for some extra miles.
When was this, though?
Did you file a complaint or a refund request ? next time file one and never take the first offer typically I ask for 500 and always get at least 300-350 flight credit
sent me to another terminal, is NOT American, it's the airport, this make the gate.
DEI and Affirmative action hire destroyed American Airlines.
Sam Chui criticising an airline before GTA 6, I don't believe it.
He has been doing it before, but not on spot like that fraud wannabe Aussie with a fake accent. On the spot, he mentions the areas of improvement. But detailed feedback is done separately.
@@lalithrajaurs7111 Real 😂
XD
I’m a retire airline employee from the mid 60’s. Travel was very different and catered to the passengers exclusively and a bit over the top. I believe the downfall of all of the
local carriers, AA, UA, Delta, etc was when frequent flyers were allowed to demand and disrespect the airline and their crews. People who didn’t have the means for airfare were now taking advantage of extreme credit card spending just to fly. Unfortunately their lack of appreciation for this privilege was rudeness and irresponsible behavior. I’m old so I can finally say what I have been feeling about this since the 90’s…LOL!😂😂
I also wonder how much employees are paid. That could have something to do with it, in addition to promoting middle management types according to quotas.
I prefer canceling my trip rather than boarding an Anerican Airlines flight again.
At least now we know the cancellations will yield a refund..
Same
I started flying with American in 1973, but of course that was an entirely different era. In the last 15 years, I’ve avoided American at all costs because every single flight - EVERY FLIGHT - had a problem. It ranged from lost luggage to the FAs unable to open the stuck exit door to missed connections to an abandoned landing because they sent an aircraft with defective brakes to land at an airport where it was snowing. When we returned back to our departure airport, PHL, no staff offered any suggestions on how to rebook. Passengers were actually crying. The first officer finally helped us rebook. On one flight, I carried a tiny corp logo pouch around my neck from a seminar - the gate agent acted as if I had a bomb. She screamed, “stuff that pouch in your carryon,” so I did. I cut my hand in the process, and I take blood thinners. I needed a roll of paper towels to stop the bleeding, and they said we can’t board you because you’re bleeding. I hollered back, “YOU CAUSED IT!” When they merged with USAir, my son said, “Two s__t airlines now become one s__t airline.”
me too!
I had a Chicago to Rochester MN flight get delayed 6 hrs due to mx..then another hr from storms .... could have driven and been home already 😅
@@wotan10950 that's what happened to me but no one came to rebook us. They literally said sorry flights are booked to Burlington all today and tomorrow and I don't think anything is available the day after that either.. I was like, how can you just sit there and tell me your not gonna get me home. And then they refused to let me take a flight into a state I didn't have residency in. Despite being so close to home in NY it I got into new Jersey the only flight available. But they said they don't allow passengers to fly to a state different from the one they are scheduled to arrive at. Now I saw at least 5 people (their were 200 of us stranded) got flights into NY, NJ, and Burlington Vermont. I was supposed to be dropped in Vermont by the plane and only 2 hour drive for my momma. Instead they said I'm not getting home on a plain. Or a rental car, I wasn't given hotel voucher transportation voucher or food voucher like the 70 people that were in front of me. And when I said that they stranded me here they should also provide me a room since my home was nowhere close. I overheard a seat on flight to Jersey which would have brought me a few hours from NY. Rather than trapped down in Atlanta
I have the same problem with United and Dulles. THere's some curse going on there. It's just oddball.
American Airlines lost my luggage in Charlotte, New York JFK, in the middle of the damn winter, Tampa, Santa Ana, and Ontario, on top of being at least 30 to 45 minutes late every single time, i’ve had three rude flight attendants back to back, and gate changes in terminal changes every single time. they’ve left me stranded in Charlotte. I’ve always had to rebook with Southwest and Delta without a single refund from them. American also did not treat me well when I tried to fly them after surgery, and I ended up rebooking on Southwest because I had had enough.
I'm Retired now, but I traveled a lot with my job, i found that I tried to use foreign airlines instead of US carriers, got much better service with them, I didn't travel like you do, and my company paid my fare, so i didn't get the top tier service you get with all the travel points, I traveled in economy and business class and all airlines offered free food and beverage service including alcoholic drinks as well. But it seemed the foreign carriers had better quality compared to their American counter parts as far as food and presentation, and the attendants were friendlier. I realize that everyone seems short staffed nowadays .
I agree..even Turkish Airline is better than any American, Delta, United class..
American Airlines need to improve their delay and cancelled flight management also, all too common now
Delays and cancellations are not airlines fault. They can be caused by many factors (like the weather, the traffic, late passengers, technical issues, microsoft outage…). Please stop blaming airlines for that.
Really????? You delusional brat.
@@Youtub77W Really??? All American airlines are horrible. You poor schmo.
@@LINJ638 I’m not talking about american carriers but about every airlines in the world. Why are you here if you don’t know anything about aviation.
on the other hand they are very flexible with rebooking... AA rebooked my LHR-MIA flight to fly on Qatar Airways via Doha and LAX, so it made up for the cancellation haha
After several very frustrating experiences with American Airlines, I will never fly with them again. Ever.
AA just did this to a famous rapper named Juvenile. Him and his wife were up in VIP. They came to him and said he was downgraded to couch but his wife was not. He simply got off the plane. They even do it to celebrities
I will never fly with American Airlines ever again.
I flew from London to Dallas, and what was supposed to go to final destination Albuquerque.
In Dallas the flight was delayed and finally cancelled to Albuquerque. The AA staff told us that we were now stand-by ticket holders and that we might be lucky and be able to leave the next day, they day after that or some other day that week. We were on vacation from Sweden so we could not be hanging out in the Airport for days so we Asked to get our luggage and we would rent a car and drive to Albuquerque our selves. The staff said that we should not leave the air port, and btw all rental cars and hotel rooms were all taken any way. The luggage was not given to us either, since that was impossible since that had made on to the flight that we were supposed to be on, but was cancelled.
We were told that we would get rwimbursed for the Dallas - Albuquerque leg since AA was not able to fly us as we paid them to do. On the way out we heard the AA staff providing a few blankets to some lucky recepients, and the AA staff went around in a golf cart throwing blankets. They said to each other "this is the bets part of this job, to see these stranded people fighting over blankets like animals", cheering each other on...
We left the Airport and raced in a rental car to Albuquerque, some 629 miles (sleeping a few hours in a Motel on the way) to make it to ABQ before our luggage got confiscated (see our luggage was able to make it from DFW to ABQ) and our rental car in ABQ was going to be cancelled (24 HR late).
We finally got our luggage and the correct rental car, some 24 hrs late but at least we didnt spend the vacation on DFW.
Needless to say this ordeal cost us quite a bit of money, stress and anxeity. We went on our road trip and had a great time the rest of the vacation (after catching up on sleep and schedule a few days) thinking we would be greatly reimbursed and helped retroactivley by American Airlines.
I sent a complaint to AA and they didnt even get back to me. I sent again and again. No help, nor reimbursment. I finally sent to the president of AA, a bunch of board members and to the BBB in the US to try to get some help, but I never got a dime, or even an apology for all that AA cause and the way the acted and handled the situation.
That is why I never will fly with American Airlines again.
As a comparison. Last year we were late five hours with BA from SFO to LHR and we got reimbursed almost the whole cost of the tickets....
United is worse.
@@roamaroundgisg7362 Actually, I think UA and AA are in a race to the bottom. Either one can honestly claim that prize on any given day. If you want a reliable airline whose airplane won't fall apart mid-flight, then fly Delta. Sure, Delta has cut many corners, too, but at least their service is reliable and the personnel are both friendly and helpful.
AMERICAN Airlines and United Airlines are two worst shit birds flying the skies . ABSOLUTE WORST !!
Boohoo
When they said they were getting rid of first class I knew that they threw out their standards. Such a shame that most American carriers have thrown their standards out of window.
yeah and you have to throw hard because it are tiny windows.
Do they only get rid of A321 First class or also 777-300ER First class???
U.S treats its workers like dog crap and then expects them to be motivated to work.
The first class wasn’t amazing though, only food is good. The new business class seats look better.
Just introduse the 4 class - wodden benches on row - cheap for everyone and ceo gets a big pay ,
American Airlines, like most other airlines in America are: 'All style, No substance'
More like no style, zero sunstance
They are like a school on Saturday---No class.
With is a bummer as the US sure has had some good airlines.
I used to fly NWa transatlantic and they where always so friendly to fly with. Like they really did there best to make you feel welcome.
Even Delta when they took over NWa for a time was still fine.
Now if I would fly the route (Amsterdam to Portland Org) I fly Icelandic. the flight is nice plus the stop over at Iceland is at the best point as it's at the point that it's nice to have the ability to just walk around a bit.
Because Americans are passive passengers. Mostly. And when they are not they get dragged off the plane
We used to say about american cars, « all show and no go ». 50 years on and ot’s still true😉
Sam, The FAA prohibits the use of glass containers before takeoff primarily for safety reasons. Once the plane reaches cruising altitude, glass containers may be allowed, depending on the airline's policy.
Sam, you missed one important fact on that 777 AA flight, the economy cabin has 3-4-3 seat configuration.
AA reconfigured all their 777 economy cabins from 2-5-2 to 3-4-3 about 10 years ago.
They had to squeeze in one more seat per row to make more profit over passenger comfort and safety.
I am a frequent AA flier having over million miles with AA.
I have travelled a lot in the past 25 years and have flown many airlines in the world.
AA and United are the only airlines having 3-4-3 777 economy seat configuration while rest of the airlines I have flown have 3-3-3.
I try to avoid AA as much as possible but it is difficult to avoid AA as DFW area residence.
If AA truly care about passenger safety as they claim in cabin announcement, they should not try so hard to squeeze as many passengers as possible.
Virtually all 777s are now 10-abreast in Y class. If not mistaken only JAL and ANA still have some 9-abreast 777s. Just like the 747s in the early years that were 9-abreast an quickly change to 10-abreast, and DC-10s and L-1011s that were 8-abreast and changed to 9 abreast. The 787 was also really designed for 8-abreast Y class but virtually all operators (except JAL) operate them with 9-abreast.
🤣🤣
The problem with AA is that they don't have any incentive to improve. If they go bankrupt, the government will save them...
same for Boeing. make planes worse than toys.
@@kinennsa even if Boeing performs bad in the consumer market like their passenger planes, their defense sector will carry them on with absolutely no problems. From missiles, drones to air tankers, to experimental jets and fighter jets. Boeing can lose millions of dollars on their passenger plane fleet but will gain tens of billions of dollars through anything military related. If Congress keeps approving aid to foreign countries in the form of money/arms/equipment/vehicles, the military industrial complex (i.e Boeing) will have to keep making more, keeping them in business... as well as making Congress even richer... So yeah, Boeing unfortunately is not going away anytime soon or anytime in the future
The other problem is the other airlines are just as bad. There is really no true competition.
Here's the problem with AA. They keep economy fares at the same level as low-cost airlines like Spirit, Ryan Air, etc. AA must make up for lower revenue by cutting costs. The first area for cuts is service-related labor costs.
Same for ALL too big to fail companies. They all need to be allowed to go bankrupt and out of business, now that they are considered "people" they can be treated like the rest of us and be expected to learn from their mistakes. There is ALWAYS a medium size company ready to step in and not make the same mistake.
July 23, 2001. I booked a flight from New York to San Salvador, El Salvador via Miami. It was a 1 way. I was heading back home to live cause I was about to start college. The lady at the counter in JFK told me I needed a flight back which I explained I didnt cause Im also a salvadorean citizen. I showed her my documents. They MADE ME buy a round trip tkt that at the time cost me $938 dollars which is all I had in cash at the moment (I was 19 and had no credit cards) long story short, I took the flight, and cried my entire way home to San Salvador. I arrived and the next day i filed a complaint and demanded they give me back my money. This was before 9/11, so I was lucky they processed my refund. Ever since, i have NEVER, EVER taken another flight in that god forsaken hell of an airline nor will I. I rather WALK that step foot in any of those planes ever again. The food is disgusting, the service is a shitshow and even worse, the prices are so ridiculous for the awful service u get. No thanks. Next->
Damn. And this was back in 2001, before 9/11 happened. One would think it was better back then.
@@BookSuburbia they are supposed to refund my hotel room and any costs I incurred due to leaving me stranded their. I am on disability and I never mentioned it till I was told they were so sorry I should have been given accommodations not left stranded and to send receipt for hotel stay and any other receipts from costs I had to pay due to ignorance of the airline. I was grateful to get the 400 dollars back from the hotel I should have been given a voucher to stay at like the other 200 people stranded on my flight delayed 3 different times for 3 different reasons. Excuse me 4 reasons unrelated. Just a space cadette that forgot he needed fuel another space cadette that mislabeled lugage or something and had to go deal with paperwork, then the weather turned really bad and delayed another half hour and then when ready to go they said we were last in line for take off and we all boarded that plane at least a half hour before the others that were all taking off. We were last then we got rerouted then had to wait in the air doing circles waiting a 40 minute wait for our turn to land. And when I found out that they are only refunding 150 dollars for that hotel room I couldn't believe it
It's been since mid April and I still haven't seen that stupid 150 dollars. The damn hotel room I needed was 400 which overdrew my account because disability doesn't pay enough to feed myself for the month let alone pay my bills and have 400 dollar surprise hotel rooms. I was promised refund of ANY COST I INCURRED FOR BEING LEFT STRANDED. So you better believe this is when I pulled the card I shouldn't have.
"I can't believe this is how you treat your disabled guests with disabilities limited income and an entire airline oblivious to their own protocols when it comes to making passengers miss flights
@@BookSuburbia Delays and cancellations caused by us
When your flight is canceled, significantly delayed, or a delay could cause you to miss your connection, we’ll rebook you on our next flight with available seats at no additional cost. If no American Airlines flights are available until the next day, we’ll rebook you on one of our partner airlines at no additional cost.
In cases where a delay or cancellation is caused by us, upon request we’ll give you:
A voucher for an approved hotel with available rooms if you are delayed overnight if you’re away from your city of residence.
Transportation to a hotel and back to the airport by hotel shuttle / third-party transportation service, or a transportation voucher.
Meal vouchers if your delay is 3 or more hours after your scheduled departure.
If we can’t provide you with a voucher for an approved hotel, we’ll reimburse you for reasonable hotel costs. If a hotel shuttle / third-party transportation service isn’t available, or we can’t provide you with a transportation voucher, we’ll reimburse you for reasonable transportation costs."
American airlines own handbook is where I pulled that little speech about how they promise to take care of hotels food and transportation if they delay you. And they straight up refused to book me a flight with another airline
Robert Isom is the reason this airline is plummeting to the ground. He refuses to give his flight attendants an industry leading contract- almost took a strike to get their pilots contract, cut corners be operating international flights with the bare minimum of flight attendants, all while Isom and upper management is pocketing tens of millions of dollars. Once the public calls him out and many of the upper management is replaced with management who makes their employees feel valued thus making their customers feel valued this poor service standard will continue to happen. It starts from the top. AA has such the potential to be an amazing airline but all management cares about is lining THEIR pockets
Did Boeing learn from American or American learn from Boeing? If I go across the pond I would first look at Asian carriers e.g. SIA (Manchester- Houston) or Air India etc Never considered an American carrier due to the feedback I get from those who give them a chance.
I think Doug Parker started the downward slide before Mr. Isom took over. The stockholders should take over the airline and hire executives who will restore it to the legacy that Bob Crandall built!
@@RSwrightMDyeah we all know how that ended
@@amazer747 i hear Air India is still pretty bad, many Indian co-workers say they would rather take a US airline than Air India to India. Maybe it got a bit better recently but AI used to be very bad
@@amazer747 You are taking a safety risk flying Air India. The safety record of the (4) dominant U.S. carriers is very good.
All the American based carriers lost their glory. Terrible "service" and just no more charm.
Such a shame.
The "no more charm" also comes via the "courtesy" of our fellow travelers. Rude, crude, loud, entitled and obnoxious. Civility and good manners have long gone out the window. Ugh.
Did it start with the recession of 1989-1992 of George HW Bush and that airline that went under like Eastern Airlines, and Pan Am?
We travel frequently to and from England. Our experience with BA has always been positive, good food and service. American Airlines who partners with BA has the filthiest planes, rudest staff and the worst food and because of that we go out of our way to avoid AA.
last time they had class was when PAN AM, TWA and NWA still flying :(
Not only the Airlines……the country itself as well. This process started already 20 years ago
Small tip. In business take the time to glimpse under your seat and between corners. You will get plenty of food for free. Seats are never ever cleaned. Remember this when you fit snugly into it. Bon voyage
AA management is taking corporate greed to a breaking point. Care for passengers’ needs has vanished a long time ago. Crews are usually condescending towards passengers if you need them for anything. It annoys me when they try to push their credit card program after having despised the customer during the entire flight… I avoid flying AA as much as I can.
My seat in business class from GRU(Sao Paulo) to DFW did not function at all. The touch panel for the seat control did not work. I complained and asked for some compensation either cash difference for business fare and economy or a systemwide upgrade. All they ended up providing was 5000 miles in compensation. They did not recognize that a faulty seat in business class on an 11 hour overnight flight was a big deal. They claimed that I had a private space where I was seated, lounge access, priority baggage handling and fine dining. So they downplayed the faulty seat. What a shameless airline they have become.
I can’t believe they claimed that you should be happy with a broken seat because you got the other perks of business class? lol
That’s terribly shameless and a total rip off for you. Sorry to hear that.
wow, thats really bad, like lounge access and better food is nice, but on 3 - 4 hours flight, on 11 hours flight the seat is the most important thing for which you are paying for as you want to sleep and be comfortable, for me hard products is way more important than soft product when flying business class thats why Emirates 777 are terrible in my opinion because of 2-3-2 seating, I prefer not so good service and 1-2-1 seating instead. Really shame on American Airlines for this, if they weren't able to reseat you, you should have got free upgrade voucher (or the amount of mile needed for upgrade and 5k miles is not enough for sure)
This is why I ALWAYS use my AMEX Platinum. This happened to me not long ago. I argued with the Airline and they kept refusing. Amex challenged them next saying the service/seat I paid for was not provided. AMEX charged the airline back from "false advertising of service"
I've had a few issues flying out of GIG. I fly Delta now.
I had the same problem with Iberia from Madrid to LAX. A 12 hour flight with no electricity on my row of seats and the one behind. I got a 10% discount voucher for my next flight. No matter which airline you fly with there are always issues. Too many people, too many flights.
I’ve said for years now that AA is on a race to the bottom! They don’t care at all! Sorry you flew them Sam. Thanks for the video!
Although not great standard, but I still enjoyed flying the B777-300/ER and a window seat! The sheer joy of flying comes in many ways!
@@SamChui Thanks for pointing out the positives. The marvel of flight is always amazing! You do great work!
Robert Crandall is probably ashamed of what AA has become.
@@frankgrimesification. Right-
@@frankgrimesification A once proud airline stoops to new lows.
I've flown American 4 times in economy between LHR and LAX, the last time being this May (and for 350 usd roundtrip may I add, including a hop from and back to Prague). And I can't say one bad word against them. They're always on time, food in economy is decent, IFE is good (they put seasons of shows in, not just a few random episodes), their crews are consistently friendlier than any of the European airlines I've flown on before, connection at Heathrow is super easy as Prague BA flights and all AAL flights are within T3..
I always end up going back to them for one reason or another.. be it the price I got the last time or convenient departure times (namely the late night departure out of LAX for London). Objectively, you'll have a better experience flying KLM (service, food, AMS is a great airport to fly thru as well). Swiss would be my 3rd go-to. Air France flies out of CDG and that's not gonna happen again, Lufthansa is a hot mess (constantly delayed, planes not cleaned in between long haul flights, IFE not working on one 11hr flight, and not working audio on the way back, rude staff, disgusting food on board,..)..
We need to understand that many American businesses are operated with one objective: grow the C-suite bonuses. Someone slipped up here and scheduled one more flight attendant than exit doors. Why pay for 15 flight attendants when you can get by with 10? Fortunately the days of neoliberalism seem to be coming to an end with employees gaining more influence and sensible government regulation starting to take hold. About time, the travel experience on U.S. flag carriers has been in a race to the bottom since the 1979 introduction of airline deregulation.
Too long of a story to write not as crazy as yours, but just flew on the 18th from the Caribbean to Charlotte from Charlotte Las Vegas Charlotte our flight was delayed to Las Vegas and then canceled with no resolution until the following afternoon at 3 PM then they expected us to stand in a five hour line to get to customer service. We were unable to get a hold of American Airlines via phone. I finally walked up to a random gate, and one of the agents helped me change my flight. They were boarding in 10 minutes. She was extremely helpful. It wasn’t her flight or anything, but that’s a way to do it. Walk up to a random gate not busy and one of the ask one of the gate attendants to help you change your flight if possible.
Thanks for sharing your story here!
Hi Sam🙂
I am writing from Japan.
I recently flew business class from Toronto to New York (LaGuardia), although it is a short-haul route.
I usually fly Japan Airlines(JAL) mainly for both domestic and international flights, and I can say without a doubt that JAL's service level is the best in the world.
Therefore, I expected the level of service on American Airlines to be at the same level as I had expected, so I was not disappointed but rather felt that the service was as expected.
I also would like to strongly emphasize that JAL's excellence was even more pronounced, especially since after the American Airlines flight, I flew in First Class on JAL's new flagship Airbus A350-1000 on a 14-hour flight from New York (JFK) to Tokyo (Haneda)✈
I believe JAL has climbed to even higher heights by adding Airbus A350-1000 the latest technology (hardware) to the already excellent service level (software). I think it is fair to say that JAL is now on par with Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines, two of the Skytrax 5-star regulars.
I look forward to seeing your videos of JAL's Airbus A350-1000 First & Business class.
"A glimpse into the world proves that horror is nothing other than reality"
- Alfred Hitchcock
I stopped flying American Airlines in 2008 when I encountered the rudest flight attendant in 38 years of flying to 62 countries. I'll NEVER fly American again. That experience was just that awful.
Yes, I agree.AA is the worst air line in USA.
Unfortunately, they are all the same now. And having 3 airlines monopolizing 90% of the routes doesn’t leave with much of a choice.
Sad thing is that we invented luxury flight travel. And look where we are. A bus ride in china or Japan feels more luxurious than first class in an American carrier.
Funny how 1 altercation ruined your view on an airline.
@@thomthomas08 "One bad apple CAN spoil the whole bushel." It was THAT bad!
@@deanbush okay. I would have filed a complaint and kept on flying with American. Cause a lot could have changed since 2008…
Two year ago I had a three-leg (Sydney - Los Angeles - Miami - Bogota ) international flight from Sydney to Bogota (Columbia). The second leg of the flight is AA. AA is undoubtedly the worst airlines i have flown in my 50 years of air travel. During the whole 6-hour flight I got only one bottle of water. The cabin crew disappeared soon after handing out the water. The toilets were very dirty and the toilet floors was wet and slippery (I don't think the cabin crew had cleaned the toilets during the flight) . I will never fly on AA again even if I am given a complimentary air ticket.
We had the same situation with JetBlue Airlines from Seattle to NYC. They changed planes and downgraded us, and instead of refunding us the difference between economy and premium economy, they gave us "store credit". I had to call them and was on hold for 4 hours and at the end of the conversation the customer service agent manager said out of the goodness of her heart she would refund me the difference. Which was rightfully mine and not theirs I seriously believe that American-operated Airlines needs to take a lesson in customer service with the top 10 airlines in the world.
damn - true😎
BA and AA, what a disastrous combination! I will avoid both airliners if possible.
i had my terrible experience with both this year , no communication between them , flight cancelation etc
(airlines)
One World that’s why.
British Airways is a really good airline, unless you go on the bad flights like this in my opinion.
@@PearlxyRobloxBA is terrible. One of the worst. I try to go for Air France if I can
People often forget, AA is now owned & being operated by the old America West which was a LCC so its no wonder that a legacy carrier is now operating like an LCC if not ULCC
Absolutely correct. The management team of America West (i.e. US Airways) took over after their bankruptcy filing in and simultaneous merger with US Airways in 2013. That's when it really started to go downhill. There was a very ambitious and impressive program to improve service standards with turndown service, etc just prior to the bankruptcy, but it was quickly watered down by the new management team. Very recently they even announced that they wanted to be primarily a domestic premium carrier. International standards was not one of their priorities. The serivce level now is spotty at best. It's so sad what happened to this carrier.
@@stephanthien4666I don’t understand? So America West bought U.S. and then also bought American? Then why is the airline still called American? Not America west?
For first class this is absolutely unacceptable
It was business class, not first.
AMERICAN Airlines and United Airlines are two worst shit birds flying the skies . ABSOLUTE WORST !!
I'm a Gold member in both American Airlines and Emirates. Being a resident in Dallas, I fly AA in all domestic destination and Emirates for International. I think Sam is spoiled by the high-quality that Emirates offers 😂 Emirates always raises the bar when it comes to quality and service. BTW, If you think American Airlines provides poor service, just wait until you try Delta or United!
I was recently stranded in Charlotte due to multiple delays and I missed my connection. There were over 20 people with me and we ended up sleeping by the food court sofa area , which was freezing. No help whatsoever from the counter and even more delays the day after. I will never fly with American again on that route…
Hooo o boy the same happened to me. Florida to Kentucky. Stop in Charlotte for more than 12 hours because of delays.
@@jonaes yep charlotte is a nightmare
Charlotte is awful. The American staff are always rude with attitudes.
@@flyski7473 No different than any other AA station (which is not a good thing).
@@flyski7473 That is if you can find staff. Last time I went through CLT after a four hour delay, there was no gate agent. You are on your own with American. I have executive platinum status and can't get a refund after a downgrade from business to economy in June. American sucks!! I never travel without a problem. We are just money to them.
I tried American Airlines once and had a string of cancelled and rescheduled flights. I had a week off from work and AA literally destroyed my Florida vacation- I never did make it to Florida. Never, ever again will I do business with them.
I won't relate my "experience" to the UK over 9-11 .. Let's just say, the UK operates at 99.99% capacity on all infrastructure. Except when it comes to letting moslems in.
Just flew from Japan to DFW on AA; had the casper sleep set and the food was decent (maybe because made in japan?). After the meal I asked them to spread the Casper padding and they said "no you need to do it yourself" and I asked how to do it, the flight attendant, also wearing bright orange union/protest accessories said "i dont know how to do it, i have never been a passenger in business class". Its pretty comical and even as executive platinum, US-based carriers for long haul are the last on my list for a reason.
Wow, that is kind of insane. I flew to Japan in ANA business, and the flight attendant INSISTED to make the bed for me, even when I only asked her to show me how so I could do it myself. The difference in quality of service is astounding.
When booking a tour, I always ask my agent to try to avoid American. The crew is always sour and/or indifferent. I've seen crew roll their eyes at passengers. I flew LHR-LAX last November and the crew on our aisle was saying awful things about their fellow crew on the other aisle, as if we couldn't hear them. My friend in the aviation industry calls them bitter Dallas cows🤣.
@@techietam you can't go wrong with japanese flight attendant.. @@!
Were they BLM, or Antifa, or Oil Justice?
I flew with AA recently from LAS to DFW to CMH, and it was fine for the most part. We got an A321 to DFW, smooth and comfortable plane as always, and then when we got to DFW, our flight was delayed by about 15 minutes, no biggie, we eventually get on the plane (737-800) and sit on it for an hour before the captain announced that he didn’t deem the plane airworthy and didn’t feel comfortable flying it, so we had to switch aircraft. Now I’m completely fine with this, for one reason, and that’s that safety was put first. I asked to see the flight deck and when I was in there I noticed on the EICAS that the issue was with hydraulic pressure, so definitely not airworthy. But again, I’m okay with this because safety was put first. We could’ve flown out on that plane and something bad could’ve happened, but instead the pilot said no, he’s not flying it for our safety. Our replacement plane (another 737-800) pulled up from DTW in around an hour and we were on and boarded within another 45 minutes and ready for departure, and again flight was fine, so overall I’m pleased with my experience with AA, because again they put safety first, and worked hard to make sure we got home safely.
737-800 doesn’t have EICAS, and there wouldn’t have been any hydraulic pressure at the gate because the pumps aren’t on. Other than that you’ve closely assessed the problem perfectly.
I’m sorry, but former cabin crew member here: when we’re short-staffed, usually service takes longer, not shorter. Also, I never understood why some crew are rushing to crew rest when the flight time is over 10 hours. Like, sweetie, where do you think you’re going? These customers aren’t going anywhere and people will naturally get thirsty and hungry. A 17 minute service up front, if the Express Dining option is not chosen, is simple laziness and bad taste. Customers want an experience, unless we’re told otherwise.
Sam flying Etihad and Emirates First Class for the longest that even AA Business makes him feel like an Economy Peseant! 😂
That flight from DFW to LAS lmao. Sam experiences domestic U.S. air travel. 😂😂😂😂
😂 well I do fly more than a dozen domestic but it is mostly uninspiring with hardy any special features so I never really care to make a video about it!
@@SamChui Yep, a flying Uber with no leg room. 😂
@@Algorerhythm SLAVE!!!!!
yes the standard is.. 3 stars :)
DEI and Affirmative action hire destroyed American Airlines.
Stopped flying all US carriers long-haul ages ago…just flew Cathay Pacific yesterday from ORD-HKG - new A350-1000 - superb food, seats and service in Premium Economy. EVA my other fav, top notch across the board.
We fly AA due to my wife points. We recently spent 2 days due to weather and a mechanical delaies, flying from Tampa to Cleveland. We used a service through my wifes Platnum American Express card to navigate the system and get us home. Kudos to AA for getting out lugage to our destination as it flew out on a earlier flight, that was delayed at the connection. Unfortunately, the AA staff appears to have no interest in helping the customers.
I recently flew Vistara from Delhi to Mumbai, about a 2.5 houd flight. The plane was clean and new. The staff was very friendly. We even got a meal! What a difference.
Being retired BA staff I have to say that no, I don't like the new uniform. Nothing would induce me to wear the jumpsuit version! So sorry you have this terrible experience with AA but pleased that BA sorted out your delay in BCN.
I flew AA/British Airways to London last year. Never again. We tried to reach British Airways on the phone in London before heading home. We were never able to connect to a live person at BA to answer our flight home questions. Customer service was non-existent. Our BA flight was 3 hours late leaving London for the USA due to a problem with the aircraft. We finally arrived in Austin at 10pm having missed our connecting flight home. No one was at the counter for BA and AA said they couldn't help. We had to go to a hotel that night at our expense when we wanted to be home. BA did book us on another flight the next morning so we got home. I did submit all our expenses from the missed flight. The hotel, meals, etc. BA did reimburse me for those missed flight expenses. However, the lack of customer service from BA was startling and I'd never fly them again.
Like most of us know, flying today isn't exactly a fun experience. From crowded airports, delayed or canceled flights, having to pay for everything now (bags, drinks, emergency aisle row seats) and packed airplanes with shrinking legroom.
My contention is American corporate greed is killing customer service in the airlines. The C-suites only care about profit margins, their stock price and the impact it has on their PERSONAL compensation packages. American capitalism has gotten out of control and no one in government is holding these executives accountable. Why? these politicians get elected by these companies donations to their election campaigns. What a great, corrupt system for the 1 percenters.
Nailed it! Corporate greed.
And then there’s also the lack of a true national “flag carrier” in the US. Most other countries have a national carrier that represents their country and they tend to go the extra mile to advertise in this way.
@@JohnSmith-xx9thWe do. All our airlines that fly international are our national carriers.
Heathrow is one of the worst airports because you have to take and wait for busses. AA has a decent hard product but their soft product and stews are on the bad side. The almost negative attitude permeates the entire product line.
Totally agree
100% agree, Heathrow is the worst airport - staff with shitty attitudes, confusing and non-functional amenities...oy vaye, I avoid that place like the plague.
@@wisdomcards7695 oh yes!
I live ~30 minutes west of LHR so obviously have never needed to transfer there. The Tube also runs between the terminals and is free. T5 to T(1/)2/3 is one stop. Tap on, tap off with your phone, you won't be charged unless you go past Hatton Cross into town.
T4 is a change and go back, but still free.
Whilst talking transfers, why don't Americans understand them?
I flew LHR-JFK-GRU (Sāo Paulo, Brazil) and had to collect my luggage, do the full immigration thing, and found myself on the street in NY. I walked to the entrance, checked in my bags and myself for my second leg...
Only to end up boarding the aircraft which was next to the BA one that took me there. A 90 minute process could have been reduced to 90 seconds.
Hard product is significantly more important anyways.
I flew from Dublin to Charlotte on a 777 with the old rear facing seat. Aircraft was tired but not as old as the cabin crew. I’m 67 and they made me feel young. They too wanted to get you on seated, fed and then disappear. I was told off for not setting my table up quickly enough and for failing to read the menu so she had to come back. It was far from being a premium service. This was like flying Ryanair, especially when my previous flight had been on Qatar in Q suites. I have to say the American Airlines business / first experience nowadays can only be described as “we do the bare minimum”. As you said fortunately for them being part of the one world alliance keeps feeding them customers
"I’m 67 and they made me feel young" lol
Don't bash Ryanair, as bad rep as they get, they are much better than most US airlines, 🤣
NOTHING is like flying Ryan air ... they are an adventure (if you are up for it) ... EasyJet is so much better.
I agree. I started flying American in 1988, when they offered triple miles. This merger with US Scare was the worst decsion ever
@@LandParkColby Agree, I'm trying to avoid Ryanair, only exception is when I fly to Vienna as they are using their Lauda subsidiary which is way better.
I totally agree with you. AA's business class food is one of the worst in the industry. I wonder if AA executives bother to take other airlines such as Singapore, ANA or JAL to find out what other airlines are serving. As for business class service, it is one of the worst in the industry. Most of time, they don't greet you and they don't say goodbye. One time, I had a flight attendant throwing napkins. It wasn't just me as he was doing it to everyone. I have been flying AA for several decade, but I see no desire to improve whatsoever.
Ya'll never tried United, huh?
I avoid AA as long as I can. I fly Asian, midle Eastern, or European Airlines. I am an American, and I I ashamed of our carriers - all of them.
totally agree.
As a fellow American I fully agree. But unfortunately those guys at AA don’t care what so ever. It’s all about Profits 💸💸 for them.
European airlines are no better than North American airlines. They are actually worse. European airlines are so atrocious that their international business class seats have no lay flat bed and they just leave one empty seat beside you when you pay business class fare and you can’t lay down!! Make No Mistake, this is the standard of European airlines (except Turkish) INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS class fare. Even on USA DOMESTIC First class (there’s no Business class for domestic North American), we have lay flat seats. What a joke that you included European airlines as “better” when you swiped US carriers. It is obvious that you hardly ever fly international. Source: I am Asian frequent flier, and I’m emerald status with One World
I just flew American from Phil to Las Vegas in premium economy and we had a fabulous crew. In December 2023 I flew from Phil to Orlando on American and we parked 1 hr before boarding stressed we weren’t even going to check our bags and make the flight and American staff reassured us they could take our bags (at this point it was 30 min until boarding) and they helped us get to security and made sure we made our flight. Maybe the Phil crews for American are just the exception but I’m happy to have had a great experience with them in the last 6 months :)
Yeah I always fly American from Philly both domestic and international and it has always been good.
"IT feel like your eating from a 7 Eleven or a Gas station." LOL
I like 7 Eleven… in Japan.
I’m not surprised. Even since Doug Parker took over, AA is a legacy LCC now. I’m a EX PLAT member, and waiting on helpline 30-90 minutes is the norm. That was unheard of before merge with US Air. My last flight LAX to HND, they ran out of premium economy food, and gave my daughter regular economy food. At least they apologized and offered double portion.
Although I have Platinum level with AA, I decided not to pursue status renewal after being abused by AA staff at DFW. Clearly the customer is a burden to AA and their customer care department manages to make things even worst by sending you meaningless form letters that don’t even address your complaint. I will, from now on, only fly AA when there is no alternative. AA truly sucks!
I tried to take AA, after years not flying. Had a panic attack. There is NO room, they pack every square inch with an extra, very narrow seat. I'm 5ft 7, and 130 pounds, but they stuck me in the back row, with a woman about 400lbs. I was further squished, when she took about 1/3 of my seat. I couldn't even put my tray down for something to drink. Then I had the panic attack. I couldn't breathe, and felt like I was being buried alive. Flight attendants were nice and quick to respond. But it was just the most uncomfortable I been in a flight.
Frontier may be budget, but at least they have the larger old seats.
Fat people should have to purchase at least two seats. The laws of physics and aerodynamics do not care if that offends them.
Firstly, British Airwsys' new uniform is ghastly. They went from having one of the most classical uniforms that stood out from other airlines to the absolute worst. Secondly the business class meals look like cafeteria food or economy class terrible for business class passenger.
It’s a good thing the flight attendants were clothed. And there was food. Many can’t fly and don’t even have food on the table if they even have a table.
As a retired 30 years line maintenance mechanic enjoy ur videos. Keep up good work.
One time installed 5th pod B747, Heard passenger tell other on jetway , we are lucky extra engine lol.
Welcome to 2024 where everyone’s lowering their standards across the board. Have you seen what you get for the more expensive Big Mac? It’s everywhere, especially in hospitality. Rooms aren’t what they used to be my guy.
All US Airlines are shit!
even food has been downsized ( shrinkflation )..
everyone lower the standards in everything, everyone has rights values are disappearing...it´s a Shi...world we´re leaving for our kids
In the US, yeah.
But everybody everywhere say: "Not inflation here" 😂
I’m a simple person. For one thing I from a food perspective I don’t really eat anything fancy so just simple sustenance. I’m always find the cheapest flight type of guy. Recently $540 from Indianapolis to Switzerland. Happy if I get a meal, but I’ve usually got some snacks in my backpack maybe some baby food. My number one thing is just asleep and get to my destination Safely without too many noises and sounds to wake me up. If I could ever get a bigger seat that would be great. But actually if they could just stop with entertainment and lights altogether, that’s what I would prefer. Like a sleeping section where everybody just wants to sleep overnight on the long haul and not partake in anything essentially.
Don't thank BA for their vouchers, do thank the EU regulations that guarantees accommodation and f&b in case of irregularities.
Well, you can clearly see this lowering standards in the domestic fleets of the US3 airlines: Delta and United is committed to keeping and installing inflight entertainment on every seat, while American insists on removing them, thinking that it's a good idea to bring your own device, when in fact it is not. Really stands out at which one is the worst.
They think that doing so (no IFE screens in favor of your own device) will keep fares lower than the other two for which it does not.
@@naturallyherb yeah and then the charging port doesn’t work. That’s always fun, make sure to bring a backup charger
My AA flight on June 25th from Athens to Chicago in business class on a 787 was the best flight in terms of service, seat, cleaniness, and food I’ve experienced in many years on AA. I travel both domestic and long haul quite often on AA and Delta. The flight attendants were courteous, professional and just enough fun to create a pleasant flight.
It was a pleasant surprise and honestly it gave me hope for American to standout again.
I have to echo your comment. They have the right amount of professionalism without being starchy and ultra formal. I think that Sam needs to fly them again. American has close to 7,000 flights per day. The chances for things to go sideways on a few is always a possibility.
American Airlines is the absolute Worst airline on planet earth. All of their employees are Rude, Obnoxious and Hate their jobs. They really need to quit and find another job. The food in First and Business Class is inedible. I avoid American Airlines like the Plague. The management at AA should all be FIRED!!
Flying EU airplaines means you are protected by Montreal Convention and Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 .
The food, hotel and indemnity are the least they could offer. Companies usually gives BS reasons why the flight is delayed to avoid to pay indemnity tough.
American Airlines needs to step up their game.
Pay your employees better so that you can retain quality employees. Quality employees brings better service. Better service means happy customers.
Do you think they care? The almighty dollar rules.
Actually flew AA from terminal 3 LHR yesterday with my son. I liked the experience in business class, the flight attendants were WONDERFUL with my son and very helpful and aware. Enjoyed the flight 100% and would definitely fly AA again. Connecting flight to LHR was thru BA and that was horrible, BA is now a “NO GO ZONE” for me.
I flew AA JFK to Athens Greece in business class and it was NOT worth it. I switched back to Delta since I fly to Greece every summer. delta is way better for international in my opinion.
Yes, Delta is such a better operating airline.
I have always had positive experiences with Delta!
Delta is the best! They treat me like a princess! I've never had a bad experience with Delta, I would definitely fly them internationally.
The current AA management has destroyed their brand and the airline. It’s a disgrace what they have done.
And Boeing, also.
@@csaracho2009 How so? Look, I won't deny that Boeing's management has been horrible, profits over quality. But how does that affect American? Or are you just talking about how it destroyed their company's image as well? In which case I agree 100%.
Even though, the delayed plane deliveries and American's premature retirement of the 767s, 757s and A330s has hurt them a good bit.
@AG-Consulting Two Boeings 737 Max crashed with all passangers and crew.
'Designed by clowns…supervised by monkeys:’ Internal Boeing messages slam 737 Max
Also, 10 whistleblowers from which 2 of them had died (coincidentally).
And a long etc.
(This is what I was referring to)
Nothing is perfect.
Sam I know this is the smallest detail but serving plastic cups is a practicality for airlines based in the USA, as the FAA requires that all welcome drinks be put away before pushback, a plastic cup alllows customers to retain the drink longer as it doesn’t have to be thrown away until takeoff
All airlines have the same requirements, Emirates has the same requirement yet they serve everything on glass.
@@criollo that is literally not true. Everyone knows if you fly European carrier and then an American carrier they have very different rules.
SAM, get more Non Airline sponsors so you can rip/praise the airlines accordingly without fear of retribution!!
I flew with American Airlines recently via domestic. during boarding they ask you if their is electronics in your carry on then they put a red tag and you have to give up your carry on at the jet bridge with another employee. My carry on did not have a lock because who would have thought. Proceeded inside the aircraft and we took off. Landed a few hours in Wichita. Picked up my luggages and drove home. When we arrive home I checked my hand carry and guess what my laptop was gone. the rest of my items was still in my carry on but my laptop went missing. American Airlines policy is that they are not LIABLE for Electronics under their conditions of carriage. So a warning for everyone. Do not leave your electronics in your carry on if you are forced to give it up at the jet bridge when flying with American Airlines. They will not help you nor compensate you.
I feel really sorry for you Sam, but about the flight where you almost got downgraded to economy no airline should even be allowed to do that.
Westjet tried that with me before and told me I’d only get 15% back for the downgrade. Meanwhile economy was 1/4 the price of what I paid for business.
Had to dispute the charge through my Amex and was refunded. Rebooked with another airline and will never look back to Westjet.
American Airlines suck. Big time
They all do it.
Most people would rather take economy on the next flight than wait for another day or two for business class, especially if it’s on lousy intra-European “business class”.
They assumed he wanted to get there the same day, most people aren’t taking flights just to post RUclips videos they’re actually trying to get somewhere.
When my family wants to go international, we pick American Airlines economy. And I have to say… it’s not bad! One time the crew gave us a small cup of ice cream and the meals taste pretty good.
I just flew AA long haul business class from Doha to Philadelphia a few days ago. The cabin crew was down a member in business class. They were outstanding though. I generally find that to be true and it’s sad that such great staff work for an airline that has made a business decision to suck.
Robert Isom is to blame. They need an entirely new top management staff. They all have to go
You’d probably have been much better off on Qatar, even if you had to switch in Boston. Their business class is top notch.
Sam, I couldn't agree more. I've flown all Delta, United, and American, and by FAR the worst travel experiences I've had were with American. Even when things go smoothly, their customer experience in first class was absolute crap compared to first or business in United or Delta. I'll never fly American unless I absolutely can't avoid it.
He is 100% correct! They pride themselves of having the worst business class seats and service in the world. It is terrible!!!
Im still traumatized by the unbelievable rudeness I used to experience when they were my only option for over a decade in the late 90s to 2008. I avoid them like the plague to this day decades later. What I remember most was that they gave rotten customer service from country to country and from top to bottom. When you stumbled on a good employee it was rare and if you were treated badly and wanted to complain or get what you’re supposed to get, they’d all close ranks and there was no accountability whatsoever. In one station I won’t bother to name, if there was a major delay or cancellation they’d simply close the counter and disappear, leaving passengers helpless. Some of them would even provoke passengers for no reason and cause things to escalate needlessly. I really hope they get it together one day. But if recent TikTok commentary is anything to go by, they’re hitting rock bottom again.
With out specifics, names, places, backstory, etc...this is really a worthless complaint.
@@davidcole333As is your comment
@@davidcole333 As is your comment
I flew economy class from DFW to LHR on a 777 within the last few weeks and it was one of the most uncomfortable and annoying trans-Atlantic flights I've ever been on.
That’s why you don’t fly an American airline on an international flight. I would gladly pay more to fly a different airline😂
@@eliahyo6551Turkish is great. Flew business A300 and an A321 and service/food was awesome. Free WiFi that worked well also. Planning also to go to Barcelona in Summer 2025 and choices are United or AA premium (business is outrageous) or go the extra time and distance to fly Turkish.
See my description of my 777 flight to Sydney. Was your discomfort and annoyance related more to the plane itself? Was for me.
As an American, regarding American and all other airlines, this is really unacceptable.
Meat pies on First Class, seriously? Has AA lost it? Thats instant food. Terrible.
that was business class...huge difference.
@@davidcole333even business class is expensive!
Hello! I'm an active reservations representative xd and yeah, we are currently having problems with the crew, i don't really know why because i work with calls. Defenetly si something that AA has to fix because trust me in a regular day with no travel alert we have some IROPS (irregular operations) abour crew shortage. I'm not an AA fanboy tbh but take in account that depends on the reason of the cancelation we have different policies. It's not the same a delay or a cancelation because of weather or air traffic than a cancelation for a problem with the crewvor the planes. Defenetly there are some things that i don't like abt AA but we try to make sure that the passangers have a Nice trip, i cannot talk about everyone of My fellas working at AA but we try to do our Best. Just to make sure, just because i work for them i'm not gonna deffend everything that we do, so i try to make this comment the neutral as possible. (Sorry if i had any mistake in My English, it's not My native language xd)
Just a little reminder, we just had a new System in the reservations desk bia phone, thats why we take a LOOOOONG time to take ur call, i hope AA fix that i'm the future xd)
I’ve taken AA in both Econ and business to Spain and it was a really good experience for me minus the one time when we had a delay due to previous flight crew not having done paperwork delaying the next flight. But the delay just meant I got to experience extra time in my business seat.
Now I mostly take AA for traveling when I can cause I haven’t had any bad experiences with them.
Hi, I've flown with American last week in business LAX-LHR.. I appreciated that the flight attendant asked each passenger during the boarding how they want to be addressed and took orders for dinner. I was really surprised by their sundae/icecream service and also the bar in the galley with snacks/appetizers. On the other hand there was no mattress/pyjamas and the crew werent really nice.. I felt like the service could've been much nicer giving that they don't offer on demand menu- so they only do after take-off service and before landing service and that's it lol... (especially on red-eye flight where everyone sleeps)... I'm sure there is a potential but AA will have to try harder to reach the true OneWorld standard as given from Qatar, Finnair etc.. (even BA were nicer lol)
I had something similar happen with a domestic flight. My first flight was delalyed which made the connecting flight impossible. I was automatically rebooked on a direct flight but downgraded from first class to economy. I paid for the original flight with miles. I requested a partial reimbursement for the downgrade. They denied my request. Lesson learned: if using miles to purchase a ticket, do not purchase first class.
Update: I filed a compaint with the US Department of Transportation. 10 weeks later I received a 50% refund of the miles. This is not quite the difference between miles required for economy and miles required for first class, but it's better than nothing.
I traveled a couple of times in the US and unfortunately, except for Delta Airlines, most of them have poor service standards.
Delta is definitely far superior to AA and United; I've quit flying those airlines.
They need a lot of improvement. I was rebooked by united airlines with American airlines when I missed my connecting flight. I was looking at my ticket, couldn't see where my confirmation number and gate number. I had a hard time figuring it out,unlike United airlines, easy to understand the itinerary or the ticket.
I’ve flown AA for years as a frequent traveler. Never a bad experience, all classes. Nobody’s perfect.
I have had great and not great flights on most all carriers. I don’t care about welcome drinks.
Edit: the Middle East and Turkish carriers are pretty good.
Sounds like a normal unsponsored flight to me huhu
I always am in two minds about things like this. I fully sympathize with the customer and wanting what they paid for (or redeemed or what have you), that makes perfect sense.
But having been on the other side of the hill before, I do really sympathize with the customer service workers who I know are in a shitty spot. I’ve worked at places that were really understaffed too and we already had a high individual workload, which only increased with the lack of people. While being rude and unhelpful isn’t okay, there are also times where I had to be like “I’m genuinely sorry but there is nothing more which I can possibly do,” and people went off.
Sorry for the vent. Just a shitty situation for all parties is the TLDR
Being on the other side as well, totally understand what you are saying. Every airline employee strives to give the paying passenger what they payed for, but there are so many reasons they simply cannot when things go wrong. I'm sorry to say, but you just become a number.
If it’s just so inherently problematic then why is it so much more efficient flying on foreign carriers? Why are the gate agents and flight attendants so much more helpful and not rude at all.
5:29 they are doing that because they don’t get paid when the plane is boarding, they get paid while the doors are closed. They stop being paid for that flight after the door opens. So, I understand why they want to rush with boarding.
The rush with boarding is usually pressure from the gate agents who are heavily penalized after that aircraft door is shut after departure time.
@@natashastoute206 this too
Its funny how you and nonstop dan seem to have money to travel all over and complain but here I am and just keep a smile through the delays and actually loving the airlines even more after my delays.
I flew American recently on long haul from Chicago to Athens and then Athens to Chicago for return after my vacation. I was on a Boeing 787 for both flights. There were 8 flight attendants on each flight. What struck me the most was how disgruntled (and a few of them downright rude) the flight attendants were on both flights. On the return trip to Chicago there was one friendly flight attendant. She and I spoke a lot. I mentioned to her that I definitely sympathized with them on their union seeking better pay. I explained that my dad also worked for a major U.S. airline (not American) for 30 years and had since retired. The one friendly flight attendant thanked me for my support in their negotiations with upper management. I told her that the flight attendants have every right to strike. The airlines are making money hand over fist. The corporate executives need to stop being so greedy and show some respect and support for the people who are in the trenches (flight attendants and gate agents, etc). I think it’s every airline anymore that has bad service. I did fly Delta a few years ago to Rome and had friendly and attentive flight attendants.