Is American Airlines a nice airline?
American Airlines is a major airline that is based in Texas, United States, and is also a member of the OneWorld Alliance. An American airline connects over 200 million travelers every year and operates over 3000 flights through its nearly 1000 aircraft that have a flying network all over domestic as well as international routes. But is this a nice airline to fly with? That being said, there are several aspects that one should take into account when assessing the quality of the experience offered by American Airlines.
In-Flight Experience The type and class of service that is offered by American Airlines differ in the level of comfort and services that are provided with different types of aircraft used by the company. More legroom, wider seats, and better service, such as better-quality meals and free alcoholic drinks, are some of the perks for those who travel first and business class. Economy class seating is rather unremarkable and comparable to other major American carriers, where the seat pitch is between 30-32 inches. American Airlines has already finished the process of getting satellite-based WiFi internet connections in most of its domestic planes to enable economy, business, and first-class passengers to surf the web and access various forms of entertainment on their gadgets during the flights. The standard of the in-flight services is not consistent due to the type of route that is taken and the type of aircraft that is used in the journey.
Food and beverage catering is provided for all passengers traveling in first or business class on all flights that are longer than 2 hours. Meals offered onboard have also improved in quality and presentation as American Airlines looks to improve the front cabin edition. In economy class, most of the flights that are longer than two hours will have a snack box with various meals and drinks that can be purchased. On short-duration flights, there can only be refreshments, which include soft drinks, juice, coffee, and tea. The main cabin crew members are not as attentive during meal services most of the time since they spend more time attending to the first-class passengers.
Entertainment American Airlines has individual video screens for movies, television broadcasts, audio programs, and games on seat-backs on most flights longer than two hours. However, Wi-Fi service is available and free of charge, but some domestic aircraft in its fleet do not have built-in screens; hence, entertainment is either using your device or nothing. It is common to find power outlet slots at every seat for those without personal TV screens. The quality and choice of entertainment are highly dependent on the route and specific aircraft they are using, even within the confines of their network. Thus, the issue is to appropriately demarcate expectations while flying American Airlines in economy class for your particular plane and your flying time.
Loyalty Program The Advantage is one of the largest airline frequent-flyer programs and has over 100 million enrolled individuals. Mile accumulation does not depend on the distance traveled; the ticket price is used to determine the number of miles. To begin with, award tickets costs 7500 miles for a one-way trip in economy class within the domestic region. Increased excess capacity in award seats means there is the option for last-minute purchases at a marginally higher price. To reach the next class of service with miles, one needs to add more than double the value that was charged. All things considered, it is still a good way to earn rewards from flying with Americans, even if this isn’t the best way to utilize the program for maximizing premium redemptions.
Airport Lounges Free access is provided to all first- and business-class passengers and to those elite members who are in the top tier of the airline’s frequent flyer program. As for the rest of the passengers, they are welcome to pay a fee based on the location, their status, and the class of their ticket to gain access to an Admiral’s Club. Presently, there are over fifty lounges in specific places at most of the international airports found on the six inhabited continents of the world. Facilities normally consist of complimentary food and beverages, Internet access, business facilities, showers, and fine beverages. Recently, American Airlines has upped its efforts in renovating and expanding the service offering at many of its lounges. But in the case of a network of lounges, it is still significantly smaller than Delta and although it offers more lounges to passengers than United currently does, the number is still not as large.
Aircraft and Maintenance American Airlines has been focusing on acquiring or leasing newer and more efficient aircraft during the last decade and improving services on the aircraft. Despite having formerly operated poorly ventilated MD-80 project aircraft, large-scale fleet renewal programs for many airlines are now a thing of the past. This has significantly enhanced general passenger performance and reliability, which has benefited the company. America has one of the youngest fleets among all the major airlines that operate, with an average airplane age of under 10 years. The new aircraft also leads to higher on-time arrivals and technical dispatch reliability.
Customer Service There is no doubt that, with frequent labor relations conflicts between management and employees at American Airlines, customers frequently faced unsatisfactory service delivery over the years. The merger and restructuring that took place a decade ago had left this department and others struggling with delays and cancellations they could not manage well. To this date, American Airlines customer service has provided less efficient customer complaint handling in comparison to its competitors regarding complaints on service delays or cancellations, baggage issues, etc. Though the infield staff remains cordial and responsive, coming across the gate staff involved in irregular operations can be quite provoking.
Route Network History American Airlines is one of the largest airlines that provides services to 95 domestic airports and 81 international airports in 55 countries. It makes it very convenient for a member to earn and redeem their AAdvantage miles. However, certain markets include a lot of regional partners who use smaller aircraft with considerably fewer facilities. Some of the former big mainline services have been de-prioritized, while some new routes are being served with state-of-the-art, new, premium-configured, and efficient narrow-body aircraft. All in all, America still provides the variety of destinations a road warrior expects from an LCC US megacarrier.
Frequent Flyer Perks When traveling on American Airlines, the elite-status members get to enjoy certain privileges. Free upgrades on domestic flights and free preferred seats from the main cabin tickets assist in improving the experience when selecting the main cabin tickets. It is worth mentioning that there is a same-day flight change policy of up to 72 hours for elite and business-class travelers. Managers and other elites also receive free checked baggage and free flights for bonus miles on the plane. The first class, called Executive Platinum, can confirm upgrades 120 hours before the flight, which provides the most loyal, highest-tier flyers with an extra edge when planning their itineraries regardless of the ticket price they have purchased.
Price and Fees In the past years, American Airlines has been involved in segmenting fares to provide the end user with a variety of prices to choose from. The benefits could depend on getting low base fares even on some otherwise costly routes. While Delta’s and United’s approaches appear to stick to the unit revenue management model, America is more inclined to strategically reduce some of its flights’ fares, which corresponds to the budget airline pricing in some markets. The only disadvantage of the economy cabin, however, is experiencing several charges that other airlines offer as freebies. Right from the choice of seats passengers opt for bags to snacks and drinks on board, they can easily add up and make the initially agreeable cheap base fare not as attractive as it seemed. American Airlines also often takes out award seats near the flight time and forces frequent flyer mile redemptions into more expensive last-minute rates with a lot of fuel surcharges.
Is It Safe To Travel With American Airlines? Therefore, despite considerable changes and transformations in the aviation industry, American Airlines remains a viable choice of transportation in North America and to international destinations in Europe, South America, and Asia. It is convenient because of the number of routes, frequencies, and possible connections, whether for business purposes, holidays, or for those who need to travel to accumulate frequent flyer points. The services on board also differ greatly, so knowing the airplane, arrangement, and cabin you are boarding helps set the right expectations. Cheap airlines must ensure that extra charges can quickly build up to make that cheap ticket even less appealing. However, the young fleet, free upgrade to business class for loyalty programs, and the route network reveal a company that is working to improve its service. The core and heavy travelers using the American Airlines facility should be able to meet expectations in terms of earning the relevant points and subsequent award travel, although it may not be as liberal as some of its competitor programs in as far as the top elites are concerned. Occasional leisure travelers will be able to find a vast array of low-cost flights but have to be circumspect while determining additional costs and charges, which can negate the perception of value. Altogether, it may not provide the unique and extraordinary passenger comfort services that other airlines do but it provides a standard means of flying across most parts of the world for American Airlines.
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