"American will begin serving the route on May 1, 2006, using its 188-seat Boeing 757 aircraft with all-coach seating. In flight, passengers will enjoy American's award-winning International Flagship Service, featuring a selection of dining, beverage and entertainment options. "

Almost made me laugh "Flagship Service" on a 757-200 with 31" seat pitch & no seat back IFE .............

Hope their prices are a lot better than they are at the minute, BA via LHR or Continental via AMS are around £660, AA around £750. Best option at the moment id AerLingus from Dublin, about £270 plus a quick Ryanair hop at around £25 if you book early enough, over £400 cheaper than AA

It depends what your expectations are. If you want reasonable food, free drinks and friendly staff(usually) go for European carriers. But if leg room is important AA has the edge. I would choose more leg room every time on long flights.
You might want to lok at http://www.Airlinequality.com for more info on American

Not any longer, by December this year AA will have removed all of the extra legroom, the "more room in coach" will be no more, back to 31-32" I'm afraid

American Airlines use Boeing 767-323ER's for the Chicargo flights, and Boeing 757-223ET for the Boston flights from Manchester.

Darren

American Airlines will commence a rotation from New Yorks Kennedy airport to Newcastle from May 2006. The flight will arrive at 07.40 and depart at 11.00. Boeing 757 (200) series air-planes will be used. It will be configured as a total economy service only....however more spacious seats at the front of the aircraft will be allocated to frequent flyers or full fare passengers. Good news for NCL!

Above is subject to securing the slots at JFK.

http://www.aa.com/content/uk/pressReleases/pr_NCLJFK.jhtml

Already posted

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=8430

its a shame that american airlines have reduced their legroom. But its understandable with the changing markets in recent years.
less people travelling, they were losing money.
hopefully if things pick up, its something that can be re-introduced.

HI,

Can anyone confirm seat back tvs in the 777 from Heathrow to JFK,???

Many Thanks
kaz

Kazzer,

AA 777-200's have seat back screens. Have a look at this.

Darren

Thanks Darren, mind is at peace now!!!

Just planning next years jollies to Orlando. I know some of you have used AA for flights and I would be grateful for some feedback.
What is the economy cabin like compared to Virgin?
Is there a direct flight to MCO from the UK?
If not, when you stop over do you have to reclaim your baggage and then check in for your onwards flight or is the baggage just put on the flight for you?
One of the stop over options from Manchester is Boston, if we wanted to stay a couple of days or so how far is the airport from the city?
Can you reserve which seats you want on the web like you can with Virgin?

Thanks in advance!

Hi UncleLatch

We flew from Gatwick to Los Angeles a couple of years back and flew with American Airlines. They were fine. We found leg room etc. the same as Virgin. You do pay for alcohol on AA tho.

I booked online and in the process of booking you 'choose' your seats from a plan of the plane seating. It was alot cheaper for us to fly with AA than Virgin on that trip.

Sorry I cant help you with the other questions, but I wouldnt hesitate in flying with AA again in the future

Have fun,
jennyt

When travelling to the US on an indirect flight (or even a direct flight that stops more than once in the US) you will always clear immigration and customs at your first call in the US.

You then recheck your baggage - usually just putting it on a conveyor belt, you don't have to queue up again. Someone will probably check the tags as you do so. It's painless.

On the return journey your bags are checked through to the UK

Thanks folks!

We have used AA from Manchester & from London, & very pleased with them, their seat pitch was a lot better than BA/Virgin @ 34". However I read that they have not been able to make it pay by extra fares. Sometime this autumn they are putting some seats back into their planes I understand but will still be as good or better than BA/Virgin. We did find that their stewardesses are more "mature" than the other lines

Ericy, sounds like the only choice to think about if the seat pitch is being reduced is how much does a direct flight mean to me? Nothings ever simple is it!

I've used American a number of times in recent years and have no complaints about their service, in contrast to some bad experiences with Virgin. It's very easy to book online (e-ticket) and select your seats. In my experience (5 flights last year, 2 this) the seats you select are those you actually get when you check in. I've never had the seating changed, which was one of my bitches about Virgin. Also, their Boeing 777's have 2 + 5 + 2 seating which is great if only two of you are travelling. Ample legroom as well. I've heard that they are reducing the legroom to the same as BA and Virgin, but I can't see how they're going to achieve it without a lot of re-engineering.

Another advantage of using American is that you can have one free stopover on each leg of your journey, so you could stop at Boston on the way out and maybe New York on the way back. They don't offer a direct flight to Orlando.

Logan airport in Boston is actually very close to the city, so I would think a cab would only take around 20 minutes or so. I've always picked up a car at the airport, so I can't vouch for the cab ride - that's just my impression. Certainly Boston is a great place for a stopover for a couple of nights, with plenty to see and do. It's very easy to walk around.

Hope this helps.

John

Like the word "mature" for the AA cabin staff, thats what struck me too, also the same with Northwest, have an American friend who's sister works for Northwest and asked about the "mature" thing. It seems rank has its privleges/long service. They get there choice of routes. So a flight to the UK will entail a nights stop over in hotel, then they work a flight back. So thats there work done for the week if they want. Seems they can work till an older age, sorry can't rember why, some type of employment law I think.
Jay