12 Things American Airlines Does Well

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I reside in Miami and fly American Airlines the most. I sometimes give American Airlines a hard time, but I don't think the airline is bad.

I don't believe United is any better than American in terms of passenger experience and loyalty program. Delta is better than American in terms of passenger experience, but the loyalty program is a problem for me.

In this post, I wanted to share 12 things that I think American Airlines does well. Below is what I enjoy about American Airlines.

High speed Wi-Fi

In my opinion, American Airlines has the best wi-fi offer of the big three US carriers. Most of American's fleet is equipped with Viasat, which is the best in the industry.

Delta is about to introduce free wi-fi for all passengers, despite American having more planes with Viasat. United is far behind when it comes to wi-fi.

International lounge access

American Airlines has excellent Flagship Lounges in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York, which are the best easily accessible international airline lounges in the United States.

All oneworld first and business class passengers are able to access the lounges in line with the oneworld lounge access policy. It's a point of comparison.

• Delta Sky Clubs are superior for domestic lounges, but Delta doesn’t have any special international lounges (that should change in 2023), and for that matter Sky Clubs have serious crowding issues
• United Polaris Lounges are superior to Flagship Lounges, but are only accessible by international business class passengers, and no elite status will get you into those lounges

There is something to be said for Americans having nice lounges that are easy to access.

oneworld Emerald status

Since it is more about the alliance than American, American doesn't deserve full credit. Oneworld Emerald status is my favorite alliance status and it gives me access to lounges. I love using the Qantas Lounge First Lounge Los Angeles and the Japan Airlines First Lounge Tokyo when I'm not flying first class.

Some alliances don't have an elite tier that can compete. Star Alliance Gold is not as valuable as Star Alliance.

Flagship First Dining

There are Flagship First Dining facilities in Dallas, Miami, and New York. A la carte dining is available in these spaces. The food and service are good, but more than anything, I like how peaceful these facilities are. These are some of the best lounges in the US.

Flagship First Dining is open to premium first class customers and they can travel on either of the two types of aircraft. It's anyone's guess what the future holds for these facilities with American expected to eliminate international first class as of late 2019. I will keep enjoying them when I have access.

International business class seats

American has the best and most consistent international business class seats of the three US airlines. All of American's wide body planes have flat beds and direct aisle access.

This is compared to Delta and United.

• Delta’s most common wide body aircraft is the Boeing 767, and those have a not-great business class product, with extremely narrow seats and many with outdated interiors; Delta now also has ex-LATAM Airbus A350s, which don’t even have direct aisle access in business class
• United has made good progress with installing Polaris business class seats, but the airline still has Boeing 767-400s that haven’t been reconfigured, and United also has a substantial fleet of Boeing 757s, which are used for transatlantic flights but don’t have direct aisle access

Citi AAdvantage Executive Card

The executive world elite Mastercard is my favorite airline credit card. It comes with an admirals club membership.

What makes this card so special is that you can add 10 authorized users to the card at no extra cost, and each authorized user is able to bring up to two guests or their immediate family into the club.

For $450 a year you can get lounge access for yourself and your friends and family. This is a great credit card perk.

Business Extra is the best rewards program offered by any of the big three US airlines. I use the points earned to confirm upgrade on flights where I don't think my complimentary upgrade would otherwise clear, because this allows you to earn extra rewards for the flights you book anyways. This program gives me extra value.

Valuable partner award tickets

Some industry-leading partner award redemption values are offered by the American AAdvantage program. I am not suggesting that all AAdvantage awards are an amazing value, but American has some really sweet spots.

It's an amazing value to be able to fly from the United States to the Middle East, India, Africa, etc. You won't find a better value for these types of awards through other programs.

Compare that to other programs.

• Delta SkyMiles really offers very little value for partner redemptions, not to mention partner award availability is limited
• While United MileagePlus has some okay partner award redemption values, you’ll almost always get a better deal through Air Canada Aeroplan or Avianca LifeMiles

Transparency & honesty

I have criticized American's management before, but I have to give them credit for being transparent compared to other airlines. This applies in more than one way.

• When American makes changes, the airline typically provide advance notice of them, which is something I appreciate
• As of now AAdvantage is the only one of the “big three” US programs to still have award charts
• I find that when I make a media request with the airline, American is the most likely to give me an honest answer (even if it’s not in the company’s favor), rather than trying to sugar-coat or avoid answering
• In the employee intranet, American generally overshares with employees

Wide body planes on domestic flights

American has a good number of international configured planes on domestic flights. In markets that aren't typically considered "premium" markets, you can get a flat bed.

There is at least one daily flight from Miami to Charlotte, Chicago, New York, Phoenix, and Los Angeles this winter. It's pretty cool to be able to get a flat bed on this route.

Transcon product & upgrades

The transcon product of American is the best of the three US airlines. Three classes of service are included on American's specially configured A321Ts. It's generally speaking.

• Upgrades are reasonably easy, since you have 30 premium seats and only 72 economy seats
• Business class passengers get access to American’s excellent Flagship Lounges, while first class passengers get access to American’s incredible Flagship First Dining (meanwhile at United, premium transcon passengers don’t get Polaris Lounge access, and Delta doesn’t yet have premium international lounges)
• Elite members are eligible for complimentary upgrades on these routes at their normal upgrade window, unlike at Delta and United (at United they’re not eligible at all, while at Delta they’re only eligible day of departure)

American is expected to eliminate first class on transcontinental routes in the late 20th century and offer business class as the highest cabin. The planes should be replaced with jets that are better.

AAdvantage Loyalty Points system

The introduction of Loyalty Points made American Airlines' AAdvantage program completely different. Even if it doesn't work well for me, this program is brilliant. Credit card spending can earn you elite status.

Status is easy to earn, and perks are competitive, so the program is the most rewarding.

American Airlines does a lot of things well even though it has some weaknesses. As long as American is on time, I am happy. There are a lot of positives to the airline.

Do you think American Airlines does a good job?