American Airlines

We flew first class LAX-BOS on AA international configuration 767-300ERs. AA's business class product is light years behind most European and Asian carriers, and it lags behind Northwest and Virgin America among US airlines. The seats were the angled lie-flat seats, ie. they recline to a flat position but are not quite parallel to the ground, which makes sleeping difficult because you're always sliding downhill. They are also on the narrow side for first/business class at only 20 inches in width. The pitch was a bit tight for widebody first/business, but there's a cutout in the seat in front of you for your feet. However, if you're taller than 6 feet your feet will not fit comfortably in this small space. There are no seat-back monitors, but you get a portable monitor with a 7-inch screen with about 15 movies, 20 TV/short programmes, some games and 150-200 songs. The food going out (breakfast) was ghastly (granola and fruit or some sort of mystery omelet) and coming back it was better. We don't drink alcohol when flying, but other passengers were complaining about the poor selection. FA's were professional if a bit cold and didn't go too far out of the way to please. It was what I came to expect from AA - average on all levels. Didn't disappoint in any areas and didn't excel in any areas either.

Check-in problems for AAdvantage members. We have battled this since Spring 2007 when the system was changed to "prevent abuse by some members." Now, the computer recognizes the AAdvantage status of the first person on the reservation - all others are simply "companions." My husband and I are both ExPlat. members, but the computer will not read me as having any status of my own, therefore, if we receive a complementary upgrade prior to check-in, we cannot check-in on line or at a kiosk. It says that we need upgrade credits. Since neither of us earn credits anymore (due to the ExPlat status), the computer will allow him to check in, but not me. I've written and written to Customer service but no feedback. Otherwise we love American Airlines.