Review of American Airlines flight from Rio De Janeiro to New York in Business

AA - American Airlines

Flight taken on 03 July 2016

AA974

Rio De Janeiro New York

GIG

JFK

21:25 09h 40m 06:05

Model Boeing 777-200

Class Business

Seat 2L

This trip started off with an Uber ride from Ipanema to GIG. Check-in was organized poorly and took a pretty long time.

After getting through security and passport control, I headed to the lounge which wasn't great.

The gate area was nice and open though

Some photos of the hard product. I chose a rear-facing window seat because you get an extra table and the actual seat is farther from the aisle.

The bathroom actually seemed pretty nice

Amenity kit

Food was pretty average. Overall, the service on this flight was really bad.

Finally made it to New York

Some shots from two different Admirals Clubs that I visited while waiting for my connecting flight to Chicago. The second one was a temporary Admirals Club that I hit up after they made everyone deplane because of a maintenance issue.

A shot from the window after we finally departed for Chicago. We were actually on the exact same aircraft type as the one from Rio, with the same international configuration. Pretty nice for a domestic flight.

Some shots from the hotel and Ipanema beach back in Rio

Display all

Product ratings

Airline

American Airlines 5.4

Cabin9.5 / 10
Cabin crew1.0 / 10
Entertainment/wifi8.0 / 10
Meal/catering3.0 / 10

Departure airport

Rio De Janeiro - GIG5.3

Efficiency4.5 / 10
Access4.0 / 10
Services5.5 / 10
Cleanliness7.0 / 10

Arrival Airport

New York - JFK7.5

Efficiency7.0 / 10
Access7.5 / 10
Services7.5 / 10
Cleanliness8.0 / 10

Conclusion

This was actually the first time I was confronted about taking photos on an airplane. First, a flight attendant spoke to me about it and I thought that was the end of it, but then they made me speak to the captain. I told him that I always take photos while I'm in business class on a long haul flight so I can blog about it. He seemed to understand and even chatted with me about the new seats they were planning to install because of issues with the current ones.

Completely separate from the photo confrontation, this flight had probably the worst soft product I've ever experienced. The flight attendant assigned to my row was completely unfriendly and kept trying to take service items from me before I was done. He also brought the dessert (ice cream) while I was only halfway through dinner. Too bad the flight attendant had to tarnish this experience on what was a fantastic hard product. Experiences like this are why I roll my eyes whenever US airlines complain about the ME3 and try to allege that they're only successful because they engage in unfair trade practices. You know why they're actually successful? Their flight attendants know how to smile. They're flights are on time. And when you call them, you don't have to go through 10 phone menus before getting to a live person.

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Comments (7)

VHBrando 2018-01-03 04:09:29

Thanks for the - late - flightreport. It is really nice to see how much GIG has developed within 1,5 year... I can barely remember those poor lounges since we got 5 new ones + Spa.

Nick 2018-01-03 07:23:36

Good to hear that they've upgraded the lounges since my trip. I expected a better lounge from American since they have such a strong presence in Latin America and I'd think that Rio to New York would be treated like a pretty marquis route.

dreamweaver888 2018-01-03 06:10:03

Photo police? Wow, I didn't think that photo-taking would cause a ruckus on a US carrier. Thanks anyhow for weathering those difficulties and creating this report for us!

Nick 2018-01-03 07:32:34

Haha, no problem. In the end, they didn't kick me off the plane so I have to commend the captain for making the right decision. I've always felt like if I ask for permission from a flight attendant to take photos they might be weirded out and say no for some reason, so I just get my shots and then can explain later if they ask.

Rewardflying 2018-01-04 02:05:12

Hi Nick,

He seemed to understand and even chatted with me about the new seats they were planning to install because of issues with the current ones

-So the pilot is suggesting they are going to remove the Concept D (reverse facing seats) and replace with the B/E Super Diamond? They just installed these over the last 2-3 years or so. It would be nice but I can't see Mr. I'll Never Lose Money Ever Parker trashing millions of dollars in practically new seats because customers don't like them.

And why can't they get rid of the tin foil cups when serving a meal!

Thanks for the report, happy rewardflying.

Nick 2018-01-04 02:26:00

He may have been mistaken, but yes, that's what he was saying. I've read that AA had problems with Zodiac being way being schedule. But I don't know why you'd rip out seats that are already installed though and basically brand new. I thought they were great.

Thanks for reading and commenting!

Andyw 2018-01-08 04:30:04

I think you have been overly harsh here due to other issues clouding your view.

Looking at the meal shots, for a USA airline that is more than a 3.0. You even say it was average which means a score about 5 or so woul;d be more reasonable.

Or did it give you the shits afterwards so reduced the score?

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