American airlines

[eviledna]

We've never flown with this airline before what should we expect? last time we were with virgin flying from Manchester uk. This time its heathrow to Miami.....

[fbgd]

Which class of travel?

[eviledna]

I presume ,as its been booked as part of our cruise....economy :-(

[Gardyloo]

If you have a choice of flights, make sure you're on AA's Boeing 777 and not the Boeing 767 (which may show up as "763" on the flight itinerary, "772" is the one you want.) The 777 is preferable with its economy seating plan of 2 - 5 - 2. (The 767 uses 2-4-2.) Unlike British Airways, you can select your seats ahead of time; I'd do so immediately and (assuming there are two of you traveling together) pick two seats on the outside (one window, one aisle.) The seats in AA economy on the 777 are a little wider than BA's or Virgin's (depending on what type of aircraft you were on) and the legroom will be about an inch greater. On the 767 the seats are a little narrower and the seat pitch a little tighter, i.e. comparable to BA.

 

On the 777 you'll have a personal video screen with on-demand video and audio. On the 767 the screen's overhead. You'll have to pay for alcoholic beverages (unlike BA or Virgin). You'll have a choice of entrees with your meals, but don't set your expectations terribly high.

 

You'll land at Miami, which is one of American's principal hubs. There will be a lot of people, and you may need to wait a while for immigration, depending on which flight you're on and how many other flights arrive at the same time. AA uses Terminal 3 at Heathrow, which is nowhere as nice as BA's Terminal 5 operations, but such is life.

[eviledna]

Thanks a lot for your info....now i do hope its the 777 lol. Whatever or whichever im sure we will enjoy/endure some elements more than others! I shall prebook our seats asap....we dont yet have the full information as we only booked the cruise last monday.

[PennyAgain]

In economy (often called coach class in the US) you will not have free eye shades or tooth brush. Be prepared if you need them.

[SelectSys]

... make sure you're on AA's Boeing 777 and not the Boeing 767 (which may show up as "763" on the flight itinerary, "772" is the one you want.) The 777 is preferable with its economy seating plan of 2 - 5 - 2. (The 767 uses 2-4-2.) ...

 

Slight correction as AA's economy seating is 2-3-2 on the 767. If you don't really care about IFE, the 767 isn't too bad in coach as the whole aircraft only has one middle seat and you never have to cross more that one seat to get to the aisle. The 767 is the smallest wide body aircraft so the embarkation and disembarkation process is fast as well. The big downside of the aircraft in my opinion is that the seat pitch has been tightened up over the years so if your tall it isn't too much fun.

[Gardyloo]

Slight correction as AA's economy seating is 2-3-2 on the 767.

Oops, my bad. For me, the seat width is also an issue - the 67s' are an inch narrower than the 77s' - after 7 or 8 hours it starts to matter, but YMMV.

[aggieastrosfan]

We flew AA on a 767 from Kansas City to Dallas (Crazy, I know, but it was definitely a 767! My family of 3 switched to 3 middle seats at check-in when we realized the equipment changed.), and it was a pleasant experience. I used to hate AA, but my last couple flights with them actually haven't been too bad.

 

Hope it's still that way as we may need them more in the fuutre if this United/Continental merger goes through. :rolleyes:

[Fattony]

AA's 767s on this route all have screens in the ceiling? Sounds like old planes. I've been on several 767s with individual screens (with multiple programs), though with other airlines. I've also been on 777s with 3-4-3 or 3-5-3 seating, but you can certainly verify that easily by looking at the seats on AA's site. Also look at www.seatguru.com for suggestions on seats to try for (and avoid). I looked at AA's site on an arbitrary date and saw just one non-stop LHR-MIA flight per day, on a 777 (2-5-2 seating). I like the modernity of a 777 but it can seem crowded to me.

[minikiss]

Hi Mandy

 

I had to wait about 80 days to get our flight times to come through. If their a help this is what Princess have booked for us.

LHR - MIA flight no 57. on a 777 08.45 arrive 14.15 local time

MIA - SJU flight no 639 on a 738 07.35 arrive 11.05 in San Juan

 

SJU - JFK flight no 1416 on a 757 13.15 arrive 16.20

JFK - LHR flight no 100 on a 777 18.20 arrive back in Blighty at 06.25

 

hopefully there'll be the same fingers crossed

Julia

[Wingtips56]

Once you have your confirmed flights, you should be able to find your reservation on AA.com, where you can pick your seat assignments, if the line or agency didn't, or change to something you like better. Keep checking every few weeks for any schedule changes that you might otherwise not be notified about (airlines go through the booking source for these updates if you didn't book yourself directly with the airline). AA runs Schedule Changes in the wee hours of Sunday mornings (US Central time), so check on Mondays for any updates. You can also set up flight status notification through AA.com, and they will call you if there are last minute delays or cancelations, rather than just sending a message back to your agents. Invariably notice like that comes on nights and weekends when the agency is closed.

 

The 2-5-2 seating on the AA 777 is great when just two of you and you can get the 2-seat side window/aisle combo. With the loads being heavy, don't bank on getting the whole center section of 5 seats to yourselves. The "738" is the 737-800, with 3-3 seating and mini-TV/movie screens in each seat-back. The 757 is 3-3, with the screens dropping from the center aisle overhead, unless they've changed in the last year. Bring your own small-plug headset to save buying one on board (although they [ear buds] are only a couple of bucks, and you keep them). Bose headsets are compatable with AA's system and plug sockets, so bring that if you have it. Don't book seats in the row in front of overwing exits...they don't recline and seem to be worse than bolt-upright. (That's usually where the employees get stuck.)

 

AA does charge for alcoholic drinks in coach, world-wide...a sad matter of economic necessity, and for food in coach on domestic/short haul US-International flights. They'll feed you on the trans-Atlantic flights, though.

[eviledna]

Thanks for the info guys! looks like from the sparse info i have that our return flights will be the same Julia :-D...flight AA100, however at the minute our outward leg has not been confirmed , all we know is that Heathrow is the airport!

Looking forward to using the insider info from you wingtip on seat selection....last time i got stuck at the side of a, shall we say "serial whinger" who was after a free upgrade but didnt get one lol.

[minikiss]

Thanks Wingstips56

As Mandy said we are on the the same return flights, only we go out a week eariler than she does. Lucky enough to have a 2 week cruise booked rather than 1 week, sorry Mandy:(. So the info for us will be just as useful. I'll have to look at the AA site and see what i can do with the booking. Hope i can prebook the seats but not sure as like Mandy we to booked the flights through Princess. If i hadn't spotted this thread i would have just left things as they were until the 75days mark when Princess told me i could print my own tickest. So fingers crossed i can get in to it later. If i come across a problem i'll let you know Mandy. Like wise when you get full confirmation do let me know if they are different as i'm curious to know what they booked for you to.

Julia

[eviledna]

Will do luv no problem :-d

[minikiss]

Sorry Mandy tried to get in to the booking on the AA website and i got the error message telling me it could not be located!

Can only imagine it's because it's been booked through Princess, so i would say you may have the same problem. As we are required to print our own tickets we "must" be able to get in to it at somepoint, prehaps it's just to soon. Princess did tell me we could print them from about 75 days to go, which is a few months off. Hmm that makes me wonder if it's got anything to do with the fact that the whole holiday hasn't been paid for yet? have to pay the balance at 90 days 75 is 2 weeks after that. Anyway i think i'll login once a week just in case it pops up sooner....

Julia

[6rugrats]

Perhaps you couldn't find it, because Princess has not booked it yet. Did you read how cruise air works in the sticky at the top of this forum? They could be holding onto the bulk tickets they've purchased, but your flight has not yet been assigned to you, and therefore, you can't pick a seat yet.

 

Probably you are going to have to wait until the 75 days out.

[kenish]

You're actually lucky that flights were identified for you....with cruise air it's common to not have routing or flights assigned to you until 2-3 weeks prior. Exception is if you paid for custom air.

 

The reason your record can't be found through AA is they require a PNR (6 random alphanumeric characters such as FV5R7K). It's unclear whether you have the PNR or not. Find out your ticket number (about 15 or 20 digits) from Princess....then call AA who can then link it to a PNR. If Princess doesn't have the ticket # they have not booked your travel as 6rugrats commented.

[eviledna]

Ho hum...looks like a huge portion of patience is required at this moment in time :-D...........

[eviledna]

Got an email now confirming flights etc so will try to do the seating business .a.s.a.p :-D

[Wingtips56]

Go to AA.com to get your seat assignment to avoid a $20 fee that AA will charge to "service an external reservation", i.e. to work on a PNR they didn't create. No charge to do it on AA.com.

 

The AA PNR Record Locator is always 6 alpha characters only...no numbers. Chances are you may have received a different locator if the reservation was made by an agent in a different computer system. Only the AA locator code will work in AA.com. If you don't have the AA locator, you might be able to pull it up by flight, date, boarding city and name. If that doesn't work, call AA (1-800-433-7300) and ask them to look up your reservation and ask for the record locator for your future reference. Just say you want it so you can check-in online on the departure date . That's all ...they'll hit you with a fee if you have them do any work on the record, including seat assignments.

 

My advice to all is always find out the record locator in the system of the actual airline you are flying, so you can then monitor your reservation for any schedule changes, update seats if they change aircraft type on you, etc.

 

Steve (ex-AA)

[minikiss]

Hi Mandy

Had any luck with AA, me i created the account and i've tried a few times but no luck locating the PNR.

Next thing i think would be to try Princess, otherwise i'll have to wait till the 75 days mark.........

Julia

[greatam]

Hi Mandy

Had any luck with AA, me i created the account and i've tried a few times but no luck locating the PNR.

Next thing i think would be to try Princess, otherwise i'll have to wait till the 75 days mark.........

Julia

 

 

Just curious-what account did you create? A FF account will not help you retrieve the PNR.

 

If you haven't made final payment, you do not have assigned flights as yet unless you paid separately for your flights (which I doubt as it appears you are booked on a UK package).

[PennyAgain]

You need a frequent flyer account to get your air miles if you are going to get any on a cruise company booking. You will also be restricted in your choice of seats on the plane with a cruise company booking.

 

Record your passenger locator numbers somewhere safe.

[eviledna]

Hi Julia, no joy as yet lol, but i am nothing if persistent!!! may have to try Princess for the code.....