American Airlines Economy in 2024 - Brutally Honest Review

In todays video we fly from Sao Paulo, Brazil up to Miami, Florida in American Airlines economy. We flew this same plane type and economy product last year so we are back again to see how it compares in 2024.
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Aimee and I are on an adventure of a lifetime, we have quit our jobs to travel the world full time for the next year. We are loving every second of our journey so far and thank you for supporting us by watching our videos! We always respond to all comments on the channel so chat to us there.

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[FraserAtSea]

I love finding other Scottish vloggers on here - hello! I recently flew with American Airlines from Miami to New York, and really couldn't fault their product at all.

That said, I was only on there for a short flight, so maybe I turned a blind eye to a few bits - not sure!

[TheBudgetTraveller]

The issue with those seats is that the headrest tapers forward so your neck is pushed forward, then on top of that, the headrests can only be raised in that tapered angle putting your neck in an awkward shape entirely. I had a similar issue with the seatback being very short, I too am 5'9 / 175 cm and the headrest, even when raised to the max, is not enough to support my entire head. This was observed on my 772ER flight from DFW - MIA. They purposely made the seatback height that low to make the seats lighter. The newer 787 are fitted with different seats manufactured by Collins Aerospace so hopefully they addressed this issue.

[JodieRothwell]

We just flew from LA to Sydney last week on an AA 777. It was horrible! 15 hours of hell. Watching your video was like listening to our own exact complaints. It was a nightmare. My first night back at home, I had terrible leg cramps. My husband also could not put the tray table down properly, we ate in the dark, couldn’t use the arm rests. His knees also stabbed into the seat in front. We were the first lot of two seats behind the rows of three so everything was off set. The tray tables and TVs were to the right. The usb chargers didn’t work, food was disgusting. Your meal actually looked better than ours. I had a lasagne and a white bread roll. No salad, no dessert, no cheese and crackers.

[sondraboone]

So has AA changed the size of the economy seats from 2023 to 2024? Because I noticed that in 2023, you were seated in 26A, which is an upgraded Main Cabin “Extra” economy seat. 26A has a wider seat and a lot of legroom. In 2024, you sat in 38B, which is supposed to be a standard economy seat that is not as wide as the Main Cabin Extra seat. That appears to be the reason for your uncomfortable flight on AA in 2024.

[GrandmaKeith]

The last time i flew on American Airlines was in 1999 traveling to and from Army Basic Training

[patfalconer]

You two are not happy bunnies and I don't blame you. Enjoy your next adventure x

[philporter]

You are dead right about those seats - they are simply awful. I've just done JFK to LHR in economy with AA and it was the most uncomfortable economy class seat I have ever experienced, even compared to budget airlines. Who on earth signed off on these? I'm not a big guy, but I also had the tray on my knees, the seat base feels too high, the headrest doesn't go up high enough and passengers around me were constantly fidgiting and complaining too - no wonder! I am glad it wasnt' just me as I was starting to wonder if if my stature/shape or posture were the issue, but clearly not.

[expatchris]

I recently flew the 777-200 with American and I experienced the EXACT same issues with the seats. They are freaking horrific. I don’t get why they were designed like that and why AA continues to use them.

[juliemagic]

American Airlines is the worst. Their airplanes are old and small. Almost all of them don't have a screens and those plastic and rubber back seats/tables are small, cheap looking and nasty. Almost every flight was delayed, the pilots were unprofessional and not empathetic. However the most terrible thing was the flight from Charlotte to PCB. It was so scary because of the high turbulence and the pilot's weird actions. They kept silent and did some maneuvers instead of trying to land as usual—3 hr instead of 50 minutes. Something went wrong, and the people wasn’t informed. Never again.

[davidg]

5ft 10! I thought you were at least 6ft probably more when looking at you sat down. Given the low headrest and the weird tray table i wonder if theres is something under your seat like a pipe or a box that means they have raised the cushion under you to accommodate it.

[jeffies]

Why would you book the last row. The cabin gets narrower and many times thus causes the seats to be narrower

[_Dk]

I looked into Seat Guru, and apparently you picked the worse seats on economy for that type aircraft.

[caesuresalade]

I thought I was the only one about the AA seats LOL like is my head supposed to be this high up?? 🦒🦒❔❔👀

[charlesontravels]

That seat height is so bizarre! How does that even happen?

[Andrew-svzq]

The seats have gone downhill since the 1990's. They used to have big seat cushions and I am guessing to save weight, they all went with the no support flat seat cushions that offer no back support or butt support. Even the seat frames have changed and are narrower. Even on a 1 or 2 hour flight, my back hurts and I don't have back problems.

[Gearsandco]

I think they should only serve for the US domestic flights and let the real flight companies to take over such as Star Alliance for long haul!

[JamieAnderson-pztx]

Same with lights on Dublin to charlotte lights off 90% of the flight very very annoying

[GrandmaKeith]

Probably would have been better done as a voice over instead of talking into your phone during the flight

[KimRobertson-om]

hmm. that seat did not look good at all... my first observation was how low the headrests were ... long flight for poor seat & experience 😮

[mikefj]

You chose a seat in the absolute back. I’m not surprised at the lack of comfort. Rear seats on most airlines make absolutely no sense.

Had I closed my eyes, and you didn’t name the airlines for review, in my opinion, I would’ve thought this was a review for British Airways