There’s a cliche amongst frequent travelers. It goes something like this: U.S. airlines are woefully behind European and Asian airlines, especially in terms of service. While just my opinion, I’m tired of that trite argument and reject it.
Don’t think I am going to defend the lackluster and sometimes hostile service that FAs on U.S. airlines will occasionally deliver. I was even thrown off a flight once for taking a picture of my seat. If you fly long enough, you run into it eventually. But I get around and have sampled the following airlines over the last few years:
- Aegean Airlines
- Aer Lingus
- Aeromexico
- Aerolineas Argentinas
- Air China
- Air Europa
- Air France
- Air New Zealand
- Air Serbia
- Alitalia
- American Airlines
- ANA
- Asiana
- Austrian
- British Airways
- Brussels Airlines
- Cathay Pacific
- China Airlines
- China Eastern
- China Southern
- Delta
- EgyptAir
- Emirates
- Ethiopian Airlines
- Etihad
- EVA
- Finnair
- Garuda Indonesia
- Gulf Air
- Iberia
- JAL
- JetBlue
- KLM
- LOT Polish
- Lufthansa
- Malaysia Airlines
- Middle East Airlines
- Norwegian
- Pakistan International Airlines
- Qantas
- Qatar Airways
- Royal Air Maroc
- Royal Jordanian
- SAS
- Saudia
- Singapore Airlines
- Sun Country
- SWISS
- Thai Airways
- Turkish Airlines
- Ukraine International Airlines
- Uzbekistan Airways
- Vietnam Airlines
- Virgin America
- Virgin Atlantic
I’ve linked to a trip report from every one of the airlines above. It’s not like I’m just bluffing.
On Saturday, I reviewed the Polaris Lounge in Chicago. What an excellent lounge, as far as I am concerned. It included sleeping rooms, showers, a nice buffet, a sit-down restaurant, top-shelf liquor, fast internet, and comfortable eating. United Polaris lounges or AA Flagship lounges are frankly better than almost any other business class lounges in Europe or Asia. Perhaps with the exception of the Turkish Airlines lounge in Istanbul, I cannot think of a business class lounge I enjoy more.
What about the onboard product? All U.S. airlines have lie-flat beds on every single one of their internationally-configured aircraft. Food is the most subjective of evaluations, but I often prefer the food on U.S. airlines over European or Asian counterparts. In any case, the food is edible and with 3-4 four choices, you can always find something eat.
And service? I find the service on Delta and United to be exceed the service on many airlines I have flown above. JetBlue offers amongst the best service in the world in Mint Class. Furthermore, U.S. airlines offer excellent bedding in business class and a keep their cabins cool.
Finally, wi-fi and IFE. Many European and Asian airlines have yet to install wi-fi. How nice it is to know that when you fly on American, Delta and United you are likely to have internet access available. Furthermore, the IFE selection has vastly improved, with often better movie and video selection than many “foreign” competitors.
The grass is not always greener on the other side.
CONCLUSION
I’m not arguing that the U.S. airlines are better. But I am wholly dismissing the notion that U.S. carriers greatly lag behind their foreign counterparts or when given a choice, it is best to always a choose a non-U.S. carrier over a U.S. carrier. In fact, when given the choice I often choose a U.S. carrier.
Am I alone? What are your thoughts on the so-called gap between U.S. carriers and others?
10-15 years ago, I went out of my way to avoid flying the American partners of Star and Skyteam when flying across the Atlantic, which happened regularly.
Since consolidation in the American industry and European carriers under more pressure from low-cost carriers, I’ve consistently picked Delta over KLM or Air France in terms of hard and soft product.
It looks like UA is following a similar trajectory vis-a-vis Lufthansa, at least in the Premium cabin space.
The Pacific market is quite different though.
I reckon this opinion os mostly based on the domestic service and voiced by people who haven’t flown on LH NEK and it’s siblings.
I agree with you. Every airline has its good and its bad apples, but the U.S. airlines in many ways equal or exceed other foreign airlines. You put it well, and argue the points I’d have argued with you about well. You could just as easily have been kicked off a Singapore flight if that lady who worked your 16.5 hour business class flight happened to be working that day. That being said, in economy, I do find that foreign airlines are way better when they’re on their game. Sure, I’ve had great economy flights in United internationally, but I’ve also had some not so great ones. I had one flight in Lufthansa coach that was so great that they got a letter of commendation from me. It is just my experience, and I believe others would not agree with me.
I fly to Taiwan quite frequently. My home airport is IAH so I exclusively fly Star Alliance, and given we have EVA Air nonstop service to Taipei, it’s my usual preference. I love their business class product. Well, I decided to change it up a few weeks ago on my recent trip where I opted for UA’s polaris product on IAH-SFO-TPE. I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed this trip with UA. The food and bedding were fantastic on SFO-TPE. The service was alright – not great but not bad. I enjoy the service on EVA a bit more. Moving forward, I will obviously prefer the nonstop EVA offers from IAH but given a few factors I wouldn’t mind at all flying UA to Asia. On similar note, UA needs to drop the 8 across in business class on ORD-HKG immediately because that is just awful. CX will beat them every time on the route 100% of the time.
This is skewed to business only. For those of us flying in economy, the European and Asian airlines are MUCH better in terms of service, amenities and food. No question. I fly ORD to LHR several times per year and 10/10 times i choose BA over United or American. Not even a close race… and BA isn’t even on the vanguard of European airlines.
With legroom?
Not the heavy flyer that you are, Matthew, and I very much respect your opinion) Flew relatively recently in both KAL (2015) and JAL (2016) (and, sigh, Air China 2018). The legroom on KAL/JAL was at least equal to and probably better than my international AA economy flight to Europe in 2015, and definitely better on Air China (according to Seat Guru and Google Flights). So maybe the domestic carriers have added legroom internationally in the past few years. But if Air China can give more legroom than anything I could find going to Asia from the US, then that’s a loss for domestic carriers. Add in that the service and general vibe for both KAL and JAL economy flights were better than AA and UA to Europe, and I unreservedly send friends to Asian carriers before domestic when going Trans-Pacific.
I flew China Eastern earlier this year. Oh goodness it was tight. It made Sun Country looks OK by comparison. In contrast, I fly mostly Alaska domestically, and their seats are so much more comfortable.
(that said, AS needs to up its business class game; they have no lie-whatsoever T_T).
100% agree with this. Just returned from three week trip that included US-Asia international routes and domestic flights on both continents, all in economy. Korean Air was light years ahead of Delta for economy leg room, comfort and service. It was embarrassing really how much of a step down it was when we transferred in Seoul from a KA A350 to a Delta A350. Exact same plane but sharp decline in legroom on Delta and far inferior service. FAs act put upon to serve you on 13 hr uncomfortable flight.
I flew American Airlines first class DFW to LHR recently. I thought it was very very good. The bed was comfortable, the food was yummy, and the service while not at the level of JAL, Cathay, nor Korean, was very good. And while it was 85k points, it was very little out of pocket $. My problem with AA is that finding their first class or business class award seats are very difficult.
I could not agree more. Had a first class ticket on Air France for a flight in Europe. The seat was as tight as economy. Recently took Qantas business class to Melbourne from SFO and the entire trip I felt like I was bothering them. Food service was started immediately with no offer of a cocktail before hand. When I asked the F/A for a double Titos she stated…and I quote: “Lets just start with one. If you need another I’ll get you one. ” I was livid. One, I hadn’t been drinking. And two, I don’t “need” anything except food and oxygyn. The return flight was no better. Very subtle air of arrogance about them.
I fly Delta and American. A lot. Is there issues some time? Sure…but to Australia I’ll take American all day long.
Are you trying to be provocative?
Here is why many foreign carriers are rated 4- or 5-star and no US carrier has managed to go beyond 3:
Seat consistency: sure, UA markets Polaris and DL had one Suites – but the majority of UA Biz is still sardine-can 2-4-2 and DL has morr different configurations than you can remember…
Also, the “international” comparison is flawed – more appropriate would be short-haul vs long-haul. I’d take an SQ regional biz over a US domestic first any day!
Food: the best airlines offer book-the-cook or on-demand dining in premium cabins. How many US airlines do? I certainly enjoyed UA steaks, but it gets old after 1M miles…
Service: staff in Asia or LatAm will assist with storing carry-on luggage, even on LCCs – I can’t recall the last time I saw that on a US carrier, in any cabin.
Sure, I’ve had very nice staff on UA or AA – but I had a fair share of staff that I thought should never be customer serving. The number of times I had that on SQ, ANA or Asiana? Zero
Entertainment:;SQ has personal screens at every single seat of there fleet and a huge selection of movies and TV shows from around the world with many A-movies/shows. The US carriers offer a narrower selection of mostly B-/C- flicks focused on a US audience? Which of the US carriers had Game of Thrones or other popular shows? How many foreign movies ?
So, yes, the US3 are improving and are far from the worst. But they have a long way to consistently deliver an end-to-end experience that is on par with the best!
But hey, to each his/her own. Fortunately, ee all have different expectations and make different choices…
+1 to everything you’ve said. This post read like an advert for US carriers or another Open Skies political shill. And it’s just as trite to complain about what European carriers offer as a J product intra-Europe.
I’d also add that hard product is a quantitative assessment that is far less subjective than soft product. And US carriers will lose almost every time when their hard product is compared against legitimate competitors for long haul flights. Further, I’d posit that the lounge argument also fails because there are too few US lounges with exceptional service/amenities compared to competitors. And those that do exist (UA Polaris and AA Flagship) are only in the US while many Asian and European counterparts offer extensive outstation lounge experiences that top the domestic US carriers’ offerings.
For soft product, food is super up for debate, and I’ll just leave that alone because tastes vary wildly for all people. But service of FAs…that one is a hard sell to me. I’ve never encountered a rude FA on any non-US carrier. Ever. Indifferent? Yes. Lazy? Maybe. Just going through the motions but otherwise pleasant? Definitely. On US carriers I’ve witnessed overly-familiar FAs. Actively rude/surly FAs. FAs overtly stating they do not like pax and have no desire to be working – literally stated to other FAs while standing in the front galley – on multiple airlines. Of course this is anecdotal and just my experience, but I can assure you I’m not alone.
I’d say the complaining and the stigma for UA carriers is well deserved.
Entertainment: SQ is one of the best in the world. Most other airlines will be worse. US airlines are not bad in this aspect. United for instance, has plenty of A-list movies and shows that rotate monthly and all their widebodies have personal screens. It’s hardly something to complain about. http://unitedprivatescreening.com/movies/all
@ Matthew — Sorry, I disagree. US airlines are pretty lame. I expect a lie-flat seat for any flight over 3 hours. 🙂
All good points and I agree with most of them.
HOWEVER… domestic flying consists exclusively of narrow body aircraft, including most Transcons. Would it kill the U.S. carriers to fly bigger planes? That would mean more comfort for all classes.
@Gene lol then I’m sure you quite often disappointed.
oops… “I’m sure you are quite often disappointed,” is what that was supposed to say.
While there are some American airlines that offer a better class of service overall to *some* European and Asian carriers…there are still lots of European and Asian airlines I would choose over the big 3 American airlines.
All of those opinions are subjective and become irrelevant with time as airplanes, seats and services are changing all the time around the globe. The US big-3 have been behind for some years, now they are pulling themselves ahead of some other airlines = pure competition, which is good for the consumers. I think consolidation of US Airways was a plus for flyers as the airline was aging quickly on many fronts.
The worse experience I had was on Ryan Air in Spain, but other people like the company. The one of the best experiences on “domestic” flights I had on Sky Airline in Chile – pretty flawless in Economy.
The business lounges seems to be blossoming in past 3-5 years with many new additions/improvements. Have you tried a Sakura Lounge in NRT – very very nice! And one of the best lounge foods/drinks I had were at the lounges in South Africa (although amenities differ).
And seems like the are more NEW lounges in US than anywhere in the world! That’s a plus.
Yes, US-based airlines need to pay attention to adequate leg space in Economy and keep improving soft products, but as much as international carriers.
I’m not sure this is a like for like comparison, an internationally configured US aircraft is likely to go far further than a European one which may be on a journey of less than 100km. The needs between that and trans-Atlantic are very different. Perhaps compare domestic US to short haul in Europe and see how it stacks up. Often the European airlines offer more in economy than US ones do in first.
In business class, maybe. I have flown only United Polaris and have mostly been impressed, but consistency is a problem.
In economy, it is almost always better to go with a non-US full-service carrier if given the option. Service on the Asian carriers in particular is on average a lot better, as is the catering, legroom, availability if power outlets, and amenities. Wifi is lacking as you mention, but that is usually fine for me.
Reference: I have flown the following non-US carriers long-haul in economy, and all save for Aeroflot are better than the US carriers. (Aeroflot and maybe British Airways is roughly on par with US carriers in economy.). Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Asiana, British Airways, SAS, Swiss, Aeroflot, and Turkish.
There is no question that service is better on most non-US carriers (Singapore, in particular was amazing). But I factor in legroom as well. Take Qatar for example. Food wasn’t any better and legroom on the A350 felt incredibly tight compared to United. I’d take United in heartbeat.
I don’t know anyone who says Euro airlines are better. They’re about the same if not worse (see intra-Europe biz) but you can’t say Asian carriers aren’t head and shoulders better.
Sure the VERY best products that the US3 offer are good, but you still have to deal with everything else in the process (imo the customers are the worst part) whereas on Asian carriers, you don’t have all the white trash to worry about.
People get on, sit down, and shut up. I think this can be attributed somewhat to the airlines and not just the culture because the US airlines care so little about the customer.
I usually have a heavy US bias but Asia wins this one 9 times out of 10. Europe sucks as usual, you have to deal with the European attitude.
There are Chinese airlines that have only 8 seats in first class (even on A321s), no wifi, no seatback IFE, ridiculously thin seats, and overhead IFE playing what seems to be propaganda and ads on a loop. The flight attendants consistently are not there.
I have found that my experiences flying US airlines are far superior to flying any airline in China.
Since retiring 10 years ago, I’m no longer a heavy duty international premium class flyer. But back in the day, I would always try to get on international airlines over US carriers. Fast forward to today and I have an award flight from LAX-SFO-AKL flight on UA scheduled with the new Polaris seat and a chance to go the Polaris club in SFO. While I’m still keeping an eye on award availability for the LAX-AKL non-stop on NZ as a potential change, part of me hopes it doesn’t become available so I see how UA’s Polaris service is, since I’ve never flown it.
Very different from my attitude 10 years ago.
I think this is a valid point. UA has really improved the last couple years and there are times I’ve missed them when flying on supposedly superior foreign carriers.
The two things I wish they’d improve is cabin cleanliness (especially the lavs) and loud chatter in the galleys.
Always nice to be a white man.
Seems to be 2 types of commenter. Number 1 says you’re crazy/shilling or something. Obviously wrong. Number 2 agrees with for business, is skeptical on economy. I am in this camp too. Clearly service in economy is less meaningful than service in business but it still is better on average on non-US airlines. I suspect this is because the US airlines are domestic airlines that also offer long haul, whereas non-US are often long haul airlines that do a little short stuff too.
With respect to personal space in economy, leg and shoulder room it is hard to judge as it is very route specific… are the US industry leading in comfort and space I don’t think so… but neither do they stand out as industry lagging. 8 across on Dreamliners… rip
Number 2 is also subjective and incorrect. Please provide *any* evidence that American carriers offer a holistically better J product for long-haul flights globally. At best, you might argue that they’re finally becoming comparable and competitive. Finally. That’s why this whole argument reads like a US carrier apologist pleading to “Leave the US carrier’s alone, already!” whine. Though you do make an excellent point about US carriers being “domestic airlines that also offer long haul, whereas non-US are often long haul airlines that do a little short stuff too.” That’s a great way to view their business models.
Just curious… besides US airlines, have there an incident whereby a passenger get beaten with blood all over the face and dragged out of the plane?
Honestly, the one thing that is most impactful (for me) when determining the quality of an airline is the staff- specifically, do I get the sense that they want to be there. If the food is good and the seat is good, but the staff is uninspired, appear tired, frumpy, or surely, my i’pression of the airline takes a huge hit. Because of this, i find most Asian carriers (special mention to EY, SQ, CX) hard to beat. I would put DL, AC, QF in the next tier, followed by most European carriers, then AA and UA toward the bottom. If AA and UA could just get their staff (ground and cabin) to consistently act like I’m not an imposition in their quest for a paycheck, they’d rate much higher in my book.
This past spring we flew on AF in economy BUD/CDG/PMI. I can honestly say that is was just as uncomfortable as anything AA UA or DL has out there. The staff on the plane was much better than US, ahh AA has. Worst staff was on a HNL/IAH flight two years ago. The senior citizen, ahh “senior flight crew”, was worse than just inattentive, they genuinely were annoyed at doing their job.
I think you raise some good points about some impressive investments in hard product (both lounges and business class seats) that American airlines are making. I agree that the Delta One suites, Polaris lounges and Polaris Suites are globally competitive and even stand-out and the airlines deserve some rightful praise for finally catching up. However, until these products are rolled out to a significant majority of their respective airlines’ services, I think I will still opt for Asian/European carriers over American for long-haul flying.
This sounds like an ad for the US carriers. Yes, they are still behind foreign airlines. I would only fly a US airline if I had absolutely no choice.
Look at every linked trip report. I make this argument only because I fly everyone on my own dime.
I disagree…US airlines can not compete with their foreign counterparts. I recently flew business class on Korean Air and it was incredible. The aircraft was clean and the staff was great. The lounge in Seoul made our layover better.
It all changed when I got to the US and transferred to United on a Business Class ticket…old dirty planes, surly unprofessional staff, and poor food. Tried to go to the lounge in LA, the answer was NO you must be on a international ticket. Tried to go to the lounge in Denver the answer was No you must be on a domestic ticket. Go figure! As I sat in Denver I watched as people scrambled as flights we’re canceled and late.
Never would I fly internationally on a US airline if I could help it.
Wrong. I recently flew American from LHR to ORD. They had 4 Bollywood movies compared to 100 some on Emirates. Even their partner British airways has 20 some. Food was very bad and AVML no where near what it should be. Flight attendants did one round and never returned to refill drinks. Bathrooms did not have a perfume or after shave which is standard on most Asian and European carriers.