American Airlines

• In-Flight Entertainment
• Fleet Upgrades
• On-Time Percentage

In-Flight Entertainment

There are many positive things about flying with American Airlines, but our first stop is entertainment. The airline does a pretty good job in terms of in-flight entertainment. On the planes that are fitted with seatback TVs, it is possible to get on-demand entertainment. Planes without this feature allow passengers to check out on-demand tablets for in-flight entertainment needs. If you are looking to be entertained on one of their flights, you will find the following options:

• 250 movies on international flights and 150 movies on domestic flights
• Up to 180 TV shows
• 350 audio sections
• 18 American Airlines Radio channels
• Up to 20 games to play

You can also bring your own device to stream the items above, including laptops, an iPad, the Galaxy Tab, or any device that runs iOS or Android OS 3.2

Fleet Upgrades

There is a lot to like about the fact that American Airlines is continuously upgrading its fleet. Every week, American Airlines gets at least one new plane. These include Boeing 777-300ERs, Airbus 321s, and Airbus 319s. The old fleet of Boeing 767-300s, and Boeing 777-200s are continuously being upgraded to include lie-flat business class seats and other seating options. The Airbus planes should provide more comfortable seating options for flyers, especially in terms of bigger and better seats.

On-Time Percentage

According to Flightstats.com, their flights have arrived on-time roughly 82% of the time.

• Baggage Liability
• E-Vouchers and Refunds
• Entertainment Availability

Baggage Liability

There are a few issues that can become a part of your travels when using American Airlines. When we called in, we had questions about "upping" the liability on your checked baggage. Delta lets you up your baggage liability to $5000, but American Airlines seems to avoid doing this. 

E-Vouchers and Refunds

Some customers have had problems with American Airlines and their e-vouchers for various types of refunds. On an issued ticket, you cannot apply a voucher to get a refund. If you have no more planned trips for the year, the e-voucher is going to be somewhat useless if you don't use it by its expiration date. One customer also paid for a seat upgrade, but when they got to the plane, they still found their old seats. The customer found out that they would need to pay more to upgrade their seats again.

Entertainment Availability

One potential issue with the in-flight entertainment options are the planes in which they are available. When researching the AA fleet on their website, the best options for in-flight entertainment are on Boeing planes. Airbus planes have not been upgraded to the fullest extent as have Boeing planes up to this point. If a customer gets on an Airbus, they may have difficulties getting tablets, overhead video, or streaming video. Older Boeing planes are also sometimes lacking similar features for clients as well.