6ft 4 needing a decent carrier for cattle class

If you are going for comfort, and you think AA is most comfortable, why not get a portable DVD player and take it with if the movies are a concern?

For BA, I think it is more or less hopeless to get seat assignments, particularly for exit row, in advance, but I suppose you could always try. (This is based on what I've read, not personal experience.)

What city are you flying from?

For me personally, a seat with more space would be more important than on-demand movies.

Depending what city you are flying from, you might consider whether it's worth it to drive to a UA hub, and then take a UA plane with Economy Plus seating.

Good luck to your husband. I hope he gets a good seat.

The destination in the US is not mentioned, as a guess it could be DFW since you mention only BA & AA fly direct.
Some airlines charge extra for emergency exit seats so you could try booking these (eg Virgin) or you could upgrade to premium economy.
If there's a choice between BA & AA, it would always be BA for me (meal/drinks service better, entertainment better, online check in available, planes and FAs are younger). AA might have slightly better seat pitch than BA but the whole experience is rather shabby.

You're good Odin, He is flying from LHR to DFW.

I am leaning towards BA as I find their service all be it at times a little stuffy very good and you don't have to pay for absolutley everything as you do with a US carrier.

31" pitch 17.5 is not a very big seat when you're 6ft 4 and 225 lbs!!! still what's 10 hours out of life!

In general, I'd pick BA over AA. I don't know of any airline that lets you pick premuim seats (bulkhead, exit) in advance unless you've got top FF status - and BA won't let anyone, except 1st and gazillion-milers, pick any seat in advance. Most will free these up at 24 hr advance checkin, so that may be his best chance.

I'm assuming you/he definitely want non-stop. If not then other options could include premium economy on UA or Virgin as mentioned with a change en route.

Does your SO have elite status on AA? If he does, at least he can reserve an exit row seat, which has much more legroom.

AA flies 2 flights on 777 DFW-LHR in summer. The rest of the year, it flies 1 777 and 1 763.

The 777 has individual seatback entertainment in economy. It is not exactly on demand, but each movie starts every 20 minutes or so. Row 31 has unlimited leg room (exit row).

The 767 does not have individual entertainment; but if he can grab a seat on Row 21 either A/B/H/J, he will have lots of legroom (exit row).

But seriously, if I were you, I'd consider buying him the cheap economy ticket, then upgrade him to Business class ($350 + 25,000 miles each way). For such a long flight, I think it's worth it.

<buy chaap economy seat, then upgrade to business>

Good idea, but check AAs policy. Many airlines won't let you upgrade for a couple $100 or so + 25K miles unless you buy a certain fare class, and often those tickets aren't cheap.

Do BA offer their premium economy or whatever they call it on this flight? That should have more room, certainly wider seats. Otherwise you have to make sure you check in on line as soon as you can to get at least an aisle seat for him. My OH is 6ft 2 and had no problems on the BA jumbo to Phoenix. He always goes for an aisle seat.

BA coach seating is about as uncomfortable as it gets. Both AA and BA use 777s on LHR-DFW; however AA has two seats on the sides vs. three for BA and each seat is around half an inch (or a bit more) wider, also an inch more legroom.

However, BA does offer World Traveller Plus, premium economy, on that route, so if the increased cost (probably around 30%) is acceptable, it's considerably more comfortable.

AA has full in-seat audio/video on their 777s.

Since the OP's SO "hasn't flown in many years," it's doubtful if he/she has the necessary miles to upgrade, nor to score an exit row seat on either airline, since those seats are quickly scarfed by elite members of the airlines' FF programs.

AA has recently raised the co-payment price to $300 + 30,000 miles each way to upgrade (but good on any base fare) but $600 plus 60,000 miles is getting very close to competitive with just buying a cheap business fare and earning, rather than burning, miles.

I would reserve an isle seat, he will be able to stretch his legs at least for a while, when the food cart is not there.

Premium economy is the way to solve this problem. From the BA site:

Premium Economy prem+

A quiet, separate economy cabin that offers an extra 7" leg room, greater seat recline and your own seatback video screen and in-seat laptop power. World Traveller Plus offers extra space at an economy price.

I agree with the last message: World Traveller Plus (premium economy) on BA is the way to go, as its more-or-less similar to their old Business Class minus the gizmos. And for a 10-hour flight, its definitely worth the extra, even if that means flying separately from your companion.

Comfort on a flight overseas is always of maximum concern to me beacause I don't want to be wasted and sore when I arrive in my destination(I'm also very tall and most of my height is in my legs). I fly overseas about twice each year. I can guarantee a miserable flight over for your companion where comfort is concerned on BA unless you get lucky with the side bulkhead seats (which, as you said, can't be chosen in advance and, in my experience, forget about them making any exceptions -- they wouldn't even do that for my 6'7" brother). Nonetheless I have flown BA many times but only when the deal was too good to pass up i.e. their free nights in London hotel promotions. If your companion is stuck in a middle seat, it's torture far greater than waterboarding. The food may well be better and some of the perks nice, (always enjoy the "afternoon tea" on my flight home) but on a long haul flight I'd choose the leg room over any of those concerns ANY DAY. Should you decide on BA, they actually do now let you choose your seats in advance via the website, but only a certain number of days out from the flight, rather than at the time you purchase your ticket like American carriers (check their website for more details as I can't recall how far out exactly, but I think it was either 1 or 2 weeks prior to the flight). Don't count on it helping you much though. After getting all excited about being able to choose seats and literally arranging my schedule to be at a computer and able to go online and do it as soon as they became available (for best selection), the website seat selection function was not working properly and it was a total bust. When I called to see if they would help me over the phone because of those circumstances, they very politely said they couldn't help me and I would have to wait until arriving at the airport the day of our flight to get seats. Needless to say, by that time all that was left were the worst middle seats on the plane! The online check-in worked on the way back from Rome, but only for the first leg of the flight (to Heathrow). The second, and longest, leg had to be booked at the airport. Thankfully the counter person was lovely and after commenting on my height, she offered us a side 3 seat section where the middle seat was blocked because the seat wasn't working properly. That was a god-send! Their online seat selection is all but useless in my book. (I'd still try it if flying them. You never know when you might get lucky. Maybe they finally got some of the bugs out.) Also keep in mind that, unlike United, Northwest, and others, you can't change a seat once you've clicked on it. Make sure you've reviewed all available seats before you touch that mouse button. It "saves" the seat autmotically and immediately and you'll be stuck with any "accidental" clicks. By they way: You can always call AA re. the on demand movies to make sure. Sometimes omit perks from the flight listings on the website in my experience. Buon viaggio!!

"check their website for more details as I can't recall how far out exactly, but I think it was either 1 or 2 weeks prior to the flight"

Alas, it's only 24 hours before the flight. It is my pet peeve with BA.

Why not consider putting him on an airline that is rated the best in North America and has the seat pitch that you require, 34" I believe [check www.seatguru.com]?

Air Canada via Toronto will be much more comfortable, and as an Elite member, I can tell you that AC is better in the back of the plane than either of BA or AA.

Sample itinerary:
1 AC 869N 12SEP LHRYYZ 0830 1110 * FR
2 AC1045N 12SEP YYZDFW 1400 1617 * FR
3 AC1046N 19SEP DFWYYZ 1135 1535 * FR
4 AC 856N 19SEP YYZLHR 1825 0625 +* FR/SA

If you can get their current seat sale with seats in N class, the fare could be as low as:
LON AC X/YTO AC DFW 95.05N0MSJWUS AC X/YTO AC LON 95.05N0MSJWUS
NUC190.10END ROE0.510239
FARE GBP 97.00 TAX 40.00GB TAX 19.65UB TAX 8.00SQ TAX 1.30AY
TAX 16.60US TAX 2.70XA TAX 2.40XF TAX 3.80XY TAX 3.00YC TAX
0.40XG TAX 223.00YQ TOT GBP 417.85


David Smith, Vancouver