germanblonde

Which would you choose?

laverendrye

I really was a bit hasty in commenting on m_kingdom's acerbic reply to your question on BOAC. I see his point now.

A question like this is a waste of time.

If you were to provide some small details such as origin and destination, you might get a useful answer.

francophile03

No, it's a fair and common question. Others ask opinions about airlines so that they can find out which ones are the worse or the best. I think this question is related. Destinations do make a difference but I think the person wants to know about these two airlines in general.

m_kingdom

If you're flying economy just do whatever is cheapest, simple as that. I always try to fly BA as I am a member of their frequent flyer scheme, but flying is such a small part of your holiday, it isn't worth making a fuss about. No economy seat will be comfortable, and if you are flying business or first, BA offers the best cabin.

You are far too vague with what you want. State some of your own opinions, even if it is as ridiculous as interior design of cabins - BA has blue which might not suit your tastes.

TravelMaster

Hi:

I've taken both through London (Air Canada in business class when my company paid & British Airways in economy when I paid), the Air Canada service in business class was 'nothing special' (margionally better than BA's in economy).

Z

WillTravel

Find out the exact aircraft you would use in each case and post on Flyertalk.com to determine which would be more comfortable. I would go for the one with the most seat pitch and widest seats, rather than any other consideration.

laverendrye

Let me expand on my previous reply.

Your choice of airline will depend on many factors, and only you will know which are the most important to you.

Some of these are: Schedule; frequent flyer plan (Air Canada and BA do not share plans and belong to different alliances); origin and destination (obviously if only one of the two flies a given route, there's no choice, but it may be than onward connections are better with one airline and its alliance than the other); in-flight service including meals, drinks, movies, etc; comfort and space; class of travel; and the all-important cost of the fare.
Until recently, ther was no difference in safety. Both airlines have excellent records. However, you probably have heard that a number of BA flights from London to Dulles have been postponed or cancelled due to security concerns. You would have to judge whether that makes any difference to your choice.

I didn't mean to be curt in my previous posting, but really, unless you provide more detail, the answer to your question must be "It depends..."

goldwynn

Neither.......if going to Europe I always fly Air Transat. An extra $200 Canadian and you can book a wide seat up front. There are only 17 of them and worth every penny. I book out of London to continue the journey to the rest of Europe and I love stopping in London anyway.

Andrea_expat

You may also want to check on their on-time and luggage performance ratings. We have friends who swear by Air Canada, but we hate them passionately because they have delayed our luggage FOUR SEPARATE TIMES. We wouldn't fly them at all, but they're on our FF plan & sometimes we can't get United flights.

Depending on how much you travel, you might want to think about where your most likely future destinations will be, what airlines serve your local airport (or nearest international airport) with the most flights, etc., and choose a frequent flier program to join. Even if you don't rack up very many miles, sometimes just having the card can get you some benefits.

Micheline

Fair question. I have frequently flown both but much prefer British Airways. Air Canada is in big trouble financially and it shows.

JonJon

A "fair" question???? Where are we flying to besides in our wildest dreams in this case? And yes, it is an all-too-common question and unless one asks about specific aspects of service such as the entertainment system in which Virgin has the best of any airline IMO then I agree it probably makes sense to fly whichever one is the cheapest unless you enjoy paying more for mediocre food, small seats, etc.

CarolA

Any airline has those who love them and those who hate them. In this day and age, you pay your money and you take your chances.

(By the way, if you think the post is not worth responding to WHY DO YOU POST a response. Just ignore it! I am amazed that you feel the need to post just to sound rude!)

germanblonde

Thanks for the feedback. I have never flown either of these airlines before. I will fly from London to Montreal in economy class. I've decided to take British Airways, since I prefer a 777 instead of an Airbus.

rkkwan

Now we're talking. In coach, BA's 777 have personal video monitor, while AC's 330s don't. So, if you care about onboard entertainment, BA is clearly better than AC.

Also keep in mind that BA's 777 has 3-3-3 seating, while AC's 330 has 2-4-2. So, if you like a window seat, the 330 is better, as you only need to climb over one person to get out instead of two.