Airline Comparison
 

Hi There
We are planning to fly from London to the West Coast of America next Autumn and because my wife has disc problems with her back cannot decide whether to fly Premium Economy with British Airways or Virgin Atlantic.
Has anyopne flown with both these airlines? If so could you advise which you would recommend please?

Much appreciated Sue & Paul.

Have flown to London on British Airways and it was "comfortable". My sister went on Virgin Atlantic because it was cheap but she said it was not comfortable.
Check on the seating plans of the planes you would fly on and perhaps that would help you.

You may find this helpful: http://www.seatguru.com/charts/premium_economy.php

I'd think bratsandbeer's comment re VS (Virgin) was about their regular economy seating -- not their premium product. It partly depends on which plane/configuration but in general VS premium economy is more roomy/comfortable than BA's.

On BA, the premium economy seats (at least when I've flown them) are the regular coach seats just w/ more pitch (leg room). On Virgin the one time I flew premium - the seats were at least 2 or 3 inches wider than the normal VS coach seats.

Just flew British Airways from Chicago to LHR a couple weeks ago on a new 767. Plane was very comfortable in economy. Service was excellent and food was even good! I had seen very low fares ($400ish roundtrip) on Virgin Atlanic. I'm so glad I didn't book with them because they canceled service from Chicago to London as of mid-september. Not sure if they will slowly cut other routes. Not worth the risk.

Virgin seems to be considered to have the better premium economy product. Wider seats, dedicated check-in, etc.

One note, the claim above that the BA premium economy seats are the same as their economy seats is wrong. The seats are very different. They are much like a domestic first class seat.

Try Air New Zealand. Their service between London & Los Angeles is on 747s with a 34in seat pitch...by far the best you'll find in coach. And they have an upgrade option that very often has good rates.

I have flown British Air and I greatly prefer Air New Zealand.

Since you're flying to the West coast from London, it may be a good idea to choose a flight in 2 segments: fly to NY or Washington, DC first. That way, you'll get the five hour flight out of the way, then will have time to walk around before the next flight. Or better yet, stay a night or two before going on to the West coast. It's a long flight to go nonstop from London with disc problems.

Oops, the flight from London to the east coast is longer than 5 hours... more like 6 or 7 I think. Sorry, it's about 5 hours then to the west coast.

We've flown Virgin Premium Economy three times due to back problems. The seats are much better than normal economy seats in any airline but not as roomy or as much pitch as a Business Class seat. If we don't have miles to upgrade to Business Class we go on Virgin's Premium Economy to London.
Their daytime flights to London from the east coast are also a good way for someone with back problems to travel.