airplane companies
 

we have a choice to fly to london on American, british airways, virgin and continental.

Any comments regarding the various airlines would be helfup. seat room in economy, luggage problems, food, anything else

meant helpful, ignore typo

Go to seatguru.com for information concerning airplane seat configurations for American, British, and Continental. ((b))

if you are flying business class, then Virgin Atlantic is my first choice...

ALso I love Virgin Atlantic for economy but posts here have said that the leg room is not that great. I am only 5'6" and it was fine for me...

Service is EXCELLENT on Virgin Atlantic=it is the ONLY airline that I fly to London--

Here's 1 vote for AA and I'll tell you why. Assuming you're going in economy AA has the most room in economy. They fly 2 different planes to UK, either a Boeing 777 or 767. The 777 has individual video screens, the 767 does not. Food on all the listed airlines in economy is very similar. The service IMHO is pretty much the same as well. One minus for AA and Continental is the fact that they charge for alcoholic drinks in coach. Lost baggage could and does happen with all 4 airlines. The chances of it happening to you are very slim at best.
So, AA will give you the most room in coach (33-35" seat pitch and about an inch or 2 wider) than the other three. As a matter of fact the other three are some of the tightest seats in the coach( BA and CO have 31", not sure about Virgin, but I think it's the same as the other two). Dinks cost $5 each on AA and CO, free on BA and Virgin. Everything else is pretty much about equal.

To get more info on picking good seats go to www.seatguru.com.

Also if you're not a member of the BA frequent flyer club, you can't sign-up anymore, you have to fly on full-fare, business or first to even get signed up. If you are a member then in cheap economy you only get 25% of the actual miles flown on BA. Continental, Virgin and AA gives 100% of the actual miles in cheap economy.

I vote for Virgin for the simple reason that their entertainment system is absolutely THE BEST...much greater selection of movies that start and re-play when YOU want them to, plenty of games, etc. I am certain you might get a LITTLE more leg room on AA in economy..maybe a couple of inches and will you pay more for it??? I don't know..but you won't get enough extra room to make that 7-8 hour trip go by as fast as you will when you have something to amuse yourself with.

I'd fly BA or AA- and will never fly virign ecenomy after one AWFUL flight last year. I'm sure upper class is wonderful, but my flight in coach was the just plain gross- the seat area was dirty, the food terrible and the meal trays were not collected for the longest of time- perhaps this is easier for the crew as people can;t get up and move around. Many bells and wistles, but aging planes!

The above comment regarding the entertainment system aboard Virgin Atlantic is a bit misleading as VS has at least 4 different types of entertainment systems that I know of, only one of which provides on demand video. The others have a much more limited selection of movies that are not on demand. Which entertainment system you end up getting is the luck of the the draw. To check which specific aircraft is likely to operate on a certain route, go to www.virginflyer.com and click on the "Which Aircraft?" link. You'll get a list of aircraft that's used on a particular route along with seat maps and information on entertainment systems. V.port is the system that provides on demand video with a selection of about 52 movies. I had this one for my flight back from LHR and it IS great, but my flight to LHR had a different system which was far inferior.

One more thing, we flew premium economy which I can highly recommend. We were on the upper deck of the 747. I've heard though that PE on the Airbus is not worth the extra $, so check which aircraft they operate on your route first.

I've been quite satisfied with Continental. Both their 777 and 767 aircraft which are on routes to Europe have Tv monitors with multiple movie, etc. selections at each seat. Also overhead bins are the largest so no struggling with storing of carry-ons.
Whichever airline you decide to fly, take into account the usefulness of FF miles you can earn towards free future travel.
Personnally I have never had a luggage problem after many flights on Continental between the US & Europe.

I have flown Premium Economy on VA and done 2 different type planes and IT IS worth it...Think seats like First Class in US Planes-- all like barcaloungers with foot rests..
The food is the same as Coach,but the wider seats and foot rest and reclining options of the SEAT itself is worth the price of the tkt...
Premium Economy on VA is EQUAL to Business Class On DELTA ( I have done both airlines in "business class")...

how much more does premium economy tend to cost over regular economy?

Just go to www.virginatlantic.com and price it. Price the lowest economy for the flights you are interested in and once you get to the price page it will also give you an option to upgrade to economy plus and it will tell you how much extra it will be. On the average it's about 2x as expensive as the cheapest economy.
From New York to London, mid-week, in March, the cheapest economy is $326 and the upgrade is an additional $395.

I can only speak of BA which I flew over 10 years ago and again 3 years ago. The difference in flight attendant service, food, and seat comfort declined alot within the 7 years. In my opinion, I would not fly BA again and especially nowadays since they have many problems with people's reservations being cancelled. Surely thes problems may describe other airlines but out the four airlines you mention, I see quite alot of bad comments here about BA than the others.

i just flew B/A and was pleasantly surprised with the leg room on the 777 in economy....if you have a choice take the day flight from the usa...no jet lag...i also like virgin...can't beat their service...by the way the food on b/a was quite good....you actually knew what you were eating and it was tasty...

So any info on Us airways? I flew with in the Us last uear on american and i had plenty of room, but i am 5'5, but my mother who is of a larger size, also said she was comfortable (this was her first flight ever)

wow i cant believe i typed that last statement, i know i suck at typing but that was crazy (i am also too lazy to proof-read)What it is suppose to say is: last year i flew within the US and took AA....

I must stand up for BA. Even though the seats in WT [coach] are tight, we have flown to London often and the inside of the plane always looks very clean and neat when we get on, as do the bathrooms. At the end of 11 hours it can be another story. Trays, bottles, cans and glasses are always collected quite fast, sometimes before I'm through. VA sounds awful.

We flew American Airlines to London last October. The leg room and service was fine. Our headphones did not work though, AA sent us a travel voucher for $200 for the inconvenience.

Joanel,
It depends on the season and where you're flying from. The cheaper PE fares right now in low season cost around $750 from the east coast and about $200 more from the west coast.

Fly American if the seat pitch is your primary concern. Food is just about edible on AA. However, entertainment and service are poor.

Fly BA if you want decent service and edible food. However, entertainment is poor, particularly in economy.

Fly Virgin if you want decent entertainment. The food is just about edible on Virgin and the service is not bad.

Do not fly Continental unless it is much cheaper. Also watch out as they used to code share with Virgin (and may still) so you can end up on Continental when you think you will be on Virgin. Continental has shockingly bad entertainment, the ugliest and fattest and grumpiest air hostesses that you will ever meet, really disgusting and inedible food and the worst customer complaints department ever.

So it is between AA and BA IMO, followed by Virgin.

I flew Virgin Atlantic to London last year and was not impressed. The leg room seemed more cramped than other international flights I've been on, the service was not that friendly (however in their defense they did give us lots to eat) and though others have praised the entertainment system, the plane I was on must have been different because I found it very poor - the individual screens were so tiny you could barely see the image and if you leaned to one side it became distorted, plus the audio headsets were really bad - like being in between radio stations. I'm flying British Airways on my trip this March but this will be my first experience with them. I would only fly Virgin in the future if they had a considerably better fare. The airline I really liked was Air New Zealand which we used a few years ago. More leg room than VA, better quality audio & video, friendly flight attendants who offered tea WITH MILK as it should be, even very attractive blankets on the plane which only the presence of my mother prevented me from absconding with.

I flew Virgin Atlantic to London last year and was not impressed. The leg room seemed more cramped than other international flights I've been on, the service was not that friendly (however in their defense they did give us lots to eat) and though others have praised the entertainment system, the plane I was on must have been different because I found it very poor - the individual screens were so tiny you could barely see the image and if you leaned to one side it became distorted, plus the audio headsets were really bad - like being in between radio stations. I'm flying British Airways on my trip this March but this will be my first experience with them. I would only fly Virgin in the future if they had a considerably better fare. The airline I really liked was Air New Zealand which we used a few years ago. More leg room than VA, better quality audio & video, friendly flight attendants who offered tea WITH MILK as it should be, even very attractive blankets on the plane which only the presence of my mother prevented me from absconding with.

I've also flown to London on American and they were fine. But in the end I'd go for the one that offers the best price and most convenient schedule. It's only a few hours of your life after all - depending on where you fly from. I'm in L.A. - 10 hours to London, 11 coming home.

Personally, I always take American but they don't have much leg room in coach. If you have a choice I prefer the B767 (with only two classes) rather than the B777 with three classes. With three classes you are really at the bottom of the hierarchy...with the B767 there are only two classes so it isn't quite as bad. Both have the same leg room but on the B767 the seating is 2-3-2 as opposed to the B777 with 2-5-2 (yuck). Enjoy the flight!

This thread is from January 2004. I'm willing to bet Joanel has already taken her trip.

What is even odder - chief892 registers and for his first ever (and so far only) post - digs up and tops a 2+ year old thread??

weird . . . . .

Another vote for Virgin!! I have used them (Economy) for the 13 years I have been going to the UK and would not go any other way!! Their service is great and you will never get off the plane hungry. Had an opportunity, this last trip (May) to upgrade, for next to nothing, to Premium Economy for my return flight and it was very, very nice! If the price were right for my next trip I would go Premium, but, if not, I am perfectly happy with their Economy!!!