I'm going to purchase airfare this week and I'm trying to make a decision. The story: I have 2 flights in front of me for approx the same price. One is with BA in and out of London Gatwick. One is with AA in and out of Heathrow. I do air miles with AA, but I was wondering if there is a significant difference between BA and AA (quality?) and Gatwick and Heathrow (convenience?) to warrant picking the BA/Gatwick combo over AA/Heathrow despite missing out on my air miles.

Oh and we're definitely talking economy (cattle) class here

If you are banking miles with AA, then I do not think there is any reason to go with BA. Seat pitch in coach is poor. Gatwick is as much of a pit as Heathrow, and lacks direct tube access. About the only thing you lose out on is free booze on BA, but how much can you honestly drink? Pack a few fivers in your wallet and pay for what you need on AA.

It isn't a huge deal (really) but has AA never served free drinks on International flights?

Yes AA used to serve free drinks but not for a long time.

The last time I flew economy for an international flight was summer 2001 (with Northwest) -- the free booze were flowin' back then. I guess a lot has changed since then....

I've been fortunate to mainly use miles to do Business Class back and forth to London on AA. Did it once on BA and HATED everything about it -- including the outright lies they kept giving us.
Last year, I flew coach on AA London to Miami, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was downright comfortable with lots of legroom (I forgot how much more room there is than on their domestic flights), and we happily had one of the sides where there are just two seats. I'll happily pay $5 for a drink for the extra comfort.

And I'll also happily book a car service for 25 or 30 pounds from Heathrow to the apartment over the transportation issues from Gatwick.

AA it is then. First trip to London we flew into Stansted and it was a great experience. I'm scared of Heathrow!

If you're trying to collect AA miles, BA flight won't help. As much as both are OneWorld alliance members, transatlantic flight miles are kept separately.

Having said that, I actually find Gatwick a better airport despite further distance. For one thing, you're almost guaranteed at least 20min landing delays early mornings at Heathrow because of tight landing slots.

If it wasn't for the miles - I'd choose BA/LGW every time. LGW is faster into London by train than LHR is by tube. And if you take the HEX you end up at Paddington which is nowhere near where you'll probably want to be.

LGW isn't fun, but it is "funner" than LHR for sure.

But when you factor in getting miles or not, for about the same fare - unfortunately AA wins out.

But janis, my point was that two people can take a car service from Heathrow directly to their flat or hotel for probably less money and less time than a train and taxi from Gatwick via Victoria. Having done both those with two people, sorry, I vote for Heathrow and a car service to save time AND money. Last year we flew into Gatwick and after taking a train to Victoria, we waited in line for about 15 minutes for a taxi to take a nearly half hour ride to our flat in Covent Garden at a cost of over 20 pounds more! No thanks. Going back we walked to Charing Cross, took a train to London Bridge and then another to Gatwick, but still a car service would have gotten us to Heathrow in the same amount of time or less with a lot less effort.

laustic:

Northwest still serves free drinks in coach on trans-Atlantic flights. I believe that they are the only US carrier that does - though Delta gives you one free beer or wine with your meal.

Gatwick is usually a lot less stressful than Heathrow, IMHO.

(and I'm British and have used both often before someone from across the pond who's been to England once tries to tell me otherwise! 8-))

Neopatrick - as for transport time and costs it all depends a) where your hotel is and b) whether or not you're prepared to use the tube as to how convenient onward travel is. From Victoria to CG by tube woud not have taken another half an hour and would not have upped the price by £20

I'll admit I haven't traveled with children, but I've never had a terrible experience at Heathrow on my trips to London. I didn't experience the same "calm" that others have at Gatwick, and the journey into town seemed expensive and endless to me.

I think perhaps I've just been fortunate, but my trips on AA to Heathrow have been relatively stress-free (if you can consider any air travel stress-free these days!).

Another consideration is the timing of the travel... BA is migrating to Terminal 5 in late March next year. Hopefully this would mean more efficient luggage handling, but I'm also concerned about initial glitches/teething problems...

RM67, I'm well aware that it would have been cheaper to take the tube from Victoria to Covent Garden, but that isn't what we were talking about really. In fact, if taking the tube, then Heathrow is INFINITELY better as I could take the tube direct to Covent Garden station with no changes. Now we're talking cheap AND easy. And while the tube may seemingly take a little longer that whole way -- not really, when you add in waiting for THREE different "trains" and making two separate transfers between them. I'm sorry, but I've not found a nice, easy transfer method on the tube from Victoria to Covent Garden (don't forget, we're now talking about a change at Victoria AND another change in addition) that doesn't involve crowds AND stairs -- not easy with luggage.

But comparing "apples to apples", anyway you look at it -- using a car service, using train and taxi, using train and tube, or just using tube -- in all cases, in my opinion, each one is easier/cheaper/more convenient from Heathrow than from Gatwick.

<b>laustic</b>, I'm trying to figure out where you're flying from. The only US city with direct BA service to LGW and direct AA service to LHR is Dallas as far as I know; all other routes would involve a change someplace.

One thing to note is that BA configures its longhaul 744s and 772s with 3-3-3 or 3-4-3 seating in coach while AA has 2-5-2 seating on its 777s; the sides with 2 seats are more accessible and comfortable IMO, plus AA's coach seats are up to an inch wider and offer an inch more knee space than BA's.

Hi Gardyloo: I'm flying from Dallas (DFW). I live in Austin and I'll just drive up the morning of the flight.

Although -- I've just been looking at more flights and since my dates are still flexible I noticed that it's cheaper to fly DFW-LGW in the middle of the week over DFW-LHR on the weekend. I may just do this instead.