How does Lufthansa and KLM compare to British Airways--going out of Houston
 

I have flown British Airways twice to London and loved their service. We are flying to Rome and I am looking at KLM and now Lufthansa. Which would be comparable to BA? I would prefer individual TV's as well as somewhat comfortable seats. I'm flying coach so I expect-uncomfortable but I am wanting the most comfortable of the "uncomfortable" LOL! Thanks for your feedback!

Haven't flown Lufthansa but give me BA over KLM any day.
sal

I have flown with both Lufthansa and BA, but not with KLM.

I flew BA initially in 1991 and then again in 2001. What a difference 10 years made in service and aircraft. I felt both the service and the aircraft (narrow, uncomfortable seats) I had were terrible. I will never fly with them again. Also I think Heathrow is more awful than Paris's CDG and Heathrow is where you connect if you fly with BA.

On the other hand, I had both excellent service and aircraft when I flew with Lufthansa. I highly recommend them.

One thing to remember is coach class food is never that good no matter which airline you fly with.

I also recommend Lufthansa. I find them to be very professional and the seats are fairly comfortable. They also have a good record of on time departures. The food is simple (usually pasta) and connections are fairly easy at Frankfurt, but sometime confusing.

This may or may not convince you to fly with Lufthansa as well: they served bags of potato chips, Milka candy bars, orange juice, and water during the movie! Ok, well, to me that's considered a nice treat when one is in cattle class. And as with many other airlines nowadays you can help yourself to drinks in the galley, mainly orange juice and water.

LH flies 340-300 from IAH; KL flies 747-400 and on some days an additional 767-300. None of those planes have individual video screens in coach.

I think AMS will be the easier airport to transit than FRA.

I just recently flew Lufthansa & hated it. It was from Singapore to Frankfurt & then on to Florence. The long portion of the flight was really bad - no ind. screens (might be diff. for diff routes), the food was really bad (even for plane food) and the Frankfurt airport might be the worst I have ever encountered. I had the option of flying Luft. or going Thai - price diff. was $150. I wish I had paid the extra $$.

Why don't you just fly Continental? I always fly Continental (I live in Houston) and have never had any problems with them.

I didn't like Frankfurt airport either. Munich's Franz Josef Airport is nicer. But you're right it could be the specific route involved that makes a difference.

Only plane in LH's fleet that has individual screens in coach is the 340-600. It's used mainly on flights to Seoul, China, SE Asia and Santiago.

From the US, the 346 has served SFO, but it's now back to 744. The only US airport I can find that is served by the 346 right now is DEN.

As for IAH-FCO, CO offers a competitive product from Newark. The 762 is fairly new with individual screens. 2-3-2 seating and 32" pitch means it's quite comfortable. Timewise, you'll need to depart IAH earlier, but also get to FCO around 7am. A BA/KL/LH connection means leaving Houston later, but a noon arrival at Rome.

Coming back, CO leaves later than others, so you don't have to get up that early. Other connections may mean a 7:00am departure from Rome.

In terms of frequent flyer miles, if ones lives in Houston and need miles to earn/maintain elite levels, then it's either CO or KL.

Yes, but with those $5 drinks on Continental, it might be cheaper to fly Singapore Airlines.

I have only flown BA, but I wouldn't want to fly without an individual tv. We didn't have one when we flew Aerlingus and it was miserable. BA is currently having a sale to London. You would need to book the flight from London to Rome separately to get the cheap fares -- $139 + tax one way. I'm not a fan of LHR, we fly into LGW from Atlanta, but I still would fly through LHR to have indidual screens.

I've looked into Continental but their fares are over $900 right now. I personally like Continental and am a OnePass member but not Elite. Their prices are a little high though. Do you think they will drop? I MUCH rather prefer a flight with my own TV screen. I will pay more for it but not $300 per person. :( British Airways does have a good sale right now but finding a flight to Rome where I don't spend all day in the airport waiting for it's departure is not what I want to do--that's with EasyJet. Anyone have suggestions? Maybe to help me with British Airways? Thank you for everyone's input!!!! :) Diana

What dates?

Frankfurt is confusing but once you get use to it , its not too bad.

At least its not Heathrow or that ugly terminal at CDG...

KLM's Schipol airport is the most civilized. Which carrier I fly has never phased me, whether BA, LH, KL, AF, rather if it's going where I need to go, the schedule works and the price is right, but getting around/through the airport, is more important.

Hey, as long as the plane takes off and lands, I couldn't care about the food, TV screen, service, or fee for drinks. Give me a pill and I'm off to sleep.

We're flying February 9th and returning February 15th. We're restricted in time by our jobs unfortunately. Flying out of IAH. Thanks!

Not interested in TVs etc - for me what counts is service, comfort, and food.
BA usually links with Qantas to get from our neck of the woods to Europe. For that reason I steer clear of them, Qantas not being renowned for friendly or service. KLM are one of the better airlines, with efficient service - and, as another poster said, with KLM you get to stop at the best airport in the world. Don't know Lufthansa, although others have told me they're OK. I've only ever flown in to Frankfurt's domestic terminal - that probably doesn't count.

I flew KLM in preference to BA return from Amsterdam to SFO last May and was very impressed. The check-in was done on-line on the way out but we found it impossible to check-in for the homebound journey because we kept on being transfered to a US partner website.
Check-in at SFO was a little grim with some individuals who would have been at home in 1940's Germany.
On board a steward "demanded" that a little old lady move from the bulkhead seat because a tall gentleman wanted her seat. She refused to move so the steward just took her bags and moved them. She stood up and refused to sit in the new seat. The steward just walked away. When he bothered to return he told her that if she didn't sit down she would be offloaded. It was at this point that I interjected and told the steward that this was all of his own making. It was sorted in the end when someone else gave their seat up. The tall gentleman? Well, he had no shame and just sat comfortably though it all in the old lady's seat. Some people eh?
Other than that, the flight was comparable to Virgin in entertainment etc and they allowed you to just help yourself to chocolates and soft drinks. I would fly with them again.

It simply isn't true that transferring to a Rome flight from LAX is easier at Schiphol or Frankfurt than at Heathrow.

The truth, if the connection is all BA, is the EXACT opposite.

BA LAX-LHR flights arrive at the SAME terminal (indeed the same pier) as the departing BA flight for Rome. There's no passport control at LHR in either direction.

Arriving at both Schiphol and Frankfurt you have a long walk - through immigration (for which you invariably have to queue) - to what is, in effect, the domestic terminal. Returning, you go through outbound Schengen passport control at Amsterdam or Frankfurt.

And my experience (sample of 1) is that luggage frequently goes missing in Amsterdam connections.

Most of the time, LHR's best avoided if you can transfer at Amsterdam, Frankfurt or Zurich. All-BA connections from California, Tokyo and Hong Kong to major European airports, which are entirely at T1, are the great exception.