Agreed that Lufthansa's service is CLEARLY not what it used to be- but this is a carrier that has had some terrible labor problems in the last ten years, which go in hand in hand with the financial problems. That said, they often have the cheapest trans-A fares, and I speak German (so I like to listen to German and get a lang. work-out, if you will), so I still fly with them.

And as for BA/Virgin in economy class?-there's really no contest-BA wins every time, and BA's food in economy, believe it or not, really is not half bad!

Can not add much to the great info you've gotten already other than to confirm, based on my recent experience on Virgin, food is uneatable whereas I find BA food more than "not bad." Usually BA prices are less than VS. Are you sure about this? Is the difference because of the London to Italy segment? If, as someone else said, you have to change airlines using Virgin vs staying on BA all the way, go BA! Don't, if you can help it, use a scenario where you have to change airports.

Sorry, Every time I see the title to this post, I think it is about WHO is the person that I would fly with :)

Brad Pitt or/and John Cleese :)

:-o Inedible not uneatable.

I've flown BA a number of times (Seattle thru London onto A'dam or Geneva) and had fine experiences in coach. Their uniforms are sure ugly though.

One thing to look at careful on your itinerary - I noticed this yesterday checking a flight for this summer... some of the BA connections aren't out of Heathrow anymore but they are using a 2nd airport (I don't know the name but the letters/code was different). This was the lowest priced ticket on my route, but for $30USD more you could get a Heathrow/Heathrow connection. It was something that would have been easy to miss booking yourself direct with BA. I guess you then take a bus/train and pay for it to make your connecting flight. Anyone have experience with this?

BA are rolling out new FA uniforms - one of the FAs on a LHR SEA flight we took a couple of weeks ago was wearing one as a "test" (?). Incredibly retro, very 50s with hat and rather severe lines. (We got upgraded to Biz and enjoyed looking at the old BOAC/BEA cabin photos on the bulkhead walls - also from the 1950s and a hoot. Is this a theme?)

The T4-T1 yoga is okay if your bags are sent through; however you still need to ride buses and go through a re-screening, which with shortish connections reduces dramatically the time available for duty free shopping. Pity, that, as LHR has gotten so much better along those lines lately.

Still prefer American AL to any of the above. OneWorld partner, too.

People worry far too much about flying, as long as the airline is safe, offers relative comfort, there's no problem. You will spend a maximum of around twelve hours on the aircraft, compare this to the time one will spend in their hotel. I always fly BA around Europe as they turn out to be the cheapest scheduled carrier, I never ever fly charter, for one thing the people are too student backpackers, not my scene as you may have gathered, and they're invariably delayed - both the flight times and the student backpacker types.

As for business, I think this is a worthwhile upgrade on a flight of six hours of more, e.g. it's around 1000GBP per head to upgrade on a four hour European flight; suppose you are travelling somewhere for seven nights, two people, thats 285GBP per night spending money that will cover meals, drinks excursions, and/or upgraded rooms where you will spend considerably more time. However, on night flights, where one is to arrive refreshed in the morning, namely transatlantic journeys, an upgrade is much more worthwhile.

Yes, M-Kingdom, you're the fashion expert-what IS up with those BA F/A uniforms? They have always, to my knowledge, had this overly prim, stereotypically British look about them, what with the hats and gloves. I I've read recently that some of the American carriers Delta? American? are coming out with a new designer look for their F/As-but BA uniforms-eek!

Now, does anyone remember the old Gulf Air-"I dream of Jeannie" look? That was pretty wild! (sorry, I know I've gone off topic here!)

The new uniforms are just fabulous. They are inspired by an era when aviation was for the real jetset, and hollywood moviestars, and royalty.

Very chic, very elegant, so much better than the nonsense they are currently wearing. Another reason to go back to BA.

Mkingdom 2 can fly with the airline that has the best uniforms.

Insofaux as Faux is concerned, she flies the one with the best price.

I just got back from a trip to London and Paris and I flew coach with British Airways. The service was great and if your lucky enough you can get a bulk head seat and have plenty of legroom. I don't know if you can book these seats when you purchase your tickets. But you can call the airline (sooner rather than later - as soon as you receive your tickets) and they will try to accomodate you. I was in seat 40A (window seat - in bulk head - no emergency exit next to me) and let me tell you the leg room was fantastic especially for such a long flight.