Which airline from UK to NYC?

[Viperzs]

Good evening all!

I've had a look through the forum and couldn't find a recent thread on this.

I'm going to go to New York at some point this year, possibly June/July time for a week. I only need flights as a friend will be living out there.

I need some suggestions for airlines as I have only ever really flown Emirates Business Class.

I have seen British Airways' prices and the state of their Business Class offering so they don't have a chance of winning my custom.

Virgin Atlantic Upper Class looks ok if I can find the right price, however for chauffeur car it seems to almost double the price???

What other decent options do I have? Budget is under £2k, ideally under £1,500. Manchester is preferable however LGW or LHR would be possible.

Thanks.

Edited by Viperzs on Friday 29th March 01:23

Edited by Viperzs on Friday 29th March 01:24

[Matt Harper]

You're looking for a business class flight for under 2K?

Keep dreaming.

[anonymous-user]

Under 2k with stopovers: try Air Lingus or KLM. Cheapest direct is over £2k with AA.

Virgin UC only gives you the car when you book fully flexible, hence the price jump. For your budget you should look at Virgin premium economy.

[WhereamI]

You've been spoilt by not having to fly over the atlantic. Trans atlantic gives you worse airlines, worse service and higher prices. You can fly to Australia business class for under £3k but doing the US under £2k is a challenge, to say the least.

BA is poor compared to the competition if you are flying east from the UK but together with Virgin they are probably the best flying west.

[Viperzs]

Greg66 said:

Under 2k with stopovers: try Air Lingus or KLM. Cheapest direct is over £2k with AA.

Virgin UC only gives you the car when you book fully flexible, hence the price jump. For your budget you should look at Virgin premium economy.

I've heard that Aer Lingus is a good option because they do the passport checks in Ireland instead of the US. I'll have a look at those two, thanks.

Shame you have to go fully flexible for it. My friend is flying out there Premium Economy so I'll see what he thinks of that.

WhereamI said:

You've been spoilt by not having to fly over the atlantic. Trans atlantic gives you worse airlines, worse service and higher prices. You can fly to Australia business class for under £3k but doing the US under £2k is a challenge, to say the least.

BA is poor compared to the competition if you are flying east from the UK but together with Virgin they are probably the best flying west.

I really do think I have been spoiled with Emirates. I've rarely flown transatlantic before. From what I have seen and heard from my parents there's no chance I'll be flying with BA.

[anonymous-user]

You may be out of luck with Aer Lingus. The flight connects through Dublin, whereas I think the US Immigration outpost is at Shannon.

Eta: DUB gets a US Immigration outpost next week - 3 April. At over 11 hours from London to JFK it doesn't seem worth it. The quickest option is probably BA's all business class service from City, which does a splash and dash in Shannon where you clear US Immigration whilst on the plane.

I don't think I've ever heard a good report about Aer Lingus's business class.

Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 29th March 13:06

[Viperzs]

Greg66 said:

You may be out of luck with Aer Lingus. The flight connects through Dublin, whereas I think the US Immigration outpost is at Shannon.

Eta: DUB gets a US Immigration outpost next week - 3 April. At over 11 hours from London to JFK it doesn't seem worth it. The quickest option is probably BA's all business class service from City, which does a splash and dash in Shannon where you clear US Immigration whilst on the plane.

I don't think I've ever heard a good report about Aer Lingus's business class.

Edited by Greg66 on Friday 29th March 13:06

I've heard about the A320 all Business flight from London City but the price is too much for me.

I've just found KLM will do Business Class for £2,000. Bang on top budget!

I haven't looked at Aer Lingus yet but I can't imagine their Business Class is worth paying for.

[acd80]

Greg66 said:

You may be out of luck with Aer Lingus. The flight connects through Dublin, whereas I think the US Immigration outpost is at Shannon.

Eta: DUB gets a US Immigration outpost next week - 3 April. At over 11 hours from London to JFK it doesn't seem worth it. The quickest option is probably BA's all business class service from City, which does a splash and dash in Shannon where you clear US Immigration whilst on the plane.

I don't think I've ever heard a good report about Aer Lingus's business class.

Edited by Greg66 on Friday 29th March 13:06

US Immigration is in Dublin as well and has been for years.

TBH, it's probably quicker to fly into JFK from Heathrow than fly to Ireland first. I did the journey last week and from landing on the runway at JFK to getting out of the terminal with luggage was less than an hour.

[anonymous-user]

acd80 said:

US Immigration is in Dublin as well and has been for years.

TBH, it's probably quicker to fly into JFK from Heathrow than fly to Ireland first. I did the journey last week and from landing on the runway at JFK to getting out of the terminal with luggage was less than an hour.

Every day's a school day!

OP: that KLM flight is presumably LHR-AMS-JFK. What's the price to go AMS-JFK on KLM? Is it cheaper? Sufficiently cheaper to cover a budget carrier return to AMS bracketed around your long haul legs?

[surveyor]

acd80 said:

Greg66 said:

You may be out of luck with Aer Lingus. The flight connects through Dublin, whereas I think the US Immigration outpost is at Shannon.

Eta: DUB gets a US Immigration outpost next week - 3 April. At over 11 hours from London to JFK it doesn't seem worth it. The quickest option is probably BA's all business class service from City, which does a splash and dash in Shannon where you clear US Immigration whilst on the plane.

I don't think I've ever heard a good report about Aer Lingus's business class.

Edited by Greg66 on Friday 29th March 13:06

US Immigration is in Dublin as well and has been for years.

TBH, it's probably quicker to fly into JFK from Heathrow than fly to Ireland first. I did the journey last week and from landing on the runway at JFK to getting out of the terminal with luggage was less than an hour.

We flew in week before last, and managed 30 minutes. No queue at all at immigration.

AA have some new planes going in on the LHR/JFK route at present and I was pleasantly surprised by their staff also.

[Puggit]

With KLM you could easily end up flying on their US code-shares. So could end up with Delta - make sure you check!

[acd80]

surveyor said:

We flew in week before last, and managed 30 minutes. No queue at all at immigration.

AA have some new planes going in on the LHR/JFK route at present and I was pleasantly surprised by their staff also.

I would've managed it in about 45 minutes if it wasn't for the fcuktard in a beige jacket who directed me and the missus into one queue only to be moved to a longer queue straight away by another fcuktard 5 mins later.

They're chimps although the immigration guy was polite for once. I'm still struggling to understand why the immigration staff need to be carrying sidearms behind their desk in the middle of a secure area however....

[Matt Harper]

Puggit said:

With KLM you could easily end up flying on their US code-shares. So could end up with Delta - make sure you check!

KLM New World Business:



Delta Business Elite:



100% of Delta's transatlantic business class is lie-flat, with aisle access. 90% of KLM's isn't - I know who I'd rather end up with....

[GCH]

Greg66 said:

The quickest option is probably BA's all business class service from City, which does a splash and dash in Shannon where you clear US Immigration whilst on the plane.

Have taken the LCY-(SNN)-JFK fairly regularly, and you have to get off the plane (with all carry on luggage) to clear immigration at SNN.
It is still very quick and efficient though. Doesnt make a huge time saving for me personally as a US PR, but for non US people the time & hassle saving can be substantial and it very relaxed. Plus its an awesome service with the added bonus of data connection, which you dont have on normal BA services.
Try starting in AMS or italy connecting at LCY and you can usually make a substantial saving, (much as you can with LHR also).

[Viperzs]

Greg66 said:

Every day's a school day!

OP: that KLM flight is presumably LHR-AMS-JFK. What's the price to go AMS-JFK on KLM? Is it cheaper? Sufficiently cheaper to cover a budget carrier return to AMS bracketed around your long haul legs?

Yeah it worked tha way, however I would do it via Manchester. I didnt think of routing it with a budget carrier over to AMS, I'll give that a go!

Puggit said:

With KLM you could easily end up flying on their US code-shares. So could end up with Delta - make sure you check!

Yeah I noticed that, it's seems to be the same for BA and AA. I'll have to watch out for that!

I had a look at KLM and wasn't that impressed. Lufthansa look better than KLM.

[escargot]

AA flights from Manchester to JFK are insufferably st. Business or otherwise.

[Viperzs]

escargot said:

AA flights from Manchester to JFK are insufferably st. Business or otherwise.

Thanks, I'll make sure to avoid that one.

[escargot]

Viperzs said:

escargot said:

AA flights from Manchester to JFK are insufferably st. Business or otherwise.

Thanks, I'll make sure to avoid that one.

Yeah, next time I go out early may I'm going to go BA via LHR. I don't care if it takes longer frankly.

[Dr Jekyll]

GCH said:

Try starting in AMS or italy connecting at LCY and you can usually make a substantial saving, (much as you can with LHR also).

+1

You can get BA club class just under £2K if you time it right. Also keep an eye out for BA fare sales, often the London to NY fare club class fare dips down to around £1600 for a while. Friend of mine once got LHR-JFK return in first for £2500, haven't forgiven him yet.