Discussion
I will be flying Heathrow to JFK and then San Fran to Heathrow. BA is about £100 extra.
The BA flights all say 747 for both legs, but the Virgin flights have both 747's and Airbus A340-300 for the first leg to JFK.
Any preferences guys? I seem to recall old 747's being used but I don't recall which carrier.
The BA flights all say 747 for both legs, but the Virgin flights have both 747's and Airbus A340-300 for the first leg to JFK.
Any preferences guys? I seem to recall old 747's being used but I don't recall which carrier.
Myself and a lot of colleagues regularly do SFO to LHR and everyone has pretty much switched from BA to Virgin.
My experience of BA is rude ancient cabin crew, rock solid lasagne you could hijack the plane with, knackered old seats that look like British rail 1970's and terrible service.
On Virgin the plane was newer, cabin crew friendlier, food better and when I needed to cut a stay short i turned up at the airport and they put me on the next plane without even charging me.
BA short haul is very good but long haul is just awful. Even business class cabins are shabby and tickets extortion when compared to people like Emirates.
I'd go Virgin
My experience of BA is rude ancient cabin crew, rock solid lasagne you could hijack the plane with, knackered old seats that look like British rail 1970's and terrible service.
On Virgin the plane was newer, cabin crew friendlier, food better and when I needed to cut a stay short i turned up at the airport and they put me on the next plane without even charging me.
BA short haul is very good but long haul is just awful. Even business class cabins are shabby and tickets extortion when compared to people like Emirates.
I'd go Virgin
I have only flown Virgin once and it was certainly better than recent BA flights to/from Florida. I flew Continental from EDI to New York and then Florida but on the return leg NY was closed due to snow so we ended up flying Virgin to London. The Virgin flight was on a fairly new A340 which was very pleasant and the staff friendly, compared to BA flight on a ancient 747 and grumpy staff.
On the San Francisco to Heathrow leg you'll get more timing choices on BA than Virgin. There's two BA flights a day and only one Virgin. T5 is less soul-destroying than the others when you arrive too (not by much though).
Other than that, there's not much to choose between them on that specific route, IME.
Other than that, there's not much to choose between them on that specific route, IME.
GHW said:
.. T5 is less soul-destroying than the others when you arrive too (not by much though)...
I always find getting through security is quick at T5, but I find that just extends the time I have in the soulless warehouse beyond... I'm not a fan of T5, I'm afraid...I need to learn to get there later
BTW, I've just re-read the original post and I suspect the OP is driving across the States, not flying?
Anyway, I rather like 747s, old or not, but I'd still choose to fly Virgin given the choice.
M
Edited by marcosgt on Thursday 14th February 12:02
I fly regularly between London and Honolulu. Everyone will have a preference who they fly with because someone somewhere will always have had good or bad experiences with whoever is recommended. Personally I always fly to Honolulu via San Francisco with United. They have the best connection times. Eg leave on the 10.30 flight out of LHR get through immigration at San Francisco get the 4.30pm local time flight to Honolulu and I can be indoors watching tv by 9pm local Time. I have tried BA and Virgin but using a US carrier means you don't have to change terminals. Flying via SF or LAX only gives you a choice of 3 airlines into Hawaii. United, American or Hawaiian Air. They are all much a muchness but I really do recommend you fly 1st class internally. It's only a few dollars more but worth it. It isn't like international 1st class but it makes a lot easier. You will love Hawaii.
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