Best Transatlantic Airlines?

[Matt..]

Which are the better airlines to be flying with in economy to the US? The options i seem to have open to me are: American Airlines, United, Continental, US Airways and Air Canada. Are any of these good? or am i likely to have a hellish time?!

[AdeTuono]

Virgin.

[v15ben]

AdeTuono said:

Virgin.

Seconded.

[Matt..]

Virgin don't fly where i want to go, so they're not really an option!

[harry010]

v15ben said:

AdeTuono said:

Virgin.

Seconded.

thirded. I had a nightmare check in once with Air Canada, and although their staff were lovely, it took an age to do anything.

[tvrolet]

If you're flying LHR to LAX then Air New Zealand are extremely good in the cheap-seats.
Done most of the other usual suspects [in cattle class normally] and I was very pleasantly surprised with the aircraft, food and especially the service.

[Matt..]

The route is likely to be:

London > San Fransisco
Denver/Salt Lake City > London

or

London > San Fransisco
Denver/Salt Lake City > Chicago
Chicago > London

[AdeTuono]

I flew to San Francisco with Virgin in February, so they do go to your destination. They also fly from Chicago. Not Denver/SLC though, so you'd need an internal flight with someone like JetBlue, who are cheap. We paid $90 from SF to Ft. Lauderdale.

[Ynox]

My 2 cents.

AA - fairly consistently crap. Seat pitch isn't so good but service is OK. Reasonable entertainment system (not AVOD). No free booze.
United - OK if only for economy +. Service is worse than AA. Entertainment system seems a bit temperamental on their 767s (been shot a few times when I've flown them). No free booze.
Continental - not flown them.
BA - service is reasonable. Seat pitch isn't great but bearable. Good AVOD system which usually works. Free booze in Y.
VS - swore not to fly them again back in 2002 after a nightmare journey. Flying them again soon though. Not sure how good they are for connections in the US/Europe though either.

Air NZ's product looks good. Only downside is the flight times getting into LA - if I remember right it's about 1900/2000 local, which means you're a bit screwed if you want to connect and get in at a reasonable time.

[Matt..]

AdeTuono said:

I flew to San Francisco with Virgin in February, so they do go to your destination. They also fly from Chicago. Not Denver/SLC though, so you'd need an internal flight with someone like JetBlue, who are cheap. We paid $90 from SF to Ft. Lauderdale.

They dont fly from Chicago after early September though

Oh and they're VERY expensive comared to everyone else, which is a shame!

[cjs]

I'd look at United and pay the extra for Plus, it's usually quite reasonable to upgrade. All the US carriers are poor compared to BA & Virgin. Charging $5 for a beer puts me off straight away! Checking in with AA is always a chore.

[ALittleEXcited]

If Delta are available I'd take them every time.

Anybody remember Laker? I used to think they were excellent.

[GreigM]

Air Canada from that list for me - generally all seats are bigger than the rivals and I've never failed to be upgraded if paying a reasonable ticket price....

Unfortunately I have to fly Continental these days and couldn't think less of them!

[Matt..]

ALittleEXcited said:

If Delta are available I'd take them every time.

Anybody remember Laker? I used to think they were excellent.

Delta are possibly an option (if i add an NYC stopover), but they're a little more expensive than AA/United and this is meant to be a cheap holiday!

[cjs]

Matt.. said:

ALittleEXcited said:

If Delta are available I'd take them every time.

Anybody remember Laker? I used to think they were excellent.

Delta are possibly an option (if i add an NYC stopover), but they're a little more expensive than AA/United and this is meant to be a cheap holiday!

To be honest all these are pretty much the same, economy is economy no matter who the airline is, none of them will give you free booze, all will have similar seats. If price is important then just go for the cheapest.

[ALittleEXcited]

I'm sure I got free booze with Delta...

[RedLeicester]

BA Club.

[whoami]

ALittleEXcited said:

If Delta are available I'd take them every time.

Anybody remember Laker? I used to think they were excellent.

They folded 28 years ago.

How old are you again?

[Iain328]

Always tend to end up on United to SF or LA because generally they are cheap, the service is pretty consistent but, most of all, they always, always fly on time.

[ViperDave]

I'd avoid Air Canada for a US itinerary, unless things have changed they use United agents in the US for check in etc, and you’re not their customer so they don’t give a toss about you. Also if you fly through Montreal they will refuse to speak English to you there.

Edited by ViperDave on Wednesday 9th June 00:16