Trans-Atlantic travel... Europe-- which Airline would you choose?

[Dancingfish Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dancingfish]

Given the choice... best seats, best service, best food... for that long flight who do you try and go to first???

My first thought is Virgin Atlantic.. but its only because of their ads... I have never had the pleasure of actually flying on them.

[Beaglemom3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beaglemom3]

Given the choice... best seats, best service, best food... for that long flight who do you try and go to first???

My first thought is Virgin Atlantic.. but its only because of their ads... I have never had the pleasure of actually flying on them.

Love them ! Was even on a flight when Branson himself was working the beverage service in coach !
I like British Airways, American and Aer Lingus also.
It depends, a little, on where you're flying from, too; US east coast v. west coast, longer trips.
B

[joycapecod Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close joycapecod]

It really depends on where you are flying to/from.

I love SwissAir from Boston. We usually fly them from Boston to Athens with a stop in Zurich.

For Philadelphia to Paris I flew USAirways...let me tell you even with free tickets NEVER AGAIN, yet when we flew to England on USAirway it was excellent.

We've used Lufthansa and enjoyed it...did Boston to Munich.

Inside Europe we've used British Airways and it was pleasant.

Where are you going and from where are you leaving?

Joy

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Joy we just flew Swiss air from JFK to Munich and we hated it. The seats were very tight compaired to others. Coming home we had Air Canada and were very satisfied with there seats and service.

BTW A close friend of mine works for V.A he became a big shot early on with them and has grown with the company.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

I have travelled across the pond on the following airlines:
Northwest
Delta
Continental
United
Air France
Alitalia
British Airways
Finnair
Swissair
TAP Air Portugal
Malev

Generally, I prefer the European carriers, which tend to offer more amenities than US carriers. My favorite trans-Atlantic carrier was the old Swissair, which has now gone bankrupt, replaced by Swiss International Airline, and which in turn, has been taken over by Lufthansa although still flying under the Swiss brand. I have heard that there standards are not what they used to be, but I have not flown them since they left their partnership with Delta back before the bankruptcy.

I like to read the wide selection of international newspapers that all trans-Atlantic carriers used to provide to passengers. Most European carriers still provide enough copies for the entire plane. All US carriers now carry only enough for Business and First class, with maybe a handful of leftovers for the peons in steerage if we are lucky. For me this is a big plus for European carriers and a huge minus for US carriers.

I also like to have some wine with my meal, or drink a beer from time to time. All trans-Atlantic carriers used to provide this free. Most European carriers still do. Among US carriers, only Northwest still provides this amenity, although Delta has recently restored one free alcoholic beverage with dinner. Other US carriers are still in the scrouge mode on this amenity. Again a big plus for European carriers and a huge minus for US carriers other than Northwest and, to a point, Delta.

Indeed, even on intra-Europe flights, most European carriers also provide free alcoholic beverages. Of the flights I have taken on legacy carriers within Euorpe, only KLM has not provided this, although I have read that KLM is now offering free drinks intra-Europe since their takeover by Air France. My most recent intra-Europe flight was Frankfurt to Chisinau on Air Moldova, and they offered free wine with lunch (try to even get a lunch in coach on a domestic US flight under 3 hours these days, much less free wine!).

Unfortunately, my new employer requires flying US carriers if they are availible, but being based in Europe now, I at least can fly decent carriers intra-Europe. I have learned from co-workers that the best way to get around the US carrier requirement on the trans-Atlantic leg is to do some research, find codeshare flights where the ticket may say United but you are actually flying Lufthansa metal, and then specifically request those flights giving the United flight number for the Lufthansa flight.

Of course, to maintain my elite ff status, I try to fly only SkyTeam carriers, and my preference on the trans-Atlantic leg among them is, in order, Air France, Alitalia, Northwest, KLM, CSA Czech, Delta, Continental, and Areoflot. (while I have not flown across the pond on KLM, CSA, or Areoflot, I rank them where I do based on what I read about them and on their SkyTeam partner status).

I enjoyed the intra-Europe flights I took on Austrian Airlines back when they were a Delta partner, but have not flown them across the pond. I was not impressed with my intra-Europe flights on Olympic Airlines, and would not be inclined to take them across the pond.

[Aldo Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Aldo]

I've used both British Airways and Air France and was very satisfied with both of them.

That being said, I live in the NorthEast, and often have to use US Airways, so my standard of comparison is very very low indeed. Compared to US Airways, it's not hard to come out smelling like a rose. But I'd honestly recommend British Airways or Air France on their own merits.

Carolinian makes a great point. How about providing newpapers and magazines for us peons in steerage? Air France manages to make a nice selection of papers and journals available to everyone.

[Dancingfish Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dancingfish]

We are flying to scotland (EDI) in October-- that is what brought all this on--For such a long trip larger seats and good food (and drink) are worth alittle extra but not the $1000 + to upgrade-- having only flown a handful of carriers (usually on smaller AC) I was interested in your opinions.
It looks like we will be going with either British Airways or United. While Virgin has a decent price I can only get as far as London and then would need to book separate tickets which seems like a nightmare.

[alexb1 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close alexb1]

we fly from scotland to usa 2-3 times a year with virgin and book seperate
tickets no problem at all on the way home they check our luggage all the
way through

[Keitht Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Keitht]

Coming home we had Air Canada and were very satisfied with there seats and service.

Our experience with Air Canada has been very mixed. Flight from London Heathrow to Calgary was superb. Standard seating had footrest on seat in front, adjustable wrap around headrests and masses of legroom. This was a daytime flight and the configuration was the same throughout 'cattle class'. We were actually looking forward to the return flight and comfort for the nighttime return.
The reality was very different. Less legroom, no footrest, fixed headrest and to cap it off completely disinterested cabin crew!!
Our experience was actually so poor that we will think hard before travelling with Air Canada again.

[mlsmn Member Find all posts View Profile Close mlsmn]

I would not again use Eurofly
They fly from JFK New York to cities in Italy. It was a nightmare both ways.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Our experience with Air Canada has been very mixed. Flight from London Heathrow to Calgary was superb. Standard seating had footrest on seat in front, adjustable wrap around headrests and masses of legroom. This was a daytime flight and the configuration was the same throughout 'cattle class'. We were actually looking forward to the return flight and comfort for the nighttime return.
The reality was very different. Less legroom, no footrest, fixed headrest and to cap it off completely disinterested cabin crew!!
Our experience was actually so poor that we will think hard before travelling with Air Canada again.

Could be the aircraft you were in. We had a huge air craft with pleanty of leg room and great service on our 8-9 hour flight from Frankfurt to Monteral but we had a smaller aircraft with still pleanty of leg room on our 1 hour flight to LGA from Montreal.

[Linda VH Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Linda VH]

We are flying Virgin Atlantic, Miami-Heathrow and then (under Virgin's name) BMI to Venice. VA is Business and BMI is Premium Economy as there is no Bus. on that short hop. I did extensive research on Flyertalk and on seatguru. DH said he wanted to sleep and so I went for the Flat Bed in VA. I would have done Lie Flat but certainly never recliner. Why pay for Bus. (or use your upgrade Linda

[Keitht Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Keitht]

Could be the aircraft you were in. We had a huge air craft with pleanty of leg room and great service on our 8-9 hour flight from Frankfurt to Monteral but we had a smaller aircraft with still pleanty of leg room on our 1 hour flight to LGA from Montreal.

Absolutely right Frank. I wouldn't have minded the poor seating, or the offhand staff, if it was only for an hour or so. A 10 hour flight in those conditions was no fun at all.

[Linda74 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Linda74]

We have flown United, Lufthansa, Iberia, KLM, Air Canada, British Air, Swiss Air, and American, in the last few years. Additionally some airlines, like Sabena which no longer fly. Favorites were British Air and Air Canada. As stated previously, it really depends where you are flying to. There are some high taxes in the UK which make flights there more expensive. If possible, we try to fly on a 777 as we like that plane. We do try to patronize certain airlines for miles, like Lufthansa, but must say that I find their seating very tight. Recently we flew KLM to Prague and they were better than I anticipated. Food was abundant and tasty. The foreign carriers still provide you alcohol which is nice. Inter European flights also provide metal silverware, including knives, which surprises me. My daughter loves Virgin. Go for the best price, airline, and equipment ....in that order.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

The high tax imposed by Gordon Brown on air tickets leaving the UK zaps you much worse on long haul tickets than short haul. It is imposed on tickets leaving the UK. The strategy I came up with to do an "up yours" to Brown and his tax was to connect on the continent to fly to the UK, or do an open jaws with the return from the continent and pick up a cheap LCC flight to my return city. I am bound and determined NOT to buy a long haul ticket leaving from the UK.

Of course, since I recently became based in Europe on my new job, I will not have to worry about long haul flights to and from the UK. I have asked our travel office to avoid connections through the UK for flights across the pond on trips back to the states.