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A quick straw poll for the week: I'm going to LA next month and am pretty bored of 'hit or miss' service on British Airways, so I'm going to spend my money elsewhere. Business class to LA on SWISS, Lufthansa or Air France? Who gets your vote and why? Thank you.
Why no-one considers Iberia for this kind of trips?
Is the Iberia Experience so bad? It's the price? Also, Iberia has launched new Business and Business+ product.
Potakas
Iberia?? Have you ever travelled with them long haul, with their friendly staff? I would imagine not. Besides, they do not fly to LAX. They have very limited US routes, just MIA, JFK , ORD, BOS and IAD.
I personally didn't like Air France business class. It wasn't bad, it was just tired and unremarkable. My favourite part of business class is the seat and I do like the BA seat. I didn't have any IFE on my last CW flight, but I didn't really care, I managed to rest, read and sleep, and listened to my ipod most of the way.
No i haven't , i just wanted to know if they are actually so bad, because no-one is even thinking about traveling with iberia.
+ they are more expensive than their competitors.
Hi - from Heathrow to LA - British Airways or Virgin direct or any of the US carriers into a hub and out. I cant see the value in going 2 hours back to go 10 hours forward, for a day flight. For a night flight thats different, well, in my humble opinion. In addition BA is mostly "hit" for me and Virgin "miss" - however, that is only my experience, i am sure that will all change next year when Virgin bring out their new procduct.
Interested to hear what you eventually decide and also WHY as well as , was the additional time spent travelling instead of LA shopping/working - worthwhile???
Martyn
Obviously I am well aware of who flies direct from LHR-LAX, I have the luxury to be able to use 2 hours to be able to sample other products on offer. I'm glad that you (like VintageKrug) have mostly 'hits' with BA, I travel in FIRST and Club World 4 sectors/month and I need to see what else is out there. I ask my original question as an aid to know which airline the discerning readers of this site prefer and why.
I would say : If you wanna go non-stop go Virgin. If you wanna go with a short hop in Europe, go Swiss (but please avoid Air France) If you wanna go with a stop in the US, go US Airways, I have had the chance to try their new Envoy flat bed seat (and I understand this is very important to you) which I find extremely comfortable, sufficiently private without being claustrophobic, with an overall not to cramped cabin. Their soft product is just OK, but you also get quite a good pricing most of the time. I'd give it a try if I were you.
have a good trip and let us know about your choice and experience.
I was just curious thats all. If you take Swiss, via Zurich, that will add:
2 sectors @ 1.45 each minimum 1 hour connection time Zurich Minimum 90 minutes connection time Heathrow
Thats an extra 6 hours (not 2 hours) just to sample a product of "equal" or inferior standard.
I know you have an extra 2 hours, but am trying to understand why a discerning traveller would add 6 hours and 2 sectors to a flight that can be done in 10 hours and 1 sector.
Its just an interesting option thats all
Look forward to hearing from you
How about Air New Zealand?
Non Stop, excellent service, gourmet foods & wines, & a terrific overall travel standard. Otherwise, Swiss have an excellent standard on board, but it depends on which cabin style you look for on which aircraft.
Martyn,
All I want is to try different airlines. I have 900,000 BA miles and use the airline all the time. I just want to try something different and see if there are airlines out there doing it better than BA. MarcusUK, Air New Zealand is a great idea, is the onboard product good? They have the Virgin seats I see but I won't hold that against them!!
well, if time really is not an issue, I would go and try one of the middle eastern airlines - not sure who flies to LA from the middle east region, but I am sure that will be an experience, esepcially on one of the newer "hard" offerings - better than the staid European offerings.
I am sometimes as crazy as you - flying from the s.e USA to west before taking an overnight back to London. With 8 hours sleep from teh west coast instead of 4.5 max from the east coast, means I have no jet lag.
Enjoy and fo let us know what you decide.
Having been in Air France Business class on the A380 this weekend, I wouldn't swap Club World for their product.
NTarrent.....I disagree with you. I have travelled on the AF 380 in Business three times recently, because I couldnt trust BA to be reliable. Each flight with AF was vastly superior to BA Club. AF seem to have really pulled their socks up and improved since the last time I flew with them. Something that impressed was the fact that my bag arrived on each flight within the first few. My only complaint is that the new AF lounge in CDG is not as good as LHR T5.
Air New Zealand has a terrific product on board - I've always had good food, fantastic NZ wines, cheerful service, and an excellent AVOD selection (much better than BA)
If you want a flat bed, none of the major European carriers can help you - not even AF, and definitely not Swiss (only SFO has their newest product)
Of course, there's always UA , but not sure if the flat bed has rolled out to all their 777s on the LA route yet
I would have suggested ANZ as well. Of the European airlines I like Lufthansa for consistency and comfort (though not really luxury in business class). But Lufthansa in first class.using the first class terminal when connecting would be a bit more special.
If you have the time to spare you could, for something different, try an Open Skies flight, plusconnections of course;alternatively how about turning your round trip into a RTW,using a quality Asian carrier, say Singapore Airlines or ANA.
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