Long Haul flights when connecting in Europe is necessary: a review

As someone who must connect somewhere for most of my long haul flights, I follow carefully the developments on two criteria: The hub and the airline. I have mostly 5 choices: LHR, AMS, CDG, ZRH and FRA.

Some thoughts (when travelling business class):

FRA: definitively the one I try to avoid by all mean: Worse hub in Europe (by any criteria when travelling business class – when in First, the story is very different) and worse seat (the old one). Will the new one change my mind? And as you can see from my B747-8 review (http://www.businesstraveller.com/discussion/topic/Lufthansa-B747-8-(Config.-2)-Business), the answer is No! And Miles & More is the worst program! So unless forced (only for one of my regular destinations so far), it is a no go.

ZRH: I don’t like the hub. And I don’t like A330s and A340s. And Swiss is having only a limited number of destinations. And terrible M&M program. That said, great seat and attentive service. So, while I look forward to see LX B777s in the skiew, so far it only comes as a second choice.

CDG: Contrarily to many I am all right with the hub. And I like AF for daily flights. The seat, while far better than LH’s, is not very good though. But I have fun though with their crews (probably because I share their language). Bottom line: It only comes ahead LH…

AMS: Nice hub, although very average lounges. Poor European flights. Average long haul Business class seats (so far). Nice crew in general. Great Twitter support team. After my latest LX experience, it comes probably only third now, after BA and LX. But when the new seat will be up there (I mean with a decent chance to have it on board), the story might well be different…

LHR: T5 is by very far the best hub in Europe. And BA lounges, the best ones. BA long haul business class seats are also the best ones in Europe, with a guarantee to get a fully flat bed. Now of course, hot food is in general horrendous, and there is no Wow effect. But at least you know what you’ll get. And often it is aboard the lovely Queen of the Skies! For me then, it is a no brainier: BA is the best option.

NB: I know the love and hate relationship Brits tend to have with BA! This is however the opinion of a neutral Swiss frequent flyer!

Interestingly, like you I also have to connect to go long-haul and at all costs I avoid LHR like the plague. Awful security goons, bags that take forever (if you are flying to London) and lounges which are overcrowded all the time.

CDG is not the nicest place in the world either to be fair, I tend to avoid if I can.

I have no issues with Schipol, not too bad at all, and I’ve not been to Frankfurt in forever.

As for BA having ‘by far the best business class seat’, if we are comparing lie-flat with lie-flat, I’d say that by far BA has by far the worst, the ying-yang thing doesn’t do it for me and clamouring over people and a rubbish IFE with poor quality picture also add to my general displeasure. Throw into that sour-mix a crew which on the last 3 BA flights I’ve been on have been awful, it is my choice to no longer fly with them.

I honestly think the LH seat looks an awful lot better than the BA one, albeit I’ve not tried it, from the 747-8 web-page it looks light years ahead.

Swissdiver – 03/08/2013 15:50 GMT
… Until when sleeping in those new LH seats, your feet are in contact with those of the total stranger next to you, and your knees are hitting him and vice-versa during your sleep…

Yeah, I see what you mean now, had another look at LH and can see how that would be an issue.

Nevertheless, just a few of the better-than-BA-business-class seats I’d vote for:

Airlines I’ve personally flown with:
– Qantas
– Emirates
– Singapore
– Etihad
– Virgin’s Upper Class
– United (On a par with BA rather than ahead)

Airlines I’ve not flown with but will soon: (which from my research look better)
– AA’s new seat flying in Nov
– Delta’s new seat poss flying in Dec
– KLM’s new seat will fly asap

Airlines whose seats look more appealing from their websites (and based on comments on this board)
– Cathay
– JAL
– Qatar

All these airlines are connectible in Europe, so should meet the criteria.

Well of course each to their own but I couldn’t disagree more than with Swissdiver.

ZRH is an excellent place to connect and much rather LX than BA on any route.

MUC is also excellent and stress free.

FRA is not perfect but IME a very easy place to connect.

Then again, as I usually travel in F I probably have a superior experience to a traveler in C and of course LH, LX and AF all offer a far superior experience in F to BA.

@AOTG: Hold on… You are here opening the discussion to the world… I stuck to European airlines because it is usually my starting point.

In general I find the Middle Eastern (EY, EK and QR) a bit overstated, particularly QR, and inconsistent. In addition, so far, they do not belong to any of the three alliances.

In SE Asia you have a sense of service that is quite unique. That said, I wasn’t particularly impressed by CX last time I flew with them (old Business class, i.e. herringbone on the upper-deck). JAL was good, although I last flew with them several years ago. Never had the chance flying on SQ or QF.

I am London based, and fortunately BA First is my first option, and then Virgin Upper. BA Club aka ‘sardine configuration’ does not feature on my wish list. I am tall and broad …

Lounges don’t fuss me, food helps, but mainly it is the hard product that counts.

I have connected in Paris for AF Premiere & was most impressed, and would choose Swiss, if and when the opportunity arises.

Swissdiver – 04/08/2013 12:35 GMT
EK: not all the seats are fully flat. On A340’s for instance, they are angled.

Yeah, that one is bandied about quite a lot, but having looked around EK’s site, you’ll find most of their A340’s do now feature lie-flats. I have to say, EK’s business class IMO is so far ahead of BA’s, and their lounges in Dubai are considerably better than BA’s @ LHR. (EKs 1st lounge is stunning) If you factor in, as I do, that I can more-often-than-not fly 1st with EK for a few hundred pounds more than BA Club, it is an absolute no-brainer to fly with them

Your other points about trying the product is fair, but from the reviews I’ve read and from what I can see from the ‘sites of these airlines, they do very much appear on the face of it to be offering a far superior product. Interestingly, AA & KLM have both introduced exciting new product at the same time as BA are introducing new aircraft. To me, it matters not what metal I am on (sans 787) but when I get on board, it matters a lot as to what I am experiencing. AA & Delta currently offering direct aisle access and what looks like a very comfy seat works for me, and KLM’s upper deck on the 747 looks like a first class experience for business class money. I do not knock the people on this forum for flying BA, it is a choice made for reasons convenient to the customer, but I think you’d be hard-pressed to find many who would agree with your assertion that BA currently offer the best seat in business class when you peruse how other airlines are innovating space and seating.

Now to be fully honest, there is a bias to that approach, when I have to maintain a status in one of the programs.

I used to be ‘a slave’ to the BA programme to be fair, and I do believe this is what keeps an awful lot of people loyal to the airline. I am enrolled in several airline programmes but again, I don’t choose my flights based on who gives me the best points, I always choose on comfort, price and schedule. Everything thereafter is ‘filler’ for me, and yes, sometimes I too spend 3 hours in a lounge, but I can’t think of one I’ve been in which I would describe as “awful”. One I was in recently which served average wines and poor food was BA’s first lounge in BKK! It wasn’t awful though, it was just somewhere to have some wine, fiddle about with my laptop and graze on some food.

By this time next year I will hopefully have tried all the aforementioned airlines in either Business or First, will relook at this thread and see if my proffering’s are accurate!