[Anonymous]

[Bullfrog]

I don’t have much expectation for this flight, but which carrier should I choose from New York to Fort Lauderdale ?

[Communipaw]

I would go with Delta.

[Jetcruiser]

I would go with United…if you are flying from Newarkn which is quite easy to get to from Manhattan. Delta has loads of old aircraft and matching flight crew. Although I belong to both frequent flyer programs, I would opt for United over Delta anyday. Most domestic First Class passengers with both airlines will be status upgrades. Have a great trip to Fort Lauderdale (which is where I reside)!

[Communipaw]

Good luck with getting your checked bag back, and arriving anywhere close to on time with United as well.

[MartynSinclair]

If its a continuation of the New York trip, I would go with who ever BA ticket you with…

Otherwise, purely down to the crew on the day!

[Jetcruiser]

Fort Lauderdale is a relatively small airport and never had a bag lost. One option to consider is JetBlue – new planes, great service, IFE, etc. and First Bag is FREE. http://www.jetblue.com/

[rcfyelee98]

I don’t fly domestic US that often. But I had a pretty unnerving experience recently with United. I was due to fly first class from the mid-west to Germany via Dulles. On the morning of the flight, I tried to check in online and found a completely different routing and different class – economy through Chicago. I called up my travel agent and she didn’t know anything about it. She called up United and found out that the original flight had been cancelled and United had rerouted me – which is fine. However, moving me from first to economy – was less fine! What was scary is that United didn’t even try to notify me. In the end, I decided to cancel United completely and changed to BA.

[BeckyBoop]

Go Delta some of my guys flew them recently and were full of praise of their service..

[Biggless]

I’ve flown so called US domestic “first class” for a long time and let’s be clear that it is now a pure marketing scam. Before 9/11 it was equivalent to short haul business class in Europe but now it is little more than a bigger seat. Even on 2 hr flights you don’t get a proper meal and certainly no champagne. A first class ticket doesn’t even get you lounge access. Can you imagine BA not letting someone in club europe use a lounge !! Also Delta only have business class long haul so calling any element of their services First class is a total joke

[EruditeSheep]

UA only operates from EWR, whereas DL and NK fly from LGA. In comparison Jet Blue operates from JFK. So your ultimate choice depends on how you get to NYC and whether you are a member of UA or DL’s FF club. Personally I would choose UA, always appreciating the additional space, comfort and service in F-class.

[Tim2soza]

Biggless – a workaround with AA is to join BA Exec Club, book your flights using your BAEC card, build up tier points to get to Silver, and you are in to lounges for free. Building status with AA still requires an annual fee to get lounge access. Or go the Amex Platinum route.

I agree though, first class domestic ticket with no lounge access seems wrong!

[PatJordan]

I remember a couple of years ago my wife and I were “first class” with Continental from Newark to Orlando.

No lounge access, even with a Gold Continental One Pass card.

However, my BMI Gold card granted access.

I’m still trying to work out the logic of that!

[Jetcruiser]

In the US, if you are flying First Class connecting internationally to a Business or First Class flight, then they will allow you entrance to the lounge. With the volume of “First Class” travelers in the US, it would be logistically impossible to accommodate everyone if they granted entry. The US carriers have been charging membership fees for years and I can’t say it is worth it. They lounges serve cheap wine and horrible snacks. The only benefit is not having to sit with the masses while you wait for your flight! I remember I flew Fort Lauderdale-Dallas-Tokyo in First Class on American. In Fort Lauderdale, she wanted to charge me for my bag as it was 2 pounds overweight. Then in the Dallas Admirals’ Club, we were given 2 drink vouchers (!); and, on the flight to Narita, after drinking my bottle of water, I was told that they only load 1 bottle per First Class passenger! The flight was over 13 hours and the horrible flight attendant refilled my water bottle at my seat with a water jug! You wonder why they have no customers and are bankrupt?

[MarkCymru]

Jet Blue now operate from EWR as well as JFK. I’ve just done a DCA – FLL roundtrip and was very impressed.

Their fares are low and their extra legroom seats cost about $12 but give you 38″ of legroom. (You’ll pay far more than that for extra legroom seats on on United unless you’re one of their own frequent fliers — a Star Alliance gold card gets you nothing. Delta let Skyteam elites book premium seats where they offer them). Jet Blue’s standard legroom is 34″. On the Embraer 190s, it’s spacious 2X2 seating. Jet Blue is an LCC but the drinks and snacks are free. There’s an excellent healthy snack box for about $7.

The check-in staff are excellent and, if you pay your $12, you get a fast lane at security (again, you won’t get that from UA unless you’re in First or one of their own FF although Delta do recognise other Skyteam elites). Even the flight attendants are moderately pleasant (don’t expect too much — this is still a US carrier, after all)

They’ve also just done a full FF reciprocity with Emirates and have a much more limited agreement with AA and a few others

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