London to LAX in Economy

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Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 20 total)

  • Anonymous
    Guest

    DClinPsy
    Participant

    Dear BT reader,

    I am planning to visit California for a month and I am now looking at my flight options to LAX. I’ll be flying in economy or premium economy on BA, AF, KL or DL. Since I fly only Oneworld or SkyTeam.

    Any recommendation?


    MartynSinclair
    Participant

    British Airways exEurope, in NCW, preferably 60J (as long as I am not flying that day!!).

    I would try somewhere like Kayak or this expertflyer and compare prices from London in Economy/ PE verses NCW ex Europe.

    Otherwise, there are some very nifty travel agents, one particular one in Brighton who took the intiative to contact me blind and he may just win either my business or a collegues.


    ANDREWYOUNG1
    Participant

    It’s a shame you wouldn’t consider *A – Air New Zealand beat every other airline on that route, particularly in Premium Economy – they operate their new 777 on that route and the seats and food are outstanding.


    VintageKrug
    Participant

    If you are booking soon exLHR, make sure it’s before the http://www.ba.com/sale ends tomorrow (Tuesday 20th September).

    Do also consider Virgin, who also have a sale on.


    seanyjmuclhr
    Participant

    Alliances aside, I would choose Air NZ for this route hands-down. Even in economy, their service is second to none. Their premium eco product is amazing too with their new space seat.

    OW – I would choose BA. Nothing amazing though.

    ST – I would choose Air France. Highly rated for its onboard food.


    ScottWilson
    Participant

    In economy it would be BA, but I’d pick NZ over BA anyday with 2 inches more legroom and better food/service. United is good value if all you want from premium economy is legroom, as Economy plus is a very cheap upgrade if you want 36″ seat pitch, but service/food is as dire as any US carrier. DL does the same now, but does not fly LHR-LAX direct.

    In premium economy, Air NZ wins hands down now that the Spaceseats have extra legroom, you have 42″ seat pitch a 2-2-2 configuration with hard shell seats, business class food and drinks service. Far above Virgin, BA or AF/KL.

    If you remain Star Alliance phobic, then I’d pick Virgin premium economy over the others, then BA over AF/KL because a direct long haul flight is better than adding an unnecessary 2-3 hours.


    VintageKrug
    Participant

    What are exEUR prices in Club World looking like right now?


    VintageKrug
    Participant

    ….answer; not bad at all.

    A very pleasing £1580 rtn in Club World exLIN.

    It’s worth comparing your Economy fare against this, and working out if the additional on board comfort, lounge access and BA Miles/Avois points (enough for a one way upgrade next time you fly to LAX) are worth the extra expense.

    You could earn 320 TPs for this journey, just one CE round trip away from Euro-Silver status; flying to Milan in CE and completing your journey there would qualify you for Silver/Sapphire status.


    RichHI1
    Participant

    Given you want 1W or SkyTeam not *A or Virgin I would say BA, AA, DL,KL/AF/AZ then NZ and VS.

    Depends on what matters to you. LHR-LAX is about 11 hours, some people like to do it in one hit and others like a stop over. If you go for a stop over I woudl do in US so you get CBP out of the way. Delta is not bad but their immigration at JFK is hideous as they share the terminal and many flights arrive together.

    I would not fly over to Holland or France to fly back. You are adding 3 hours plus to your journey which will tell after another 11 and may be 1-2 in immigration. You also increase the likelihood of your bags going to Vladivostok.

    BA service in WT+ is alleged to be very good and you have a choice of flights. Virgin gets conflicting reviews nowadays and is not Sky Team or One World.

    My personal favorite is AA though I have not flown coach to LAX for 20 odd years. I do fly coach on shopping trips to JFK every now and again when I get a last minute impulse. AA food is not good, so I pack a salad and some sandwiches plus a kit kat or two. The seats are also hard so I have a cushion from a set of garden furntiure that I purchased at B&Q which I carry in my carry on.

    AA has 3 wins for me, if you travel economy you need to be an emerald as that way you can get row 31B or H. Exit row with unlimited leg room (more comfortable for me, with long legs and osteoarthritis in the knees from a sports injury, than BA CW), in seat power and no one pushing past you to get out. If I cannot get these two seats I would never choose coach on AA.

    Second advantage AA is very punctual. I am normally connecting to HNL or LIH so punctuality matters to me and I find 137 and 136 very very good.

    Third advantage is outbound the CBP for AA is in their own terminal. There is never another plane ahead of you due to flight timing and it will be about 1 hour to 2 hours quicker than TBIT where BA land. Also on return bags at T3 are faster for AA than BA bags at T5. (But on BA you will get free booze I believe).

    Or you can relent on Star Alliance and I am told NZ WT+ is one of the best coach offerings or go mad and try United to remember what Soviet hospitality was all about.


    VintageKrug
    Participant

    You have to pay for booze in AA’s longhaul economy? 😮


    RichHI1
    Participant

    Don’t forget it was the Puritans who came over on the Mayflower.
    I don’t have an issue with the oayment on cheap tickets I just wish you get your namesake instead of these other infrerior offerings which BA, AA et al (save Japan) foist upon us.
    I thougth BA charged for liquor in Europe too just not on Longhaul?


    VintageKrug
    Participant

    nope. all free, even in deep discount economy.


    RichHI1
    Participant

    And Krug…. even NV?


    continentalclub
    Participant

    I’d be interested to know if ANDREWYOUNG1, seanyjmuclhr or ScottWilson have actually flown the Air New Zealand Spaceseat which is recommended above.

    I ask only because the seat has been almost universally-panned by passengers and NZ are in the process of effecting a cabin reconfiguration on their 777-300ERs to take a whole row of seats out.

    The orginal Pacific Premium Economy seat (of which there were two slightly different iterations on 777-200s and 747-400s) was well-regarded, but the new one appears to have garnered a level of opprobrium not seen since the Virgin J2000 and Cathay New Business seats…..

    Edit: In searching for Alex McWhirter’s BT article on the subject:

    http://www.businesstraveller.com/news/anz-changes-spaceseat-legroom

    I see that ScottWilson has indeed flown it! Others are less impressed.

    Boarding Area:

    http://bit.ly/i1fVwU

    Airliners.net:

    http://bit.ly/p96uL6

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