London to Chicago direct -- choice of four airlines

Mikko Peltoniemi wrote:
Miguel Cruz wrote:
Agreed with Miss L. Toe about avoiding BA and with Vitaly on why to choose
AA.

Why avoid BA?

Outright rude staff, crap food, no seat reservations for normal passengers,
miserly FF mile contribution.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos from 31 countries on 5 continents: http://travel.u.nu

In article ,
says...

"Mikko Peltoniemi" wrote in message
...
Miguel Cruz wrote:

Agreed with Miss L. Toe about avoiding BA and with Vitaly on why to
choose
AA.

Why avoid BA?

- 25% FF miles on cheaper tickets

True, but 25% is better than nothing and there's plenty of other
airlines heading down this route now.

- Poor food service - On one 11 hour flight with them I got 1 hot meal and
then just snacks (and they they said that was normal and "we fly this route
more than you and we know what food to serve")

I beg to differ. I've always had decent food on BA and about enough as
well.

- FA's seem to be 90% menopausal females and 9% gay males

So. What's the problem? In 16 BA flights this year the worst crew I have
had was indifferent and 3 have been excellent. Other airlines don't get
near this standard (although I have some CX segments later this year).

- IFE full of nothing but family friendly violence

Bring a book, or DVD's of your choice

- Long check-in queues

I've never noticed, but I'm a Silver

- The meanest hand luggage allowance.

This is very true. It is poxy.

But you can produce a similar list about any of the four airlines on
this route.

I'd choose AA, then BA and then fly connecting with anyone else. I won't
fly VS and I only fly UA if I have to.

Iain

"Mikko Peltoniemi" wrote in message
...
Miss L. Toe wrote:

- 25% FF miles on cheaper tickets

Yes. I agree with this. Actually, I donät know if it's changed, but
when I used to fly them, I didn't get _any_ miles at all with my
tickets. They were usually Q class, and I'd buy them from a travel
agent that specialises in students, so that might've been it. But I
did get some miles from that one night I had to spend in London, though.


- Poor food service - On one 11 hour flight with them I got 1 hot meal
and
then just snacks (and they they said that was normal and "we fly this
route
more than you and we know what food to serve")

Really? Which route was that? This never happened on LAX-LHR, nor did it
happen with JFK-LHR either, always two meals. Unless you'd call the
second meal a snack, since it usually was a bit lighter than the first.


That was MRU-LHR, I have used BA on other long-haul routes as well and the
food service is always poorer than their competitors.

- FA's seem to be 90% menopausal females and 9% gay males

Well, being gay doesn't bother me, and I have no complaints of the women
either...

Its their attitiude that can be a problem, like the announcement "Our
primary purpose is your safetly and security, if we have time we might give
a little service as well" or something very close to that.


- Long check-in queues

This can be a problem, though wouldn't it depend on the airport? My
friends just flew from JFK in June, and the lines were really long. I've
never seen them so long at the terminal, I think they went all the way
through business and first class checking to outside.

--
Mikko Peltoniemi
Film & Video Editor, Avid Technician at large.
http://editor.is.dreaming.org

"Iain Bowen" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...

"Mikko Peltoniemi" wrote in message
...
Miguel Cruz wrote:

Agreed with Miss L. Toe about avoiding BA and with Vitaly on why to
choose
AA.

Why avoid BA?

- 25% FF miles on cheaper tickets

True, but 25% is better than nothing and there's plenty of other
airlines heading down this route now.


better than nothing yes - but worse than most of their competitors.

- Poor food service - On one 11 hour flight with them I got 1 hot meal
and
then just snacks (and they they said that was normal and "we fly this
route
more than you and we know what food to serve")

I beg to differ. I've always had decent food on BA and about enough as
well.


Are you saying I am lying about that experiance ? :-)

The BA long haul food generally is adequate, but not as good as their
competitors on the routes I have flown.

- FA's seem to be 90% menopausal females and 9% gay males

So. What's the problem? In 16 BA flights this year the worst crew I have
had was indifferent and 3 have been excellent. Other airlines don't get
near this standard (although I have some CX segments later this year).

- IFE full of nothing but family friendly violence

Bring a book, or DVD's of your choice


Or fly an airline with a reasonable movie choice (we have been asked to
comment of the difference between airlines.

- Long check-in queues

I've never noticed, but I'm a Silver


Then you wouldn't notice :-)

- The meanest hand luggage allowance.

This is very true. It is poxy.

But you can produce a similar list about any of the four airlines on
this route.


Go on then.......

I'd choose AA, then BA and then fly connecting with anyone else. I won't
fly VS and I only fly UA if I have to.


I'd Choose VS then AA then fly connecting with someone else I'll try and
avoid BA and havent yet had the pleasure? of UA long haul.

"Iain Bowen" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...

"Mikko Peltoniemi" wrote in message
...
Miguel Cruz wrote:

Agreed with Miss L. Toe about avoiding BA and with Vitaly on why to
choose
AA.

Why avoid BA?

- 25% FF miles on cheaper tickets

True, but 25% is better than nothing and there's plenty of other
airlines heading down this route now.


better than nothing yes - but worse than most of their competitors.

- Poor food service - On one 11 hour flight with them I got 1 hot meal
and
then just snacks (and they they said that was normal and "we fly this
route
more than you and we know what food to serve")

I beg to differ. I've always had decent food on BA and about enough as
well.


Are you saying I am lying about that experiance ? :-)

The BA long haul food generally is adequate, but not as good as their
competitors on the routes I have flown.

- FA's seem to be 90% menopausal females and 9% gay males

So. What's the problem? In 16 BA flights this year the worst crew I have
had was indifferent and 3 have been excellent. Other airlines don't get
near this standard (although I have some CX segments later this year).

- IFE full of nothing but family friendly violence

Bring a book, or DVD's of your choice


Or fly an airline with a reasonable movie choice (we have been asked to
comment of the difference between airlines.

- Long check-in queues

I've never noticed, but I'm a Silver


Then you wouldn't notice :-)

- The meanest hand luggage allowance.

This is very true. It is poxy.

But you can produce a similar list about any of the four airlines on
this route.


Go on then.......

I'd choose AA, then BA and then fly connecting with anyone else. I won't
fly VS and I only fly UA if I have to.


I'd Choose VS then AA then fly connecting with someone else I'll try and
avoid BA and havent yet had the pleasure? of UA long haul.

In article ,
says...
But you can produce a similar list about any of the four airlines on
this route.


Go on then.......


OK.

And this is for me and in Third World Traveller or equivalent and back
when I wasn't a BA Silver or an AA ExecPlat.

BA: Good food, decent seat, couldn't give a toss about the IFE,
reasonable on-board service, free drinks, good check-in, OK non-flight
Customer service. Crap Miles Scheme.

VS: Very good food, excellent goody bag, an IFE even I noticed was
there, terrible seating, terrible check-in, OK non-flight customer
service, indifferent to bad on-board crew. OK Miles Scheme.

AA: Average food (except that pizza for the second meal which is great),
loads of leg room, couldn't give a toss about the IFE, pay for drinks,
good check in, good non-flight customer service, crews very variable.
Good Miles Scheme.

UA: Good food, OK seating, OK check-in (but nasty security), Unmemorable
IFE, Awful non-flight customer service, Lazy Prison Matrons for Onboard
service. Good Miles Scheme. I can't remember if you pay for drinks
because it has been a few years since I did UA Eco transpond.

and if you want the connectors (i.e BHX-EWR-ORD, BHX-FRA-ORD, BHX-CDG-
ORD)

CO: Probably OK except for the 757. Food reasonable, seat cramped,
check-in variable, no IFE, never had to deal with their non-flight
customer service, transatlantic crews usually OK, domestic crews
variable. EWR a lot better than it used to be.

LH: Food used to be good, but now very skimpy, seating OK but feels
stiff, check-in very variable (useless gits at BHX, OK in the US), non-
flight services still think they are in the Stasi, cabin crew frequently
still are in the Stasi (Oh and the boys are *very* gay). FRA is a dump,
that makes LHR look good, MUC is lovely.

AF: Food very good, seating Good, Check-in OK, flight service very
French on trans-pond legs. Non-flight services fairly good if you speak
decent French. CDG is a bit of a nightmare.

Hence, if in Eco, for me AA BA UA AF CO LH VS

Luckily, the next trans-pond is in Club World :-)

Iain

In article ,
says...
But you can produce a similar list about any of the four airlines on
this route.


Go on then.......


OK.

And this is for me and in Third World Traveller or equivalent and back
when I wasn't a BA Silver or an AA ExecPlat.

BA: Good food, decent seat, couldn't give a toss about the IFE,
reasonable on-board service, free drinks, good check-in, OK non-flight
Customer service. Crap Miles Scheme.

VS: Very good food, excellent goody bag, an IFE even I noticed was
there, terrible seating, terrible check-in, OK non-flight customer
service, indifferent to bad on-board crew. OK Miles Scheme.

AA: Average food (except that pizza for the second meal which is great),
loads of leg room, couldn't give a toss about the IFE, pay for drinks,
good check in, good non-flight customer service, crews very variable.
Good Miles Scheme.

UA: Good food, OK seating, OK check-in (but nasty security), Unmemorable
IFE, Awful non-flight customer service, Lazy Prison Matrons for Onboard
service. Good Miles Scheme. I can't remember if you pay for drinks
because it has been a few years since I did UA Eco transpond.

and if you want the connectors (i.e BHX-EWR-ORD, BHX-FRA-ORD, BHX-CDG-
ORD)

CO: Probably OK except for the 757. Food reasonable, seat cramped,
check-in variable, no IFE, never had to deal with their non-flight
customer service, transatlantic crews usually OK, domestic crews
variable. EWR a lot better than it used to be.

LH: Food used to be good, but now very skimpy, seating OK but feels
stiff, check-in very variable (useless gits at BHX, OK in the US), non-
flight services still think they are in the Stasi, cabin crew frequently
still are in the Stasi (Oh and the boys are *very* gay). FRA is a dump,
that makes LHR look good, MUC is lovely.

AF: Food very good, seating Good, Check-in OK, flight service very
French on trans-pond legs. Non-flight services fairly good if you speak
decent French. CDG is a bit of a nightmare.

Hence, if in Eco, for me AA BA UA AF CO LH VS

Luckily, the next trans-pond is in Club World :-)

Iain

"Jeff Hacker" wrote in message ...

American's inflight international service is decent in economy class. The
disadvantage vs. BA is that they charge for booze, but that shouldn't be too
big a deal. The extra legroom IS very noticeable and very welcome.

I'm not massively tall (6'1"/1.85m) but legroom and comfort sound to
me the biggest consideration, certainly over and above frequent flyer
miles (I'm not that frequent a flyer) and free booze. As long as they
give you water without charging over £2.50/US$4.50 a throw (like Swiss
on European flights, the gits, as I discovered after joining a flight
from Zurich to London after just getting off a flight from Chicago).

I'm not so keen on BA either, somehow. There's something a bit
plasticky about it - a lot of gloss/a veneer of "class" yet not much
substance, although I always find the cabin staff very approachable
and agreeable. United Airlines was almost offensively bland and
nondescript (friendly service though)!

Given the choice though I'd always prefer to fly Virgin. But on this
occasion, from all your suggestions it seems that American should be
the one to go for. Legroom is nice. And it's a pretty good deal --
only £268 including tax on www.ebookers.com.

Thanks for the tips!

"Jeff Hacker" wrote in message ...

American's inflight international service is decent in economy class. The
disadvantage vs. BA is that they charge for booze, but that shouldn't be too
big a deal. The extra legroom IS very noticeable and very welcome.

I'm not massively tall (6'1"/1.85m) but legroom and comfort sound to
me the biggest consideration, certainly over and above frequent flyer
miles (I'm not that frequent a flyer) and free booze. As long as they
give you water without charging over £2.50/US$4.50 a throw (like Swiss
on European flights, the gits, as I discovered after joining a flight
from Zurich to London after just getting off a flight from Chicago).

I'm not so keen on BA either, somehow. There's something a bit
plasticky about it - a lot of gloss/a veneer of "class" yet not much
substance, although I always find the cabin staff very approachable
and agreeable. United Airlines was almost offensively bland and
nondescript (friendly service though)!

Given the choice though I'd always prefer to fly Virgin. But on this
occasion, from all your suggestions it seems that American should be
the one to go for. Legroom is nice. And it's a pretty good deal --
only £268 including tax on www.ebookers.com.

Thanks for the tips!

In article ,
Iain Bowen wrote:

In article ,
says...

"Mikko Peltoniemi" wrote in message
...
Miguel Cruz wrote:

Agreed with Miss L. Toe about avoiding BA and with Vitaly on why to
choose
AA.

Why avoid BA?

- 25% FF miles on cheaper tickets

True, but 25% is better than nothing and there's plenty of other
airlines heading down this route now.

name them. Still 100% miles on AA and BA unless you buy a consolidator
ticket

- Poor food service - On one 11 hour flight with them I got 1 hot meal and
then just snacks (and they they said that was normal and "we fly this route
more than you and we know what food to serve")

I beg to differ. I've always had decent food on BA and about enough as
well.

packaged sandwiches for tea, even in business class


But you can produce a similar list about any of the four airlines on
this route.

AA would definitely be an exception

I'd choose AA, then BA and then fly connecting with anyone else. I won't
fly VS and I only fly UA if I have to.

Iain