3 week holiday in NW US - advice please..

On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 04:42:37 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

Actually just found prem-eco BMI direct flight from Manchester for
£1018 ( via http://www.airline-network.co.uk ) - and 49" vs BAs paltry
38" pitch !

Dave
I've been thinking about this route myself. Previously we have done
Manchester/Heathrow/Western USA - with BA...nice that you can check
your bags in Manchester and not see them again until you get to your
final destination. Not nice that it involves Heathrow!

You do realise the BMI is only to Chicago then get your luggage back ,
go through customs/immigration and find another (non premium economy
class) plane onwards? BMI's website doesn't seem to want me to book
any onward flights if I choose premium class...not very good.
I do think the new BMI Premium economy looks very good. I flew to
Vegas from Manchester on their old style Premium a couple of years ago
and found it far inferior to BA's. Leg room was good but seats were
only as wide as in economy so same lack of elbow room for eating!
I'm the same height as you and have decided any future trips across
the Atlantic will be in Premium class. For me, it is worth the extra.
I've not tried Virgin so cannot offer any advice here.

I have never been through Chicago...don't really like the idea of the
hassle in a foreign airport. I also , somewhat irrationally I'm sure,
worry a bit about having a connection on the far side of the ocean on
the return trip.

My advice FWIW ... go for premium economy and make sure you go! Drive
down the coast from Seattle to Northern California and come back up
through Oregon. You may need more than 10 days though!

Good Luck!
Please reply to group - email address is not monitored
Ian

wrote in message
...
On 20 Feb, 09:32, "Graham Harrison"
wrote:
"Graham Harrison" wrote
in
m...





"Graham Harrison"
wrote
in m...

wrote in message
...
On 19 Feb, 19:10, "Graham Harrison"
wrote:
wrote in message

...
hi

I am thinking of going to NW for 3 weeks this summer. Will probably
stay beginning & end period with relative (WA, nr Portland OR).

So I'm thinking of flying direct to Seattle & taking short flight to
Portland (and visa versa on return). This is the shortest, most direct
route I can find (don't really want to mess about changing).

I have only done one long(ish) haul flight as adult - budget Barbados,
7-8 hrs grim, cramped flight (I'm 6"1.5").

Firstly, how much different would economy be on a BA/Virgin 747 flight
(compared to cramped, non-747 flight to Barbados) ? Similar or
better ?

A return economy (Seattle) would be around £600, but almost double for
premium-eco. Would it be worth paying the difference ?

Secondly, what could realistically do in 10 days or so, on West
coast ? Could I take in most of the important stuff (I'm more into
natural world than cities etc.) in this time frame ? Probably a mix of
flying & driving (or possibly coach/rail ?) ...

I was vaguely planning on a kind of loop which would somehow get me
back to my uncle's a few days before flying home ...

Maybe an alternative would be outward to NW, and back from further
south e.g. LA ? Would this be more expensive / more hassle ?

thanks

swayzak

You can fly to one city and return from another for half one fare and
half
the other - no penalties. Therefore, flying to Seattle and back from
San
Francisco, for instance is perfectly feasible. Not only that, but you
can
combine premium economy one way with ordinary the other (I'd use PE
for
the
flight from the US back to London). I've given up on regular economy.
I
save my pennies up and go premium economy every time. I'm about the
same
height as you. I might manage London/Boston in economy but that's it.

Some years ago, my wife had an aunt who lived on the San Francisco
peninsular. We flew into Seattle and went via Mt Rainier, Mt St
Helens,
Portland, out to the coast at Tilamook, down through Newport (good
aquarium
and nice restruarant down by the old fish dock) and Coos Bay, Crater
Lake,
Klamath Falls (day trip to Lava Beds and the Nature Reserve), Redding,
Lassen, Chico, Santa Rosa (Snoopy!) and across the Golden Gate. Had
the
same car for all three weeks. The one way fee (from memory) was
USD250.
The trip took 10 days and we spent 10 more with the aunt. Absolutely
great
holiday. The hard part was deciding where not to go. I was tempted by
the area round Bend, I still regret not going to Olympic NP and the
Northern
California Coast also beckons for a trip one day.

If you do end in San Francisco you don't need the car in the city (we
were
staying down the peninsular). San Francisco has good public transport
(google for Muni and BART) although the locals complain about it quite
as
much as we do about our public transport! Don't miss Alcatraz - book
before you leave the UK.

Great info again (everyone).

So many options - bit difficult to decide tbh !

Am quite tempted by the bmi/UA flights - 49" seat pitch is pretty
awesome for that price (even if it is only for 1/2 to 2/3 of the
journey). However, I'm not sure whether the UA Chicago-Seattle link is
also prem-eco ... have emailed to clarify.

Also this will take a bit longer than direct BA Seattle flight (and if
I go 30th June rather than 1st July, I can get this for £972 rather
than £1150). But this is only 38" pitch ...

So maybe I should rent car for 3 weeks from Seattle (although flights
don't get in until at least 17.00) and return to base.

But my uncle's got a car so this would be a bit of a waste of money -
maybe rent one-way for drive to Portland. Then when I want to go off
exploring, rent from Portland ... hmm but would they let me return car
to Seattle ?

My uncle knows the local stuff so I may do that early in the trip

There are plenty of hotels in the immediate area of Seattle Airport.
If
you've never driven in the US before then don't even think of hiring
the
car immediately. Get into one of those hotels - they all run shuttle
buses. Sleep off the jet lag then pick up the car next day. I have a
friend who went to Orlando on his first long haul; got off the plane,
picked up the car and spent 2 hours doing a 15 minute drive. I'm used
to it now but I always limit my driving to no more than about 10/15
miles
when straight off the plane.

One way hire is an accepted methodology in the US. That's not to
say
all the companies do it but most of the well known ones do. Yes, rent
a
car at Seattle and drop it in Portland, use your uncle and then rent
another for touring to wherever. In fact, you may be able to turn
this
to your advantage. Hiring a car at an airport can get quite expensive
because they add various fees related to the airport. So, hire at
Seattle but only for a day or two to drive to Portland and you'll limit
those fees. I also suspect you'll find the one way fee will be small
or
even zero between Seattle and Portland. Pick the 2nd car up at a
depot
away from the airport in Portland and you should find that (compared
with
Portland Airport) it's slightly cheaper. But I have no idea whether
it's going to be cheaper over all you need to do some research. There
are a number of variables - I was amazed the difference in cost between
hiring at JFK and Newark airports in the New York area, partly to do
with
local taxes in different states (and even different counties of states)
and partly to do with insurance requirements at the time in New York
state.

And, you might want to read this
http://www.dol.wa.gov/driverslicense/driverguide.pdf Each state has its'
own.

"Mimi"s idea of Canada is good. I'd rather got caught up with everyone
else in the US. The year after our Seattle/San Francisco trip we flew
back
to Seattle and went over the border to Vancouver then Jasper, Banff,
Revelstoke, Kaslo, into the US at Bonners Ferry and then to Spokane before
hopping a plane to San Francisco (again). I seem to remember that the
one
way fee that time was USD50.

In your case, if your relative agrees, you could fly to Seattle, hire a
car
for a couple of days to drive to Portland. Now borrow the local car and
go
north doing a loop into Canada and bcak to Portland then hire a car again
for a quick trip back to Seattle.

It's 10 years since we did this trip and one thing that has changed is the
border crossing. The impression I get is that the major crossings north
of
Seattle can get VERY congested. But starting from Portland you could cut
North East. The crossing we used coming back into Northern Idaho was
very
quiet - we hit it in the late afternoon and cruised through. I suspect
it
won't have changed much.

Back on the subject of the flights I'd caution against changing planes at
a
US point. Leaving aside the time you need to allow for immigration,
customs, rechecking baggage, going through security and finding your way
around a big US airport (you think Heathrow is big?) the flight
Manchester/Chicago is about 8 hours and the flight on to Seattle another
3.
Add a minimum of 90 minutes for the change (and I think that's not enough,
I
would allow at least 2 hours and probably even more) and your journey time
is 12/13 hours against 9 hours non stop from London. Not only that but
the
Chicago/Seattle flight will be on a US domestic cattle truck -if your
flight
to Barbados was bad you ain't seen nothing yet.

Go non-stop!

OK - you talked me into it !

What about the weather - would I really see a big difference going
30th June as opposed to 28th July ?

By the time we did these trips our sons were in secondary school. I think
the year we did Seattle San Francisco we left the UK on about the 10th July.
The Canada trip might have been a day or two later. Seattle/San Francisco
I remember as very good weather. However, one thing I do remember was when
we got to Mt Rainier on the first day, we had to walk through a snow canyon
to get from the car park to the visitor centre! The following year it
rained in Vancouver to such a degree that we had to buy anoraks! As we
left Vancouver it chucked it down and the journey and night en route to
Jasper was damp (in the extreme at times). After that I remember good
weather except maybe one day coming back over Rogers Pass. But then the
Canada trip was all about the Rockies and mountains often mean unpredictable
weather. I'd be inclined to save the money, go see your relatives and plan
most of your travelling for the second half of the holiday.

If you do decide to go late June get on and make the booking very soon.
That price hike is a known phenomenon - it happens every year and the last
few days of June do tend to sell out.

In article
,
wrote:

hi

I am thinking of going to NW for 3 weeks this summer. Will probably
stay beginning & end period with relative (WA, nr Portland OR).

So I'm thinking of flying direct to Seattle & taking short flight to
Portland (and visa versa on return). This is the shortest, most direct
route I can find (don't really want to mess about changing).
As others have suggested I'd drive Seattle to Portland, taking in Mount
St. Helens on the way. If you arrive in Seattle late in the day, best to
overnight in the Seattle area and start out early.
The drive from Seattle to Portland is DULL, but Mount St. Helens is a
great escape from the drive.

I'd skip Mount Rainier and the CA redwoods on this trip.
The Oregon coast is a must.
Crater Lake is really something.

Driving uncles car may present an insurance problem.
I'd check that out very carefully.

On 20 Feb, 16:40, Ian wrote:
On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 04:42:37 -0800 (PST),

wrote:
Actually just found prem-eco BMI direct flight from Manchester for
£1018 ( viahttp://www.airline-network.co.uk) - and 49" vs BAs paltry
38" pitch !

Dave
I've been thinking about this route myself. Previously we have done
Manchester/Heathrow/Western USA - with BA...nice that you can check
your bags in Manchester and not see them again until you get to your
final destination. Not nice that it involves Heathrow!

You do realise the BMI is only to Chicago then get your luggage back ,
go through customs/immigration and find another (non premium economy
class) plane onwards? BMI's website doesn't seem to want me to book
any onward flights if I choose premium class...not very good.
I do think the new BMI Premium economy looks very good. I flew to
Vegas from Manchester on their old style Premium a couple of years ago
and found it far inferior to BA's. Leg room was good but seats were
only as wide as in economy so same lack of elbow room for eating!
I'm the same height as you and have decided any future trips across
the Atlantic will be in Premium class. For me, it is worth the extra.
I've not tried Virgin so cannot offer any advice here.

I have never been through Chicago...don't really like the idea of the
hassle in a foreign airport. I also , somewhat irrationally I'm sure,
worry a bit about having a connection on the far side of the ocean on
the return trip.

My advice FWIW ... go for premium economy and make sure you go! Drive
down the coast from Seattle to Northern California and come back up
through Oregon. You may need more than 10 days though!

Good Luck!
Please reply to group - email address is not monitored
Ian

thanks

Yeah - I noticed my mistake with bmi flight, shame as those 49" pitch
seats sound NICE

But I guess 38" BA PE is still better than 31-32" for 9 1/2 hour
flight (and worth the extra cost for someone 6" + ). Although I gather
you can sometimes get a bulkhead / emergency exit eco seat with
similar legroom - but this would presumably be a gamble as you
couldn't be guaranteed when booking ?

Have pretty much decided to go direct from LHR - is it really that
bad ?

I'll actually have about 3 weeks - but some of this will be spent with
my uncle, seeing the local sites around Portland (he's actually in
Camas, just over the border in WA).

Maybe I could spend about a week there initially - then I've got about
12 days to do the loop to get back for return Seattle flight ...

On 20 Feb, 17:27, Josh S wrote:
In article
,

wrote:
hi

I am thinking of going to NW for 3 weeks this summer. Will probably
stay beginning & end period with relative (WA, nr Portland OR).

So I'm thinking of flying direct to Seattle & taking short flight to
Portland (and visa versa on return). This is the shortest, most direct
route I can find (don't really want to mess about changing).

As others have suggested I'd drive Seattle to Portland, taking in Mount
St. Helens on the way. If you arrive in Seattle late in the day, best to
overnight in the Seattle area and start out early.
The drive from Seattle to Portland is DULL, but Mount St. Helens is a
great escape from the drive.

I'd skip Mount Rainier and the CA redwoods on this trip.
The Oregon coast is a must.
Crater Lake is really something.

Driving uncles car may present an insurance problem.
I'd check that out very carefully.

thanks - he's going to be doing the driving !

On 20 Feb, 16:58, "Graham Harrison"
wrote:
wrote in message

...
On 20 Feb, 09:32, "Graham Harrison"

wrote:
"Graham Harrison" wrote
in
m...

"Graham Harrison"
wrote
in m...

wrote in message
....
On 19 Feb, 19:10, "Graham Harrison"
wrote:
wrote in message

....
hi

I am thinking of going to NW for 3 weeks this summer. Will probably
stay beginning & end period with relative (WA, nr Portland OR).

So I'm thinking of flying direct to Seattle & taking short flight to
Portland (and visa versa on return). This is the shortest, most direct
route I can find (don't really want to mess about changing).

I have only done one long(ish) haul flight as adult - budget Barbados,
7-8 hrs grim, cramped flight (I'm 6"1.5").

Firstly, how much different would economy be on a BA/Virgin 747 flight
(compared to cramped, non-747 flight to Barbados) ? Similar or
better ?

A return economy (Seattle) would be around £600, but almost double for
premium-eco. Would it be worth paying the difference ?

Secondly, what could realistically do in 10 days or so, on West
coast ? Could I take in most of the important stuff (I'm more into
natural world than cities etc.) in this time frame ? Probably a mix of
flying & driving (or possibly coach/rail ?) ...

I was vaguely planning on a kind of loop which would somehow get me
back to my uncle's a few days before flying home ...

Maybe an alternative would be outward to NW, and back from further
south e.g. LA ? Would this be more expensive / more hassle ?

thanks

swayzak

You can fly to one city and return from another for half one fare and
half
the other - no penalties. Therefore, flying to Seattle and back from
San
Francisco, for instance is perfectly feasible. Not only that, but you
can
combine premium economy one way with ordinary the other (I'd use PE
for
the
flight from the US back to London). I've given up on regular economy..
I
save my pennies up and go premium economy every time. I'm about the
same
height as you. I might manage London/Boston in economy but that's it..

Some years ago, my wife had an aunt who lived on the San Francisco
peninsular. We flew into Seattle and went via Mt Rainier, Mt St
Helens,
Portland, out to the coast at Tilamook, down through Newport (good
aquarium
and nice restruarant down by the old fish dock) and Coos Bay, Crater
Lake,
Klamath Falls (day trip to Lava Beds and the Nature Reserve), Redding,
Lassen, Chico, Santa Rosa (Snoopy!) and across the Golden Gate. Had
the
same car for all three weeks. The one way fee (from memory) was
USD250.
The trip took 10 days and we spent 10 more with the aunt. Absolutely
great
holiday. The hard part was deciding where not to go. I was tempted by
the area round Bend, I still regret not going to Olympic NP and the
Northern
California Coast also beckons for a trip one day.

If you do end in San Francisco you don't need the car in the city (we
were
staying down the peninsular). San Francisco has good public transport
(google for Muni and BART) although the locals complain about it quite
as
much as we do about our public transport! Don't miss Alcatraz - book
before you leave the UK.

Great info again (everyone).

So many options - bit difficult to decide tbh !

Am quite tempted by the bmi/UA flights - 49" seat pitch is pretty
awesome for that price (even if it is only for 1/2 to 2/3 of the
journey). However, I'm not sure whether the UA Chicago-Seattle link is
also prem-eco ... have emailed to clarify.

Also this will take a bit longer than direct BA Seattle flight (and if
I go 30th June rather than 1st July, I can get this for £972 rather
than £1150). But this is only 38" pitch ...

So maybe I should rent car for 3 weeks from Seattle (although flights
don't get in until at least 17.00) and return to base.

But my uncle's got a car so this would be a bit of a waste of money -
maybe rent one-way for drive to Portland. Then when I want to go off
exploring, rent from Portland ... hmm but would they let me return car
to Seattle ?

My uncle knows the local stuff so I may do that early in the trip

There are plenty of hotels in the immediate area of Seattle Airport.
If
you've never driven in the US before then don't even think of hiring
the
car immediately. Get into one of those hotels - they all run shuttle
buses. Sleep off the jet lag then pick up the car next day. I have a
friend who went to Orlando on his first long haul; got off the plane,
picked up the car and spent 2 hours doing a 15 minute drive. I'm used
to it now but I always limit my driving to no more than about 10/15
miles
when straight off the plane.

One way hire is an accepted methodology in the US. That's not to
say
all the companies do it but most of the well known ones do. Yes, rent
a
car at Seattle and drop it in Portland, use your uncle and then rent
another for touring to wherever. In fact, you may be able to turn
this
to your advantage. Hiring a car at an airport can get quite expensive
because they add various fees related to the airport. So, hire at
Seattle but only for a day or two to drive to Portland and you'll limit
those fees. I also suspect you'll find the one way fee will be small
or
even zero between Seattle and Portland. Pick the 2nd car up at a
depot
away from the airport in Portland and you should find that (compared
with
Portland Airport) it's slightly cheaper. But I have no idea whether
it's going to be cheaper over all you need to do some research. There
are a number of variables - I was amazed the difference in cost between
hiring at JFK and Newark airports in the New York area, partly to do
with
local taxes in different states (and even different counties of states)
and partly to do with insurance requirements at the time in New York
state.

And, you might want to read this
http://www.dol.wa.gov/driverslicense/driverguide.pdf Each state has its'
own.

"Mimi"s idea of Canada is good. I'd rather got caught up with everyone
else in the US. The year after our Seattle/San Francisco trip we flew
back
to Seattle and went over the border to Vancouver then Jasper, Banff,
Revelstoke, Kaslo, into the US at Bonners Ferry and then to Spokane before
hopping a plane to San Francisco (again). I seem to remember that the
one
way fee that time was USD50.

In your case, if your relative agrees, you could fly to Seattle, hire a
car
for a couple of days to drive to Portland. Now borrow the local car and
go
north doing a loop into Canada and bcak to Portland then hire a car again
for a quick trip back to Seattle.

It's 10 years since we did this trip and one thing that has changed is the
border crossing. The impression I get is that the major crossings north
of
Seattle can get VERY congested. But starting from Portland you could cut
North East. The crossing we used coming back into Northern Idaho was
very
quiet - we hit it in the late afternoon and cruised through. I suspect
it
won't have changed much.

Back on the subject of the flights I'd caution against changing planes at
a
US point. Leaving aside the time you need to allow for immigration,
customs, rechecking baggage, going through security and finding your way
around a big US airport (you think Heathrow is big?) the flight
Manchester/Chicago is about 8 hours and the flight on to Seattle another
3.
Add a minimum of 90 minutes for the change (and I think that's not enough,
I
would allow at least 2 hours and probably even more) and your journey time
is 12/13 hours against 9 hours non stop from London. Not only that but
the
Chicago/Seattle flight will be on a US domestic cattle truck -if your
flight
to Barbados was bad you ain't seen nothing yet.

Go non-stop!

OK - you talked me into it !

What about the weather - would I really see a big difference going
30th June as opposed to 28th July ?

By the time we did these trips our sons were in secondary school. I think
the year we did Seattle San Francisco we left the UK on about the 10th July.
The Canada trip might have been a day or two later. Seattle/San Francisco
I remember as very good weather. However, one thing I do remember was when
we got to Mt Rainier on the first day, we had to walk through a snow canyon
to get from the car park to the visitor centre! The following year it
rained in Vancouver to such a degree that we had to buy anoraks! As we
left Vancouver it chucked it down and the journey and night en route to
Jasper was damp (in the extreme at times). After that I remember good
weather except maybe one day coming back over Rogers Pass. But then the
Canada trip was all about the Rockies and mountains often mean unpredictable
weather. I'd be inclined to save the money, go see your relatives and plan
most of your travelling for the second half of the holiday.

If you do decide to go late June get on and make the booking very soon.
That price hike is a known phenomenon - it happens every year and the last
few days of June do tend to sell out.

thanks for the booking tip - will speak to my uncle again asap (he's
an obvious source of weather advice as well !)

My folks have been out there twice and say the climate is very similar
to UK - so I guess there's pretty much similar risk of rain vs sun in
first 3 weeks of July compared to August .... and for the sake of
£200+ probably acceptable

wrote in message
...
On 19 Feb, 22:09, "Mimi" wrote:
wrote in message


thanks again (everyone)

Late july - august for best weather ? That's a shame as it rather
bumps up the flight cost (BA PE goes from £972 for outward 30th June
to £1202 for 28th July !!)

Personally I'd stick to late June, not only will you save money
on flights but you''l probably get a better deal on accomadation
and the crowds will be thinner.

Keith

Well thanks again all.

After seeing one flight disappear from my search since yesterday
(which got in Seattle at 16.40), I've gone ahead and booked .... gets
in 19.10, still time to get connecting flight to Portland, presuming
it's not too delayed (spoke to my uncle and he advised this was
probably best thing to do).

£977 for BA PE direct return to Seattle (30/6 - 21/7) ... fair price ?

Incidently, just how bad IS Heathrow (and BA for that matter) ? I hear
all sorts of horror stories about both ....

wrote in message
...
Well thanks again all.

After seeing one flight disappear from my search since yesterday
(which got in Seattle at 16.40), I've gone ahead and booked .... gets
in 19.10, still time to get connecting flight to Portland, presuming
it's not too delayed (spoke to my uncle and he advised this was
probably best thing to do).

£977 for BA PE direct return to Seattle (30/6 - 21/7) ... fair price ?

Incidently, just how bad IS Heathrow (and BA for that matter) ? I hear
all sorts of horror stories about both ....

By the time you travel the flights should have moved to T5 so it's a bit
difficult to tell. I've been through T5 on one of the test days and it
gives the impression of being big and airy but that may simply be down to
the fact that there aren't that many people around. The processes aren't
really different to any of the others. I used to live close to Heathrow
and used it maybe 6/7 times a year for a mixture of business and leisure and
I never had the problems that many people complain about. OK, the queues
can be slow but not always and the terminals can be crowded (but T5 should
help there). As for BA well I quite like them; I think they are better
than any US based airline.

You could check Horizon Air, who fly the commuter route between Seattle and
Portland every half-hour. You can get a r/t for around $160 advance price,
which might make it attractive vs paying for a hotel an extra night, and
driving a rental to Portland, as well as giving you that extra time to visit
with your ancestor. The flight is just under an hour.

Keith

http://www.alaskaair.com/ (It really brings you to Horizon)

wrote in message
...
On 20 Feb, 16:40, Ian wrote:
On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 04:42:37 -0800 (PST),

wrote:
Actually just found prem-eco BMI direct flight from Manchester for
£1018 ( viahttp://www.airline-network.co.uk) - and 49" vs BAs paltry
38" pitch !

Dave
I've been thinking about this route myself. Previously we have done
Manchester/Heathrow/Western USA - with BA...nice that you can check
your bags in Manchester and not see them again until you get to your
final destination. Not nice that it involves Heathrow!

You do realise the BMI is only to Chicago then get your luggage back ,
go through customs/immigration and find another (non premium economy
class) plane onwards? BMI's website doesn't seem to want me to book
any onward flights if I choose premium class...not very good.
I do think the new BMI Premium economy looks very good. I flew to
Vegas from Manchester on their old style Premium a couple of years ago
and found it far inferior to BA's. Leg room was good but seats were
only as wide as in economy so same lack of elbow room for eating!
I'm the same height as you and have decided any future trips across
the Atlantic will be in Premium class. For me, it is worth the extra.
I've not tried Virgin so cannot offer any advice here.

I have never been through Chicago...don't really like the idea of the
hassle in a foreign airport. I also , somewhat irrationally I'm sure,
worry a bit about having a connection on the far side of the ocean on
the return trip.

My advice FWIW ... go for premium economy and make sure you go! Drive
down the coast from Seattle to Northern California and come back up
through Oregon. You may need more than 10 days though!

Good Luck!
Please reply to group - email address is not monitored
Ian

thanks

Yeah - I noticed my mistake with bmi flight, shame as those 49" pitch
seats sound NICE

But I guess 38" BA PE is still better than 31-32" for 9 1/2 hour
flight (and worth the extra cost for someone 6" + ). Although I gather
you can sometimes get a bulkhead / emergency exit eco seat with
similar legroom - but this would presumably be a gamble as you
couldn't be guaranteed when booking ?

Have pretty much decided to go direct from LHR - is it really that
bad ?

I'll actually have about 3 weeks - but some of this will be spent with
my uncle, seeing the local sites around Portland (he's actually in
Camas, just over the border in WA).

Maybe I could spend about a week there initially - then I've got about
12 days to do the loop to get back for return Seattle flight ...