TPA36R From United States of America, joined Jul 2007, 210 posts, RR: 0 Posted (5 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 22 hours ago) and read 3687 times:
I'm looking for some tips to picking the best flights to London. I'm looking for the most for my money and want to try and stay as low as possible in the price category. Travel would happen sometime late Jan. or early Feb. of '08 and originating anywhere on the east coast. Any tips, tricks, or suggestions as to which carrier to take would be much appreciated!
CRJ200FAGuy From United States of America, joined May 2007, 385 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (5 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 21 hours ago) and read 3650 times:
My suggestion is to fly to LGW. It is usually cheaper than Heathrow.
777STL From United States of America, joined Dec 2004, 3036 posts, RR: 3 Reply 2, posted (5 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 20 hours ago) and read 3621 times:
AA will probably be having some killer sales here soon for off-season London travel. I paid low $3xxs last year for a trip in November.
777STL From United States of America, joined Dec 2004, 3036 posts, RR: 3 Reply 4, posted (5 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 20 hours ago) and read 3610 times:
Also, if you're open to connecting, you may be able to find a good deal to a gateway in Europe and then use an LCC to fly to London for cheaper than a US-London fare. Ireland typically has some great deals in the off-season from the airlines that fly there.
TPA36R From United States of America, joined Jul 2007, 210 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (5 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 20 hours ago) and read 3563 times:
Quoting CRJ200FAGuy (Reply 1): My suggestion is to fly to LGW. It is usually cheaper than Heathrow
ThreeIfByAir From United States of America, joined Aug 2007, 509 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (5 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 19 hours ago) and read 3505 times:
Kayak is showing $520 roundtrip for AA, $523 for BA, and not much more for everyone else on NYC-LON for a hypothetical 1/30/2008 - 2/13/2008 trip.
Fares appear to be quite cheap from everywhere to London this winter, even for those of us on the West Coast.
BosWashSprStar From United States of America, joined Jan 2007, 188 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (5 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 15 hours ago) and read 3402 times:
Zoom has just started a "low-cost" JFK-LGW service, but I don't think it's actually much cheaper than the majors.
If "value for money" includes "cheap business class," SilverJet has also been running 2-for-1 sales on and off on their all-J EWR-Luton flights, which work out to $1000-$1200 per passenger.
CHRISBA777ER From UK - England, joined Mar 2001, 5964 posts, RR: 63 Reply 8, posted (5 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 14 hours ago) and read 3364 times:
I assume you are travelling in Y.
VS have the best IFE (V-PORT - AVOD) in Y across the pond but legroom is pathetic. They give you an amenity kit and free drinks. Food is acceptable but nothing more.
BA have non-AVOD IFE but it is more than adequate and they score big points by having slightly better legroom, better food, great service, and more choice of departures. Generally my airline of choice across the pond for the OneWorld points and the fact that I just prefer Terminal 4 at LHR - it is absolutely LIGHT YEARS ahead of T3 that VS use, which is an abject misery from beginning to end.
BD are excellent from IAD to MAN - they use the A332 and again, have a slightly older non-AVOD PTV system but very good legroom and service is very good indeed. Food is good and drinks are still free I believe. Plus you get to collect Star Alliance points. MAN is generally a nicer airport to fly through than LHR I find.
CO use the 752 EWR-LGW at the moment and I've heard they have top legroom, AVOD, and are very comfortable. Downside is of course that food is likely to be, as with many US carriers, laughably poor and you have to pay for your drinks. You get your SkyTeam points though.
DL use the 763ER JFK-LGW and they dont have PTVs at all. Legroom is poor, service is poor, and so is the food. You have to pay for your drinks as well. Never had a good international flight with DL. Avoid if you can, IMHO. You get your SkyTeam points though.
UA are very hit and miss. Their 772ERs are nice and although the PTVs arent AVOD they are fine and reliable. Food is borderline, but again, you have to pay for your drinks. Legroom is fine, and service is fairly good. Their 767s are not nice at all and their 744s are the same. I think the 744 does some IAD flights, the 767 does some JFK, and the 772 does the rest.
AA are generally quite good. PTV and seat is roughly the same as you'll find on BA, food is ok, and last time I flew with them i got my drinks free although I think they charge for them now. They use nothing but lovely new 772ERs on all their LHR routes and their LGW routes most of the time. Not sure if RDU-LGW is operating but you may get good fares in the back as they tend to be front-heavy on that route.
Dont know if DTW or MSP are too far west for you but I'd definitely consider NW to LGW. Their A330s are lovely and they have great AVOD in every seat. Food is acceptable and LGW is much nicer than LHR to use. I'd definitely look them up - service is a little "mature" but they are friendly enough and I really like their A330s.
US's A330s are also lovely but their 762s are ball-dissolvingly horrible. Service is ok but they are often late and food is only sometimes ok. Dont know what the free drink situation is at the moment but i'd need a few free drinks to make up for how God-awful their dirty, worn, knackered old 767s are - ancient seats, no PTV, stone age toilets etc. They fly PHL and I think IAD to LGW.
AI use the 744 JFK-LHR and they are sometimes very cheap. Worth checking out if only for the food which i've heard is quite good. An unpretensious "get on with things" airline - I like them. Not flown with them across the pond but have taken them DXB-DEL and they were ok.
Dont know much about Zoom as I havent flown them but I know they use the 763ER LGW-JFK and they have free food but you have to pay for your drinks. Dont know if they have PTVs but I would think they probably do.
AC is worth taking to LHR because their 77W does their Toronto route - ive heard it is sensational and is the best Y class product over the pond at the moment. Their 767s are in the process of being upgraded but dont bank on getting a new one, and if you get an old one they are ancient - only saving grace would be good food and acceptable legroom.
Also check out AF - have flown them twice over the pond and they are excellent in Y in my experience. Great food, free drinks, good IFE in their 777s, and service is classy and with a smile. Planes are spotless inside if not spotless outside and CDG an interesting airport to transit. They have almost an hourly shuttle to LHR using A320 and A321 so connections arent a problem.
What do you mean you dont have any bourbon? Do you know how far it is to Houston? What kind of airline is this???
VV701 From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2005, 6631 posts, RR: 17 Reply 9, posted (5 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 12 hours ago) and read 3268 times:
BA are reporting weak Y class north Atlantic business (balanced by strong O&D premium class demand).
So keep your eyes open for special offers (on all airlines) outside of the holiday period. Regularly check the AA, AI, BA, CO, DL, KU, NW, UA and US - who said there was no competition on the US-UK North Atlantic route? - web sites.
Currently here in the UK BA are offering all inclusive fares on the LHR-JFK route throughout the winter period with holiday periods blanked 'from £239'. This is probably not great from an American perspective because of the current exchange rate. But their offers in the US might be a little better.
LAXorLGWonDL From United States of America, joined Jul 2007, 136 posts, RR: 1 Reply 10, posted (5 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 12 hours ago) and read 3256 times:
TPA36A,
I've had good luck finding lower fares when I travel Tues-Wed-Thurs on the outbound and try to do the same on the return. Using 29 JAN - 06 FEB on Expedia, I found the following:
ATL - LGW: DL- $612; US - $623; BA - $634
IAD - LGW: DL- $544; US: 544; UL - $555
JFK - LGW: DL - $493
JFK - LHR: AA: $504; BA: $527
EWR - LGW: US: $504
While I prefer to fly into Gatwick (habit more than anything), you can connect directly to the Tube and go into London very easily from Heathrow.
Bongodog1964 From United Kingdom, joined Oct 2006, 3019 posts, RR: 2 Reply 11, posted (5 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 12 hours ago) and read 3248 times:
Quoting CHRISBA777ER (Reply 8): BA have non-AVOD IFE but it is more than adequate
Isn't AVOD installed throughout the plane at the same time as New club world ? I know the new club world 747 I flew on back in May had AVOD in WTP
David_itl From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2001, 7145 posts, RR: 14 Reply 12, posted (5 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 12 hours ago) and read 3236 times:
Quoting CHRISBA777ER (Reply 8): BD are excellent from IAD to MAN - they use the A332 and again, have a slightly older non-AVOD PTV system but very good legroom and service is very good indeed. Food is good and drinks are still free I believe. Plus you get to collect Star Alliance points. MAN is generally a nicer airport to fly through than LHR I find.
No MAN-IAD service though! If looking for east coast to MAN, then it's limited to DL 4 weekly 757 from JFK, BA daily 763 from JFK, CO 2 daily 757 from EWR and US daily A330 from PHL.
TPAnx From United States of America, joined Aug 2005, 1021 posts, RR: 1 Reply 13, posted (5 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 11 hours ago) and read 3189 times:
Errr..assuming that there is some significance to your user name...nothing wrong with BA2166-2167..TPA-LGW-TPA..
very enjoyable flight...
TPAnx
CHRISBA777ER From UK - England, joined Mar 2001, 5964 posts, RR: 63 Reply 14, posted (5 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 10 hours ago) and read 3111 times:
Quoting David_itl (Reply 12): Quoting CHRISBA777ER (Reply 8):
BD are excellent from IAD to MAN - they use the A332 and again, have a slightly older non-AVOD PTV system but very good legroom and service is very good indeed. Food is good and drinks are still free I believe. Plus you get to collect Star Alliance points. MAN is generally a nicer airport to fly through than LHR I find.
No MAN-IAD service though! If looking for east coast to MAN, then it's limited to DL 4 weekly 757 from JFK, BA daily 763 from JFK, CO 2 daily 757 from EWR and US daily A330 from PHL.
When did they stop that?
What do you mean you dont have any bourbon? Do you know how far it is to Houston? What kind of airline is this???
CHRISBA777ER From UK - England, joined Mar 2001, 5964 posts, RR: 63 Reply 15, posted (5 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 10 hours ago) and read 3111 times:
Quoting Bongodog1964 (Reply 11): Quoting CHRISBA777ER (Reply 8):
BA have non-AVOD IFE but it is more than adequate
Isn't AVOD installed throughout the plane at the same time as New club world ? I know the new club world 747 I flew on back in May had AVOD in WTP
They have a new WTP and WT product??
News to me!
What do you mean you dont have any bourbon? Do you know how far it is to Houston? What kind of airline is this???
SpeedbirdEGJJ From United Kingdom, joined Nov 2003, 429 posts, RR: 4 Reply 16, posted (5 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 8 hours ago) and read 3035 times:
Same product Chris but as the new CW product is rolled out AVOD is available in all cabins. AVOD will certainly be available in all cabins on the 747 by the time the OP is travelling.
747fan From United States of America, joined Jun 2007, 1165 posts, RR: 1 Reply 17, posted (5 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 8 hours ago) and read 2992 times:
If you want a relatively cheap flight, you're best bet is probably Delta on JFK-LGW. You can usually get a coach fare for under $500 on this flight. As all of us on a.net probably know, they don't have PTV's on their 767's but do have leather seats. I flew DL transatlantic last fall and they were great (gasp!). They constantly came around w/ coffee, tea, and water, the food was good, the FA's were friendly and provided great service (gasp!), and the 767 was relatively comfortable (one of my flights was actually on a 777). It didn't have PTV's, just the mainscreen and aisle-mounted CRT's (soon to be LCD's) that showed 2 movies and TV programming, as well as the moving map during climbout, between programming, and during descent. The flight was DL21 CDG-ATL. Do give DL a try as they've been better lately. I know they've had some delay issues over this past summer, especially out of JFK, but you'll be flying during the low season. Plus JFK is an hour-long taxi ordeal in the evenings no matter who you fly on. Another airline that you could find a great deal on is Zoom on JFK-LGW.
Airbazar From United States of America, joined Sep 2003, 6890 posts, RR: 7 Reply 20, posted (5 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 7 hours ago) and read 2929 times:
Quoting ThreeIfByAir (Reply 6): Kayak is showing $520 roundtrip for AA, $523 for BA, and not much more for everyone else on NYC-LON for a hypothetical 1/30/2008 - 2/13/2008 trip.
$500+ during that time of the year, and to LON, is nothing special. I wouldn't consider anything above $450, cheap.
DiscoverCSG From United States of America, joined Jan 2007, 783 posts, RR: 0 Reply 21, posted (5 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 7 hours ago) and read 2906 times:
I'm surprise nobody has yet mentioned daylight eastbound flights:
AA: JFK-LHR, BOS-LHR (is this ending soon), ORD-LHR
BA: BOS-LHR, JFK-LHRx2, EWR-LHR
UA: IAD-LHR
VS: EWR-LHR, JFK-LHR
These flights leave in the morning, arriving at LHR in the evening. Since you would get up so early to get to the airport, you will be tired enough to go to bed when you arrive, and very conveniently, it will be bedtime!
Contrast this with the more traditional overnight eastbound flights. You are up all day at home, then get on the plane at suppertime. You fly 6-8 hours and are thinking "Gosh, it's past my bedtime" and then you land and it's breakfast time...you can't check into your hotel for hours, and you just want to sleep.
I've done two daylights, and both times I was good to get up the next morning for a full day in London!
By the way, good choice of destinations. The weather isn't tropical paradise, but it's a really interesting city.
Chase From United States of America, joined Nov 2005, 1054 posts, RR: 0 Reply 22, posted (5 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 6 hours ago) and read 2896 times:
TPA36R From United States of America, joined Jul 2007, 210 posts, RR: 0 Reply 23, posted (5 years 8 months 1 week 2 days 19 hours ago) and read 2750 times:
I appreciate all the tips guys! I'm excited about my first trip out of the US.We'll see what happens...
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