CWUPilot From United States of America, joined Feb 2004, 126 posts, RR: 0 Posted (9 years 2 months 2 weeks 1 day 4 hours ago) and read 3293 times:
I'm planning a trip with some friends to London from Seattle in late august/early september. What is the best airline for the job? Comfort/IFE/Service etc, especially for economy class.
Thanks,
CWUPilot
"The worst day of flying still beats the best day of real work."
ScottishLaddie From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2004, 2383 posts, RR: 9 Reply 2, posted (9 years 2 months 2 weeks 1 day 4 hours ago) and read 3168 times:
BA! PTVs, excellent service etc. plus the added bonus of having a direct flight. On a 744.
Singapore_Air From United Kingdom, joined Nov 2000, 13711 posts, RR: 21 Reply 3, posted (9 years 2 months 2 weeks 1 day 4 hours ago) and read 3149 times:
The only airline from Seattle to London would be a more accurate statement
Geoffm From United Kingdom, joined Feb 2004, 2111 posts, RR: 7 Reply 4, posted (9 years 2 months 2 weeks 1 day 4 hours ago) and read 3110 times:
Hmmm... disagree with the legroom statement (31"), although I do believe Singapore_Air is correct on being the only direct service. AA have "up to" 34" but you'd have to change planes. Selecting AA as the carrier on Expedia comes up with cheaper flights than *not* selecting a carrier! £462 for 1/9-15/9.
I'd go Continental myself although the connections look a bit miserable from a quick check. Air Canada seems to be the quickest, via YVR. In fact, as Vancouver is only down the road to Seattle, as an alternative you could plane it to YVR and then overland (train/bus/drive) over the border.
Shamrock_747 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 5, posted (9 years 2 months 2 weeks 1 day 3 hours ago) and read 3068 times:
BA have excellent service, good IFE, tasty food and comfortable seats. The seat pitch in World Traveller is the standard 31" but there is also the spacious World Traveller Plus economy cabin offering 38" pitch and wider seats in a 2-4-2 arrangement.
BlueShamu330s From UK - England, joined Sep 2001, 2515 posts, RR: 25 Reply 8, posted (9 years 2 months 2 weeks 13 hours ago) and read 2834 times:
Or why not go out on a limb and go United via ORD and MAN, using the excellent bmi service over the pond.
Fares normally compare well with the more direct routing, and if you want to try something a little less run-of-the-mill, I'm sure you will enjoy the bmi experience.
Shamu
So I drive a 4x4. So what?! Tax the a$$ off me for it...oh, you already have... :-(
Cessna172RG From United States of America, joined Aug 2000, 745 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (9 years 2 months 2 weeks 12 hours ago) and read 2667 times:
Welcome, fellow CWU student! I'm guessing by your profile that you're in flight tech and enjoying your time with Ms. Sloan and Mr. Wilson, eh? Not sure if you know of me, but I'm the Aviation Management guy who ended up in Japan teaching instead of flying...
Seattle to London...
British Airways offers a daily flight that leaves in the evening, last time I checked. It used to be in a very dirty 747-200, but the aircraft has since been upgraded to a 747-400. I have heard mixed reviews, some really like it, others don't.
You can fly Northwest to Amsterdam on a lovely DC-10 and be bored out of your mind for 10 hours (been there, done that), then get lost in Amsterdam and take a KLM flight to London (fill in the blank with the airport of your choice).
You can fly Northwest to Detroit and catch an A330-300 (don't let Sloan convince you that Airbusses are bad, the A330 is a SWEET bird) to Europe and go from there. Brand new birds, brand new paint, and they do have IFE, from what I hear.
You can fly to Chicago or LAX or Dallas or New York and take a United or American Airlines flight...
Continental is not bad either...if you're on one of their 777's (I took one from Houston to Tokyo in 2002, we had IFE, comfy 3-3-3 coach seating, very nice, and some old guy decided to die during the flight...I'll tell that tale another day). Try to see if you can fly them from Houston or Newark to London. If they have one from Houston, you may need to take a red eye that leaves Seattle at 12 midnight to connect...it's usually a 737-800, no winglets. Not that bad, really.
Or if you have cash to burn and only want the best...Fly to LAX, and catch Singapore Air and fly across the other side of the world. Non-stop drink cart, awesome service, tons of IFE...I have taken Singapore before, and they are great.
Air Canada may be another option if you can catch the Seattle to Toronto flight (Airbus A320) and it connects with a flight to London. Or perhaps there's one out of Vancouver. Vancouver is a very good airport. Air Canada may not have coach IFE at every seat, but they usually have movies playing on TV's every few seats, audio entertainment, and food that is a FAR CRY above anything that any United States airline offers.
Jetjack74 From United States of America, joined Jul 2003, 7336 posts, RR: 52 Reply 13, posted (9 years 2 months 2 weeks 9 hours ago) and read 2602 times:
Although i'm an advocate for my comapany NW, SK might have a good rate through CPH.
CWUPilot From United States of America, joined Feb 2004, 126 posts, RR: 0 Reply 14, posted (9 years 2 months 2 weeks 1 hour ago) and read 2506 times:
Thanks everybody! I'm forwarding this to the rest of my group and we'll decide by Tuesday. Cessna172RG, nice to know a fellow CWU guy is in the house. Yup... Sloan and Wilson are interesting... When did you graduate?
Anyway, thanks again everyone.
-CWUPilot
"The worst day of flying still beats the best day of real work."
Behramjee From Canada, joined Aug 2003, 4447 posts, RR: 43 Reply 15, posted (9 years 2 months 2 weeks 1 hour ago) and read 2464 times:
If you're looking for a convienient nonstop flight then BA is the only option plus its the best for this route.
If youre flying to via another city then u have 2 long haul options which are SAS via CPH on their new A 343s and NWA/KLM via MSP or DTW (make sure though that you fly transatlantic on a NWA A 333 or KLM B 772 otherwise forget it).
If I were you, I would say stick with BA and 2nd choice should be SAS...they have numerous daily flights from CPH to LHR so dont worry!!!
BA001Concorde From United States of America, joined Jan 2004, 94 posts, RR: 6 Reply 17, posted (9 years 2 months 1 week 6 days 23 hours ago) and read 2372 times:
Qantasclub: "WHY would anyone ever choose an indirect US carrier with no service standards whatsoever compared with a direct BA744 service?"
Ding Ding Ding ... We have a winner.
That is exactly what I was thinking. The more times you stop, the more likely you are to have lost luggage.
The one downside with BA's SEA flights is that they have been very busy lately, and it may be a little harder to find a low fare (the discounted seats may already be sold out).
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