Washington D.C.-London Who To Fly On?

WarRI1 · Sat Sep 22, 2007 8:38 am

I would like to know what Airline is preferred to fly to London, UK from Dulles.

SiouxATC · Sat Sep 22, 2007 8:59 am

What cabin are you flying?

Do you have a certain a/c that you would like to get on?

What FF program do you belong to?

BA or VS will offer you the best service, and it will be nonstop. However I am partial to UA just because I have a lot of miles banked with them. And I know their service is not on par with BA or VS they would be nonstop and I have never had a problem with them.

greggarious · Sat Sep 22, 2007 9:34 am

I flew from Dulles to Heathrow about a month ago with BA (in Y). I have to say, I was quite pleased with them, although not necessarily blown away. If I had the chance to do it again, I'd probably fly with VS just to compare the two. Only after that would I try out UA (granted, you probably provide UA and *Alliance with more business than I do).

WarRI1 · Sat Sep 22, 2007 9:38 am

I have not flown much for years and I have just started again recently and I am a novice as far as using airliners.net and going overseas.

WarRI1 · Sat Sep 22, 2007 9:48 am

Once again, I have a question, how long is the flight from Dulles to London?

ajd1992 · Sat Sep 22, 2007 9:50 am

The flight will probably be in the 7 hour region.

As for airlines, well, take your pick! Silly

WarRI1 · Sat Sep 22, 2007 10:07 am

I was wondering if someone could give me a heads up on the type of weather in London at the end of October

iclcy · Sat Sep 22, 2007 10:09 am

Firstly a.net shouldn't be yr first stop for regarding airfares. No one on here has a magic potion to make First class the same as Economy.

You don't specify a date or class so yr best bet is to use Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, yahoo.com, Orbitz.com

Then check the fares on thoses sites come up with against the specific airline site.

sandrozrh · Sat Sep 22, 2007 10:54 am

Quoting WarRI1 (Reply 6):
I was wondering if someone could give me a heads up on the type of weather in London at the end of October

Rain

greggarious · Sat Sep 22, 2007 7:34 pm

Quoting SandroZRH (Reply 8):
Quoting WarRI1 (Reply 6):I was wondering if someone could give me a heads up on the type of weather in London at the end of October
Rain

Yeah, I'm not looking forward to that at all, especially when it's been so nice over the past few weeks here (compared to my expectations of London weather)! Cool

ajd1992 · Sat Sep 22, 2007 9:13 pm

Rain, clouds, lots of puddles... basically not very nice.

That's the weather year round for the UK, basically.

AlexPorter · Mon Sep 24, 2007 8:19 am

In terms of service quality, I'd go in this order:
1. Virgin Atlantic
2. British Airways
3. United

In terms of frequency/convenience of schedule, I'd go in this order:
1. British Airways (tie)
1. United (tie)
3. Virgin Atlantic

Then of course, you can try their specific websites or kayak.com to find specific airfares, which may involve stopovers.

Basically, if you are going for business purposes and need to be there by a certain time, then I'd say go with BA. If you are just going on vacation or traveling leisurely, or flexible with your schedule, then go with Virgin Atlantic. Use United only if you need Star Alliance miles.

Siege2L · Mon Sep 24, 2007 10:37 am

Me personally, I would fly AF via CDG... there are many connecting opportunities to LHR and you can take advantage of the Euro versus GBP in the duty-free area ( cigarettes! )

My choice #2 would be British Airways so I can maximize my time in London. ( Bring your trench and your umbrella )

late departures only I am listing: ( for the month of October )

Daily except Thursday... BA 0225 departs LHR 19h40 arrives IAD 22h40
Daily VS 055 departs LHR 17h30 arrives IAD 20h55

Based on trip reports on service, etc, I would avoid United Airlines unless you are flying UA within Asia. UA Asia crews are really terrific ( but obviously does not apply here ) Smile

Bon voyage, Siege2L Smile

WarRI1 · Mon Sep 24, 2007 11:36 am

I would like to thank all for the advice and help.

sw733 · Mon Sep 24, 2007 12:00 pm

In my opinion, BA hands down is the best, followed by United, and very distant Virgin Atlantic.

JRDC930 · Mon Sep 24, 2007 3:10 pm

Unless price is a huge issue, avoid any U.S. carrier, their inflight service is almost always inferior to ANY european carrier in all classes. Id say BA then VS, just avoid any U.S. carrier.

CitrusCritter · Mon Sep 24, 2007 10:13 pm

Don't forget MaxJet...all Business Class (though perhaps more a Premium Economy product). They need the business.

Jayhawk · Wed Sep 26, 2007 6:58 am

I absolutely love the service of BA but i HATE the legroom on long haul, it really is excruciatingly tight.

Flew with United earlier this year LHR MCO LHR via IAD, and all flights were great and E+ makes a huge difference. I would recommend the day time flight from IAD to LHR, ok its a 767 but for me the day time flight really helped with minimising the effects of jetlag, service not as good as BA but certainly not bad. The cabin crew were always in the cabin serving drinks especially water and juice. I will say the cabin crew were friendly, on the return leg all but one were British and were the oldest F/As i have seen. (I don't know which surprised me the most!!!).

With regards to the weather pack a swimsuit and sun glasses and you'll be fine.

Regards,

Jayhawk