US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - C on B767 or Y on A330 - which is better?

I am looking to book trip to Germany in August. I can go on award travel from ORF to TXL on US with routing via MUC. Equip is 767 and I've done Envoy on that and its nice. My other option is Y on A330 via FRA and then I get my own ticket to TXL.

My parents are flying UA via FRA or MUC and I have to fly US as don'e have enough miles on UA to get tick for me too. I figure we can meet in the Europe hub and fly to TXL together. What do you all think?

Looking for suggestions.

Thanks,
James

Ummm... Envoy on the 76 over coach on the A330. It'd be a no-brainer for me.

Yeah, don't let people who love the A330 sooo much confuse you -- it's definitely better than the 767, but it's not that much better that coach on the A330 is better than business on the 767. Business on the 767 is just fine, it's just better on the A330 http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Agreed. Envoy on the 330 is better than the 767 but Envoy on the 767 is much better than coach on the 330. No question IMHO.

I'm actually going to go out on a limb a little bit. While the seats and food are better in Envoy on the 76, the fact that Y class on the A-330 has better than average seat pitch and in-seat TV is a plus.

The A330 Envoy section is nicer than the B767 Envoy section. Based on my personal experience and anecdotal evidence, service on the B767 in Envoy is better than service on the A330 in Envoy.

Any major US carrier's Biz class is better than any major US carrier's Coach class. No Biz class is that bad ...

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Beckles:
The A330 Envoy section is nicer than the B767 Envoy section. Based on my personal experience and anecdotal evidence, service on the B767 in Envoy is better than service on the A330 in Envoy.

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I'm thinking the same. While I've never flown US C on the A330, I have flown US C on the B767. If the FA's enjoy working on the 767 more than the 330 then I believe service will be better on the 767 and that should be what I go for. Do you agree?

The 330 Envoy seat does lots of tricks, but is very narrow. I like the 330 better, but the 767 seat, while not reclining as much, is wider. Neither plane lends itself to 2 2 2 seating. In the old days, most carriers configured 5 across in F/J/C, which allowed for a bigger seat along the lines of those used in the 747. As an aside, the last 767 I rode was pretty beat up inside.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by US1@ORF:
If the FA's enjoy working on the 767 more than the 330 then I believe service will be better on the 767 and that should be what I go for. Do you agree?</font>Hmmm... I dunno. The P@ssport could keep me occupied for the entire flight!

Here is, IMHO the winner in each category:

Food: same
Wines: same
service: 767 (VERY slim margin in my experiences)
seat pitch: A330 (60" vs. 55")
seat: A330 (again, IMO)
entertainment system: A330 by a mile
headsets: A330 (noise cancelling vs. regular headset on 767)

For me, the slight advantage the 767 may receive because the FA's prefer it is significantly outweighed by the Passport Entertainment system and the "newness" and "spaciousnesss" of the A330.

For me the 330 wins hands down.

At least we all agree that ANY C class is better than ANY Y class. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by geo1004:
At least we all agree that ANY C class is better than ANY Y class. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif</font>

I almost said that myself, but someone's bound to point out Aeroflot or such (even then though, I would think their C product is marginally better just because of room), so I added the caveat of major US carrier.

In my personal experience, service on the B767 is noticably and significantly better than on the A330, not just a slim margin. I'll be collecting more evidence on this over the weekend (B767 to LGW, A330 back ...).

Let's put everything in order from worst to best:
767 Coach
330 Coach
767 Envoy*
330 Envoy*
330 First**

*As per above posts, debateable. This is my opinion.
**Perhaps the worst value on a dollar or mile basis, but if money or miles is of absolutely no concern, the best "experience"

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While indiviudal aspects of coach class on the 330 are better than the 767 in envoy (entertainment system is the only one that comes to mind), the overall experience in Business Class far outweights even the best Coach Class product (and US Airways 330 transatlantic coach class is BY FAR the best transatlantic coach product among US carriers). You get the Business Class meal service, but more importantly, you get the sleeper seat, the ability to spread out, and (most important...) the overall relaxing feeling that you're not being crammed into a small space where you can't move your limbs.

Since I can't sleep on flights (except an occasional NRT-JFK), it's a close call for me. Like chexfan mentioned, the P@ssport system is impressive (I know of nothing that beats it). My last PHL-CDG (in Y) passed very quickly with the movies and a Willie Nelson rendition of "City of New Orleans"! And I might not have learned of Blondie's "One Way or Another" if it hadn't been for P@ssport (these things are important!).

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