LAS LHR-LGW Comparison

[aks120]

Well I have just flown on the relatively new LGW-LAS flight and thought it may help some folks to put a comparison between that and the LHR flight forward.

Disclaimer: it must be noted that I have flown numerous times on the LAS-LHR-LAS route, and only once on the LGW-LAS route. Plus all my flying is CW.

1 - Aircraft - LHR Operated by a 747 . LGW operated by a 777 . I did not really appreciate the extra space an upper deck 747 CW seat gave you! I was quite shocked in 2A on the 777 - climbing over feet and a lack of side bins made me long for 62A on 747! Plus there is no lottery for the 'upgrade beep' if you are flying LGW in CW as there is no First - it is a 3-class flight.

2 - Terminals - T5 - LGW is a labyrinth It is obviously an older airport but they appear to want to try and make it as difficult as possible to connect from a domestic to international flight. The LGW lounges are far below the LHR lounges IMHO. The GC was a zoo and the GF was very small and no Elemis spa - not a patch on LHR lounges. The shops at LGW were chaotic and the whole experience was one of trying to avoid being mowed down by school kids en route to some exotic location. Not pleasant LHR is always busy, and yes connecting security is a nightmare but overall I much prefer the younger airport terminal.

3 - Crews - Mixed Fleet on the 747 LHR route - I have only had friendly, if a little frantic, service off the Mixed Fleet crews. The LGW were LGW Single Fleet crew. The crew I had on the LGW-LAS route were pretty average - not friendly, and always scarce! I had my call light on for over 30 mins and no-one came - I went and got my diet coke myself. As a Gold Card Holder I have always been greeted by the CSM on the LHR route but nothing today on the LGW flight. In fact on the LHR route I always feel like a valued member of the BA club - I was not even acknowledged on boarding and despite sitting in 2A I was served for meals and drinks after row 3 left and right - god knows what system they were using today!

4 - Timings - The 747 LHR aircraft is scheduled late in and out of Vegas. The 777 is nice and early and the timings suit me better HOWEVER the 777 LGW aircraft arrives at LAS at EXACTLY the same time as the Virgin 747........ How bad do you think the immigration queues were today with 700 odd Brits trying to get into the USA??? I have never had a delay with the LHR timings and whoever thought putting the LGW flight on at the same time as the Virgin flight needs to be taken behind the bike sheds!!!! On the way home to the UK they are separated by about 30 mins so that should be a bit better - where would you rather have the separation - for me in the USA not the UK!!!!

So I think it is obvious, if I had a choice I would choose the LHR 747 route over the LGW 777 route. Despite having the first 5 rows to myself on the domestic connecting flight from EDI, I did not have as enjoyable experience today and I have had multiple times on the LHR route. That is not to say the LGW flight was particularly bad, it is just that the things I enjoy are more prevalent on the LHR route.

I am happy to take questions or spears - and for the regulars please add as you see fit.

aks120

[corporate-wage-slave]

Thanks for this interesting comparison. I must admit if going CW the prospect of a 747 would immediately wipe out any desire use a 777 service. However a 3 class 777 isn't so bad compared to the 4 class version. For the majority who don't fly CW then I suspect a different logic would apply.

I also agree with your views about LGW, except that it's only that bad for about 20 days a year in connection with school holidays (and to some extent the Florida flights), when the word "zoo" is difficult to avoid. Outside that, LGW and the lounges can be relatively quiet places. I've sometimes been the only one in the GF lounge, something which would never happen in LHR.

[Roger]

Interesting comparison, thank you.

As a fairly frequent visitor to LAS on business in the past, I have only got there on domestic flights, mainly from LAX but also from DFW and ORD. Your comparison will help me make my nonstop decision. After reading your comparison, I suspect that will be decided by seat availability on the 747 UD.

I thought that offering LAS from LGW was more of an appeal to tourist pax as competition to VS. There's also the question of getting to LHR and LGW for those pax starting or finishing in the London area. That's important for some of us.

[windowontheAside]

I'm always intrigued by reports of GCH being greeted regularly on flights. I've done over a dozen long haul flights since turning gold and have only been personally greeted on one of them.

Even when I flew to the States in F last week, I was only addressed by my name once in the entire journey. It's been a while since I flew F, but I remember it being very different back then.

[BAflyer2007]

Originally Posted by aks120

I am happy to take questions or spears - and for the regulars please add as you see fit.

aks120

Was the catering different/better/worse?

[aks120]

Originally Posted by BAflyer2007

Was the catering different/better/worse?

The catering was pretty much the same - maybe LGW was ahead by a nose. I got grapes with my cheese plate on the LGW flight

On both recent trips I had the healthier fish dishes. The cod on the LHR flight was so tiny the description should have been Cous Cous with a side of cod! The fishcakes on the LGW flight were delicious and the salmon starter was very nice. I had the cheese plate on both - the LHR cheese plate was very odd - literally two chunks of cheese and a small packet of biscuits - on the LGW flight the cheese was presented nicer and came with grapes and oatcakes!

However - the LHR Mixed Fleet crew were around regularly with drinks - I could not get the LGW folks to serve me for love nor money. They ran out of diet coke and cranberry juice and pretty much just had water left by the time the afternoon tea came round

aks120

[aks120]

Originally Posted by windowontheAside

I'm always intrigued by reports of GCH being greeted regularly on flights. I've done over a dozen long haul flights since turning gold and have only been personally greeted on one of them.

Even when I flew to the States in F last week, I was only addressed by my name once in the entire journey. It's been a while since I flew F, but I remember it being very different back then.

Without fail, I have always been greeted by the CSM on the Mixed Fleet LHR flights as a Gold member. It is the only flights that it has happened for me (although it is also the only Mixed Fleet route I fly).

aks120

[Littlegirl]

The crew that work out of LGW are called LGW Single Fleet crew. They are a completely different fleet to Worldwide crew at LHR.

There are new entrant crew at LGW on the same contract as Mixed Fleet crew but they work alongside and are intergrated with all the other LGW crew on the LGW SF.

[aks120]

Originally Posted by Littlegirl

The crew that work out of LGW are called LGW Single Fleet crew. They are a completely different fleet to Worldwide crew at LHR.

There are new entrant crew at LGW on the same contract as Mixed Fleet crew but they work alongside and are intergrated with all the other LGW crew on the LGW SF.

Thanks for that clarification - I will update the first post.

aks120

[BingBongBoy]

I would have no issue booking a 3 class 777 operated service, but would not choose to sit in the front cabin. I would go for the smaller cabin aft of D2 every time.

[Swiss Tony]

Originally Posted by aks120

They ran out of diet coke and cranberry juice and pretty much just had water left by the time the afternoon tea came round

aks120

I'd have thought the demand for Cranberry juice would be on the way back from Vegas....

(sorry....)

[aks120]

Originally Posted by BingBongBoy

I would have no issue booking a 3 class 777 operated service, but would not choose to sit in the front cabin. I would go for the smaller cabin aft of D2 every time.

To be honest I think if I do it again I would chose the same as you and go for the smaller cabin. I was reluctant to do so purely because I hate not getting my first meal choice and I thought that if I was further back then I was risking it.

Swiss Tony - LOL!

aks120

[BingBongBoy]

Originally Posted by aks120

To be honest I think if I do it again I would chose the same as you and go for the smaller cabin. I was reluctant to do so purely because I hate not getting my first meal choice and I thought that if I was further back then I was risking it.

aks120

Well, as a Gold, irrespective of your seating choice, you should get your first choice of meal... Unless the cabin is full of GGL or Prems, which I doubt on the LAS service from LGW.

[Skipcool3]

~ Gatwick single fleet- does that mean they only work on the 777 or only work on LGW operated services but are licensed to work on 777 / 737 / and Airbus narrowbodies

[Littlegirl]

Originally Posted by Skipcool3

~ Gatwick single fleet- does that mean they only work on the 777 or only work on LGW operated services but are licensed to work on 777 / 737 / and Airbus narrowbodies

They all work on 777 and 737 and some on the Airbus as well.