exces6

I just booked DFW-LHR in September (AA 78 outbound, AA 81 inbound), but now I'm having buyer's remorse, wondering if I should have bought BA WT instead (BA 0192 and 0193). Our family speaks very highly of BA, but I've never flown either AA or BA.

Either way, we would be flying in strict Y (not WT+ or MCE), and I don't have status. I don't mind spending ~$80 on a seat choice in WT/MC, but WT+/MCE is too expensive for these flights. We have currently booked 41 J/L in the rear of the 77W to avoid sitting next to someone.

The other threads I've found focus on status/MCE upgrades, are out of date, or focus on the refreshed BA cabins.

As I understand it, the BA 747s on the DFW-LHR route have not undergone the cabin refresh (is this actually true?), and both legs are the high-J/super high-J configuration. AA seems to have a newer product, but they have 17" seat width, compared with 17.5" on BA. Pricing is negligibly higher for the BA fare, though I can't see the cost including seat choices.

I've never been to Heathrow, so I don't know anything about the terminals and their advantages.

I've got 24 hours to get a refund and rebook, can anyone help me figure out which product is best for this specific route?

Thanks in advance!

sts603

What I don't understand is that you'd pay $80 for a Y seat on BA but not $125-$150 for MCE on AA? That doesn't really make sense.

BA's 747s with a super J configuration are all reconfigured. In normal Y both airliens are 10 abreast. The 747 was always designed for this, the 777 was originally designed for 9, therefore I'd go with BA.

But I'd encourage you to pay up for MCE given that will be substantially more comfortable given that section of the 77W is only 9 abreast. And the 77W is a much newer plane.

AA's food is likely slightly better. BA's service on average will be slightly better.

corporate-wage-slave

I'd go along with this post (including the bits I've edited out), but I would make the point that given this is an overnight flight in the USA-UK direction, and economy is economy, then maybe best not to overthink this, particularly if you are able to at least doze off. However AA has this supremely irritating habit of stretching out the service at take off and landing for far longer than BA, BA get the lights dim for much longer.

Leaving money out of it I would say:
WTP is better than MCE, which is better than either economy cabins in BA or AA. However if you can't sleep well then if it is a BA Super J aircraft then you may enjoy the IFE on BA more, the Panasonic screen is very good.

Therefore bringing money back into this, then my suspicion would be it is best to do MCE AA from DFW to LHR, and perhaps BA LHR to DFW in WT for the return. And perhaps consider a WT to WTP upgrade if offered (though you'll have to play around with ticketing on BA.com to maximise the chance of this). However note the Super J aircraft may be substituted for another aircraft, and the same is true of AA too, I guess.

T5 is better than T3 but that's mainly on departing passengers, for arriving passengers again T5 has some advantages (shorter queues for non European passport holders, faster baggage return) but T3 is a bit nearer London so it's in the wash.

chris1979

I'd support the above.

If super high J, BA will have nice and new IFE and seats. If not, they will be old, tatty and IFE may feel prehistoric. So I'd probably avoid a unrefurbed 744.

AA will he new and shiny and MCE definitely gives more space.

So probably:
1. Refurbed BA
2. AA 77W
3. Unrefurbed BA

WTP above MCE. MCE above the above 3.

luv2ctheworld

Not to mention that you can say you've flown on the 747. Most airlines are getting rid of the 747 and as a US based passenger, you won't get much of an opportunity on the US carriers.

By next year only non-US carriers will be flying the 747. Not a big deal for most of the traveling public, but still kinda cool.

exces6

That's a fair point. I hadn't really thought of it that way. I think I was biased by price anchoring, thinking I could not pay for seats at all on AA at first (but then seeing that there is only middle seat availability on this particular flight). Then seeing $171/seat MCE options ($684 total for 2 passengers) seemed exorbitant compared to $86/seat ($344 total), but it's really not that much different for a $1600 fare.

I didn't realize that being reconfigured to super high-J always equates with the newer cabin. I had it in my head that the seat changes were performed previously, and the cabin refresh was a separate upgrade that is only partially complete and not being performed on the DFW route.

I was wrong before; DFW-LHR is super high-J, and LHR-DFW appears to be mid-J. So, if I have this right, refreshed BA = super high-J, but unrefreshed BA = high-J and mid-J?

How does WTP on unrefreshed BA compare with MCE? Based on all that, this is my rank list so far.

1. Refreshed BA WTP
2. AA MCE
3. ?Unrefreshed BA WTP?
4. Refreshed BA WT similar to slightly better than AA MC-
5. Unrefreshed BA WT

Given all of that, maybe it's better to upgrade to AA MCE for the DFW to LHR leg and do AA LHR to DFW in MCE vs. WTP on the older BA metal. Not really sure how to compare the latter two options at this point.

corporate-wage-slave

Yes, I think I would agree with your ranking (perhaps unrefreshed WTP still above or on a par with MCE due to improved catering / service, plus small potential for a CW upgrade) and your proposed outcome. If going on the Super J aircraft the most concrete advantage is the improved and more reliable IFE: if that isn't a factor (or you simply prefer USA tastes in entertainment) then that advantage largely goes, not least because the BA older screen now looks very outdated. On the day flight from UK to USA BA remain a bit more generous on (e.g.) spirits / hard liquor, but essentially as you go down your ranking it's getting more trivial.

Only Super J has the Panasonic screen.

Geordie405

I did a similar analysis a couple of weeks ago as I was booking flights from JFK - NCL / EDI to LAX for next week. I had originally booked to fly AA from JFK to LHR but having status I booked MCE, and one of the pair of WT seats on the A380 back to LAX.

In the OP's situation without status I am not sure whether I would pay the MCE fee but, on a balance of probabilities, it's more likely I would than not - especially if I could get an aisle seat.

As it is, I got cold feet about flying Y and so changed the booking from AA to BA so I could book WT+ both ways (paying the fare difference and a $275 change fee) and subsequently upgraded to Club using Avios (paying a further $353 in taxes for the privilege)!

Swampz64

If things go wrong you are better protected by EU legislation on BA than AA.

exces6

I ended up re-booking with MCE both ways (seats 18 J/K). I don't know why it never occurred to me to consider redeeming my Chase UR points through their portal, which had the same price as I paid through AA. So I got a decent redemption on the flights (1.5cpp) and only had to spend $650 out of pocket (for the MCE seats). Much more palatable and still cheaper than booking WTP both ways.

Thanks for all the detailed advice everyone!